These are all entries that I wasn't able to post due to crappy internet. I have also expanded on some of them because I am not as tired as I was when originally writing them.
Today we traveled to Arashiyama. It was a little bit cloudy but it didn't look like it was going to rain which was a good thing. Arashiyama is a very pretty area with a river and many scenic paths, shops and walkways. Several of us walked down the river for a bit. We saw several heron and a lot of koi. Beautiful Japanese boats floated up and down the river propelled by men with long sticks that reached down to the river bed. On the path alongside us men in funny shoes pulled rickshaws with one or two passengers.
We had heard of a monkey park in Arashiyama and set out to find it. A person pointed us across the bridge. We followed the road there and soon saw signs marking the direction of the monkey park. We climbed a small hill and found the entrance to the park. It was 500 yen to get in, but Marietta negotiated with the lady and since we had 7 people it was only 250 each. Marietta rules.
Once again, we were in for a climb to get up to the place where the monkeys were. It took a good 20 minutes to climb up to the top of this small mountain. Once we got close we could see monkeys swinging in the trees above us! We got excited. At the top there were tons of monkeys! They were everywhere frolicking, picking bugs off each other, climbing. They would run right past us and we could go right up to them. We also had a great view of Kyoto from this peak, this setting was great.
We went up to the top of the monkey park and sat for a few minutes. All of the sudden this monkey started walking towards Annalise and growling at her then coming at her! She got up and screamed and ran and it stopped. She was scared! Then another monkey chased after Taylor. We had enough of being at the top. We started going down. I will never forget Marietta trying to stay calm saying, "I am a little bit scared right now." HAHA! oh man it was great.
We took a ton of pictures and for one right before we left Marietta bent down and reached her hand towards a little baby monkey. The monkey reached and gently grabbed her finger and I got the perfect picture capturing the moment! It was amazing.
Heading down the mountain we found a playground with a zipline that we all tried. We were al entertained by the playground. We then made it all the way down and headed for the bamboo forest trail. We got lost trying to get there but it was beautiful when we walked through it.
We headed back to the hotel and I took a short nap... about 2 hours. After that Annalise and I went to get some food at Nakau on Sanjo street. (Na-ka-u-te, oh oh oh oh oh! Gohan o tabeyo!) It was the cheapest and easiest transaction meal I had eaten the whole trip.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
May 26, Mt. Hiei
Today's entry might be a bit shorter because I am COMPLETELY exhausted AND I need to do my topic presentation about why the Japanese population keeps getting smaller.
Well today was an adventure. That's for sure. After class we went to Mt. Hiei. No one had been here before and we started off the journey in the wrong way. We paid 300 yen to get in to this place where there were a few little temples and shrines when we really wanted to go to the top of Mt. Hiei. The lady at the gate didn't speak any English...
The shrines that we saw were cool and very pretty. There was also a waterfall that had some freshwater crabs at the bottom. That was something I had never seen before. When we found out the way to climb the mountain was the other way, we exited the park area and headed up a giant staircase. I led the way and took off ahead in front of the group. The staircase took about 10 minutes and after the staircase was a big winding uphill road. After the road was another staircase that took about 10 minutes to climb. By this time I had waited a few minutes and Ryan caught up to me. The rest of the group was way behind. I figured we were had made some significant progress and were getting close but I jokingly yelled back at the group, "We're not even halfway there!" They all groaned and were like, "Are you serious!?" They were all pretty tired.
Past the second staircase was a winding path through the forest. Ryan and I were far ahead of the rest, traveling at a brisk pace. We kept going for 30 minutes and said to each other, there's no way anyone else is gonna make it this far. We were un-phased by the mountain and kept going. We found this hotel/nice building and there was a nice view from there. About 30 minutes later, an hour and a half into the hike, we reached a temple. At the temple there was a huge bronze bell that you could strike with a swinging log. Me and Ryan both hit it and it was awesome. The bell kept ringing and reverberating the entire time we were there. We found a map of the mountain to figure out how close we were to the top... We were about 1/3 of the way up. Wow. Welp we needed to get some water because we had a heck of a hike ahead of us. We asked a man working there if there was any place to get water and he led us to one of the shrines. There was a little stream of water trickling out of a bronze dragon's mouth. Ryan filled up his water bottle...slowly...and we both took a drink out of it and he filled it up again. We then asked the man about the best way to go to get to the top and he looked at us like we were crazy and laughed. He was thinking, "Crazy gaijin trying to hike to the top..."
On we went with some fresh sacred water of the dragon. We continued past shrines that hadn't been maintained or attended to in what looked like years. Past overgrown gardens, grave markers. We kept going for another hour and a half. We finally reached a peak where there was nowhere to go but down. But there wasn't a shrine and garden like it said on the map... It was just a few radio towers... We must have made it to the wrong peak...
So we started heading down. But going down, it didn't look familiar... We got to a big clearing with all these trees with long branchless trunks and we knew we were lost. We jokingly started discussing survival tactics which we both enjoyed and hoped we might have to use someday. We kept going down for another 20 minutes and saw a road. We had to scale a pretty steep cliff and then hop a fence to make it to the road. We then walked down this winding road for 10 or so minutes until we came to a bus stop. I was able to make out the schedule in Japanese, and the bus had stopped coming an hour earlier...
At this point the thought of hitchhiking was a very realistic and preferable option. We sat down at the bus stop for a bit to recuperate and then we continued down the road. We found a parking lot and an old man was walking past us. We knew there was a cable car that went up and down the mountain and asked him where that was. He told us it was closed and offered us a ride in his car. We quickly jumped in! He drove us for a half hour down the mountain and to the closest JR station. We were extremely grateful to him.
We headed back to the hotel where I am now. I am going to do my topic presentation and go to bed!!!
Well today was an adventure. That's for sure. After class we went to Mt. Hiei. No one had been here before and we started off the journey in the wrong way. We paid 300 yen to get in to this place where there were a few little temples and shrines when we really wanted to go to the top of Mt. Hiei. The lady at the gate didn't speak any English...
The shrines that we saw were cool and very pretty. There was also a waterfall that had some freshwater crabs at the bottom. That was something I had never seen before. When we found out the way to climb the mountain was the other way, we exited the park area and headed up a giant staircase. I led the way and took off ahead in front of the group. The staircase took about 10 minutes and after the staircase was a big winding uphill road. After the road was another staircase that took about 10 minutes to climb. By this time I had waited a few minutes and Ryan caught up to me. The rest of the group was way behind. I figured we were had made some significant progress and were getting close but I jokingly yelled back at the group, "We're not even halfway there!" They all groaned and were like, "Are you serious!?" They were all pretty tired.
Past the second staircase was a winding path through the forest. Ryan and I were far ahead of the rest, traveling at a brisk pace. We kept going for 30 minutes and said to each other, there's no way anyone else is gonna make it this far. We were un-phased by the mountain and kept going. We found this hotel/nice building and there was a nice view from there. About 30 minutes later, an hour and a half into the hike, we reached a temple. At the temple there was a huge bronze bell that you could strike with a swinging log. Me and Ryan both hit it and it was awesome. The bell kept ringing and reverberating the entire time we were there. We found a map of the mountain to figure out how close we were to the top... We were about 1/3 of the way up. Wow. Welp we needed to get some water because we had a heck of a hike ahead of us. We asked a man working there if there was any place to get water and he led us to one of the shrines. There was a little stream of water trickling out of a bronze dragon's mouth. Ryan filled up his water bottle...slowly...and we both took a drink out of it and he filled it up again. We then asked the man about the best way to go to get to the top and he looked at us like we were crazy and laughed. He was thinking, "Crazy gaijin trying to hike to the top..."
On we went with some fresh sacred water of the dragon. We continued past shrines that hadn't been maintained or attended to in what looked like years. Past overgrown gardens, grave markers. We kept going for another hour and a half. We finally reached a peak where there was nowhere to go but down. But there wasn't a shrine and garden like it said on the map... It was just a few radio towers... We must have made it to the wrong peak...
So we started heading down. But going down, it didn't look familiar... We got to a big clearing with all these trees with long branchless trunks and we knew we were lost. We jokingly started discussing survival tactics which we both enjoyed and hoped we might have to use someday. We kept going down for another 20 minutes and saw a road. We had to scale a pretty steep cliff and then hop a fence to make it to the road. We then walked down this winding road for 10 or so minutes until we came to a bus stop. I was able to make out the schedule in Japanese, and the bus had stopped coming an hour earlier...
At this point the thought of hitchhiking was a very realistic and preferable option. We sat down at the bus stop for a bit to recuperate and then we continued down the road. We found a parking lot and an old man was walking past us. We knew there was a cable car that went up and down the mountain and asked him where that was. He told us it was closed and offered us a ride in his car. We quickly jumped in! He drove us for a half hour down the mountain and to the closest JR station. We were extremely grateful to him.
We headed back to the hotel where I am now. I am going to do my topic presentation and go to bed!!!
May 25 Free Day
Today after class the kind doctors let us go on account that everyone is very tired from their respectable weekend adventures. A few of us headed to to do a walk that is in our required 3rd year writing book. On the way there we got really lost and confused on the subway and had no idea how to get to the one that we wanted to go to. So instead we picked Yasaka Shrine which was closer.
We walked through the streets of Kyoto to the entrance of the park. It had Torii gates and foxes just like the Inarii. We walked through and it was very pretty. Nothing that we hadn't seen before though, shrines and smaller temples. We then got to the central area which the main attraction is this giant cherry tree, perched up on a small hill. It is very old and in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom it is apparently extremely beautiful and people travel from all over to see it.
We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a little shop near the tree. I got some chestnut flavored soft serve ice cream and like usual it was delicious. Past the cherry tree there was a little pond with tons of koi and turtles. They were so used to people feeding them that if you put your hand down near the water they would start gathering around it! I had fun there for a few minutes and we moved on.
