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Japan: Chiba Prefecture Trip

Alright... Almost done with the Japan Adventures... After this, I can talk about my Junior fall semester and my winter break

７月３０日２０１２年

The day after I got back from Tane, I was supposed to meet up with Kenta and Michika. They both go to The University of Tokyo (commonly known as 東大/Toudai）My friend Erica introduced us over mail, and we had long planned to meet up with them in Japan.

After finding out that Tamana lives close by Yokohama, I also invited her to join us. The only problem was that, I wasn't sure what Kenta nor Michika looked like! Their FB profile pictures were kinda abstract.

We're supposed to meet outside Sakuragichuo station (桜木町駅）

Eventually we found each other!

Michika and Kenta came by car, but we decided to split the cost of gas plus entrance fees to wherever we were going.

Thanks for driving us Michika! I should note that Michika has never explored Chiba before, so I applaud the amount of preparation he had to do.

One thing you should notice from the picture above is that Japanese cars are driven on the right side. In America it's usually on the left. Because of this shift, the roads are also flipped....

But it doesn't stop there... The way people walk is also flipped around. People typically "keep Left." And you can imagine that it was pretty disorienting as somebody who always kept right.

This is the first time we're meeting each other so during the car ride, we introduced ourselves to each other and tried to get to know one another.

Michika likes to run. A lot. He was ranked #1 back in high school. (すごい！！！）. Currently he's studying Materials Science in Toudai.

Kenta used to live in Taiwan and his english is remarkable! So he speaks 3 languages fluently. Like Michika, he's also studying Materials Science. Eventually he'd like to pursue a PhD in America. Good on you Kenta. :)

The first stop was in the middle of the bridge towards Chiba.. I forgot the Japanese name (my apologies!)

Getting along so well already!

During the entire time, Michika was carrying his Ipad around. He has 4G coverage everywhere and connects to wi-fi pretty much everywhere. Japan is pretty amazing when it comes to technology... And I heard that it's really cheap around $5.00 per month with Unlimited plan. So jealous.

There wasn't much else to see so we continued on!

Summer in Japan is really something... The clouds are beautiful and the sunlight makes everything glow...

One thing I really enjoyed about Japan is how much nature is present everywhere. I rarely see that in LA, and I have to try really hard to find it in Boston.

Our destination was the famous Daibutstu (だいぶつ), a really big Buddha statue.

The Great Daibutsu! I dare you to tell me that's not breathtaking...

Using my trusty, tiny tripod, we managed to get a group picture.

6 seconds. Get ready in 6 seconds!!

The Daibutsu is on a mountain, and the view from above was also beautiful.

"うん！かんぺきだ！取りますよ” 　<-- me telling Michika that it's perfect and I'll be taking a picture.

We kept walking around and took other silly pictures as well:

Hold the tree up!

Pose for the camera! I didn't realize that Alex was being incredibly asian.

We also found this cliff...

Michika and I posing from a distance. （しないで！）

After touring the area, we headed back to the car, drove down and found a place to eat.

That bottled drink is called Calipis. It's like Yakult... Sweetened water/milk... My god it's so good!

Our food soon came, and as usually, Japanese service is amazing.

After lunch, Tamana had to leave us because she needs to catch her plane. Today was apparently her last day in summer vacation.

More scenic views from the car ride.

I forgot exactly where we went... But it was near a famous beach in Chiba. I'll look back on my facebook chat log to find out later.

The place reminded me of California more than anything, but it was still really beautiful.

We had to take a boat to reach an island across. The ride was short, but it was still a lot of fun! It reminded me of the time when I had to ride a boat back in the Philippines.

We reached the other side, walked around and then found an amusing thing to do.

There was also a rock that you could climb, so being silly, we all took turns and climbed it.

Nice one Michika.

The view at the top was yet again unbelievable.

I swear I've seen this in anime before...

After climbing the rock, Michika and I saw that you could swim across to get to the other rockbed and it wouldn't be too much effort.

We got down the rocks, went to the shoreline, got naked and swam across!

We were so BAMF

Michika and I swam back, and for a moment I was worried I was going to lose my only pair of slippers. I placed the flip-flops on my hands and made sure it wasn't going anywhere.

