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~!

First Week of Classes and Chilling with friends! (UPDATED VERSION)

Hey guys~!

Sorry I have not posted in a LOOONNNGGG time. I have been busy with classes and everything! Anyway, for some reason, my pictures are not uploading to my computer, so I won't have any pictures this time. :( Next week though, I'll try to buy a new memory card! So this week, I'll try to make it a bit short! (UPDATED Monday, September 16th: Memory card finally uploaded the pictures into the computer! YAY! But I'm still getting a new one).

Anyway, I started my first week of classes on the 3rd with a Japanese language class. On Tuesday (which was the first day of classes for me), I had a Spoken Japanese class, which was a bit hard because I'm on level 6. :[ The reading had difficult words inside and I had to search it on the dictionary each time. Then I had Peace, Development, Democratization, and Human Rights class. It is very interesting, but some of the topics were a bit difficult to follow. However, the teacher is very passionate so I like him a lot. Then I had Cross-Cultural Psychology, which is again was very interesting. Not as hard as the other classes. On Wednesday, I had Reading & Writing Japanese for the first time during the week. There were so many kanji that I didn't know and I felt a bit dumb. -.-'' I guess more learning for me. Out of the week, I have three 9am classes, while on Mondays I start at 11am and Fridays 12pm! :] And I end early on Mondays and Wednesdays, which is good.


Sunday (September 8th, 2013), I went to Osaka with my roommate and her friend. We went to Osaka station to do some shopping. I bought some food, tights for my friend back in NYC, and a headband (which I wore twice this week already!). We also went to a cafe, where I had some really good sandwich (avocado and shrimp sandwich!). My friends both had mushroom cream pasta. Since my roommate's friend had to leave early, my roommate and I went around the supermarket and looked at some food. I only bought potatoes and nagaimo. I haven't made anything yet with those food.

I've recently been making food for myself and it's been going pretty well! So far, I have made broccoli no gomae, chicken/meat with vegetable satay, kabocha nikomi and yakisoba. I have been making lunch/bento as well. I am VERY proud of myself.

I have also went to a ramen shop near Kansai Gaidai University with a few friends. Although I did not get ramen, I had two plates of fried dumplings and it was delicious! And it was really cheap! ONLY ¥500. Wow~. Next time, I'll get the ramen. ;D

Other than that, I've been hanging out with friends after class at the lounge at school and at the dorm lounge. It is so much fun! Next week I'll be writing about my adventures during the weekend. Hopefully I can get a new memory card.

Until next time, sayonara~!

First Week in Kansai Gaidai University (Orientation)!

Hey guys~!

Sorry for the late post! I've finally made it to Kansai Gaidai University and the internet has been pretty bad (and when I mean bad, it's HORRIBLE. It's like I went back to the 90s, literally!). But besides that, it has been fun so far. :] I've only been here for a week, but I've been very busy. I've been meeting many people from around the world and I've went to many places! For the first two to three days, I had a lot of paperwork to do, so I went to the campus many times. Because of this, I learned all the important buildings on campus. I also went to the supermarket many times to buy some groceries. During the week, we weren't allowed to cook in the kitchen, so I bought a lot of bentos and cup ramens. Starting today, we can use the kitchen and borrow different cooking utensils. So I will cook a lot more. Also, during the beginning of the week, I bought a bike, which makes it easier to go to the main campus from my dorm. It literally takes about 10 minutes! 

On Friday, I went to Kyoto with a group of friends, which was so much fun! We went around shopping and I bought a manga called 聖おにいさん (seinto oniisan - Saint Young Men). I also bought a facial moisture cream as well from The Body Shop. During shopping, we stumble upon a Buddhist temple. We all washed our hands and prayed. Then, after shopping a bit, we went to a shrine. It was really big and BEAUTIFUL. After Kyoto, I went to Nagoya to stay over at my grandmother's house for a night and I came back on Saturday night. 

Today (September 1st) was a free day, so I went to a festival with a group of friends late at night. It was so much fun! There was a lot of food and game stands. Some of my friends played at some game stands and won some toys. One friend won a balloon hammer and another won a horse balloon. I didn't play any games, but I ate sausage and chijimi (Korean pancakes). Both was very delicious! I also met some local people around the area and they were really nice. One guy even payed for my chijimi! :D

Anyway, I have to go! I'll try to write next week if the internet is not bad. Until then, sayonara~!