Actually, I am not fond of that metaphor - it is less like this road is coming to an end, and more like I am crossing a border. A prime example from my past voyages comes to mind; Scavone, Cassidy, Zach, and I were driving through the redwood forests of Northern California. Eventually this road made it to the shoreline, curvining and winding up and down hecticly, the night descending on the already ark forest -- when suddenly we burst past the trees, the ground levelled in a plateau, and the uncovered twilight brightened the car significantly. Suddenly the road straightened significantly; we could see the sea, further inland, and the cloudly sky all very clearly and things levelled into a sort of comforting, beautiful and bland kind of barren landscape. This is allusion is much more fitting, despite some clouds and one or two obstructive buildings, I am heading into a more level and calm, much more familiar and endearing time. The previous setting, wild, nerve-wracking, but fun in an intense way will fade into the background...
...But, as those obstructions are so few, let me quickly mention the most prominent. Although I have a date set to return home, in my mind that I am happily telling everyone, I have just learned it is not completely certain. Basically I have been counting on Steve (my step-dad) starting his job with United this week, providing me cheap or free tickets, but they are somewhere between unorganized and messing around with him. I will probably still leave on Wednesday, but if he gets a call saying he needs to start a bit later...well, maybe I'll be here for another few days. It's not a huge deal, but it is discomforting for me to go from thinking I'll have my tickets today and that I can tell NASIC my check-out date tomorrow, to hoping I can give them a definitive date by Friday. Oh well, what can you do?
Now, the astute will notice a big difference from my last two posts -- I am not just openly talking about leaving, I am openly talking about leaving in a week. What happened here? Well,...since about last Thursday or Friday (depending on your location) I have been kind of disputing with AU over a tuition refund. The details are a tad hazy, so I am uncomfortable delving into too much detail. Basically I was getting fed some news that the AU Abroad policy was not to do refunds, which kind of goes against everything AU Abroad supposedly stands for. Added to this Waseda is totally willing to do refunds for students if they apply on time, I basically got annoyed and argued a lot. I also felt insulted by some parts of the exchange, and in turn may have hurt my advisor's feelings...inspiring him to prove my statements against him were unfounded, by (supposedly) taking up my case. Which kind of leaves me at a point where I don't know how far my argument got, and how far my advisor's support got (either way thank you!). In anycase, the result is a partial refund and confirmation from both schools that I have withdrawn from Waseda for this semester. Tuition was the main contingent holding me back since about Thursday, and was resolved as of Saturday or so -- after that I was only unwilling to talk about it as I had not received any sort of official confirmation until Saturday evening.
As for the other part, why I am leaving next week rather than a month from now as originally planned, there are two reasons. First...I just don't feel comfortable continuing in the care of the Japanese health care system. For those that did not read my last post, I will truncate most of my woes into this summation: Stubborness and Language Barrier. It is not important how much of this is actual, this is what my experience so far has told me exists (I am finding myself doubting how bad some of the doctors/nurses' English actually is, though there seems to be an obvious and surprising lack in English medical vocabular for most of them). I want to have an check-up/physical in both a language and context I am familiar and comfortable with. The second reason is that I want to work for three solid months (May, June, July) if I can, which requires returning home well...before May. Actually, let's add a third reason -- my little bro's b-day is on the 30th, I doubt I'll see him for it but it is a possibility.
I have more to talk about, primarily about this concert I went to (Stance Punks) and how my medical exams went today (special thank you Ben for helping a drugged-out me back to the dorms), but I feel this post has already become pretty long and cumbersome. Instead, I think I would just like to say hello and thank you to all of my dorm mates (and anyone else) who has recently started reading my blog! Hello! Although this blog is coming to an end time-wise, content-wise it should still have a bit to go. So, please stick around until the end! Who knows, when I return to the US I may choose to continue the blog with more general travels, or focus more strongly on that other blog I contribute to.
P.S. I'd also like to note that just about everyone has been pretty super cool about my leaving, even those that had to find out over facebook (or, in at least one case, twitter). I can't really express how grateful I am to everyone for that. My friends, my family, and even I kept telling myself I shouldn't have to worry about it too much, but it is kind of my nature. Anyway -- huge shout out to everyone who has been supportive, thank you so much!
Showing posts with label Adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventure. Show all posts
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Nagoya -- The Finale
Well, the trip is over and I am back in my dorm in Tokyo. I even took a nap. However, I will keep this post focused on just the last day in Nagoya up till now.
So, basically around 10ish Ben and I went out and hit the city, our first goal the Free Cafe. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we wandered around looking for food. Eventually I suggested Denny's as a joke and he started considering it, which lead to Japanese Denny's Brunch! It is uh...very different. There is a morning menu, defeating one of the purpose's of Denny's, and the menu was rather tiny...only really serving combos and dishes that were somewhat not terrible for you -- defeating a second purpose. At least they are open weird hours, though they are not 24-7. We both got some morning set that was a salad with thousand island dressing (no control over this?), sausage, bacon, eggs (they messed up mine =( ) and a choice of 3 breads -- in our case mini-pancakes. It was all actually pretty good, the pancakes not being much worse than normal Denny's pancakes and the sauage being amazing. Afterwards I got a blueberry cheesecake...which was ridiculously tiny and dissappointing. Oh well.
From there we kind of wandered around looking for the market Ben went to the day before, so I could buy shoes. We ended up seeing lots of crazy clothes, and I got brown and white animal striped shoes with really soft/furry interiors. They are kind of awkward to wear, and were expensive, but totally worth it. I also had some mexican food in the area -- a somewhat over priced taco. This tasted pretty alright, surprisingly. Not the best ever, but at least they did not use ketchup or something as the base for the salsa.
From there we went back to the Free Cafe, which was now open. Now, this is exactly what it sounds like - a cafe that is free. It is pretty snazzy. There is a line to get in and get a cup and small plate, then you can get either coffee, tea, orange juice, or water, and basically as many "Senbei" or rice crackers as you want, which they also sell. It is a really cool idea, and extremely convenient. I guess the main point is to raise awareness of environmental problems, which I do not believe it does, but it is a cool hang-out point and cheap snack. Worth noting: although there is room for a lot of tables and chairs, which there are around the perimeter, the middle is rather open with serving tables, and two tables to stand and eat at. It works pretty well, it inspires people to move and not get bogged down, which works well with their 30minute limit for being in the cafe.
After the Free Cafe we decided to wander back around towards the hotel area, and went to Karaoke for about an hour and a half. It was pretty cheap, and decently fun, especially since there were only two of us. We then did the standard cafe for a few hours, and then went to catch our bus, ending the fun part of the trip. The bus back was a bit nicer than the other buses, and I managed to sleep through a lot of it, but the parts I was up for were obnoxious. But it should be my last one, possibly forever!
Anyway, even if I do not have my thing ready for the 50th post I still feel I should mention that this is it! We have hit 50! So exciting, though it will likely be the only exciting number that this blog reaches...making it even more exciting!
So, basically around 10ish Ben and I went out and hit the city, our first goal the Free Cafe. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we wandered around looking for food. Eventually I suggested Denny's as a joke and he started considering it, which lead to Japanese Denny's Brunch! It is uh...very different. There is a morning menu, defeating one of the purpose's of Denny's, and the menu was rather tiny...only really serving combos and dishes that were somewhat not terrible for you -- defeating a second purpose. At least they are open weird hours, though they are not 24-7. We both got some morning set that was a salad with thousand island dressing (no control over this?), sausage, bacon, eggs (they messed up mine =( ) and a choice of 3 breads -- in our case mini-pancakes. It was all actually pretty good, the pancakes not being much worse than normal Denny's pancakes and the sauage being amazing. Afterwards I got a blueberry cheesecake...which was ridiculously tiny and dissappointing. Oh well.
From there we kind of wandered around looking for the market Ben went to the day before, so I could buy shoes. We ended up seeing lots of crazy clothes, and I got brown and white animal striped shoes with really soft/furry interiors. They are kind of awkward to wear, and were expensive, but totally worth it. I also had some mexican food in the area -- a somewhat over priced taco. This tasted pretty alright, surprisingly. Not the best ever, but at least they did not use ketchup or something as the base for the salsa.
From there we went back to the Free Cafe, which was now open. Now, this is exactly what it sounds like - a cafe that is free. It is pretty snazzy. There is a line to get in and get a cup and small plate, then you can get either coffee, tea, orange juice, or water, and basically as many "Senbei" or rice crackers as you want, which they also sell. It is a really cool idea, and extremely convenient. I guess the main point is to raise awareness of environmental problems, which I do not believe it does, but it is a cool hang-out point and cheap snack. Worth noting: although there is room for a lot of tables and chairs, which there are around the perimeter, the middle is rather open with serving tables, and two tables to stand and eat at. It works pretty well, it inspires people to move and not get bogged down, which works well with their 30minute limit for being in the cafe.
After the Free Cafe we decided to wander back around towards the hotel area, and went to Karaoke for about an hour and a half. It was pretty cheap, and decently fun, especially since there were only two of us. We then did the standard cafe for a few hours, and then went to catch our bus, ending the fun part of the trip. The bus back was a bit nicer than the other buses, and I managed to sleep through a lot of it, but the parts I was up for were obnoxious. But it should be my last one, possibly forever!
Anyway, even if I do not have my thing ready for the 50th post I still feel I should mention that this is it! We have hit 50! So exciting, though it will likely be the only exciting number that this blog reaches...making it even more exciting!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Nagoyakou
Today was kind of uneventful. Basically I woke up, applied for classes and laid around for a few hours. Around noon I went out the the port, and just wandered. Now, I went to the port knowing that it was the biggest trading port in Japan, so I expected to do some shopping and finally get my shoes. However, everything was closed. Instead I just walkd around for an hour and a half or so, taking in the sites, and then heading back. While there I picked up a ramune-flavored ice pop, with little fizzy soda-flavored candies in the middle. For those not in the know, ramune is japanese soda that comes in really cool bottles -- there is a thin neck and two indents near the top, and then the top is sealed with a glass ball. You smash down on the ball to open the soda, and then drink it so the indents catch the ball -- I love them, but find they are easier to find in Japanese import stores in America than in Japan. Every now and then I luck into them at a restaurant, but then they only have this standard flavor...it's kind of unfortunate. Conversely, there are lots of ramune flavored things (kind of funny since Ramune is derivative of the word Lemonade, though they don't taste similar) - such as this ice-pop. I had seen it around, but never purchased one before. It was interesting. I wandered some of the malls back in my area, but I just wasn't feeling it. I think I am at the beginning stages of illness, so I am just going to take the time to rest. In that vein, I am drawing a bath as I type this.
Tomorrow Ben and I should travel together, although we have not discussed it yet. My hope is to maybe go to the "Free Cafe" he mentioned in comments on my last post, but other than that I really don't know what I would like to do. There is a LOT of time to kill. I don't think I want to go to the Port or Castle again, and I doubt he wants to go back to the market he went to today. I don't expect to be up to Karaoke, and quite frankly think it would be awful with just two people anyway. A trip to the Onsen could be alright, but it is the sort of thing that would be better after a long bus ride -- you follow an Onsen with sleep in a warm bed, not a stressful bus ride. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with something -- at the very least there are a good amount of parks and museums in the area.
It seems kind of pointless to post this, as I have so little to say since my last post, but I do want to state some of my plans for the blog. Tomorrow is my last day in Nagoya, and that evening Ben and I catch the night bus. I'll probably pass out when I get back to Tokyo, but sometime that day I will write a post or two on tomorrow and my first day back in Tokyo. Sometime later in the week I will write a total-sum up of the full trip, and either attached to that or as a separate post, I will have a surprise gift post (if you follow my Buzz or remember my Hakodate trip you can guess what this gift is) -- though maybe I will post it early for the 50th post. After all of that is done, I'll post the sum-up of my first semester at Waseda (I am working on this). So, this should all be up by the end of the week -- once that's set I'll go back to normal posts. Though, they will likely still be somewhat frequent as the new semester is starting, and I'm supposed to start tutoring within the next week or so, if all goes well. Anyway, I kind of wanted to state where I stand on this trip and how long it will take to move on and away from it, and to sort of warn of a return to normalcy. I feel I should also mention that, although I am spending a tad more than I originally anticipated, I have not given up on taking a short trip during spring -- most likely during Golden Week. Well, we'll see what happens!
P.S. Haha, my bath is done! Perfect.
Tomorrow Ben and I should travel together, although we have not discussed it yet. My hope is to maybe go to the "Free Cafe" he mentioned in comments on my last post, but other than that I really don't know what I would like to do. There is a LOT of time to kill. I don't think I want to go to the Port or Castle again, and I doubt he wants to go back to the market he went to today. I don't expect to be up to Karaoke, and quite frankly think it would be awful with just two people anyway. A trip to the Onsen could be alright, but it is the sort of thing that would be better after a long bus ride -- you follow an Onsen with sleep in a warm bed, not a stressful bus ride. Oh well, I'm sure we'll come up with something -- at the very least there are a good amount of parks and museums in the area.
It seems kind of pointless to post this, as I have so little to say since my last post, but I do want to state some of my plans for the blog. Tomorrow is my last day in Nagoya, and that evening Ben and I catch the night bus. I'll probably pass out when I get back to Tokyo, but sometime that day I will write a post or two on tomorrow and my first day back in Tokyo. Sometime later in the week I will write a total-sum up of the full trip, and either attached to that or as a separate post, I will have a surprise gift post (if you follow my Buzz or remember my Hakodate trip you can guess what this gift is) -- though maybe I will post it early for the 50th post. After all of that is done, I'll post the sum-up of my first semester at Waseda (I am working on this). So, this should all be up by the end of the week -- once that's set I'll go back to normal posts. Though, they will likely still be somewhat frequent as the new semester is starting, and I'm supposed to start tutoring within the next week or so, if all goes well. Anyway, I kind of wanted to state where I stand on this trip and how long it will take to move on and away from it, and to sort of warn of a return to normalcy. I feel I should also mention that, although I am spending a tad more than I originally anticipated, I have not given up on taking a short trip during spring -- most likely during Golden Week. Well, we'll see what happens!
