PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
shark vs the universe
pixel skylines
⁂
macklin celebrini has autism
@theartofmadeline
Product Placement
Game of Thrones Daily
Sweet Seals For You, Always
RMH
No title available
todays bird
Noah Kahan
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
h
JVL
untitled
Peter Solarz
ojovivo
Discoholic 🪩
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Austria
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from Italy
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Ireland
@caminjapan
MAY YOU MEET YOUR FAV IN 2016
DONT RISK IT ALWAYS REBLOG
GUYS I REBLOGGED THIS ON NEW YEARS AND ALREADY MET JOSH DUN THIS YEAR IT WORKS
fucking proof sara has blessed your 2016
I reblogged this at the end of December and I met the entire USWNT
BLESS THIS POST
Just a random thought (NEWS related haha and a little personal random-ish)
I have YET to update so much
ESPECIALLY SINCE I GOT TO GO TO THE NEWS CONCERT
and my family came to visit me again!!!
ANYWAY (you don’t need to read this lol it’s just a personal ramble on NEWS haha)
I’ve been catching up on NEWS related things, and I’m trying to keep myself up to date again (since I have a little bit more time on my hands now compared to before I guess)
and I realize, while my ichiban forever is Massu, I really do love and admire the other members too. I really appreciate what each member has to offer. It’s really amazing, how each of them have their own thing going on and how when they’re all together as NEWS they’re still great (or greater!)
Like, I really love Koyama’s sincerity in loving all the members and when he does his journalism work as a newscaster. It’s amazing how well he connects with those he interacts with! And he’s smart! I really have a thing for smart guys @_@ intelligence is sexy. HAHA I really like how genuine of a person he is and how much he loves the members. And honestly, in the concert, he looked really handsome in person. They all did, really. But especially Koyama. He is definitely more good looking in person. Haha! (I mean, Massu just sparkled, Tegoshi was good looking too and Shige.. Shige is just like Koyama in the sense that I was wow-ed seeing him live haha)
I also admire Tegoshi in some way too, honestly. He is just so full of confidence and he really wants to tackle things head on with perfection!! That kind of attitude really inspires me to do my 300% in everything I do. And his confidence sort of pushes me to be just confident with myself too. I really admire how he also loves to be efficient. Like he really wants to maximize his time so that he’s able to do all of the things he wants to do. I remember in one interview he said he’d push to do magazine interviews in one day just so he has more time to do soccer. Like that dedication to all of things he loves.. That’s amazing. and he was studying in Waseda too!!! I’m excited to see him finish his degree once he’s satisfied with all the commitment he gives to his being an idol.
Shige.. Shige actually sparked this random post on NEWS! HAHA I was reading up on his interviews and watching his guestings on several shows for his promos for his newest book. Like when he’s on “author mode” for the interviews/guestings I am just really in awe of his intelligence HAHA he is so smart and talented =)) Like I am literally saying in my head “man this guy is an AUTHOR and an idol at the same time!! This same guy singing all these idol pop songs” haha and it’s not like his writing is crappy, either! He knows how to write to the point that people are even doubting his work HAHA like they kind of doubt he wrote it.. But I’m pretty sure he did write all of his books and.. Wow. I’m just amazed. All the more since his first book is actually going to be a movie! @__@ gosh.
Massu.. Massu is just something else on his own. I’m really happy that last year he had a chance to be on TV more often due to Ippuku and Mirai Rocket, plus he had a butai too! And now he gets to sing more or less every week on Suikayousai and he’s appearing on magazines for his *unique* fashion sense LOL I know he’s got a lot of flaws (lol he hates/is terribly afraid of bugs, he’s afraid of animals, he’s the only one among the four who didn’t attend university, he’s such a “my pace” guy, he’s so shy and formal and sometimes hardly unique like REALLY sometimes I don’t know why XD) but I appreciate how he’s at home with how he really is, and how he’s not afraid to be so freakishly unique even if people “criticize” him about it. Like Tegoshi, this kind of confidence really encourages me to just embrace myself and the way I am. Haha! And based on the concert he was such a really nice and funny guy. His personality is so cute and quirky. I think.. you can feel the kindness from him, too. I think he genuinely means well when he does all these quirky funny awkward things. Haha
Okay this was a weird ramble. LOL I just.. Had to voice this out. NEWS is such an amazing group like really.. After everything they’ve been through they’re just so incredibly amazing. I wish they had a show as four HUHU they had 4x9 but it didn’t last as long.. And it was at a late timeslot HAHA my friend told me the way they interact with each other and their humor might not be for the Japanese market.. Like the way they are with each other might not work for variety shows as a group.. But meh. I hope they can find something that can work out for all of them so that they get more exposure!! People have to realize how great this group is. The way they make their fans feel special.. and oh another random thing THEY CAN SING OKAY. THEY CAN. LIKE their concert was just amazing LIVE they even sound better than some of their recorded songs (According to my friend who accompanied me to the White Tour concert) HAHA but really, wow. It was just so amazing huhu and the tour/concert was so creative, okay!! I will elaborate next time or u can read fan reports? but lol it was just really awesome. NEWS is really awesome.
