本州旅行四日目 Honshuu Trip Day 4: Nara and Kyoto

Last night I forgot to write about our third day in Osaka. Actually it was our `free time` day, a break from traveling with the group and being able to explore Osaka as we pleased. Some of us ended up getting into small groups just to make things more fun and as for me, I decided to buy a day pass and explore different stops at each station. I started at the furthest station and worked my way back to town finding many things from a 52 story sky tower to banana milk at the conbini.


However, today was different.

Using the rail pass we bought back in Oita, we decided to use one day on it to take us to Nara and then Kyoto. The things I got to experience for the day were as follows:

-Woke up, ate breakfast and drank hot choco while walking to the station.
-Took train to Nara
-While in Nara:
Walked through the town to find deer freely roaming the streets
Went to a park to feed some dear
Got mugged and violated by the deer
Went to Todaiji Temple
Looked at the biggest wood carved Buddha in Japan
Crawled through a tiny hole in one of the pillars of the temple
Watched Jari get stuck in the hole

-While in Kyoto:
Ate 1300 円 worth of sushi
Went to Ginkakuji to see a building made of Gold
Went to Kiomizudera.. the water temple, seeing one of the coolest temples ive ever seen
Walked trough what used to be the Geisha and Entertainment district of old Japan
Ate special Kyoto Unagi!

In truth this trip was pretty exhausting. I haven`t walked so much in any traveling I`ve ever done before.. But being able to see Nara (which is much more than a bunch of trees and deer) and Kyoto (one of the most beautiful cities and the heart of Japan) was the trip of a lifetime. Tomorrow well be waking up super early to catch local trains all the way to Tokyo.

Heres a video of some of the deer we saw roaming around Nara.. Unfortunately, ive been super exhausted and therefore too laxy to upload any pictures yet.  Ill try to update all of the posts for the trips soon.

大阪二日目 Osaka Day2

Today I woke up around 8am after having fallen asleep around 3.30am. I shaved off what i could of the rapidly growing mustache which ive grown to dislike, ate a handfull of granola and met up with the fellowship (of the Kaikan). We got ourselves some train passes then made our way to 大阪城 the famous castle in Osaka. It was probably the prettiest castle iv`e seen since coming to Japan and the Sakura trees being in pre-bloom season had everyone reaching in pockets to take out cameras and hold up peace signs.

Our second stop was アメリカ村(America Town) . Seriously?
Its currently part of a strip mall (extending for miles in every direction) in the most developed area of Osaka , perfect for people who want to shop, find restaurants, spend lots of money and dress funny. Actually, America town and the areas around it were pretty cool. Think about the Gas Lamp district in San Diego, but bustling 24/7 and bigger... way bigger.

Currently were back in the hostel for now. Some of the others are hitting up a club tonight and partying till the first train at 6am while a few of us are going on our own adventure. Realizing that were not rich, some of us are buying really cheap ramen, cooking in, then testing our Japanese on the trains.


As for now, ive half asleep since getting out of the onsen. Ill just relax until later tonight when i venture back into old people ville for the supermarket. Ill post pictures for yesterday and today later!

Surviving the Boat trip and Osaka Day one...

I'd like to celebrate this moment in my life with a few seconds of silence....

Ok, so it feels like its been a really long day and It has.  This little trip of ours (about 9 people who live at the Kaikan) started with a 12 hour boat ride on the Sunflower Ferry from Beppu to Osaka.  We left Beppu port at 6.30 on Thursday night... and survived the night by distracting ourselves with various games of UNO, drinking on the deck of the ship, and playing "sleep in a room full of sickly, snoring old people." 

Thats right, I'm not so clever with words at this moment because all I can remember in my trip up to now old people, old people and old people.  

We arrived in Osaka at 6am this morning and checked into the Hotel Raizan.  Some of us took naps, but some of us decided to venture out for some breakfast.  While wandering the streets of 動物園前 we began to wonder "why are there so many old people?"  Maybe it was simply just that time of day when old people venture out into the market place, but seriously, of the hundreds of people we came across, there was nothing but old people.  Some were playing cards and drinking beer on the streets, some were walking around dazed, confused and drunk, and some were angry armed with bicycles.  All of theme were at least in their 50's and 60's.