P.S. Haha, my bath is done! Perfect.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Nagoya, more like NAG, Oh Yeah!
First real day in Nagoya is really finished! Today was rather non-eventful, but I guess I saw somethings that kept me amused. Let me relate them to you all.
Well, off to a late start due at least in part to the separate room thing, Ben and I went around and grabbed some lunch -- bento (basically lunch boxes, stores that specialize in these are common everywhere in Japan). This is important because my bento was something called "Kuma-San" which roughly translates to Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss Bear. It came in a container shaped like a bear head, and the top had a little face. It was adorable, delicious, and a surprisingly decent amount of food. Ben and I enjoyed our meals in a park, and then basically just walked around. There was a loose goal of finding me shoes (my somewhat recently purchases laces broke this morning, which somehow made me more urgent in this...even though they still tie and can be bought separately), which was not successful, but did lead us to an area near Central Park (hahaha) with dinosaur-shaped bushes, an NHK character store, a Pokemon Store (with union room) AND a Shonen Jump Store! Pretty impressive stuff, you know. I also almost bought shoes, but chose to wait and try to find better ones later.
From here we kind of wandered out again, somewhat aimlessly. At a certain point Ben decided to go one way and me another, which was roughly we got sick of dealing with each other and neither wanted to follow the other. This happened in Hiroshima, too, with the park...but this time had a lot more lead up and was much more smooth a separation. Anyway, afterwards I kind of wandered all over the place. I went down to Nagoya Station, which has some cool buildings (especially the spiral tower!) and some malls, then wandered out to Ennoji shopping street, which had lots of slippers but no shoes I could use, and finally ended up exploring Nagoya Castle area. This is important because not only is it the 400th year anniversary of the castle, but the castle was closed when I got there and left me with a ridiculously long walk back with nothing of real interest on the way. I found a shoe shop, but they stop stocking shoes at like...2 inches short of mine. Oh well. The areas I walked through were pretty, but the only really interesting thing was a somewhat ugly park with giant stones just sort of set up in it. I forget the parks name, but it was referred to as a forest, in Japanese, and a park, square, and garden as an English translation of forest...which was really funny to me.
The last really interesting thing that happened today occured when I went to the station to get back to my hotel. A random Japanese woman just kind of walked up to me when I was about to buy my ticket and, in Japanese, told me that she was giving me her day-pass because she could not use it. It is possibly the most confusing, spontaneous, and nicest thing that has happened to me in Japan. Needless to say I am in a good mood now.
As for the future, tomorrow Ben and I have outright planned to explore separately. I think he has taken to heart some of my suggestions, too, so I guess we are going to an Onsen tomorrow, and maybe Karaoke the next day before our bus. Other than that, I kind of want to go to Nagoya Port, at some point, possibly return to the castle, check out this ferris wheel near our hotel, check out a shoe store near our hotel, and possibly check out this british pub/live music venue...also near our hotel. We'll see how much I care to stick to.
Well, off to a late start due at least in part to the separate room thing, Ben and I went around and grabbed some lunch -- bento (basically lunch boxes, stores that specialize in these are common everywhere in Japan). This is important because my bento was something called "Kuma-San" which roughly translates to Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss Bear. It came in a container shaped like a bear head, and the top had a little face. It was adorable, delicious, and a surprisingly decent amount of food. Ben and I enjoyed our meals in a park, and then basically just walked around. There was a loose goal of finding me shoes (my somewhat recently purchases laces broke this morning, which somehow made me more urgent in this...even though they still tie and can be bought separately), which was not successful, but did lead us to an area near Central Park (hahaha) with dinosaur-shaped bushes, an NHK character store, a Pokemon Store (with union room) AND a Shonen Jump Store! Pretty impressive stuff, you know. I also almost bought shoes, but chose to wait and try to find better ones later.
From here we kind of wandered out again, somewhat aimlessly. At a certain point Ben decided to go one way and me another, which was roughly we got sick of dealing with each other and neither wanted to follow the other. This happened in Hiroshima, too, with the park...but this time had a lot more lead up and was much more smooth a separation. Anyway, afterwards I kind of wandered all over the place. I went down to Nagoya Station, which has some cool buildings (especially the spiral tower!) and some malls, then wandered out to Ennoji shopping street, which had lots of slippers but no shoes I could use, and finally ended up exploring Nagoya Castle area. This is important because not only is it the 400th year anniversary of the castle, but the castle was closed when I got there and left me with a ridiculously long walk back with nothing of real interest on the way. I found a shoe shop, but they stop stocking shoes at like...2 inches short of mine. Oh well. The areas I walked through were pretty, but the only really interesting thing was a somewhat ugly park with giant stones just sort of set up in it. I forget the parks name, but it was referred to as a forest, in Japanese, and a park, square, and garden as an English translation of forest...which was really funny to me.
The last really interesting thing that happened today occured when I went to the station to get back to my hotel. A random Japanese woman just kind of walked up to me when I was about to buy my ticket and, in Japanese, told me that she was giving me her day-pass because she could not use it. It is possibly the most confusing, spontaneous, and nicest thing that has happened to me in Japan. Needless to say I am in a good mood now.
As for the future, tomorrow Ben and I have outright planned to explore separately. I think he has taken to heart some of my suggestions, too, so I guess we are going to an Onsen tomorrow, and maybe Karaoke the next day before our bus. Other than that, I kind of want to go to Nagoya Port, at some point, possibly return to the castle, check out this ferris wheel near our hotel, check out a shoe store near our hotel, and possibly check out this british pub/live music venue...also near our hotel. We'll see how much I care to stick to.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
SHIN-KAN-SEN!
Hope everyone is having a good spring! Today was surprisingly hectic, though that does not mean a lot happened. Essentially, we woke up, left, and got screwed over by the train. We thought it would take about 38min to get to Osaka Station from where we were, and it may have on rapid...but we were on normal. For the first time ever in my experience with trains, that does not just mean it skips some stops and goes faster -- the rapid also goes on a divergent path to a different end location. Totally screwed us up. We went to transfer back around, and a quality of older Japanese people that bugs the crap out of me prevented us from catching the first train -- there is some weird sense of entitlement that because they are older they deserve to get on the train more than other people, or something. Typically this manifests in them jumping in front of people on lines, when they exist, for entering the trains. This time it manifested in an older woman pushing me away from the door (and giving a quick sort of comment that I didn't quite catch) when I was in front of her, and the train was mostly packed, so that she and her pack could get on instead of Ben and me. I feel we still would have missed our bus even had we gotten on the train, and there was a chance both of us would not have fit, but it was still extremely rude and obnoxious to the point that the rest of the day has been overshadowed by this.
We eventually made it to Osaka station, and ran over to Umeda to try and find our bus...which resulted in about a 25~30 minute search for the boarding area. Our bus was to leave in 10 minutes. Clearly it did not end as we wanted it to. So, instead, we bought some tickets for the Shinkansen and went for lunch at a Takoyaki place -- ordering Takoyaki and Negitamagoyaki. For those that are unaware, that is doughy octopus ball and doughy green onion and egg balls, respectively. They were really good, and served differently than I am used to. Normally there is a filling and the balls are topped with some sauce, some nori (seaweed) and a sauce, and sometimes mayonaise. This time they were without topping, but served with a sauce a tad thinner than normal, some chilli powder (the type used on noodle soups), and some form of vinegar. I actually like this a good deal more than the standard, though Ben did not. Afterwards we went and caught our Shinkansen -- an experience I was not sure I'd have this year. It was pretty nice, rather comfortable, and got us to Nagoya in under an hour (the bus would have been about 4). Though, honestly, watching the scenery move outside the train did not feel at all faster than a car or anything, even though I know it had to have been. So odd!
Anyway, as for Nagoya I can say very little. It looks rather pretty, a tad quieter and less full than Kobe, Tokyo or even Kyoto -- much more like Osaka and Hiroshima. At Nagoya station the people lined up for the train, but I am much less impressed by that now. The hotel is not quite so fancy as the others, but we have separate rooms and the keys are really cool! Now, it is normal to have keycards that need to be inserted to this slot near the door to get power in the room. Here, it is similar but they are standard keys with a big glass prism on a keychain. This prism needs to be inserted into a slot to get power -- it is so cool to do! It is like a power crystal (actually, I guess that is technically what it is?). Color me impressed. I feel I should also mention now that I took the cool kung-fu pajamas from the last hotel, though the pants I snagged are a tad small. It doesn't list them as a chargeable item on this list they gave us when we checked in, so I am hoping I will not be bothered about them. Though, if I get charged, I could offer to ship them back? I dunno, we'll see what happens.
As for today, I think we are just going to rest in our separate rooms. Tomorrow we will explore some, the day after we should be able to register for class, and maybe go for an onsen, and then on our last day, before our bus, maybe some celebratory Karaoke? We'll play it by ear, or something.
We eventually made it to Osaka station, and ran over to Umeda to try and find our bus...which resulted in about a 25~30 minute search for the boarding area. Our bus was to leave in 10 minutes. Clearly it did not end as we wanted it to. So, instead, we bought some tickets for the Shinkansen and went for lunch at a Takoyaki place -- ordering Takoyaki and Negitamagoyaki. For those that are unaware, that is doughy octopus ball and doughy green onion and egg balls, respectively. They were really good, and served differently than I am used to. Normally there is a filling and the balls are topped with some sauce, some nori (seaweed) and a sauce, and sometimes mayonaise. This time they were without topping, but served with a sauce a tad thinner than normal, some chilli powder (the type used on noodle soups), and some form of vinegar. I actually like this a good deal more than the standard, though Ben did not. Afterwards we went and caught our Shinkansen -- an experience I was not sure I'd have this year. It was pretty nice, rather comfortable, and got us to Nagoya in under an hour (the bus would have been about 4). Though, honestly, watching the scenery move outside the train did not feel at all faster than a car or anything, even though I know it had to have been. So odd!
Anyway, as for Nagoya I can say very little. It looks rather pretty, a tad quieter and less full than Kobe, Tokyo or even Kyoto -- much more like Osaka and Hiroshima. At Nagoya station the people lined up for the train, but I am much less impressed by that now. The hotel is not quite so fancy as the others, but we have separate rooms and the keys are really cool! Now, it is normal to have keycards that need to be inserted to this slot near the door to get power in the room. Here, it is similar but they are standard keys with a big glass prism on a keychain. This prism needs to be inserted into a slot to get power -- it is so cool to do! It is like a power crystal (actually, I guess that is technically what it is?). Color me impressed. I feel I should also mention now that I took the cool kung-fu pajamas from the last hotel, though the pants I snagged are a tad small. It doesn't list them as a chargeable item on this list they gave us when we checked in, so I am hoping I will not be bothered about them. Though, if I get charged, I could offer to ship them back? I dunno, we'll see what happens.
As for today, I think we are just going to rest in our separate rooms. Tomorrow we will explore some, the day after we should be able to register for class, and maybe go for an onsen, and then on our last day, before our bus, maybe some celebratory Karaoke? We'll play it by ear, or something.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Kobe is for BEEFCAKES
Well, today was explore Kobe day! It was also the warmest day of the trip, so far. Ridiculous! We took a short walk around the island, followed by a long walk to lunch -- which was a pretty lovely cafe. The design and food was kind of Euro-styled (with some Japanese highlights) and the dishes and service were clearly Japanese. What I mean by this is that the building was quaint with bright colors, it had a very rustic feel. The food was like croissant sandwhiches, waffles, etc. But the glasses had like, cute lions and bunnies on them. I got a waffle with a Kabochya (green squash, much like a less smooth textured pumpkin). It wasr pretty tasty.
As for exploring, basically we just found shopping street after shopping street, it was kind of crazy. We did stop around the center of the city and listened to some live performers, called Canvas, for a while, but nothing too exciting happened. The most noteworthy thing we saw was a cowboy shop. It was ridiculously flamboyant, much more so than we would expect from American shops -- though we later discovered they were all imported from America, making everything rather expensive and significantly more sad and frightening. I would have bought a pink cowboy hat and some new boots if it was a little cheaper, though...
Around the evening we stopped in China town for literally 10 minutes, then went to city hall and the park nearby to see the city at night -- as was suggested by Gen. It was rather gorgeous, and we got to hear some musicians practice, which was kind of cool. Afterwards we got some Yakinikku for dinner -- at a place called Ton Ton (I assume Pig Pig). It was really good, and the staff was so friendly! We had Ribeye, Spicy Rib, Miso-Beef Tongue, Assorted Vegetables, a side of Cucumber Kimchi (my favorite type, they did a decent job with it!), and Mango/Vanilla mixed ice cream for desert. I also got a Yuzu Soda (Yuzu is the Citron of Citron Honey Tea, or Yujuchya for those that have read my Korean adventures). It was really nice and fun, the atmosphere was just really friendly and active. I think I prefer Korean Barbeque more, but mainly because it is cheaper and it comes with more sides (we could have ordered those sorts of sides, but it would have added at least 600Y or so for just the lettuce and rice).
We didn't really do much else in Kobe, but it was still a pretty good day. Tomorrow morning we'll either go to a cafe for breakfast, or I might try the hotel's viking breakfast, and by midday we should be in Osaka - by the evening in Nagoya. It's all moving so quickly, it's hard for me to believe we've done so much in such a short time! Oh well, it is good and necessary fun before the next semester begins.
