Still can't believe you've gone

Do you remember the day we met about 30 years ago...?

You were the one who painted my nails.

It was my first experience of having a manicure in my life, which made me excited...

" We should go on a trip together." you said, not very long ago...

You made a promise, didn't you?

Why are you being so silent?

Owe what I am now to you.

Can't accept the fact that you passed away...

Miss you...Eri...

Miss you...

Visit Home Garden in Kansai, Japan vol.1

Made a short trip to  Kansai area, located in the west of Japan, last month . And we visited some places, including home gardens which inspired me,indeed!

Today I want to show you one of them, my friend's home garden.

She built this hut with her friend a few years ago.

This wooden fence, too:)

She loooves roses, and has a lot kind of them which were in bloom despite of this season.

Inside the hut, she tried to transplant such a big Staghorn Fern to the board! Coool!

She has talent as not only a gardener but as an artist:)


She painted this tin pot, the combination of red and blue color is perfect, isn't it?

She also made some wire arts!

Can't imagine to make such a lovely bike just with thin wire!!

Those handcrafts became accents of her garden and we were having fun to find them:)

In her garden many flowers were in bloom! They seemed to be happy to be grown here.

I'll show you other places in the next post!

Thank you for stopping by:)

Hokkaido...Garden of Wind...

This is the last report of our short trip to Hokkaido, at the north end of Japan.





This garden is located  in a corner in the golf course, and is called "Windy Garden,"

The reason why we came to this site was that we loved the specific Japanese TV series which was shot here.

Compared to the awesome flower farms in Furano, this garden presents the more dedicate beauty of flowers and is well designed.

The decoration inside the white house also gives a nice contrast to the outdoor garden.

Good use of planting and borrowed landscape. 

If we have a chance to come back to Frano, Hokkaido, we will visit here, again:)

Hokkaido...The Most Popular Zoo in Japan...

During our trip to Hokkaido, at the north end of Japan, we visited a certain zoo.

You might be wondering why grown-ups visit a zoo without children...

Asahiyama Zoo is recently the hottest zoo in Japan, with a unique way to viewing animals. 

You can meet a giraffe getting this close to it!

The Giraffe site is dug lower than the visitors pavement, 

so that visitors can get to see the animal face to face at human-eyesight level. 

If you visit a Hippopotamus's House, you can see it flying!?

And this zoo has "Mogu Mogu Time", feeding animals, with respect to each animal.

Each Mog Mog time, unique exhibition, is shown by  zookeepers with humorous episodes.

This is a small zoo outside a fairly small city in north island of  Japan and still more visitors come here than Ueno zoo in Tokyo which is the most historical and famous zoo in Japan.  All I'd say is enjoy the zoo for what it is :)

Asahiyama Zoo was much better than I expected, and is a must-visit if ever visit Asahikawa, Hokkaido.

Hokkaido...Shops and Cafe in the Forest...

During our trip to Hokkaido, we visited several shops or cafes in the woods.

This is a tiny studio for wooden crafts 

There were a lot of works and some of them were displayed outside. 

Especially love this work! 

He is like a naughty fairy of the forest, isn't he?

Strolling in the woods, we were getting tired... then, found a nice cafe!!

The name of this cafe is "Mori no Tokei," which means "Forest Clock"

We seated at the bar just in front of a large window, through which we could enjoy the forest green.

I ordered a cup of coffee, then an owner handed a coffee mill to me saying, "Please grind it by yourself."

Forest Clock　seems to tick slowly...

Actually, this cafe provided a setting for Japanese famous TV drama about ten years ago.

I felt like I was in the TV drama, and felt relax to have a delicious coffee and cake:)

And we visited Ninguru Terrace.

Ninguru Terrace is a beautiful collection of boutique huts, housing specialty arts and crafts along with their creators. The creators sit there in the shops displaying and making more of their products as you wander around. This charming village is magical at night with all the lights on.

The woods in Hokkaido gave us an illusion of being in a fairy tale:)