The map in the book was not very good or accurate...and we didn't really know where we were going. We got lost for sure and just started wandering down a street. We came to a giant cemetery with thousands of small shrines! The Japanese cremate their dead, but they have stone shrines and headstones in large cemeteries. This one was enormous and it went up a hillside. We all decided we wanted to trek to the top of it. It was like a maze and you would be on a path that would just suddenly end. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the top and it was worth it. We had a great view of Kyoto and the whole gravesite. It was beautiful and I took some really good pictures including my favorite of the trip so far, the Buddha.
The gravesite wasn't part of the path we were supposed to be on, but it was a great experience nonetheless. We headed back down to leave the gravesite and when we got to the bottom, the gate was closed and locked! We looked for other ways to get out when we ran into a police officer who kindly and cordially unlocked the gate for us.
By this time we were all VERY hungry. We headed to one of our favorite locations, Sanjo street, and ate dinner at a traditional Japanese place where we took off our shoes. It was a really enjoyable atmosphere and there was a little creek flowing through the restaurant, very nice. After that we headed back to our hotel.
I am feeling a little crammed right now. I have been doing so much every day leaving me exhausted. I usually fall asleep at around 9 while doing my journaling then wake up at 12 and get up to brush my teeth and go back to bed. I have my presentations soon but the internet hasn't been working...and that combined with the fact that I have no energy or time to work on them... I'll figure something out though, like I always do.
We walked through the streets of Kyoto to the entrance of the park. It had Torii gates and foxes just like the Inarii. We walked through and it was very pretty. Nothing that we hadn't seen before though, shrines and smaller temples. We then got to the central area which the main attraction is this giant cherry tree, perched up on a small hill. It is very old and in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom it is apparently extremely beautiful and people travel from all over to see it.
We stopped for a quick bite to eat at a little shop near the tree. I got some chestnut flavored soft serve ice cream and like usual it was delicious. Past the cherry tree there was a little pond with tons of koi and turtles. They were so used to people feeding them that if you put your hand down near the water they would start gathering around it! I had fun there for a few minutes and we moved on.
The map in the book was not very good or accurate...and we didn't really know where we were going. We got lost for sure and just started wandering down a street. We came to a giant cemetery with thousands of small shrines! The Japanese cremate their dead, but they have stone shrines and headstones in large cemeteries. This one was enormous and it went up a hillside. We all decided we wanted to trek to the top of it. It was like a maze and you would be on a path that would just suddenly end. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the top and it was worth it. We had a great view of Kyoto and the whole gravesite. It was beautiful and I took some really good pictures including my favorite of the trip so far, the Buddha.
The gravesite wasn't part of the path we were supposed to be on, but it was a great experience nonetheless. We headed back down to leave the gravesite and when we got to the bottom, the gate was closed and locked! We looked for other ways to get out when we ran into a police officer who kindly and cordially unlocked the gate for us.
By this time we were all VERY hungry. We headed to one of our favorite locations, Sanjo street, and ate dinner at a traditional Japanese place where we took off our shoes. It was a really enjoyable atmosphere and there was a little creek flowing through the restaurant, very nice. After that we headed back to our hotel.
I am feeling a little crammed right now. I have been doing so much every day leaving me exhausted. I usually fall asleep at around 9 while doing my journaling then wake up at 12 and get up to brush my teeth and go back to bed. I have my presentations soon but the internet hasn't been working...and that combined with the fact that I have no energy or time to work on them... I'll figure something out though, like I always do.
May 24, Last Day in Tokyo
Today was our last day in Tokyo before heading back to Otsu. Unfortunately it was rainy and yucky outside, but not cold. We went to the Harajuku district. I was excited we would be going to Harajuku on a sunday to see some of the world famous Harajuku girls! Sunday is the day that they go all out and gather by the park.
We got off the train, umbrellas in hand, and headed to a famous meeting place for Harajuku girls. They were there, as expected, but unfortunately the rain kept many away. I got some pictures of them and then we headed to the world famous Takeshita Street. This is one of the epicenters of the fashion world. Once again it was crazy shopping. I was still yet to buy anything besides food in Japan and still in search of the sickest pair of Nikes to bring back to the states.
We split up and planned to meet at this staircase in an hour. I was off and running looking in and out of shoe stores. I walked down Takeshita street about a half mile through 7 or 8 shoe stores. I crossed a big intersection, one of the main avenues, and saw MY DREAM STORE. It was this store called Chapterworld and just about all they had were limited edition Nikes! I looked through their walls of shoes for a good 20 minutes and tried a few pairs on. It was down to this pair of high Dunks with orange and a cement bottom or a pair of high Air Force 2s that were Grey and silver elephant skin and this bright baby blue. I copped the AF2's for $126. Mission Accomplished.
After I met back up with the group we went down the main avenue. There was an H&M, Gap, lots of big stores and they had just opened a Forever 21...HOLY CRAP the line was about 100 yards long. One thing I have learned, Japanese people love standing in line. If they see its a big deal they get excited and stand in line. The longer the line is the more people want to join in! Crazy. Ryan and I journeyed to another BAPE store. It was down the super high fashion street. We walked past Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Armani, Gucci, the world famous Japanese designer Isse Miyake and when we got to the Prada building we knew we were close. The Prada store was an incredible structure. It looked like it was a giant all glass honeycomb, it was just ridiculous. Once again the BAPESTORE had an insane layout. Each one is different. The only thing I got there was an umbrella holder for free...
We all decided to leave shortly after. The rain was putting a damper on the day. So we headed back to the hotel in Shinjuku. Aaron and Brenda showed us a delicious Mexican restaurant/karaoke place. It was kind of a disaster ordering, it took forever for Taylor's food to come. You had to order using the Karaoke remote. If we didn't have Sarah's friend Masa there it would have been cataclysmic. They ended up chasing us out because we had a time limit to eat...? Even though we wanted to order more food...weird.
After eating we said our goodbyes and endless thank you's to Sarah and headed to the train station to catch the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. We all had the same feeling that Tokyo was the highlight of the trip. Coming back we felt like the trip was over and the train to Kyoto was going back home to the states. It seemed like nothing could top Tokyo. I am now exhausted and I have to give my Topic Presentation soon so I gotta start looking over that.
We got off the train, umbrellas in hand, and headed to a famous meeting place for Harajuku girls. They were there, as expected, but unfortunately the rain kept many away. I got some pictures of them and then we headed to the world famous Takeshita Street. This is one of the epicenters of the fashion world. Once again it was crazy shopping. I was still yet to buy anything besides food in Japan and still in search of the sickest pair of Nikes to bring back to the states.
We split up and planned to meet at this staircase in an hour. I was off and running looking in and out of shoe stores. I walked down Takeshita street about a half mile through 7 or 8 shoe stores. I crossed a big intersection, one of the main avenues, and saw MY DREAM STORE. It was this store called Chapterworld and just about all they had were limited edition Nikes! I looked through their walls of shoes for a good 20 minutes and tried a few pairs on. It was down to this pair of high Dunks with orange and a cement bottom or a pair of high Air Force 2s that were Grey and silver elephant skin and this bright baby blue. I copped the AF2's for $126. Mission Accomplished.
After I met back up with the group we went down the main avenue. There was an H&M, Gap, lots of big stores and they had just opened a Forever 21...HOLY CRAP the line was about 100 yards long. One thing I have learned, Japanese people love standing in line. If they see its a big deal they get excited and stand in line. The longer the line is the more people want to join in! Crazy. Ryan and I journeyed to another BAPE store. It was down the super high fashion street. We walked past Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Armani, Gucci, the world famous Japanese designer Isse Miyake and when we got to the Prada building we knew we were close. The Prada store was an incredible structure. It looked like it was a giant all glass honeycomb, it was just ridiculous. Once again the BAPESTORE had an insane layout. Each one is different. The only thing I got there was an umbrella holder for free...
We all decided to leave shortly after. The rain was putting a damper on the day. So we headed back to the hotel in Shinjuku. Aaron and Brenda showed us a delicious Mexican restaurant/karaoke place. It was kind of a disaster ordering, it took forever for Taylor's food to come. You had to order using the Karaoke remote. If we didn't have Sarah's friend Masa there it would have been cataclysmic. They ended up chasing us out because we had a time limit to eat...? Even though we wanted to order more food...weird.
After eating we said our goodbyes and endless thank you's to Sarah and headed to the train station to catch the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. We all had the same feeling that Tokyo was the highlight of the trip. Coming back we felt like the trip was over and the train to Kyoto was going back home to the states. It seemed like nothing could top Tokyo. I am now exhausted and I have to give my Topic Presentation soon so I gotta start looking over that.
May 23 Tokyo Day 2
Welp, I predicted it and I was right. Instead of waking up at 5 AM this morning we awoke just after 9 to Sarah calling the cell phone. She was at the station but couldn't find us. We were luckily able to communicate with her and she headed to meet us at our hotel. However...the plan was for Brenda and Aaron to meet us at the train station at 9 as well... and they weren't in their room when we went to check... So we had no idea where they were. The only thing we could do was hope!
After we all showered we headed out. The group really wanted some pastries for breakfast, so thats what we got. Which, by the way, is my favorite thing to eat in Japan. There are lots of little bakeries with fresh donuts, rolls and all kinds of treats, its fantastic. So after that we were off to explore Tokyo!
We went first to the electronics district where there are just hundreds of different electronics shops with their walls packed with merchandise. It was crazy and overwhelming. They don't have nice stores with big floor layouts like Best Buy. All of the shops look like what we would call "sketchy." What's different about walking the streets of Tokyo compared to other cities? TONS MORE PEOPLE. Everywhere you go its like there is some kind of big event going on. All over the electronics district there were maids... Probably because this is a big spot frequented by Otakus. I mean, the maids were everywhere. Popular stores: Anime DVD shops, J-pop stores, random crazy electronic accessory stores with unnecessarily bright florescent lighting, and PLENTY of arcades, big ones.