As for exploring, basically we just found shopping street after shopping street, it was kind of crazy. We did stop around the center of the city and listened to some live performers, called Canvas, for a while, but nothing too exciting happened. The most noteworthy thing we saw was a cowboy shop. It was ridiculously flamboyant, much more so than we would expect from American shops -- though we later discovered they were all imported from America, making everything rather expensive and significantly more sad and frightening. I would have bought a pink cowboy hat and some new boots if it was a little cheaper, though...
Around the evening we stopped in China town for literally 10 minutes, then went to city hall and the park nearby to see the city at night -- as was suggested by Gen. It was rather gorgeous, and we got to hear some musicians practice, which was kind of cool. Afterwards we got some Yakinikku for dinner -- at a place called Ton Ton (I assume Pig Pig). It was really good, and the staff was so friendly! We had Ribeye, Spicy Rib, Miso-Beef Tongue, Assorted Vegetables, a side of Cucumber Kimchi (my favorite type, they did a decent job with it!), and Mango/Vanilla mixed ice cream for desert. I also got a Yuzu Soda (Yuzu is the Citron of Citron Honey Tea, or Yujuchya for those that have read my Korean adventures). It was really nice and fun, the atmosphere was just really friendly and active. I think I prefer Korean Barbeque more, but mainly because it is cheaper and it comes with more sides (we could have ordered those sorts of sides, but it would have added at least 600Y or so for just the lettuce and rice).
We didn't really do much else in Kobe, but it was still a pretty good day. Tomorrow morning we'll either go to a cafe for breakfast, or I might try the hotel's viking breakfast, and by midday we should be in Osaka - by the evening in Nagoya. It's all moving so quickly, it's hard for me to believe we've done so much in such a short time! Oh well, it is good and necessary fun before the next semester begins.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hiroshima Castle
It turns out our bus was at 4, so we ended up spending most of the day in Hiroshima before coming into Kobe around 9, and our hotel around 10. The hotel, for the record, is excessively nice and right on this small island so it is near the water. It also is kind of in this shopping plaza. Most exciting, though, is that the pajamas they provide look like kung fu gear. Haha, so awesome! Moving on, before I talk about Kobe I would like to finish up with my thoughts on activities in Hiroshima, though (at least on the castle).
The castle area is really intense and I personally found it way more cool and interesting than the imperial grounds of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo even if it was not as outright large and beautiful as any of those three. Basically the castle itself is gorgeous, and its moats are signficantly more like rivers than other castles. The grounds themselves are also somewhat unique, as a lot of pieces were blown away in 1945 -- instead the foundation is still there and the areas of each piece are surrounded in stones, and then the foundation is kind of overrun with grass. People just sit and relax there, which is really cool to see. As for the tower itself, it was kind of moved and then a replica was made, which is now home to a museum. Though, I found this castle museum to be way more exciting than the one in Osaka, as well, for some reason. Each floor is kind of dedicated to a different thing, rather small, and for some reason just way cooler? It starts on the second floor with pieces of the old castle and the history of the township, then it moves on to other things, like there is a floor of paintings, of letters, of weapons and samurai armor, and at the top an observatory -- which is extremely fantastic. Hiroshima is just so beautiful! The mountains are so vivid, and the rivers so lively, it's just an awesome place.
After the castle, we went back to Okonomi-Mura for a final Okonomiyaki before we left. This was a great decision, as the place was way tastier than the first. All the ingredients were freshier, and they did not screw up making mine this time (the first time they messed up an egg so they threw a second one in, which made it pretty weird tasting, although still delicious). I also got it with cheese on it, which was pretty good, and Ben's kimchi looked way better than at the first place. I feel I should give the names of both places incase anyone has the joy of visiting either -- Kazu-chan on the third floor (first one), Shin-chan on the second (second visit).
After that there was just some wandering. We made our way to the station, where Ben quickly came up with an excuse to go separate ways to kill time before the bus -- a pretty obvious ploy to purchase some illicit materials. He did not say particularly what those were, or admit to purchasing illicit materials, but he was a tad too eager to split up, and a tad too impatient when we met up again -- as if he had done his evils quickly and wanted to move on and away from the experience. Once reunited, there was some mishaps with the bus that really shouldn't have occurred, and we were off to where we are now -- much more comfortable ride, for the record. I got to watch two episodes of Freaks and Geeks during it.
Which brings us to Kobe. I cannot say much about the city, as we just got here, save that I am shocked by how different it is from my expectations. I have had very little to go on, save that I expected it to be somewhat of a small, more rural type of city. In actuality it is enormorous, with a large sprawl of buildings and bridges and streets. Absolutely ridiculous! Though, it does remind me how much I am learning about these cities during this trip - and about Japan. I've really only experienced Tokyo before this trip (Hakodate and Aomori was such a short excursion). Pretty much everything I have disliked about Tokyo I have been attributing to all of Japan, and I think I am finally moving away from that with this trip -- by getting a sort of catalogue of the personalities of Japan's other cities. I never realized how big and bold Osaka is -- I used to think of it as just sort of a city that was there, without much purpose. Now I see it as Tokyo's sweet younger sister -- Tokyo being the rebellious teen. When I thought Kyoto I thought of a giant mass of shrines on traditional things just shoved together, but it is more of a trendy, smaller city. It is filled with shrines and traditional kinds of things, but it also has contemporary style -- I have not seen so many upper-class western restaurants outside of Karasuma Oike. As for Hiroshima, I had absolutely no knowledge of the city save that it was bombed. Now I think of it as one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. All in all, I am really excited to continue, and more than a little curious to learn the personalities of Kobe and Nagoya. It is a real shame this trip will end so soon!
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!
The castle area is really intense and I personally found it way more cool and interesting than the imperial grounds of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo even if it was not as outright large and beautiful as any of those three. Basically the castle itself is gorgeous, and its moats are signficantly more like rivers than other castles. The grounds themselves are also somewhat unique, as a lot of pieces were blown away in 1945 -- instead the foundation is still there and the areas of each piece are surrounded in stones, and then the foundation is kind of overrun with grass. People just sit and relax there, which is really cool to see. As for the tower itself, it was kind of moved and then a replica was made, which is now home to a museum. Though, I found this castle museum to be way more exciting than the one in Osaka, as well, for some reason. Each floor is kind of dedicated to a different thing, rather small, and for some reason just way cooler? It starts on the second floor with pieces of the old castle and the history of the township, then it moves on to other things, like there is a floor of paintings, of letters, of weapons and samurai armor, and at the top an observatory -- which is extremely fantastic. Hiroshima is just so beautiful! The mountains are so vivid, and the rivers so lively, it's just an awesome place.
After the castle, we went back to Okonomi-Mura for a final Okonomiyaki before we left. This was a great decision, as the place was way tastier than the first. All the ingredients were freshier, and they did not screw up making mine this time (the first time they messed up an egg so they threw a second one in, which made it pretty weird tasting, although still delicious). I also got it with cheese on it, which was pretty good, and Ben's kimchi looked way better than at the first place. I feel I should give the names of both places incase anyone has the joy of visiting either -- Kazu-chan on the third floor (first one), Shin-chan on the second (second visit).
After that there was just some wandering. We made our way to the station, where Ben quickly came up with an excuse to go separate ways to kill time before the bus -- a pretty obvious ploy to purchase some illicit materials. He did not say particularly what those were, or admit to purchasing illicit materials, but he was a tad too eager to split up, and a tad too impatient when we met up again -- as if he had done his evils quickly and wanted to move on and away from the experience. Once reunited, there was some mishaps with the bus that really shouldn't have occurred, and we were off to where we are now -- much more comfortable ride, for the record. I got to watch two episodes of Freaks and Geeks during it.
Which brings us to Kobe. I cannot say much about the city, as we just got here, save that I am shocked by how different it is from my expectations. I have had very little to go on, save that I expected it to be somewhat of a small, more rural type of city. In actuality it is enormorous, with a large sprawl of buildings and bridges and streets. Absolutely ridiculous! Though, it does remind me how much I am learning about these cities during this trip - and about Japan. I've really only experienced Tokyo before this trip (Hakodate and Aomori was such a short excursion). Pretty much everything I have disliked about Tokyo I have been attributing to all of Japan, and I think I am finally moving away from that with this trip -- by getting a sort of catalogue of the personalities of Japan's other cities. I never realized how big and bold Osaka is -- I used to think of it as just sort of a city that was there, without much purpose. Now I see it as Tokyo's sweet younger sister -- Tokyo being the rebellious teen. When I thought Kyoto I thought of a giant mass of shrines on traditional things just shoved together, but it is more of a trendy, smaller city. It is filled with shrines and traditional kinds of things, but it also has contemporary style -- I have not seen so many upper-class western restaurants outside of Karasuma Oike. As for Hiroshima, I had absolutely no knowledge of the city save that it was bombed. Now I think of it as one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. All in all, I am really excited to continue, and more than a little curious to learn the personalities of Kobe and Nagoya. It is a real shame this trip will end so soon!
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Hiroshima! Part 2
Today ended up being pretty good. Both Ben and I slept in an hour or so later than normal (for me this means 7, for Ben this means I let him sleep until he naturally woke around 11). After that was all exploration -- I feel we covered significant amounts of the city, like the only thing we have not seen that may be worth seeing is the castle...which we could do tomorrow before our bus, maybe.
That said, there is not much to say about the rest of the city. It is pretty, but also kind of dull. The only place really worth mentioning is Hijiyama Park -- which has been my favorite place during this trip, so far. It is a big foresty mountain with a Contemporary Arts Museum and a Manga Library in it. Near the museum are open-air exhibits, free to view, surrounded by the forest. Not to mention the forest itself is absolutely gorgeous. I had the joy of exploring it all and hiking parts of the mountain alone, as Ben and I kind of got annoyed with each other and entered different ways (I am surprised it took this long to happen, we made it a good half of the trip!). We ended up meeting up, and then separating on more jovial terms. For Ben this meant he went back to the hotel to rest. For me this meant I explored the park a bit more, then the residential area near the park, and then got lost going back to the hotel. I ended up almost getting back to the hotel twice, using my own reasoning -- the first time I was at an intersection and chose following a street sign over my own intuition, the second time I was basically just walking down the wrong road. Eventually I called and checked the bus stop we were next to, only to find that I was one stop away so I just walked it in a matter of minutes. It was kind of ridiculous, a tad frightening, but mostly just depressing.
Right now we are doing our laundries, and not much else. Tomorrow we may or may not go to Hiroshima Castle, but probably won't. I think I might get up early and buy shoes, as there is a hole in one of mine that keeps letting water in, but I may put it off until I'm back in Tokyo. Later on we will leave Hiroshima for Kobe! It will be my first daybus in Japan, and mark the return to separate beds for me and Ben! We have been sharing since Kyoto. It is actually a bigger problem during the day, when we want to shove stuff on it or w/e, and I also feel awkward lying on the bed next to Ben if we're both awake. It just seems odd. At night we just kind of pass out on different sides, so it has not been an issue at all. Haha, whatever.
That said, there is not much to say about the rest of the city. It is pretty, but also kind of dull. The only place really worth mentioning is Hijiyama Park -- which has been my favorite place during this trip, so far. It is a big foresty mountain with a Contemporary Arts Museum and a Manga Library in it. Near the museum are open-air exhibits, free to view, surrounded by the forest. Not to mention the forest itself is absolutely gorgeous. I had the joy of exploring it all and hiking parts of the mountain alone, as Ben and I kind of got annoyed with each other and entered different ways (I am surprised it took this long to happen, we made it a good half of the trip!). We ended up meeting up, and then separating on more jovial terms. For Ben this meant he went back to the hotel to rest. For me this meant I explored the park a bit more, then the residential area near the park, and then got lost going back to the hotel. I ended up almost getting back to the hotel twice, using my own reasoning -- the first time I was at an intersection and chose following a street sign over my own intuition, the second time I was basically just walking down the wrong road. Eventually I called and checked the bus stop we were next to, only to find that I was one stop away so I just walked it in a matter of minutes. It was kind of ridiculous, a tad frightening, but mostly just depressing.
Right now we are doing our laundries, and not much else. Tomorrow we may or may not go to Hiroshima Castle, but probably won't. I think I might get up early and buy shoes, as there is a hole in one of mine that keeps letting water in, but I may put it off until I'm back in Tokyo. Later on we will leave Hiroshima for Kobe! It will be my first daybus in Japan, and mark the return to separate beds for me and Ben! We have been sharing since Kyoto. It is actually a bigger problem during the day, when we want to shove stuff on it or w/e, and I also feel awkward lying on the bed next to Ben if we're both awake. It just seems odd. At night we just kind of pass out on different sides, so it has not been an issue at all. Haha, whatever.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Hiroshima!
Basically there is very little to say on my last day in Kyoto -- we wandered through the Imperial Palace, which was largely blocked off, and sat in the manga museum and then a cafe. Pretty laid back, I wish there was more to say about the Imperial Gardens but there really isn't. I tried my first Rocomoco from a street vendor, which I guess is news. It was poor quality though, basically just hambaagu, an egg, and some rice. When it's done right there should be a special cream sauce and it is supposed to be amazing, so I will have to try again. Also worth mentioning: Kyoto subway did not line up for us this time, so maybe it is only a Kyoto Station phenomenon. Also the night bus was nicer than the last one, slightly wider seats and softer cushions, though I had issues sleeping due in large part to my seat partner (which is where I will leave this). I totally expected it to be much worse, though, so I was pleasantly surprised.