And well... Then again, if they don’t get much exposure (on TV or what).. In a way it makes NEWS fans feel really special. HAHA only we can understand how awesome this group is!! HAHAHA IDK SORRY IF I’M NOT MAKING ANY SENSE
anyhow this post is just my opinion/feelings!! Hope this doesn’t offend anyone. I just really love NEWS. They’re just really amazing. huhu. I’m also totally inspired by them.
I HAVEN’T UPDATED IN A WHILE, ごめんね〜 // 05.29.2015
A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN A WEEK
ISH.
ANYWAY
I will sort of give the highlights of the past week!! PLS BEAR WITH ME if you are going to read this post because it might be long!! Hopefully the pictures make the reading a little more enjoyable HAHA
MAY 19 2015 // TUESDAY
After a long day at class we went to a kaiten-zushi place!!! :D AKA a conveyor belt sushi place!! One of the students living in my dorm (he’s actually Russian and married, taking his other masteral(?) degree in OU) said there was one not too far from where our dorm was.
He was so wrong.
It was quite a walk actually HAHA but as expected, it’s Japan. So in a way, yes, it was near.. But it was still quite a walk. But the walk was worth it because going to a kaiten-zushi place was really fun!
So you can either order at a screen, where you click on the sushi you want and it’ll be delivered to you on a train! The train is on a conveyor belt above the “normal” conveyor belt where the sushi just goes round and round. Each sushi plate was 108 yen. If you wanted fancier stuff, the price could be around 200 yen. I just mostly got 108 yen plates though.
^ The screen is where you can order. Or you can just pick up the sushi that comes at the lower conveyor belt
^ the upper conveyor belt has sushi on it that we ordered from the screen!
MAY 20 2015 // WEDNESDAY
Nothing much, really! I finally got my rice cooker from Amazon! YAY
And I finally got to cook rice in a rice cooker. Hehe. Sticky white rice <3
I got to eat something like this (although I didn’t make the salad. I bought it at the supermarket. HAHA) It’s mushroom and ground chicken!! <3 uwaa.
MAY 21 2015 // THURSDAY
Highlights of the day:
I got a text from the acapella circle I joined and I am officially in a “band”! A band = group of people I’ll get to sing with. I was told we were gonna meet on Monday the following week.
I gave a presentation during my Japanese class! I talked about what advice I would give if a Japanese friend went to the Philippines. I just suggested it would be best for him/her to come during the summer and December. Just the times of the year when typhoons don’t come often. Hehe.
I also bought Ghibli Museum tickets for my friend from the Loppi machine in Lawson. It was cool buying tickets from such a thing in a convenience store!! It was very.. convenient HAHA lol the only thing that was hard was getting tickets for the time/date my friend wanted. But it all worked out.
I also ended up buying another magazine with NEWS on the cover.. I got the June(?) issue of TV LIFE HAHAHA it’s not as expensive as the idol magazines so I got it. And it’s not everyday that your favorite band is on the cover. HEHE. I saw it in Lawson while waiting in line to buy tickets from the Lawson Loppi machine. There was a girl there trying to get tickets so while waiting I looked around. Then BAM I saw the magazine. Haha!
Also, I got the epilator I ordered from Amazon, too. I’ve tried it and so far it does the job. I still have to see how it goes in the long run.
^ my epilator. LOL it’s so girly and pink. The instructions are in Japanese but there were some drawings HAHA and it’s pretty straightforward to use.
^ tickets bought from a Lawson Loppi Machine!
MAY 22 2015 // FRIDAY
I went to Ame-mura (Amerikamura, this part of Osaka near Shinsaibashi) with some of my friends to go shopping and to look around. My friends who’ve been there told me there was this cheap takoyaki place + shopping store.
We went to a takoyaki place, and it was good and cheap! I paid 350 yen for like.. 10 pieces? or 12. usually you only get 6 pieces for the same price.
(sorry, no interesting pictures HAHA)
MAY 23 2015 // SATURDAY
WE WENT TO TENNOJI ZOO
It wasn’t AMAZING but it was still a zoo. Yay animals!
to sum up the whole thing though, it was pretty cool.. and pretty sad. The zoo, you see, is a 100 years old. It’s been around for a long time, so I guess it isn’t as “fancy” as one might expect it to be. But it still wasn’t so bad.
