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| From Japan: Day 084 |
"Have a rice day!" This is why I love Japan.
Today we had our internship orientation meeting. I will be working in Yokohama while living in an apartment in Shonandai (in Fujisawa), with an hour commute (35 min by subway and 25 minutes of walking). I never even heard of Yokohama before today... but apparently its the second largest city (in terms of population, I think...) in Japan. At least I won't be that far from Tokyo (about an hour by train from Yokohama). I finally got a chance to take a picture of the special subway cars. The pink ones are Kyoto and the green ones are Nara. The ads here are awesome. You sometimes randomly come across some like the "Have a rice day!" ads that have everyday people with rice bowls for heads. You can't really see it, but the third ad back is a picture of someone with a rice bowl for a head sitting on a subway/train between two other people who have fallen asleep and are resting their heads on each side of the rice bowl (hehe). After the internship orientation I decided to go visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum. It wasn't very big but it was kinda neat. It was converted into a museum from an old elementary school. Just about every floor has walls full of Manga you can just pick up and read. There is even a place on the first floor where you can lie down and read. They also have 100 pictures of Geisha drawn by various Manga authors. Big plans for tomorrow.
6/24 Tuesday:
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| From Japan: Day 085 |
A nice view of Kiyomizu-dera.
Ok, today was my "visit everywhere I haven't been to in Kyoto" day, so lots of rushing around (and a bunch of pictures of course). 1st stop: Kyoto Station. Yes, I know I have been here before but I never really got a chance to get a good look around (its pretty big). There is even a walkway at the top and you get a nice view of Kyoto and the Kyoto Tower Hotel. Under the station there are a bunch of shops and restaurants. I then stopped at a Bic Camera store nearby. There are stores like these all over Japan. Generally they sell different electronics-related stuff on each floor (for example: a home appliance floor with microwaves, breadmakers, etc., a camera floor, a computer floor, a TV floor, etc.).
2nd stop: Kiyomizu-dera. "The temple takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu means pure water, clear water or limpid water. It is notable for its vast veranda, supported by hundreds of pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive jumping from the stage, one's wish would be granted." (from wikipedia). The walk up to the temple is lined with shops on either side. I also saw this cute little dog with a ninja outfit on. You really get a nice view of Kyoto from the temple. I decided to stop and get lunch there. Somen and strawberry shaved-ice make me happy. I also drank from the "Otowa-no-taki, the waterfall where visitors drink for health, longevity, and success in studies." (wiki). You use these metal cups (all sanatised) attached to these long poles to get the water. There was also the "Jishu-jinja, a matchmaking shrine" (wiki again...) there with "love stones". I took a picture of the instructions.
3rd stop: Ginkakuji, the temple of the silver pavilion. The area Ginkakuji is surrounded by is very pretty. Unfortunately Ginkakuji itself was under repair (its a little annoying how many places are under repair). Well, Ginkakuji isn't actually silver anyway. The plan was originally to have it covered in silver, but due to war, it was never completed. I would have spent more time here but I had to rush to try to get to Kinkakuji before it closed. Unfortunately I didn't make it in time anyway, so I will go tomorrow.
6/25 Wednesday:
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| From Japan: Day 086 |
Kinkakuji: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
Today I finally made it to Kinkakuji. Very beautiful here. I had time so I took a lot of pictures. After Kinkakuji I headed towards a flea market. On the way I saw a audio/video store that advertises "Happy Time with A&V". Did I mention I love engrish. Since this was the same one I went to the first time (not at Toji, the other one I visited a while ago), I didn't really take any pictures except for a couple of things like the shirt warning: "D@NGER, C@MP THE BLUE, America is the greatest of opportunities and the worst of influences." Hehe... Oh, and the peach shaved-ice I bought (yum). Last is a picture of the 2nd largest bottle of Peach Calpis (the largest, I think, is 2 liters or something).
6/26 Thursday:
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| From Japan: Day 087 |
Toji Temple crystal phone strap.
Unfortunately I don't have much for today since it was packing day (I leave for my new home tomorrow). My host parents were happy to fix me Reimen for lunch and Yakiniku for dinner. The first picture is the Toji Temple crystal phone strap I bought at Toji Temple. The second one is the "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" phone strap I bought in Matsuyama and the Doshisha University phone strap I bought at Doshisha. And the last two are of the phone itself. You can set the language to English, so it's not hard to use. Plus it has this cute animation of a sheep running across a landscape, doing... um... random things...
