so. survived another summer holiday with the relatives. actually, it's not that bad. really! but it's probably better that we don't live with yoshi's parents. LOL
we drove down to omuta on thursday, taking the interchange. there was a mudslide recently (a deadly one, IIRC) and the road was only just reopened on thursday for the obon rush. the roads were rather crowded and we had to stop at the mudslide site (for reconstruction, not shutting down the highway). we also had to stop several times for potty breaks, and to let the kids out of their instruments of torture (aka carseats). we got there just before lunch and i begged off to go to youme town for some new knitting needles. i was very good and didn't get a sweet drink from starbucks, nor a donut from misudo nor a cheeseburger from mcdonald's. honest!
lunch was somen and then the kids wouldn't sleep so i took them for a drive where i didn't do any of the above but i did get some water and a sports drink from 7-11. after heading back we had dinner (which i've forgotten what it was) and then we hit the onsen.
my FIL had a business trip and didn't get home until 2 am on friday morning. poor guy! friday we got up at a decent hour, had breakfast and my FIL woke up at around 9:30. i found out that we weren't going out until the afternoon so i went to youme town again and hung about but i totally resisted having a burger. *sigh* went home to find out lunch was somen again, but since i had hit my limit the day before (i am just NOT a noodle person...) i kinda skipped lunch. we went out to give out respects to my MIL's parents' (i think) grave (though i'm not sure that's what you'd call it. we went to a temple in the middle of the city and there in the mausoleum part of the building we went. i am not explaining this well, am i?) then we went to yoshi's uncle's house, where we paid respects to FIL's family butsudan and gave his brother & sister-in-law a summer gift. i don't know if there's a family grave for FIL's parents, but since he's the fourth born (third-born-son) he's not at all responsible for it.
the plan was to have onsen then dinner, but it changed to dinner then onsen, but the yakiniku place we were going to was closed. as in, out of business. so, we went to the onsen, took our baths (which were delayed since all three kids fell asleep in the car) and then had dinner there. nothing on the menu appealed to me so i didn't order anything. that's ok, because i had anything that the kids didn't eat: rice, karaage (which i don't like much, myself) and fried shrimp. then home, then bed. *sigh*
yesterday we paid a visit to more of yoshi's (father's) family, first visiting another mausoleum then walking down to a relative's house. no one has really explained this to me but i *think* it was FIL's uncle's house, his grandfather's photo is hanging there above the butsudan. FIL's cousin was also there (so was his brother and his family but they left soon after we arrived) and she was so into the kids and how cute they were. the last time we visited, hiro was a baby so our family has grown since we last saw them. i took a couple of photos of the family, then showed the cousin many of the photos in the camera. then we went up the street to visit more family (another cousin, maybe?) where yoshi took the camera for me and left in the genkan. so, i forgot my poor nikon there! (that's why PIL came up today, to return the camera to us. very kind.) after a short visit we went back to the cars and went our separate ways, the five of us returning here to munakata.
we didn't take the highway, it appeared to be quite crowded! we made good time, though, only stopping for dinner (udon, more freakin' noodles!!) and once to get a drink. thankfully the kids fell asleep for a while! we were nearly home when yoshi got a call from his dad about the camera. *sigh* but, it's home now and that's important to me!
so, that was our obon 2009. not too bad all in all.
oh, i nearly forgot! my SIL had her baby on friday, a boy.
November 15, 2024
1 day ago
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9 comments:
That didn't sound very painful at all! But agreed that living with them is another story ;)
I want me some sweet starbucks, donuts and cheesburgers that you didn't have too!
We are over half way through August - there must be some light at the end of your six weeks at home with three small children summer holiday tunnel!
I hear you about the noodles! Only, in my family, it's my husband that is the noodle nut. He loves ramen so much that my private (never said out loud) name for him is Ramen-boy.
My MIL hates me (and it's mutual) so we didn't visit her or anything this season. I'm so happy :-)
At least it's over for another year!
You don't like noodles???? I love the stuff -- I make a great chow mein and eat ramen quite frequently, also.
it's not that i don't like noodles, it's just that i don't want to eat them all the time. i'm good every couple of months or so.
except udon. it's ok flavor-wise, but damn! it seems to multiply in my bowl and by the time i feel full, it doesn't look like i've even made a dent in it! guess where udon was invented? yep, right here in kyushu, so it's EVERYWHERE. and my husband LOVES it. *sigh*
i like ramen well enough, flavorful and loads of different kinds, but it's really fatty and salty so i shouldn't eat it often. so i don't. LOL
Heyyyy! can we start a foreign wives against endless noodles club? My DH loves noodles of all kinds and when he's still peckish after a meal will say 'I think I'll boil something...' I go crazy with too many variations on the noodle theme.
Sounds like an exhausting trip with all those rellies to visit with three small kids. Otsukaresama!
oh yes please, sign me up!!
Yeah, udon is really difficult to eat I think. I have a big appetite but struggle to make a dent in a bowl of udon too.
I'm joining the foreign wives' anti-noodle club! I don't hate them either, just never feel like eating them, especially when we're on the road.
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