Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday, January 3, 2014

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. :'(

Thursday, October 3, 2013

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~!

Monday, September 16, 2013

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~!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

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~!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Experiencing Nagoya

Hey everyone!

So this week I spent most of my time in Nagoya, just chilling. Starting from early this week, I bought a charity t-shirt for "24 Hour Television ~Ai wa Chikyuu wo Sukuu~" ("24 Hour Television ~Love Saves Earth~), which is a special television program done once a year for 24 hours. The program raises and donates money to charities that aids in the sick, victims of war and natural disasters, and more. Each year, there's a special theme and this year it is "Nippon tte...? ~kono kuni no katachi~" (which means "What is Japan...? ~The shape of the country~). Here is the front and back of the shirt. The drawings are done by Ohno Satoshi (from the idol group Arashi) and an artist name Kusama Yayoi. Isn't is cute?! ^.^

On Wednesday, my mother and I went to a nearby city called Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture with a friend name Misato-san. There, my mother and Misato-san took a dance class with a teacher name Seiji-san, who we all know and are friends with. I didn't participate, but my mom did and she said it was pretty hard. He taught two classes, one beginner "Soul" dance class and another intermediate level fusion class (apparently which is house dance, and other street dance combined). The last class ended at 11:30pm. My mom, Misato-san, Seiji-san, me, and another friend went back to Nagoya and ate at a family restaurant called Cafe Gusto. It had different types of food such as pasta, pizza, and hamburgers. My mother and I shared a dish called doria (a rice casserole). It had various seafood and vegetables inside. After eating, my mother and I went back to the house at 3am.


The next day, Seiji-san taught another class and did a workshop at a different location. Although my mother did not take the class, we later met up with him after at 10pm in Nagoya. Along with Misato-san, Seiji-san, and four other people, we all went to an izakaya, which is basically a restaurant that serves food with sake/alcoholic drinks. The izakaya we went to was called Gomitori and it was in Sakae, a popular shopping area. I did not drink anything, but I ate some REALLY good food. I had some famous Nagoya specialty food including miso katsu (pork cultlet with miso sauce) and tebasaki (chicken wing). I also ate some really good sashimi and other Japanese food. My mother and her friends had a lot of drinks (including beer and sake), and we all talked until 3 am in the morning. After leaving the restaurant, Seiji-san wanted to have some more drinks, so we went to another restaurant type place. However, we made a wrong choice and picked a restaurant that does not particularly specialize in drinking (instead it was just a 24 hour restaurant -.-''). We were told that each person had to order a dish (not including drinks) even though we were full. Reluctantly, we all did (including beer for Seiji-san) and stayed 'till 4am. After, we all finally parted ways, and my mother and I got home at 5am. Although it was fun hanging out with everyone, I was SOOO tired! >.<

This week, I started to catch a cold as well. :'( I don't know how I got it, but recently it has been a little chilly in Japan because of the continuous rain for the past two days from a hurricane. Next week, I'll be going around Kyushu, which is an island all the way south of Japan. I'll be going around the island with my mom, mostly for her work as well as sightseeing. I'll be writing all about it when I come back.

Until next time, sayonara~!