6/27 Friday:
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| From Japan: Day 088 |
My ride.
My final day in Kyoto. My host mom came with me to the train station to say goodbye. Since I was meeting people from the company who would help me fill out forms, show me where I was working, introduce me to some people, and then show me to my apartment, I needed to wear my suit. My host mom was pretty sad seeing me go. She was actually crying and ran after the train, waiving as I left. Since I needed to pay attention to work stuff I didn't take any pictures after leaving Kyoto. Basically I met with one person at the train station who introduced me to another person (who arrived at the train station) who would help me with everything the rest of the day. We then went to the main Fujisoft office in Yokohama where I filled out forms, got money, instructions, etc. I saw these chairs in a lobby that I wanted to take a picture of but didn't really want to ask. They were basically two giant keyboard buttons that have "SIT" written on them. I soo want those... Anyway, she then showed me where I was working (on the 5th floor of another building) and I was introduced to bosses. After that we took the subway to Shonandai station and tried to walk to my apartment. I say "tried" because she kinda got lost and couldn't really find where it actually was. A while later we finally arrived at my apartment and we finally got checked in and everything. I'll take pictures of the inside tomorrow.
6/28 Saturday:
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| From Japan: Day 089 |
Its a マンション(mansion).
Ok, not an actual mansion. In Japanese a one-room apartment is called a mansion. I have no idea why. Anyway, my apartment is kinda small. My front door (always take your shoes off inside the entrance when you enter someone's home, even your own), I have a shoe closet, a side closet to store things, an entry hall with a door separating it from my room, a washer (but no dryer, that means hang drying), a stove and sink (plus a small fridge underneath), a shower with a sink and tub, a toilet (no bidet though, not that I need/want one), a small table, TV, futon with sheets and a pillow (I need to buy a different pillow since this one is one of those rock-filled ones), a fridge and microwave, a closet to hang stuff in, a (life-saving) air conditioner, and a small balcony where it looks like I can hang clothes somehow. You will notice that there are no other furnishings (no chairs, cushions, dishes, hangars, anything I can use to dry my clothes on, or even curtains). I will need to find and buy all this stuff (argh). My luggage arrived that morning so I spent most of the day unpacking stuff. Later on I went to the store to get some food (btw, the closest food place to my apartment is 31 Flavors Ice Cream... I'll need to try to avoid that). Japanese TV is so much more entertaining than American TV. I took some pictures of a specia that was airing about a movie that was just released today called Nekonade (Neko = Cat, Nekonade ≠ cat lemonade, nade is said like naugh(ty)day, not naid). It seems to be a story about a salaryman/boss http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaryman who comes across an abandoned kitten and takes it in. The kitten is too adorable... way too adorable... Everytime I see a commercial for it I can't help but go "awwwww". Just watch:
Ad #1
Ad #2
If you don't go "awwwww", you have no heart. :P
Anyway, I also took pictures of an interview that some show had with Harrison Ford. It was pretty funny because of his responses/expressions during the interview. The first picture shows him giving a thumbs up. The insert picture is of one of the many famous comedians on TV. Her name is Edo and her catchphrase is "Guuu" (as in good) and she gives two thumbs up everytime she says it (in Japanese, there isn't really a way to end a word with G, so they use Gu, for example: walking would be walkingu, you get the idea), I'll try to find videos later. Anyway, they were trying to get Harrison Ford to figure out how to make the matchsticks form 100. He couldn't figure it out (|||||| -> |||-||). Lots of fun stuff on TV. I'll try and find videos when I don't have stuff to post.
Next are picture of my peach-filled fridge and food: Peach Qoo (drinkable jelly in a pouch), Peach drinkable yogurt (not that good), Orange Fanta Shaka (a jelly-soda drink in a can that you need to shake to actually drink it), somen (yay, I can have somen every day), and peach chocolate... PEACH CHOCOLATE! Peach chocolate makes me happy.
6/29 Sunday:
Today I did some searching for a few things I needed, made sure I knew how to get to/from work, and did a little walking around. Eventually I will do some picture taking, but for now I just wanted to get used to the area. Tomorrow is my first day of work... wish me luck.
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