Photos from the Semester~~!!

Since the semester is over, I thought it would be nice to show photos that are not on the blog while I was in school! Let's get started!

 This was taken during orientation when I went to Kyoto with my friends. This is one picture of one of my friends! I really like the lighting of the picture.

This is also the photo from Kyoto during orientation, but just with different people.

This was taken in Kobe when I met with an old friend of mine from camp. During this time, a hurricane was coming and it was raining really hard. Because of this, I wasn't able to see much of the city, but I had a great time~!

This was taken in Universal Studios Japan. During then, there was a festival where the staff threw necklace beads to the crowd. This is one part of the festival with Hello Kitty, Snoopy and his friends, Elmo, and more.

This was when the zombies came out during the night at Universal Studios Japan. It was not scary at all, but it was really cool. This is one of my favorite photos.

I took this photo when I went to Fushimi-Inari with my friend. We took a lot of photos as we climbed up, but before we reached to the top we got really tired...

This photo is also taken when I went to Fushimi-Inari!

This is a photo from Hiroshima and the Genbaku Dome (The Atomic Bomb Dome)

I took this photo right outside my dorm during the end of the day. I was playing with my camera and I liked this one the best!

















This was taken at Arashiyama when I went with a group of friends. We were all taking pictures of the autumn leaves and it was one of the most relaxing days ever!

This was taken at one of my favorite temples in Kyoto! It is called Shoren-in temple and when I went, there were light ups.

This was also taken in Kyoto while I was with a friend of mine. This was at a store we were passing by and I thought it was very cool.

This is a picture of when I went to Seoul, Korea. Me and my friend went to Seoul Tower and because it was almost Christmas, there were these trees. On these trees, there were locks of couples name and it was cute!










That's all of my other photos that I thought was good~. I'm really grateful that I was able to study abroad in Japan and travel to various places that I have never gone before. I made a number of really good friends in just 4 months and I hope I get to keep in touch with them. I definitely want to come back and perhaps work in Japan one day. It just makes me said that I have to leave... :(

Thank you those who had kept reading and I hope anyone who reads this blog would find this very useful!

-Miku <3

Last Month in Kansai Gaidai! :'(

Hey guys,

December was the last month in Kansai Gaidai University. That month I was very busy studying for finals and doing papers. Before finals week started, on December 8th, I had a birthday party! Since it was my 21st birthday, on Friday I went to the club with some friends in Osaka until early morning. On Saturday, I went to a cat and owl cafe with one of my friends in Osaka. I wish I took photos when I went to the cafes, but I forgot my camera... -.-'' But it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I went! Right after, I had a birthday dinner with my friends. We went to eat yakiniku tabehoudai (All you can eat Barbecue). I've been there a few times already and it was good as usual!



I went to Korea as well with my roommate after finals! It was my first time outside of Japan when traveling to Asia and it was a GREAT experience! We went through Peach Airlines because it's really cheap. For a flight to Seoul, Korea, it was about ¥10,000 or just $100! We were supposed to get on a plane around the afternoon, but since we woke up late than expected, we missed our flight... It sucked a lot because we had to buy another plane ticket, but we did anyway. We went on the later on and went through the outside to board, which was the first time for me! It took more than an hour to Seoul, Korea.

Here are some of the pictures I took at Korea! I had so much fun there even though it was so cold~~! Maybe next time I'll go there when it's warmer.

 
 

Fun in November! Gaidai sai and Chilling with Friends Again~!

Hey guys~!

So the first thing I did in November was the Gaidai-sai (Gaidai Festival)! In every school, there's a festival every year, where the clubs have exhibitions as well as have food stands. It has a different name in every school (usually *school name*+sai, which is *school name*+festival). Gaidai-sai lasted for about two days, November 1st and 2nd. Since I joined the photo club with two of my friends, we were part of the photo exhibition. I had three photos as part of the exhibition! I took some of my friends to the exhibition and they told me the pictures were really good, which made me very happy! Although when strangers told me that they love my photos, I was ecstatic since I feel that they will give more of an honest opinion.

Besides showing my friends my photos, I walked around and ate some food! I had shio yakisoba (fried noodles with salt based sauce), takosen (octopus balls with rice crackers), and tempura ice (fried ice cream). It was all delicious~! All of them were made by students, which was nice as well.

Later in November, I hung out with my friends again in Osaka. But this time we went to Umeda
because we wanted to go to this particular cafe. It was located right under the bridge of the train and it looked so cool. We hung out in the cafe and talked for a long time before walking around and exploring Umeda. It was nice just having a relaxing hang out with my good friends! :]

The day after, I went to Arashiyama, Kyoto with some other friends to see and take some pictures of the autumn leaves. It was SO crowded this day perhaps because it was a weekend. I was with 4 of my friends and it took us about an hour to cross the bridge.

After crossing the bridge, we went to a temple as well as go through the Sagano Bamboo Forest. It was beautiful! The autumn leaves were really nice as well and it was a nice way to relax with friends~!

