The Birthday Party of 5 of Us!!!

On Sunday, December 3rd, we celebrated my birthday at an Italian restaurant with another 4 friends who had the birthdays that same week. Mansur was so sweet, as usual, and bought 5 small cakes, each with one of our names on it. It was fun! We were all surprised! Friends from church and university were there as well as 3 of my students. Check out the pictures.

Nov.29th!

Our trip to Kyoto was on Nov.28th, a previous celebration of my birthday! On the 29th, we went to the movies and then to church where Mansur had a surprise birthday cake for me. I was so touched by everyone's love that I cried, something not so hard for me to do!

Autumn Leaves in Kyoto!

My 25th birthday was on Nov.29th! Since I have been extremely busy with school, Mansur planned on taking somewhere for 2 days and he kept it a secret. Unfortunately, 3 days before the departure date, the travel agency called saying they had made a mistake and all of a sudden we had to change plans. Mansur was really upset since he had been looking forward to the "escape" but the truth is we had a great time anyway!

Though we live in Kansai for about 6 years now, we do not go to touristic spots very often. I am sure that if we knew we would be leaving Japan soon, we would try to visit everywhere, but since we feel like this is our home, we tend to forget to go out and explore what is near us.

Well, to tell you the truth, coming from a tropical country where the 4 seasons were hardly displayed, I had never seen the autumn leaves' beauty like I did this week. All this time in Japan and still I had only enjoyed the sakuras in spring. So, this trip to Kyoto was a great birthday present to me.

Kyoto is a great site. All of Japan seems to be there. The traditional meets the modern!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures!





Mansur stands beside a monk, who has absolutely no idea we are taking this picture!


Imagine having this view from your window!!!




Behind me is a nice Japanese restaurant with a foot onsen on the outside. It looked great but I had tights on, so I could not join. Mansur laughed and said he'd take a picture for me to remember I could not join the others!


Once again, awesome view!!! Most shops and restaurants face the river. It must be nice in the beginning of summer too, before it gets too hot to wanna go anywhere!


This is the happiest couple on Earth!!! My Love is usually busy taking pictures of me, but sometimes we manage to ask someone to take one of us!


This man is selling fish and shrimp, I think. It looked cool!


Behind me is a Japanese style hotel, with onsen and all. There were so many tourists all over the place. It was a beautiful day and the autumn leaves were amazing!


Here is a girl selling all sorts of hot soups and warm sweets. I love the Japanese style shops and stands. They rock!!!


Most of you know that I just love mochi (Japanese rice sweets). They are the best. I could not help myself but to order some in Kyoto, which is famous for mochi! They were yummy!


Here is a fan shop that I thought was so Japaneesee too!


These are made from Japanese silk and used for decorating the home. There are various different motifs that are usually displayed according to the seasons! I bought one for out living room!


These are accessories made with Japanese silk and acrylic. They are quite popular since they mix Japanese art and Western design!




















After walking all day all we needed was good, tasty Japanese food! This was Mansur's dish!