So of all the adventures ive had today, like avoiding drinking water because of yellow ice at one unnamed restaurant to seeing a crazed woman laughing to her self saying "Mee chan!! Mee Chann!" the most memorable thing I can't get out of my head today is the sound of Jesse's old person impression.( think of Jurassic park)  Oh and not to mention feeling dirty earlier.  I was just about to take a nap, but I had the urge to check out what channels my room's tv had. Apparently, our hostel includes porn channels.  I saw what i didn't need to see, flipped to a family friendly channel and turned of the tv.  I went to sleep only to wake up feeling dirty.  ahhhh

Osaka!

Yufuin

Whenever I "climbed" a mountain in the States it was usually more of a hike. Like Cowls mountain in SD, no one really "climbs" anything. In fact, people walk hike to the highest point in San Diego on a daily basis as a routine morning exercise. ..

So when Hoon asked me If I wanted to go to climb Yufudake, I said "sure."

Which brought us to Yesterday morning. There were about five of us up and ready by 7am. We took the train all the way to Yufuin and a bus to the base of the mountain.

Do you see the tip of that mountain?

Not only did it take three hours to hike up that mountain, but we climbed all the way to the highest point on it. However, this trip was worth it. Unlike "mountains" i've been to the top of, this one required grappling and holding on chains and rocks like your life depended on it.

Getting up there wasn't much of a problem. It was climbing down that was the hard part. For some reason my leg wasn't liking to take steps down. I spent the next hour and a half feeling like an old man waddling down the mountain, holding the group back. But in the end it was worth it... or at least I hope so. I've spent most of today just resting my leg, hope it gets better soon!

The Day We Died. (could have....possibly)

Have you ever heard of Fugu?

Some people call them "blow fish" or "puffer fish". Apparently they are extremely poisonous and lethal for humans. In fact, (you can verify this on Wikipedia) chefs who prepare Fugu must be intensely trained to properly make the right cuts. It is illegal also for chef to prepare these fish without any special certification or license. Rumors say that a customer at a certain unnamed restaurant once ate Fugu that was improperly prepared... Tetrodotoxin, a highly potent neurotoxin, shut down the electrical signals in his nervous system as his muscles became paralyzed while leaving him still fully conscious. The customer eventually died of asphyxiation. The chef, feeling overwhelming guilt, commit seppuku.

Anyways...

Today I got the chance to try and eat some. I went, I ate... I survived.

My apologies. I wanted to show more footage by uploading a nice video, but we actually did get scared of eating it. We were all so cautions about trying it that we decided to take the first bite together and I totally forgot to film someone actually trying it.

Japanese Spring Break... Watch Out!!!

So my first semester in Japan is just about finished. I didn't think the way the Japanese did all their year end cramming would be so tough. With all theses cumulative exams piled on top of each other and counting for up to 50% of your grade, it gets a bit crazy. Luckily everyone here so far has survived.

In coming to Oita, I somehow thought that just being in Japan would make me magically fluent. I was wrong. I still have a long way to go. However, considering how burnt out I was last year, I feel like my experience so far has re-ignited the passion that I need to learn and be interested in this language and culture.

I also didn't expect much when I came to Oita to be honest. I didn't think it would be necessary or even logical to try and get close to anyone, but I was wrong. I've met so many amazing people in my time here so far. Drinking at the Izakaya last night for our last big hoorah, I never realized how close you can get to people in such a short time. With some of us staying, but some of us leaving, it was bitter sweet, but beautiful. While i'm sad to let go of my friends that I was starting to get close to, i'm also excited and ready to have some great experiences with the people staying and the new ones coming next semester.

To everyone who made my experiences in Japan possible and enjoyable... Thank You!!!

Part A

Part B

猿、宮崎県、けんたろとハン！！

新しい日記を書いて遅れてごめん。...