On that following Monday, I went to Kyoto again with a friend of mine who also went to Arashiyama with me. But this time, we went to Kiyomizu-dera and Shoren-in temple to see their light ups during the night. I went to Shore-in temple before, but since I didn't bring my camera that time, I went again. It is one of my favorite temples. I loved how people are able to walk through the whole temple and it has a very relaxing atmosphere. The blue light up of the garden and the light up bamboo was my favorite part of the temple.

After going to Shoren-in temple, we went to Kiyomizu-dera, which was also very nice. The autumn leaves are very red and I love it! However, it was very crowded and it was hard to take pictures... I wanted to take a picture with a good view, but it took a LONG time to get past the people. We were there until the very end, right before it closed.

That's about it for November! Next post I will talk about what I did in December, which would be the last month I would be in Kansai Gaidai University. :'(

October fun~! Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Halloween!!!

Hey everybody~! How's it going? Sorry for delay... -.-'' I was very busy during school and also my photos were not uploading to my computer for some reason... But since school is over and now that all my photos are uploaded, so now I can post again! This post I'll talk about things I did in October.

The first thing I did was go to Kyoto on October 4th, where I met up with a good friend of mine from NYC since she was in Japan. We first went to Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) and it was beautiful! I always saw it on pictures, but seeing it in person was totally different. The real one was a lot nicer and brighter. We walked around the temple for a few minutes, and after we went to drink tea and eat Japanese sweets at a famous place Gion, Kyoto. I don't remember the name, but it was delicious! I'm not a big fan of Japanese sweets, but after going there, I am now able to eat some! :D

After eating some Japanese sweets, we went around Gion for a bit of shopping before going into a noodle/rice bowl restaurant. We saw two real maiko-san there during the night and they were B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L (the taxi driver told us that at night, a lot come out)! At the restaurant, I had a negitoro don, which was delicious! Negitoro is just bits of fatty tuna with scallions. My friend had this meat don and her parents got noodles.

Then on October 6th, I went to Osaka with my friends! We went shopping at Shinsaibashi as well as eat at a pizza tabehoudai (all-you-can-eat-pizza), which was a lot of fun! I love it so much there and it is my favorite place in Japan. I love the atmosphere and it kind of reminds me of NYC a little bit! :3 My friends and I spent the whole day there until night.

On the 11th of October, I went to Hiroshima for the first time with my friend! My friend is originally from Hiroshima and since we had to go for a school trip, she let me stay over at her house for two nights. I was so happy~!

On the Friday after school, we went towards Umeda to catch a bus towards Hiroshima. It took about 5 hours to get there, so by the time we got there, it was already night time. Her father picked us up by car and brought me to their house. They were very welcoming and for the night, we just went to bed.

On Saturday, we woke up early and went towards the Atomic Bomb Memorial to meet up with my classmates. My friend and I got there a bit early, so I was able to look around. I saw the famous Atomic Bomb Dome. It was unbelievable seeing it in person. I always saw it through pictures, so I didn't know how I would feel. It felt a bit surreal to be honest... I didn't know how to act (being that I was born in America, but also half Japanese). After looking around, we went inside the museum and to the auditorium to listen to a guest speaker who survived during the time. It was even more emotional to hearing her experiences.

After visiting the Atomic Bomb Memorial, my friend took me around to shop around and then to eat at a restaurant that had Hiroshima-fuu Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a type of Japanese pancakes with flour, cabbage, and other stuff (it literally means, "Anything you like fried"). There are two places that specializes okonomiyaki, Osaka and Hiroshima. I had Hiroshima version before, but I always wanted to try the actual one in the city. I must say, it was delicious~! I like this type of okonomiyaki more than the ones in Osaka because it had crispy yakisoba in it and a lot of other ingredients inside. After eating one, I was REALLY full!

After eating, I went back to her house and stayed for another night before going back to Hirakata City the next morning. I really loved the trip and I wish I was in Hiroshima for a longer period of time. It seems like I didn't have enough time to see everything especially Miyajima. Next time I go I'll definitely go there!






The last big event I did during October was Halloween. On October 29th, my dorm had a Halloween party, where mostly everyone dressed up and played games. I dressed up as Pikachu! Anyway, everyone at the dorm sat at different tables and split into teams with the RAs. Against other teams, we did arm wrestling, charades, and some other games. There was also a costume contest and whoever won got prizes. At the end of the night, we watched movies. Me and some of my friends watched The Ring. It was the English version so it wasn't as scary. :/

The next day at Kansai Gaidai, there were a lot people dressed up in their costumes~! Unfortunately, my camera died when I was taking a lot of pictures at my dorm during Halloween, so I couldn't take any pictures at all. :( I was so upset! That morning, I went to school with my Pikachu costume and went to class with it. It was awkward at first because I felt like I was the only one dressed up, but later in the day more and more students started to dress up as well. During the night, there was a costume contest~! I didn't take part in it, but there were many students who did. There were some dance performances as well, which was all nice! All the dances were good~! I just wished I took pictures.... >.<

That's about it for October! Next post, I'll recap what I did in November! Again, sorry to keep you guys waiting! 