After the electronics district we headed to the Senso-Ji temple. One of the BIG tourist attractions in Tokyo. There was actually an article about it in the magazine on the plane. It was just as described and pictured in the magazine. Upon entering, like all temples we have visited, there were two giant guardian stautes on both sides of the entrance gate. They remind me of things out of Mortal Kombat!! There was then a long, LONG, avenue of vendors selling souvenirs, ice cream, treats and other things. Ryan and I stopped and got some soft serve ice cream, I got mandarin orange and he got rose petal. We got up to the actual temple and just as the in-flight magazine described, there was a huge bronze incense holder. It gave the place a sacred atmosphere. Smoke surrounded us and the hundreds of people passing by and our clothes absorbed the scent of the incense. Inside there were buddhist monks chanting and meditating.
We took some pictures of the temple then headed to Shibuya for some shopping. We got off the train and before we left the station we stopped on the 3rd or 4th floor and Sarah pointed out the busiest intersection in the world. Not busy from car traffic, but pedestrians. Over 1 million people a day pass through it! We watched the streets as they were clear, then when the signal to cross lit up it was flooded with bodies! You could barely see the pavement. We walked out of the station and merged into the sea crossing the intersection.
We did some shopping at the department stores but things were super expensive. Most of the group was overwhelmed by the crazy fashion styles! Ryan was lost and confused. We headed deeper into shopping territory. I swear there is an ABC Mart on every block in urban shopping environments in Japan. It is a shoe store that sells all kinds of gym shoes for guys and girls, they have crazy colors of Nikes, Reeboks, Adidas, Vans, all of the big brands. The group went into a restaurant to eat, but with so much to explore, I wasn't ready to sit down for a meal. I told them I would be back in a half hour or so and I went in search of shoes. I ventured into a few sketchy stores owned by Nigerian guys peddling resold merchandise but couldn't find any fly kicks for a reasonable price. Everything is soooo marked up here.
I met back up with the group and we continued our journey. While waiting outside a backpack store that the girls went into I saw a sign for BAPE! That was another one of my goals, to go to a BAPE store! It was just around the corner and I ran ahead of the group. There it was! I walked inside and, Ah! was i supposed to walk in here? I was standing on top of a moving shoe display! I felt like i was trodding on a beautiful display case but this was really the entrance. Clear glass with shoes moving underneath and bright LCD lights changing colors from shades of red to blue to green to purple. It was the most INSANE store layout i have ever experienced! Not only were there crazy lights, but mirrors everywhere making it look much bigger than it actually was! The cheapest t-shirt I saw was $85. Jeeeeez...
Annalise, Ryan and Sarah left to go do Karaoke with some of Sarah's friends so Marietta, Taylor, Gabrielle and I got some dessert at a restaurant. After that we walked around a while longer before getting a call from Sarah that Aaron and Brenda left a message at the front desk of the hotel with a number to contact them! So we went to a payphone and called Aaron. The plan was to meet at Roppongi at 9. We headed to Roppongi a little early so that we could explore a little before they got there. Roppongi is the touristy area with lots of bars and nightclubs. It's the only place you can find dance clubs in Japan...because they just don't dance!
We finally met up with Aaron and Brenda who were relieved to see us. We walked the streets for a bit searching for the best place to dance. We passed an arcade that I ventured in to see if they had DDR. AND THEY DID! I played a couple rounds for a few hundred yen and it worked up a sweat. Cross "DDR in Tokyo" off the bucket list! We decided to go to a GasPanic which seem to be the best places to dances. It wasn't very big but it was a lot of fun! Marietta danced with us and we all laughed watching Japanese people attempt to dance. The only bummer was that we had to leave before 12 because the trains shut down at midnight. We got back to the hotel and everyone is exhausted. Tomorrow we are going to the Harajuku district!
After we all showered we headed out. The group really wanted some pastries for breakfast, so thats what we got. Which, by the way, is my favorite thing to eat in Japan. There are lots of little bakeries with fresh donuts, rolls and all kinds of treats, its fantastic. So after that we were off to explore Tokyo!
We went first to the electronics district where there are just hundreds of different electronics shops with their walls packed with merchandise. It was crazy and overwhelming. They don't have nice stores with big floor layouts like Best Buy. All of the shops look like what we would call "sketchy." What's different about walking the streets of Tokyo compared to other cities? TONS MORE PEOPLE. Everywhere you go its like there is some kind of big event going on. All over the electronics district there were maids... Probably because this is a big spot frequented by Otakus. I mean, the maids were everywhere. Popular stores: Anime DVD shops, J-pop stores, random crazy electronic accessory stores with unnecessarily bright florescent lighting, and PLENTY of arcades, big ones.
After the electronics district we headed to the Senso-Ji temple. One of the BIG tourist attractions in Tokyo. There was actually an article about it in the magazine on the plane. It was just as described and pictured in the magazine. Upon entering, like all temples we have visited, there were two giant guardian stautes on both sides of the entrance gate. They remind me of things out of Mortal Kombat!! There was then a long, LONG, avenue of vendors selling souvenirs, ice cream, treats and other things. Ryan and I stopped and got some soft serve ice cream, I got mandarin orange and he got rose petal. We got up to the actual temple and just as the in-flight magazine described, there was a huge bronze incense holder. It gave the place a sacred atmosphere. Smoke surrounded us and the hundreds of people passing by and our clothes absorbed the scent of the incense. Inside there were buddhist monks chanting and meditating.
We took some pictures of the temple then headed to Shibuya for some shopping. We got off the train and before we left the station we stopped on the 3rd or 4th floor and Sarah pointed out the busiest intersection in the world. Not busy from car traffic, but pedestrians. Over 1 million people a day pass through it! We watched the streets as they were clear, then when the signal to cross lit up it was flooded with bodies! You could barely see the pavement. We walked out of the station and merged into the sea crossing the intersection.
We did some shopping at the department stores but things were super expensive. Most of the group was overwhelmed by the crazy fashion styles! Ryan was lost and confused. We headed deeper into shopping territory. I swear there is an ABC Mart on every block in urban shopping environments in Japan. It is a shoe store that sells all kinds of gym shoes for guys and girls, they have crazy colors of Nikes, Reeboks, Adidas, Vans, all of the big brands. The group went into a restaurant to eat, but with so much to explore, I wasn't ready to sit down for a meal. I told them I would be back in a half hour or so and I went in search of shoes. I ventured into a few sketchy stores owned by Nigerian guys peddling resold merchandise but couldn't find any fly kicks for a reasonable price. Everything is soooo marked up here.
I met back up with the group and we continued our journey. While waiting outside a backpack store that the girls went into I saw a sign for BAPE! That was another one of my goals, to go to a BAPE store! It was just around the corner and I ran ahead of the group. There it was! I walked inside and, Ah! was i supposed to walk in here? I was standing on top of a moving shoe display! I felt like i was trodding on a beautiful display case but this was really the entrance. Clear glass with shoes moving underneath and bright LCD lights changing colors from shades of red to blue to green to purple. It was the most INSANE store layout i have ever experienced! Not only were there crazy lights, but mirrors everywhere making it look much bigger than it actually was! The cheapest t-shirt I saw was $85. Jeeeeez...
Annalise, Ryan and Sarah left to go do Karaoke with some of Sarah's friends so Marietta, Taylor, Gabrielle and I got some dessert at a restaurant. After that we walked around a while longer before getting a call from Sarah that Aaron and Brenda left a message at the front desk of the hotel with a number to contact them! So we went to a payphone and called Aaron. The plan was to meet at Roppongi at 9. We headed to Roppongi a little early so that we could explore a little before they got there. Roppongi is the touristy area with lots of bars and nightclubs. It's the only place you can find dance clubs in Japan...because they just don't dance!
We finally met up with Aaron and Brenda who were relieved to see us. We walked the streets for a bit searching for the best place to dance. We passed an arcade that I ventured in to see if they had DDR. AND THEY DID! I played a couple rounds for a few hundred yen and it worked up a sweat. Cross "DDR in Tokyo" off the bucket list! We decided to go to a GasPanic which seem to be the best places to dances. It wasn't very big but it was a lot of fun! Marietta danced with us and we all laughed watching Japanese people attempt to dance. The only bummer was that we had to leave before 12 because the trains shut down at midnight. We got back to the hotel and everyone is exhausted. Tomorrow we are going to the Harajuku district!
Monday, June 8, 2009
REWIND: May 22, Tokyo
Here are some of the blogs not posted because of the lack of internet access.
Today was our first day in Tokyo. This has been a life dream of mine. I have ALWAYS wanted to come here so this is a little bit surreal. I will never forget my first moments stepping off the train. The station was so busy and we headed down the stairs and like something out of a movie, these little Japanese people started coming out of the wall on the stairs! They were station workers that were cleaning, but it was crazy, they just popped out of the wall! Tokyo was already exciting and I had been there for less than 10 seconds.
We met up with Annalise's friend Sarah - who has turned out to be the biggest blessing ever. She is a student from the US studying at one of the universities in Tokyo for a semester and she is going to be our guide this weekend. In case you didn't know, its not easy to just get around the biggest city in the world when you have no idea where to go or what to see, so we are so grateful for Sarah!
We got in at around 6 o'clock. It was about a 3 hour train ride. First things first, we got some food then headed to our hotel to drop off our bags. It was about a 15 minute ride on the train. There are many train lines around Tokyo that we would have no idea how to navigate without Sarah. Dr. Velikova reserved us a traditional "Japanese style room" which is a straw floor and 6 mats! 6 of us slept in there and Aaron and Brenda slept in a separate room with one bed...Hilarious. So after we dropped our stuff off it was time to explore Tokyo!!
