our spring 🌸

こんにちは！ 私の名前はミシェルです。日本に留学するの経験について書きます。 Disclaimer: All photos posted are mine. Do not repost without permission.

[our-springdays]

may 27: 江ノ島

We decided to make a day-trip to Enoshima!! After seeing photos after my RA visited, I knew I had to see it for myself too!

If you like being near water, I think you will love Enoshima. We bought the eno=pass for 1,970 yen and it includes almost all the attractions on the island, along with transportation from Shinjuku station. It was definitely worth the price and I highly recommend you to get it if you plan on making a trip to Enoshima! Make sure you wake up early, because the train ride from Shinjuku to Enoshima is around 1.5 hour and a lot of things close around 5pm on the island!

Once we got to Enoshima, I got ramune ice-cream!!  It was 380 yen for the waffle cone! I was so happy to get it because I missed out on the ramune ice-cream from the Osaka aquarium last time. It was honestly soooo good!!! I wish we had ramune ice-cream in America.

This is Escar, which is essentially going to be your best friend for the day. It is an extremely long escalator throughout the entire island. If you get the eno=pass, you can ride it for free!! If you don’t have the pass, you have to pay each time you want to take the escalator. Honestly, you don’t want to climb all those stairs when you’ve just started your day. Unless, you want an extremely good work out, I don’t recommend it. Especially when it’s super hot, you’re going to sweat like crazy.

This is the map of the entire island! Honestly, we didn’t use this. We just wandered everywhere we could, made sure we hit every spot we wanted to see and ate everything we wanted to eat.

Another unintentional couple photo of the many that I have taken, but this time, they have a turtle following them! I thought that the turtle was cute.

Not going to lie, that turtle actually moved pretty fast. I was surprised it came out of the water to take a walk.

I usually don’t like having people in my photos when I’m trying to capture scenery, but I thought this couple really completed the photo.

We stopped by Samuel Cocking Garden and it was beautifully filled with flowers in bloom. By this time, you probably know I’m in love with flowers. But I love roses! It’s probably my favorite type of flower, so I was super excited. You can also visit Enoshima during winter too! They have illuminations at this garden during the wintertime. I definitely would love to come back here during the winter to see it!

This is the Enoshima Sea Candle. It is an observatory deck, so we decided to go up! We thought about watching the sunset here, but because there are beaches in Enoshima, we didn’t want to limit ourselves. We could also watch the sunset on the beach.

This is from atop the observatory. Breathtaking views. My photo doesn’t do the view justice. I love the water (even though I can’t swim) & I love the feeling of the wind hitting against my face. If it wasn’t so foggy today, we would have been able to see Mount Fuji in the distance!

One of the most popular things to eat at Enoshima is たこせんべい (Tako senbei)! It’s essentially a very thin octopus cracker (?); it’s not really a cracker because it’s as thin as a sheet of paper. If you don’t like fishy tastes, I don’t recommend it. I thought it was interesting and always nice to try new things! For 400 yen, you get a couple of sheets!

There is an interesting myth surrounding the formation of the island involving a dragon, and you can read that here. I was always interested in these kinds of things. It deepens your understanding and appreciation for the place you’re visiting. I hope the myth inspires you to visit Enoshima!

We had the famous しらす丼 (Shirasu don), or baby sardines over rice. I ordered the bowl that was 50-50 with baby shrimp and It was 1,030 yen. I definitely poured too much soy sauce into my bowl, so it was too salty. Once again, if you don’t like fishy taste things, you won’t like this. While we were eating, there was actually a gigantic tarantula-looking creature that appeared in the restaurant. One of the workers calmly let the creature crawl onto his arm before he flung it out into the mountains. Everyone was watching him perform that act and when he realized everyone was watching, he bowed and said Sorry. To this day, I’m still shocked at how calm he was.

The water in Enoshima is so clean and clear!! You can see the moss underneath. It actually looked pretty deep too.

Sharing the beauty of Enoshima with you from Chigogafuchi. It was super windy, but it was picture perfect.

We visited Iwaya Caves and I got my map stamped! The caves were a little underwhelming, but since it was covered by the pass, why not make a visit?

This is 恋人のおか or Love Bell. Ring it with your significant other for everlasting years of happiness.

Love locks and ema are hung around the bell as well!

There was actually a Hello Kitty cafe on the island! If you’re interested in Hello Kitty or eating character food, you might want to check this cafe out.

Enoshima is full of cats!!! If you love cats, you’ll also love this island. There were so many stray cats. I was so tempted to pet them, but I decided not to because I had nowhere to wash my hands afterwards.

We tried to watch the sunset, but it was a bit too cloudy. Nevertheless, the color of the skies was beautiful. It was easily one of my favorite day trips made in Japan.

This is Enoshima station. I loved the architecture of it and would love to come back here another time!

We had dinner at Kua ‘Aina, which is a famous Hawaiian burger chain. After coming to Japan, I actually miss burgers. So I ordered the avocado burger for $11.28. It was so good!! They give you paper to wrap your burger so it’s not as messy when you eat. Regardless, it will fall apart near the end. Luckily there is a sink near the counter, so you can easily wash your hands!

One of the saddest things today is letting go of this train ticket. I would have loved to keep it in my scrapbook, but the ticket machine eats it up when you leave the station. So I took a photo of it!

The cutest cat who won my heart in Japan greeted me as I got back to my dorm. Gave her a few pats on the head and she started laying down and meowing. My heart was weak. I hope she’s still healthy now!

[our-springdays]

may 6: 大阪 pt 3

This is going to be the last post to our Golden Week trip before we head back to Tokyo. We decided to drop off luggage at Shin-Osaka station before heading to the Osaka Aquarium!

This is the Tempozan Ferris Wheel. I will always have a soft spot for ferris wheels. They are so peaceful and take you to new heights.

You can see the 鯉のぼり (Koinobori) from Children’s Day yesterday. Admission fee is $21.15 to the aquarium and you can use your credit card here!

There was a dolphin playing basketball here!! It was super cute!!! So glad I was able to catch it on video!

There is a little cafe where you can get ramune ice-cream in the aquarium and I really wanted to try it, but it was cash only!! Make sure you carry enough cash, friends!! Overall, the aquarium was beautiful. I definitely recommend it. I liked this one slightly more than the Shinagawa one! So if you want to go to just one aquarium, I recommend the Osaka one!!

Now that the trip has come to an end, there are definitely some life lessons that I took away from this trip.

Make sure the people you go with have the same traveling style as you. You may want to visit the same places, but the things that you want to do at those places may be very different. Consult with everyone.

