春の花見 - Spring Cherry Blossoms

So, Spring actually happened back in March and April. Sorry about the delayed posting.

 It's only late May now, and it's already the beginning of Summer. I love the seasons in Nagoya (although we'll see if I keep this opinion-- they tell me it will be miserably hot and humid come July and August). I don't update this in a timely manner lately because the novelty of Japan has largely worn off and I've settled into a pretty comfortable routine. There have been a few new adventures, though. I registered for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test -Level 2. Level 1 is the hardest, and 5 is the easiest. I'm pretty sure 2 will be next to impossible for me, but I'll do my best. There will likely be no better time for me to take the test, so I figured I'd at least give it a shot.

And there's more than just studying happening! In March, I finally got to see some Sakura! Those are the Japanese cherry blossoms that are famous around the world. They last only a very short time, maybe a week or so, but it's an important part of Japan. All around the country, people get together in parks to eat and drink beneath the blossoms. In Nagoya, we went to Tsurumai Park where many food stands were set up with music and entertainment. It was a great atmosphere, and the Sakura were beautiful.

Tsurumai Park - 鶴舞公園

Festival Food! TamaSen: Egg, cheese, and condiments between two senbei crackers

A little bit of shenanigans in front of some food stands.

But we can look nice sometimes, too <3

I also walked along the riverside of Yamazaki Gawa, which I hear is designated as one of the top 100 cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan. I can definitely understand why.

Yamazaki River - 山崎側

 

Now I see why Japan is so proud of their sakura. Even when cherry blossom season comes to an end, it's really moving to see the pretty petals gently falling all around you. I've said this before (in the Kyoto post, if I recall correctly), but seriously, I've never been so infatuated with trees before! It's almost silly how many photos I took.

SURPRISE BONUS RANDOM FOOD PICTURE TIME!

So these are real things that I actually spent real money on and really ate. Above, we have a strawberry sandwich. Strawberries, whipped cream, and custard between two slices of white bread. I was surprised at how tasty this was.

Ok, so I didn't actually try these. They were sold at an expensive bakery, and I'm sure they were delicious, but I couldn't afford any at the time. I guess they all used honey as the featured ingredient.  Aren't they cute?

Salami flavored Cheetos. I didn't think they tasted like salami, but they were pretty good.

And wasabi-mayonnaise flavored Pringles. I *love* wasabi, so I was really excited to discover these. I could go for some right now...

Trip #2: Godzilla vs. Alvin-saurus

The saga continues!

After the first food trip around Japan, I was poor and tired. I spent a few days just lounging around my room eating instant ramen like a bum. When I finally decided I was ready to face the world again, I mostly spent it with friends watching Smallville dubbed in Japanese and hanging around a nearby coffee shop.

Before too long, though, my main squeeze Alvin came from the motherland to visit me! I had a rough itinerary planned with the familiar things I wanted to show him and the things we wanted to discover together, and he was on Spring break, so he only had one week to see as much as possible. 

First, I showed him around my adopted Japanese hometown of Nagoya. Or tried to, at least. It rained in the afternoon, so we hid inside for a good part of the day. We did get to see some cherry blossoms at Nagoya Castle, and we ate Nagoya's specialty eel dish, hitsumabushi. In the evening, we went out for some beer and Nagoya's specialty chicken wings, tebasaki. Pretty yum-tastic. Then we hung out (for maybe a little too long) drinking sake with some of my fellow exchange students.

Early the next morning, we caught a bus to Kyoto. I knew that I wanted to take Alvin to the scenic Arashiyama area. I took him to Togetsukyo Bridge, and this time I got to explore the nearby bamboo forest.

Afterwards, we did some walking and got food around Kyoto's Gion district. The early start and all of the walking tired us out, so we headed to our hotel for a rest before heading out to Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was dark by the time we made it to Fushimi Inari, but the lighting through the looooong path or red torii gates made some interesting shadows.

The next day, we went to the golden temple Kinkakuji (you may remember it from my Kyoto blog post back in November) before hopping on a train to Osaka. I had already been to Osaka earlier that month, but I love food, and it was very important to me that Alvin taste some of my favorite dishes. I didn't really see anything new this time in Osaka, but we ate plenty of takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba for a day before heading towards Hiroshima on the Shinkansen!

Shinkansen literally translates to "New Trunk Line" which is the name of the route, but it's commonly referred to in English as the Bullet Train. I've been told it can travel up to 270 km/hour. It was a very nice, comfortable ride, too. It was expensive, though, but since we had a lot to see on a short schedule, it was really the only option.