We stopped by Sarah's school and met up with a few of her school friends, one from Australia, one from Chicago and a local dude named Masa born and raised in Tokyo. He spoke Japenglish or Ingrish and was a lot of fun. They took us to the capitol building which has an observatory at the top. It was incredible seeing Tokyo from the top. It makes any American city just look miniature. We are used to seeing a row of skyscrapers and being like, "Wow thats a big city!" Tokyo - clusters of skyscrapers in all directions and endless metropolis.
After that it was getting dark and the city was starting to light up! Tokyo is so crazy because its like everywhere you go looks like Times Square! Huge LCD screens, neon lights, enormous intersections - EVERYWHERE! We headed to Shibuya which really gets hoppin at night. Words don't do this city justice. I could write so much about it. There are so many lights it is just insane. People everywhere. There is a redlight district in Shibuya so you get all kinds of characters...
Crazy thing you see here: Hosts and Maids. There are girls dressed like the traditional French maids. They target the "Otakus" (Japanese nerds that do nothing but sit at their computer all day) and call them master and everything and serve them for a fee. They aren't prostitutes. They have made buildings where they will take the men and they just serve them, make them food...it's REALLY weird. And on the other hand, there are Hosts. Hosts are men with crazy hair and ridiculous outfits usually consisting mainly of black. The hosts will stand around on the street and talk to girls and if the girl wants them he will follow her around and compliment her and help her shop and just be really nice to her or whatever... strange.
Shibuya is crazy. We ate at a Ramen place and I ordered this stir fry off the menu. It was really good but I had no idea what the meat was in it. I later found out it was liver... Guess I like liver! Not what I probably would have ordered but I would eat it again for sure. the group wanted to go to a NomiHorai bar - all you can drink for an hour... so they did that while Taylor, Gabrielle and I sat at a table and remained sober. After that we walked around Shibuya and Brenda threw a fit that no one wanted to go dancing at this club that had about 4 people in it LOL. This was all just incredible for me and I was trying to take it all in. Everywhere you look there are arcades, karaoke, crazy lit up stores, every building has neon and displays going up and down it with characters flying.
We got back to the room at around 1. Everyone wants to go to the Tokyo fish market tomorrow, its the worlds biggest fish market. The plan is to wake up at 5. I agreed to it, but I mean, come on, I know that is NOT going to happen. I know how these things work...
Today was our first day in Tokyo. This has been a life dream of mine. I have ALWAYS wanted to come here so this is a little bit surreal. I will never forget my first moments stepping off the train. The station was so busy and we headed down the stairs and like something out of a movie, these little Japanese people started coming out of the wall on the stairs! They were station workers that were cleaning, but it was crazy, they just popped out of the wall! Tokyo was already exciting and I had been there for less than 10 seconds.
We met up with Annalise's friend Sarah - who has turned out to be the biggest blessing ever. She is a student from the US studying at one of the universities in Tokyo for a semester and she is going to be our guide this weekend. In case you didn't know, its not easy to just get around the biggest city in the world when you have no idea where to go or what to see, so we are so grateful for Sarah!
We got in at around 6 o'clock. It was about a 3 hour train ride. First things first, we got some food then headed to our hotel to drop off our bags. It was about a 15 minute ride on the train. There are many train lines around Tokyo that we would have no idea how to navigate without Sarah. Dr. Velikova reserved us a traditional "Japanese style room" which is a straw floor and 6 mats! 6 of us slept in there and Aaron and Brenda slept in a separate room with one bed...Hilarious. So after we dropped our stuff off it was time to explore Tokyo!!
We stopped by Sarah's school and met up with a few of her school friends, one from Australia, one from Chicago and a local dude named Masa born and raised in Tokyo. He spoke Japenglish or Ingrish and was a lot of fun. They took us to the capitol building which has an observatory at the top. It was incredible seeing Tokyo from the top. It makes any American city just look miniature. We are used to seeing a row of skyscrapers and being like, "Wow thats a big city!" Tokyo - clusters of skyscrapers in all directions and endless metropolis.
After that it was getting dark and the city was starting to light up! Tokyo is so crazy because its like everywhere you go looks like Times Square! Huge LCD screens, neon lights, enormous intersections - EVERYWHERE! We headed to Shibuya which really gets hoppin at night. Words don't do this city justice. I could write so much about it. There are so many lights it is just insane. People everywhere. There is a redlight district in Shibuya so you get all kinds of characters...
Crazy thing you see here: Hosts and Maids. There are girls dressed like the traditional French maids. They target the "Otakus" (Japanese nerds that do nothing but sit at their computer all day) and call them master and everything and serve them for a fee. They aren't prostitutes. They have made buildings where they will take the men and they just serve them, make them food...it's REALLY weird. And on the other hand, there are Hosts. Hosts are men with crazy hair and ridiculous outfits usually consisting mainly of black. The hosts will stand around on the street and talk to girls and if the girl wants them he will follow her around and compliment her and help her shop and just be really nice to her or whatever... strange.
Shibuya is crazy. We ate at a Ramen place and I ordered this stir fry off the menu. It was really good but I had no idea what the meat was in it. I later found out it was liver... Guess I like liver! Not what I probably would have ordered but I would eat it again for sure. the group wanted to go to a NomiHorai bar - all you can drink for an hour... so they did that while Taylor, Gabrielle and I sat at a table and remained sober. After that we walked around Shibuya and Brenda threw a fit that no one wanted to go dancing at this club that had about 4 people in it LOL. This was all just incredible for me and I was trying to take it all in. Everywhere you look there are arcades, karaoke, crazy lit up stores, every building has neon and displays going up and down it with characters flying.
We got back to the room at around 1. Everyone wants to go to the Tokyo fish market tomorrow, its the worlds biggest fish market. The plan is to wake up at 5. I agreed to it, but I mean, come on, I know that is NOT going to happen. I know how these things work...
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1st
Today was our last real day of class. We had a bunch of presentations including my cultural one. My cultural presentation was about Karaoke. It is insane how much a part of their culture that is. Everywhere you look around here there are Karaoke boxes. It's not the same as in the states though... It's actually a business activity to help build relationships...More about Karaoke later.
After class we had the day free to do whatever we pleased. I hadn't done any souvenir shopping and neither had Ryan so we decided to do that. We headed to our spot, the covered mall on Sanjo Street. We got there without a problem this time, we now know the route well... Kyoto -> Subway -> Karasuma Oike -> Sanjo Keihan, no more getting lost. We found some cool souvenir places and then ended up splitting up to do some more shopping.
I had saved my money to do shopping the whole trip and I finally went into some stores and tried on some clothes...It was crazy. Every store had so many awesome clothes that I wanted. Shopping is a whole different experience there. They don't have just big brands like malls, each store has lots of little brands and designers so the selection is vast. I actually found 2 pairs of shorts that I liked, and I hate shorts. Bottom line is: I could have stayed for a week and just shopped in Japan.
I met back up with the group at the pub a little after 7 for our group dinner. We ordered several big group dishes (on Belmont) so we were all looking forward to a nice meal. The dishes would come out in groups...and each one was like a single portion for one person. It was unrealistically disappointing. We each got about 3 bites of each dish. Man I hate eating here!!!!!
After dinner however, we went to do Karaoke. Now, Karaoke is nothing like a bar in the US. You go to a Karaoke place and you rent a room. You go to the room and there is a TV with booth like seating all around the walls. The room just has seats the TV and a sound system. They brought us little console things that we could choose the songs from. My expectations were pretty low from Karaoke and I didn't think it would be that fun for the 2 hour period we rented.... but come the end of the night, none of us wanted to stop! It was sooo funny and just a blast! We all just screamed our lungs out and had a great time. After that we were all exhausted and headed to bed before our last day... :(
After class we had the day free to do whatever we pleased. I hadn't done any souvenir shopping and neither had Ryan so we decided to do that. We headed to our spot, the covered mall on Sanjo Street. We got there without a problem this time, we now know the route well... Kyoto -> Subway -> Karasuma Oike -> Sanjo Keihan, no more getting lost. We found some cool souvenir places and then ended up splitting up to do some more shopping.
I had saved my money to do shopping the whole trip and I finally went into some stores and tried on some clothes...It was crazy. Every store had so many awesome clothes that I wanted. Shopping is a whole different experience there. They don't have just big brands like malls, each store has lots of little brands and designers so the selection is vast. I actually found 2 pairs of shorts that I liked, and I hate shorts. Bottom line is: I could have stayed for a week and just shopped in Japan.
I met back up with the group at the pub a little after 7 for our group dinner. We ordered several big group dishes (on Belmont) so we were all looking forward to a nice meal. The dishes would come out in groups...and each one was like a single portion for one person. It was unrealistically disappointing. We each got about 3 bites of each dish. Man I hate eating here!!!!!
After dinner however, we went to do Karaoke. Now, Karaoke is nothing like a bar in the US. You go to a Karaoke place and you rent a room. You go to the room and there is a TV with booth like seating all around the walls. The room just has seats the TV and a sound system. They brought us little console things that we could choose the songs from. My expectations were pretty low from Karaoke and I didn't think it would be that fun for the 2 hour period we rented.... but come the end of the night, none of us wanted to stop! It was sooo funny and just a blast! We all just screamed our lungs out and had a great time. After that we were all exhausted and headed to bed before our last day... :(
Sunday, May 31, 2009
5/31 Osaka...More like O-suck-a
Osaka. An interesting day. We headed out at 9 but Brenda forgot her JR pass so had to run back. We didn’t end up catching a train until 9:30. When we got to Osaka our first stop was to be Osaka castle. As soon as we got off the train we were kind of lost, it was a weird train station and once we got outside the area was strangely organized and didn’t make much sense….this would be a recurring theme throughout the day.
