Trip to Kinkakuji and karaoke/clubbing

So the night after my last post was quite low key.  I hung out and did a little reading for my sexuality class, and then we had a Barbie colouring party in the lounge!

The second to last one in the lower right corner is mine.  There are two barbies.  I was very proud of it.

Yesterday I woke up kind of early and just hung around.  I should have been doing homework but I wasn't.  I met up with Ayaka and Yasmina at Kansai Gaidai's main gate at 12:40 and we caught the bus to Hirakata station, where we met up with Ayaka's friend Yuki, who is so sweet and cool.  We caught a few trains and buses until we got to Kyoto station.  I didn't realize how expensive transportation around Kyoto can be, and everything's so far apart.  What I've seen of Kyoto so far has been mostly around the Kamogawa river, temples and stuff.  I've seen the big city area and shopped at a department store, but right next door there was Kiyomizu-dera and these adorable traditional houses.  Kyoto station looked really cool though.  I got some pictures:

It was so big and I loved the way it perfectly reflected the clouds.

After this we caught another bus to Kinkakuji-michi, which was very long especially with how much traffic there was.  I actually felt myself starting to fall asleep because it was kind of hot and buses always put me to sleep.  I think Ayaka noticed because when I start to get sleepy I do this really attractive thing where one eye droops shot and my jaw is kind of slack and hangs open.  She was like, "Are you okay?" It was kind of embarrassing.

Once we got to Kinkakuji, it was amazing.  I totally understand why it's a World Heritage sight.  One of the most beautiful things I've seen since I've been here, definitely.

This is us in the area outside before we bought our tickets.  From left to right: Reisshi (I think that is how it's spelled), Yuki, me, Yasmina, Juunji.  Ayaka was holding the camera.

This is Kinkakuji.  It was so gorgeous I was kind of in awe.  I took so many photos of it because you can't take a bad picture of Kinkakuji and I couldn't pick one that I liked more than any others.  Here are some more:

I love this one because I loved how perfectly Kinkakuji reflected off of the lake.  The set up was just so perfect, the serenity of the landscape and the bright colour of the building.

It really was so beautiful.  Yasmina and I were so happy.

Here we are posing in front of Kinkakuji.  Ayaka is to the left of Yasmina.

Yasmina and I.  We are standing in front of the house of the man who built Kinkakuji.  I would seriously do anything to live right there.



I'm honestly not sure what this was, but there were a lot of people taking pictures of it and it did look sort of pretty with the greenery.


A mini waterfall on the path from Kinkakuji.  I asked everyone what the significance of it was.  They were like, "It's a small waterfall".



Everyone throws small change into the bowl for luck.  I grabbed a few 1-yen coins and tried my luck but I missed.




I don't know what this is but I love this shot.





These are Omikuji machines that we found on the way out of Kinkakuji.  You put a 100-yen coin in and it gives you a little paper fortune.  I got kichi (good, but not the best).  It was all in Japanese but Ayaka translated a little for me. She said that it's saying if I work hard, I'll get what I want, and that I have happiness in my future.  She said I should carry it with me in my wallet.  As we were leaving I noticed that there was a machine for English fortunes too, but I already had one so whatever.  Also, strangely enough, there was a Haagen-Daas ice cream vending machine.

I got a couple of souvenirs too--a little pink silk bag with Kinkakuji and cherry blossoms and kanji embroidered on it that hangs from a little white rope is supposed to bring me luck in love.  I also got a tiny Kinkakuji cell phone strap for my phone.  When I took out my cell phone to put it on everyone giggled because there are so many straps.  They were like, "Isogashii!" (Busy!)



If you get a bad omikuji you tie it to this thing to take away the bad luck.  Juunji was sad because he got the worst, so he tied his on.


The matcha parfait I shared with Yasmina after Kinkakuji.  It was amazing, there were layers of matcha ice cream, sweet red beans, whipped cream, matcha sorbet, vanilla ice cream--it even had cake and mochi in it.  I was in heaven.



We were both kind of devastated when it was gone.  After we had finished eating I accidentally left the money for our parfait on the table (in Japan you're supposed to bring it up to the front when you're done).  Juunji said I was very American, although I think that was maybe a good thing because on the bus earlier we joked about how I was more Japanese than him because I like sushi and natto and he's more American than I am because he's been to New York and I haven't so we should switch.

