Look out weekend 'cause here I come

Thumping music, and slick DJs....who doesn't love that song? My weekend is here after a week of work. My days off are Thursdays and Fridays. On Thursday Hitomi and I hung out with her sister. For most of the day we were in Shizuoka and the other smaller cities that are next to it. That night we eat Korean BBQ for dinner. If you have never had Korean BBQ...find a place that has it and try it! It's an odd set-up if you have never seen it before. YOU have to cook your own food! I mean you buy the meat, veggies and what not from the place and you eat there but YOU do all the work! It might sound odd to anyone who has not had it but TRUST me it's really good eats! I was a little sad after eating and drinking. I wished that my family could have been there with me to share in the fun that I had. Maybe it was the cheap beer or maybe it was just me feeling sad, but the night ended on a bit of a somber and uneasy note for me. I felt bad because my family couldn't have fun with me. I am sure that part of it was me being a little home sick and what not.
On Friday morning, I talked on the computer with my sisters. (By the way, Skype is one of the GREATEST programs ever written! You can talk overseas FOR FREE!) One of my sisters was not doing well she said that she missed me a lot. It made my heart hurt but I made the best effort get my sister (and myself) to look at the good times we had when I was in Fresno. It has been tough for me, but my wife has been telling me to try be positive about everything.
After the talk with my sister I headed out for a little day trip to a temple called Hattasan. It was in city about 25 miles from where I live. It was built in 725 A.D. for a dude named Shomu, well he wasn't just a dude, he was an emperor. Anyway, it is a temple for a religion called Shingoshu. And people go to the temple for certain ages in their life (example: womens "bad" ages are 19 and 32). After you visit the temple you eat Yakuyoke dango, which is mochi and red bean paste. Sounds yummy huh? Yeah, that's why ate none.....Anyway the stuff is to help remove "bad" spirits, I guess they don't like it either..... I will try and post the links to see a couple of pictures from the temple. After the temple I felt better. I bought good luck charms for my sister and my niece. Hopeful they will work and help protect them. I will be back in a day or so.
Next post.....Fireworks at Abekawa! (or how I almost pasted out in a crowd of 400,000 people)