Plan ahead!!!!! One of the biggest mistakes I made was not planning ahead. You should really plan places you want to visit ahead of time so you can make sure you visit the ones that you 100% want to visit.

Don’t pack the night before a trip even though it’s only a week-long trip! As you may know, I forgot my umbrella, even though I knew ahead of time that it was going to rain. I also didn’t bring enough cash with me on this trip because I assumed that I already had enough. Pack a little more cash than you normally would because Japan is still heavy on cash in places outside from Tokyo.

Don’t expect everyone to be as giving as you. There are people out there who would ask you to borrow money because they don’t have enough money on them & don’t have a working credit card. But if you ask them to borrow 200 yen, they’d say, “I don’t have much money left.” Be careful of these people and decide if you can really travel with people like that.

Finally, be more patient. I think during this trip, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the others around me. No trip is ever going to be perfect, but I’ve learned from these mistakes to improve myself.

[our-springdays]

may 5: 奈良

This is the second to last day of my golden week trip, and we spent it at Nara! I think it was about an hour train ride from our Airbnb.

I was soooooo excited to see the しか!!!! They were sooooo cute from everyone’s videos and photos that I saw on social media. I got told that despite their cute looks, they are extremely aggressive when they know you have food. 

Tell me how this shika is more photogenic than me. He’s such a good looking fellow. I want to keep him for myself.

Feeding the last 鹿せんべい to this lucky one. Thank you for taking this last one off my hands. 

You can get a big pack of senbei around the park for 150 yen! Honestly, I had such a hard time feeding them because we were feeding them in the afternoon. By noon, many of the shika were already full and start taking their afternoon naps. Many people were even throwing senbei at the shika to feed them, but got ignored. I tried feeding so many of them and got rejected after they sniffed out that it was senbei. I was so sad. I wonder if I had fed them something different, would they have tried to eat it. Also, I asked a friend to help me record a video of me & the deer bowing before I feed it. Except, she didn’t press record... My luck today was definitely negative, but that’s okay. I think maybe after 2 hours of trying to find shika in the park to eat my senbei, I was finally done. I didn’t have any aggressive encounters with them at all; you just have to be gentle. I definitely stepped on shika droppings while trying to find some to feed, so watch where you step! Also, feed them in the morning if you can. If not, you might want to go further out from the park, into the mountain region because the shika there don’t get fed as much! Don’t forget sunscreen as well because I actually got sunburned while trying to find shika to feed.

We started to visit temples in Nara after feeding the deer. I think the 2 very popular temples here are 二月堂 (Nigatsudo) and 東大寺 (Todaiji). Remember to bring your 御朱印帳 with you if you enjoy collecting the seals!

I love the countryside of Japan so much. It’s a break away from all the traditional tall buildings that I always see in New York. You can see the mountains and the extremely tall trees amongst the old temples and houses.

Another good looking fellow approached me but I was already out of senbei. It kept bowing to me too, so I felt really bad. I didn’t want to buy another pack of senbei and then struggle to feed again. Next time!!! I’ll come back to feed you again! I’m also a little curious how 鹿せんべい tastes like.. It feels like regular senbei to me, but my friend kept saying humans can’t eat it.

After what seemed a forever of a day chasing shika to feed, we dropped by 水谷茶屋 (Mizutani Chaya) for a break. I ordered warabi mochi with tea for 550 yen. It’s a nice little tea house that’s perfect for a break. When I return to Nara, I would like to visit Wakakusayama! There was an entrance fee of 150 yen, but the view looks incredible. 

[our-springdays]

may 4: 大阪 pt 2

I received a lot of support in my previous post, so I would just like to take a moment to thank you guys! I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures in Japan and stay for the ride! If this inspires you to think about studying abroad in Japan, I think I’ve done my job. :)

Second full day in Osaka starts now!

We started out our day visiting an extremely old temple, called Shitennoji (四天王寺). I believe it is one of Japan’s oldest official temples. It was founded in 593 by Prince Shotoku who tried to introduce Buddhism to Japan. When we got there, the pagoda was actually under construction. The buildings were actually so old that they looked like they were going to fall apart. It was definitely the oldest-looking temple that I saw during the entirety of my trip.

This is Tsutenkaku (通天閣) and it illuminates at night. We saw this on the train & I wanted to get a better photo of it. I love how Osaka has very vibrant colors for their storefronts. There were lots of food here, so you definitely won’t be hungry!

On our way to Osaka Castle and I met a few new friends~

So cute!!! A lot of people actually brought out their own chairs to chat with each other in the garden. Osaka Castle is actually surrounded by a very big garden, so there were many people who were picnicking on the grass. It’s really nice how so many people picnic in Japan. I wish it was more of a thing to do in NY.

This is probably my best shot of Osaka Castle! It’s kind of hard to get a clean shot because there are many tourists walking back and forth from it. Entrance fee is 600 yen if you would like to go inside the castle. When you go inside, it’s essentially a museum with artifacts and tiny exhibits that explain the history of the castle. If you aren’t interested in its history, you might be disappointed going in. But if you like seeing famous landmarks, it’s worth a visit outside at least!

We dropped by Nana’s Green Tea at Osaka Station before heading to Umeda Sky Building. I’ve had so much matcha ice cream on this trip, but no regrets. It all tastes soo good! I got the matcha soft serve with warabi mochi for $5.27. I’m not too crazy about the kinako, but I love anything that’s もちもち. :)

This is a model of what Umeda Sky Building looks like in its entirety. It’s pretty hard to capture a good photo from outside, so I’m glad I took a photo of the model! Entrance fee is about $9.21 and you can use your credit card.

After taking an extremely long elevator to the top, we reached the observatory deck! This is the night view from atop the observatory. We didn’t make it in time for the sunset, but this night view is really nice too.

The floor of the observatory looked like constellations! Even my shoes were glowing. This was also a pretty nice date spot that you may want to bring your significant other to. If you’re interested, they sell Love Locks inside the building that you can use to lock onto a fence atop the observatory.

Going back to the Airbnb now because it got a little late. Osaka Station is so big that you could probably spend half a day here at least. It’s connected to Grand Front Osaka where there are a ton of stores! I wish I had more time to take a look, but perhaps the next time I visit Osaka, I will take my time walking!

[our-springdays]

may 3: 大阪 pt 1

Today was my first full day of exploring Osaka! Ranked as the 3rd safest city in the world, I was excited to explore more of the western part of Japan.