Universal Studios Japan and Kyoto (Sorry for the late post!!! >.<)

Hey~!

Sorry for the really, really late post! I recently did not have time and I feel so bad! My photos were not uploading properly onto my computer again as well and I think it's my computer's fault. :( I don't know if I can keep up with every week because of this....

Early this week I have been hanging out a lot with friends (especially in the Center for International Lounge, also known as just CIE lounge). We just talk a lot and I could never get my homework done!

Over this past weekend, I went to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) to celebrate a friend's birthday and it was so much fun! We went early morning until late nighttime. Since it's almost (kind of) Halloween, there were a lot of events going around. During the day, there was a Mardi Gras parade, where the USJ people on the floats threw bead necklaces at the audience. Some of my friends and I went, but we each only caught only 1 or 2 necklaces... Then at night, there were zombies everywhere and at some rides/attractions Sadako (from the ring) comes out. We didn't go on those attractions, but we went on Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Terminator, and to the Mummy Museum during the day. At night, we went on the Hollywood Dream. I loved it! It was my favorite ride of the day! It was just a regular rollercoster except you can choose what kind of music you want to hear during the whole ride. I chose SMAP and it was so much fun! Also, I was able to see the whole city of Osaka and it was beautiful since I rode on the ride at night! The ride/attraction I didn't like was the Mummy Museum. It was like a haunted house and I was so scared. :'(

The next day (on Sunday), I went to Kyoto with one of my good friends! We first went to Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is a shrine of the Inari god. The main is on top of the mountain and we had to go through MANY, MANY torii and staircases. We went halfway up the mountain before we got really tired and turned back. We also didn't have time. While we were going down, my friend and I ate strawberry shaved ice! It was so sweet, but I did get energized. :]

After Fushimi Inari, we went on the train and we went to a cable line nearby. The cable bridge took us to another shrine on the mountain. I forgot the name of the shrine, but I liked it a lot since the temple was old and it seemed it hasn't change anything. Apparently, at the shrine, there's a lot of events going on, like every week. Also on the grounds, I think there's an aquarium as well. There was also a memorial for Edison for some reason... :/




This week, I have been very busy with homework and tests, so I have been stressed! My speaking class is very hard and we practically have to memorize a speech every week and present it (along with a test/quiz the next day). My reading and writing class it also a bit hard because of all the kanji... :'(

Other than school work, I have also joined the photo club (I probably mentioned it before)! I showed two photos to the club and I was so nervous! Since everyone in the club are serious, they look really hard at my photos in silence. But they all liked it , which made me VERY happy. By showing my two photos, I think they can be display at a gallery/photography showcase on campus. I am so excited! :D Next week, I'll be showing two or three more photos to the club and see if they all approve. I'll post the photos that are submitted and are approved by the members!

Anyway, this weekend, I'll be seeing my best friend on Friday in Kyoto and then on Saturday I'll be going to Osaka for a class trip to a museum. I'll try my best to write a post this weekend, but it all depends if my photos will upload onto my computer... 

Until next week (or a few days... or even weeks depending on my computer's mood...), sayonara~!

Hanging out/eating near Kansai Gaidai and going to Kobe!

Hello~!

So early in the week, I went to some Indian restaurant with some friends nearby Kansai Gaidai. It was a bit expensive, but it was filling and delicious! I ordered a course for ¥950, which had a salad, barbecue skewered chicken and vegetarian (?) sausage, naan, mango and yogurt drink, and coconut chicken curry. It was awesome! I'm definitely going back sometime when I have money and when I'm really hungry (apparently, we were allowed to have another serving of naan, but we were all too full so none of us got any... Next time!).

I also went to an all-you-can-eat takoyaki restaurant with some good friends. It was also nearby the school and it was pretty cheap (about ¥780). Along with a lot of takoyaki, the restaurant gave us yakiudon and takosen (takoyaki sennbei) as a service. However, because of this, all of my friends and I were unable to eat a lot of takoyaki (which I guess had no point of all-you-can-eat). But it was delicious as well and when I'm starving, I will definitely go again!

Yesterday (Sunday), I went to Kobe to meet up with an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in 3 years! She brought along another friend, who was incredibly cool. When I got to Kobe. we all ate lunch. My friend recommended this Italian restaurant and it was unbelievably delicious! We ordered two pizzas along with pasta and after I was so full! It was seriously one of the best pizzas I had in Japan.

After lunch, she showed me around Kobe to the tourist attractions. She showed me some European buildings around the city and all of it was beautiful! I wish we saw more though because it was raining really hard at that time and the typhoon was nearing. We went near the sea port later in the day as well, but the rain was getting horrible so we had to go in a mall instead. But I bought two new shirts that was really cheap (together for only ¥1380)! I would definitely want to go back to Kobe when it is not raining. I heard that on a really nice day, I would be able to see Osaka from the port. Hopefully I can see it before the semester ends!

That's about it this week. I'll try to write more on next week's blog as well as on time when the internet is working! So until next time, sayonara~!