Alex also wanted to get across, but she didn't want to swim probably because she didn't bring an extra T-shirt.

I stayed behind so I can take a proper picture of them.

Afterwards, they tried looking for seashells or pearls? I don't remember, but it involved diving down the water

It turned out to be quite dangerous without proper equipment, so we didn't catch anything.

Still! It was lots of fun!

At this point, it was slowly getting late, and we wanted to be back to Tokyo because Michika needed to meet up with his girl friend. The trip is almost over so we were on our way back.

Chiba prefecture is really pretty!

I think I fell asleep... We were all pretty tired on the ride back, so not much was talked about.

The next thing we knew was that we were in Tokyo!

Ok... Having been in Yokohama, like a train ride away from Tokyo. I have never actually visited Tokyo. Isn't that sad? This will be my first time and I'm already more than half-way done with my Japan adventure.

My only chance to take a shot of the famous Tokyo Tower

Michika returned the car rental and we parted ways. Now it was just me, Alex, and Kenta.

So, naturally we just toured the area...

This is the first time I'm seeing this famous Tokyo crosswalk. I've seen it in the Fast and the Furious, in the Resident Evil movies as well as in animes! But now... I get to cross it. Hence the picture. ^^

For a moment we thought we were going to see a celebrity, but it seemed that people just need to get on the bus. Still, the line was quite crazy. Also! Note how considerate they are. See the stairs? They left one side empty so that people can get out and use it.

For the rest of the night, we stopped by a stationary store... No pictures unfortunately as the Japanese don't really like it when people take pictures inside the store.

For dinner, we had ramen... It seems that no matter where you get your ramen in Japan, it'll always be good.

I miss Japanese ramen.

We soon parted ways because it was getting late. After saying goodbye to Kenta, Alex and I took the JR line back to Yokohama. At this point, we were pretty comfortable getting around Japan.

I miss Japan, but man, I'm so glad I got to hang out with Kenta, Michika, Tamana, and Alex that day.

#misti.japan.2012 #MISTI #mit #japan #tokyo #chiba #daibutsu #buddha

Japan: Tane Retreat

I have a lot to blog about, but I don't think I can start unless I actually wrap up my summer adventure. Sorry guys for not finishing it up as it was an emotional final month. ^^

It's been 5 months already, I hope my picture montage will help me remember.

Also... this is picture heavy.

Without further ado...

７月２６日から７月２７日まで、

After coming back from a dangerous Mt. Fuji climb. I waited for 2 weeks before feeling adventerous again.

James Ira Winder, an MIT grad student who has done MISTI Japan every year decided to organize an MIT retreat to a small countryside town called Tane. The idea is to live the life of a country man for a couple of days, a break from living the urban lifestyle in Japan.

Around this time, I clearly remember that my bank account was around $400. I had a month left of Japan to go... and I'm supposed to survive with this money.

I remember buying the one-way Shinkansen (bullet train) ticket for $100.00. And was really questioning myself if I should be even on this retreat! And then I remembered that I wanted to experience Japan with 0 regrets, and so even if my wallet is feeling lighter, I was not about to pass this opportunity up!

Alex didn't want to come because she wanted to save money, so I was on my own. :(

By luck! I met a bunch of MIT people on the same train. Thank you Japanese promptness!

We so excited to live the country life!

Ah yes... A few people were late, and we were worried that we were offending our Japanese hosts. All we could say was ほうんとうにすみません！！(sorry)

Koharu an underclassmen from MIT who livednear the area also decided to come to the retreat! When we couldn't understand the complex sentences the Japanese people were using, Koharu nicely translated for us.

Koharu on the right after our group's biking adventure... But more on that later.

Alright... So we arrived at Tane. Each of us got a host family, and I was incredibly excited by this!

(I originally wanted a host family in Japan. Doing simple things like making Japanese dishes, conversing in Japanese, sleeping in futons, getting annoyed at circadas, etc. But my internship decided to give me a hotel instead. So I cannot actually believe that I get to experience a host-family!)

Sal, an MIT alum and also my host brother was kind enough to drive us to our host-families place. He never took a single Japanese course in MIT yet he speaks it fluently now. Talk about Osmosis.