It was the first time visiting Hiroshima for both Alvin and me. The first thing we did was head to the nearby island of Miyajima to see the "floating" torii. The island can only be accessed by a short ferry ride that had some nice views of the shrine and torii. The island itself was really scenic, too, and the road to the shrine was lined with plenty of cute shops and restaurants... and lots of deer (not as many as I saw in Nara, but way more than I expected). When we made it to the shrine, the famous torii did not disappoint.

In the evening, we were lucky enough to return to our hostel in time for an okonomiyaki party in the lobby. The manager prepared some Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki for us while we chatted with the other travelers there. Eventually, he handed over his spatulas so that some of the guests could try their hand at cooking, and Alvin got some one-on-one okonomiyaki coaching.

We spent the next day exploring the city of Hiroshima. It is a nice, quiet city with some interesting sights. The most well-known part of Hiroshima is the A-bomb Dome and Peace Park. A-bomb Dome was the only building in the area that was still standing after the atomic bomb was dropped in WWII. This area was definitely less cheery than the rest of our trip, but still worthwhile and interesting.

After visiting this spot, we decided to lighten the mood with some yummy Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki! So, you're probably asking "Amanda, what's the difference between Hiroshima's okonomiyaki and Osaka's?" Allow me to explain. Osaka or Kansai-style okonomiyaki is prepared with cabbage and batter and fixings all mixed up and then grilled and topped with sauce and mayo. In Hiroshima, they prepare the ingredients separately and then layer them. First, the batter, then some cabbage, some meats or cheeses or whatever toppings you like, some egg, and some noodles. It's all topped with the same okonomi sauce and mayo, and it is delish.  It's also HUGE. Alvin and I thought about splitting one, but when we saw the tiny Japanese women in the restaurant effortlessly devouring them, we decided we had to maintain our street cred and each order our own. 

Stuffed to the max, we hobbled back over to the train station and caught the Shinkansen once more for Nagoya. The final night was a relaxing evening hanging out with some more of my friends at the dorm, and on the final day, I helped Alvin pack up and head to the airport to head back to the States.

It was a whirlwind-tour around 4 Japanese cities, and we both had a great time!

旅行 Traveling

My super-long semester break is coming to an end. This break was filled with lots of traveling and LOTS of food. I hope you like food pics! Although I am now completely broke after 2 big trips around the country, I can honestly say it was totally worth it.

So let's start with trip #1...

大阪
After finishing my first semester at Nagoya University, I embarked on a journey with 4 of my favorite European girls. We decided early on that this was a "food trip", which became our excuse for what was basically 10 days of gluttony. The first stop was Osaka. We were mainly here because the budget airline we were flying with leaves from this airport, but it was the perfect beginning to a food trip. Osaka is famous for food and for it's lively atmosphere, so we were sure to hit up the popular spot called Doutonbori where we found plenty of things to eat.

Above: That octopus is holding a piece of takoyaki, which is a ball of batter filled with pieces of octopus. Cannibalism seemed to be a reoccurring theme in restaurant storefronts.

Below: A yummy example of this takoyaki I'm talking about.

In addition to takoyaki, Osaka is famous for a dish called okonomiyaki (pictured above). Osaka-style okonomiyaki is made with a batter filled with cabbage and anything else you like (we chose things like pork, shrimp, and cheese). It's then grilled and topped with a yummy sauce and plenty of mayo.

Random beer vending machine.

We did take a few breaks from eating to explore some sights like the Umeda sky building, Tsūtenkaku Tower, and this shrine. I've forgotten the name, and we collectively decided that shrines at night have a really creepy, this-is-the-kind-of-place-where-they-could-do-human-sacrifices vibe. This photo doesn't really capture that feeling, but trust me on this one. 

札幌／雪祭り
After stuffing ourselves in Osaka, we hopped on a plane and flew to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. We came for Sapporo's famous Snow Festival, and we weren't disappointed. There was a ridiculous amount of snow. More than I've ever seen in my life. They bring in snow from all over the island for snow and ice sculptures, but there were mountains of snow all around (and on top of) us.

It's not surprising that Sapporo is well-known for delicious dishes that warm a body up after chilly outdoor adventures. It's also not surprising that we attempted to eat all of them.


Butter Corn Ramen with seafood:

Ishikari Nabe. A hot pot with salmon, bacon, butter, and some veggies that cooks down into the best stew I've ever eaten:

Genghis Khan (grilled lamb named after the famous Mongol):

 東京
After playing in the snow for a few days, we headed to Tokyo. Tokyo is huge, crowded, and expensive, but we still had a great time exploring this famous city.

 The skinny building to the left is the new Tokyo Sky Tree. It's known for being new, tall, and kind of cool looking. The golden turd on the right is the headquarters for Asahi Breweries. It's known for the statue that's supposed to represent a drop of foam from the head of a beer, but mostly just looks like an enormous poo.