On to Hiroshima! Despite being in a bad mood when we got there, the city is gorgeous and I couldn't stop staring at it even from the bus. We wandered around and found a local peace shrine, then wandered away and eventual made it to the Peace Park...where we spent most of the morning. So much to see there! A lot of it was really pretty, the dome was pretty horrific and magnificent. The various colored cranes (they are on a few shrines) were really lovely to see. The Korean memorial even had paper turtles! We also checked out the Peace Museum. The most catching part of it was the architecture, a spiral downwards through stone, much like the Holocaust Museum in DC, and then a hallway leading up into like...reading rooms? It is sort of odd. As for the exhibits, they were pretty repetitive and straight-forward...really make the heart ache. You start by descending into a large circular room with a mosaic of the ruined Hiroshima as it was after the attack, made of 140,000 to represent the 140,000 dead. There is also a map or two of Hiroshima at its peak. Following...there were consoles where you could look up names of those that died due to the bombs, then a room where you can read testimonies from survivors. The last part was a library filled with more information about both the dead and the survivors. It was a rather small museum, but packs a punch.
We kind of did very little after this until the evening, when we went to get OKONOMIYAKI! For some reason I have been looking forward to this more than any other part of the trip, so it was a real joy to finally get down to it. We went to a place nearby, the most famous, called Okono-mura (Okonomiyaki Town). It is a building, kind of a mall, of restaurants specializing in Okonomiyaki! It is amazing. We went to a place on the third floor (it was the second furthest from the stairs on the right) that was amazing. I guess I don't really know how they all compare, I kind of want to go back and I kind of don't want to. Basically they are all huge and about 1000Yen ($10). In Tokyo they are typically smaller affairs, and about 500Yen...though not nearly as good. I ordered mine with Kimchi, so it was really interesting and tasty. I didn't think I would be able to finish at first, really, but I did. Afterwards I wanted a victory snack, so I got something called a Chocobou from a bakery -- it is basically a high end devil dog on a stick. Chocolate covered chocolate cake with a swirl of vanilla cream. I found it hilarious they put an ice pack in the box with it to keep it cool for me, but it was rather tasty.
Anyway, we kind of don't know what we are going to do tomorrow. I don't really know what there is to explore, besides a museum, and maybe some shopping districts. We wandered a LOT. Quite frankly, neither of us have much of a plan for Kobe and Nagoya either -- basically all I know is that we should eat a lot in both places, and try to see Kobe City Hall at night? We'll see what happens!
On to Hiroshima! Despite being in a bad mood when we got there, the city is gorgeous and I couldn't stop staring at it even from the bus. We wandered around and found a local peace shrine, then wandered away and eventual made it to the Peace Park...where we spent most of the morning. So much to see there! A lot of it was really pretty, the dome was pretty horrific and magnificent. The various colored cranes (they are on a few shrines) were really lovely to see. The Korean memorial even had paper turtles! We also checked out the Peace Museum. The most catching part of it was the architecture, a spiral downwards through stone, much like the Holocaust Museum in DC, and then a hallway leading up into like...reading rooms? It is sort of odd. As for the exhibits, they were pretty repetitive and straight-forward...really make the heart ache. You start by descending into a large circular room with a mosaic of the ruined Hiroshima as it was after the attack, made of 140,000 to represent the 140,000 dead. There is also a map or two of Hiroshima at its peak. Following...there were consoles where you could look up names of those that died due to the bombs, then a room where you can read testimonies from survivors. The last part was a library filled with more information about both the dead and the survivors. It was a rather small museum, but packs a punch.
We kind of did very little after this until the evening, when we went to get OKONOMIYAKI! For some reason I have been looking forward to this more than any other part of the trip, so it was a real joy to finally get down to it. We went to a place nearby, the most famous, called Okono-mura (Okonomiyaki Town). It is a building, kind of a mall, of restaurants specializing in Okonomiyaki! It is amazing. We went to a place on the third floor (it was the second furthest from the stairs on the right) that was amazing. I guess I don't really know how they all compare, I kind of want to go back and I kind of don't want to. Basically they are all huge and about 1000Yen ($10). In Tokyo they are typically smaller affairs, and about 500Yen...though not nearly as good. I ordered mine with Kimchi, so it was really interesting and tasty. I didn't think I would be able to finish at first, really, but I did. Afterwards I wanted a victory snack, so I got something called a Chocobou from a bakery -- it is basically a high end devil dog on a stick. Chocolate covered chocolate cake with a swirl of vanilla cream. I found it hilarious they put an ice pack in the box with it to keep it cool for me, but it was rather tasty.
Anyway, we kind of don't know what we are going to do tomorrow. I don't really know what there is to explore, besides a museum, and maybe some shopping districts. We wandered a LOT. Quite frankly, neither of us have much of a plan for Kobe and Nagoya either -- basically all I know is that we should eat a lot in both places, and try to see Kobe City Hall at night? We'll see what happens!
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Golden Temple and the Pure Water Temple
Today was a mixture of solo-adventuring and temple sprawl, pretty cool. I woke up early as my body does not give me the choice any more and ran around the hotel area, Karasuma Oike, just checking things out. I ended up going to a cafe nearby for breakfast called M's. It was really odd - half Asics store half cafe, playing weird jazzy covers of pop songs as done by an asian female singer. Most notably was "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen...it was pretty good, actually. My breakfast was too - texas toast with strawberry jam, a salad with a potato salad on top (I did not ask) and an only mildly gross coffee. Gave me the energy to walk around. My area is really cool as it is basically if Uptown and Grand Central Station areas of NYC were combined and designed by Japanese people. That is all I can really say about it.
The Golden Temple was pretty cool, it was in a forest like all temples are, with a pond all around it. It was rather pretty and serene, very nice, though little to say about it. Ben and I got some charm gifts at the souvenier shop and then wandered the area looking for food. The area around the temple was really quiet and quaint, much less city-like. I find this really interesting because Ritsumeikan University is in the area, so I would have expected more activity.
Afterwards we went back to the hotel, Ben rested and I tried to get down to Kyoto Station before we were to go to the Pure Water Temple, though there is little to say on this than I was unsuccessful - the walk was too far. I did pass one of the few pizza parlors that smelt like a pizza parlor in Japan, though, which is worth a mention. As for the Water Temple, it was magnificent - even more so than the Golden Temple, and quite frankly, any of the temples and palaces I have seen so far. This was largely due to us going at night, when the whole thing was lit up by lamps and paper laterns. Yet, the real interest is this temple is designed to be explored. There is a path you are expected to follow that loops around and up, and then inwards and downwards. It is very exciting and adds to the experience by making it a kind of adventure. Even before you get to the temple, you have to climb a large hill filled with paper laterns and shops with temple goods and general Japanese style wares. Once you get to the top there are the standard pagodas and lion statues, some buddha statues and the like, surrounded on one side by mountains and forest, and on the otherside a valley with paths lit up by latern, with Kyoto's city-scape and mountains off in the distance. The path leads up and out around some buildings and upwards along this forest, with the path below clearly visible the whole time. Then it curves inwards, and you are on the lower path, descending, surrounded by the woods and the lights. At the end of the path is a water fall, where you can drink the pure water. Slightly offsetting this ambiance is a UV cleaner for these cups on long poles you use to drink, but it was still rather nice.
There is not really a lot to be said of these temples and therefore my day, as they really have to be seen and experienced. I did take a lot of pictures, which I will eventually put online. I think I will make a special post where I organize all the pictures I took on these 2 week excursion when I get back to Tokyo.
Anyway, tomorrow we intend to go to the Imperial Palace and Garden and to Kyoto Station area...maybe. I feel I should mention here something that really striked me when we got to Kyoto, that is more obvious now in contrast to the buses we have been taking. This is the only city I have ever been too where all the passengers will line up, two-by-two, and calmly wait to access the train. This phenomena does not happen on the buses, but is still rather impressive and worth mentioning. Sorry, moving on, tomorrow we also need to register for classes, and I hope to eat at one of the hotel's two breakfast options. Then, that evening, we move on to Hiroshima! I am pretty excited, and shocked out how fast it all is going. Oh well, I am just as anxious to get back to school as I am to continue this trip, really. It is a very nice place to be.
As a kind of side-note, since I have all of my grades from first semester back I will probably start writing a basic summation of my thoughts from my first semester at Waseda. Since my posts are currently focusing on my experiences on this trip, I will likely wait a little while before posting anything about that. Just figured I should mention that I will be doing that post, it has only been postponed and not cancelled.
The Golden Temple was pretty cool, it was in a forest like all temples are, with a pond all around it. It was rather pretty and serene, very nice, though little to say about it. Ben and I got some charm gifts at the souvenier shop and then wandered the area looking for food. The area around the temple was really quiet and quaint, much less city-like. I find this really interesting because Ritsumeikan University is in the area, so I would have expected more activity.
Afterwards we went back to the hotel, Ben rested and I tried to get down to Kyoto Station before we were to go to the Pure Water Temple, though there is little to say on this than I was unsuccessful - the walk was too far. I did pass one of the few pizza parlors that smelt like a pizza parlor in Japan, though, which is worth a mention. As for the Water Temple, it was magnificent - even more so than the Golden Temple, and quite frankly, any of the temples and palaces I have seen so far. This was largely due to us going at night, when the whole thing was lit up by lamps and paper laterns. Yet, the real interest is this temple is designed to be explored. There is a path you are expected to follow that loops around and up, and then inwards and downwards. It is very exciting and adds to the experience by making it a kind of adventure. Even before you get to the temple, you have to climb a large hill filled with paper laterns and shops with temple goods and general Japanese style wares. Once you get to the top there are the standard pagodas and lion statues, some buddha statues and the like, surrounded on one side by mountains and forest, and on the otherside a valley with paths lit up by latern, with Kyoto's city-scape and mountains off in the distance. The path leads up and out around some buildings and upwards along this forest, with the path below clearly visible the whole time. Then it curves inwards, and you are on the lower path, descending, surrounded by the woods and the lights. At the end of the path is a water fall, where you can drink the pure water. Slightly offsetting this ambiance is a UV cleaner for these cups on long poles you use to drink, but it was still rather nice.
There is not really a lot to be said of these temples and therefore my day, as they really have to be seen and experienced. I did take a lot of pictures, which I will eventually put online. I think I will make a special post where I organize all the pictures I took on these 2 week excursion when I get back to Tokyo.
Anyway, tomorrow we intend to go to the Imperial Palace and Garden and to Kyoto Station area...maybe. I feel I should mention here something that really striked me when we got to Kyoto, that is more obvious now in contrast to the buses we have been taking. This is the only city I have ever been too where all the passengers will line up, two-by-two, and calmly wait to access the train. This phenomena does not happen on the buses, but is still rather impressive and worth mentioning. Sorry, moving on, tomorrow we also need to register for classes, and I hope to eat at one of the hotel's two breakfast options. Then, that evening, we move on to Hiroshima! I am pretty excited, and shocked out how fast it all is going. Oh well, I am just as anxious to get back to school as I am to continue this trip, really. It is a very nice place to be.
As a kind of side-note, since I have all of my grades from first semester back I will probably start writing a basic summation of my thoughts from my first semester at Waseda. Since my posts are currently focusing on my experiences on this trip, I will likely wait a little while before posting anything about that. Just figured I should mention that I will be doing that post, it has only been postponed and not cancelled.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Cosmosquare and the International Manga Museum
I wrote this out last night, but did not have the chance to post it until just now. We are also going to some Water Temple after the Golden Temple, it seems?
Today was our last day in Osaka, and our first day in Kyoto -- it was kind of sad to go so soon! Despite what I was told, I found I really enjoyed Osaka.
Anyway, since I knew we were leaving later, I decided to wake up early and head to the port while Ben was asleep. I skipped clubbing/bar hopping with Ben the night before so that I could wake up and go, actually. Despite this I kind of just winged where I was going on the metro based on the name and how it looked out the window, settling on Cosmosquare as my destination...which is really big, pretty, and probably important. I got off the metro and went immediately to the water, which was so excellent and refreshing! I really love the sea, and the coastline was fantastic. I just kind of walked alone the boardwalk for about 15 minutes before exploring Cosmosquare, a place called "Port Town" my main goal. In doing so I managed to pass by all sorts of interesting things, including the World Trade Center in Osaka and the Osakan Congress, as well as a cool park. I feel I should mention there was also a kind of amusement park further down called Cosmos Seaside, and a Maritime Museum all in this same area. It was rather odd to see such things grouped together, but really cool. I ended up getting to Port Town area, but not the actual Port Town -- the only appealing thing I saw was something that looked like the Power Plant in the original Pokemon games. Apparently, if I had walked around the whole area the one entrance to the touristy Port Town would have been clear. Kind of aggravating to have this happen two days in a row, but I was there too early for shops to be open anyway. From here I just kind of rushed back to the hotel before check-out, then we were off to Kyoto!
The train ride was pretty crowded, but it was rather fast and the towns and mountains between Kyoto and Osaka were quaintly gorgeous (I would really like to stay in a small town like the ones I see from inter-city trains and buses for a few days, and may do so during Golden Week or a 4-day weekend). Kyoto, at least the two areas we have seen so far, is extremely up-scale and ritzy. All the buildings are kind of magnificent marvels, mainly museums and trendy cafes/restuarants with some very nice looking hotels thrown in for good measure. It is all rather intimidating at first, though intimidation is already melting into curiosity and excitement. Also, our hotel is a steep improvement over the last one, looking rather fancy and the room being rather nice, even if it is small and there is only one bed.