So after the parfaits we caught a train and subway back to Hirakata station.  I went to get dinner with everyone but Yasmina headed home.  I was a little nervous about her walking back by herself since even though Japan is pretty safe it was dark, but she was fine.

At dinner I had quite a decent sized beer.  It was a yakitori place--yakitori is skewers of chicken I guess.  It was delicious.  We all ordered what yakitori we wanted and shared them, and also a bowl of some kind of salmon rice soup and french fries and some fried chicken.  I ate chicken heart and it was DELICIOUS. 

After dinner I went to karaoke with Reisshi, Yuki and Ayaka and about 15 people from the seminar house and a couple of their speaking partners.  I wasn't planning on it but they were all already there, were right upstairs from where we ate and it just sounded so fun.  So now I've been five times so far.



Karaoke.

Ayaka got invited to a party at this club that started at midnight so she asked if I wanted to go.  We ended up staying at karaoke until about 1:30 and then heading there.  It turned out to be this really cool place above a tiny restaurant.  It was so small but it wasn't crowded or anything.  The music was awesome and the girl that was DJing was so cool that I was a little in awe of her. 







We stayed until about 3 or 3:30ish.  I had a lot of fun and it was a good crowd of people in general.  Most of them were from Kansai Gaidai.  It was altogether an amazing day. 

September 19-22

So the last few days have not been as crazy but they have been really fun.  On Monday Ayaka and Kasshi took Reni and I around exploring a bit.  We went to this place Bikkuri Donky for lunch, which is a hamburger place basically.  But not like American hamburgers, just the meat with stuff on them.  Like, my meal was a plate with hamburger meat and a poached egg on top, with salad and rice.  It was quite cheap too.  And the restaurant looked like it was supposed to be in a theme park.  The way it was set up reminded me of a cross between pirate ship/steampunk junkyard.  This is a picture of Kasshi, Reni and I standing outside (Ayaka was holding the camera): 

Then we went shopping around Hirakata-shi station.  I found a really cute dress that was marked down from 4,000 to 900 yen.  I also got two new pairs of leggings which I really needed, and a long green shirt that's really loose and looks pretty good on me.  Ayaka treated me to taiyaki, which is like a sweet fried dough with either red or white bean paste inside.  Usually it's shaped like a big fish but this time it wasn't.  It was soo delicious.  Also I taught Ayaka and Kasshi how to say "wicked" and they taught me "meccha".  They both mean basically the same thing, and everyone in the Kansai area says "meccha".

We then went back to the dorm and grabbed ice cream at the super market.  I really want to do something for Yayoi, Ayaka and Kasshi to thank them for showing me around so much, so I'm thinking of making them a big American dinner.

Tuesday was quite routine with classes etc. but I did buy a bike.  I thought for a long time I just didn't need one but it really does make your life so much easier.

Wednesday there was a typhoon warning so we didn't have any classes.  For us in Hirakatashi it was mostly just a lot of wind and rain but everything was closed even though it actually got very nice later in the day.  I didn't do much, I was intending on catching up on some reading and homework since I just switched into a new class but instead I ended up watching the Lion King with some of my dorm mates in the computer lounge and then doing some shopping.  At night some people went out to eat or to Cafe Istanbul to eat and drink.  I was invited to both but I've been spending so much money on eating out or beer that I decided to stay in.  Instead I went out to get cake ingredients with Emily and Eric and Emily made a cake in one of the rice cookers and it was THE BEST THING I EVER TASTED. 

Today I had my first Sexuality and Culture class (yay!) which seems like it's going to be an awesome class except for the fact that one student has to act like a fourteen year old boy and make immature comments whenever we talk about anything sexual.  Which, given the fact that this is a sexuality class, is like a lot.  A lot a lot.  It is a bummer because this is the subject I was most interested in learning more about.  Still, I'm determined to enjoy it.  I also went jogging with Emily this morning but since it's been a really long time since I kept up with running at all I was quite pathetic at it.  I'm hoping to get back in shape though.  Since I had extra time this morning--biking cuts your travel time pretty much in half--I was bored so I took some pictures around the dorm. 

This is the view from outside of my window.

