how to stay cool in Fukuoka's summer
omg, the summer here has been scorching hot! i don't remember it being this hot last year!! it's been a constant 35 C, and next week, it'll just get even hotter! there have been news reports of people and children suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion left and right. hubs just told me about an old man (over 60 something) in the news who was just out walking and ended up dying because he overheated...from something as innocent as a walk outside! it's down right scary right now, i tell ya!
my friend's kid also suffered from slight heat exhaustion when they went out to the pool the other day, and i'm pretty sure that scared the heck out of her since her son is only 2 years old :(
so, i was glad that the get together that i'm having on Tuesday will NOT be at the beach, but instead has been changed to having a small BBQ and hangout inside the school. :) anything indoors with a/c would be great right now. our a/c hasn't stopped since July started, so our electric bill has doubled, but if it will keep us from getting heat stroke in our sleep or whatnot, it's sooo worth it! just wish we had one more for hub's office in our apt. :T
i think the city is recognizing how hot things are now, so they've been having lots of water events. one of them is their annual water park held at the City Hall. she went last year too, but it wasn't as fun as this year. they had a huuuuge water slide that the kids could go on, a whole bunch of yo-yo activities, and they even had a little place where babies and toddlers could play. :) Kay ended that event with her favorite treat: shave ice with strawberry syrup! :D
everything in that event was free except for the huge water slide, but even that was only 100 yen per slide, so i thought it was very reasonable :) i think the most expensive items would be the food and drinks at the vendors. the kakigori (shave ice) in the pic was 300 yen, but i think it's pretty standard when it comes to vendors. :P
after a change of clothes, hubs took Kay to the "night zoo". during the summers, the zoo is open in the evenings as well to help the crowd cool off, and i guess, for some people to observe the animals that are nocturnal. things can be boiling hot during the day here, but once 5:00 or 6:00 rolls around, the temperatures start to cool a bit. there's still daylight around then, so it's not totally cool as it is at night, but it's a bit more tolerable than, say, in the blistering afternoon. the only problem i have with going to the zoo at night is that the mosquitoes come out and they sure do looove my little Kay! she came back that night pretty much eaten alive. counted 14 big bites all over her legs. :( sigh...
in the last pic, you can see them spraying a mist overhead as you walked by the pretty lights :) good way to cool off in my opinion ^_^
on a side note, Kay has been excelling in drawing free hand. she's definitely got my artistic talent ^_^ recently, she's been drawing things that "scare daddy" since hubs has been talking about ghosts and all that due to Obon. so, Kay drew her first zombie the other day! i was actually quite impressed! like any girl, she usually just draws girly things. so, she loves drawing her hoikuen teachers and actually gives them a drawing every day, whether it be a portrait of them in cute matching dresses or something else she decides to draw :) she has been drawing her self portrait lately, and has finally grown out of her "blonde wig" phase. (remember her mother's day picture?) she's actually using brown or dark brown now, which is a relief to be honest ^_^;; so, having her draw a green zombie complete with angry looking stars on its clothes was quite surprising ^_^ she also ended up drawing a mummy, a ghost, colored some bats, and even wound up drawing her "poo" which apparently "is so smelly that it frightens daddy". ^_^;; she was cracking up the whole time she was drawing that last one ~_~;; right now, she's building her version of a "haunted house" in a part of hub's office. this all because hubs reacted to her pictures and Kay got a kick out of seeing daddy all frightened ^_^;; sigh, i'm so glad that he's such a good dad. i don't think i would be able to humor her in the same way :P good thing she's got his sense of humor ^_^;;
i'll take pictures of it when i get a chance :D
my friend's kid also suffered from slight heat exhaustion when they went out to the pool the other day, and i'm pretty sure that scared the heck out of her since her son is only 2 years old :(
so, i was glad that the get together that i'm having on Tuesday will NOT be at the beach, but instead has been changed to having a small BBQ and hangout inside the school. :) anything indoors with a/c would be great right now. our a/c hasn't stopped since July started, so our electric bill has doubled, but if it will keep us from getting heat stroke in our sleep or whatnot, it's sooo worth it! just wish we had one more for hub's office in our apt. :T
i think the city is recognizing how hot things are now, so they've been having lots of water events. one of them is their annual water park held at the City Hall. she went last year too, but it wasn't as fun as this year. they had a huuuuge water slide that the kids could go on, a whole bunch of yo-yo activities, and they even had a little place where babies and toddlers could play. :) Kay ended that event with her favorite treat: shave ice with strawberry syrup! :D
Click to view everything in that event was free except for the huge water slide, but even that was only 100 yen per slide, so i thought it was very reasonable :) i think the most expensive items would be the food and drinks at the vendors. the kakigori (shave ice) in the pic was 300 yen, but i think it's pretty standard when it comes to vendors. :P
after a change of clothes, hubs took Kay to the "night zoo". during the summers, the zoo is open in the evenings as well to help the crowd cool off, and i guess, for some people to observe the animals that are nocturnal. things can be boiling hot during the day here, but once 5:00 or 6:00 rolls around, the temperatures start to cool a bit. there's still daylight around then, so it's not totally cool as it is at night, but it's a bit more tolerable than, say, in the blistering afternoon. the only problem i have with going to the zoo at night is that the mosquitoes come out and they sure do looove my little Kay! she came back that night pretty much eaten alive. counted 14 big bites all over her legs. :( sigh...
in the last pic, you can see them spraying a mist overhead as you walked by the pretty lights :) good way to cool off in my opinion ^_^
on a side note, Kay has been excelling in drawing free hand. she's definitely got my artistic talent ^_^ recently, she's been drawing things that "scare daddy" since hubs has been talking about ghosts and all that due to Obon. so, Kay drew her first zombie the other day! i was actually quite impressed! like any girl, she usually just draws girly things. so, she loves drawing her hoikuen teachers and actually gives them a drawing every day, whether it be a portrait of them in cute matching dresses or something else she decides to draw :) she has been drawing her self portrait lately, and has finally grown out of her "blonde wig" phase. (remember her mother's day picture?) she's actually using brown or dark brown now, which is a relief to be honest ^_^;; so, having her draw a green zombie complete with angry looking stars on its clothes was quite surprising ^_^ she also ended up drawing a mummy, a ghost, colored some bats, and even wound up drawing her "poo" which apparently "is so smelly that it frightens daddy". ^_^;; she was cracking up the whole time she was drawing that last one ~_~;; right now, she's building her version of a "haunted house" in a part of hub's office. this all because hubs reacted to her pictures and Kay got a kick out of seeing daddy all frightened ^_^;; sigh, i'm so glad that he's such a good dad. i don't think i would be able to humor her in the same way :P good thing she's got his sense of humor ^_^;;
i'll take pictures of it when i get a chance :D