最近には誕生日だった。今年前たいてい父と晩ご飯を食べたり友達とパーティーをしたりした。ところが今年僕の一番いい友達はアメリカにいる。僕の家族もアメリカにいる。友達と家族は日本になかったらさびしくなると思った。しかし今年は楽しかった。サンディエゴに会った友達が大分に訪問しに来た。ハンと言う友達はサンディエゴで日本語の授業の同級生だった。けんたろと言う友達は去年サンディエゴで留学した。ほかの友達も来た。なべを作った。会館のロビーで食べたり遊んだりした。そのあとマットの部屋でテレビを見たりコンピューターで遊んだりした。真夜中になって友達が誕生日の歌を歌ってくれた。うれしかった。Just recently was my birthday. Before this year I would usually go to dinner with my dad and have a party with some friends. However, this year my closest friends and family are still in America. I thought that with most of my friends and family being so far away, I would be lonely. However, this years birthday was actually fun! Some of my friends I met back in San Diego came to Oita to visit. My friend Han was my old classmate from Japanese class at State and Kentaro was an exchange student there last year. After picking them up from the station we met up with some other friends. We made some Korean Nabe in Matt's room and ate together in the kaikan lobby. Afterwards, in Matt's room we watched some ridiculous Japanese tv shows and looked up videos on youtube. At midnight they sang the birthday song for me. I was happy, i got the customary midnight texts too.

とにかく次の日ハんとけんたろと高崎山にさると遊びに行った。その後大分と別府の間のビーチに遊びに行った。The next day we went to Takasaki Mountain to see some monkeys. After that we went to the beach between Oita and Beppu. The one with the pirate ship.

s

後ほど夜に宮崎県に行った。日本に来てから宮崎に行きたかった。大分から延岡まで電車で三時間ぐらいかかる。切符は２，４２０円。けんたろの家に泊められてよかった。Later that night I went back to Miyazaki Perfecture with Han & Kentaro. I never was good with planning my own birthday so this year I decided to just go with the flow. Thats what brought me to Miyazaki...Less than 15 min. to pack I was out the door. Within half an hour we were on a train with a ticket costing about $30.

次の日宮崎市に行きたかった。ところがバスは週末だけは走っているから車を借りらなくちゃ行けなかった。でも車を使ってよかった。１２時間ために料は６，３００円。ハンとけんたろと僕の間に一人当たりは２，１００円だけ。将来宮崎に行ったら車を借りるのをすすめる。けんたろのおかげでいろいろを訪問できた。へいわだい公園で八紘一宇を見られた。この公園では面白い人形がいっぱい。青島はとてもきれい。単語が青島のけしきをぜんぜん説明できないよ。うどじんぐと言う神社も訪問ができた。その所はかっこいと思う。来て今すぐ僕はすごい！って。The next day we wanted to go to the city. Since busses didn't run on the weekend for some reason, we rented a car. It was about $23 per person for 12 hours so it wasn't too bad. Actually, if anyone plans to go to Miyazaki in the future, I would recommend going by car. Thanks to Kentaro driving, we were able to go to some really cool places. Heiwadai Peach Park had some statues and monuments from ancient Japan, Aoshima was too pretty for words to describe, and Udojingu shrine was great too! You could never find places like this in America.

フェニックスと言う道路からけしきが見える。きれいなビーチと海より何もほうがいいよ。

トイレ！！！

へいわだい公園：かっこいことがいっぱい。

King of the World!!

自然はきれいだぜ。

青島に行っている間にすごいどんでいる写真ができた。（＾＿＾）

青島：

帰るときは少しむずかしかった。強い風が島に当てた。

うどじんぐ：

この所は日本人に人気だぜ。

友達と宮崎県を訪問してよかった。観光して全部は面白いと思った。ハンとけんたろとほかの大分に住んでいる友達のおかげで誕生日は楽しくてうれしかった。夏休みもう一度宮崎にいきたい。けんたろのお父さんも親切だよ。家で訪問ができてよかった。今まで新年はいい。将来こんな経験をできるといいんですが。I was glad that I had the opportunity to visit Miyazaki. Everything we saw was interesting. This summer I would like to go again. Also, thanks to Mr. Miake we had a place to stay. It was good to see Kentaro's place. All my experiences in this new year have been good up to now and I hope I can have more like this in the future.

また、誕生日ケーキももらった。びっくりした！！

They even got me a birthday cake too!!