We made it to the castle and it was really big and ornate from the outside. There were enormous stone walls and a moat in around it… then we found out it wasn’t a real castle, it was a reconstruction of one from 1931. Haha, this is also a recurring theme in japan because they build everything out of wood then for some reason really enjoy burning things down and rebuilding them…
It cost $6 to get into the castle. We were all super tired today for some reason and it was overcast which didn’t add to the problem. We got into the castle and it was a really nice modern wood floor with a gift shop and TV’s and glass display cases everywhere…it looked in no way ancient or legitimate. The way to tour the castle is walking through each floor starting with the top, so we went up to the top floor…via elevator. Each floor was more disappointing and me gave up halfway through and called it quits. Even Dr. Velikova and Bisson were real disappointed.
Me, Annalise, Aaron, Brenda, JT and Dr. V decided to head to the Panasonic showroom. It was a few train stops away and it showcased unreleased products from Panasonic. Before we went to the showroom we got a lunch at a restaurant in the same building. Lunch was a disaster. I ordered the cheapest thing off the menu so I was safe. But Dr. V and JT both ordered shark fin soup and Annalise got egg and vegetable soup. They brought 3 different soups to our table at different times… no one knew whose was what and it was frustrating. The food was sub-par and overpriced. Then we got up to pay and of course they didn’t split the bill and the concept of separate checks was a foreign concept to them. So it took about 20 minutes to pay.
After that we were so tired. Our plan was to go to the Ferris Wheel and then head back home. We got lost about 5 times on the way to the Ferris Wheel and the people we asked for directions were not too helpful. Everyone else felt the same and thought it was very difficult to communicate with people. We got to the Ferris Wheel and apparently it is the largest one on the world. It overlooks the riverfront and port. I saw a this big bridge that looked really familiar. I told Annalise and Dr. V that I think that it is the largest suspension bridge in the world and I saw it on Modern Marvels.
We paid $7 to ride the Ferris wheel and the view was really good. There was a speaker on our car and it told us about the different buildings we could see and it said that the suspension bridge was the largest in the world so I was right!
After the Ferris wheel Annalise and I came back to Otsu. I took a nap for about 3 hours. Then did my cultural presentation. Afterwards we went to Kyoto and got some dinner at Nakau, a 24-hour Japanese fast food place.
We made it to the castle and it was really big and ornate from the outside. There were enormous stone walls and a moat in around it… then we found out it wasn’t a real castle, it was a reconstruction of one from 1931. Haha, this is also a recurring theme in japan because they build everything out of wood then for some reason really enjoy burning things down and rebuilding them…
It cost $6 to get into the castle. We were all super tired today for some reason and it was overcast which didn’t add to the problem. We got into the castle and it was a really nice modern wood floor with a gift shop and TV’s and glass display cases everywhere…it looked in no way ancient or legitimate. The way to tour the castle is walking through each floor starting with the top, so we went up to the top floor…via elevator. Each floor was more disappointing and me gave up halfway through and called it quits. Even Dr. Velikova and Bisson were real disappointed.
Me, Annalise, Aaron, Brenda, JT and Dr. V decided to head to the Panasonic showroom. It was a few train stops away and it showcased unreleased products from Panasonic. Before we went to the showroom we got a lunch at a restaurant in the same building. Lunch was a disaster. I ordered the cheapest thing off the menu so I was safe. But Dr. V and JT both ordered shark fin soup and Annalise got egg and vegetable soup. They brought 3 different soups to our table at different times… no one knew whose was what and it was frustrating. The food was sub-par and overpriced. Then we got up to pay and of course they didn’t split the bill and the concept of separate checks was a foreign concept to them. So it took about 20 minutes to pay.
After that we were so tired. Our plan was to go to the Ferris Wheel and then head back home. We got lost about 5 times on the way to the Ferris Wheel and the people we asked for directions were not too helpful. Everyone else felt the same and thought it was very difficult to communicate with people. We got to the Ferris Wheel and apparently it is the largest one on the world. It overlooks the riverfront and port. I saw a this big bridge that looked really familiar. I told Annalise and Dr. V that I think that it is the largest suspension bridge in the world and I saw it on Modern Marvels.
We paid $7 to ride the Ferris wheel and the view was really good. There was a speaker on our car and it told us about the different buildings we could see and it said that the suspension bridge was the largest in the world so I was right!
After the Ferris wheel Annalise and I came back to Otsu. I took a nap for about 3 hours. Then did my cultural presentation. Afterwards we went to Kyoto and got some dinner at Nakau, a 24-hour Japanese fast food place.
5/30 A Loooong Bike Ride
Today was a lot of fun. We went to Okasayama which is a city far out from any other big cities. There is really not much for tourists here besides a bike trail through the rural countryside of Japan. Before we did that we went to a garden area.
The garden was beautiful. At the time there was a traditional Japanese wedding going on. The bride and groom were dressed in traditional attire and I got a few pictures of them. Being at the park reminded me and made me think of it as the Japanese version of a nice American country club. The difference was that this had been a garden kept up for hundreds of years by many generations, one of the most historic gardens in Japan.
After that we took a train to go rent bikes and ride through the countryside. This was a lot of fun and the weather was AMAZING! It was Dr. Velikova, Aaron, Ryan and me. It was good to have a small group of us doing this. The guy at the bike place was super weird…a lot of people we encountered at this town were strange. They weren’t used to tourists it seemed.
We started and couldn’t find the trail for about the first half hour. After that we got on the trail and got lost about 500 times. It was so poorly marked! But it was great, we were having fun! At one point we were lost just trying to figure out where to go on the side of the road. This girl got stopped her car, parked, got out and asked us if we needed help. She spoke a little bit of English and she was really excited to use it and talk to us. She was a college student at the closest university. She helped us find the right way and was so nice and happy to run into us.
Four and a half hours later we finally finished the trail. It was a long ride but I loved it. We got to experience a part of japan that not many tourists get to see. At the end of the trail we returned our bikes, but the guy here was weird as crap too! He was this old dude with about a 7 inch hair sticking out of this mole in his neck. This guy would ramble on in Japanese at us for a minute and he just wanted those bikes bad. It was bizarre. There was younger girls there laughing at him.
We then got on the train and headed to the main station. There was a little shopping center around there and we went into the smallest hole in the wall place. There was this nice lady and when we walked in she turned on the lights and AC. She barely spoke any English but we were able to order without a problem. We were all so exhausted and hungry. Our food was out in about 20 minutes and it was one of the best meals I had so far! Delicious chicken, egg drop soup, rice and salad…for a good price too!
After we ate we headed back to the shinkansen and to Otsu. I slept the whole way on a 3 seat to myself. The shinkansen is so nice to sleep on! No bumps and so smooth, you barely know you are moving. I am exhausted and sunburnt now so I am going to sleep!
The garden was beautiful. At the time there was a traditional Japanese wedding going on. The bride and groom were dressed in traditional attire and I got a few pictures of them. Being at the park reminded me and made me think of it as the Japanese version of a nice American country club. The difference was that this had been a garden kept up for hundreds of years by many generations, one of the most historic gardens in Japan.
After that we took a train to go rent bikes and ride through the countryside. This was a lot of fun and the weather was AMAZING! It was Dr. Velikova, Aaron, Ryan and me. It was good to have a small group of us doing this. The guy at the bike place was super weird…a lot of people we encountered at this town were strange. They weren’t used to tourists it seemed.
We started and couldn’t find the trail for about the first half hour. After that we got on the trail and got lost about 500 times. It was so poorly marked! But it was great, we were having fun! At one point we were lost just trying to figure out where to go on the side of the road. This girl got stopped her car, parked, got out and asked us if we needed help. She spoke a little bit of English and she was really excited to use it and talk to us. She was a college student at the closest university. She helped us find the right way and was so nice and happy to run into us.
Four and a half hours later we finally finished the trail. It was a long ride but I loved it. We got to experience a part of japan that not many tourists get to see. At the end of the trail we returned our bikes, but the guy here was weird as crap too! He was this old dude with about a 7 inch hair sticking out of this mole in his neck. This guy would ramble on in Japanese at us for a minute and he just wanted those bikes bad. It was bizarre. There was younger girls there laughing at him.
We then got on the train and headed to the main station. There was a little shopping center around there and we went into the smallest hole in the wall place. There was this nice lady and when we walked in she turned on the lights and AC. She barely spoke any English but we were able to order without a problem. We were all so exhausted and hungry. Our food was out in about 20 minutes and it was one of the best meals I had so far! Delicious chicken, egg drop soup, rice and salad…for a good price too!
After we ate we headed back to the shinkansen and to Otsu. I slept the whole way on a 3 seat to myself. The shinkansen is so nice to sleep on! No bumps and so smooth, you barely know you are moving. I am exhausted and sunburnt now so I am going to sleep!
5/29 Hiroshima
Today we went to Hiroshima. This was one of the big events that I was really looking forward to. I am fascinated and intrigued by the impact of the atom bomb on the city and on mankind as a whole. It was such an enormous event. We met at 7 to take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. The train ride was about 2 hours and when we arrived in Hiroshima we took a street-car to the first site.
As soon as I got off the train car I saw the atomic dome. It is the only building that was left standing. It has been preserved as a reminder of the destruction. The walls are crumbled and the dome at the top is shattered; only the iron skeleton remains. I walked around it and looked for a while in awe.
We then crossed the river right into the Atomic Peace Park. As I walked over the river I thought of the thousands of people that jumped into its water to die because they couldn’t stand the pain of their burns. The park is a very open and grassy area. At the center a flame burns, only to be put out when every nuclear weapon is destroyed.
We then went into a memorial hall that had information about the event on the walls. An observatory in the center is the hypocenter of where the bomb exploded. This area was silent and I sat in awe and reflection. Around the walls was a 360-degree view of the destroyed city from the hypocenter. It was crazy being at the center knowing right where I was standing was a place that everyone in the world knows about and where so many lives were lost.
Next we went to the museum. The basis of the museum is for peace and the destruction of nuclear weapons. It is a warning of the danger faced by them as much as it is a memorial to the event of August 6, 1945. The museum was incredible. Inside was tons of information and displays. One wall was full of letters of protest to various nations from the mayor of Hiroshima. In all there have been 594 with letters to North Korea being the most recent.
