I went to Senso-ji, then Kappabashi (where they make the plastic food), had an interesting encounter with a toilet, then went to Jinbocho and finally had dinner in Shinjuku. It was a mix of plastic food and great food!
[Read the rest!]Dec 192011
Dec 182011
Today I went to Harajuku, Ginza, Ikebukuro, and Roppongi to do some sightseeing, shopping, and dining, in no particular order. Tiring, but fun!
[Read the rest!]Towering Over Tokyo
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Dec 172011
First full day back in Tokyo. I looked around at electronics stores, went to the tourist info center near Tokyo Station, then went to the Tokyo Tower, missed out on some fireworks, got overcharged for “meh” yakitori, and wandered around Shinjuku a bit.
[Read the rest!]Sayonara, Yamasa, Sayonara, Okazaki. Tadaima, Tokyo.
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Dec 162011
A whirlwind of a day as I thanked everyone at Yamasa during the closing ceremony, had lunch with all of my classmates and said goodbye, then rushed to finish packing and got out of town. I made it to Tokyo and passed out in my favorite hotel in Shinjuku.
[Read the rest!]Last Trip to Anjo
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Dec 142011
Today was the last big testing day. I forgot to attach a file I was sending to one of my teachers, so I had to race home at lunch to send it. There was an earthquake in class, too. After class, I went to the calligraphy store in Anjo, where everyone was really nice again. I bought more packing materials at the Daiso, and frantically packed until 2 a.m. Oof.
[Read the rest!]Jackson Pollock and The Tallest Toilet in Nagoya
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Dec 112011
Today I went to see the Jackson Pollock exhibit at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, then went to the Midland Square Building to see some great views of Nagoya. More book shopping after that, then expensive crepes for dinner, and a train ride back to Okazaki. I managed to take some really good photos with my cheap little IXY, too!
[Read the rest!]Dec 102011
Today I went to Toyohashi to pick up a calligraphy brush. The famous dish there is the curry udon, or so I was told by the people in the restaurant. It’s good, but really messy. I hope I can go back again sometime.
[Read the rest!]Postcards From the JBPP Edge, How to Read Japanese Food Labels
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Nov 282011
Final exam for N1 grammar, tests on Wednesday, and we’re learning how to mail letters in JBPP.
[Read the rest!]Nov 272011
In part two, I went to Kinkakuji, LL Bean, and Gion, then took a few trains to get back to Okazaki.
[Read the rest!]Nov 272011
It’s my last day touring Kyoto, so I headed over from Osaka, fought for a locker, and headed to Nijo Castle.
[Read the rest!]Nov 262011
Part two of my big Saturday excursion, from Kyoto Station to Arashiyama, the Sagano Bamboo Forest, Nision-In Temple, the Togetsukyo Bridge, then dinner in Kyoto, and off to Osaka for my hotel.
[Read the rest!]Nov 262011
I started my day with a trip to Tofukuji Temple, which is steeped in history, and packed with people! Part 1 of my Saturday excursion.
[Read the rest!]First Night in Kyoto
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Nov 252011
I made it to Kyoto; discovered a few things about buying shinkansen tickets, ate some delicious food in Kyoto, and some not-so-delicious food.
[Read the rest!]Okazaki-jo and Anjo
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Nov 202011
The Tokugawa theme continues from yesterday, when I did some local Tokugawa-related sightseeing today. I visited Okazaki Castle and the Ieyasu and Mikawa Bushido Museum, then went to Anjo to pick up some calligraphy supplies. This time, I took pictures!
[Read the rest!]I’m Only Happy When It Rains
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Nov 192011
In spite of the pouring rain, I went to Nagoya, saw the Tokugawa Art Museum, shopped a bit, and made a full day out of it.
[Read the rest!]Nagoya and the Port Area.
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Nov 122011
A rare sunny Saturday, so I headed to Nagoya. Atsuta Jinja, the Port Area, the Aquarium, and more!
[Read the rest!]ごろごろ and 電子辞書 (Gorogoro and Denshi Jisho)
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Oct 292011
It’s Saturday, and for once it’s not raining. It’s not really sunny, but it’s not raining. I’ll take what I can get. My electronic dictionary is dying, so I’m off to Nagoya to buy a new one, among other things.
[Read the rest!]Running to Nagoya Castle
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Oct 212011
After hearing about an out-of-season blooming cherry tree at Nagoya Castle, I decided to go and check it out after classes ended.
