留学の生活

My life in Japan

[cleopatracoleman]

Photo by Alexander McDonnell. Styled by me. Makeup by Mugopus.

[derainjapan]

So last month I went to USJ with ones of my friends I met in Japan & it was pretty awesome!

I was a pretty hot day for May & the lines were just as long in Japan as they were in Hollywood. Since I love theme parks my sis & I got passes for Universal Studios Hollywood so it was so fun for my to get to see the Japanese version in Osaka. Most of the rides were different (& better honestly). My favorite rides had to be the Flying Dinosaur and the Evangelion ride. For the Flying Dinosaur the you sit in seats hanging from the top of the coaster and they lock your legs in then tilt you forward so it’s like you’re flying. I’ve ridden similar coasters before at Six Flags but the loops on the Flying Dinosaur were so great! The Evangelion one was on a different level though, you know the rides good when it’s line is ridiculously long compared to everywhere else. This roller coaster was one of the newer 4D coasters, so the entire ride was inside this building so you couldn’t what you were getting yourself into. But after the 2 hour wait you finally get inside the building and just the design of the line pathways were so well done, it really made you feel you were on a mission in there haha! But the ride was so cool, they gave you virtual headsets that you put on so that where ever you look around you you see the “movie” of what’s happening on the ride. The movie was basically you were in a NERV vehicle that got caught right in the middle of a fight between Unit-01 and an Angel. So as the fight causes building & roads to collapse the roller coaster dives & turns accordingly, it was so cool!

One ride that was pretty neat was the Jaws ride. The ride is like a mock-tour of Amity Island Beach so the tour guide is like a mini actor on our journey to escape from Jaws trying to eat us! It reminded me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland in a way, but much more action & less wonderfully unfunny puns.

Another things I thought was pretty funny in a way was USJ’s obsession with Sesame Street? I’m pretty sure Japan doesn’t even have a program that plays Sesame Street for children in the morning like they have in the US but at the park there were so much merchandise like T-shirts, toys, even characters ears (which I ended up buying because they were cute honestly).

Another weird thing I found out at the end of the day was that USJ doesn’t have any T-shirts that say USJ on it. All they had were ride & character shirts. So I had to buy a Harry Potter ride shirt that had Universal Studios Japan written on it in tiny letters so I didn’t have to get like a Sesame Shirt or a Jaws shirt. I found that pretty weird because I know at Disneyland/Sea they do have shirts that have the name on it. I wonder why USJ is different?

But all in all it was a great trip & I really wanna go back, but I’m saving my money to try and visit Disneyland/Sea before I leave back to America in 2 months.

[derainjapan]

While I’ve experience many things during my time studying abroad (I still got 2 months left) I think my favorite experience is visiting the many temples and shrines here in Kyoto. I find it so interesting that while there’s so many, none of them look exactly the same and all of them have such different garden and artwork displayed. The pictures above are when I went to Byodoin Temple which is featured on the 10yen coin. Gintaku-ji, a silver pavilion surround by lots of greenery and a walkway path up to the mountain. Kiyomizu-dera which is a temple situated on the side of a mountain, which means your thighs are going to burn from walking up the hill to even get to this temple, but the view of the city is worth it. I also went to Ryoan-ji which was a temple I learned about in my Asian art class a couple years back and planned on visiting when I went back to Japan, it’s dry garden is wonderfully contrasted by the lush greenery surrounding the temple (really, please try to visit here if you go to Kyoto, it’s beautiful). Then I went to see Ginkaku-ji extravagant sibling Kinkaku-ji, the golden pavilion. I’ve also been to Chion-in, which is a temple with a lot of stairs (well most of them have a lot of stairs actually).

I honestly spent so much money going inside them and getting my goshuincho (seal book) signed at all the locations! I just filled up 1 whole book and just bought a new one earlier this week. Each seal was about 200-500yen depending on the temple or shine. It might seem like a lot but all (except 1) were done right in front of my by hand by the temple or shrine calligrapher.