After some wandering around, we got a rather fantastic meal (really really tasty Gomajji Miso Tonkatsu, or Sesame-flavored Miso Breaded+Fried Pork, and pretty reasonably priced) and rested at the hotel. Afterwards we decided to go to the International Manga Museum -- which was pretty cool. The inside was half enormous manga library and half museum with information and some exhibits, such as a room dedicated not to Osamu Tezuka but to his work, Hi no Tori (Phoenix) explaining a giant sculpture of said bird in the main hall. There was also a cosplay event going on, so we got to see a lot of people in cool outfits roaming the museum. Basically the experience was wandering around in awe of the library and costumes, watching people just sitting everywhere and anywhere reading, and then reading ourselves. There is also a courtyard connected to the building, where you can go outside and read, or as the case was for us, where all the cosplayers were gathered and showing off for eager fans with cameras. The main exhibit, though, was a large room, as in tall, where the walls were just filled with manga that wrapped around the room separated by year, in chronological order of first publication. Around the room there is information about manga, figures and interesting facts, as well as cells and all sorts of cool things. The whole experience of the museum was just awesome. I would have found the museum to have been worthwhile just for the chance to read some of Phoenix, but it went way beyond my expectations. I feel I should also mention there were a lot of foreigners in the museum working as volunteers, which is pretty neat. Ben and I both kind of agree that if we were studying in Kyoto we would probably do the same.
Anyway, moving on -- tomorrow our plans are pretty sparse compared to normal, but should be nice. Basically we plan to go to the Golden Temple...and that's about it. I guess we are also looking around for places to do the day after around our hotel, in order to making things easier between check-out and our night bus, but that's about it. I guess if we see anything really cool we'll do that too, time will tell!
Today was our last day in Osaka, and our first day in Kyoto -- it was kind of sad to go so soon! Despite what I was told, I found I really enjoyed Osaka.
Anyway, since I knew we were leaving later, I decided to wake up early and head to the port while Ben was asleep. I skipped clubbing/bar hopping with Ben the night before so that I could wake up and go, actually. Despite this I kind of just winged where I was going on the metro based on the name and how it looked out the window, settling on Cosmosquare as my destination...which is really big, pretty, and probably important. I got off the metro and went immediately to the water, which was so excellent and refreshing! I really love the sea, and the coastline was fantastic. I just kind of walked alone the boardwalk for about 15 minutes before exploring Cosmosquare, a place called "Port Town" my main goal. In doing so I managed to pass by all sorts of interesting things, including the World Trade Center in Osaka and the Osakan Congress, as well as a cool park. I feel I should mention there was also a kind of amusement park further down called Cosmos Seaside, and a Maritime Museum all in this same area. It was rather odd to see such things grouped together, but really cool. I ended up getting to Port Town area, but not the actual Port Town -- the only appealing thing I saw was something that looked like the Power Plant in the original Pokemon games. Apparently, if I had walked around the whole area the one entrance to the touristy Port Town would have been clear. Kind of aggravating to have this happen two days in a row, but I was there too early for shops to be open anyway. From here I just kind of rushed back to the hotel before check-out, then we were off to Kyoto!
The train ride was pretty crowded, but it was rather fast and the towns and mountains between Kyoto and Osaka were quaintly gorgeous (I would really like to stay in a small town like the ones I see from inter-city trains and buses for a few days, and may do so during Golden Week or a 4-day weekend). Kyoto, at least the two areas we have seen so far, is extremely up-scale and ritzy. All the buildings are kind of magnificent marvels, mainly museums and trendy cafes/restuarants with some very nice looking hotels thrown in for good measure. It is all rather intimidating at first, though intimidation is already melting into curiosity and excitement. Also, our hotel is a steep improvement over the last one, looking rather fancy and the room being rather nice, even if it is small and there is only one bed.
After some wandering around, we got a rather fantastic meal (really really tasty Gomajji Miso Tonkatsu, or Sesame-flavored Miso Breaded+Fried Pork, and pretty reasonably priced) and rested at the hotel. Afterwards we decided to go to the International Manga Museum -- which was pretty cool. The inside was half enormous manga library and half museum with information and some exhibits, such as a room dedicated not to Osamu Tezuka but to his work, Hi no Tori (Phoenix) explaining a giant sculpture of said bird in the main hall. There was also a cosplay event going on, so we got to see a lot of people in cool outfits roaming the museum. Basically the experience was wandering around in awe of the library and costumes, watching people just sitting everywhere and anywhere reading, and then reading ourselves. There is also a courtyard connected to the building, where you can go outside and read, or as the case was for us, where all the cosplayers were gathered and showing off for eager fans with cameras. The main exhibit, though, was a large room, as in tall, where the walls were just filled with manga that wrapped around the room separated by year, in chronological order of first publication. Around the room there is information about manga, figures and interesting facts, as well as cells and all sorts of cool things. The whole experience of the museum was just awesome. I would have found the museum to have been worthwhile just for the chance to read some of Phoenix, but it went way beyond my expectations. I feel I should also mention there were a lot of foreigners in the museum working as volunteers, which is pretty neat. Ben and I both kind of agree that if we were studying in Kyoto we would probably do the same.
Anyway, moving on -- tomorrow our plans are pretty sparse compared to normal, but should be nice. Basically we plan to go to the Golden Temple...and that's about it. I guess we are also looking around for places to do the day after around our hotel, in order to making things easier between check-out and our night bus, but that's about it. I guess if we see anything really cool we'll do that too, time will tell!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Birthday and Osaka
First of all, obligatory: Woo! I'm 21! My birthday just came and passed so I am past the key ages in becoming a full-fledged adult citizen in the US. Kind of exciting, though it's rather toned down being in a society where that age is 20 mixed with my distaste for alcohol, the main privelage granted. However I am pretty excited that I can basically go anywhere and do most things, as age is no longer a restriction. Being able to join my friends at a nightclub, even if I choose not to drink, will be a welcome change from past experiences (though I am becoming tired of nightclubs and so whatever).
Anyway, for my birthday Ben, Rike, and I went under Ben's leadership to an Italian Restaurant in Shinagawa, where he paid for my lunch. A few others were supposed to join us, but kind of wimped out at the last minute. It was pretty nice being in just a tiny group, and didn't tire Ben and me out too much for the bus we had to catch that evening. The food was pretty decent, the breads were surprisingly good, and the deserts were tasty. The pastas were a tad lacking, but way better than I would have expected from Japan. It was nice and fun.
That evening Ben and I caught our bus to Osaka, which was the worst of the nightbuses so far -- the seats were all narrow and there area infront of us was blocked at the bottom, giving us no leg room. Thankfully it was relatively short (8 or so hours, about an hour and a half of that spent off the bus at service areas) so the bus itself wasn't much of a problem. It got us to Osaka rather early, though, leaving us rather tired...but unable to check-in to the hotel (about 7AM for those wondering). Instead we wondered the city, eventually making our way out to Osaka Castle.
Eventually I'll put pictures of both up, but Osaka castle looked a lot like the Imperial Castle to me, only the architecture seemed slightly nicer and the gardens slightly less so, though I am inclined to believe my opinion on that would be opposite if I saw both when the sakura were in full bloom. We were able to enter the main tower itself, which was a kind of dull museum with a very few really cool pieces of art and samurai helms. The best part was undoubtedly the observation deck at the top of the tower, where you could see parts of the castle against the modern city. On our way out we ran across one of Ben's classmates from last year, who is studying abroad in Kyoto at Ritsumeikan. It was a pretty strange coincidence, but kind of cool.
After the palace we attempted to get to our hotel...but we had printed the wrong address. We ended up taking the subway to the wrong part of town and exploring, on foot, for something like 2.5 hours. It was kind of ridiculous, as we were both still really exhausted. However, the trains were rather nice and the area we explored was kind of cool to see - rather residential, a bit quieter than most similar Tokyo neighborhoods. I guess we wouldn't have seen it otherwise, and everything worked out so it is alright in the end. Though we crashed RIDICULOUSLY early (Ben was out by like, 4:30, I was out by 5:30). Haha, it was crazy.
My intial thoughts on Osaka: it basically feels like they took all the quieter machi (neighborhoods) from Tokyo and shoved them together, which is rather nice. Walks seem like they can drag on as there isn't as clear a line between an active city neighborhood and filler area as exists in Tokyo. If that doesn't make sense: Tokyo is basically a lot of small, active city neighborhoods connected with long roads. Between each neighborhood there is basically nothing interesting going on, often the streets widen up and all the area is filled with a lot more gray and such, and perhaps some small homes and businesses and such, spread out. The divide between the two is very distinct and obvious. It is much less so in Osaka, I am finding, which kind of makes it feel more unified. Also there are a few rivers in the middle of the city which is really cool and pretty.
As for today, I don't really remember everything Ben said he wanted to do, but I think we are supposed to go down and do...something, maybe go to the water front, head to the Otaku area, and later head to the gay club/bar area? It could be pretty cool, though I guess I am mainly looking forward to seeing the water and eating some Osakan food. Takoyaki, fried octopus balls, are supposed to be amazing/cheap here, so I guess I will be eating some of those. I kind of like them in Tokyo, but the octopus is always so chewy I don't really ever particularly want to eat more than one of them. We'll see how it goes!
P.S. I got my grades back! All of them A or A+ so I will have a 4.0 Fall 2009 Semester! I think I am supposed to be registering for classes this week or next week, either way I should have my next semester schedule ready by the end of the month.
Anyway, for my birthday Ben, Rike, and I went under Ben's leadership to an Italian Restaurant in Shinagawa, where he paid for my lunch. A few others were supposed to join us, but kind of wimped out at the last minute. It was pretty nice being in just a tiny group, and didn't tire Ben and me out too much for the bus we had to catch that evening. The food was pretty decent, the breads were surprisingly good, and the deserts were tasty. The pastas were a tad lacking, but way better than I would have expected from Japan. It was nice and fun.
That evening Ben and I caught our bus to Osaka, which was the worst of the nightbuses so far -- the seats were all narrow and there area infront of us was blocked at the bottom, giving us no leg room. Thankfully it was relatively short (8 or so hours, about an hour and a half of that spent off the bus at service areas) so the bus itself wasn't much of a problem. It got us to Osaka rather early, though, leaving us rather tired...but unable to check-in to the hotel (about 7AM for those wondering). Instead we wondered the city, eventually making our way out to Osaka Castle.
Eventually I'll put pictures of both up, but Osaka castle looked a lot like the Imperial Castle to me, only the architecture seemed slightly nicer and the gardens slightly less so, though I am inclined to believe my opinion on that would be opposite if I saw both when the sakura were in full bloom. We were able to enter the main tower itself, which was a kind of dull museum with a very few really cool pieces of art and samurai helms. The best part was undoubtedly the observation deck at the top of the tower, where you could see parts of the castle against the modern city. On our way out we ran across one of Ben's classmates from last year, who is studying abroad in Kyoto at Ritsumeikan. It was a pretty strange coincidence, but kind of cool.
After the palace we attempted to get to our hotel...but we had printed the wrong address. We ended up taking the subway to the wrong part of town and exploring, on foot, for something like 2.5 hours. It was kind of ridiculous, as we were both still really exhausted. However, the trains were rather nice and the area we explored was kind of cool to see - rather residential, a bit quieter than most similar Tokyo neighborhoods. I guess we wouldn't have seen it otherwise, and everything worked out so it is alright in the end. Though we crashed RIDICULOUSLY early (Ben was out by like, 4:30, I was out by 5:30). Haha, it was crazy.
My intial thoughts on Osaka: it basically feels like they took all the quieter machi (neighborhoods) from Tokyo and shoved them together, which is rather nice. Walks seem like they can drag on as there isn't as clear a line between an active city neighborhood and filler area as exists in Tokyo. If that doesn't make sense: Tokyo is basically a lot of small, active city neighborhoods connected with long roads. Between each neighborhood there is basically nothing interesting going on, often the streets widen up and all the area is filled with a lot more gray and such, and perhaps some small homes and businesses and such, spread out. The divide between the two is very distinct and obvious. It is much less so in Osaka, I am finding, which kind of makes it feel more unified. Also there are a few rivers in the middle of the city which is really cool and pretty.
As for today, I don't really remember everything Ben said he wanted to do, but I think we are supposed to go down and do...something, maybe go to the water front, head to the Otaku area, and later head to the gay club/bar area? It could be pretty cool, though I guess I am mainly looking forward to seeing the water and eating some Osakan food. Takoyaki, fried octopus balls, are supposed to be amazing/cheap here, so I guess I will be eating some of those. I kind of like them in Tokyo, but the octopus is always so chewy I don't really ever particularly want to eat more than one of them. We'll see how it goes!
P.S. I got my grades back! All of them A or A+ so I will have a 4.0 Fall 2009 Semester! I think I am supposed to be registering for classes this week or next week, either way I should have my next semester schedule ready by the end of the month.
Monday, March 8, 2010
America
Hahaha, it has been ridiculously long since I posted. In the time since my last post: The semester ended, I went home to America, and as of yesterday, have returned to Japan. However, there is honestly very little to say. I might have my grades available now, but I may not for another few days. Not sure if I'll share them or not. Anyway, I'll briefly go over everything of importance.
Classes: Not much to say. I got all my work in, and know how I did in all but two courses -- both of which I could have gotten anything in.
After classes: Just kind of read Kant and watched some South Park before going home. A bit after classes ended I went to Bang/Tama's joint-birthday party, and some of my Japanese classmates, coincidentally, showed up. I also took another walk to Rainbow Bridge -- this time with Viivi, we tried to get there before the sunrise. Started at about 4:30am and got to the water around 7, the bridge between 7:30 and 8. It was too cloudy to see anything so we didn't rush after we got to the water, it was pretty fun but we got there too early to cross...so I have to go again. We did take the train across though, so at least I technically went to Odaiba again?