The museum was filled with artifacts from the blast. Charred cement, bicycles, clothing, etc. More than anything there was children’s clothing. I think the main message it was trying to get across was the innocence of so many lives that were lost. The whole experience was very moving and I learned so much from it.
After the museum we headed to the island. The ferry ride was free because it was a JR ferry. We got to the island and we wanted to go to the recreational beach. It ended up being a half hour walk and it was a deserted sharp rock/shell beach. Needless to say, no one got in, but it was a cool experience. It wasn’t a very touristy area and I always love being by the water.
We spent a little more time on the island before taking the ferry back and making the journey to Otsu. Today was fantastic and I think it was my favorite day of the whole trip.
As soon as I got off the train car I saw the atomic dome. It is the only building that was left standing. It has been preserved as a reminder of the destruction. The walls are crumbled and the dome at the top is shattered; only the iron skeleton remains. I walked around it and looked for a while in awe.
We then crossed the river right into the Atomic Peace Park. As I walked over the river I thought of the thousands of people that jumped into its water to die because they couldn’t stand the pain of their burns. The park is a very open and grassy area. At the center a flame burns, only to be put out when every nuclear weapon is destroyed.
We then went into a memorial hall that had information about the event on the walls. An observatory in the center is the hypocenter of where the bomb exploded. This area was silent and I sat in awe and reflection. Around the walls was a 360-degree view of the destroyed city from the hypocenter. It was crazy being at the center knowing right where I was standing was a place that everyone in the world knows about and where so many lives were lost.
Next we went to the museum. The basis of the museum is for peace and the destruction of nuclear weapons. It is a warning of the danger faced by them as much as it is a memorial to the event of August 6, 1945. The museum was incredible. Inside was tons of information and displays. One wall was full of letters of protest to various nations from the mayor of Hiroshima. In all there have been 594 with letters to North Korea being the most recent.
The museum was filled with artifacts from the blast. Charred cement, bicycles, clothing, etc. More than anything there was children’s clothing. I think the main message it was trying to get across was the innocence of so many lives that were lost. The whole experience was very moving and I learned so much from it.
After the museum we headed to the island. The ferry ride was free because it was a JR ferry. We got to the island and we wanted to go to the recreational beach. It ended up being a half hour walk and it was a deserted sharp rock/shell beach. Needless to say, no one got in, but it was a cool experience. It wasn’t a very touristy area and I always love being by the water.
We spent a little more time on the island before taking the ferry back and making the journey to Otsu. Today was fantastic and I think it was my favorite day of the whole trip.
5/28 The Golden Letdown and The Garden That Didn't Rock
Today a group of us went to see the famous Golden Pavilion and a Zen Rock Garden. It was overcast and cloudy with light showers here and there. Many of us came into the day real tired. All these long days and early mornings are starting to take their toll. The pavilion and garden were a bit of a walk from the train station so we took a bus to get us closer. It was our first bus experience and several of us had trouble fitting into the seats…
From the bus stop it was about a 15-minute walk to our first stop, the world renown Gold Pavilion. I personally was very excited about seeing an ancient oriental pavilion made out of pure gold. I was hoping it would be sunny so the gold would glimmer in the sunlight but it was real cloudy.
We got to the gates and were hit with an entrance fee of 3 bucks. When we got inside we read about the pavilion in the pamphlet. It was not actually an ancient one…it was rebuilt in 1957 as a replica…and it wasn’t made out of gold, just gold leaf on the outside. So the glimmering ancient solid gold structure wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was neat and I got some pictures but this was the first time on this trip that I can say I was disappointed. I was glad to find that I wasn’t the only one disappointed by the Golden Pavilion as it seemed to be the general consensus. However, Ryan and I did have fun trying to throw our yen pennies into the Buddha bowls so if you ever visit make sure you bring some change.
We then headed to the Rock Garden. I was very interested to see what it was like and figured if anything, it would at least be a pretty walk. We got to the gate and….it was a 5 dollar entrance fee. Only three of us went in while the others waited at the gate. It was about a 5 minute walk from the gate past a scenic pond and into the temple where the Rock Garden was. The rock garden is supposed to emphasize simplicity, a place where you can free your mind and meditate. Well let me tell you how soothing it was to be serenaded by the sound of bludgeoning hammers and construction reverberating off the walls and throughout the temple. They were in the process of remodeling the temple. The rock garden was…well, very simple. It was what it said it was, rocks in a garden. I know it is supposed to be simplistic and all, but to me it just looked like a gravel putt-putt course with a big white construction board on one side. Maybe I just don’t get it, maybe my zen was disturbed by the cacophonous racket caused by the construction, maybe I need to be more enlightened by climbing Mt. Hiei again or squeezing through some nostrils.
After the rock garden we headed back to Kyoto station and finished out the night with some delicious Okonomiyake. Although I was disappointed by the sightseeing today our group managed to have fun together and continue to make the best of our time in Japan!
From the bus stop it was about a 15-minute walk to our first stop, the world renown Gold Pavilion. I personally was very excited about seeing an ancient oriental pavilion made out of pure gold. I was hoping it would be sunny so the gold would glimmer in the sunlight but it was real cloudy.
We got to the gates and were hit with an entrance fee of 3 bucks. When we got inside we read about the pavilion in the pamphlet. It was not actually an ancient one…it was rebuilt in 1957 as a replica…and it wasn’t made out of gold, just gold leaf on the outside. So the glimmering ancient solid gold structure wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was neat and I got some pictures but this was the first time on this trip that I can say I was disappointed. I was glad to find that I wasn’t the only one disappointed by the Golden Pavilion as it seemed to be the general consensus. However, Ryan and I did have fun trying to throw our yen pennies into the Buddha bowls so if you ever visit make sure you bring some change.
We then headed to the Rock Garden. I was very interested to see what it was like and figured if anything, it would at least be a pretty walk. We got to the gate and….it was a 5 dollar entrance fee. Only three of us went in while the others waited at the gate. It was about a 5 minute walk from the gate past a scenic pond and into the temple where the Rock Garden was. The rock garden is supposed to emphasize simplicity, a place where you can free your mind and meditate. Well let me tell you how soothing it was to be serenaded by the sound of bludgeoning hammers and construction reverberating off the walls and throughout the temple. They were in the process of remodeling the temple. The rock garden was…well, very simple. It was what it said it was, rocks in a garden. I know it is supposed to be simplistic and all, but to me it just looked like a gravel putt-putt course with a big white construction board on one side. Maybe I just don’t get it, maybe my zen was disturbed by the cacophonous racket caused by the construction, maybe I need to be more enlightened by climbing Mt. Hiei again or squeezing through some nostrils.
After the rock garden we headed back to Kyoto station and finished out the night with some delicious Okonomiyake. Although I was disappointed by the sightseeing today our group managed to have fun together and continue to make the best of our time in Japan!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
5/21 Free Day
Well we were supposed to go on a tour of a Sake brewery today but they brewery has cancelled all tours... due to swine flu. This is ridiculous. Swine flu is out of hand, i really don't get it. The symptoms are more mild than normal flu, no one has it. .. and people are freaking out. EVERYONE here has masks on!! It is unreal. Every store is completely sold out of masks and they have canceled all the high schools. Its just stupid. Oh well, the good thing is lots of the sites we go to have less school-kids on field trips.
So we had a free day today. In class we talked about Japan's entry into WWII and everything leading up tot he bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was really interesting for me because I had never studied it. I am excited to go to Hiroshima next week.
Tomorrow we head to Tokyo for the weekend!! I can't wait! I really hope it is everything i have dreamed of! I want to see all the crazy fashion in the Harajuku district and the neon lights and huge buildings! I have been told Tokyo is like LA and New York combined. We take a 2 hour train ride to get there but it goes around 200 MPH! I am pumped!
So we had a free day today. In class we talked about Japan's entry into WWII and everything leading up tot he bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was really interesting for me because I had never studied it. I am excited to go to Hiroshima next week.
Tomorrow we head to Tokyo for the weekend!! I can't wait! I really hope it is everything i have dreamed of! I want to see all the crazy fashion in the Harajuku district and the neon lights and huge buildings! I have been told Tokyo is like LA and New York combined. We take a 2 hour train ride to get there but it goes around 200 MPH! I am pumped!
5/20 Uji and the Shoe Search
Today we went to Uji. This area has A LOT of history. It is known as the site of where the first novel of all time was written, "The Tale of Genji." I am told the story has more than 400 side characters and its super long. I saw a copy in a store and it looks like a dictionary... I say no thanks.
Uji is also the tea capital. There are tons of green tea shops that offer free tasting and a variety of green tea products. I got some green tea ice cream which was delicious. Other people got tea products to take back home as gifts.
We visited another temple in Uji. This one was on a lake and was really beautiful. The architecture is so aesthetic. Built by monks in the 11th century all of the designs and artwork are made to be well balanced. Everything is so well made and pleasing to the eye. Inside we were not able to take pictures of a lot of the ancient artifacts and decor.
There is a big river in Uji and it is very scenic. We all stopped there a while and just hung out and talked and it was fun.
The real adventure of the day came after the visit to the temple. Ryan's feet were still hurting him so we went to look for some more shoes on a tip from our contact, Martin, here in Otsu. We headed for this enormous department store calls Joscos. aaaaaaannnn..... Nothing above 11 again. Ryan is about to give up!
After failing to find shoes we headed back, but not before stopping at McDonalds. Funny side note, Ryan is no good at cash transactions. It is hilarious every time. We were laughing so hard about it. He is not used to this cash based society. First at the tea place his purchase was 200 yen. They have a 500 coin but Ryan got it confused with a 50 yen coin. He was trying to get the lady to accept his coin when it was really the equivalent of a nickel for a $5 purchase! He then realized this and reached in his wallet.. all he had was a 10,000 yen bill, equivalent of $100. Quote of the day by Ryan, "Imagine being in the states and someone tries to pay for something that is two dollars with a nickel then they pull out a hundred dollar bill." We were laughing so hard.