[Read the rest!]The Flowers of Yamasa
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Oct 212011
In breaks between classes, I’ve been trying out the macro function of the IXY on the flowers surrounding Yamasa. (Okay, some are weeds.)
[Read the rest!]The Skies of Okazaki
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Oct 192011
We get 10-minute breaks between classes. I usually go outside and stretch a bit, so lately I’ve been taking photos of the sky with my new IXY.
[Read the rest!]Mall-ed on a Saturday
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Oct 152011
The Nagoya Matsuri was cancelled today due to rain, so I went to Aeon Mall in Okazaki. A lot of other people had the same idea.
[Read the rest!]Oct 042011
I decided to head to Nagoya one more time today, to pick up some odds and ends. Before leaving town, I stopped by the Post Office to take out some money. The postal ATMs are a great deal. There are no fees, other than whatever your bank charges, and there’s English support if you need
[Read the rest!]Sunday Is For Laundry, and Another Trip to Nagoya.
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Oct 022011
It’s Sunday, a day for laundry, and for going to Nagoya again. So, laundry. I have this really long metal pole that hangs horizontally in the middle of my apartment, over the TV. It’s suspended from the ceiling by two other big metal poles. Apparently this is my clothes dryer. I come from a country
[Read the rest!]Eye Yai Yai
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Sep 282011
I had the hotel’s breakfast again, then went straight to the front desk to take care of two things: my eyes, which now hurt like hell and finding someone who can do something about the stink in the bathroom. Seriously, what is that? It’s not me. It was like that when I got there. A
[Read the rest!]Sprucing Things Up
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Jul 252008
I know I haven’t posted anything in a while, and it’s because I’ve been extremely busy. I also haven’t been traveling much, other than to the beach and mountains, so I didn’t have anything interesting to add. Or if I did, I was just too busy to do it. But now I do have some
[Read the rest!]Nov 142007
I managed to get packed last night, but I was up late doing it. No surprise there. First thing this morning I backed up all of my photos to DVD. I just had this horrible image of a security guy ruining my laptop, all 3,000 photos, with no backup… *shudder* Then it was off to
[Read the rest!]Nov 132007
Busy day today, with ups, downs, and a Krispy Kreme sighting. I started off at 9:30 by running to Ikebukuro to buy a suitcase. Ugh. But I did find one. It’s not the best one I could find, but it was the right mix of cheap and not too shabby. Then breakfast, which was more
[Read the rest!]Nov 122007
Akihabara So on to Akihabara, or Akiba as everyone calls it here. First, I stopped at Asakusabashi station again, as I transferred from the subway to the JR line. I had a wait, so I took some more photos of Asakusabashi station: Asakusabashi platform: Roof detail: Signal lights: My train came in, and I made
[Read the rest!]Nov 122007
Reversal! I was at about 70% today, but I was good enough to go. I decided to keep my plans simple. First off would be Senso-ji in Asakusa. On the way there, I had to change trains at Asakusabashi station. So I took a photo. I got to Asakusa, and headed to Senso-ji. It’s a
[Read the rest!]Nov 112007
I woke up feeling really crummy today. But I decided to head to Odaiba anyway. (Bad idea.) I should have had a clue when I was feeling wonky riding the subway… but I didn’t. I pressed on. The longer I rode the Oedo Line, the worse I felt. I had to ride for 15-20 minutes
[Read the rest!]Nov 102007
Long day. I got up early, researched some ideas, and settled on hitting Nakano Broadway, because it’s full of all kinds of shops, some of which I may be interested in. Since Time Out recommended a trip, I figured I’d give it a shot. I hopped on the Chuo Rapid to Nakano, got there, and
[Read the rest!]Nov 092007
