Last week was the Obon holiday (the period when the spirits of ancestors come back), we had a chance to hang out together. Obon is the most important Buddhist festival in Japan. It takes place in August. It is a time when Buddhists remember people in their family who have died. Some Buddhists believe that the spirits of people who have died come back to the family home for the three days of the festival. Most of workers have take couple of days off to spend their time with their families.

My husband and I used to live far from our parents due to his job, so it was always difficult to visit them. We used to drive to our hometown for eight to nine hours just to spend a couple of days with them. Both my parents and his parents always looked forward to seeing their granddaughter, and they often took us to nice restaurants. Our daughter loved being spoiled by her grandparents, receiving her favorite toys, or sometimes some pocket money. We visited our ancestors' graveyards to pray, during staying . Now, we live much closer to my parents ( my husband's parents have already passed away), and I truly appreciate it because I can visit them anytime I want.

During this Obon, I avoided to visit my parents because I don't like traffic jams or crowded trains. Instead, we spent time with our daughter and her family. Fortunately, they live close to us, so we can get together whenever we want.

We went to an Italian restaurant to have lunch that day, even though going restaurants wasn't a great idea during Obon. That's because everywhere is packed by people.

This restaurant is very popular among local people, so we had to wait for our turn for almost one hour.

The inside of the restaurant was bright, and handmade pottery and paintings on walls made us feel as if we were enjoying an Italian mamma's homemade cooking.

They also had a wonderful buffet-style bar for appetizer.

My grandson ate a lot that day. I'm glad to see that he's getting more well-mannered and even used a folk skillfully.

Since I'm a huge fan of mushrooms, I ordered porcini pasta even though most of mushroom used here weren't real porcini. It's really difficult to have authentic fresh ones in Japan, and I miss them so much.

It's always fun to share meals with many people. I believe that conversations are one of the best spices that makes food even more enjoyable. Both our daughter and our son-in-law loved this restaurant, so we'll definitely go back some time soon.

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