I think many of us have seen Rikuro’s Cheesecake on social media. It is only available at Osaka! One cake is 695 yen. There are raisins on the bottom which adds a little sweet touch to it. This cake is not dense and cheesy like cheesecakes in New York. It is very fluffy and tasted more eggy than cheesy. If you want something light, I highly recommend this cake! I wish they brought over Rikuro’s to New York. I miss eating this. 

Because we haven’t had enough cheesecake.. we decided to go to Pablo to get some cheese tarts. I got the matcha cheese tart set that came with a side of vanilla ice-cream. This was 930 yen. I thought this cheese tart was too sweet for my liking. I liked Rikuro’s cheesecake a lot more. I should have tried the original cheese tart from Pablo, but I’ll try that next time!

Dotonbori is probably most famous for the Glico Man and...

Takoyaki! There were so many takoyaki shops that we weren’t sure which one to get. So we decided to go to the shop that had the longest line. The takoyaki shop that we went to was frequented by many celebrities. It was 500 yen for 10 pieces. We got it with the takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

We somehow ended up in Takashimaya and saw a huge Yuzuru Hanyu display! There was an exhibition inside the mall and it was free. Second time in a row figure skating Olympic champion, a Waseda University student, and shares love for Winnie the Pooh? Of course, we had to go in! No photography was allowed inside the exhibit, so I took some photos of the endorsements outside of the exhibit to share with you. He has definitely won the hearts of many in this world.

We decided to walk around Shinsaibashi to buy some souvenirs.

I was walking by and they caught my eye. BTS really is everywhere!

Dropped by the Disney Store to see if there were any Osaka-exclusive items. Makes me happy just being around Disney things!

We had dinner at Sakae Sushi. You write on a notepad the type of sushi that you want and give it to the chef. It’s made fresh on the spot in front of your eyes. You can use your credit card here! For those 8 pieces, the total came to $10.83. Honestly, I could have eaten more, but I was feeling satisfied. It was so good! I love salmon so much!! I miss cheap sushi from Japan.

Ending this post with the night view of Dotonbori. :) There’s a big Don Quijote ferris wheel on the side. I think it would be a cute date spot at night! That’s all for this post. I hope you enjoyed my first full day in Osaka!

[our-springdays]

may 2: 京都 pt 4

This is our last day in Kyoto before we move onto Osaka. Since we ran out of time during the other days to visit 金閣寺 (Kinkakuji), we decided to visit before we left for Osaka.

It was so shiny!! I think this is one of the temples that you cannot miss if you were to visit Kyoto.

We went to grab 定食 for lunch before we prepare to leave for Osaka. And it was pouring!! Guess who forgot to pack her umbrella because she packed last minute for this trip? Note to self, please don’t pack the night before and think it will be okay. I had to drop by Lawson to buy an umbrella! But the 定食 was sooo delicious and it was only 900 yen! I love katsu so much. I’m going to miss the good katsu in Japan!!

We just dropped by a temple that was near our Airbnb to kill some time. They made us take off our shoes before walking inside this temple. There was also no entrance fee!

After struggling to find our Osaka airbnb in the rain, we made it! It’s very tricky to find addresses in Japan. Sometimes Google Maps leads us to an alleyway and we don’t see a proper entrance. It was almost 9pm when we arrived, so we quickly went downstairs to the Chinese restaurant nearby. This was 1,120 yen. It probably wasn’t the best food that I ate while I was in Japan, but at least it was warm food to keep my stomach full for the rest of the night.

[our-springdays]

may 1: 京都 pt 3

We spent our third day in Kyoto at Arashiyama! We actually paid for kimono rental for the day because we wanted to experience wearing it while in Japan.

After getting off a bus from Kyoto Station, we arrived at 渡月橋 (Togetsukyou). The bus ride was about 1 hour and there was a flat rate of 230 yen.

Hello, it’s me! :) Honestly, I’m not too comfortable showing my face on this blog, but I wanted to show you the bridge and my kimono! It got super hot in the kimono throughout the day. I also don’t recommend walking long distance while wearing kimono with geta. For the rest of the day, my feet were in pain because we walked a lot and my geta kept slipping off. After this kimono rental experience, I was able to know how hard it must be for Japanese people to wear kimono!! 

This is 天龍寺 (Tenryuji). We paid for entrance to the temple and garden for 800 yen. While my friends were helping me take this photo, a lot of visitors who walked by were taking photos of me. It made me a little uncomfortable at first, but I decided to just smile for their camera. I think if you don’t like strangers taking photos of you, you might want to avoid kimono rental. But if you don’t really care, please give kimono rental a try!

Best known for their Bamboo Forest... I think we went into the wrong when we went. But we still managed to see a bamboo forest. It’s fine though, because next time, I can wear more comfortable clothing and go see the monkeys when I’m not so much on a time crunch.

We walked soooo much and visited 大覚寺 (Daikakuji) and 祇王寺 (Giouji). There was a combination entrance fee for 800 yen.

Dogs of Japan :) This fella looked really happy so I had to take a photo.

After a long day visiting a bunch of temples and struggling to walk in geta, we were taking the JR back to Kyoto Station!

We went to KYOTO SANDO for dinner and decided on Mexican food. This was from Roti Chicken & Jackie Tacos. I went with the Roti chicken over rice for $6.74. We wanted to take a little break from Japanese food.

For dessert, I dropped by nicotto & mam for donuts that I could share with my friends. The one on the right was Maple. The one on the left was Matcha Milk I think (I forgot! Sorry!!). Honestly, they weren’t bad!! They weren’t soggy at all but they were really sweet. The total came to $3.67. Feel free to use your credit card here! You don’t need to spend a minimum amount.

[our-springdays]

april 30: 京都 pt 2

The first place we wanted to visit for our first full day in Kyoto was 伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi inari taisha). It is probably the number one tourist spot that everyone goes to when they visit Kyoto. I wanted to see the thousands of really tall torii, so I was excited to go.

I took this photo when we got off the JR to document our journey. Don’t forget to bring your 朱印帳 with you to Kyoto because there are a lot of temples!

This is the entrance to the temple. Let’s go in~!

This is the 手水 where you purify yourself before going further into the shrine. Pick up the ladle with your right hand and fill it up with the water that is running through the bamboo above. (I see a lot of people just scoop water, so that is probably okay as well.) Rinse your left hand with it, switch the ladle into your left hand, and then rinse your right hand. With the remaining water, pour some into your left hand and use it to rinse your mouth. Don’t swallow the water and don’t put the ladle to your mouth. Rinse your left hand again. Lastly, stand your ladle up so the water purifies the handle. Return the ladle with the face down like how you found it. There are instructions in English at the shrine (as you can see in the photo) and Youtube videos on how to purify yourself before you head in as well, so check them out if you’re interested!