This is my room! The futon on the left is mine.  We're supposed to roll them up when we're not sleeping in them and put them in our futon cupboards during the day.  We don't though.

This is my desk! On the shelf on the left is some of the birthday cards and presents I received.  Everyone is so sweet here.  And that's my pink umbrella I got in Osaka.  When it gets wet patterns of tiny cherry blossoms appear on it, and they disappear when it dries.  I would have to say it is the best.

My door and closet.  The white slippers with the dragon pattern are mine.

This is my typical breakfast.

And this is me, standing outside of the seminar house.  Otoosan took this for me.  I'm wearing the new dress and tights I bought the other day.

This is my new bike! I call it Lucille II.

And this is what I had for lunch today.  I decided that I want to make a new section of stuff I eat because I eat a lot of cool stuff and Japanese people always make their food so aesthetically pleasing.  This is not so much because I made it, but it's my first bento box so I felt that it deserved a picture.  I picked it up for like 100 yen and decorated it with some purikura pictures.  It's rice, apple slices, cherry tomatoes and my attempt at tamagoyaki which I messed up so it's pretty much just egg.  Tamagoyaki is like a rolled omelette kind of.  You make it by gently beating eggs in a mixture of soy sauce, hon-dashi, and sugar.  Then you pour half of the mix in a frying pan and when it starts to get omelette-y you roll it.  You then pour the rest of the mix in and when it starts to get a little more omelette like you roll it over the first one.  It's delicious but I got confused making it.  I was a little flattered though because at lunch one of the guys we were sitting with (who had just met me) saw my lunch box and was like, "Aw, I wish I had a host mom to make bento boxes for me."  And when I said something like, no, I made this, he asked me to be his host mom and make him bento boxes for lunch.

Next time I want to post more pictures of the school, I feel like I haven't been taking enough.  And tomorrow I'm going to Kyoto with Yasmina, Ayaka and some of Ayaka's friends! I'm sooo excited because I love Kyoto and pretty much everything about it.  We are going to see Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion and I'm not really sure what else but it should be awesome and I'll take lots of pictures.  Also I have the option of going to Kobe to go hiking and then go to a real onsen which would be amazing, but I'm worried about spending too much money so I have to think about it.  Transportation to Kobe alone would be about 3000yen round trip which made me gasp at first.  Still, it would be an amazing experience.

Aquarium

Amazing day.  So yesterday, I went to the aquarium in Osaka with my lovely dormmates.

Me, Sophie and Maritana posing in front of the fountains.  Unfortunately the lovely Reni was holding the camera so she wasn't in the shot.

First view of the aquarium :)

This is what I had for lunch.  Good ramen with bamboo, corn, bean sprouts and scallions, also a bowl of rice, a salad that reminded me a lot of coleslaw, and some kind of chicken dumpling thing.  Yum yum.  For dessert, we split a parfait four ways because we were already very full.

I would have liked to have had a picture, but honestly it was gone within 30 seconds.

The aquarium itself was so amazing.  Apparently it's one of the biggest in the world, and they had everything, even capibara and a kind of petting zoo type thing where you could touch manta rays and small sharks.  Unfortunately the battery died on my camera about 20 minutes into the actual aquarium.  I got a bunch of good shots with my phone camera, but until I figure out a way to easily transfer those photos to my computer I might just steal some photos from the girls. 

This is us with the manta rays.  They were actually hamming it up a lot and seemed to enjoy the attention.  There was a really big black one that was constantly swimming around the perimeter and lifting himself up out of the water so people could more easily touch him.

The otters were so cute! They were also a bunch of big hams, whenever they saw someone with a camera walk by the tank they swam down and just kind of chilled there so we could pay attention to them.

This was actually my favorite area, there were a lot of really vividly colored tropical fish and a coral reef area.  When I stood this close to the glass it was easy to feel like I was swimming with them.

This is one of the pictures I got with my camera phone.  The jellyfish were massive and it's harder to see in this shot but they looked a lot like mushrooms with seaweed stems.

This is another camera phone shot of Osaka's ferris wheel at night.  This was right outside the aquarium and it looked so beautiful.  I really wanted to ride it, supposedly you can see all the way to Kobe from the top, but it was late and the others weren't up for it just then.  I suppose there's always next time though.

