"VT Meetings (7) November 2007 -- September 2009" Hirakata Travelogue by AyurinHiro

Hirakata Travel Guide: 2 reviews and 45 photos

57) Istanbul(Turkey) VT Meeting : September 20 2009

Chatting over Turkish Tea and Coffee at beautiful Ortakoy

...Armagan(jupiter5) and his wife Sevda from Istanbul, Turkey.
...Mitat(mitata) from Istanbul, Turkey.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) and mother Takako from Osaka,Japan.

From left to right, my mother Takako, Mitat, Armagan and Sevda with Ortakoy Camii and Bosphorus Bridge behind.

It was really nice meeting Armagan, Sevda and Mitat!
It was a special day in Turkey. The first day after Ramadan. People visit their family, relatives. Thank you very much for meeting us on this special day.
At 20:30, we met at Grand Hotel Halic and then moved to Ortakoy, where we can enjoy the magnificent view of Ortakoy Camii (Mosque) and Bosphorus Bridge. Thank you very much, Armagan and Sevda for taking us to Ortakoy... it's really a good idea!
It was festival night and there were a lot of stalls here and there.
And we took a look at Muslims' prayer.
There are a lot of bars, cafes and this area was crowded with a lot of people.
We took seats at "Cafe Cheese Cake" and enjoyed Turkish Tea and Turkish Coffee.(Thank you very much for treating us tea and coffee)
Mitat was visiting his relatives and he couldn't appear at the meeting place at the meeting time... to be honest, I almost gave up meeting him...but to our surprise, he drove all the way to Ortakoy to meet us. Thank you, Mitat.
We enjoyed chatting...about our jobs, about religions, about where we visited in Turkey, about what we ate in Turkey, about Japanese language etc.. It was really wonderful night. Time did fly fast and it was midnight when we said Goodbye. We will never forget this memorable night.
Thank you so much for your hospitality. :-)

It was really nice meeting you all!
Hope to see you again ... next time, my husband will join,too :-)

Click here to see more photos
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Osaka VT Meeting

50) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : November 3 2007

Friendly VT Meeting in Osaka :-)

Osaka VT Meeting

51) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : November 18 2007

Second Meeting with my good VT friend Cynthia :-)

...Cynthia(Cyncyn) from Hong Kong.
...Cynthia's friends Yuko and Miyako from Japan.
...Takako (Ayurin's mother) from Osaka, Japan.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) and husband Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

This Osaka VT Meeting was held to welcome Cynthia :-)
This is our second meeting with Cynthia! Thanks for visiting our country again :-)
We ate dinner at a Japanese casual restaurant "Kichiri".

It seems that Cynthia has been our friends for a long time. :-)
Thank you very much! Hope to see you again!
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Osaka VT Meeting

52) Osaka(Japan) VT Meeting : March 30 2008

Japanese dinner at an Izakaya "Shinanotei" restaurant

...Anu(Huputiti) and her boy friend Niko from Finland.
...Akihito(Akihito&Masako) and his wife Masako, son Kyohei from Osaka, Japan.
...Eiji(Hiroyuki's co-worker) and his wife Nariko, son Yuya from Hyogo, Japan
...Takako (Ayurin's mother) from Osaka, Japan.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) and husband Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

This Osaka VT Meeting was held to welcome Anu and Niko :-)
And to our happiness, we had two friendly families today....Akihito's family and Eiji's family!
We were planning to view the cherry blossoms, but unfortunately it was raining... so we changed our plan and we started dinner earlier than planned.(I hope Anu & Niko can enjoy cherry blossoms during Japan trip.)
We ate dinner at a Japanese casual restaurant (so-called Izakaya restaurant) "Shinanotei". Anu and Niko ate with chopsticks :-)
They brought some sweets from Finland... we tried them! Delicious chocolate and interesting "SALMIAKKI". Speaking of "SALMIAKKI", it was our first time to experience such taste...We enjoyed its odd taste a lot! Wow, it contains Ammonium Chloride!! Akihito got addicted to the taste already :-)
Thank you very much for the lovely heart-shaped candle glass.
Boys introduced themselves in English. Great!

It was a great fun to talk and eat together with you :-)
Thank you very much, everyone! Hope to see you again!

Click here to see more photos

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Sydney VT Meeting

53) Sydney(Australia) VT Meeting : May 24 2008

Garden Buffet Lunch & Walking around Darling Harbour

...Marie(AusPinay) and her husband Dave and her sons Thomas and Lester from Sydney, Australia.
...Kashi(mallyak) from Sydney, Australia.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) and husband Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

During our short weekend holidays, we visited Australia (Uluru and Sydney). And to our happiness, we could have a Sydney VT Meeting with wonderful VT members living there!
The meeting place was "Garden Buffet" at Star City Casino & Hotel.... It is Kashi's workplace! We appreciate his kindness... it was busy Saturday lunch time, but he spent with us for a long time.
And he gave us some Japanese foods :-)
Thank you so much for your time and it was really nice meeting you!
Marie came with her wonderful husband and lovely boys :-)
Thank you very much for the souvenirs and thank you for organizing this meeting for us.Really nice meeting you all.
It was really a cheerful and wonderful experience for us.
We can't believe it was our first meeting.(Marie and Kashi seemed to have been our friends for a long time)
And thanks to them, we felt as if we lived there.

