Anna Matsushita

 On a Spring long time ago, I stayed in Ireland for a month with a group of my friends. We travelled around Ireland, and stayed in Dublin for about a week. As we had a plenty of time, some of us went to Inishmore on the west coast.   The Aran islands are the group of three islands off the west coast of Ireland, including Inishmore, Inisheer, and Inishmaan. They may be popular place for those who knit as the islands of Aran Jumpers, with iconic cable patterns.   We took a long distant coach from Dublin to Galway, a gateway to Aran Island where the ferry to the islands departs. Galway is known as a birthplace of cladder ring, one of the popular souvenir of Ireland. The design of the ring is a combination of crown-topped heart held by two hands. This design may be well-known for Irish accessories. The heart represents love, the crown represents faith, and the hands represents friendship. I heard that the rings are used as an engage ring. We saw this impressive cladder pattern on o

  November came and I was still out of job.  Just for a change from regular visi to job centre and endless search on the internet, I decided to treat myself a day out to the Enoshima Island.  The Enoshima Island is located off the coast in Shonan beach, near Fujisawa, Japan. The legend has it that a lonely dragon was desperate and angry with loneliness, causing terrible disaster to local area with endless storm. Then out of the blue, there came a beautiful goddess, which is said to be the Salasvati, speaking to the angry dragon why he is causing such a dreadful disasters. Dragon said that he want someone to stay with him. The goddess said that she will be with him as his wife on a condition that he will make an end to his  despair and guard the local area instead of causing natural disaster. Thus the island became famous for this romantic legend of dragon and Slasvati, couples from all over the world are visiting shrines, making wish for endless relationship. It was a warm day, and des