I’m going to use my new favorite phrase now. So I was shopping in Ginza today… … yeah, that’s my new favorite phrase. Some massive stores in Ginza (with matching prices, I’m sure!) Seibu department store: Anyway, I was shopping in Ginza today, looking for two stationery stores mentioned in Time Out Tokyo. But first,
[Read the rest!]Nov 082007
Leaving Sendai Finally made it to Tokyo. A brief synopsis of the day: First, a jar of KitKats. Yep, a glass jar full of KitKats. Never seen one of those! I got up early to make my 10 a.m. checkout, went to the station, and made some calls overseas to the family. (Hi family!) I
[Read the rest!]Nov 072007
Oku-Matsushima, A Hidden Gem… If you could hide something that big. At the station, I got on the train to Nobiru. When I got there, I talked to the lady in the shop at the station, and rented the bicycle (there’s only one, and it was available!) for 300 yen for 4 hours. I was
[Read the rest!]Nov 072007
Today I went to Matsushima. Matsushima is one of the traditional Three Famous Sights You Have to See in Japan. Miyajima is one of the others, and the third is the Heavenly Bridge, which I had to skip due to time constraints. Matsushima is Japanese for Pine Island or Islands, since nouns in Japanese can
[Read the rest!]Nov 052007
Togakushi. Tooi. After some false starts, I finally got communications with the travel and tourism office people to work. I decided to head to Togakushi. It’s a close-ish town with mountains, trees, not many people, and a famous cedar-lined path that leads to a famous local shrine. I know I’m burned out on shrines, but
[Read the rest!]Nov 052007
Another day in Nagano. Lots of walking. LOTS of it. I got up late. I slept in until 9:30 a.m. because I was tired. I’m sure Nagano has a lot of great Olympic-related sights, but I decided to skip those. It just didn’t do anything for me, and if I can’t ride the bobsled, what’s
[Read the rest!]Nov 032007
It’s Saturday in Osaka, and time to go see more stuff. This will be my last full day in Kansai, so I want to make the most of it. I got up at 8 a.m., slowly got my act together, and made sure to get to the Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) by 10:00 a.m., when it
[Read the rest!]Nov 022007
Today I left fun fun Fukuoka for Osaka. The shinkansen ride took about 2:45, and I got there right at 1:45 p.m. The way the shinkansen works is that it runs on special tracks designed for high-speed rail. This means that not every station is equipped to handle these trains. So Instead of going to
[Read the rest!]Nov 012007
Last night in Hiroshima I tried to do laundry again. It’s not always easy to find a hotel that has coin-operated washers that work. Even though the 5,000-7,000 yen a night business hotels tend to have them, they aren’t always in the best shape. I give you the hotel I stayed in last night as
[Read the rest!]Oct 312007
I spent about 30-40 minutes at Itsukushima Shrine, then had to hoof it up the mountain to the ropeway, because it was starting to get late in the day. The Ropeway is a gondola-type thing that hangs from a cable system and carries you up the mountains, because otherwise you’d be there climbing for a
[Read the rest!]Oct 312007
Ferry to Miyajima After a one-hour rest break, I left for Miyajima, one of the three most beautiful sights in Japan, according to something someone famous said in the 17th century. Miyajima, the Heavenly Bridge near Kyoto, and Matsushima were the three most beautiful sights in Japan. To this day, they’re all “must see” places.
[Read the rest!]Oct 312007
I had a big day in Hiroshima and Miyajima today. I started off with a trip to what they call “The A-Bomb Dome.” (The Genbaku Dome if you want to say it in Japanese.) It’s a famous building that was still standing after the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Other buildings were left
[Read the rest!]Oct 302007
Chipped Teeth on Rye. I made it to Hiroshima just now. And I somehow managed to chip one of my teeth on a sandwich. A sandwich. A soft, chewy, delicious sandwich. Dammit. Now I’ve got this rough spot on my teeth that I can’t stop rubbing with my tongue. So now my tongue is sore.