Thank you very much, everyone! Hope to see you again!
(In Sydney again, or we welcome you to Japan!)

Click here to see more photos (1) Lunch at Garden Buffet

Click here to see more photos (2) Walking around Darling Harbour
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Zagreb VT Meeting

54) Zagreb(Croatia) VT Meeting : August 15 2008

Delicious Croatian Dinner

...Roko(CyberCroat) from Zagreb, Croatia.
...Takako (Ayurin's mother) from Osaka, Japan.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) and husband Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

Hawaii VT Meeting

55) Hawaii(USA) VT Meeting : February 27 2009

Dinner together and Beautiful Night View from Tantalus Hilli

...Robert(rmdw) from Vancouver, Canada.
...Eli(Onedragon) from Hawaii, USA.
...Takako (Ayurin's mother) from Osaka, Japan.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) from Osaka,Japan.

Koh Tao VT Meeting

56) Koh Tao(Thailand) VT Meeting : August 10 & 11 2009

Thai food dinner together and taxi-ride on a loading platform

...Jim(outforlunch) and his wife Claudia(Gammy1968) and their daughter Emily(Princess_Emily) from Frankfurt, Germany.
...Ayurin(AyurinHiro) and husband Hiroyuki from Osaka,Japan.

It was really nice meeting Jim, Claudia and Emily!
We had 2 meetings :-)
First night, we met at the Montra Resort & Spa and then walked to "Pranee's Kitchen" Thai food restaurant in Mae Haad town.
It's a casual place and we enjoyed favorite Thai foods, such as Thai Green Curry, Pattai noodle, fruit shake drink etc!
Emily enjoyed watching TV, too :-)
Second night, we went to "New Heaven Restaurant", which offers us an amazing view of Thian Og Bay (Southern part of Koh Tao). We ate on the terrace built on the hilltop. The air was refreshing and the gorgeous view was always with us during our dinner time. (Thanks for choosing this restaurant!) During adults were absorbed in chatting, Emily was trying to make friends with a lovely dog :-)
On our way back to our hotels, we took a taxi...we sat on its loading platform...fun!

It was really nice meeting you...wonderful family!
Hope to see you again ... hopefully in Euromeet! :-)

Click here to see more photos
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Page Updated May 5, 2010
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Comments (11)

Somikan Apr 16, 2010 at 3:26 AM Report Abuse

Konnichiwa Ayuri and Hiro! Thank you so much for the meeting photos and I had a very nice time seeing you both, Takako-san, Aki-san and Masako-san. You need to tell me if you come to Thailand, we can have a great meeting again ^v^
Pixiekatten Jun 18, 2007 at 9:46 AM Report Abuse

Hello Ayuri! :) I am leaving Sweden tomorrow morning and will soon be in Seoul. Very exciting. Really looking forward to seeing you in Kyoto. Take care! :) -Malena
CeciliaL Aug 15, 2006 at 4:01 AM Report Abuse

Thanks for sharing the VT meeting in Beijing!! When will you be visiting Shanghai again :-)
Sharrie Aug 11, 2006 at 6:50 PM Report Abuse

Looks like you are having a marvelous time in China! Wish I had been there! Cu in Osaka again in the Fall :) & thanks again for the wonderful fugu meal!
Confucius Aug 11, 2006 at 4:52 PM Report Abuse

Nice photo! Thanks for saving a seat for me at the table! I would have enjoyed meeting you and your mum. (VT mums really like Confucius!) Oh look! There's my friends Maysue and Sugarpuff too! Lovely! Hope you find good food in Mongolia!
Cyncyn Aug 10, 2006 at 9:36 PM Report Abuse

The resturant is very elegant with chinese decoration ! And the roasted duck also make me feel hungry....... yummy !
maysue Aug 9, 2006 at 6:23 PM Report Abuse

Thanks, Ayurin! Anyway, it is our pleasure to have you and your mum in Beijing. It was a great meeting and thanks for the tea. Loved it. I do hope to visit you and your mum this autumn. At the moment, I'm keeping my fingers cross.
sugarpuff Aug 9, 2006 at 12:09 PM Report Abuse

Thankyou for much for the wonderful tea from Japan and t was great to meet you and your mum...I had a really great evening..and i would love to meet up with you again sometime!
HeadElf Apr 16, 2006 at 9:51 PM Report Abuse

I am an American. My Grandaughter will be visiting Kushimoto in June 2006 as an exchange student. Any tips or information would be appreciated. Thank you, Corla Coles
luckyzen Dec 8, 2005 at 10:42 AM Report Abuse

Hi Ayurin, Your VT meeting looks like you had great fun! It will be nice to hear from you again! Hoping you have a great week ahead!