School in about a week! Photos from the summer!

Hey~!

This week, I have been hanging out in Nagoya mostly by myself. Since it's so hot, I've been inside the house most of the time except during the night, where I go to the gym. Anyway, this week's post, I decided to post pictures I either like or didn't get a chance to post from over the summer. Here's some of them!


I took this photo in Kijimadaira, Nagano Prefecture right near the Ski Resort. I don't know, but I like it. What do you guys think?











This was taken at Yufuin, Oita Prefecture. My mother and I visited many stores there and one of the them was Donguri no Mori. In front of the store, Ghibli items were lined up and I couldn't resist and I had to go inside! However, most of the items were expensive and I went out the store empty-handed. -.-''

This is also in Yufuin. I was waiting for my mother and since I had a cold, I decided to dip my feet in the onsen  right in front of one of the souvenir shop. Honestly, the water was SOOO hot that my foot was red when I pulled it out of the water. -.-''

I took this picture at Atami, Shizouka Prefecture when me and my family went to a rose/herb garden near the hotel. This was one of the Japanese gardens!  I love the way the ocean is in the background of the garden. It think it just beautiful!







When leaving Atami, my mother, my grandmother, and I stopped at a shotengai (Similar to an outside mall, but on the streets). We were shopping for souvenirs when we passed by this women and her monkey entertaining little children. It was very cute! :]

Can you guess what fruit this is on the right??? It is actually a watermelon! I had this over at my mother's friend's house when we visited her and her newborn baby. I never seen an orange watermelon before, so I thought it was quite cool. However, the taste was no different than the regular red ones.

This is the picture of the famous Tekeshita Dori in Harajuku! I was debating whether or not to post this last week because I don't think I took this very well. However, I like the expression the guy in the front made in the picture (he looks really mad, but I find it quite funny). Do you guys think it's funny or is it just me?














Anyway, that's it for now! Next week, I'm going to prepare to go to Kansai Gaidai University. I'll be packing mostly and sending my luggage to the campus. Then on Monday, August 26th, I'll be heading towards Hirakata City! So excited! So, I'll be writing one last post for the summer next week before the semester starts. It might be blog full of extra pictures (like this!).

Until next week, sayonara~!

My Kyushu Adventure

Hey everybody~!

So this week I went to Kyushu from Nagoya by Shinkansen or the bullet train. My mom and I went for five nights and six days, going to different cities/towns each day by train. It was VERY tiring because I was sick the whole time and it was raining most of the time. >.<

Day 1

My mother and I first went to Kagoshima city from Nagoya by Shinkansen early morning, which took about 3 hours. When we finally got off, we were picked up a friend who drove us to Miyakonojo in Miyazaki Prefecture, which was our first stop of our trip. It was really cloudy and rainy, and because of this, we were unable to see most of the mountains and scenery along the way. We stopped by their house for a few hours and then we went to a restaurant. We met up with some more friends and we all had yakiniku (Korean bbq) and shabu-shabu (a dish where thin slices of meat are dipped in boiling water along with vegetables). The meat was extremely delicious and it's seemed more fresh than the ones in United States!

After eating dinner, we all to a friend's dance studio and talked some more. At that studio, there were nine miniature dachshund. They were so cute~! Most of the time I was playing with them. Here's a picture of some of them!

That night, my mother and I stayed at a business hotel.

Day 2

The next morning we checked out at 10am. We went towards Kirishima, Miyazaki Prefecture by car with the same friend we met up on the first day. Along the way, we all ate some REALLY good soba and udon for lunch. I had tempura udon and the noodles were really soft!

We went to Kirishima-jingu, which is a shinto shrine. There, I prayed and bought an omamori (charm) for a friend of mine!




We all, then, went to an onsen in Kirishima, where we rubbed mud all over our bodies. Supposedly, by rubbing the mud on our bodies, it makes our skin very smooth. After, my mother and I stayed at a hotel at Kirishima, which also had an onsen. However, I did not get a chance to go inside. -.-''

Day 3

This day, my mom and I went to Yufuin in Oita Prefecture. The town was very cute! There were many cute shops and food shops along the main street. While walking to the hotel, we stopped by many shops including one called Donguri no Mori (translated to "Acorn Forest"). There, a lot of Ghibli goods were sold such as Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, etc. However, they were all expensive! :( Along the way, we became hungry, so we bought this type of food called bakudan-yaki ("fried dynamite"). It was exactly like takoyaki (fried octopus ball), but much bigger. Apparently, the store was featured on T.V. Anyway, the picture of bakudan-yaki is on the left!

