Jessica’s Travel Blog

American Uni student. Studied in Kyoto Spring 2018 semester. Follow for posts about my experience and pics of My adventures 🌸

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京都　八坂の塔　界隈

kyoto yasakanoto Five-storied pagoda

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京都市東山区　Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City

Take a walk around tourist attractions from early morning.

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Life update !!!

I’ve been accepted into an ALT position in Japan through Interac! Ever since leaving Japan, all I’ve wanted was to return and it’s finally happening!!!

So be expecting a revival of this account within the next few months as I prepare to depart to Tokyo!

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28/3/19

Washington, DC

Cherry blossom season isn’t only happening in Japan, it’s also happening in DC. So over the next few weeks I’ll be spending some time in the city checking out the cherry blossoms! Today I had a date! We ate Japanese food at an Asian fusion restaurant in the city, and walked around, and then I found an ice cream stand that sells matcha soft serve! Rather than going home during rush hour, I decided to enjoy some time at a wine bar. It’s pretty but the happy hour cab isn’t really anything to write home (or tumblr) about.

Anyway I want to revive this blog because there’s a chance I’ll be heading back to japan soon as I’ve been selected as an alternate for the JET program. And if I don’t end up going, I want to document my experiences here in the city more often!

Also it’s officially one year since I shipped off to Japan.

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Osaka, Japan

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18/8/18 I landed in DC this Friday! First thing I did was grab a glass of wine from a local Virginia winery and pet my cats (and dog)! It feels great to be surrounded by family, and living in a really amazing house temporarily, but it still feels strange not being in Japan. There are definitely things I’ve missed about America. I’ve already gorged myself on beer, wine, and cheese. We had burritos the first night back, too 🙏🙏🙏 My mom treated me to a mani/pedi which I was in desperate need of, and we ate at a Vietnamese place. Now that I’ve studied abroad, I have a serious case of the travel bug. I want to eat food from all over the world and see it too. Now, however, I must focus on being home and appreciating some of the culture here, even though there are definitely some things here that I detest (not going to start naming names...)

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16/8/18 It is my last full day in Japan and I was lucky enough to spend it with the OG crew, all back together for the first time in a long time. We went to Osaka and did some of the most mundane but enjoyable things: games, food, and shopping. We went to the arcade and played some great games like a Pokémon fighting game and ate one of my favorite foods of all time, okonomiyaki, not to mention the delicious ramen we had for lunch. I did some last minute omiyage shopping and then we had cheese (egg) cake. I am so grateful to have met these wonderful people. I am so lucky to have become each of their friends. These are all truly great people through and through and I cannot sing their praises enough. I’m seriously going to miss this gang, but they will always be in my heart and I will always remember the good times we had. When we were around, good food, and a stomach on pain from laughing was never far away. I feel so blessed to have been able to come to Japan and study here. I will miss it dearly. I love this country, and although it has its faults and differences, I’ve really come to appreciate life and culture here. I hope I can return next year to teach English and become better at the language. Even if Japan is not in my future, I am happy to have had this time and experience. I have learned that life itself is an adventure, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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8/8/18-13/8/18 I feel like I should address the week-long gap between my last two posts. It’s been pretty hard having to say goodbye to friends all week, so instead of taking pictures and sightseeing, I’ve been spending time with my friends here recently. It doesn’t help that I’ve also been waking up at three in the afternoon every day! One thing my friends and I have been doing a bit to escape the Kyoto heat is going to arcades! The love live machine in the picture is my favorite. I’ve collected a bunch of cards (and spent way too much money). I’m kind of glad there isn’t one in America because I’d be broke for sure. Oh and I got a (free!!!) haircut too! Feels so much better 🙏 Anyway I leave in two days and after that, I’m wondering what this blog will become! Maybe I’ll be more conscious of the places I go and I’ll post some pictures of America. I’ll have to change my URL eventually 😂😂

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14/8/18 We went to a festival in Nara for my last full day here in Kyoto! All the lights were so pretty and the food was tasty. Those who don’t know about Nara: there are wild deer everywhere begging for food 😂 I’m really going to miss places like these when I go back to America.