[Read the rest!]Oct 292007
For my last night in Kyoto (which was last night), I went back to Isetan’s 11th floor. This time I went back to my chicken and pizza places for a second raid. Good stuff. Later that night my stomach paid me back in spades. That’s why I bring the Pink Stuff with me on a
[Read the rest!]Oct 282007
Another busy day. Not as good as yesterday, but yesterday was hard to beat. I started off my day by doing laundry at 7:30 a.m. Doing laundry in Japan is kind of handy. I say “kind of” because it has its limits. I’ve noticed that all of the coin-operated washers that I have come across
[Read the rest!]Oct 272007
Here’s my nightcap report. After I got back and recharged for a couple of hours, I headed back to Kyoto Station and Isetan’s 11th floor. FYI– The mall stores and the stores in Isetan in Kyoto Station close at 8PM, and the restaurants all close at 9PM. I made it in time to go to
[Read the rest!]Oct 272007
Wow. I’m totally wiped out. I saw a bunch of stuff after all, in spite of a persistent light rain that wasn’t more than slightly annoying. Ginkakuji For starters, I took the subway and then grabbed a bus to Ginkakuji (the Silver Pavilion). On the bus ride there, I saw a great sight I wish
[Read the rest!]Oct 262007
I’m back in Kyoto, safely out of Okazaki now, although I kind of miss Okazaki. The Sky Is Crying Way Too Much I’m so happy to finally be dry. Why is it whenever I go to Kyoto, it rains? (Does two trips count enough for a “whenever?”) It started this morning, during “The TP incident,”
[Read the rest!]Oct 242007
Okazaki Castle happens to be too far away for me to get to today. But at least I have a way to show you where I am on an interactive map. (It’s in Japanese, but a map is a map.) http://tinyurl.com/3d6cgv There’s a zoom-scale-slider-thing at the bottom of the map, to change it from 500m
[Read the rest!]Oct 232007
Something I saw yesterday that I forgot to mention– I was walking by the local high school, and it sits on top of a pretty steep hill. Well, I saw the baseball team out there, in their uniforms, acting lively and cheering, while someone was blowing a whistle. Intrigued, I looked as I passed by,
[Read the rest!]Oct 232007
Yesterday was interesting. I got up at 8 a.m. I was freezing, and my throat was killing me. The window had been leaking cold air into my room, and it was right above where my head is on the bed. (Or was– I moved the other way on the bed so my head and feet
[Read the rest!]Oct 202007
I just got back to Okazaki from Kyoto, and today was great. Sun! Beautiful sun! I dumped my luggage in a locker at the station, and talked to the very helpful ladies on the 9th floor of Kyoto Station in the tourist office: by all means, go there. Try to get to Kyoto well before
[Read the rest!]Oct 192007
I managed to salvage a nice evening out tonight. I thought about going to Gion (the place with all the geisha), but I’m going to save that for when I return to Kyoto later in my trip. I have to return here to see everything I want to see. First I stopped by the local
[Read the rest!]Oct 192007
So I made it to Kyoto, and guess what? It’s raining like crazy. And guess what I left behind in Okazaki? Yes, my rain gear, what there was of it, anyway. I managed to make it to Kiyomizudera (emphasis on the mizu today, I guess), and I took a bunch of pictures there. Like any
[Read the rest!]Oct 182007
I finally made it to the hotel in Kyoto. It’s the Urban Hotel Kyoto, another business hotel. Business hotels are a good deal for cheapskates like me. You get a tiny room, a tiny bed, a tiny bathroom, a TV, a fridge, and you don’t pay a whole lot. The fridge was an unexpected bonus
[Read the rest!]Oct 152007
Today was a slow day. I got up early, fiddled with setting up the website (I finally figured out why it wouldn’t resolve), did my homework, went to class, then rested. All of the running around from this weekend took a lot out of me. On the upside, I’m learning a lot in the Japanese
[Read the rest!]Oct 142007
I went back to Nagoya today, because even though I got sunburned, the festival was going to go on with or without me. I rode my evil little bicycle to the station today, because even though it’s uncomfortable, it beats walking. On the way to the station, I saw two guys riding on the same
[Read the rest!]Oct 132007
Big day today! For starters, I woke up at 7 a.m. On a Saturday. Can’t help it. Then I did laundry at the laundromat next to the QuickMart. I lead an exciting life! Laundry was completed without much incident. Wandering in Nagoya Then I set off for Nagoya. This time the trains worked! At first,
[Read the rest!]Oct 122007
I had a fun evening, and things are slow, so I’ll tell you all about it now, because I have super-fast Ethernet. I decided to go to Nagoya for dinner. I thought it would be fun to go to the station, which I hear is one of the largest train stations in the world, and
[Read the rest!]Oct 122007
Today I discovered a few embarrassing, yet very important things. The 2,000 yen/week bicycle you rent will probably look bad no matter what. The 2,000 yen helmet you get extra somehow makes you look even worse. The 2,000 yen/week bicycle rides even worse than you thought a bicycle could. Using the 2,000 yen/week bicycle means
[Read the rest!]Oct 112007
I’ve been sleeping pretty much all day, and after a long nap, I’m going to bed to sleep for another 8 hours or so. Here are a couple of photos of my room in the Student Village at Yamasa, in case you didn’t see the one in the previous post. The school has a
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