You can also hike at Fushimi Inari, but due to time constraints, we chose not to. Next time I visit Kyoto, I want to try hiking it! There are also a lot of souvenir shops around the area, so please check them out and buy souvenirs for your friends, family, and yourself!! I recommend trying 八つ橋 (Yatsuhashi) if you like sweets!! It was soo good and the auntie at the shop was extremely nice. She let us sample a bunch of flavors. I ended up buying a box for 750 yen. Highly recommend it!!

We went to 清水寺 (Kiyomizudera) afterwards! Entrance fee is 400 yen. I hope you can see the temple on the right side. On the far left, you can see Kyoto Tower if you squint! I think Kyomizudera was actually under construction at the time. I would love to come back here during the spring when the sakura are in bloom or maybe even winter when it snows!

We got ざるそば for lunch and it was 700 yen. Honestly, it tasted soo good even though it’s just soba with dipping sauce. We inhaled this pretty quickly and it was satisfying. However, we got realllly hungry a few hours later.

I thought this was really cute. If you’re able to walk from one love stone to the other with your eyes closed, your love would be realized. I saw some girls walking with their eyes closed when I was there. Whoever you are, I hope your love gets realized one day! :)

One day, I’d like to fill out an Ema! Maybe when I’m not on a tight budget and time crunch.

Our last location for the day was 二条城 (Nijo Castle). Entry fee is 600 yen and there was also a mini museum within the castle for 100 yen. It is a World Heritage Site, so you will learn a lot about its history and its formation.

On our way back to Kyoto Garden, we saw this along the way. The stepping stones that we all see in movies and anime. This might sound a little silly to some, but we actually went down to walk on those stones because we wanted to live the moment. Beware because there were a lot of mosquitoes!

Golden Hour in Kyoto Garden. No filter is even needed for this beauty. I haven’t found anywhere as picturesque as this in New York.

I’m going to end this post with night views of 鴨川 (Kamo River). I was so so so lucky to hear Aki Miyoshi’s guitar playing when I was there. The piece he was playing was so peaceful and calming. Everyone was kind of rushing to dinner so I was a little sad I couldn’t have stayed longer to listen to his music. I wanted to buy his CD too, but with a tight budget, I wasn’t able to. You can listen to Aki Miyoshi’s guitar pieces on Youtube or his Facebook page!! Next time, I really want to take my time to listen to him play and perhaps ask him what piece he was playing in the video I recorded. Hopefully, he will still be doing live shows when I visit Kansai again! If you’re interested, you can listen to Warm Ice here. :)

[our-springdays]

april 29: 京都 pt 1

April 29 marks the start of ゴールデンウィーク (Golden Week) in Japan! There is no class for a whole week because there are 4 national holidays during the week (Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day, and Children's Day) and many offices tend to be closed as well. That means there are going to be a lot of people traveling during this time period.

About a week ago, a group of friends and I visited Waseda’s Co-Op Store to purchase Shinkansen tickets to go to Kansai. There is 学割 (Gakuwari) or student discount for these tickets. Since you’re going to be on a Student VISA to Japan, you’re not going to be eligible for JR Pass. You can get the 学割 printed at a machine in Building 14, 25, or 7. Bring those with you to the Co-Op Store; you will need to print 2 copies because one copy is only for one-way. So when you go to the Co-Op Store, you fill out a form with where you want to go and use a timetable book to find times for when you want your tickets for. A really nice lady at the store was assisting us after seeing us struggle for a long time. It would be very helpful if you or a friend knew a little Japanese so you can communicate with the people there. I’m not too sure if they knew much English because we mainly spoke in Japanese. The form that you need to fill out is also in Japanese, so it would help a lot if you knew a little of the language (or Google Translate might help). If not, I am sure the people at the Co-Op Store may know minimal English to help you get by since Waseda has a lot of foreign students. We bought a one-way ticket on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and then another one-way ticket from Osaka back to Tokyo. The total came out to $233.35 inclusive of base fare, shinkansen fare, and seat reservation fee. (If you are just a tourist, the JR Pass makes your trip a lot cheaper! But take note that you can’t use JR Pass for the fastest trains - Nozomi and Mizuho. You can use it on Hikari, Kodama, & Sakura). Another side note, taking a plane might be cheaper than taking the shinkansen at one point, so you might want to check flights as well before booking!

Just moments before boarding the shinkansen to Kyoto~ We took the Fukutoshin Line from Nishi-Waseda to Shinjuku San-Chome to transfer to the Marunouchi Line to get to Tokyo Station. I think we just went with the fastest route Google Maps showed us at that time. It might be faster to actually just take the Tozai Line from Waseda Station instead. So take your pick. When you get to Tokyo Station, if I remember correctly, you first put in your base fare ticket. Remember to take the base fare ticket with you. Before you get onto the shinkansen, there’s going to be another ticket gate, & you have to put both your base fare ticket with the Shinkansen Super Express ticket. Remember to take them with you so you can get out of Kyoto Station when you arrive. Also, this is a given but leave early. You’re going to need as much wiggle room as possible in case you get lost in Tokyo Station. Make sure you have ample time to make mistakes because things happen. 

Finally on the shinkansen!! It was my first time riding the shinkansen! There was plenty of leg room (enough for me to keep my luggage in front of my legs) and the seats are super comfortable too. It runs super smoothly on the tracks that it put me to sleep after I was able to spot Mount Fuji out the window. (I took a video, but it’s hard for me to insert clips because my phone doesn’t like syncing them onto my laptop. Perhaps I’ll figure it out one day!! - Stay Tuned!) At one point, my ears felt like they were being plugged as if we were on an airplane. I think this is due to the fast speed that the train is running at, which causes a change in air pressure.

Having a bentou on the shinkansen is a classic!! I highly recommend this. Thanks to my dormy Gustavo for letting me take a picture of his food!! :) (and sorry Gustavo that I get the better angle LOL) Honestly, I slept 3 hours the night before so I didn’t have any appetite in the morning. Definitely learned my lesson to not go out the whole day the night before when I haven’t done laundry nor packed for this trip. But that is another story to tell at a different time!

We arrived at Kyoto Station!! I honestly don’t remember taking this photo, but what’s important is - WE’RE HERE!!! I think it took about 2.5 hours to get from Tokyo to Kyoto via Nozomi. Definitely got some good sleep on this train ride.