Also, there are a lot of animals but some of them look a little sad :( like imagine being cooped up in a cage/cell all day.. Well some animals had bigger places to stay in, but it was still pretty sad..
ALSO
We went to the place where they exhibited the koalas, and apparently.. One of the koalas died last month :( There was one koala, who looked really lonely, and right beside his area was a sort of empty area with a bucket of flowers in the middle of the area. And on the glass wall, there was a sign that described the koala that once stayed there... HUHU.
There were happy things though, like me seeing a giraffe!!! UWA A GIRAFFE IN JAPAN TWO OF MY FAVE THINGS IN ONE haha lol it was kinda far but still YAY
After the zoo, we went around Shinsekai (the area near the zoo) and we ate in a restaurant that sort of ripped me and my friends off. The prices were cheap but the servings were tiny. And when we got the bill.. They even charged us for something we didn’t order. :/ so it took a while for us to pay too.
After that, we went to Umeda and we walked around. I went with my friend to Uniqlo and H&M cause he wanted to buy some clothes.. and I bumped into a friend in Uniqlo!! Uwa. So many Filipinos coming to Osaka. HAHA
^this was at the train station near the zoo!!!
^In an alleyway towards the zoo they had these stuff haha
^ Shinsekai and Tsutenakaku tower
^ Entrance of the zoo!
^ We saw these group of Japanese college students in costumes..... Really interesting HAHAHA
^ yes, a 100 year old zoo... HAHA
^ GIRAFFE <3
^ Tsutenkaku tower!
^ Polar bear.. there’s actually a baby with it. It was just so hard to get photos ><
^ HUHU KOALA
MAY 24 2015 // SUNDAY
I went to Osaka Umeda Catholic Church in the morning, and I sang with the choir! Yay! And I saw another person from Ateneo too. After mass, I went around Umeda.. Just going around. I actually saw the ear cuff Massu wears. I was really tempted to buy it but I just held back. XD I don’t want to keep spending. XD
After going around Umeda, I went to Lifehouse Church Osaka. There was a “Latino Party” so there was dancing and food and music! It was fun. And the messages for the services that day were really meaningful. For some reason, I was actually moved to tears. I just realized how thankful and blessed I am to be here in Osaka. To be able to study in Japan. To be surrounded by great people and experiences. God is really so great :< and I am so thankful for my family and friends for their support. Hopefully I am able to give back twice--no, thrice or even 100000x back. Just watch me, friends!! I will try my best to make all your lives better somehow from what I learn from here. haha!
After service, we had fellowship, which was great, then after fellowship I headed back home to the dorm. I went with one of the people in church (she’s a student in OU also, but not an exchange student haha) and I accompanied her to Namba cause she was going to buy omiyage. Then we went home together since we live in the same area. :) she’s a really nice and awesome person huhu
This was also the night when I told my family I really wanted to go to NEWS’s concert in Hiroshima. We talked it out and.. They were really supportive. They wanted me to go with a friend, though, since my parents aren’t comfortable with me going alone. I got to find a friend to go with me, so yay! God is so great. You know.. Even if I hadn’t been able to go I think I would have been able to accept it, and I’m still extremely thankful.. But God has just given so much. I’m really thankful. And now the desire to save money has just quadrupled HAHAHA so yes, I’m going to the June 7 concert in Hiroshima!!!
UWAAA SO EXCITED. THANK YOU LORD. HUHU.
Also, I FaceTime-d with my family though (well yeah to ask about going to Hirioshima) and I suggested that we pray together. And we did pray together. It was really great. Maybe we can try to do this more often.
MAY 25 2015 // MONDAY
I had no classes. I did laundry.. And then I had to go to school still, for this assembly that my exchange program has every week. Basically, everyone in my exchange program gets to attend this assembly where they announce activities and important reminders. I found out about this english camp/international camp where they need camp leaders to teach english to kids. and it’s a paying thing. I applied for it the next day HAHAHA I hope I get it. It will help my parents to some extent. :< haha! AND IT INVOLVES KIDS AND TEACHING!!!! <3 uwaaa huhu just lifiting it all up to Him!!
Today I also bought the tickets to the concert and the bus tickets to get there and to come back to Osaka. So thankful. Thank you Lord. HUHU
It stung, seeing the prices I had to pay.. But I’m definitely making the most out of it so the money doesn’t go to waste. HUHU.
I also went to my first acapella band practice today!! We decided on a song: Country Road by John Denver... It’s an old song but I think the arrangement is nice.
It was challenging to be with the acapella group though HAHA there are 6 of us. 4 Japanese students, me, and a Russian exchange student who is also in my program. We had a little bit of difficulty communicating cause of the language barrier, but we were able to decide on a song and the Japanese students taught us how to do warm ups and stuff! So it wasn’t all too bad. I’m a little nervous though HAHA I hope I don’t disappoint!!