[derainjapan]

Out of all the Sanrio characters Cinnamoroll has always been my favorite so when my friends invited me to eat with them at the cafe up in Shijo I couldn’t say no! The whole style of the cafe was so sweet and well put together, it wasn’t over the top, it was perfect. The only bad thing was that the prices for the foods were of course on the higher side, you’re not just paying for the food but also the experience of eating in the cafe itself, which I can understand. I’m just happy that the parfait I ordered was so delicious! It was a mocha parfait with corn flakes, pieces of short cake, bananas and fudge inside~ Since I’ve come to Japan I’ve been kind of obsessed with parfaits, so I’m glad I could eat one at this cafe. I totally recommend this cafe for people interested in character cafe, there’s also a Rilakkuma cafe in the same building if you prefer that instead!

[derainjapan]

I’ve actually been to over 2 dozens shrine already in Kyoto but barely have any footage of them. So I remembered to take videos on my trip to Heian Shrine last week. It’s a huge shrine located about 15min away from my school’s campus. When entering the grounds a big difference from other shrines and temples I’ve been to is that it was really spacious. There was so much space between the buildings that I wonder if they hold festivals there.

Originally I was just going to get a goshuin for my seal book but I decided to enter the garden as well. The garden was so beautiful, one of the most beautiful I’ve seen so far. And not only was it beautiful, it was huge! There was so many little routes you could take, along the river or along the trees, but all the scenery was nice. It also featured many large ponds that hand fish and turtles living in them. One of the ponds was an iris pond!

I definitely recommend this shrine for those visiting Kyoto. Also the large torii gate in front of the shrine is a great picture spot!

[derainjapan]

Last weekend I went to the Gion area to check out temples with my friend, and we ended up going to the Kanji Museum. The Kanji Museum was so neat, it laid out the history and origins of kanji and showed how they evolved over time. They also displayed many different writing instruments and diagrams on the first floor. On the second floor was an interactive play area dedicated to children and their families. In this area kids could play at little exhibit testing their kanji knowledge while having fun!

After the museum we went to an art exhibit that I heard about from my friend I made in taiko class, it was her teacher doing the exhibit so I thought I should check it out. It was only about a 15min bike ride from my house and was located in a little exhibit hall near Gion. The exhibit was so nice, all the paintings and even the frames themselves gave off a real surreal and elite ambience. The art style reminded me of old Christian art with a twist. My favorite was the dark red painting at 2:19.

Later we went to Shijo to eat and stumbled across this other bright art exhibit! We were actually getting lost trying to find a bike parking lot that wasn’t full when we stopped in front of this exhibit. The workers inside saw us & motioned us to come in & check it out & I’m glad we did. The contrast from the previous art exhibit was off the chart. This art style made use of bright, fluorescent colors under black light. The first floor had 2 walls completely covered in paint and designs while the second floor had an interesting paint x TV exhibit. The flickering TVs on the second floor were smeared in different color paints giving each of them a different feel. I thought that it was pretty neat to use TVs as a canvas because usually TVs are the medium for art to be spread.

[derainjapan]

So this is the second part of my trip, I had booked a bus tour online a couple days before coming to Okinawa and I’m glad I did because it was such a good idea. I didn’t know I could see so much in 1 day on this island. Not to mention the scenery was so green and blue.

The first stop on the tour was a Pineapple Park! They had pineapple growing there and you could sample pineapple wine, pastries, ice cream, and eat pineapple on sticks (which was so sweet!). At the park there was also this awesome seashell exhibit that had so many different types of shells I hadn’t seen before. It was actually quite beautiful to see them all.

Next on the tour was Ryugujo Butterfly Park which was really close to the Pineapple park! We got to eat free noodles and wander through the butterfly exhibit. Although there weren’t many different kinds of species of butterfly at the park I thought it was super fun that they had set up these fake flower stands so you could hold them and take pictures without disturbing the butterflies. The butterflies were all so friendly too, they’d fly right up to you and like sit on your hand or hat.