We dropped off our luggage in coin lockers at the station because it was too early for us to check into our Airbnb. In the meantime, we decided to walk around because guess who planned our week trip in this group!!! - NO ONE. We are young and like to live life on the edge. (Just kidding, maybe only slightly.) But pictured above is Kyoto Tower! There’s actually a huge food court at the foot of Kyoto Tower called Kyoto Tower Sando. We decided to check that place out a little later.

Since no one has planned anything, we thought this map would be super useful for us to pick sightseeing areas. I hope you can get some ideas too from this map if you visit Kyoto! (And hopefully, you plan ahead.) Also, know that there should be a bus ticket discount at the machines somewhere!! Since no one has done research, we only noticed it after using our IC cards around the area; I randomly peeped through a window and saw an unlimited bus pass. According to the quick search I just did, it is a 1-day bus pass that allows you to take unlimited rides on the Kyoto City Bus and Kyoto Bus. It is 600 yen for adults and is beneficial if you take the bus 3 times or more in a day. There is a flat rate for bus rides in Kyoto - 230 yen per ride. You enter through the back of the bus and exit through the front where you will then pay. This is a little different from Tokyo buses because you enter & pay at the front for Tokyo buses (which is similar to New York!)

We decided to walk to the Museum of Kyoto from Kyoto Station. I think it was over a half hour walk or maybe even longer... And when we got there, some people didn’t want to pay for admission so we didn’t go inside the actual museum part. Instead, we walked around the souvenir stores. There was a very beautiful postcard store in here for I think only 200 yen each. If you like paintings, you’ll really like the postcards. I decided to buy... ice-cream..! from 京あめとにまる, which sources their green tea from 宇治 (Uji). Probably not the best thing to eat as your first meal of the day, but I can’t reject matcha and anko. It was 380 yen for this cone! I’m going to miss cheap matcha cones when I get back to New York. This was so goood! I wish I could eat it now.

After killing some time at the shops, it was time to go back to Kyoto Station to pick up our luggage and then check into our Airbnb. We got lost trying to find it, but we eventually made it. I honestly wanted to break down onto the floor from dragging my luggage everywhere because it was so exhausting. That’s when I learned, I need to go back to the gym to train so I can become stronger!! There was this mural to our Airbnb room. Definitely cramped for 4 people because we had luggage with us. Also, the air ventilation wasn’t the best. We were able to smell smoke coming from somewhere nearby. It was a self check-in hostel type of Airbnb so there were people living upstairs. Also, to our surprise, the door to this hostel wasn’t lockable. It was lockable for your own personal room, but the door to enter into the hostel was just a sliding door. So basically anyone can come into the living room, kitchen area, and shower rooms. Honestly, that made me feel a little uneasy, but because we were in Japan, it’s a lot safer compared to New York.

There was a lot of manga (Naruto & One Piece) and very retro games in this Airbnb! The gaming systems went back to as far as the Nintendo 64! It was definitely one of my childhood gaming systems. The guys played Mario Party for a bit, and I decided to plan the itinerary for the rest of this trip. The bad thing is that the Wi-Fi wasn’t working in this Airbnb! I had to hotspot my phone data onto my laptop. After the itinerary was finished, we decided to go eat.

We passed by 京都勝牛 (Kyoto Katsugyu) the first time we were trying to find our Airbnb, so we knew we had to walk back for dinner! The line for this place was out the door and progressively got longer as we waited. We ordered the katsu set (140g) that came with rice, miso soup, & cabbage. With this set, there are 4 ways to eat your katsu: curry, wasabi soy sauce, Japanese salt, and “Worcester sauce.” Honestly, I’m not too sure about the translations they used on the menu, but they were all really good! I think my favorite one might be the curry. It is a cash only place and this set was 1,382 yen, which isn’t bad at all for wagyu beef! Also, there are unlimited rice refills!! Perfect because I barely ate anything all day. I guess I was too stressed from settling in that I didn’t even realize that I barely ate all day. But it was a really good dinner!! I remember being very sad while taking my last bite of the katsu. I’ll come back here for sure!

[our-springdays]

april 22: 文京つつじ祭り

My lovely RA, Yuka, asked me to join her for the Bunkyo Azalea Festival (文京つつじ祭り) and of course I couldn’t say no! :) The photos online made the azaleas look surreal, so I had to see it for myself. I am not sure if I already mentioned this, but Japan has so much more to offer than just sakura. There are always different flowers in bloom all year long. It’s such a beautiful country.

When we arrived, there were so many stalls being set up. The stall that caught my eye was the 金魚すくい! When I was younger, I remember always wanting to try it. You get a paper ladle that you can use to try to catch the goldfish of your choice. It’s 300 yen and the sign says even if you can’t catch any, they will still give you 2 goldfishes. I thought that was very nice of them!! Too bad I don’t have a place to take care of them, or else I would have tried it.

It isn’t a festival if there aren’t any food stalls! I wish I did a better job taking photos of the stalls, but here is 串焼き団子 (Kushiyaki Dango). There was also たこ焼き、お好み焼き、焼きそば、かき氷、and more だんご in the area! Basically enough food to keep you full till dinnertime! There were also stalls that were selling trinkets if you’re interested in those too.

As we step closer to the azalea garden, we’re able to see torii gates and a place where people can pray. Did you notice the koi in the water? :)

It is said that this azalea garden is over 300 years old with over 3,000 azalea plants. If you want to get a closer look at the azaleas, there is a 200 yen entrance fee. Definitely worth it if you already made the trip to the area!

Azalea spam! I hope you enjoy flowers and nature as much as I do!

This is 根津神社 (Nezu Shrine). It’s super crowded because of the festival, and the 御朱印 line was also super long. I decided to get おみくじ for 100 yen and received 大吉!! They actually translated the fortune into English, Korean, and Chinese too. I always wanted to test my luck to see what I would get but held back, because if I wasn’t lucky, I didn’t want to be told in fine print that I was unlucky. 笑笑 But if you get a bad fortune, you tie it at the shrine so you don’t take the bad luck with you. Take it with you if it is a good fortune. :)

Ending this post with the trail of torii from earlier. Hope you enjoyed seeing the beauty Japan has to offer during the springtime!

[our-springdays]

waseda course registration

Hello! I’m back with a more informative post regarding course registration at Waseda University.

If you’re an exchange student from Baruch, you must enroll in at least 12 credits to be a full-time student. Credit conversion from Waseda to Baruch is 1 for 1, so that means you need to enroll in at least 12 Waseda credits.