MAY 26 2015 // TUESDAY
I sent in my application to the camp leaders thing! Well, I had to scan the documents and send it, and I didn’t really have a scanner.. So one of my friends helped me out and brought me to the library!
It was my first time in the library, actually. I found out how to use my library card to get in (you have to insert it into this thing by the entrance.. Then it spits out your card, then you’re able to get in. It’s hard to explain HAHA I’ll take a photo next time)
And my friend showed me this table thing. You scan and view documents here. You can also read the news and upload documents from your USB to share with your group mates if you want to discuss over some documents and stuff. It’s really cool!!!!
^ the table thing. HAHA
AND
basically that’s it. Nothing much happened from Wednesday until today. Well, some stuff happened, but it’s not much to write about here anyway..
Tomorrow I’m going to Kyoto with some friends :) I didn’t spend so much this week, I’m still somehow a bit under budget so I think I’m okay. HAHA I did some grocery this week so.. I shouldn’t have to spend so much for food in the coming weeks.
I’ll try to update more often!!! :D IN TERMS OF ACADEMICS THO things are definitely getting heavier!! I have an exam, a presentation and 2 papers due. I did one of them already (YAY for not cramming) but I have a bunch of other stuff to do, too. But so far I’ve been able to manage my time without sacrificing rest. Gonna do my best to keep that up. Hehe.
Thank you Lord, for everything!!!!!! I will do my best to do my part. ^^
TIL THE NEXT UPDATE!!!!!! :D
Nothing is more terrifying than fearlessness.
Cornelia Funke (via observando)
05/18/2015 11:03 - Cooking party, acapella and garage sale!
おはよう‼︎ (Well, sort of) I hadn't posted anything the whole week because I'd get home really tired or I'd be preoccupied doing other things (talking to my family or watching videos). But the weekend has been pretty great! FRIDAY Last Friday after class I had a cooking party with my old group for a certain class. In this class we're placed into groups where it's a mix of international students and japanese students. It's a really easy class because we just talk about the topics given for the day. For example, one time we had "Food" as a topic. So we talked about our favorite foods, our native foods, foods we like, table manners, etc. :) I say "old group" because after around 5 weeks/topics we get shuffled and placed into different groups. My old group mates and I got along really well though (I brought dried mangoes to class one time, shared it with them and we ended up making a LINE group named "Philippine Mangoes" LOL) and we decided that we should have a cooking party. And we had one! We had the cooking party in the form of another international student. Her dorm is pretty far from mine (total 25 min walk plus 15 minute train?) but the set up of the dorm is different than mine. In my dorm I have my own bathroom, fridge, kitchen (a small one) and washing machine. My group mate's dorm has communal kitchen and bathroom. So the only thing she has to herself is her bedroom. :) so the kitchen in her dorm is bigger since it's a communal kitchen.. Which made the whole thing great. :) We cooked German potatoes and made 3 different kinds of dessert! German potatoes are generally just potatoes with ham/meat, onions and spices. Really easy to cook but the hard part is peeling the potatoes. XD the dessert I can't remember the names XD one was like pudding, the other was like a pancake, and the other one was like cut up pancakes. My international friend is from Germany, hence the German menu. She also shared with us some German jam to go with the dessert :3 SATURDAY I had to wake up early because I was meeting up with this Japanese girl who I think is some sort of officer or representative for the acapella circle in OU (Osaka University). I attended their meeting where they talked about the recent performances they had last School Festival and the upcoming Live Concert they have in December. I didn't understand most of what they were saying but I could understand some bits and pieces here and there. Speaking of not understanding, a lot of them don't really speak English very well so I got really nervous and worried because I'm not really sure how I'll survive. @.@ honestly, my Japanese level is so-so. Still worse than an elementary school child so I sometimes ask myself why I'm doing this to myself. Haha! But I want to make the most out of this exchange. Try out joining a circle and do what I love doing: singing. Huhu. I'm not that great of a singer either, but I think I can carry a tune and I've done acapella before... XD in a way I do hope being in this circle improves my Japanese also. Haha! The way the acapella circle works is also a little.. Scary for me since I don't speak Japanese well. In the circle there are like.. 130~ members or so, I think. This is based on the attendance I saw in the meeting. Anyway, basically you sort of find different members, and create a "band" (an acapella group, basically). So like for example, I'm a soprano, I need to look for a tenor, bass, alto, vocal percussionist, etc. So you gotta look for the people you wanna sing with. That's a little problematic for someone like me who can't speak Japanese very well. XD HAHA! After the meeting I got to talk to the rep I was communicating with before and she asked for my free times in the week and she announced to the group that I'm interested in