Meet my host mother and my host-brother, Tomohiro-san!

As soon as we met up with our host family, we gave them our おみやげ(souveniers). They treated us to the best おんせん (onsen or public hot spring) I have ever seen. Unfortunately, we were all naked so I couldn't take pictures.

When we got back, we had sukiyaki for dinner. It's like a hotpot, only after grabbing the meat from the pot you use raw egg to flavor it afterwards and eat it with rice + side dishes.

Oh my god. It was delicious... My first and last sukiyaki on 2012.

For the rest of the night, I talked with my host brothers... To say the least, it was a lot of fun. We didn't talk about anything meaningful, but I remember it was very childish and amusing.

Oh yeah, that's Sal sitting beside me. ^^

When the night was over, my host mother brought us to our rooms. They specifically cleared out one area so we can sleep in our futons.

Futons! I couldn't contain my happiness at that point, and I picked the farthest bed. I was so glad that our host-family has done so much preparation for us!

That night, my host-grandpa asked if I wanted to walk early in the morning. Apparently, the grandpa always, ALWAYS walks in the morning. Since I'm trying to savor every moment with my host-family, I wasn't about to say no. I wanted to see how this place looked like that early.

And my god... it was beautiful.

Small house by a small river

Houses around the mountain with dirt road

Entered an old shrine in the vilage.

*drool*

While we're walking I saw rice fields, old irrigation systems, wild pig footprints, and maybe a bear. haha. I also heard the circadas and their beautiful song in the morning. The walk was relaxing and every moment of it, I just remember being happy where I was.

When we got back, Japanese breakfast waited for us

Miso-soup, rice, seaweed, and vegetables. I have never had vegetables for breakfast before that day.

To my surprise, the retreat is also supposed to inform us about Tane. And they wanted to inform us MIT kids through interacting with the innocence of the Tane kids.

KIDS! I love kids! I couldn't wait to play with them... REALLY.

To learn more about Tane, each Tane kid was given to a group of 3 MIT students + a Japanese native. We then had the kids tell us to draw a map of the village to best of their knowledge and for every landmark they drew, they would also tell small anecdotes about that place.

Some kids were more shy than others, and I thought that was really cute. Some were more social, and it was a lot of fun hearing their stories!

Tane turns out to be a small village with a really tiny populaton. Practically everyone knows each other, and they have such a tight community that it's quite impressive. Most families live very traditionally as teachers, farmers, and other town-related jobs.

The sad part is that Japan is slowly losing these types of communities as more people are immigrating to the urban-city, who wants to strive for a modern life. The task we had to do was brainstorm ideas about how we can sustain the unique lifestyle that Tane currently posses because we really don't want this culture of Japan to die... I mean... It's really peaceful and beautiful.

Then it was time for the long-awaited lunch! I found that architecture students from Keiko University were also joining us. I haven't met college students in Japan yet, so I was incredibly excited!

Japanese people staring at us foreigners.

After an obligatory introduction, we began our feast and had curry rice, cooked by the lovely wives of Tane.

Yosuke, Chieko, and Smith-san

Anyway, during the retreat, I also got to be reunited with my Japanese Lunch table buddy, Chieko. It turns out, we were also going to be cycling buddies!

Good to see you again! ひさしぶりですね！＾＾

Cycling? YES. Cycling. The villagers had about 20-30 bikes for us to use... For the sole purpose of cycling around Tane and enjoying the view.

Oh god... I get to ride a bike and have an anime-like experience? I was so stoked!! This retreat just keeps getting better!

Look at us, we're all so excited to cycle around Tane.

And cycle we did... (some select pictrues)

Cycling along the fields

Along the small river and tiny waterfall

Up the mountain!

A water break near a shrine!

And eventually we stopped by Ira's place.

Ira's place was an interesting story. When the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster happened last year, his Japan internship was about to be cancelled. Fortunately, he decided to come to Tane and he wondered if he could, as an architectural student, rebuild one of the dilapidated house in Tane. The owner said sure, since it was free labor, and Ira willingly rebuilt the house!

He first installed Hi Speed internet. A necessity.

Then he fixed the plumbing, lighting, and then the actual house.

It was very homey and I loved how he rebuilt the place!