When you go to Orientation, they should give you log-in information in regards to your MyWaseda Account. That is how you will register for classes, kind of like how we register for classes on CUNYFirst. The big difference is, when a class gets over-enrolled, the system will generate a lottery in which random people will get enrolled in the class. Seats are not first come, first serve at Waseda to make it fairer for everyone. Honestly, I have the worst luck so winning the lottery was not an easy thing for me. 

Here is my first round of course registration results

As you can see, Blue means Over-enrolled and Red-Orange means you have successfully registered. When I did my first round of registrations, I made a rookie mistake. I only enrolled in classes that I 100% knew I wanted to take and gave myself no cushion in case some classes become over-enrolled. I was able to successfully register in all my School of Commerce courses but failed to register in any Japanese courses (which is required by Baruch for us to take). As you can see, I ran into 2 really big problems. One is that I am not registered for any Japanese courses (which is required by Baruch). The other one is that I am only registered for 10 credits, which is 2 short of being a full-time student at Baruch. I’ve heard horror stories from my friends where their friends got sent back to their home country because they failed to enroll in the minimum number of credits abroad. Granted that it was a different university and country, I was still scared that I would be sent back. I just thought to myself, I did not work so hard just to be sent back to my home country. By the time first round course registration results came out, the next day was the first day of class. Waseda lets you attend classes you did not officially register for during the first 3 weeks of the semester. Professors know and this happens every semester, so don’t be afraid to sit in a classroom that you have not successfully registered in.

This was my second round of registration. I added another 3 Japanese courses to make myself reach 13 credits. Once again, a mistake. This gave no cushion in case these 3 classes were over-enrolled again. What you should really do is during the first 2 rounds of registration, enroll in as many Japanese courses as you can, and then drop the ones you don’t want in the next registration period. Knowing my luck, you can already guess what happened by the time it came to the final round of registration...

All 3 of those courses were over-enrolled again! Honestly, if the Comprehensive Japanese courses fit into your schedule, you should just take those courses. It conflicted with my SOC courses, so that was why I had to keep registering for multiple 1-credit Japanese courses. So during this last round of registration, I honestly felt a little hopeless and helpless. I asked my RA and my dorm mates who have already been in Japan for a semester what I could do about it. I remember I got told, “Maybe you won’t be able to take any Japanese classes this semester.” If I were to be honest, hearing that made me feel very scared, frustrated, and helpless. “Would I get sent back home when this journey barely just started?” was what I thought to myself. But I didn’t give up. For the final round of registration, I signed up for a total of 8 Japanese courses because that was the maximum number the system would let me try to register for. At that point, I even signed up for courses that I knew that I’d probably hate myself for signing up for (ie: Making a Mini-Speech and Answering Questions 3). I just signed up for any Japanese course that had the most available seats left aka the ones barely anyone wanted to take.

This was my final schedule! So out of the 8 courses that I registered for in the last round of registration, I managed to successfully register in 4 of them. I remember being so happy that I was finally registered in some Japanese courses that I thought, even though some classes may be a little challenging, it’ll be okay in the end. Also, I am here to tell you that there is relief registration. If you can’t register for certain courses that you 100% need by the final round of registration, you should speak to someone directly in the Department for which the courses that you want to register for. No one told me that relief registration existed until after I told them how much I struggled to register for any Japanese courses. So don’t be scared. Don’t stress. You’ll be okay. If you’re having trouble registering, I’ve been there and struggled just as much as you. You’re not alone and someone can help you. Please don’t think that you’re helpless in a foreign country and have ran out of options. This is why I am here! I want to minimize the amount of stress/confusion that you may get. As always, please feel free to message me if you’re struggling. I’ll definitely help out in any way that I can.

[our-springdays]

april 15: 初めてアキバに行った

I have always heard so many interesting things about 秋葉原 (Akihabara), so I paid a visit with a few friends!

Once we got off the train, there was a Gundam Cafe! I never was a Gundam fan, but for those who are, you may be interested in this one! I think there is possibly one in Odaiba too. Just double check to see if a reservation is necessary before blindly walking into it. Plan ahead!

It's not Akihabara if there isn't a Yodobashi in it! Yodobashi is a huge electronics store in Japan. They sell products that range from cell phones, cameras, laptops and gaming systems. Akiba was been nicknamed 秋葉原電気街 (Akihabara Electric Town) because it was a major shopping area for electronic goods way back. It is also known to be “Otaku Central” because many stores sell manga, figurines, cosplay things, games, and etc of very popular anime characters. For example...

Free! I went into a store and there were maybe thousands of figurines in it. There were multiple floors as well that encompassed all “otaku things.” Notice how Haru’s figurine is just a tad more expensive than Makoto’s. I think some of the things in here may be secondhand items as well. Many of them are super well made and painted very nicely. None of the items that I saw looked awkward or cheaply made. But of course, it comes with a heavy price tag! That Haru figurine alone is 7,200 yen, which is nearly $72. Yikes! I could never imagine myself spending this much on a figurine. Only collectors will understand the extravagant pricing!

My friends led me to another store in the neighborhood. I think these are 同人誌 (Doujinshi). Basically, they are fan-made published works that may include characters from already existing anime/manga/light novels. I honestly find it incredible how fans have the talent to draw as well as the 漫画家! I censored the bottom few because I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. Let’s just say, there were some strange drawings that I saw in this store and I’m not a fan of it. After this trip, I also realized, Akiba isn't my type of place to hang out. I enjoy watching anime and reading manga from time to time, but I don't think I like them both enough to be spending a whole day here. It is a nice place to visit at least once though!

Originally, we wanted to eat at the Square Enix Cafe in Akiba!! We saw a huge line during lunch hour, so we thought people were in line waiting to eat lunch. We were wrong! People were actually in line to get reservation times of when they can actually get in to eat during the day! So instead, we got takeout from the cafe! There was no way we were going to get inside because there were at least 3 hours to kill till the next time we could enter. I ordered the ローストビーフ丼 (Roast Beef Rice Bowl) for 850 yen. I loved the packaging of this! The roast beef & veggies were actually separated from the rice. That way, by the time you get back home, your rice isn’t all soggy and drenched in the sauce! Overall the food was very good too. I realized how much I missed broccoli after having a bite. I definitely recommend this and would definitely want to try the cafe next time!