joining. Hopefully.. Things take off from there. Haha! After that, I stayed for a while to listen and watch their mini concert/performance. It was composed of freshmen singing different genres of acapella songs. It was interesting.. And it seemed fun. The seniors/senpai were really loud and funny :)) I left the concert a little earlier before it ended because I still had to buy a belated Mother's Day gift for a Tita here in osaka. She's been taking care of me during Sundays and I wanted to get her something. So I did. :) I ended up buying some stationery also at a store that I saw.... Man. Japanese stationery is really beautiful. I had to resist from buying more than I already bought. Huhu. Next time I see one I have to stop buying something HAHA SUNDAY I went to mass in the morning, gave the gift to my Tita and then I went off to the flea market/garage sale with two of my friends in Bampakukinen koen. I ended up buying a panama hat and a blouse!! :) perfect summer items haha. There were lesser people and stalls compared to before (I went to one of these garage sales earlier in the month) but there were still some interesting items. My friend got to buy a rice cooker for 1,000 yen, for example. I would've wanted to get it too but XD HAHA there was only one. :)) After the flea market we sat around the park and there was some stuff arranged for kids. Like balloon slides and magic shows and people doing tricks. It was really nice. Wish I had taken photos! I keep forgetting XD HAHA We decided to get some food so we went to Senri Chuo and ate in Mos Burger. We all went home after eating. I took a nap after that and ended up talking to my parents for a bit. I ordered a cheap rice cooker and epilator on Amazon Japan; I hope it all works out. XD HAHA first time for me to really order something online on something like Amazon. Haha! I fell asleep then I checked my mail and tumblr late in the night. Now I'm off to do some homework and attend this individual meeting.. Til then! :)
5/14/2015 18:52
Things have been.. Eventful, but not too eventful? More of those little happy moments, I guess. :) but still great! After all, I am in Japan HAHA
In the past few days it’s just been pretty much classes + eating out with friends in the cafeteria. Although yesterday, after class, I went off to Ishibashi (this shopping street near my university) to look for this magazine my friend asked me to buy for her (it was a men’s fashion magazine that had her fave Japanese model in it). I tried to see if there was any bookstore/manga/magazine shop, and lo and behold, there was! I got the magazine for my friend, and at the same time.. I discovered this!
(yes,you are a fiiiinee boy, Masuda Takahisa <3 lol)
I saw this issue of FINEBOYS! And Massu was on the cover hahahaha oh the joy <3 he doesn’t appear much in the issue though (a few pages where he talks about his fashion sense/passion for fashion + fashion styling with the color blue) but c’mon, it isn’t everyday that you see your ichiban on a magazine cover. Looking all ikemen and adorable. Huhu.
So yes, I bought this magazine along with the magazine for my friend. I hope the cashier man didn’t judge me too much. Lol
I bought some other things, like stationery set with cats (hehe hope to mail these off soon!) and I walked around for a bit just to see the area. I noticed there were a lot of drugstores/beauty stores (like they sell beauty products). I realized once again how the Japanese are very concerned with looking great despite working so hard. Sugoi.
I cooked myself dinner, and then I ended up downloading some series/movies to watch. I restarted watching Massu’s drama from before (Resident~) and I have to say, it helps that I’ve been in Japan for 1 1/2 months! I could understand some of the stuff they were saying without having to look at the subs. I mean, I got subs, but.. Of course I wanted to see it for myself if I could understand the whole thing. Hehe. So happy I did! Not all, but at least some.
I ended up sleeping really late though.. But I did my homework too! I made sure that even if I was watching all these stuff I had to do the important stuff too. Can’t slack off. I’m too concerned about school too to be slacking off too much. Wew~
Today though, I can’t watch too much T^T huhu. I have to do a presentation tomorrow for Japanese class! @__@ I don’t understand though why the sensei only announced TODAY that some people have to do a presentation tomorrow. And yes, I’m one of the people presenting tomorrow. I really want to do well, though, so.. I’m gonna have to devote quite some time preparing for it.
Also, the weather today was just moody! :( It was sunny and wonderful in the morning, but after lunch it got all gloomy and rainy. I guess sometimes the weather can’t really be predicted, even in Japan. Back in my home country you couldn’t really rely too much on the weather forecasts. So far the forecasts here have been pretty accurate, but I guess sometimes Mother Nature is truly unpredictable.
My sociology of marriage and family class was also interesting. The topic today was on dating/courting and there really was a discussion going on in class cause people were giving their thoughts and opinions about the topic. It was interesting also because these were thoughts and opinions of people from different places. This reminded me once again of why I’m happy to be here: it’s a new type of learning environment where the students are really from different contexts and backgrounds. It was fun. Hehe.