Day 4

After the night at Yufuin, my mom and I went to a friend's relative's hotel in Oita Prefecture. All I can say is that it was really nice because those we met were all very nice and welcoming! Also, the hotel was all the way deep inside the mountains and the scenery were very nice! But because of the rain, we were unable to see the stars during the night. :(

That night, my mother and I went in the onsen, where half of the village shares the bath (there's 10 families in the whole village!). Again, it was very relaxing and nice. :) We also ate some REALLY great food. All of it was really fresh and I loved it! I had horse meat for the first time as well and I liked it a lot. 

Day 5

When my mom and I checked out of the hotel, we were taken to Rakan-ji, which is a Soto temple in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture. It stands on the side of a mountain and we had to get on a lift in order to visit the temple. When we got off the lift, we walked towards the main hall of the temple, where there was a lot of Buddha sculptures along the way. It was interesting, but a bit scary at the same time because all of the sculptures were really old (apparently, the temple was made in 1337!). We wrote our wishes on a shyamoji when reaching the main hall, and we attached them on the wall along with many others. An example of how we done it is right below! Before we left the temple, I bought myself an omamori that brings happiness! ^.^ It has two little cherry blossoms on it and I attached it to a little pouch of mine. 

After the temple, my mother and I went towards Hakata, Fukouka Prefecture and met up with a long time family friend. Unlike the places we visited, Hakata is more of a city. We all stayed in a gigantic hotel that has an onsen along with a game room, a library, and other cool stuff. It was pretty cool just walking around the hotel!

Day 6

During the last day, we all stopped by Dazaifu, Fukouka Prefecture before my mother and I went back to Hakata and then to Nagoya late at night. Although there were a lot of stores for tourists, we went straight to Daizaifu Tenman-gu, which is a Shinto shrine. There, I prayed that I'll do well in my studies during my time in Kansai Gaidai. 

In general, the trip was a wonderful experience and it was so nice meeting friends as well as new people! Although I was sick, I would love to go back to Kyushu. Hopfully when I feel better and not during rainy season. 

This week, I'll be in Nagoya the whole time and I'll be relaxing. 

Until next time! Sayonara~! ^.^

Start of my fun experience!

Hey everyone! 

So, I will be writing a blog about my experiences in studying abroad in Japan. I'll be studying in Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan as part of the Asian Studies program. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm very excited! I'm hoping that I will improve my Japanese significantly especially my reading and writing skills. I'm also hoping that I'll be more independent and perhaps even start cooking more often while I'm dorming! By doing this, I'll probably save some money. However, school has not started yet (which the first day of classes is September 2nd, 2013). 

I landed in Japan early on Tuesday, June 11th, 2013, about two months before school starts, because I wanted to spend time with my family here and perhaps even find a job while I'm at it (don't worry! I'm a Japanese citizen so I could work! ^.^). I'm currently in Nagoya, but I landed in Tokyo on Tuesday, and my mother and I met up with a family friend. We went to their hometown in Nagono Prefecture by their car. Their town is called Kijimadaira. 

Kijimadaira is VERY nice! In every directions there were mountains and it was very cool unlike Tokyo, where it was very humid and hot. There were a lot of rice and vegetable fields in the town as well. The town also had a ski resort, which was right next to our friend's house. 

Our friend's house, which my mother and I stayed in, was GIGANTIC!!! They have about 3 floors with 3 baths and bathroom. My mother and I counted the number of rooms on their 3rd floor and there was 11 rooms! Their house was apparently a small hotel before they bought it and moved in. This is a picture of their house. Isn't it nice? :D It doesn't seem like a Japanese house at all!

Around the area, there are a lot of onsen. An onsen is a place where people take baths together in hot springs at hotels or inns. Often times, friends, colleagues, and family members go together to relax. Of course, men and women bath separately. During the first night, we went to a hotel right in front of their house which had an onsen. It was mostly indoor and relaxing. 

On the second day, we went to another onsen, which was a lot nicer than the first. Unlike the first onsen, it was set outside! The mountains were right in front of us and it was spectacular. My skin became very smooth as well when I went in the onsen perhaps because of the minerals inside the water. We spent about an hour and a half here. Here is a picture of me and our friend in onsen.

After visiting our family friend, we went back to Nagoya to take care of my grandmother. Besides that, I have been hanging out in the city, getting groceries and other necessary items with my mother. While shopping for food, it made me realize how cheap many of the foods are such as vegetables. In New York City, it's so expensive! I haven't done much else besides buying necessary personal items and hanging out with my grandmother. 

Well, until next week, sayonara~!