Day 2 continued...

Awaji Yumebutai also makes use of the beautiful Awaji tiles in various aspects of the building and garden constructions. In fact, even driving anywhere on the island in the bus it was easy to spot the tiles as they stand out as a true object of beauty. Of course, I am particularly aware of them given Hyogo Government's Awaji tile garden project currently nearly completion in front of Dumas House in West Perth. After departing Yumebutai we enjoyed a beautiful sashimi lunch before heading off on a cruise to view the Uzushio whirlpools. Participants expressed some anxiety prior to the cruise wondering whether their stomachs would cope...until we reached the departure terminal and saw the size of the ship. Sheer luxury! Combining that with the magnificent weather, we had a glorious run around the whirlpools. What a way to spend a day!!

Day 2 Awaji Island - Cruises, Koalas, and so much more!!

We all woke up on Day 2 with a renewed energy (particularly yours truly, who fell asleep at 8:30pm and didn't stir until 6:15am!!). It was certainly a good thing because Day 2 was absolutely action packed. We departed the hotel by bus and headed for Awaji Island with the first stop Akashi Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world. Naturally we were impressed by the enormity of this feat of engineering, but I have to say there were equally as many photos taken of the amazing line up of vending machines!! My personal favourite was the one selling hot dogs and takoyaki...not that I was actually game enough to try anything. The teachers among us also seized the opportunity to photograph Japanese character icons, Anpanman, Doraemon, and Hello Kitty. On Day 2 we were joined by Hyogo Govt CIR, Ben from the UK, as well as Yukiko-san from Hyogo International Association. It was great to have them along to provide us with additional support, language assistance, and general knowledge of the area. The next stop was Awaji Yumebutai, an international conference centre located on Awaji Island. Designed by world renowned architect, Tadao Ando, this conference centre is unlike anything I have ever seen. The facilities are absolutely first class and the grounds are amazing with such attention to detail that all of your senses come alive. We were greeted by the President of the facility and then taken on a tour of the area, including the incredibly maintained gardens and the amazing greenhouse.

Day 1 Continued...

The Earthquake Museum made a powerful impact on everyone particularly given the fact that a relatively large earthquake had occurred in Awaji just the previous morning. It was an eye opening, but realistic welcome to Japan. Plans for a wander around Kobe after the museum had to be abandoned as the entire team was running on little sleep and the call of a shower and chance to freshen up proved too tempting. Once we were all beautiful again we headed off in the bus up Mount Rokko to experience one of Japan's three most beautiful night views. It was a long and winding road up the mountain and many ears were popping as we climbed to over 800m. This drive gave us the opportunity to see magnificent scenery and the beautiful colours in nature, including cherry blossoms, which we had previously been told had all but disappeared. As a side note, there was a challenge to team members to take the first photo of sakura after arrival and Neil (with great determination and enthusiasm!!) took out that prize within the first couple of hours in Kobe. Finally we reached out destination at Rokko Garden Terrace and we all piled out of the bus to see who could take the best pics of the amazing view. We arrived before sundown, ate our lovely meal, and then had another chance to admire the beautiful night view. All in all a wonderful first day for our inaugural Team WA Friendship Tour of Hyogo.

Team WA Friendship Tour of Hyogo

Team WA Friendship Tour of Hyogo is now officially on the road!! We got off to a great start with everyone meeting at the airport on time and then, thanks to Singapore Airlines, we were all placed in a group on the plane allowing for much laughter and excited discussion. Things went smoothly all through Singapore transit where we met up with Team Member, Vince, then hopped aboard our flight to Kansai. After checking in at our hotel (where we were joined by remaining team members, Yuki, Sakae, and Tony)we had a quick lunch then made our way to our first sightseeing destination, The Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake Memorial Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, where we met up with former Hyogo Cultural Centre Director, Mr Kawanabe, and his lovely wife, Michiko.

Our beautiful tearoom, generously donated by the City of Perth, is nearing completion. We just couldn't wait for all the finishing touches before displaying our Hina Ningyo for Hina Matsuri (Girls' Day Doll Festival) on March 3. The display will be up for a couple of weeks even though tradition states that the display should be taken down after March 3 if you want girls in the family to have a chance of getting married! Fortunately the people in Kansai are a little more lenient on the time and allow the display to be up during March so we are going with that belief :)

What's going on at Hyogo Cultural Centre?

There's a lot of noise, a lot of sweat, and a lot of mess!! Looks exciting though...

Happy Year of the Snake!!

Well, my New Year's resolution in 2012 of adding to the blog regularly clearly did not work out very well so I am giving it another shot in 2013. Wish me luck! :D This year is once again a big one for the Centre. There are no milestone anniversaries as in the past two years, but we will be heading off on the Centre's inaugural tour to Hyogo, Hiroshima, and the Kansai region. I can't wait!! The schedule is so exciting with plenty of sightseeing, onsen,workshops, school visits, homestays, and FOOD!! Have you seen the video teaser on the homepage of the website yet? We are officially on the countdown to departure now with just over 3 months to go. There will also be plenty of other things happening at the Centre this year so please keep in touch, renew your memberships, and I hope to see you soon. Melissa