Wo Bu Renshi Ta! Ta Shi Shei?
The rest of Christmas break...
So, where did we leave off? In.... Nagasaki! The day after Erik and I hung out with his friend Midori, we went to Dejima-island where Dutch-traders were allowed to stay when Japan was closed off to foreigners. Severely awesome. Everything was a mixture of Eastern and Western style, and I was surprised to see really pretty flower wallpapers in tatami rooms. If you are ever in Nagasaki, I definitely recommend you check it out! From there we grabbed a quick lunch and caught our bus to Kagoshima. We stayed at a futuristic looking hotel called Area-one, and after dropping off our bags we strolled around a shifty area and then found a park.
(um.... not my picture)
A sample of Dejima's beautiful wallpaper
The next day, we ventured to Sakurajima! Sakurajima, as many of you may well be unaware, is an active volcano! The last eruption was in the 90's I think and it flowed for over a month. Sakurajima used to be an island, but the harden lava connected it to the rest of Kagoshima. So yeah, we climbed all over lava and had a picnic with a sweet view. Yet, perhaps the best part of Sakurajima wasn't even the still-active-volcano, rather it was Dinosaur Park. Massive dinosaur statues that you could play on. It would have been perfect had there not been so much mud from the rain and little kids running around... but we managed to have a good time. We walked around some shops and saw a beautiful display of lights in a park *with a fountain*.
its gonna blow
my pet
The next day we took a bus back to Fukuoka and tried to go see the Mongol Invasion Museum, but again it was closed, so we played with pigeons for a while before heading to the airport and chilling there until it was time to leave. We got back to Tokyo and met up with Ashley! The three of us had a dekai (huge) gyoza (dumpling) dinner and then walked around Shinjuku in search of new headphones for me; but since everything in Japan closes around 9-10 we couldn't find any. We went back, watched MST3K and then called it a night.
New Year's Eve!! Ashley, Erik and I got up and after breakfast headed back out to the shops to look for headphones, which were found! Lunch was at Kua'Aina Burger! Kua'Aina Burgers are really large, really hard to eat, and really delicious (because they use tons of avocado)! From there we went to Eibisu so that Ashley could see the Hana Dan spot and then we went back and rested for a while while watching an episode or two of Hana Dan. After that Erik gave Ashley a tour of Sendagaya and that night we spent karaoke-ing at a near by store with all-you-can-drink (non-alcohol). We had our own little countdown in the karaoke room and then we did what every other person in Japan does on New Year's; we went to Meiji-jingu (Meiji shrine). There were tons of people, and it was pretty cold outside being Winter and 1AM. We waited for about an hour in the crowds just to throw our pitiful 5 and 10 yen coins into a large tarp. But it was a great experience! We even bought our fortunes, which turned out to be not-so-typical.
The next day, Ashley left us and Erik and I walked around Meiji-jingu and through Yoyogi park. It was a beautiful day and tons of people were outside walking their dogs and playing with their children since it was a holiday. New Year's in Japan is a five-day celebration, with lots of street vendors and store-bargains; I bought a couple of sweets from vendors. I had the BEST TAIKYAKI (hot bread in the shape of a fish with red bean paste in the middle) I have ever had in my life along with a pretty tasty white chocolate covered banana. We happened into the AU (cellphone company) store there and had a much more exciting time than we had anticipated. They had different activities and new technologies you could try out and if you did them all you one prizes. By the time I left, I had won a chocolate sucker, a sakura flavored kit-kat bar, and a traveling case (with towel and shampoo bottles included)! That night Erik and I went to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" which was just so-so, but man- it felt good to be in a movie theater again.
Janurary 02, Erik and I went to the Imperial Palace to see the Emperor... AN EMPEROR! First of all, how many are there out in the world? Secondly, seeing the Emperor and the inside of the Imperial Palace grounds is something that can only be done twice a year, on his birthday in December and 01-02. Then, we went to Akasaka to the famous traditional sweet store called Toraya and bought a sweet each. After a quick lunch we headed back, grabbed some study materials and went to a nearby cafe called "Ginza Renoir", which was too pricey and not a great place to study, but it was alright. We stayed there until 6 then came back and hung around until Jong's Korean bbq in the lounge. I got to meet a lot of the people in Sakura house who I had heard of, but never happened to come across. We fooded and chatted for a couple of hours and eventually left and watched LOTR Rifftrax (done by the MST3K guys before going to bed).