Afterwards, most of us were still hungry for some adventure, so Ira was kind enough to show us around some more..

So we biked some more!

We took quite the sketchy path up. Ira was going to show us the Japanese garden maintained by a monk in Tane.

When we got there.. the place was just serene. Peaceful and calming.

Here is Tamana-san looking pensive

Koharu translated the cryptic words of the monk. It was a bit too much for us MIT students who only know 2 years of Japanese. THANKS KOHARU!

Here's the actual garden though.

The lighting and scenary was just perfect so I really wanted a picture of Ira and Tamana:

and then I told people that it's just really beautiful and they should really pose!

Afterwards, a group picture was in place. So Ira kindly took a picture for us.

We said our thanks and waved goodbye!

Afterwards, it was time to go home!

Ira also caught a preying mantis. NBD. It's his favorite insect. We let it out soon because there's no way to transport it safely back to his place.

So we went to our bikes and were off back to the meeting house.

Cycling back, I had a good conversation with Tamana. She said I was "actually pretty cool." Hearing that from a Japanese native was really heart-warming.

As we were heading back, I was thinking to myself "man. I so want to do this again! DEFINITELY. MOST DEFINITELY!!!"

I actually thought that the day was already over... but it was far from it. Because, as soon as we got back, apparently we were having a Barbeque for the foreigners!

They gathered all the villagers, bought a bunch of beer, sliced pig, ribs, octupus, etc. and prepared a grand feast.

And we kept eating until the sun set. People gave dances and presentations... I don't know how to describe it except really comforting.

He kept telling me that he'd want to go to america some day and that he'd like to speak fluent english with me the next time we meet. What a cool dude.

Some of our MIT alumni also dressed for the ocassion:

Country-side people don't really sit on chairs.

Sometime during the presentation, Chieko was freaked out by this gigantic spider. It's about the size of my hand, which is pretty big. When I put the spider in the cup, it couldn't come out so we took turns looking at it. haha.

So people gave presentations, and among them was addressing the problem of monkeys coming down and eating the farmer's plants.

Floating garden. Patent pending. right?

We had to leave early because my host-mother wanted to go to bed soon!

When we got back, our host-mother let us played with their dogs.

doggies' tounge was really wet. I don't know where that has been.

At that point in the night, I was extremely tired... I went straight to bed and was excited for the next morning.

I slept in this time, opting out of the morning walk. Once is ok for me. I wanted to enjoy my 9 hour sleep!

.... ... ....

On our final day in Tane, we were asked to evaluate our experience... and now, having experience Tane, how can we preserve this beautiful place?

We brainstormed ideas such as making Tane into a "tourist spot," inviting more foreigners to the area and giving them the same home-stay experience, or enrolling a group of urban Japanese men into a farming lifestyle that they might more prefer than a salary-man lifestyle. Then we presented our ideas to each other..

It was quite a serious discussion, but if this is not preserved, then Tane will be succumb to another urban site, and eventually we might all together lose the country-side culture of Japan.

Among the people who came to Tane was my good friend Miho's parents

I was stoked to finally meet them! Miho's mom was incredibly nice and Miho's dad didn't say much but I was really surprised by his height! With that, I officially met the entire Kitagawa family. ^^

I was sad to find out that after the brainstorming session, the retreat was finally coming to a close... sorta.

I was first taken back to Sal's former host-parent's place. They owned a hot-spring, and their house was incredibly Japanese-like.

Cat is like "who's this 外人？（gai-jin, a derogative term for a foreigner)

And then... for one finally chapter of Tane, they invited me to do a small farming session with them. All I could say was "REALLY!? :D"

So we first harvested mushrooms.

them shrooms.

And then I got to harvest Wasabi!

Aww yeah. Farming origins.

We also caught this grasshopper. But had to let it go again, because I can't possibly take it back properly to my hotel. What a beauty.

Tomohiro-san and I then proceeded to go back home in Yokohama. None of the ATMs in Tane was open for withdrawal, and I still have to buy my ticket back!

I seriously thought I was in a slumped.... I didn't want to ask for money, but at the same time, there's really no other way for me to get back. Tomohiro-san was incredibly kind to lend me 11,000 yen (~$130.00) so I can go back home.