The last part of the trip was Ocean Expo Park which is home to the Churaumi Aquarium one of the most famous aquarium’s in the world. They had this dolphin and diver show that I thought was pretty interest because instead of it just being merely for show the staff taught us a lot about the dolphin’s hearing ability and echolocation. Inside the aquarium there were a bunch of different species of fish (a stark contrast to the Kyoto Aquarium that I visited earlier). There were also many different tanks too. The biggest tank in the center of the aquarium was of course the most amazing. This tank holds 1,981,000 US gallons of water and is home to many different fish but most importantly whale sharks and giant manta rays.

On the outside of the aquarium there was also this replica Ryukuan Village but I didn’t get to take a lot of fotage of it because my phone was low on space. But the village itself was pretty large and it was sectioned up to show the different types of houses and what their interiors looked it.

[derainjapan]

So during the beginning of May I got to go on a trip to Okinawa with my friend! Unfortunately we had to take separate flights so it was kind of nerve racking to book a plane and a shuttle and like make sure I get everywhere on time but I managed somehow.

I used Peach Airlines, which has super cheap flights for domestic Japan trips and also internationally to nearby Asian countries, so my airfare was pretty decent!  

The first day of the trip was mainly me flying to Okinawa and trying to find the Airbnb, it took longer than expected cause my friend was taking a nap so she couldn’t give me proper directions to the place. But she eventually woke up after I messaged her a couple times and described the Airbnb building in better detail. After I settle down at the Airbnb we went out to Kokusai Dori, which is a street that’s filled with shops and restaurants - the perfect tourist trap. We ended up enjoying an all you can eat buffet on the street before heading back home  

The next day we walked all the way to Shuri Castle. In the grounds there were little stamp stops where you could collects stamps on your brochure and read up on the history of the castle while you do it. It was really fun, the only downside was that it took a while to walk to the castle that we didn’t have time to actually go inside. So instead  we walked around the outside (which was still beautiful and had plenty of stuff to see) and watched a Ryukuan dance performance. I took a sanshin class back at University of Hawai’i at Manoa so I was excited to see the dances that go with the music. At the end of the day we went to Mibaru Beach, the water was clear and beautiful! We spent a couple hours there taking pictures and sitting in the water and took a taxi back home.

The next day we went on a snorkeling trip with this company called SEASIR, it was so much fun! I usually am kind of scared of the ocean but I new that I had to at least try to snorkel in Okinawa because the water and reefs are so beautiful. The company provided us with everything we needed and gave a little run through on how to use the snorkel and fins. We were split into group with a guide and we swam around in the water together look down at the colorful fish. I got to see 2 sea turtles, 1 cuttlefish and a seasnake! Some other people said they saw a shark but I’m glad I didn’t because I knew I would have been out of the water for the rest of the trip! I highly recommend SEASIR to anyone thinking about diving or snorkeling in Okinawa.

[derainjapan]

That morning before going to the Kyoto Aquarium I went to an event hosted by a group on campus called SIED. They have been doing many different events on campus with international students in mind! I’ve been to their daily lunch talks, and scavenger hunts, etc. and just hanging out with the staff and the Japanese students participating is so much fun, and I’ve made so many friends through this group!

So this day a Kyogashi, special Kyoto styled sweets, even was held! We got to have the chance to take a class on how to make Kyoto traditional sweets called Kyogashi!I never knew how much concentration goes into making each of of those small desserts haha.

[derainjapan]

This past weekend I took the time to go to the Kyoto Aquarium that's literally 5min bike ride from my dorm! I also bought the year pass because it was a good deal & I know I'd want to visit again. One day ticket was about $13 but the year pass was about $30, so as long as I go 2 more times before I leave it will be worth it!

