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 Education 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 is 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~!

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~!