You have to imagine how guilty I felt.... and that while we were having a perfectly engaging japanese conversation, in the bank of my mind loomed that I owe him money and that there's no guarantee that I can actually find an ATM that's open late at night.

Anyway, Tomohiro-san and I had a great conversation. He told me about his job, and the programming job he has with his Ipad App. He also treated me to dinner. My god I was in debt to this man....

Fortunately, when we got back, I found a working ATM. I had to withdraw another 11,000 yen and pay him back. CRISIS averted.

Even after that, Tomohiro-san said he'd like to hang out with me again... I can only guess that our conversation was engaging enough that he'd really like to see me again despite my embarrassing unpreparedness.

... ... ...

I got back home, and I the first thing I do is see Alex. We've been together in Japan for 2 months now and this is the first time I was away from her for more than two days.

There was a lot to tell, but I remember our conversation was short...

And since I don't have pictures of what happened next.. My memory is fuzzy after the day.

At this point my Japan adventure is almost ending.

I was first of all broke. But there was a month to go and $170.00 left...

I guess tomorrow I'll talk about how I survived the last month and the last 3 adventures I took in Japan.

(Thanks for reading... and sorry for the long post).

#misti.japan.2012 #cycling #tane #country side #japan #mit

Japan: Events before, during and after Mt. Fuji.

7月14から１５日まで。。

Alright, I took a 2 hour nap, so let's stroll memory lane some more. The weekend after Noh and Kimono wearing day, our company had a Mt. Fuji trip planned.

I looked forward to the trip the entire week! I mean, it's Mt. Fuji! Why wouldn't you? Little did I know that the adventure going to Mt.Fuji was more enjoyable than climbing Mt. Fuji.

The events that happened near the top of Mt. Fuji, were a bit scary to recall, and all I can think of is how happy I was to be alive after Mt. Fuji. XD Haha, it was a real lesson and reality's way of slapping me in the face "Yo! Wear better clothes."

Ok. Let's begin.

The day of the trip, we were to meetup in a station stop. The French interns got there first. Alex and I were late because we stopped by the Kon-bi-ni (Japanese Convenience store) for snacks and water.

Thanks for waiting dudes!

Japanese people are very punctual, so Alex and I were really sorry that we were being Americans and were late for 15 minutes.

They had cars ready for us to carpool!

Kitagawa-san (my mentor) coordinates our trip.

And we were off! I didn't take any pictures of the highway... Since there was nothing interesting.

We made a quick stop at a place called 道駅（Michi-eki or a Road Station). If you've ever done a road trip in America, this is sort of like the giant pit stops in the road where there's a giant food court, convenience stores, and bathrooms.

An awesome roadster in the Michi-eki. Alex and I called this the Batmobile...

When we arrived, there was a small "festival" happening. I think Japanese people really like doing festivals.

We bought ice creams, drinks, and snacks. Mind you that the temperature was pretty scorching. All I wanted to do was eat something sweet and cold.

Moving on!

The clouds touch the mountain top.

Before going to Fuji, we had another pit stop... I will edit this later, but right now, I don't remember where it was. All I know was that there was a flower festival happening.

Here's a macro shot of a really mature sun flower.

There were lots of really beautiful flowers in that place. I'm not a plant expert so I don't know what else to say. I did take a lot of pictures since I thought it was really just captivating.

More plants!

How can I not take a picture of this one? It reminded me so much of the Filipino hut near the beaches of the Philippine shore.

The place was just gorgeous! Can you imagine that? A mountain in your backyard.

And apparently, it was a great fishing spot too.

Fishing in such a nice place. Yes. I think I want that in my retirement plan.

#Japan #Mt. Fuji #climbing #misti.japan.2012

Japan: Noh and Kimono Wear

7月13日2012年

My apologies for completely spamming your feed with my Japan updates. But this is the only day I can really just sit down and write everything down. Plus, I've had a big breakfast so my energy is at 120%.

On Friday before our company trip to climb Mt. Fuji, our supervisors had planned a cultural event for us Japanese interns.

Watch a Noh performance, and dress up with Kimono!

These were our wonderful Noh performers.