We woke up the next day with the intention to study, but spent a good amount of time looking for a cafe with wireless internet and ended up having lunch at Saizeriya before we managed to start studying. Erik wrote one of his papers and I studied for my kanji test for several hours and when it became dark we went to the Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel (the one featured in Lost in Translation) and had a drink at the bar. The view... THE VIEW was ineffably beautiful. The night skyline was simply amazing. We stayed for a while, but left before the cover-charge kicked in. Dinner was at a Sri Lankan restaurant and I had delicious chicken curry. It was a good night.
The next day we went to Kamakura! It was surprisingly crowded, maybe because everyone was on break, but we managed to see the Daibutsu (big Buddha statue) and even got to climb inside him; while also seeing a temple with a Kannon statue over 1,000 years old. We also strolled along a gorgeous beach and it was breathtaking. Before leaving Kamakura we stopped and had a drink at Starbucks and I had a drink called "Chocolate Truffle" needless so say... it was great. On the way home we both fell asleep on the train and woke up at the Shinjuku stop, one stop after Erik' s. We decided to get off and walk around, and we checked out some stores for coats since Erik said he wanted a new one; but we decided to hold out and look for a cheaper one. Dinner was at Saizeriya again and then headed home from there.
So the next day we lounged around in the morning and then went to an Indian restaurant called "AMA" for dinner... sooo good. Erik and I then walked through Meiji-jingu to Harajuku, looking for a new coat for him, cheaper than the ones we had seen at Uni-qlo. We didn't see any and decided to walk to Shinjuku to the Uni-qlo to purchase the previous coat only to discover that it had sold out in a matter of one day. So we ordered the coat from the store and then walked back home to make dinner. We cooked a nice chicken and vegetable dinner and then watched "Ratatouille" together. I had to leave that night, but we were both glad knowing it would be the last time apart.
So, where did we leave off? In.... Nagasaki! The day after Erik and I hung out with his friend Midori, we went to Dejima-island where Dutch-traders were allowed to stay when Japan was closed off to foreigners. Severely awesome. Everything was a mixture of Eastern and Western style, and I was surprised to see really pretty flower wallpapers in tatami rooms. If you are ever in Nagasaki, I definitely recommend you check it out! From there we grabbed a quick lunch and caught our bus to Kagoshima. We stayed at a futuristic looking hotel called Area-one, and after dropping off our bags we strolled around a shifty area and then found a park.
(um.... not my picture)
A sample of Dejima's beautiful wallpaper
The next day, we ventured to Sakurajima! Sakurajima, as many of you may well be unaware, is an active volcano! The last eruption was in the 90's I think and it flowed for over a month. Sakurajima used to be an island, but the harden lava connected it to the rest of Kagoshima. So yeah, we climbed all over lava and had a picnic with a sweet view. Yet, perhaps the best part of Sakurajima wasn't even the still-active-volcano, rather it was Dinosaur Park. Massive dinosaur statues that you could play on. It would have been perfect had there not been so much mud from the rain and little kids running around... but we managed to have a good time. We walked around some shops and saw a beautiful display of lights in a park *with a fountain*.
its gonna blow
my pet
The next day we took a bus back to Fukuoka and tried to go see the Mongol Invasion Museum, but again it was closed, so we played with pigeons for a while before heading to the airport and chilling there until it was time to leave. We got back to Tokyo and met up with Ashley! The three of us had a dekai (huge) gyoza (dumpling) dinner and then walked around Shinjuku in search of new headphones for me; but since everything in Japan closes around 9-10 we couldn't find any. We went back, watched MST3K and then called it a night.
