"VT Meetings (2) May 2004 --January 2005" by AyurinHiro

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17) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : January 27 2005

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Izakaya Dinner (Japanese casual restaurant) & Public Bath

Friends
...Siau Whay(SWtai) & her husband Vincent from Singapore.
...Shahed(Shahed7) from Dhaka, Bangladesh.(now lives in Osaka, Japan)
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Siau Whay, Vincent, Shahed, Hiroyuki, Ayurin at the restaurant.

We had an Osaka meeting to welcome Siau Whay and Vincent from Singapore. Lovely couple :-) And, nice guy Shahed from Dhaka joined us,too.
After meeting up at Swissotel, we moved to "Shinanotei"(Japanese casual restaurant) and ate Japanese foods. Then we visited the public bath "Yuraku". It was a great fun to eat and chat with them and experience various kinds of bathtubs :-)
Hope to see you all again! Thank you, Siau Whay, Vincent, Shahed!

Click here to see more photos.
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10) Kyoto(Japan) VT Meeting : May 29 2004

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Fushimi-Inari Shrine & Fish Dinner

Friends
...Sandra(hundertmorgen) and her friend Manfred from Essen,Germany
...Eiji(Eiji) & his wife Michiko from Kobe,Japan
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Eiji, Ayurin, Manfred, Michiko and Sandra.
(My hubby Hiroyuki was the photographer)

We ate Okonomiyaki (Japanese vegitable pizza) .
After that, we moved to Fushimi-Inari Shrine, the headquarter of Japanese Shintoism Shrines.
The thousands of red arches led us to the hill top behind the shrine.
We also enjoyed sampling various kinds of Japanese traditional sweets on the basement floor of Isetan department store.
For our dinner, Michiko took us to a great fish restaurant... where we could enjoy various kinds of fish food.. Yum yum! Thank you,Sandra,Manfred,Eiji-san,Michiko-san!

Click here to see more photos (about 40 photos!)
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11) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : August 1 2004

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Acty Osaka Observatory, Beef Barbeque Dinner & Giant Ferris Wheel

Friends
...Christian(Silvereye) and his friends Bede & Tiam from Melbourne,Australia
...Craig(Hewer) from Osaka,Japan (originally from New Castle,Australia)
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Christian, Craig, Ayurin, Tiam, Bede. (My hubby Hiroyuki was the photographer)

We got together at Hotel Granvia Osaka and went up the building to the 27th floor observatory.
After enjoying the scenery, we ate beef barbeque.
Wow, we have a good news!
Christian's friends Bede and Tiam just got engaged!
Bede proposed her in Japan!
We're so happy because Japan will remain a special place for them forever! Congratulations!

Thank you very much, Christian, Craig, Bede and Tiam! You all are so nice and we are so happy to have met you :-)
Hope to see you again. Have a good time!

Click here to see more photos
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12) Kobe(Japan) VT Meeting : August 28 2004

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Kobe night scenery & Japanese casual dinner

Friends
...Hadi(skychef) from Dubai,United Arab Emirates. (originally from Beirut, Lebanon)
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Hiroyuki, Ayurin, and Hadi.

This is our second meeting with Hadi!! (First time, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He,Mami and Amir showed us around Dubai. Thanks.)
We are so happy to have the chance to meet him again.
We met at about 19:45 at his hotel in Osaka, then moved to Kobe Harbor Land. We saw illuminated Port Tower, Hotels, and Museum building. After that, we ate Japanese casual dinner (fried chicken, tempura, fried rice with small fish, tofu salad with sea weed, raw fish etc.) It was 0:45am when we came back to his hotel.Haha.
We hope we can meet him again soon.
Thank you,Hadi!

Hadi has created a travelogue of our meeting, too.
Click here to see more photos.
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13) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : September 12 2004

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Osaka night scenery & Japanese deep-fry fondue dinner

Friends
...Steven(sdevries) from Montreal,Canada.
...Sergio(Tunda_F) from Rome,Italy.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Sergio, Steven and Ayurin.

I & my husband are very happy to have met these cheerful and great guys :-) We are all scuba divers! What a nice coincidence!
We enjoyed chatting and eating deep-fry on a skewer.
It was such a nice meeting!
Hope to see you again! Thank you, Steven & Sergio!

Click here to see more photos
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14) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : September 19 2004

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Himeji Castle, Kobe Night Scenery & Japanese fondue dinner

Friends
...Michael(Quickmcj) from Korsor,Denmark.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Michael, Shogun?! at Himeji Castle, and Ayurin. My hubby Hiroyuki was the photographer.

Welcome to Japan, Michael!
We really thank you for choosing Japan as your travel destination. Your book on Japan is interesting! We could find a new aspect of our own country through your eyes.
Hope to see you again! Thank you, Michael!

Click here to see more photos ---> Lunch & Dinner , In Himeji Castle (1) , In Himeji Castle (2)
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15) Taipei(Taiwan) VT Meeting : January 2 2005

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CKS Memorial Hall, Shin Kong Tower, Chinese Dinner & Shilin Night Market

Friends
...Charles(Burtty), his wife Sophia(Sophiason) and their son David from Taipei,Taiwan.
...Jason(THLIN) from Taipei,Taiwan.
...cafemilk(cafemilk) from Taipei,Taiwan.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

We had a great time with these wonderful VT friends :-). They showed us around Taipei, treated us to delicious local foods... Thanks to them we enjoyed Taipei trip so much! Hope to see you again! Thank you, Charles, Jason,Sophia,cafemilk and David!

Click here to see more photos ---> CKS Memorial Hall , Shin Kong Tower & Dinner , Shilin Night Market
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16) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : January 22 2005

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Izakaya Dinner (Japanese casual restaurant), Ohatsutenjin Shrine

Friends
...Randy(DirtyRudy) from Philadelphia, USA.
...Yeong Lee(kikiree) from Sungai Petani, Malaysia.(currently living in Japan)
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) & hubby Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right... Yeong Lee, Randy, Ayurin (Hiroyuki was the photographer)

This is our second meetiing with Randy :-) And this time, Yeong Lee joined! They are so friendly... and they got engaged last month! Congratulations :-) Sweeeet couple!
It was really a wonderful meeting.
Hope to see you again and again! Thank you, Randy and Yeong Lee!!

Click here to see more photos.
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