finishing the first

I've decided that instead of having two separate blogs - Japanese and English - I would instead combine everything together into this blog. So from this post onwards, I will be updating in both English and Japanese :-)

今まで日本語と英語のブログ、別々に持っていたのですが、折角なのでこのブログでこれから日本語も英語も更新したいと思います。過去の記事は時間があれば訳そうと思います。前のブログと変わらず、コメントやリンクをして下さると嬉しいです :-)

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Yesterday my mom, sister, brother and I went for Hatsumode (first shrine visit on the new years) to our nearby shrine. I must admit, our family is not the best at practicing cultural celebrations, but despite all that, I'm still proud that we are still finding our time to pay a visit to the shrine together even after our individual, hectic schedules.

昨日は母、弟と妹と一緒に近くの小さな神社に初詣に行ってきました。かなり遅れての初詣ですが、それぞれお互い忙しいという事もあり、逆に良く一緒に行く時間を見つけたなと思います。

We also bought Omikuji (a written oracle). The omikuji predicts your fortune of the year in various aspects of your life including love, business, health, education, dream etc. I got sue-kichi, which is a near-blessing...But considering the fact that I got Kyo (curse) last year and the year before, I have to greatly appreciate and enjoy what might come ahead.

おみくじは末吉でした。微妙・・・？だけど去年と２年前は連続で凶だったんでそれはそれで良かったかも・・・。心配だった「願い」と「旅立ち」は大丈夫だったので良しとします（だけど恋愛は良くなかった・・・）

We usually tie our omikuji to metal wires in the shrine grounds especially when your's is a bad fortune. The purpose is so that the bad fortune doesn't attach to the bearer.

とりあえず末吉おみくじを結びつけました。


This tree is also found at our local shrine. It is interesting because the thick branches of these trees are connected to each other. Because of this, these trees are called Meoto-ki (husband and wife tree)

意外とビックリ、夫婦木です。二つの木がくっついているんです。何気にお金をここに置いていく人がいるんですよね。恋愛運向上にはいいのかも？

Afterwards, my mom, sister and I went to eat lunch at Motomachi:

そのあとは元町のラーメン屋さんでランチ：


Ramen noodles!

And just a quick info for those who live around Motomachi area;
the ramen restaurant, "Kitakata Ramen (喜多方ラーメン)" is selling their ramen at 330 yen on Jan 10th & 11th!! Their ramen is so yummy and extremely satisfying :-9 so please do visit!

ちなみに元町近辺にお住まいの方に耳より情報：

今回ランチした喜多方ラーメンさんが何と１月１０日＆１１日にラーメンを３３０円で売るそうです！とてもおいしいので興味のある方は是非食べにいってください :-)

After our lunch we went to Yokohama for another new years shopping. We were so indecisive about where in particular to go (since Yokohama is full of huge department stores), but for some reason we all lingered around CIAL for the majority of the day.
Unfortunately I have no pictures of CIAL because we were so into shopping - i.e. going to the same shop 3 times because we were again so indecisive about whether to buy their cute, mickey mouse cutsew + shiny silver tank top or not...which we, by the end, did.

ランチの後は横浜CIALでショッピングをしました。同じお店に行ったり来たりでかなり店員さんを困らせてしまいましたが、楽しいショッピングが出来て大満足！何気に母親とおそろのカットソーを買いました。七分丈カットソーなんですけど、バックにミッキーのシルエットが並んでいて、透けるようになっているんです。全然子供っぽくないし、インナー選べて着れるのでとても楽しい一枚です。

After our intense shopping at CIAL, we escaped to Takashimaya for a tea break. The cafe we went was famous for their huge selections of tea, and there again, we spent a good 15 minute trying to figure out what to order...At the end I ordered yuzu (citrus fruit) baked cheese cake and herb & lemon ginger tea. Fortunate or not, they put ample of ginger into my tea (and by that, I mean A LOT to the point that your tongue starts to burn) that my body started to heat up afterwards...which might be good in winter, but not really if you were to stroll around the department store for another hour.

CIALの後は高島屋でティーブレイク。入ったカフェはお茶のバリエーションが多くてどれにするか悩んでしまいました。結局私は柚子のベイクドチーズケーキとレモンとジンジャーのハーブティーをセレクト。ハーブティーは生姜が多すぎて最後の方が辛かった・・・。体があとから凄くぽかぽかしてきました＞＜

It was a day of lots of shopping, eating and walking...But everything was totally worth it :-)

買い物したり、食べたり、歩いたりの一日でした。でも凄く楽しかった :-)