Meet the Machiya's!

This weekend, Chi invited her roommate, Takako, and me to come to her house in Niigata, a town about 9 hours north of Osaka. We took an overnight bus to her hometown and stayed at family's house for three days. Here are the Machiyas...Mom, Azumi, Rai the Dog, Lin, Chi, and Yuki. Mom is a major Olivia Newton John fan, loves to cook, and takes as many pictures as the paparazzi. Azumi is the second oldest, lives near Tokyo, and loves to dance. Rai the Dog lives with Azumi, has a wardrobe of clothes, is bilingual, and loves edamae. Lin is the youngest of the four, the only son, lives away at school about an hour away from Niigata, and has no underarm hair. Chi is the third child, has the same face as Lin, lives in Osaka, and often invades my house. Yuki is the oldest, lives with Mom, has a handsome boyfriend, and is a musician.

We saw so much of Niigata while we there...we ate yummy Niigata food, walked around the town, went to a park, went to the Sea of Japan, went to a second hand store, rode a two hour ferry out to Sado Island, dug for gold, stayed up late having a pajama party, went to an art museum, and ate lots of edamae. I took so many pictures, so here's a slide show of my trip to Niigata. Thank you, Chi-chan, for inviting me to see your family and hometown!!!