My older brother, Ray, came into town for a short visit with his girlfriend, Lydia. He had come into a bit of money and I convinced him to travel to Apple Valley so that we could go to Kimikura. Julio had found a great deal for four sims and it didn't take much convincing! We hired a nanny to watch the twins and we were off!After checking into our hotel, we visited the hotel gift shop and brought some east asian outfits. Lydia and I kept picking the same kimono. I didn't realize that we both have very similar senses of style. We both LOVE the color brown-though I could live with orange as well.
After changing we visited the Majoung Market for a game of majoung and some authentic noodle dishes. The boys kept whispering on thier end of the bar, but Lydia and I barely noticed. We were so involved in our own conversation. Lydia is very interested in finances, like myself, so we spent most of the vacation debating about the economic slump and ways to avoid it and overcome it.
It wasn't all serious talk, we managed to book a historic walking tour through some of the ancient, historic and most popular destinations in Kimikura. It was amazing, we managed to see ancient temples, vast forest lands, native animal species and more. We saw the most amazing sculptures including deities representing Nature and Wealth.
During our trip we stopped at the world famous Kimikura Tea House for a traditional tea ceremony. It was amazing. I have to tell Sazo about this tea, he needs to start stocking it in his business...or perhaps I could open an import store...hmmm. Oh, back to the trip. What I didn't know during the tea ceremony is that Ray was nervously planning a big surprise for Lydia. Julio had to distract me for a few hours and he chose the perfect way, a nice long soak in the natural hot springs. Later Lydia and Ray joined us and she was beaming and waving her hands about. In spite of her waving her hands about, I was able to see that she was wearing grandmother's ring. I remember our mom looking for that ring after dad's funeral. She said that Lydia was something special and wanted Ray to have the ring to give to her. Seeing the ring made me teary eyed as memories of mom and grandmom rushed back to me.
All too soon, the trip was over and I was waving goodbye to my brother and my future sister-in-law (I'll let Ray give the details about the proposal!)
Posts