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7/8/18 We went back to Nijo castle! It was very hot and only the gardens were open 😭 but this time I was able to try the cafe on the castle grounds and the matcha beer! Both were mediocre in taste although primarily for the novelty ; so you can’t be mad. Later we went to Biwa to see the fireworks , but it was so crowded that we couldn’t get a good view. And the crowds were so thick I almost passed out. We ended up going home early and watching the office 👌

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5/8/18 Yesterday we took a trip to the International Manga Museum. They didn’t really allow pics, but I snuck a shot of the huge bird they have inside the museum! She’s so pretty. They have quite the collection! I highly recommend going if you have an afternoon to kill by yourself in Kyoto. Especially if you want some Japanese practice (they have some books in English too) and love manga. After, we visited a bar called Before 9 that had craft beer. They had a lot of IPA and sours. But I managed to get ahold of this last beer which was super good. A good way to wind down after looking in the museum.

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2/8/18 We went to the “beach” (AKA Lake Biwa). The water felt sooo nice!! And it was fresh water. So happy to be able to swim with my friends too. We will return once more to see fire works later this week! Enjoy some other pics I snapped in the last few days of Aeon mall’s cool step art and a cat who is JC on a car. I’m gonna miss this place for sure...

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29/7/18 Today I hung out with my friend sansan and we had tea and lunch together! We had a great conversation and opened up to each other a lot. I look forward to seeing her again when I come back to Japan! The rest of the day was very restful and a good break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. More rest tomorrow and planning for my last two weeks. I’m starting to get super sentimental y’all!!

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28/7/18 We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) home. I highly recommend this method of travel!!! It only took us two and a half hours to get from Tokyo to Kyoto (which took us 7 hours by night bus) and the ride was great. The view was beautiful, and the first few minutes felt like a rollercoaster while you get used to the speed. There was so much legroom in the seat too! I am sad to leave the Tokyo weather behind, but it’s really nice not to have to look up every place you need to go to. I missed the familiarity. And my room. I love my room now. I have only two and a half weeks left. There are still so many places I want to go to! I hope I can see them all before I leave.

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27/7/18 It’s our last full day in Tokyo and we decided to visit the famous Shibuya Crossing. When I think of Tokyo, this is what I think of. We had fun shopping (I bought some really cute lesbian manga) and eating Korean food. Mostly we just walked around and took in the atmosphere of the big city. I think it is really impossible to do Tokyo properly in only four or five days. However, it is really expensive so it was definitely all I could afford. The weather in Tokyo is much nicer right now than in Kyoto. It was really worth it to experience one of the biggest tourist centers of the world and escape the oppressive heat.

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26/7/18 Today we went to Tokyo Disney Sea! The weather was super nice which was amazingly lucky. I had a blast! We went on lots of super cool rides and they were all completely new to me! One ride was the tower of terror, a ride we have in America, but it wasn’t Twilight Zone themed. The ride was the same though. I’m glad I was able to go to Disney while in Tokyo! My friends wanted to do Fujikyu instead, but we are literally three hours and many yen away! I think Disney Sea was the right choice!! I also ended up buying a shirt that has a rainbow on it! Love that gay memorabilia that still says “I’ve been to Tokyo Disneyland”

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25/7/18 Today we went to Harajuku, an area in Tokyo famous for its wild fashion. We didn’t see many people dressed outrageously today, probably because it’s a weekday but it was made up for in good weather! It was breezy and not that hot today! We didn’t even need to fan ourselves the whole day! After shopping a bit, and getting some novelty snacks, I dragged my friends to Baired Harajuku Taproom. It was a cute little place and the staff was so friendly! I always love the opportunity to have good beer in Japan! Later, we went to Chatty Chatty burger joint for dinner. The wait was insanely long because the place was tiny and packed, but the burger made up for it. It was really good! Tomorrow we are going to Disney Sea. Can’t wait!