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!
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!