[our-springdays]

april 14: 浅草に戻る！

We decided to stop by Asakusa again to collect some 御朱印 from 浅草寺 and 浅草神社. But first, we fed our tummies with お好み焼き (Okonomiyaki) and もんじゃ焼き (Monjayaki) at 弁天 (Benten). The location was right next to a park and whenever there were strong winds, all the soil/dust was blown into us as we waited on line. I recommend wearing a mask around Japan because there is a lot of fine dust here compared to back home. There was also a pretty long line for this place because there is not much seating inside.

Okonomiyaki is a pan-fried savory pancake that is topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and 鰹節 (Katsuobushi aka bonito flakes). Monjayaki is very similar to okonomiyaki, but it is goopier and もちもち. The two things that we ordered were カレーチーズ天 (850 yen) and もち明太子もんじゃ (1,200 yen).

When you make okonomiyaki, you mix the batter and ingredients inside the bowl. Once you finish mixing, you pour everything onto the oiled pan and wait till it’s cooked on both sides. The tricky part is when you flip it over! Make sure you use both spatulas. When you’re done, it should look like this!

I didn’t taste much cheese in this, but the okonomiyaki was really good regardless! I liked the curry flavor and it was crispy too! When you make monjayaki, you have to separate the ingredients from the batter and cook the ingredients on the pan first. When the ingredients are cooked, you make a donut shape with them to make space for the remaining batter. For the monjayaki, we were trying to be creative and make it into a heart shape. It was all good until the batter spilled out of the frame while it was cooking.. So we just decided to just mix it all up into a flat pancake. It definitely did not look appealing. After having tried both okonomiyaki and monjayaki, I would have to say that I prefer okonomiyaki a lot more. I wasn’t too big of a fan of the monjayaki because it was too mushy to me. Overall, it was a filling meal, but I think it was a little more on the pricey side compared to all the other cheaper and better meals you can get in Japan! Also, if you’re someone who doesn’t like it when food smells stick onto your hair and clothes, you might want to pass this place or go here at night before you head back because you will smell like okonomiyaki all day.

Funny story when we left the restaurant: I was trying to push the door to get out, but the door wouldn’t budge. In my head, I thought, “Oh, this must be a pull door then,” so I tried to pull the handle of the door to open it and it still wouldn’t budge. That was when I realized... it was a sliding door...! Silly me.. Anyways~ we decided to walk around Asakusa and there were so many koi!! I haven’t seen this many koi in an area until now. They were so energetic too.

I think I have accepted the fact that I’ll never be able to take a good photo of 浅草寺. There is always so many people and always super crowded! Maybe I’ll go at night one day to see if it’ll be less crowded.

This was probably my best shot because it captures Sky Tree too even though part of the temple is out of frame. The weather wasn’t the best today because the weather forecast said there was going to be a downpour late afternoon. But I figured that I should make the most of my time here!

We dropped by 浅草神社 later. It is also called 三社様 (Sanja-Sama). This shrine is to honor the 3 men who founded 浅草寺, and there is actually a festival during May in Asakusa to honor them! It is considered to be a very important cultural heritage piece because it was one of the few that were not destroyed during World War II.

We walked through a ton of little shops and restaurants as we were heading to Asakusa Station to head to Ginza. I haven’t been to Ginza yet but I heard that it’s a very fancy neighborhood so I wanted to drop by for a bit.

I am ending this post with some architecture found in Ginza~ We walked through a few malls but everything was expensive and not made for students on a budget (Literally things that cost over $100 per piece). When I start working a good paying job, I’ll come back! :)

[our-springdays]

april 13: 買い物しよう！

I end class at noon on Fridays, so I have a lot of free time into the weekend! I decided to try shopping today with a dorm mate because nothing caught my eye in Harajuku the other day. But first, I did some laundry! 

I also dropped by the Waseda Co-Op Store to purchase textbooks for my courses. The textbook for my Japanese Economy course alone was $50.61 & it is a thin book too. Waseda has a Co-Op Program where you make a payment to the Waseda Co-Op Office to receive discounts throughout Co-Op stores on campus. It includes the bookstore, cafes, travel/movie tickets and etc. If you stay for less than 1 year, you pay 3,000 yen & over 1-year students pay 15,000 yen. Before you leave Japan/graduate from Waseda, you would go back to the Co-Op Office to retrieve the down payment that you paid. So essentially, you didn’t pay the Co-Op Office anything. I think the way this program works is that Waseda uses the capital it receives from students to invest in certain things to make improvements to the school & offer those who contributed capital some benefits in return. Since I was only staying in Japan for a few months, I didn’t think that the Co-Op Program would have been much of a benefit. If I stayed in Japan for a year, I would have definitely enrolled in the program.

We decided to drop by the Shinto Shrine near Waseda because my friend wanted to receive the 御朱印 for her 朱印帳. A 朱印帳 is essentially a blank book that is used to collect 御朱印 (Shinto Shrine or Buddhist temple stamp seals) after you pray. Some shrines do not have a specific price that you must pay; they will ask you for a donation and it is usually 300 yen. Some more tourist-heavy places like Asakusa have 御朱印 for 500 yen each. This shrine near Waseda is said to be a good place to pray if you want money. I think having a 朱印帳 is definitely something pretty cool to document your shrine/temple visits while you’re in Japan because the seal stamps are a work of art. However, this can easily rack up a lot of money if you visit a lot of them at once! So I think it’s best to take it slow and enjoy as many temples/shrines as you can without spending all your money on just seal stamps.

We were walking around Shibuya to do some shopping and we had to drop by Coco’s! :) The ordering system is a little different in Japan compared to the one in New York. There is someone who goes down the line and takes your order, instead of your ordering at the counter. He will have a piece of paper and will ask you about the sweetness, ice level, boba, etc. It was so meticulous that I was surprised. Usually back at home, if we do not say anything about sweetness or ice, they just assume the default which is 100% sweetness and regular ice. Only in Japan will they take a bubble tea order so meticulously! One thing that I was disappointed with was the number of flavors available on the menu. I thought that there were be more tea flavors in Japan, but there were actually a lot less compared to New York! My favorite is Jasmine Milk Tea so I was a little sad to not see it on the menu. I just opted for the タピオカミルクティー (Tapioca Milk Tea) M Size and it was 485 yen. Even though there was no Jasmine tea, it was still good because we can’t go wrong with the basics!