Home: Did a lot here. I mainly rested and watched Freaks and Geeks, and later RuPaul's Drag Race. However I had mainly come home when I did to catch the Tibet House Concert -- Patti Smith and Iggy Pop!!!! Also a lot of experimental music acts. It was pretty awesome. I stayed with my brother and ate good food, so I cannot complain about the trip. My mom also threw me a sort of 21st birthday party with this cake:
Classes: Not much to say. I got all my work in, and know how I did in all but two courses -- both of which I could have gotten anything in.
After classes: Just kind of read Kant and watched some South Park before going home. A bit after classes ended I went to Bang/Tama's joint-birthday party, and some of my Japanese classmates, coincidentally, showed up. I also took another walk to Rainbow Bridge -- this time with Viivi, we tried to get there before the sunrise. Started at about 4:30am and got to the water around 7, the bridge between 7:30 and 8. It was too cloudy to see anything so we didn't rush after we got to the water, it was pretty fun but we got there too early to cross...so I have to go again. We did take the train across though, so at least I technically went to Odaiba again?
It was pretty tasty - thank you Lisa Boehle! I feel I should now mention I also got an adorable Valentine's Day card from Zoe, my step-sister, as I don't know when else to put that in. Thank you!
Now: I am back in my room. It has been completely undone so they could change out the carpets, but on the plus side it seems I am neither getting a new roomie or a raise in rent? The sign telling me this was a tad confusing, but I am fairly confident it will stay constant. Which brings up the other thing -- a bunch of cool people, including Gen, have left the dorm. Hope you are all doing well!
Future: Ben and I have laid out our trip and made all of the reservations. We leave on the 11th, my Birthday!, and get back on the 25th (I think). The plan: Hit up Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kobe, Nagoya, then head back to Tokyo. It should be pretty sweet.
Anyway, that basically is everything important (that I can think of). Maybe I will have a rush-edit later, though?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Hakodate
I hope everyone has had a great break! Hakodate was excellent, I really loved it there. I'll give a run-down of what we did.
There were some issues meeting up on the first, but eventually we got it together and got on the bus in time (had enough time to wait for like, 25 minutes at the station). I sat next to Lauren, Ben and Jordan sat together -- and seemingly got along pretty well. I am really glad as everyone seemed to get along for most of the trip, there was really only one incident that blew over pretty quickly so I won't get into details about it. Apparently there was a snow storm, so within the first stop or so (no bathroom on the bus -- but a stop every two hours) we hit snow! I was pretty excited and it kept me awake and in good spirits for basically the rest of the bus, as every two hours I could get off and play in the snow. This happiness basically lasted till we got to Aomori, around 12pm - two hours or so late.
Our first impressions of Aomori were unimpressive. It was a small strip and very cold with lots of snow. We got separated for a while, which was extremely terrifying -- we almost wen to the police -- and then walking to the ferry terminal...through back-roads. It didn't work very well. We ended up catching our ferry, very uneventful, and took us 4 hours or so to get in to Hakodate, from which we took a cab to our hotel. From the cab we got to see the port all lit up, very pretty and put us in good spirit. I got to take a nice, long shower/bath before going to sleep which basically relaxed all the tension from the day, the trip could have ended there and I would have been rather pleased.
For our first day of Hakodate, we pretty much all slept in till about 2:00pm. Then we went to get lunch at this place called "Lucky Pierrot" which was very Christmas/Santa themed! It was amazing and the food was good! Great way to start the day, we decided to come back for milkshakes the next morning before our ferry. Afterwards we went shopping in this area near the port, the "Red Brick Warehouses" which were pretty nice, kind of expensive, and mainly import stores. The area was pretty and there was some interesting wares, so it was a nice diversion.
From there we kind of wandered around and looked for these two churches the town was famous for. On the way, we got side-tracked by a Shinto Shrine -- a guy working there (maybe a priest?) invited us in and showed us around, which was great. From there we made it to the churches, which were beautiful kind of high up on this slope. Basically Hakodate is set up like a tinier, colder San Fransisco if that helps put the layout in perspective. After the churches we went to an Italian restaurant, which was absolutely fantastic. I have not been so happy with mozzarella, tomato, and basil since I was in Italy.
Afterwards we headed to an onsen (public bath), one of the goals of the trip. None of us had ever been before, but all had a loose idea from movies and anime. For those unaware, there's a men's side and a women's side, and three pools - hot, cold, and warm. Even though it was pretty empty, Ben and I were rather concerned about accidentally doing something socially unacceptable at first, which made the public nudity somewhat less awkward (not to mention there were very few other people there). However, after a few minutes the whole feeling of the place overtakes you and it's much easier to relax. It was a very nice experience. Though, I think relaxing with everyone in the lounge afterwards might have been the most stress-relieving part. From here we basically walked around the lit up port and went to sleep, all of us wanted to get up early for our last day.
In the morning, Lauren and I went to "Viking Breakfast" - that is how the Japanese refer to all you can eat. It was very nice, it had lots of both Western and Eastern food. After, Jordan, Lauren, and I decided to go to the "Morning Market," or fish market, while Ben went to some sort of fortress on his own.. It was full of fish, and kinda gross/interesting. Laur got to show off some of her Japanese skills, and impressed the locals. I think both of them enjoyed it a good deal. Afterwards, Laur and I went to the Red Brick Warehouse to scrounge for some gifts. It was much less exciting the second time, so I didn't really find much of anything. I was personally feeling a tad ill, so I skipped out on milkshakes.
The cab and ferry were pretty uneventful - though I did get some cool things at the ferry terminal on Hakodate side, and finished reading "Self-Made Man" on the ferry. Aomori, however, was great this time. We found a strip of shops we hadn't noticed and basically just explore for a while. We ended up dining at a Japanese style restaurant, that was extremely tasty and had really friendly keepers. One of which makes chopsticks and taught the table how to properly use them (I was doing it fine, but apparently everyone else was doing it Chinese style?) It was kind of silly/entertaining. After we got some ice-cream and caught the bus -- this time we got to sit all together in a row of four. We were very chatty at first, to the detriment of the grumpy man in front of me, but were quiet once the bus started, kind of. Lauren and Ben made friends with this guy next to us, a student at Tokyo University. Thankfully this driver got us back on time, and we all went our separate ways. All-in-all it was a great trip.
As for me, I got a few hours of sleep and then hung out with Jordan for a bit in Takadanobaba. Tomorrow classes start up again, and I have some final papers due throughout the next three weeks. Then classes end! So excited! This week I hope to start planning my two month break!
There were some issues meeting up on the first, but eventually we got it together and got on the bus in time (had enough time to wait for like, 25 minutes at the station). I sat next to Lauren, Ben and Jordan sat together -- and seemingly got along pretty well. I am really glad as everyone seemed to get along for most of the trip, there was really only one incident that blew over pretty quickly so I won't get into details about it. Apparently there was a snow storm, so within the first stop or so (no bathroom on the bus -- but a stop every two hours) we hit snow! I was pretty excited and it kept me awake and in good spirits for basically the rest of the bus, as every two hours I could get off and play in the snow. This happiness basically lasted till we got to Aomori, around 12pm - two hours or so late.
Our first impressions of Aomori were unimpressive. It was a small strip and very cold with lots of snow. We got separated for a while, which was extremely terrifying -- we almost wen to the police -- and then walking to the ferry terminal...through back-roads. It didn't work very well. We ended up catching our ferry, very uneventful, and took us 4 hours or so to get in to Hakodate, from which we took a cab to our hotel. From the cab we got to see the port all lit up, very pretty and put us in good spirit. I got to take a nice, long shower/bath before going to sleep which basically relaxed all the tension from the day, the trip could have ended there and I would have been rather pleased.
For our first day of Hakodate, we pretty much all slept in till about 2:00pm. Then we went to get lunch at this place called "Lucky Pierrot" which was very Christmas/Santa themed! It was amazing and the food was good! Great way to start the day, we decided to come back for milkshakes the next morning before our ferry. Afterwards we went shopping in this area near the port, the "Red Brick Warehouses" which were pretty nice, kind of expensive, and mainly import stores. The area was pretty and there was some interesting wares, so it was a nice diversion.
From there we kind of wandered around and looked for these two churches the town was famous for. On the way, we got side-tracked by a Shinto Shrine -- a guy working there (maybe a priest?) invited us in and showed us around, which was great. From there we made it to the churches, which were beautiful kind of high up on this slope. Basically Hakodate is set up like a tinier, colder San Fransisco if that helps put the layout in perspective. After the churches we went to an Italian restaurant, which was absolutely fantastic. I have not been so happy with mozzarella, tomato, and basil since I was in Italy.
Afterwards we headed to an onsen (public bath), one of the goals of the trip. None of us had ever been before, but all had a loose idea from movies and anime. For those unaware, there's a men's side and a women's side, and three pools - hot, cold, and warm. Even though it was pretty empty, Ben and I were rather concerned about accidentally doing something socially unacceptable at first, which made the public nudity somewhat less awkward (not to mention there were very few other people there). However, after a few minutes the whole feeling of the place overtakes you and it's much easier to relax. It was a very nice experience. Though, I think relaxing with everyone in the lounge afterwards might have been the most stress-relieving part. From here we basically walked around the lit up port and went to sleep, all of us wanted to get up early for our last day.
In the morning, Lauren and I went to "Viking Breakfast" - that is how the Japanese refer to all you can eat. It was very nice, it had lots of both Western and Eastern food. After, Jordan, Lauren, and I decided to go to the "Morning Market," or fish market, while Ben went to some sort of fortress on his own.. It was full of fish, and kinda gross/interesting. Laur got to show off some of her Japanese skills, and impressed the locals. I think both of them enjoyed it a good deal. Afterwards, Laur and I went to the Red Brick Warehouse to scrounge for some gifts. It was much less exciting the second time, so I didn't really find much of anything. I was personally feeling a tad ill, so I skipped out on milkshakes.
The cab and ferry were pretty uneventful - though I did get some cool things at the ferry terminal on Hakodate side, and finished reading "Self-Made Man" on the ferry. Aomori, however, was great this time. We found a strip of shops we hadn't noticed and basically just explore for a while. We ended up dining at a Japanese style restaurant, that was extremely tasty and had really friendly keepers. One of which makes chopsticks and taught the table how to properly use them (I was doing it fine, but apparently everyone else was doing it Chinese style?) It was kind of silly/entertaining. After we got some ice-cream and caught the bus -- this time we got to sit all together in a row of four. We were very chatty at first, to the detriment of the grumpy man in front of me, but were quiet once the bus started, kind of. Lauren and Ben made friends with this guy next to us, a student at Tokyo University. Thankfully this driver got us back on time, and we all went our separate ways. All-in-all it was a great trip.
As for me, I got a few hours of sleep and then hung out with Jordan for a bit in Takadanobaba. Tomorrow classes start up again, and I have some final papers due throughout the next three weeks. Then classes end! So excited! This week I hope to start planning my two month break!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year
First of all, Happy New Year everyone!
Today Jordan and I went to Shimokitazawa for a lot of shopping. It was fun, though very long. Honestly we probably should have left a tad later, and I should dressed a tad heavier, but it was definitely enjoyable. Unfortunately we did not find the second half of the area until rather late, when we were cold and tired and lots of shops were closing, so we didn't really see everything. A reason to go back, I guess? Some highlights: There were lots of ponchos, that were awesome. There were some cool jackets, including a Korean one that was red, had a tiger on the back, and a zip-down hoodie. Like, the hood had a zipper in the middle. It was really weird. In a store there was a random Fender Stratocaster just hanging out, possibly for sale. There was a golf magazine in a convenient store with a japanese man dressed in 70s Britt-punk attire. We got a free tea tasting that was absolutely delicious (I will maybe pick some up when I'm closer to going home). Lots and lots of animal-socks -- with eyes and mouths and such. Really delicious looking waffles...that we didn't eat! Much more!
Afterwards we went to Yoyogi Kouen (Park) to celebrate the New Year. There was a standard festival with expensive food (500 for an anman! Ridiculous!) And some sort of music thing - basically large screen with a New Year's concert showing. We walked around a bit, Jordan realized how close we were to a fashion district which we then explored, and then we went back so as to avoid getting stranded by metro. It was nice, but I was just inside and non-attentive when the year changed...which doesn't really bug me. We almost ended up on a bus tonight, so it is better than nothing! Also Gen gave me a rather sweet card, so I kind of feel like a jerk now. Oh well, I will probably pick him up a little something in Hokkaido, I guess?
Tomorrow, around 10pm, we will board our bus for Aomori, then take a ferry to Hakodate for our trip. So I think I'll just relax and maybe do some work tomorrow, but for the two days following I will be in Hokkaidoi! It should be lots of fun, and will hopefully include some hiking, a castle visit, an onsen, and maybe some soup curry and dairy products. Also -- snow! I am rather excited.
Another note: Jordan also keeps a blog and is somewhat better at writing than me. Her post on yesterday had a bit more detail and wonderment in it, so I would recommend reading it. If nothing else, it will provide a different perspective on what I say. Honestly, it will likely give a more complete story to events we mutually experience. Read it!
Today Jordan and I went to Shimokitazawa for a lot of shopping. It was fun, though very long. Honestly we probably should have left a tad later, and I should dressed a tad heavier, but it was definitely enjoyable. Unfortunately we did not find the second half of the area until rather late, when we were cold and tired and lots of shops were closing, so we didn't really see everything. A reason to go back, I guess? Some highlights: There were lots of ponchos, that were awesome. There were some cool jackets, including a Korean one that was red, had a tiger on the back, and a zip-down hoodie. Like, the hood had a zipper in the middle. It was really weird. In a store there was a random Fender Stratocaster just hanging out, possibly for sale. There was a golf magazine in a convenient store with a japanese man dressed in 70s Britt-punk attire. We got a free tea tasting that was absolutely delicious (I will maybe pick some up when I'm closer to going home). Lots and lots of animal-socks -- with eyes and mouths and such. Really delicious looking waffles...that we didn't eat! Much more!