There's also the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor of Japan lives. It's free to enter the Imperial Gardens. What a nice guy.

Imperial Trees in the Imperial Garden

Imperial Swans in the Imperial Moat

 And Tokyo Tower. It's famous for being a TV tower...in Tokyo.

 

 As you may have noticed, I was a bit underwhelmed by Tokyo. Outside of the city, however, were a few places that I found much more interesting. We went to Yokohama where we saw the sea and almost visited a Cup Ramen museum (it was closed that day), we went to the whimsical Ghibli museum in Mitaka, and we went to Kamakura where we saw (and went inside of!) the 2nd largest Buddha statue in Japan. FYI: The largest is the Daibutsu in Nara, which I'm pretty sure I already blogged about. In Kamakura, we also went on a surprise hike and found some interesting places. It started with things like "Here's some creepy stairs. Let's climb them!" and "Here's a creepy cave. Let's go inside!" 

Climbing the creepy stairs

Beautiful view from the surprise hiking course at the top of the creepy stairs

Beautiful shrine at the other side of the creepy cave which was at the end of the surprise hike

 Since we were all going broke by the end of this trip, and since Tokyo isn't really famous for many specific foods, this became our fast-food period. But it's still a food trip, so it still counts.

Japanese McDonalds! Or, in Japanese: Maku Donarudo. The Europeans got the "Texas Burger" with some BBQ sauce, bacon, and a few extra meat patties. I got the "Ebi Filet-O" which is like a filet-o-fish, but with shrimp.

 

This is a yakitori donburi (grilled chicken and rice) from a Japanese fast-food place called Yoshinoya. Japan totally wins at fast-food.

And we found Fro-yo! Also called frozen yogurt by those of you who don't use abrevs. It was just like home, but cuter. It's self-serve, and in the end, we decided our choice in toppings matched our personalities. Mine is the bottom-left (strawberries, brownies, panda cookies, marshmallows, and m&ms). What do you think?

So that's trip #1 in a nutshell. It was a long trip, and exhausting, but fun. Much like composing this blog post. I think I'll save trip #2 for another post.

お正月：The New Year and A January Re-cap

 

January has come and gone, and it was quite a month. First of all, I rang in the New Year in the Western style with some European friends. It started with dinner and then led to a karaoke/dance party with a countdown and general noise making at midnight. We stayed up all night and watched the first sunrise of 2013 (hatsuhinode = 初日の出) from my dormitory rooftop. Even though I was exhausted by this point, I powered through and went to Atsuta Shrine for the first shrine visit of the New Year (hatsumode = 初詣). I got my fortune or omikuji. I drew “half-fortune”. Some other possibilities were great fortune, small fortune, great curse, small curse, etc. I think half-fortune is good, since the Japanese girl that accompanied us told me that I can keep it instead of folding it and tying it up at the shrine in hopes that my fortune will wait there instead of following me.

The First Sunrise of 2013

A week later, a Japanese student group organized a day of traditional New Years activities. We drew the kanji for one of our wishes or goals for the year. I wrote 決、which means decision, in hopes that I will finally decide what direction I want my life and career to go in. We also made some mochi! For me, this was the best part of the day…probably because it involved making food. To make mochi, we pounded rice with a wooden mallet until it made a sticky paste, and then added it to some red-bean soup. It was pretty tough. The rice got really sticky, and the mallet was a little heavy for my puny arms, but it was really fun (and yummy!).

Mochitsuki

There were some other fun, new, non-new-yearsy experiences, too. I saw The Hobbit in a Japanese cinema (lucky for me, it was in English with Japanese subtitles), and I went to a cat café! They were both weird. No one laughed at any jokes in the movie, and the cat café was cats, but no café (but they were soft and adorable and a couple of them really liked me, so it’s ok).

The Hobbit

I also went to a botanical garden near Nagoya called Nabana-no-Sato. They don't have so many flowers in the wintertime, so they assemble some impressive lights or illuminations. It was cold, but amazing to see.

It’s also the end of my first semester in Japan. Time really flies. A lot of people are leaving, and I don’t care for goodbyes (I already get sad thinking about leaving here). I feel lucky to have met so many interesting people. I’m looking forward to getting to know the people who are staying and the new people who will arrive next semester.

At first, I was pretty discouraged about my Japanese abilities. This semester, I think I really have improved my Japanese after all, but I still have a long way to go in terms of what I want to achieve. I say it often, but I really need to practice speaking Japanese, and I need to practice reading on my own more. I’m determined to make myself study in between semesters. That’s going to be a little difficult though, because tomorrow I will leave for an awesomely long trip with my European friends to Osaka, Sapporo, and Tokyo! I’m bringing a Japanese book along with me, so at least I have some good intentions…