Oh man later that night me and Ryan wanted to go out on the town and have walk around downtown Kyoto. We went the same way we always go...but somehow we got lost. We ended up wandering around empty streets for 2 hours lost. We were so hungry so we stopped at some little restaurant and ate, which was actually really delicious. Then we headed to take the subway back and it had stopped running since it was after midnight!! We were a little scared but we were able to find a JR station down the street and the JR lines run til 1 in the morning. WHOO!
Uji is also the tea capital. There are tons of green tea shops that offer free tasting and a variety of green tea products. I got some green tea ice cream which was delicious. Other people got tea products to take back home as gifts.
We visited another temple in Uji. This one was on a lake and was really beautiful. The architecture is so aesthetic. Built by monks in the 11th century all of the designs and artwork are made to be well balanced. Everything is so well made and pleasing to the eye. Inside we were not able to take pictures of a lot of the ancient artifacts and decor.
There is a big river in Uji and it is very scenic. We all stopped there a while and just hung out and talked and it was fun.
The real adventure of the day came after the visit to the temple. Ryan's feet were still hurting him so we went to look for some more shoes on a tip from our contact, Martin, here in Otsu. We headed for this enormous department store calls Joscos. aaaaaaannnn..... Nothing above 11 again. Ryan is about to give up!
After failing to find shoes we headed back, but not before stopping at McDonalds. Funny side note, Ryan is no good at cash transactions. It is hilarious every time. We were laughing so hard about it. He is not used to this cash based society. First at the tea place his purchase was 200 yen. They have a 500 coin but Ryan got it confused with a 50 yen coin. He was trying to get the lady to accept his coin when it was really the equivalent of a nickel for a $5 purchase! He then realized this and reached in his wallet.. all he had was a 10,000 yen bill, equivalent of $100. Quote of the day by Ryan, "Imagine being in the states and someone tries to pay for something that is two dollars with a nickel then they pull out a hundred dollar bill." We were laughing so hard.
Oh man later that night me and Ryan wanted to go out on the town and have walk around downtown Kyoto. We went the same way we always go...but somehow we got lost. We ended up wandering around empty streets for 2 hours lost. We were so hungry so we stopped at some little restaurant and ate, which was actually really delicious. Then we headed to take the subway back and it had stopped running since it was after midnight!! We were a little scared but we were able to find a JR station down the street and the JR lines run til 1 in the morning. WHOO!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
5/19 Toyota Plant Tour
Today we went on about a 100 trains to get to Toyota City for a tour of the plant... Ok so not really 100 but 4 trains to get there and 4 to get back. It really is crazy how you can get anywhere by train though... Anyway the plant tour was pretty cool. I liked the Toyota museum as well. They also displayed future Toyota products at the museum which were crazy to see. There was a robot there that played the trumpet too... Completely flawlessly. After seeing the robot play the trumpet flawlessly then the robots build cars (which was insane to watch) I started thinking of Terminator. I just wonder when these robots will become self-aware, then we're in trouble.
After the plant tour Ryan said that his feet were hurting him and his shoes felt too tight. He wanted to stop in Kyoto and get some new shoes. So when we finally got to Kyoto station Ryan, Annalise and I headed for the covered mall area on Sanjo street. This was an experience because it was the first time we had taken the train or subway by ourselves without any instruction! We were getting around Japan all on our own. We walked around the mall area for over an hour and went to about 10 shoe stores... none of which carried anything above a size 10! Don't try to buy shoes in Japan because they have super small feet! So Ryan was out of luck!
We got dinner at a restaurant on Sanjo street and it was very delicious. We had a great time and sat in the restaurant for over an hour just talking and hanging out. We left and started our quest to get back to Otsu. We ran into another white guy who could see we were a little lost. He was really cool and talked to us on the train. He was from New York and is now a Shinto Buddhist. His wife was with him, who he had met in Japan and she spoke a little English. He pointed us in the right direction to get back!
On the last train we were on we ran into a group of Japanese girls that all had basketball bags. We started talking to them and they were so excited to talk to us! It was so much fun. They would use a little bit of english and ask us questions and I would use a little japanese and ask them questions or translate things! They were hilarious and just so excited to talk to us. It was a great night and we made it back all on our own!
After the plant tour Ryan said that his feet were hurting him and his shoes felt too tight. He wanted to stop in Kyoto and get some new shoes. So when we finally got to Kyoto station Ryan, Annalise and I headed for the covered mall area on Sanjo street. This was an experience because it was the first time we had taken the train or subway by ourselves without any instruction! We were getting around Japan all on our own. We walked around the mall area for over an hour and went to about 10 shoe stores... none of which carried anything above a size 10! Don't try to buy shoes in Japan because they have super small feet! So Ryan was out of luck!
We got dinner at a restaurant on Sanjo street and it was very delicious. We had a great time and sat in the restaurant for over an hour just talking and hanging out. We left and started our quest to get back to Otsu. We ran into another white guy who could see we were a little lost. He was really cool and talked to us on the train. He was from New York and is now a Shinto Buddhist. His wife was with him, who he had met in Japan and she spoke a little English. He pointed us in the right direction to get back!
On the last train we were on we ran into a group of Japanese girls that all had basketball bags. We started talking to them and they were so excited to talk to us! It was so much fun. They would use a little bit of english and ask us questions and I would use a little japanese and ask them questions or translate things! They were hilarious and just so excited to talk to us. It was a great night and we made it back all on our own!
5/18 Lost in the Land of Torii
Today we went to 10,000 Torii. Torii means gate and at this place there are 10,000 gates that you walk through along a path up a mountain. This was built in dedication to the Rice and Sake gods which are often represented by a fox. Torii indicate that the ground beyond them is sacred. Apparently if you climb to the top and pass through all the torii it will bring you good luck in business endeavors so we saw several businessmen making the hike. Our goal was to get all the way to the top. The sight was beautiful and the torii are bright orange and all of them have beautifully carved Japanese characters on them. We kept going and going, up and up through tunnels of torii. We finally reached the top after about 45 minutes, which was pretty anticlimactic....There was no amazing view or big shrine or anything, it just started going back down.
After about 20 minutes of going down, we came to a fork in the road. One way headed up and another one down, so we naturally chose the one going down. Well, another 20 minutes later and we could clearly see we were lost. Somehow we broke off the path. We ended up going through a bamboo forest and into a Japanese suburb area. We had to ask for directions 5 times to get to the closest train station. 3 hours after we started our journey we ended up at a train station on the other side of the mountain about 2 miles from the train station we got off at! It was an adventure and a lot of walking, but it was fun!
At night we went to Kyoto station, where we have been many times before, but we explored the entire thing. The station is enormous with 11 or 12 floors. We went all the way up to the top, taking about 5 escalators. At the top there is a garden and a great view of the city and just a big open area to hang out. This apparently is THE PLACE for couples and go on dates! There were couples all over the place. After that we got some dinner and called it a night.
After about 20 minutes of going down, we came to a fork in the road. One way headed up and another one down, so we naturally chose the one going down. Well, another 20 minutes later and we could clearly see we were lost. Somehow we broke off the path. We ended up going through a bamboo forest and into a Japanese suburb area. We had to ask for directions 5 times to get to the closest train station. 3 hours after we started our journey we ended up at a train station on the other side of the mountain about 2 miles from the train station we got off at! It was an adventure and a lot of walking, but it was fun!
At night we went to Kyoto station, where we have been many times before, but we explored the entire thing. The station is enormous with 11 or 12 floors. We went all the way up to the top, taking about 5 escalators. At the top there is a garden and a great view of the city and just a big open area to hang out. This apparently is THE PLACE for couples and go on dates! There were couples all over the place. After that we got some dinner and called it a night.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Previous Journals Before I Set Up Blog
5/14
We are sitting in the Tokyo Airport and I just ate my first Japanese meal! I got dumplings and they were delicious. This is so crazy to actually be here experiencing everything. We have only been off the plane a short time and we have already experienced several cultural inconsistencies. First, we needed to take an elevator so we walked up to the elevator and pressed the button and waited right in front of the doors. As we waited I noticed there were several Japanese people standing several yards behind us. We didn’t realize you stand 15-20 feet away from the doors of the elevator while waiting!
It was crazy landing in Japan. Health officials immediately boarded the plane wearing masks and goggles and armed with infrared cameras to check people’s temperature….this swine flu thing is out of hand. It took about an hour because they…actually I have no idea why it took so long, the whole thing was ridiculous.
11:50 PM
I just got to my room and it is awesome! My toilet has a bidet and heated seat. The town of Otsu seems really cool. Everything is so neat and well-kept here. The sidewalks are very nice and so are the roads. All of the cars are so small! I am so tired after 26+ hours of traveling though so I am going to bed!
5/15
The word right now: Culture shock. I feel so out of place! I don’t know what to do and there is the language barrier as well. Today was crazy. We went to Kyoto and saw the Aoui Festival and explored the town, walking around for hours. Shannon and I stuck together throughout the day. We feel somewhat separate from the group because we are quieter in nature and feel like the group draws too much attention to itself being as loud as they are.
For lunch Shannon and I walked into a restaurant with traditional style seating. We had to take off our shoes and sit cross-legged at a table. Luckily the owner was extremely kind and seemed to enjoy that we were there. After we got done the chef asked, “How was it?” to which I responded “Oishii!” (Delicious!) and made them laugh. They did not expect me to answer in Japanese!
However, tonight was a fiasco. We planned on getting food from the grocery store but it was closed so we walked to another restaurant. We are not familiar with the restaurant process and shyly meandered in. We were then turned away by the hostess. We walked down the street to another restaurant and again we were turned away by the lady at the front! We have no idea what we are doing wrong! Then we ran into Brenda and Dr. Bisson who told us about a restaurant where they had just eaten. We headed there.