What's Noh? An ancient theatrical art done in Japan. Very subtle, robotic movements with a lot of emotion. Here's a youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T5RqW8TWWY

It's a pretty intense art form. Since this is my first time viewing it, I was quite shocked at how different it is from modern theatrical settings.

After, they had kimonos for us to try on! This is our first time, and we had no idea how to wear them properly. Ack.

But, everyone turned out fine, and everyone looked great!

For the guys, the fan is supposed to be a place holder for the sword.

There's the sword!

IHI's 2012 Summer interns. Yes. There's an overwhelming amount of guys.

Katou-san pours beer for Alex.

Afterwards, we had a "big" drinking party. In Japan drinking parties last until 9:00pm (or at least that's what our supervisors have been doing for us).

Then more cultural things like Origami and Japanese Toys.

Folding the traditional paper cranes!

Miyazaki-san demonstrating how to play with that particular Japanese toy.

It was a great night! It was kind of a shame that I only got to wear the kimono for only 20 minutes. But I heard that the price of one is around $120.00 Ridiculously expensive! Haha...

---

Alright. I'm going to take a break. Four continuous hours of blogging is exhausting.

#Japan #kimono #misti.japan.2012 #Noh #origami

Japan: China Town

7月6日

But why China town? Why not!? America has a china town, and since China is such a big country, it's no surprise that a China town variation is also available in Japan.

This gate seems to be much more profound than the rest of the gates I've seen in Japan. Looks legit. XD

There's not much to say about the place, except that to me it felt sort of Chinese... Alex says so otherwise. XD. But have a look at the pictures and judge them for yourself.

Dragon! *Insert historical reference here* I am so not good at remembering things not important to me... I have to ask Alex what these are for again.

Yet another big gate!

The amount of neon lights in this place kind of hurts your eye, but in a good way. You know how when you get too much eye candy it's kind of you don't know where to look anymore? Yeah. The feeling is just like that. haha.

#Japan #china town #misti.japan.2012 #MISTI #walking around

Japan: MIT Kyoto and Nara Trip

６月２９日から７月1日まで

Every year, the MIT MISTI Japan program plans a student trip to Kyoto. The idea is to take a weekend break from our personal Japanese lives and come together, share stories, and experience Kyoto.

Lacking any internet/3G on the go, I wrote down the entire trip's schedule on my trusty Dropbox Mole skin (It's super wet due to the Mt. Fuji climb a few weeks later).

EDIT: I knew a took a picture beforehand:

Taken today. Yes, I know it's beaten up. I'll explain later what happened in the Mt. Fuji climb.

So! Most of us went there via Night bus. A night bus is a cheap way to getting far out places in Japan. The price ranges from 4000-10,000 Yen (translates to $50.00 to $120.00) It's a much cheaper alternative than taking a Shinkansen, a 350km/hr bullet train.

Many of us arrived on time

Some of us arrived a bit too earlier and got their own breakfast.

After the meetup, we walked to a nearby Onsen. An onsen is Japanese public bath. What? Did you just say public bath? YES. Butt naked, on a tub with everybody. Just like the Romans public bath.

Remember that in animes? If not, just watch any High school genre anime. They are bound to have summer trips to a hot spring where the male lead typically tries to take a peak at the woman's public bath.

Anyway, I was super excited to go into one since it'll be my first time! I've seen it so much in anime, that I know get to try it.

Unfortunately, no pictures of the experience... So let me try to tell you how it works:

You first take a personal shower with liquid soap and shampoo. Butt naked. You can see your neighbors beside you as well. But that's ok! Since everyone trusts that you won't stare. It's rude to stare in Japan. (じろじろ見ないでください!) But this doesn't mean, I didn't do my fair share of staring. ^^. (I mean, seriously, I'm a foreigner so I caught them staring too! It's not everyday, they see a naked Filipino)

Once you're clean, you can go into the hot bath with everyone... Mind you, it's incredibly hot. If you stay too long, you get light headed and sleepy. But it's incredibly comfortable.

We then just kinda chilled outside.

MISTI students with Michael Barker

Here's Jeff. Last year, he also did MISTI Japan. So he's a veteran. ;)

Once everybody was gathered, we went to our tour bus! We are now officially a giant asian tourist group. Haha...