Anyway, I’ll try to update more, since more eventful things seem to be coming up. I’ll try not to be cooped up all the time watching dramas. Although I am learning from them at the same time, too! ^^ :p
5/13/2015 00:56 - たくさん雨が降ります‼︎
So.. Today was really wet. And rainy. And it's not the kind of wet and rainy that I'm used to :)) back at home when it rains, sometimes it gets really humid and warm, or just humid and cool. Today it still felt pretty dry to me AND it was still cold huhu. But I think I'm getting used to the cold here.
Classes today were okay, some interesting, some not-so-interesting but.. Not extremely and deathly boring, no. Seems like the pace of school is picking up.
I met up with my Japanese buddy. We usually meet every Tuesdays before our 5th period classes :) im really glad I get to talk to her and I get to know her more. I'm glad she's so patient with me too! Haha. I'm trying to speak in Japanese but.. I'm not trying hard enough. I still tend to shift back to english because I get really scared to speak. I shouldn't be though... I'll be bound to make mistakes if I don't start consistently talking. Haha. But I thank God that He gave me such a patient buddy. She's really cute and pretty too! Haha. Not that that's what matters but I'm just really happy we get to talk every week. :)
After class I had dinner in one of the cafeterias with the group of people I usually hang out with. After dinner the rain was just... Pouring. Man. Even though I live in campus the rain was just so.. Annoying. And troublesome. めんどくさいです!!
I got to talk to my parents for a bit. :) and then... I watched a lot of Japanese videos. I think I'm still in vacation mode, when I should start picking up some books and doing some reading. I think I just really miss having a consistent break of sorts. Before coming here to Japan my classes just ended back home in the Philippines. The week-long break I had before arriving here was spent just packing and preparing for this student exchange so XD haha. But I will do my best in my studies, definitely. たしかに!
Watching Japanese videos really made me happy though. I watched a variety show special that featured Johnny's and comedians. HAHA of course NEWS was there, and my ichiban Massu. <3 haha. It was funny. And I was learning Japanese!! Im glad I got to survive the whole show with subs, actually! Before I'd just give up because it was frustrating I couldn't get much but I just realize now I watched it without any subtitles. Uwaa. 嬉しい ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ
I should get some rest though. I only have one class tomorrow, but I plan to pay bills and do homework! よし‼︎ 頑張ります‼︎
05/10/2015 22:33 - Mother’s day and church
Today was a good day. And it’s Mama’s day! I sent my mom a card from here last week, so hopefully my mom gets the card soon.
Waking up today was a bit of struggle after coming from Kobe the previous day. But I really wanted to go to church in the morning! So.. I was a little late to church but I’m glad I went!
I saw one friend from Ateneo (who was with his family) and I saw some CFC couples who are here on mission trip in Japan! My Atenean friend saw me after I took communion and he had a surprised look on his face haha. We chatted a bit after the mass (told him I was in Osaka for JTA, etc.) and I got to talk to his mom/family too. It’s nice to see people you know in a different country!
I got to take photos with the CFC couples who were in the church, also. It’s nice to see and meet them too. It felt a bit like home, which I do miss from time to time. They asked about how I was, I asked about how they were, and they want to meet up again tomorrow for dinner. Hopefully I finish my homework + all the cleaning so I can meet up. Huhu. School work. HAHA
After church I went around Umeda and I saw some cool stuff that I wanted to get. I saw a dish drying rack that could fit on my tiny counter but I decided against getting it because more stuff = more things to clean.. and I’m surviving okay with the drying set up I have now. I saw a bunch of other nice things to buy, too, but I decided to splurge on cleaning supplies! I went all out in Daiso and I had bought a bunch of stuff for cleaning (brushes, etc.) so I’m happy :3 although I need to buy a few more things in the supermarket like cleaners and etc.
After that I went to another church (like Protestant) and I attended their afternoon service, youth service and their girls only fellowship session. It was nice meeting different people and somehow growing in faith together. The messages for today were really powerful, but in the sense that the things shared today were things I already knew.. But it’s great to always reflect back on them and to really write them down and keep them personal. The general message I got today was to really trust in God’s plan and to keep a big vision in mind. And to always remember that God is always, always, with me/us. It’s all in always seeing God in the little things, too.
After the fellowship group we ate dinner out with other people from church. I commuted back to the dorm area with one girl I met from church and we bumped into another friend of mine who lives in my dorm. It was fun talking on the way home. :)
I didn’t write a lot of details today.. But it was great. :) Hoping tomorrow will be great, too!
05/09/2015 21:47 - Kobe!
We went to Kobe today!! Today was so wonderful huhu THANK U LORD!!!!
The day started out pretty rainy, actually. Was kind of worried it would dampen the day, but it didn’t! The day wasn’t on to a very great start (our group left way later than we had planned because of some delays and confusion) but after getting to Kobe the day was just simply wonderful.