New Year's Eve!! Ashley, Erik and I got up and after breakfast headed back out to the shops to look for headphones, which were found! Lunch was at Kua'Aina Burger! Kua'Aina Burgers are really large, really hard to eat, and really delicious (because they use tons of avocado)! From there we went to Eibisu so that Ashley could see the Hana Dan spot and then we went back and rested for a while while watching an episode or two of Hana Dan. After that Erik gave Ashley a tour of Sendagaya and that night we spent karaoke-ing at a near by store with all-you-can-drink (non-alcohol). We had our own little countdown in the karaoke room and then we did what every other person in Japan does on New Year's; we went to Meiji-jingu (Meiji shrine). There were tons of people, and it was pretty cold outside being Winter and 1AM. We waited for about an hour in the crowds just to throw our pitiful 5 and 10 yen coins into a large tarp. But it was a great experience! We even bought our fortunes, which turned out to be not-so-typical.
The next day, Ashley left us and Erik and I walked around Meiji-jingu and through Yoyogi park. It was a beautiful day and tons of people were outside walking their dogs and playing with their children since it was a holiday. New Year's in Japan is a five-day celebration, with lots of street vendors and store-bargains; I bought a couple of sweets from vendors. I had the BEST TAIKYAKI (hot bread in the shape of a fish with red bean paste in the middle) I have ever had in my life along with a pretty tasty white chocolate covered banana. We happened into the AU (cellphone company) store there and had a much more exciting time than we had anticipated. They had different activities and new technologies you could try out and if you did them all you one prizes. By the time I left, I had won a chocolate sucker, a sakura flavored kit-kat bar, and a traveling case (with towel and shampoo bottles included)! That night Erik and I went to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" which was just so-so, but man- it felt good to be in a movie theater again.
Janurary 02, Erik and I went to the Imperial Palace to see the Emperor... AN EMPEROR! First of all, how many are there out in the world? Secondly, seeing the Emperor and the inside of the Imperial Palace grounds is something that can only be done twice a year, on his birthday in December and 01-02. Then, we went to Akasaka to the famous traditional sweet store called Toraya and bought a sweet each. After a quick lunch we headed back, grabbed some study materials and went to a nearby cafe called "Ginza Renoir", which was too pricey and not a great place to study, but it was alright. We stayed there until 6 then came back and hung around until Jong's Korean bbq in the lounge. I got to meet a lot of the people in Sakura house who I had heard of, but never happened to come across. We fooded and chatted for a couple of hours and eventually left and watched LOTR Rifftrax (done by the MST3K guys before going to bed).
We woke up the next day with the intention to study, but spent a good amount of time looking for a cafe with wireless internet and ended up having lunch at Saizeriya before we managed to start studying. Erik wrote one of his papers and I studied for my kanji test for several hours and when it became dark we went to the Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel (the one featured in Lost in Translation) and had a drink at the bar. The view... THE VIEW was ineffably beautiful. The night skyline was simply amazing. We stayed for a while, but left before the cover-charge kicked in. Dinner was at a Sri Lankan restaurant and I had delicious chicken curry. It was a good night.
The next day we went to Kamakura! It was surprisingly crowded, maybe because everyone was on break, but we managed to see the Daibutsu (big Buddha statue) and even got to climb inside him; while also seeing a temple with a Kannon statue over 1,000 years old. We also strolled along a gorgeous beach and it was breathtaking. Before leaving Kamakura we stopped and had a drink at Starbucks and I had a drink called "Chocolate Truffle" needless so say... it was great. On the way home we both fell asleep on the train and woke up at the Shinjuku stop, one stop after Erik' s. We decided to get off and walk around, and we checked out some stores for coats since Erik said he wanted a new one; but we decided to hold out and look for a cheaper one. Dinner was at Saizeriya again and then headed home from there.
So the next day we lounged around in the morning and then went to an Indian restaurant called "AMA" for dinner... sooo good. Erik and I then walked through Meiji-jingu to Harajuku, looking for a new coat for him, cheaper than the ones we had seen at Uni-qlo. We didn't see any and decided to walk to Shinjuku to the Uni-qlo to purchase the previous coat only to discover that it had sold out in a matter of one day. So we ordered the coat from the store and then walked back home to make dinner. We cooked a nice chicken and vegetable dinner and then watched "Ratatouille" together. I had to leave that night, but we were both glad knowing it would be the last time apart.