Happy Golden Week DE GOZAIMASU!!!!!!!!!!
U~~~~SU!!! I hope everyone is having a good golden week!! I'm in the throes of it right now! :D:D For those that don't know Golden Week is a series of holidays in Japan (Like Greenery day or Children's day) that all occur in the same week! So its vacation for everyone! :D
But other than that I'm exploring around Tokyo! ^^ My favorite place to go (when homework allows! ; ;) is Kichijoji! It is really close to my house so if I can go there if I want to get out for a bit. It is such a fun place! On the main promenade there are lots of interesting clothing shops, book stores, cheap restaurants, arcades, used video game stores, pool halls, etc... ^^ Its just fun to walk around and just take in all the sights and smells! Also it isn't mega crowded like Shibuya where I just have to succumb to wherever the current of human bodies takes me! XD
Speaking of which I went to Kichijoji on Thursday after classes and got THE BEST engrish shirt ever there!! lol This is what it says:
"TO TODAY GIRLS GOES PARTY. DRACULA TAKE OFF A LID YOU'LL MEET VAMPIRE ON FRIDAY. TAKE CARE! HE'S WEAK TO GARLIC AND THE HOLY CROSS. SO YOU MUST HAVE CROSS AND GARLIC. THE FRIDAY NIGHT-DRACULA TAKE OFF A LID AND RISE FROM THE DEAD HE IS VAMPIRE SIPPING HUMANS BLOOD. TAKE CARE! DON'T BE AFRAID! DON'T WORRY"
LOL it reminds me of that somethingawful.com flash!
Dracula is coming.... he'll be here... like really soon... 10 minutes tops... 20 if he hits traffic!
But anyway!! More important than Dracula, my host family took my on vacation for a night in Kanazawa at a Japanese ryokan! Kanazawa is about a 6 hour car ride from Tokyo and his home to many old castles and buildings!
When we got there we walked around the city and took pictures of lots of cool old buildings and bridges that the city had to offer! It was really cool. :> Afterwards we came back and were served traditional ryokan dinner! It was very Japanese and definitely not what I'm used too but it was still good! ^^ After that I donned a yukata (lol doh no pictures though! XD) and went to take a bath. Oh course the ryokan had public baths which I don't mind, but it was kinda embarrassing to be stared at ^^; (You get stared at for being a gaijin but you REALLY get stared at if you're a gaijin with your man parts showing!! XD) lol but afterwards I went back to the room and my host mom was like "Kukuku... so how was it??" lol she thought I guess that I didn't know the baths were public! I was like was that a test??? lolol
The next day after breakfast we headed to the beautiful Kanazawa park!! There were lots of old castles and gate houses, and just breathtaking scenery. My part favorite was this little shaded island you could walk out to in the middle of a pond. From the island you could see a small waterfall, and also the surrounding water was so clear you could see all the giant koi swimming around! XD I could've watched them all day, but we had to keep going. ^^ At the end there was a row of really neat shops with souvenirs and beautiful Japanese pottery! I bought some postcards and some omiyage for 2 of my friends! ^^
After that we headed to the Kanazawa Museum of modern art!! It was so much fun! The main exhibits were architecture designs and sculptures of museums around the world, and other 3D pieces designed by international artists! One really cool piece was this pool of water that you could look down into and under the layer of water there was another room! You could also go down into that room and look up through the layer of water to the people above! I went in that room and waved to a family looking down and they took my picture! lol I became part of the artwork!! XD
When we got done with the museum we headed to the famous huge fish market of Kanazawa! Apparently its the best place to buy fish in the area! My host mom ended up buying a giant crab, and we then ate lunch at a noodle house! I got vegetable udon which was really good! :D:D (Udon is a really thick type of noodle.)