After a ton of walking, it was dinner time. We decided to drop by シュマッツ ビアダイニング (SCHMATZ BEER DINING) for German food! I never had German food before, so this was a nice change. Although the restaurant was best known for beer, we did not order beer that night! I ordered ピーチジュース (Peach Juice) for 380 yen & my friend ordered the レッドベリースカッシュ (Red Berry Soda) for 500 yen. We decided to share a plate of シュマッツ・ジャーマンポテト (Fried German Potatoes) for 580 yen. For the main dish, I ordered the マッシュルームのクリーミーリゾット (Creamy Mushroom Risotto) for 1,100 yen. My friend ordered the シュニッツェル・パルミジャーナ (Schnitzel Parmigiana) for 1,380 yen. Honestly, the risotto was a little underwhelming, but the free plate of sausage and the potatoes were really good! (The juice was good too if you were wondering!) In total, I paid 2,000 yen for this meal. This was probably my most expensive meal in Japan yet. There was a lot of food, but since my main dish was kind of underwhelming, I don’t know if I would want to go back for a meal for a second time. Perhaps I would just go back for beer next time!

[our-springdays]

april 12: 原宿に戻る

On Thursdays, I finish classes for the day after 3rd period, so I decided to go out a little to try more food and maybe do some shopping!

We paid a visit to 原宿餃子樓 (Harajuku Gyoza-Rou) in Harajuku! I never really was a fan of gyoza when I was a kid, but I definitely grew to like them a lot more over time! You can get them either pan-fried or boiled. There is an option with ニンニク・ニラ (garlic & chives) or without them. You can also dip your gyoza in soy sauce or hot sauce. I went for boiled gyoza with the garlic & chives because my throat wasn’t feeling too well that day!

Highly recommend this place if you like gyoza! :) One serving has 6 pieces, and it’s 250 yen for 1 serving. Each of us got 2 servings, so after tax, the total came to 630 yen for each of us. I think this place is pretty popular because we actually had to wait to get seated, and we didn’t go during busy lunch hour either. The one thing that I do not like is open smoking inside the restaurant. Since smoking inside restaurants is acceptable in many Japanese restaurants, it’s pretty hard to avoid this. However, some restaurants do section off non-smoking from smoking areas. I also read online that Japan may try to enforce a policy that prohibits smoking inside public facilities/restaurants by 2020 due to the Olympics. I guess we’ll see if this actually happens when the Olympics rolls around!

I dropped by Kiddy Land and I enjoyed looking at the merchandise in this store... There are so many cute characters and it was very nostalgic! I took some photos of the Cardcaptor Sakura things that I saw. Cardcaptor Sakura was probably my favorite anime when I was a kid! There are other characters too in Kiddy Land that ranged from Sanrio to Disney to Studio Ghibli. I think this is the place if you want cute home decor!

Before leaving, we dropped by ザクザク (Croquant Chou ZakuZaku) because my friend said the croquant chou tasted really good. Initially, I wanted to have a crepe because there are so many crepe stores in Harajuku, but I didn’t feel like my stomach had room for an entire crepe, so I opted for this!

Apologies for the not-so-aesthetically-pleasing photo! I wanted to take this by the window of the store, but it was so crowded and everyone was also trying to take a photo there too, and I didn’t want to wait. This is the classic Croquant Chou which is 250 yen. The outside coating is made of sugared almonds and egg whites that is then baked. The inside is filled with chilled cream made from Hokkaido milk. I have to say, this was realllly yummy!! Especially because I love eating desserts! I wondered why the store name was called ZakuZaku but after biting into it, I finally understood why. The coating is so crunchy that it actually makes “zaku zaku” noises when you chew on it. Love the creativity behind this & it was delicious! There is also a soft serve ice-cream option too that you can get in either a cup or cone. I might want to try that next time!

We dropped by FamilyMart on our way back to the dorms to grab a quick “dinner.” While my friend was waiting for me, she was flipping through the magazines and saw this!

Soooooo cute!!! This was a Japanese interview in the Vivi magazine May 2018 issue. My friend knew that Tae was my favorite so she told me to snap a photo. Jimin & J-Hope were also in the magazine! If you would like to read the interviews for the 3 members, you can visit here! 

Overall, it was a fun day being able to explore Harajuku a little more. :) Can’t wait to see more of what Japan has to offer!

[our-springdays]

april 11: 一風堂

I am back with another food post! 

Today, I will be introducing 一風堂 (Ippudo). If you are from NY, I am sure that you already heard of Ippudo, since we have two stores in Manhattan. But for those who do not know what it is, it is a ramen chain that originated from Fukuoka! There is an Ippudo that is about a five-minute walk from the dorms, in the direction of Takadanobaba.

I think the top 2 popular items are 赤丸 (Akamaru) and 白丸 (Shiromaru). I ordered the 白丸 because I thought that the 赤丸 would be spicy (it’s not by the way! I had it in instant ramen form from 7-11 & it wasn’t spicy at all!!). This was 1,020 yen, which was around $10. If you get this in NYC, it is $16 before tax and tip!! So eat as much ramen as you can while you’re in Japan because it’s so much cheaper!! I also thought it was quite interesting how there was a skincare ad imprinted on the nori. Another difference between Japan’s and NY’s Ippudo is that you can pick the hardness of your noodles (硬さ) in Japan! There was also a special student discount ramen that you can order if you have your student ID~ Overall, it was a pretty good experience and worth a try if you haven’t tried Ippudo before! :) As I mentioned earlier, you can also get the instant version of the 赤丸 from 7-11 at a cheaper price point, but it will be less fresh. I think you can also use your credit card here if I have not mistaken!

[our-springdays]

april 10: どんぴしゃり

When I asked Baruchians what restaurants they recommended near campus, many of them didn’t really give me exact answers. But I have finally found the one after some time.

This is 豚丼 (Butadon) or pork belly with veggies over rice from どんぴしゃり! It is right next to the abura soba place that I mentioned in a few posts earlier. There is a big sign that has 肉 written in gold letters. The place is cash only via the ticket machine!! The photo above is the small size for 730 yen. After you eat about half of your bowl, someone will ask you if you would like to add their homemade mayonnaise sauce to it. Definitely give it a try!! I personally like it without it, but the mayonnaise is a good addition as well. This is probably my favorite restaurant near Waseda by far & I tell all my friends about it! If you’re going to be near Waseda, please give this restaurant a try!!! :) You won’t regret it!

Since I come here so often.. I got the small, regular, and big sizes before. I never got the extra-large size because the big size is more than enough!!! The photo above should be 普通 (Normal serving) for 780 yen and the photo below should be 大盛り(Big serving) for 890 yen. You can always get it as take out via the machine!! I think it is slightly cheaper by maybe 50 yen? or so if you get it as take out!