Afterwards we went to Yoyogi Kouen (Park) to celebrate the New Year. There was a standard festival with expensive food (500 for an anman! Ridiculous!) And some sort of music thing - basically large screen with a New Year's concert showing. We walked around a bit, Jordan realized how close we were to a fashion district which we then explored, and then we went back so as to avoid getting stranded by metro. It was nice, but I was just inside and non-attentive when the year changed...which doesn't really bug me. We almost ended up on a bus tonight, so it is better than nothing! Also Gen gave me a rather sweet card, so I kind of feel like a jerk now. Oh well, I will probably pick him up a little something in Hokkaido, I guess?
Tomorrow, around 10pm, we will board our bus for Aomori, then take a ferry to Hakodate for our trip. So I think I'll just relax and maybe do some work tomorrow, but for the two days following I will be in Hokkaidoi! It should be lots of fun, and will hopefully include some hiking, a castle visit, an onsen, and maybe some soup curry and dairy products. Also -- snow! I am rather excited.
Another note: Jordan also keeps a blog and is somewhat better at writing than me. Her post on yesterday had a bit more detail and wonderment in it, so I would recommend reading it. If nothing else, it will provide a different perspective on what I say. Honestly, it will likely give a more complete story to events we mutually experience. Read it!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Good Day
Today has started out pretty good and continued that way pretty much unhindered until this moment.
I woke up feeling pretty decent, took care of some things, packed some stuff up, and headed out to get breakfast. I got some Yakitori (Grilled Chicken, typically with Salt or Teriyaki) from a rather nice and casual Japanese vendor I have never seen before. He had no problems asking if I was a Gaijin and chatting with me about it, then dropped in that I looked "cool," asked what it meant and put in some guesses. He gave me a 10Yen/Yakitori, and was generally jovial. The experience has been with me all day and rose my spirits in a pretty good way.
I got a good amount of reading done on the train to Narita, and the scenery was beautiful. It took longer than expected, so I didn't have to wait very long for Jordan, who of course was delight to see (especially after last week's error). On the way back a Canadian guy, Michael, started chatting with us. Seems like a nice guy, he's apparently here for a year working as a chef in a Roppongi Gentlemen's club named Tetra. Interesting guy, most Westerners kind of just glare at each other or ignore each other when they see other Westerners they don't know, but he opted to talk to us. I would like to meet him again, at some point.
There were some issues in getting into Jordan's home for the month...the key left in the mailbox got pushed all the way in, but we eventually got it out. The area her apartment is in is not the best, but the apartment itself is rather nice. We walked around a bit, she bought some magazines, we got some delicious bento, and we made friend with a local drunk man. Basically, after peeing on some street, he ran up to us and decided that we were shy/indecisive about entering a ramen shop (we were just trying to translate the menu) - so he told us he was friends with the owner and basically convinced us to enter. The shop owner was pretty displeased and told us they were closing, so we left...only to meet that man again a few minutes later on a different road. Very odd.
I unfortunately lost a 2010 scheduling book I got in my Japanese Class's Christmas Party...it had all the subway maps and I was thinking about using it as a kind of journal/diary. Might use losing it as an excuse to buy one, though I don't know how long I would be able to keep that up, or even what sort of journal I would want to keep. I just feel I should take to writing things more immediately. I kind of want to practice writing very openly about myself and my thoughts, so it would be great practice. I also want a Kanji Notebook, to write down kanji I don't know to look up later, as a learning tool. So I could always combine both goals into one general notebook...we'll see what happens.
Other things, Ben and Mom both called a few minutes of each other when I was at Jordan's pad. It was rather odd. The Bento shop by Jordan's place is way better than any I've been to before (which is only really 2 or 3, if you don't count konbini and supermarket bentos). I may end up meeting family in the Caribbean or something over my two month break (Exciting!). Jordan and I exchanged gifts, she got me the book I've been pining for for months now (Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent), and I gave her the Tokyo Jihen single she was asking for. Related not, Julianne apparently got me something...I am really curious to see what. Tomorrow Jordan and I will go to Shimokitazawa (full of thrift shops, I went a month or so ago and got cool pants and a jacket), and who knows for New Year's eve. I am hoping some people will join at some point, but it seems a bit late and no one's really interested. Should still be fun! Also, the bus for Hokkaido leaves the next day!
I woke up feeling pretty decent, took care of some things, packed some stuff up, and headed out to get breakfast. I got some Yakitori (Grilled Chicken, typically with Salt or Teriyaki) from a rather nice and casual Japanese vendor I have never seen before. He had no problems asking if I was a Gaijin and chatting with me about it, then dropped in that I looked "cool," asked what it meant and put in some guesses. He gave me a 10Yen/Yakitori, and was generally jovial. The experience has been with me all day and rose my spirits in a pretty good way.
I got a good amount of reading done on the train to Narita, and the scenery was beautiful. It took longer than expected, so I didn't have to wait very long for Jordan, who of course was delight to see (especially after last week's error). On the way back a Canadian guy, Michael, started chatting with us. Seems like a nice guy, he's apparently here for a year working as a chef in a Roppongi Gentlemen's club named Tetra. Interesting guy, most Westerners kind of just glare at each other or ignore each other when they see other Westerners they don't know, but he opted to talk to us. I would like to meet him again, at some point.
There were some issues in getting into Jordan's home for the month...the key left in the mailbox got pushed all the way in, but we eventually got it out. The area her apartment is in is not the best, but the apartment itself is rather nice. We walked around a bit, she bought some magazines, we got some delicious bento, and we made friend with a local drunk man. Basically, after peeing on some street, he ran up to us and decided that we were shy/indecisive about entering a ramen shop (we were just trying to translate the menu) - so he told us he was friends with the owner and basically convinced us to enter. The shop owner was pretty displeased and told us they were closing, so we left...only to meet that man again a few minutes later on a different road. Very odd.
I unfortunately lost a 2010 scheduling book I got in my Japanese Class's Christmas Party...it had all the subway maps and I was thinking about using it as a kind of journal/diary. Might use losing it as an excuse to buy one, though I don't know how long I would be able to keep that up, or even what sort of journal I would want to keep. I just feel I should take to writing things more immediately. I kind of want to practice writing very openly about myself and my thoughts, so it would be great practice. I also want a Kanji Notebook, to write down kanji I don't know to look up later, as a learning tool. So I could always combine both goals into one general notebook...we'll see what happens.
Other things, Ben and Mom both called a few minutes of each other when I was at Jordan's pad. It was rather odd. The Bento shop by Jordan's place is way better than any I've been to before (which is only really 2 or 3, if you don't count konbini and supermarket bentos). I may end up meeting family in the Caribbean or something over my two month break (Exciting!). Jordan and I exchanged gifts, she got me the book I've been pining for for months now (Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent), and I gave her the Tokyo Jihen single she was asking for. Related not, Julianne apparently got me something...I am really curious to see what. Tomorrow Jordan and I will go to Shimokitazawa (full of thrift shops, I went a month or so ago and got cool pants and a jacket), and who knows for New Year's eve. I am hoping some people will join at some point, but it seems a bit late and no one's really interested. Should still be fun! Also, the bus for Hokkaido leaves the next day!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Illuminations and the first Holiday
So before I say anything else, I think I am going to stop uploading pictures here. It's a rather enormous hassle and has kept me from posting anything a number of times. Eventually I will make all of my pictures available, but probably that will wait until I'm back in the US. I would prefer this being a picture blog, but it's clear that it is not something I am capable of doing. When I post pictures expect them to be on my facebook, or on my deviant art until I am back in the US, working on a real computer.
That said, I have been up to a lot. A little after my last post I went to see the Illumination in Roppongi with my friend Rike. I sort of invited myself and feel she may have been happier on her own, but it was still rather nice and very pretty. We also stopped and tried some hand-made donuts, which were pretty tasty (but rather pricey! Oh well, it is Roppongi).
I also had a lovely Channukah, and even celebrated twice -- both times at Ben's place. I have been there rather often, it seems. His host mother is an excellent host (as is his host sister), and an even better cook. Though, the second time we celebrated Ben did most of the cooking (I was surprised at how good all of the things he made were), though I brought some latkahs (both sweet potato and normal), which were a success, and his host mother provided us angel-food cake for desert. A very nice holiday indeed!
The very next day I ended up going back for a house party hosted by his host sister. Lots of good food, and lots of Japanese conversation. I managed to look introspective enough that the party-goers assumed I was better at Japanese than Ben and Laur, which was rather hilarious. I guess it is all about confidence and appearance.
My Festivus was pretty good too -- I spoke to the guys and shared my grievances over Skype. I also posted on the blog. It's been a while since I plugged Procrast-Nation, but it is worth checking out. They just hit 500 posts (mine was 501)! Though, if you just wanna check out mine it is titled "The Body, the Spirit, and Perception" and is a preliminary reflection on Lynn Hunt's book while I was still reading it. It is somewhat unrefined, so please be gentle.
Other than that, I have been reading some good books (Lynn Hunt, "Inventing Human Rights: A History," Patti Smith, "The Coral Sea," Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars"), watching some good/awful tv and movies (Strangers with Candy, Merlin, even Star Trek, A Home at the End of the World, If the World were Mine), and generally having a good time despite the various essays I am working on. I have also gone on plenty of trips around Tokyo - which is making me like the city a good deal more.
Some places I went:
Keio University and surrounding area, very nice, very pretty campus!
Walking tour to Nakano Broadway -- seedy area! But it was nice to revisit, even briefly. I got Seta something as a thanks for the hat she gave me! Also found a good Bubble Tea shop, finally!
Walking tour to Square-Enix store/Yoyogi - lots of fun to revisit, and not that far! The store hasn't changed much, still way too pricey for me, but I am happy I went.
Walking tour to Rainbow Bridge -- oh man this was a full day! I got to see so much, I really loved it! The city is really big, and rather hard to maneuver, but this was definitely worthwhile and I definitely plan to do this again, earlier in the day, so I can get to Odaiba! I was very upset to find the Rainbow Bridge closed for pedestrians when I got there. Oh well...
Shiodome Pokemon Center -- with Laur, pretty cool. A full Pokemon Center is not much more than the one near my hotel 3 years ago...so it was not too exciting, but was fun.
As some are probably wondering...I had my date wrong -- Jordan will actually be here tomorrow. It's given me a chance to do a lot of work, so it's not so bad. I'm just upset that we won't have a week where I don't have class and we will both be in Tokyo, but I do have 3 day weekends all the time...so still not too big a deal.
Also, we have tickets and hotel set for our Hokkaido trip -- I hope to have exciting news about it soon!
P.S. I have received many fine gifts, for the holidays and will therefore only eat out until school starts again. Also I am now positive more than ever having a roommate is not something easily done for me -- I will have to pick mine very carefully when I return to the US, or find somewhere I can live by myself. The reason is sort of personal in regards to someone not myself, so I won't post it publicly.
That said, I have been up to a lot. A little after my last post I went to see the Illumination in Roppongi with my friend Rike. I sort of invited myself and feel she may have been happier on her own, but it was still rather nice and very pretty. We also stopped and tried some hand-made donuts, which were pretty tasty (but rather pricey! Oh well, it is Roppongi).
I also had a lovely Channukah, and even celebrated twice -- both times at Ben's place. I have been there rather often, it seems. His host mother is an excellent host (as is his host sister), and an even better cook. Though, the second time we celebrated Ben did most of the cooking (I was surprised at how good all of the things he made were), though I brought some latkahs (both sweet potato and normal), which were a success, and his host mother provided us angel-food cake for desert. A very nice holiday indeed!
The very next day I ended up going back for a house party hosted by his host sister. Lots of good food, and lots of Japanese conversation. I managed to look introspective enough that the party-goers assumed I was better at Japanese than Ben and Laur, which was rather hilarious. I guess it is all about confidence and appearance.
My Festivus was pretty good too -- I spoke to the guys and shared my grievances over Skype. I also posted on the blog. It's been a while since I plugged Procrast-Nation, but it is worth checking out. They just hit 500 posts (mine was 501)! Though, if you just wanna check out mine it is titled "The Body, the Spirit, and Perception" and is a preliminary reflection on Lynn Hunt's book while I was still reading it. It is somewhat unrefined, so please be gentle.
Other than that, I have been reading some good books (Lynn Hunt, "Inventing Human Rights: A History," Patti Smith, "The Coral Sea," Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars"), watching some good/awful tv and movies (Strangers with Candy, Merlin, even Star Trek, A Home at the End of the World, If the World were Mine), and generally having a good time despite the various essays I am working on. I have also gone on plenty of trips around Tokyo - which is making me like the city a good deal more.
Some places I went:
Keio University and surrounding area, very nice, very pretty campus!
Walking tour to Nakano Broadway -- seedy area! But it was nice to revisit, even briefly. I got Seta something as a thanks for the hat she gave me! Also found a good Bubble Tea shop, finally!
Walking tour to Square-Enix store/Yoyogi - lots of fun to revisit, and not that far! The store hasn't changed much, still way too pricey for me, but I am happy I went.
Walking tour to Rainbow Bridge -- oh man this was a full day! I got to see so much, I really loved it! The city is really big, and rather hard to maneuver, but this was definitely worthwhile and I definitely plan to do this again, earlier in the day, so I can get to Odaiba! I was very upset to find the Rainbow Bridge closed for pedestrians when I got there. Oh well...
Shiodome Pokemon Center -- with Laur, pretty cool. A full Pokemon Center is not much more than the one near my hotel 3 years ago...so it was not too exciting, but was fun.