This restaurant was an experience. We felt uncomfortable and out of place from the time we walked in the door. We had to walk through a curtain, which was strange then the seating at the table was interesting as well. My seat was something I would best describe as a post. Thankfully the man at the restaurant was so nice to us. The food was very good and we got done eating and sat… and continued to sit as we waited for our server/chef to attend to us but he never did… until we asked him for a check. The check as all together and we had to get them to split our large Yen bills so we could give the correct amount of money. Then we awkwardly exited the restaurant through the curtain.
I am completely exhausted right now so I am going to sleep! Oh, and listening to Kanye west to feel a little in place!
5/16
Today it was raining and cloudy but that is ok! It is just great to be here and the rain isn’t going to bother me. We took a tour of Otsu today with our contact, Martin. It was interesting learning about some history and facts. I am observing a lot of the big differences between Japan and the US in the way that things operate.
Everything here goes vertically. To save space instead of everything being on one floor, there will be a small area on one floor, then 5 floors above. The grocery/convenience store is a good example. On the bottom level they have a grocery area. Above that they have a health floor with over the counter medicines, toiletries, etc. Above that there is a clothing store, above that school and office supplies and that was as far as I went up, it kept going! All of the floors are connected by escalators also.
The craziest thing that goes vertical: Parking garages. A parking garage is a tall, skinny building with ONE little garage door opening. You drive into the little opening, get out of your car, then it lifts up on an elevator! The cars are on a conveyor belt that goes all the way up to the top of the building!
They don’t have any big parking lots here. Parking lots in front of businesses are usually only 2-4 spots and most places don’t have them. The train and subway systems can get you anywhere. There is barely any traffic on the streets. The sidewalks are so big and all the cement on the roads and sidewalks is so fresh and well kept. There are absolutely no cracks or potholes.
As far as activities, today we went to downtown Kyoto. It was awesome. We visited the covered mall. This place was HUGE with rows upon rows of all kinds of shopping. I also really enjoyed seeing the younger crowd of Japanese, teenagers and such. Fashion here is a priority. People really care and think about what they put on! For me, that is exciting! What is really interesting is there is not a specifically set, cool way to dress. Everyone has there own taste and fashion. There is such an abundance of fashion stores giving them so many options. If you go to a mall in the states there are only a few styles to choose from.
In the covered mall area there was also a marketplace. The marketplace was AWESOME. So busy! In any country I am in I always love going to the marketplace. There are so many sights and sounds and smells and it really gives you a feel for the culture. Seafood dominates the market. Everywhere you look there are fish, shrimp, squid, octopus and you can smell it too! It is all so fresh.
We walked around the marketplace and Kyoto for several hours then came back here. I am exhausted now. I finished editing some pictures and videos and I am going to upload them to Facebook and go to bed!!
We are sitting in the Tokyo Airport and I just ate my first Japanese meal! I got dumplings and they were delicious. This is so crazy to actually be here experiencing everything. We have only been off the plane a short time and we have already experienced several cultural inconsistencies. First, we needed to take an elevator so we walked up to the elevator and pressed the button and waited right in front of the doors. As we waited I noticed there were several Japanese people standing several yards behind us. We didn’t realize you stand 15-20 feet away from the doors of the elevator while waiting!
It was crazy landing in Japan. Health officials immediately boarded the plane wearing masks and goggles and armed with infrared cameras to check people’s temperature….this swine flu thing is out of hand. It took about an hour because they…actually I have no idea why it took so long, the whole thing was ridiculous.
11:50 PM
I just got to my room and it is awesome! My toilet has a bidet and heated seat. The town of Otsu seems really cool. Everything is so neat and well-kept here. The sidewalks are very nice and so are the roads. All of the cars are so small! I am so tired after 26+ hours of traveling though so I am going to bed!
5/15
The word right now: Culture shock. I feel so out of place! I don’t know what to do and there is the language barrier as well. Today was crazy. We went to Kyoto and saw the Aoui Festival and explored the town, walking around for hours. Shannon and I stuck together throughout the day. We feel somewhat separate from the group because we are quieter in nature and feel like the group draws too much attention to itself being as loud as they are.
For lunch Shannon and I walked into a restaurant with traditional style seating. We had to take off our shoes and sit cross-legged at a table. Luckily the owner was extremely kind and seemed to enjoy that we were there. After we got done the chef asked, “How was it?” to which I responded “Oishii!” (Delicious!) and made them laugh. They did not expect me to answer in Japanese!
However, tonight was a fiasco. We planned on getting food from the grocery store but it was closed so we walked to another restaurant. We are not familiar with the restaurant process and shyly meandered in. We were then turned away by the hostess. We walked down the street to another restaurant and again we were turned away by the lady at the front! We have no idea what we are doing wrong! Then we ran into Brenda and Dr. Bisson who told us about a restaurant where they had just eaten. We headed there.
This restaurant was an experience. We felt uncomfortable and out of place from the time we walked in the door. We had to walk through a curtain, which was strange then the seating at the table was interesting as well. My seat was something I would best describe as a post. Thankfully the man at the restaurant was so nice to us. The food was very good and we got done eating and sat… and continued to sit as we waited for our server/chef to attend to us but he never did… until we asked him for a check. The check as all together and we had to get them to split our large Yen bills so we could give the correct amount of money. Then we awkwardly exited the restaurant through the curtain.
I am completely exhausted right now so I am going to sleep! Oh, and listening to Kanye west to feel a little in place!
5/16
Today it was raining and cloudy but that is ok! It is just great to be here and the rain isn’t going to bother me. We took a tour of Otsu today with our contact, Martin. It was interesting learning about some history and facts. I am observing a lot of the big differences between Japan and the US in the way that things operate.
Everything here goes vertically. To save space instead of everything being on one floor, there will be a small area on one floor, then 5 floors above. The grocery/convenience store is a good example. On the bottom level they have a grocery area. Above that they have a health floor with over the counter medicines, toiletries, etc. Above that there is a clothing store, above that school and office supplies and that was as far as I went up, it kept going! All of the floors are connected by escalators also.
The craziest thing that goes vertical: Parking garages. A parking garage is a tall, skinny building with ONE little garage door opening. You drive into the little opening, get out of your car, then it lifts up on an elevator! The cars are on a conveyor belt that goes all the way up to the top of the building!
They don’t have any big parking lots here. Parking lots in front of businesses are usually only 2-4 spots and most places don’t have them. The train and subway systems can get you anywhere. There is barely any traffic on the streets. The sidewalks are so big and all the cement on the roads and sidewalks is so fresh and well kept. There are absolutely no cracks or potholes.
As far as activities, today we went to downtown Kyoto. It was awesome. We visited the covered mall. This place was HUGE with rows upon rows of all kinds of shopping. I also really enjoyed seeing the younger crowd of Japanese, teenagers and such. Fashion here is a priority. People really care and think about what they put on! For me, that is exciting! What is really interesting is there is not a specifically set, cool way to dress. Everyone has there own taste and fashion. There is such an abundance of fashion stores giving them so many options. If you go to a mall in the states there are only a few styles to choose from.
In the covered mall area there was also a marketplace. The marketplace was AWESOME. So busy! In any country I am in I always love going to the marketplace. There are so many sights and sounds and smells and it really gives you a feel for the culture. Seafood dominates the market. Everywhere you look there are fish, shrimp, squid, octopus and you can smell it too! It is all so fresh.
We walked around the marketplace and Kyoto for several hours then came back here. I am exhausted now. I finished editing some pictures and videos and I am going to upload them to Facebook and go to bed!!
Nara Deer and Buddhists Temples
It rained again but it was another great day! I am finally figuring out how the train system works! It is just confusing to me because I have never used public transportation before and here everything is in Japanese characters, but the location will flash up in English every once in a while!
Today we headed to Nara. Nara is historically the first capitol of Japan, but it was only the capital for a few months. Every time the emperor died they would change the capitol. The big get-up in Nara is that there are deer everywhere. They aren't afraid of people at all and they just roam freely. You can buy little cookie type things and feed them. I loved this and went around chasing and petting deer!
We visited a Buddhist temple area. There are lots of smaller ancient looking buildings then a HUGE temple. To get inside we climbed the stairs and passed by a huge urn of incense (the first stage of enlightenment). The temple was enormous and inside it was a gigantic bronze Buddha. It was overwhelming looking at it. Inside the temple were other enormous statues and various sacred elements. There were lots of schoolchildren on field trips there and some of them wanted to get pictures with us! It was very amusing!
After that we headed back to the station. Brenda, Taylor and I ran around the Kyoto station for about an hour in search of this Ice Cream place! The Kyoto station is humongous and it is so easy to get lost! We finally found a good ice cream place and it was delicious! It was also the hardest I have laughed the whole trip! I am going to get dinner in a little bit and we start meeting for class tomorrow.
Today we headed to Nara. Nara is historically the first capitol of Japan, but it was only the capital for a few months. Every time the emperor died they would change the capitol. The big get-up in Nara is that there are deer everywhere. They aren't afraid of people at all and they just roam freely. You can buy little cookie type things and feed them. I loved this and went around chasing and petting deer!
We visited a Buddhist temple area. There are lots of smaller ancient looking buildings then a HUGE temple. To get inside we climbed the stairs and passed by a huge urn of incense (the first stage of enlightenment). The temple was enormous and inside it was a gigantic bronze Buddha. It was overwhelming looking at it. Inside the temple were other enormous statues and various sacred elements. There were lots of schoolchildren on field trips there and some of them wanted to get pictures with us! It was very amusing!
After that we headed back to the station. Brenda, Taylor and I ran around the Kyoto station for about an hour in search of this Ice Cream place! The Kyoto station is humongous and it is so easy to get lost! We finally found a good ice cream place and it was delicious! It was also the hardest I have laughed the whole trip! I am going to get dinner in a little bit and we start meeting for class tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)