We arrived in Kobe around 10:30, and the plan for the day was to go to the Kobe ropeway/Herb gardens, get some Kobe beef and go to the sake breweries. The walk from the station to the Ropeway was around 15-20 minutes, and even though I had breakfast I was extremely hungry by the time we got to the area near the Ropeway entrance. There was a mall right beside the Ropeway entrance, so I asked the others if we could eat first.
The mall hardly had any people, which sort of surprised us. I personally like it when there are a lot of people around an area because the people can somehow cue you to where the good places are for eating. But since there were hardly any people in general.. We had to go around and discover for ourselves. And I honestly wanted to eat in a good place.. And we did get to eat a good place! The prices seemed reasonable and the food displays outside the restaurant seemed promising.
I got 牛肉うどん (Beef Udon) and.... IT WAS THE BEST (beef) UDON I’VE HAD SO FAR. I’ve had udon in other places in Japan, and while they weren’t bland.. They just weren’t anything so great. Like.. It was just fat, big noodles. Perhaps my hunger may have “boosted” the taste of the udon (haha) but even my friends who ordered the same thing said the udon was great. The udon was cooked so well (like the noodles were so tasty and great) and the broth had just an amazing subtle beef flavor. Huhu. I was so happy. I got some inari zushi with it too.
^where we ate the extremely reasonable-priced awesome-tastic udon HAHA
So after eating, we went to the Ropeway entrance!
The cable car trip was simply.. Breathtaking. We were going up so high which was a little scary but the views were so beautiful you would probably forget about your fear of heights. Here are some photos.. But seriously the photos do not give justice to the beauty of the view. And since it was still a little rainy, there was a fog so the photos aren’t that clear.
The top of the ropeway featured lots of gardens and herbs, and the theme/motif of the place was very.. European. Haha! One of my German friends was all like “this is like Germany! What is this! I came here to Japan for Japan!” haha. Well something to that effect. What was amazing was that you could see the city of Kobe from the top too.
^ see the Europe theme? haha!
Shops were selling sausages, beer, tea (lots of herbs and fresh tea leaves and flowers!) and all sorts of souvenirs. Some would sell like certain flavored calpis drinks or ice cream. I had “rose soft cream” and it was amazing! I can’t really describe the taste. It tasted like rose.. but it was sweet.
^lol them bug eating plants haha
We went around the various gardens. Here are some photos.. But there were lots to discover in the area! You can even hike down if you want, but we decided to take the cable car to get back down.
By the time we got back down we were all debating whether we should go to the breweries, because they close pretty early. We weren’t sure if we could make it and we didn’t know what to expect.. So we decided to rest at a shrine and then find some good Kobe beef to eat.
We ended up resting in a shrine while others looked up for good places to eat. We went off to this area where the good Kobe beef restaurant was (some of my friends decided on this particular restaurant since the prices weren’t so expensive) but when we got to the area we had some trouble finding the place.
While the others were looking for a place to eat, my other friend and I looked around a nearby restaurant just to.. look around. We stopped in front of this place and looked at the menu when one of the employees came out and approached us. He told us in broken english that they had Kobe beef at a reasonable price and that we cook it ourselves! The prices he showed us were cheaper than the prices at the other place my other friends suggested, so we called them out to come over.
My friends liked the idea of having to cook the meat on their own and they most especially liked the prices too. I was a little nervous, to be honest, if we were really gonna get Kobe beef.. But the employee was really so nice to us too. So we went for it!
All 9 of us were ushered into a sort of special area below the restaurant where the area was more intimate and exclusive, since I think the employee figured we would make a lot of noise too since there were a lot of us. It was nice that the employee suggested we eat there instead.
The beef was really good. Honestly I am no beef/steak connoisseur so I couldn’t tell if it really was Kobe beef or what but the beef was really so good. It was tender and flavorful.. It was good. Really good. We also enjoyed cooking the beef ourselves! We ordered some vegetables to grill too.
After eating, some of us decided to head back home and on the way back to the station there were a lot of bars, pubs and restaurants. A lot of them offered Kobe beef but we all had our fill and we had spent enough HAHA we passed by a Lawson though and I got some みっくちゅじゅーちゅ (Mikkuchu jyuuchu; Mixed juice) and a cream roll. I didn’t take a photo of the cream roll BUT IT WAS SO GOOD huhu the cream was light and soft, it wasn’t too sweet and it melted in your mouth. I halved it with my friend and she agreed it was great. I’m tempted to buy again. Haha!
Today was a really great day. I am pretty tired but I really enjoyed Kobe. We plan to come back again (the commute to Kobe from where we are in Osaka isn’t too expensive!) and I’m pretty certain I’ll enjoy the rest of what Kobe has to offer. Until then! Haha
Oh btw, the streets of Kobe have all sorts of sculptures and statues around. Pretty interesting. Haha!
