At around 12 PM, Okaasan returned from work. She immediately set about making lunch. We ate udon noodles (very tasty). I love eating at this house. It's always spectacular. Definitely worth the Host Family fee I have to pay. Much better than eating alone. I want to learn how to make all kinds of Japanese food. I will make my own recipes based on watching Okaasan in the kitchen. She is a wonderful cook.

After lunch we made a 5 minute trip to the Hospital to see Obaachan (Grandma). I wondered why it was so short, as I didn't realize we were in a hurry. Then Okaasan told me that Chikako needed to buy some things for her trip to Australia. So we went to River City. This is a shopping complex the size of Karrinyup and Galleria put together. We looked at stockings, and Okaasan bought me a pair with a Scotty dog on them - meccha kawaii!! (Sooo cute!). After looking around and buying a wind chime for Chikako's former Host Mother in Australia, we went downstairs. I thought we were leaving the building, but we stopped for coffee. I had a very creamy and bubbly hot chocolate with a chocolate spoon. We all had benie, I'm not sure about their origin but they taste a bit like croissants mixed with donuts. There was dipping sauce too, one each of caramel, maple syrup, and strawberry sauce. Very enjoyable. And did I mention; Okaasan bought me an AstroBoy T-Shirt!! Dinner at home was Japanese style curry (not spicy, nothing like other curries I've had).

That night we went as a family (with Host Dad too!!) to see Black Diamond at the movies. I so desperately wanted to buy popcorn, but I had eaten so much already and we were already late for the previews. Black Diamond, hmm, I thought, I don't know this one. But maybe I do?? When it started, I saw the ACTUAL TITLE. Cradle to the Grave. Mum, Jay would like it. It was an action film starring DMX and Jet Li. Very good, despite the low value placed on human life.

When we got home, Otoosan (Host Dad) showed me how to copy my digital photos onto the computer. We had some language barrier trouble (I couldn't read the prompts), but in the end somehow it all worked out.

There is always some festival or another poking its head around the corner. Today was no exception. My Host Mother asked me last night if I would be getting out of bed at 8 AM. My response was, Why? The festivities weren't scheduled to start until 11am. The castle being less than 10 minutes' walk from the house, I wondered why we would need to get up so EARLY. She explained that we needed to get there early in order to take the best photographs. Fair enough, I thought. The less people there, the better. Little did I know just how many people would turn up at Himeji Castle in one day.

When we arrived at the castle at around 9.10 AM, I realized that it was free entry (it usually costs around $8 - man, everyone are cheapskates). After making our way through the castle grounds and up the 6 or more flights of stairs, we were finally at the top of the castle. With about two hundred other people. In a tiny, dark room. The flights of stairs, which often had no rails, were so steep I had to take one step at a time. I was thinking the whole time, "If this were in Australia, those Public Liability authorities would shut the place down". It amazed me that in the hour it took to look around, I saw no one fall down the stairs. Wearing the standard issue brown slippers (named so for a reason) did not ease my mind one bit. Even the eaves above the staircases were so low that I had to duck my head. I couldn't imagine the old-fashioned warriors, fully armed and armored, running up and down the stairs in a war situation.

Going down the stairs was twice the nightmare of going up. At one point I thought, if I go up there, I have to actually be able to get down. I was literally crawling up the stairs. Not very lady-like, I know, but I'd rather be thought of as a stupid foreigner than break my neck. Chikako (my host sister) told me that usually there are heaps of foreigners at the castle. However, I saw maybe ten Westerners all day. I put this down to one thing: Most of us can't read the paper, let alone understand the TV news, so not many tourists would have known about the festival. One thing's for sure though; there were enough Japanese tourists at the castle to populate a small country.

Four girls asked to take photos with Tegan and I (because we are gaijin). Two old men asked if we were American or English. That kind of annoyed me, because we would never get away with asking Asians in Australia if they are Korean or Japanese. It's rude!!

The sakura were in full bloom; there were many blue canvasses on the grass for people to sit and eat their lunch on, and the route to the entrance gate was lined with food stalls whose every product cost at least Yen 500 ($7). Tegan bought some Castella (sweet food like cake that is in balls shaped like Mickey Mouse's head!!!). I'm not sure where they're from; Chikako says Portugal and Okaasan says Holland. Either way, they are good when they're hot. But quite bland. Between the stalls on either side of the path were about ten trillion people trying to get both in and out of the castle grounds. Unfortunately, in order to get food, I had to become one of these people. One thing that truly shocks me about Japan is the way that people will push you so firmly that if you weren't squashed in between four other people you would surely fall over. So answer me this: How on earth could it be rude to walk and eat at the same time, but totally acceptable to push people to within an inch of their lives?

At around noon, I was anxious to leave the festival as there wasn't much to do. So we went to the top of a building to take photos of the castle from there. Afterwards, we were bored, so after Tegan and Vinny had left, the rest of us went to the Sega Games center nearby (like Timezone). There were machines that dispensed mini viewers with pictures of girls in their bikinis. Matt bought one. I couldn't believe that kids could buy that sort of thing. People were smoking in the small enclosed area, and there were gambling games like in a casino. Catherine and I walked out to find notebooks for university, but got thirsty. I was game enough to try Pocari Sweat (big mistake - it's called sweat for a reason) which tasted very much like grapefruit. But at least I know now.