When we got done at he market we had to get going so we drove back to Tokyo! I'd like to come back to Kanazawa some time! :D Oh I forgot to mention!! The countryside of Japan is beautiful! It was amazing to see after spending so much time in Tokyo! There are so many mountains and amazing landmarks it almost looked like Switzerland! :D:D I can't wait to see Kyoto! XD
Tomorrow I'm going to head back to Ueno and visit the art museum in Ueno park for my "Masterpieces of Japanese Art" class. So it should turn out to be another fun day! :D (I wanna eat lunch in Ueno park! :3)
Hope things are going great for everyone now that summer vacation is starting!! :D:D
But other than that I'm exploring around Tokyo! ^^ My favorite place to go (when homework allows! ; ;) is Kichijoji! It is really close to my house so if I can go there if I want to get out for a bit. It is such a fun place! On the main promenade there are lots of interesting clothing shops, book stores, cheap restaurants, arcades, used video game stores, pool halls, etc... ^^ Its just fun to walk around and just take in all the sights and smells! Also it isn't mega crowded like Shibuya where I just have to succumb to wherever the current of human bodies takes me! XD
Speaking of which I went to Kichijoji on Thursday after classes and got THE BEST engrish shirt ever there!! lol This is what it says:
"TO TODAY GIRLS GOES PARTY. DRACULA TAKE OFF A LID YOU'LL MEET VAMPIRE ON FRIDAY. TAKE CARE! HE'S WEAK TO GARLIC AND THE HOLY CROSS. SO YOU MUST HAVE CROSS AND GARLIC. THE FRIDAY NIGHT-DRACULA TAKE OFF A LID AND RISE FROM THE DEAD HE IS VAMPIRE SIPPING HUMANS BLOOD. TAKE CARE! DON'T BE AFRAID! DON'T WORRY"
LOL it reminds me of that somethingawful.com flash!
Dracula is coming.... he'll be here... like really soon... 10 minutes tops... 20 if he hits traffic!
But anyway!! More important than Dracula, my host family took my on vacation for a night in Kanazawa at a Japanese ryokan! Kanazawa is about a 6 hour car ride from Tokyo and his home to many old castles and buildings!
When we got there we walked around the city and took pictures of lots of cool old buildings and bridges that the city had to offer! It was really cool. :> Afterwards we came back and were served traditional ryokan dinner! It was very Japanese and definitely not what I'm used too but it was still good! ^^ After that I donned a yukata (lol doh no pictures though! XD) and went to take a bath. Oh course the ryokan had public baths which I don't mind, but it was kinda embarrassing to be stared at ^^; (You get stared at for being a gaijin but you REALLY get stared at if you're a gaijin with your man parts showing!! XD) lol but afterwards I went back to the room and my host mom was like "Kukuku... so how was it??" lol she thought I guess that I didn't know the baths were public! I was like was that a test??? lolol
The next day after breakfast we headed to the beautiful Kanazawa park!! There were lots of old castles and gate houses, and just breathtaking scenery. My part favorite was this little shaded island you could walk out to in the middle of a pond. From the island you could see a small waterfall, and also the surrounding water was so clear you could see all the giant koi swimming around! XD I could've watched them all day, but we had to keep going. ^^ At the end there was a row of really neat shops with souvenirs and beautiful Japanese pottery! I bought some postcards and some omiyage for 2 of my friends! ^^
After that we headed to the Kanazawa Museum of modern art!! It was so much fun! The main exhibits were architecture designs and sculptures of museums around the world, and other 3D pieces designed by international artists! One really cool piece was this pool of water that you could look down into and under the layer of water there was another room! You could also go down into that room and look up through the layer of water to the people above! I went in that room and waved to a family looking down and they took my picture! lol I became part of the artwork!! XD
When we got done with the museum we headed to the famous huge fish market of Kanazawa! Apparently its the best place to buy fish in the area! My host mom ended up buying a giant crab, and we then ate lunch at a noodle house! I got vegetable udon which was really good! :D:D (Udon is a really thick type of noodle.)
When we got done at he market we had to get going so we drove back to Tokyo! I'd like to come back to Kanazawa some time! :D Oh I forgot to mention!! The countryside of Japan is beautiful! It was amazing to see after spending so much time in Tokyo! There are so many mountains and amazing landmarks it almost looked like Switzerland! :D:D I can't wait to see Kyoto! XD
Tomorrow I'm going to head back to Ueno and visit the art museum in Ueno park for my "Masterpieces of Japanese Art" class. So it should turn out to be another fun day! :D (I wanna eat lunch in Ueno park! :3)
Hope things are going great for everyone now that summer vacation is starting!! :D:D