I was really hoping to bring back a souvenir from the aquarium, but nothing in the gift shop really stood out to me.  I did get something, though.  My umbrella that I brought from home fell apart almost as soon as I took it out of my suitcase, so I bought a new one.  Originally I bought this cheap transparent one from Japanese Claire's.  I thought it was so cute with its white ruffles around the edges, but the first time I opened it up after leaving the store there was already a rip in it.  Fortunately they allowed me to get a refund, which I used to go next door to an actual umbrella shop and buy a better one.  It was a bit more expensive but I'd rather pay for quality that will last than keep buying cheap umbrellas that fall apart.  It's plain pink and made of kind of a thick material, but when it gets wet patterns of tiny flowers appear on it.  They demonstrated it on a model for me at the store.  It's so cute!  I also took purikura with the girls.  Maybe later I'll upload a picture of it.

Altogether, amazing day.  Thank you ladies!

Tsuki-Mi

So, the other night I went to a moon-viewing festival in Kyoto.

I love that sentence.

It was one of those plans that was completely last minute and thrown together, but in the end worked out perfectly.  I was just kind of wandering in and out of the dorm kitchen, eating and putting myself together a little bit.  My roommate was talking to our neighbor, Sabrina, who was planning on meeting a friend at Hirakata station and going to Kyoto to see this full moon festival.  I heard and thought it sounded interesting, but at the same time I was like, "It's a Monday night... I have a lot to do... and a full moon happens every month, so they probably have these festivals all the time".  But then someone mentioned that they only happen once a year.  Yasmina and I just kind of looked at each other and she said, "...How about it?"

In the next twenty minutes we were running out the door and catching the bus at the top of the hill.  We met Sabrina's friend, Kazuko Okuno, at the train station, who turned out to be a very sweet English teacher who kindly offered to show us around at the festival, which we hadn't been expecting.  We didn't want to be third wheels so we had figured on taking the train into Kyoto with them and then going off on our own.  It was completely cool though.  The temple was a short walk past the Kamogawa river.  I really do love Kyoto.

I guess there was some sort of ceremony before the festival that we missed, which was kind of sad, but I didn't mind after we walked down this gorgeous tree-lined path to the red Torii gates (I think that's how they're spelled, but don't quote me).

The outer area of the shrine was lined with little shops and stands selling souvenirs and sweets like o-dango and matcha ice cream (Japanese thick, creamy green tea flavor).  We all ended up getting some.

The festival itself was so cool.  It was really crowded and really hot but they played traditional Japanese music at the beginning that was so beautiful.  It was really discordant and not at all what I'm used to, but there was something so haunting and eerie about it, perfect for the full moon.

After the music, there was a brief intermission followed by a traditional Japanese dance.  I am not sure of the name of it, but it was gorgeous.  It was much slower and less athletically-oriented than Western dance but like the music, it fit the occasion perfectly.  I tried really hard to get a good shot of the dance, but my camera was very uncooperative in the night and it was hard to get close enough to get a good view.

I saw this painting while I was leaving.  In Japanese stories, there's an usagi (rabbit) who lives on the moon and pounds mochi (sweet cakes made of rice paste).  I thought it was so cute and beautiful that I needed a picture.  There were real miko there too--they're the shrine maidens you always see in anime and manga with the white shirts and long red skirt/pants things.  I really wanted to take a picture with one, but the first one I asked said no and I felt too embarrassed to ask someone else.

As we were leaving, Okuno-san gave us souvenirs of these delicious sweets that are very famous in Kyoto.  They're a bit like mochi and they're filled with a sweet bean paste that's in a lot of traditional Japanese sweets.  She also bought us a stick of o-dango each (these are balls of sweet rice paste with a sticky, sweet sauce that are best eaten hot.  I really like them).  It was so kind of her, I didn't know what to say.

This is a smaller shrine within the temple.

Before we left, Yasmina, Sabrina and I made wishes at a little shrine as well.  To do this, you ring a bell via a long dangling rope, clap your hands and stand before the shrine with your eyes closed and your hands together, contemplating your wish.

It was so much fun and so amazing.  This is the kind of stuff I really wanted to do in Japan! Kazuko Okuno-san, arigatou!