As some are probably wondering...I had my date wrong -- Jordan will actually be here tomorrow. It's given me a chance to do a lot of work, so it's not so bad. I'm just upset that we won't have a week where I don't have class and we will both be in Tokyo, but I do have 3 day weekends all the time...so still not too big a deal.
Also, we have tickets and hotel set for our Hokkaido trip -- I hope to have exciting news about it soon!
P.S. I have received many fine gifts, for the holidays and will therefore only eat out until school starts again. Also I am now positive more than ever having a roommate is not something easily done for me -- I will have to pick mine very carefully when I return to the US, or find somewhere I can live by myself. The reason is sort of personal in regards to someone not myself, so I won't post it publicly.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Thanksgiving / Baking / Future Plans
So I do not really have pictures today, but I do have a post! Just as good.
So I'll start with Thanksgiving -- it was a lot of fun! Ben, Laur, and I went out and got a Strawberry and Cream cake, and ate it together. Surprisingly we did it rather evenly without cutting it (I think so, anyway). It was really tasty, and a lot of fun to just sit together and chat over cake. I've never had such a small Thanksgiving, so it was really interesting. Afterwards we walked Ben most of the way home, and Laur and I went to this well-known gyoza/Chinese restaurant -- which was decently cheap and really excellent! Laur got some Peking duck, and I got Dan Dan Men/Ten Ten Mien (basically a semi-spicy Chinese Ramen). We also split some gyozas, and everything was really delicious and filling. It was a rather good holiday! I feel I should repeat that in case anyone was worried about how it would go, being away from home, especially since Halloween was not up to par.
Anyway, besides that I have been focused a lot on school and various intellectual interests. Pretty much I am reading a lot for class, and listening to a lot of philosophy/news podcasts -- which has been really nice. Beyond that, it's mid-term time, and soon it will be finals! We really only have about 3-4 weeks of class left, especially with the two week winter break coming up.
Other than that I have started baking here, which is a rather cheap way to eat filling food. I've saved up a lot of Mikan (Japanese Orange) zest, so I have made some really tasty treats. I have also been going to t.he gym pretty regularly, I have lost some weight. The gym is really obnoxious to get to -- it is in the Student Center, and music circles (clubs) just practice their instruments in the hall, along the stair well. They are all loud, most are terrible, and are playing different pieces. It is like the worst post-modern orchestra you can imagine, and it drowns out whatever I am listening to with my obnoxiously loud headphones.
The only exciting thing that's really happened so far is that my class went on a field trip to the Ghibli Museum. I might put pictures of that later, but they sort of didn't want us taking many. Honestly it was not as cool as it should have been. It was mainly museum shops and cool architecture, basically just glitter. The best part was this short excerpt from My Neighbor, Totoro they showed everyone -- and which I could understand part of (it was mainly silent)!
For the future...tomorrow my class will be doing some sort of Taito drum lesson, which could be cool, and I think we are making Mochi on Thursday. Jordan comes to visit on the 22nd (until mid January or so), which is also my last day of class before winter break! I want to try to get her into the dorm for our Christmas party, and I totally want to make her go all sorts of places with me, but the only really big thing we're doing is a trip to Hokkaido for maybe 2 or 3 nights...though it'll take about a day to get there and a day to get back, so it'll probably be really tiring.
Other things -- I am probably going to submit pics to the AU abroad picture contest thing. Depending on how that goes I'll post my submissions here, too. Though, I should mention again that I put a good amount of pictures on my DA page at canteen-ninja.deviantart.com. I may or may not submit something to the Philosophy department magazine thing, depends on how much time I have. I also should have a page on imdb thanks to Dan Levine and "Acquaintances," which I will plug with a link to where you can stream it when available. I also hope to do a showing of this here in Japan!
Well, hopefully I will be better at posting in the future, jaa!
So I'll start with Thanksgiving -- it was a lot of fun! Ben, Laur, and I went out and got a Strawberry and Cream cake, and ate it together. Surprisingly we did it rather evenly without cutting it (I think so, anyway). It was really tasty, and a lot of fun to just sit together and chat over cake. I've never had such a small Thanksgiving, so it was really interesting. Afterwards we walked Ben most of the way home, and Laur and I went to this well-known gyoza/Chinese restaurant -- which was decently cheap and really excellent! Laur got some Peking duck, and I got Dan Dan Men/Ten Ten Mien (basically a semi-spicy Chinese Ramen). We also split some gyozas, and everything was really delicious and filling. It was a rather good holiday! I feel I should repeat that in case anyone was worried about how it would go, being away from home, especially since Halloween was not up to par.
Anyway, besides that I have been focused a lot on school and various intellectual interests. Pretty much I am reading a lot for class, and listening to a lot of philosophy/news podcasts -- which has been really nice. Beyond that, it's mid-term time, and soon it will be finals! We really only have about 3-4 weeks of class left, especially with the two week winter break coming up.
Other than that I have started baking here, which is a rather cheap way to eat filling food. I've saved up a lot of Mikan (Japanese Orange) zest, so I have made some really tasty treats. I have also been going to t.he gym pretty regularly, I have lost some weight. The gym is really obnoxious to get to -- it is in the Student Center, and music circles (clubs) just practice their instruments in the hall, along the stair well. They are all loud, most are terrible, and are playing different pieces. It is like the worst post-modern orchestra you can imagine, and it drowns out whatever I am listening to with my obnoxiously loud headphones.
The only exciting thing that's really happened so far is that my class went on a field trip to the Ghibli Museum. I might put pictures of that later, but they sort of didn't want us taking many. Honestly it was not as cool as it should have been. It was mainly museum shops and cool architecture, basically just glitter. The best part was this short excerpt from My Neighbor, Totoro they showed everyone -- and which I could understand part of (it was mainly silent)!
For the future...tomorrow my class will be doing some sort of Taito drum lesson, which could be cool, and I think we are making Mochi on Thursday. Jordan comes to visit on the 22nd (until mid January or so), which is also my last day of class before winter break! I want to try to get her into the dorm for our Christmas party, and I totally want to make her go all sorts of places with me, but the only really big thing we're doing is a trip to Hokkaido for maybe 2 or 3 nights...though it'll take about a day to get there and a day to get back, so it'll probably be really tiring.
Other things -- I am probably going to submit pics to the AU abroad picture contest thing. Depending on how that goes I'll post my submissions here, too. Though, I should mention again that I put a good amount of pictures on my DA page at canteen-ninja.deviantart.com. I may or may not submit something to the Philosophy department magazine thing, depends on how much time I have. I also should have a page on imdb thanks to Dan Levine and "Acquaintances," which I will plug with a link to where you can stream it when available. I also hope to do a showing of this here in Japan!
Well, hopefully I will be better at posting in the future, jaa!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Various Things
So not too much has happened recently. I finally went to Akihabara, which was somewhat fun (I will upload pictures later as I am rather too tired to do it now). I have entered midterm season, which mainly means essays in my case. I will start (and finish) my only non-essay midterm this weekend, and probably start writing my other essays by next weekend. So...really don't expect many posts from now until my winter break.
In other news, I have finally put my self up on My-Sensei.com and have priced myself rather low...so I should be able to start tutoring soon! I also have been putting a lot of photography up on my old site: canteen-ninja.deviantart.com so feel free to check that out. Really, I have nothing more to say. Sorry!
P.S. I guess I also had a long conversation with a cell-phone shop clerk in which I managed to cancel my texting plan, and have begun going to the gym somewhat regularly. Not very interesting, I'm afraid.
Edit: http://picasaweb.google.com/DanielisCertus/Akihabara#
In other news, I have finally put my self up on My-Sensei.com and have priced myself rather low...so I should be able to start tutoring soon! I also have been putting a lot of photography up on my old site: canteen-ninja.deviantart.com so feel free to check that out. Really, I have nothing more to say. Sorry!
P.S. I guess I also had a long conversation with a cell-phone shop clerk in which I managed to cancel my texting plan, and have begun going to the gym somewhat regularly. Not very interesting, I'm afraid.
Edit: http://picasaweb.google.com/DanielisCertus/Akihabara#
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It has been a long time!
So I have done a lot since my last post: I went to a Chinese Opera, I celebrated Halloween (twice, of course), got a package, I almost got my Working Visa, I bought new clothes!
Highlights:
Chinese Opera: Was sort of fun, but really long and not something I care to do again. It was more a variety show of Chinese theater than anything else.
Halloween: Um...it was somewhat extremely lame. I dressed as a 70s disco king during the day...which everyone confused for me just dressed nicely. During the evening I went as a Biker-Themed Exotic Dancer -- which was hit with mixed reviews...from the same groups of people. I went to a Halloween Party and was basically complemented all night, proceeded to lose a costume contest, and was then told by half the people that didn't vote for me that my costume was amazing and I should have won. Afterwards there were a few planned and botched ideas -- such as going to a train party the next day (was advised against), and going to a club (left too late), so instead I went to Big Boy with Ben! Pretty cool. I of course changed my outfit for this outing to more club-appropriate gear. All available in the album at the bottom of the post! Beware, though, it uploaded them in reverse order. The next night I, dressed in a nostalgic super-hero costume (no pics unfortunately, I wore a paper crown, a pink shirt, underwear over my pants, and my bed sheet like a cape -- my name was The Lion King), went with Ben, dressed as a BDSM-bottom cat-boy, to Shinagawa to people watch...and was reminded why Ben should not be allowed to use my camera. He took and saved 3 ratty pics -- the rest he deleted. There was an awesome pic of two Popeyes that got deleted! It was still sort of cool. Basically Halloween in Japan is not as cool as Halloween in the US, was the lesson from the weekend.
Package: My mom sent me candy and socks! Both of which I really like. They are red cashmere socks, and the candy lasted about 2-3 days, so I am rather satisfied. If I get another one, though, I hope for some coffee!
New Clothes: I stopped by a store and picked up a rad pink shirt, and a rad brown shirt, which there are pictures of. Together they cost about 980yen ($10) and are awesome as hell so I am rather satisfied. Later, some friends and I went to a place with a name I cannot remember. It is near Todai, and rather cool! I got some patch-work pants and a really cool jacket, both of which are really warm! I hope to upload pics of the pants soon, but the jacket is online now.
Working Visa: Basically in the course of a week I went to Shinagawa and applied, and then got permission to go back and pick it up. However, when I went, I forgot to bring my passport! Yeah, pretty dumb. I want to go Monday, but I am concerned I will be late for the FRANZ FERDINAND CONCERT! We will see how this goes.
Future: Monday I will go to Franz Ferdinand, and Wednesday I have my first assignment due for history of Mathematics -- I have no idea what to do for this. Afterwards my midterms should start so I will be rather busy soon...and I don't have another break till December.Oh well! I'll try to be better about posting.
http://picasaweb.google.com/DanielisCertus/LotsChineseOperaHalloweenNewClothes#
P.S. My Chrome is having difficulties loading GMail. Anyone else having this issue/capable of helping?
Highlights:
Chinese Opera: Was sort of fun, but really long and not something I care to do again. It was more a variety show of Chinese theater than anything else.
Halloween: Um...it was somewhat extremely lame. I dressed as a 70s disco king during the day...which everyone confused for me just dressed nicely. During the evening I went as a Biker-Themed Exotic Dancer -- which was hit with mixed reviews...from the same groups of people. I went to a Halloween Party and was basically complemented all night, proceeded to lose a costume contest, and was then told by half the people that didn't vote for me that my costume was amazing and I should have won. Afterwards there were a few planned and botched ideas -- such as going to a train party the next day (was advised against), and going to a club (left too late), so instead I went to Big Boy with Ben! Pretty cool. I of course changed my outfit for this outing to more club-appropriate gear. All available in the album at the bottom of the post! Beware, though, it uploaded them in reverse order. The next night I, dressed in a nostalgic super-hero costume (no pics unfortunately, I wore a paper crown, a pink shirt, underwear over my pants, and my bed sheet like a cape -- my name was The Lion King), went with Ben, dressed as a BDSM-bottom cat-boy, to Shinagawa to people watch...and was reminded why Ben should not be allowed to use my camera. He took and saved 3 ratty pics -- the rest he deleted. There was an awesome pic of two Popeyes that got deleted! It was still sort of cool. Basically Halloween in Japan is not as cool as Halloween in the US, was the lesson from the weekend.
Package: My mom sent me candy and socks! Both of which I really like. They are red cashmere socks, and the candy lasted about 2-3 days, so I am rather satisfied. If I get another one, though, I hope for some coffee!
New Clothes: I stopped by a store and picked up a rad pink shirt, and a rad brown shirt, which there are pictures of. Together they cost about 980yen ($10) and are awesome as hell so I am rather satisfied. Later, some friends and I went to a place with a name I cannot remember. It is near Todai, and rather cool! I got some patch-work pants and a really cool jacket, both of which are really warm! I hope to upload pics of the pants soon, but the jacket is online now.
Working Visa: Basically in the course of a week I went to Shinagawa and applied, and then got permission to go back and pick it up. However, when I went, I forgot to bring my passport! Yeah, pretty dumb. I want to go Monday, but I am concerned I will be late for the FRANZ FERDINAND CONCERT! We will see how this goes.
Future: Monday I will go to Franz Ferdinand, and Wednesday I have my first assignment due for history of Mathematics -- I have no idea what to do for this. Afterwards my midterms should start so I will be rather busy soon...and I don't have another break till December.Oh well! I'll try to be better about posting.
http://picasaweb.google.com/DanielisCertus/LotsChineseOperaHalloweenNewClothes#
P.S. My Chrome is having difficulties loading GMail. Anyone else having this issue/capable of helping?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)