I was surprised to hear that our MISTI supervisor, Tom Blackwood, decided to join us! His presence during the trip was incredibly fun. Tom has worked with Japanese people for a real long time. He's incredibly fluent in Japanese and knows a lot about their culture.

Hey Tom! Thanks for joining us.

Here's Chris Puchi, arriving late but obviously very enthusiastic!

We all did our introductions and headed off to our first stop! The Kinkakuji (Golden Temple).

Mr. Barker leads the way! Very touristy.

We weren't the only one on a field trip!

The Famous Golden Temple

Many portrait pictures were taken. And I think I took about 50 pictures of the same temple with different people on the foreground (Here are some):

Ok... We continued touring the area... and my god. It was just so beautiful.

Gravel ground, bamboo fences, & beautiful trees.

Mini waterfall

Next stop? The Daitokuji or Daisenin famous for its Zen Garden.

Shoes were to be left behind.

Unfortunately, they were quite strict on "no cameras" allowed inside the garden. But here are some cool things about it:

The house is incredibly old, and it has defensive measures against invading samurais such as Squeaky wooden floors and mismatched entry ledges.

It's also incredibly fortunate that a beautiful lady and the house zen master gave us a personal tour of the place. So lucky and fortunate!!

Anyway, we had to go back to tour bus. During the ride, I can't help but notice how similar Kyoto is to many of the Japanese animes I've seen.

Does the river and a civillian biker remind you of an anime? It sure does remind me!

#Japan #Kyoto #MISTI #MIT #misti.japan.2012 #Nara #deers

Japan: Trip to Kamakura Temples with our Superiors

June 24, 2012 (二十四日の六月）

My supervisors decided that they will take us out. The destination? Kamakura! More specifically towards: Tsurugaoka, Hase-kan-no Temple & Kotoku-in Temple. Yes. A bunch of temples.

My handy moleskin notes. In case we get lost I can pull this out and ask for directions to it.

When people ask you "Why do you want to go to Japan?" A decent answer, if you don't want to tell them how obsess you are with anime, is to say "I want to see Japan's temples."

And so I will actually see those temples today because they are oh-so-beautiful.

First stop, the road to the Tsurugaoka temple. My supervisor said to take note of the road's width. Why? It slowly slims down and converges to a small pathway.

The converging road. It gives the impression that it's a long walk (much like the infinite in MIT). Also, it must have been a symbolic pathway for samurais.

At the end of the road? This gate.

I think this is where the "gate" character comes from 門(pronounced Mon). Looks like it right?

Here's our first surprise. A Japanese wedding! Holy crap. They look wonderful! The guy looks quite old, but the lady looks very young. Ah. What money can get you.

Careful! Don't trip! She's wearing a $10,000 kimono. It's really beautiful isn't it?

The temple wasn't very far, but all I can think of was how romantic it must be for these two couples. The center of attention in a such a historic and cultural location in Japan.

The walk to Tsurugaoka temple. They'll get the wedding ceremony moments later.

So, upon reaching the temple, you must clean your body. Well, that's a bit too much right? So instead, you get to wash your hands. Some people wash their mouths too.

Cleansing before the temple

Ah, but I suppose it's a real wedding factory here. It happens around every 30 minutes. The blue guys in front are playing a Japanese tune with their flutes.

Fine. Cyan blue. There, happy? Also. Look at the elderly's kimono. It has designs everywhere, and an elegant back!

And, look what you find at the top of the temple! I've been looking for these! How many high school animes have you seen that had these wooden blocks?

Wishes upon blocks. Wishes from "get into university" to "have many, many kids in the future."

And of course, they also have fortune telling papers for 100円（$1.25)

Tie them up for good luck. I, on the other hand, kept it for translation.

And here it is... Do you remember in your anime watching, they throw money here, clap their hands and bow their heads?

No pictures allowed. But that doesn't stop me from taking a candid one!

The temples are just... stunningly beautiful. I'll definitely go back again, and maybe make love wishes on those blocks of wood. :D

Don't tell me you don't find that beautiful.

Trees... and a traditional short bridge.

Next stop, is Hase-kan-no temple... But the walk is just as interesting. How come?