^I like their streets. Haha! The lamps, decor, flowers, etc.
05/08/2015 11:57 - bathroom blues, dandelions and other things
GAAAAH. HAHAHAHAHA
Yes, I say “GAH” because since yesterday night I’ve been bothered by having to clean my dorm bathroom. I’m really blessed and lucky to have my own bathroom, but the downside is that I’m also responsible for cleaning and maintaining it. But it’s just.. Crazy.
Kindly check this link out (not mine!) to see what I mean. The way she describes the plumbing/drainage in my bathroom is similar.
http://sopheliajapan.blogspot.jp/2012/06/apartment-living.html#.VUyBCNxRehM
The outside drain of my bathroom has been smelling a *little* funky, so I worry it’s because there might be some gunk in it. I really don’t understand why the plumbing/drainage is like this here in Japan. For a country that has a lot of innovative and convenient things.. This type of drainage and plumbing has got me stumped.
Here’s a photo of my bathroom for reference. The outside drain is the one right below the sink
Just to be clear: I CLEAN REGULARLY. Like I am a neat freak, to some extent. I like scrubbing things really clean and I clean as I go along the stuff I do in my dorm room everyday. If not everyday, at least 85% of the time. The only thing I’ve been a little afraid to touch and clean has been that drain because I really don’t know how to go about it.
So a while ago I’ve cleaned a bit of the bathroom, scrubbed some areas (especially around that drain) and the smell has been a little better.. But I still haven’t fully “discovered” and cleaned out that drain. I bought some pipe cleaner (The Pipeman brand! From Lion) and I tried it out on my kitchen sink and so far things are okay. I plan to ask the admin people of my dorm though on how I can clean that freaking bathroom drain. Just want to make sure I don’t make any mistakes. Really tempted to try out the pipe cleaner on that bathroom drain though.. Although I still need to buy more cleaning brushes and more gloves. Haha!
AMONG OTHER THINGS THO
Here’s a photo of an adorable cat in campus. HE’S SO CHUBBY HUHU (it’s not obvious in the photo tho) and he was so chill. It’s like he just knew he was cute. I’ve seen another cat on campus.. But it seems like there’s only these two cats on campus. Unlike in my home university, where there are tons of cats all around...
Here was also my lunch today! It was ネギトロ丼 (Negitoro don; minced tuna bowl) and it was good.
Also, I blew a dandelion today!!! <3 haha
There are no dandelions from where I’m from, as far as I know. So I blew one today haha there are a whole lot scattered around campus. This particular one was found right outside the building of my dorm.
Well... Gonna go to Kobe tomorrow/in a few hours, so I better get some rest. I really hope my drain problem gets better. Huhu. :( Still pretty thankful for a lot of things despite the cleaning worries I have haha!
05/07/15 11:15 Toyonaka campus
05/07/2015 11:09 Sitting at a small park-ish area in the Toyonaka campus. The wind is cool and the sun is out, I don't want to stay cooped up indoors :)
05/06/2015
My first post! LOL
I just wanted to share some photos of my stay in here in Japan!
This is pretty much a ramble though. Will definitely make more decent posts in the future! :)
I went to a garage sale/flea market/tiangge in Bampakukinen koen. I got sunburnt HAHA It was pretty crazy but people were selling all sorts of things! I had fun though.
There’s picture of a Totoro stainless steel tumbler I got for just 1,200 yen. It was brand new! And the dude selling it had all sorts of cute tumblers. And lunchboxes. Huhu. I decided to give it to one of my new friends here, though, as an early birthday gift. I kind of want to keep it.. But I’m happy to give it away to someone else too. I might go to the next flea market soon, so hopefully that dude will still be around!
There’s also a picture of McDonald’s food! They apparently have Sakura fries now–if you can see there’s powder over there. Haha! It was pretty interesting! I can’t seem to describe the taste. I think there was nori in it.. I dunno. It just tasted like Japan. Very Japanese. I got the cheeseburger from their 100yen menu. The fries was actually more expensive than the burger! Haha. But it was worth trying anyway.
And last! A picture of my desk. well it doesn’t showcase everything on my desk but this photo shows pretty much what you can usually find on it. There’re some post cards I also got from the flea market (I wish I had bought more to give away also!) that I hung up so that my room can have a little more color. You can also see my NEWS calendar in the background that I had bought in the NEWS White 2015 Tour goods selling here in Osaka. I’m hoping I get to go to their concert in Tokyo!!
I’ve been here since April 1st, and classes have started since April 9. I’ve been a here a little over a month, but I’ll try to update what’s here and what I’m experiencing more often. It’d be a waste not to share :)