The aquarium was pretty small compared to the ones that I’ve been to but that’s because it focused more on the fish & amphibians located in Kyoto. So I think that it was pretty interesting to see the local animals. But they did have things like jellyfish, giant crabs, penguins, etc. also!

[derainjapan]

I found a really lovely path to & from school~

Today was the first day I biked to school & it took roughly about 30min to get to school, but it was kind of difficult cause there were a bunch of cross roads, some without lights so we (my friend who was showing me the way) had to just go when the case was clear. But on the way back home I decided to take one road over to bike down instead of the one right by school cause there’s too much traffic and I’m glad I did. The road I took was so nice because it was right next to the main road so there were pretty much no cars driving on it, and the lights weren’t confusing and there was really pretty trees with pink & white blossoms on the side of the road (the road was next to a kinda dried up river). Yea so tomorrow I’m going to try to take that road as well, it’ll just be kinda hard since it’s uphill but I’ll see!

[derainjapan]

My laptop is being super weird again. A couple weeks ago it stopped acknowledging my Iphone so I couldn’t upload my pictures or videos, and up until a few days ago it was like that. But then now again it’s saying that no device is connected! But I can hear the little chime from my laptop telling me that something was plugged in so it knows it’s connected but can’t read it for some reason? I’m a little upset because I wanted to make 2 videos today & upload photos but now I can’t!

[derainjapan]

Last week my friend and I went to Shijo, which is a place that’s popular for side streets with tons of shopping. We walked around and looked at shops and we came across this Owl & Bengal Cat forest! I’m so glad we decided to go in because it was so fun. Although I’m a bird lover the cat’s stole the show are were super friendly to all the guests. They would hop on me, nap in my lap, and play with my backpack straps. The Bengal Cat Forest also came with a free drink, but we had to hold on to them because the cats were super curious!

[derainjapan]

@witchy-gwyn Thank you!~

[derainjapan]

Sorry I haven’t uploaded anything for a long while, the reason is because my laptop wouldn’t let me sync my videos to it. So I just had a bunch of clips with no way of making my videos. But luckily for some reason, tonight my laptop decided to accept my videos! So this video is from the 2nd sunday of April is about the Imamiya Shrine and it’s Yasurai Festival! My group of friends and I had the privilege to get a special tour from Andrew at the shrine and also to see a tea ceremony demonstration.

[derainjapan]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-b_vuEzYGo)

2 Days ago my friends and I decided to go to the Philosopher’s Path, which is pretty much a walkway next to this river in the suburbs that’s lined with cherry blossom trees. The only problems was that pretty much none of them had bloomed yet except for one tree. I’m think I might want to try again in a couple days when they are in full bloom. Its about $2 by bus to get there so it’s not too bad.

Along the path there also many smaller temples that you can check out while you walk, I went to Honen-in Temple which was very green and peaceful. It had a big pond with fish and a Buddha statue! I need to visit more temples and shrines..

[derainjapan]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdd8sKbXyqc)

Today was a very chill day, I actually didn’t plan on doing anything. But I really wanted to watch Moana in Japanese so I tried looking up movie theaters again & found out there was one in the AEON mall near my dorm.. The other time I attempted to watch Moana I walked to a theater 45min away (no joke), this theater was literally 12min away. So I went to the AEON mall a bit early to look around because it has over 5 floors when I saw this performance going on. The dancing was really beautiful and the energy each performer gives was great. There were also many costume changes DURING the performance like the type of stuff you see in musicals, etc. It was so impressive!

Theaters in Japan are kinda different than the ones in the US. The theater I went to had assign seating, so you go to a ticket machine, pick your movie, then pick which seat you want then pay. Then around 10min before the movie starts they start lining up to get their ticket punched/read. I was lucky to have my ID with me because I got a student discount! The student ticket price was 1500円 which is pretty expensive honestly, but the theater itself and the seats and the surround sound were so much better than back home so I guess it was worth it.