The roads are so small that cars have to share it with people. It's just like the Philippines right? Wrong! Drivers here actually watch out for people. :p

My supervisors thought it would be great to go to a crowded street. It's incredibly popular for the cheap food on the sidewalk.

Dango! Yes... It's super sticky rice coated with a sweet syrup.

And on the way to the temple, I just had to go to stop by the Totoro store. I thought I would buy something, but holy crap, everything is $20.00 and above.

Shop sign/s. Isn't it cute?

I'm pretty sure I've seen this tiny equipment featured in animes too.

Wouldn't you want totoro blowing you on a summer day? (no. not that kind)

And they also have Spirited Away goodies.

Am I alone when I say I was pretty freaked out by this character?

Sadly, the Hase-kan-no temple was a 2.5 hour wait. It was famous for its hydrangea garden. But, It was already 3:00 and it closes at 5:00pm, so it'd be impossible to get in. So we went ahead to Kotoku-ni-Temple where the great, great buddah lies.

Behold! The 1200 ton Buddah! You can actually go inside its belly! It's pretty warm inside. Fun fact from Alex: The neck had to be reinforced with Carbon fiber recently.

On the walk back, my supervisor wanted some flattened octopus... Flattened. really.

It tastes like it too. Think of a communion bread in catholic churches... or a very tiny piece of bread. Only this time, it has seafood, octopus flavor in it.

I also decided to buy one of those Japanese headbands. It says ひっしょう which means to Certainly Win!

Remember those anime characters who wear these headbands preparing for their final exams?

We also saw some PH-based flowers. I think these were the Hydrangea, but I cannot be sure. Still, they are beautiful

The Japanese girl at the background makes it pretty as well.

We also stopped by the beach nearby. But it's ugly. None of it is picture worthy because apparently it's not beach season yet in Japan.

Regardless, what's a trip without a group picture?

Asian peace sign? Hell yes. It's traditional and acceptable. Look at that kid on the left. He thinks it's natural too.

Phew. Damn. It always takes an hour to do these kinda blogs.

#misti.japan.2012 #MISTI #Japan #temples #kamakura #architecture #beauty #mit #wedding #daibutsu #buddah #dango

Japan: Life As a Salaryman (Reflection)

For my internship in Japan, I'm actually living the life of the infamous Japanese salary man. I cannot tell you how surreal the experience is. Here’s my personal assessment.

First off, most of the stereotype is definitely true! You wake up at the same time, take the same train, do the same job, and do unpaid overtime. The lifestyle is safe, secure and will get you by until the end of your time.Everyday, everything is a routine. The cute morning exercise announcement is so instilled (probably since primary school) that they’ll consider it strange not to have it.

With Japan’s collective mindset, there are cultural rules that everyone seem to understand. Here are some of them.

No matter how great your skills are in the company, rank will be determined based on your age. Also, males are better than females. (It’s quite sexist).

At 12:00pm, it is ok to stop whatever you’re doing to have lunch immediately. During lunch time, eat fast and you can enjoy a break until 1pm. If you work during those times, you make other people look bad, and you might make enemies within the office.

At 5:30pm, the day is technically over, but it would be a bad move to quickly move out and treat it like a 12pm lunch time. It is expected that you spend an extra half-hour or more and do over-time work. Unless you’re not aiming for a promotion, you can leave ASAP.

In parties, you must drink alcohol, even if it’s just a little. You cannot pour your own drink, and you must toast before drinking. You must know your place and select the most appropriate seat for your position. You also cannot leave until everyone is willing to go.

I think it’s quite tough to live as a salaryman. But after experiencing it for only 3 weeks, I can confidently say that it’s probably not for me. The routine gets at you, and life becomes very bland. Coming here, I wanted to see how a big, successful company in Japan is handled. I have made some observations, and I have a lot to learn. So far, it’s not something I want to do for the rest of my life.

It’s too safe, too predictable, and bland.

I’m still young, so I don’t know what kind of career lifestyle that would be both enjoyable and rewarding. However, one thing is for sure.

The salaryman lifestyle is a backup plan, and while I still have the chance, I will do everything I can to have an entertaining, adventurous, and productive lifestyle.

#misti.japan.2012 #MISTI #Japan #salaryman #lifestyle #life