Tokyo trip 3

November 5th, 2006, cloudy

For those people who know who this girl is in the picture below, yeah, it's my childhood best friend!! Did I go back to Taiwan? No, she came to Tokyo! To see me? of course not, to see art! Did I go to Tokyo to see her, of course! and to play too. It was actually a coincidence that she happened to visit Tokyo while I was in Tokyo. So, in the midst of our busy schedule, we managed to meet for breakfast. It was almost a surreal experience that we could meet each other after 8 years, and in a country foregin to both of us. I just want to say, I miss her! So, here we were in front of Shinagawa train station in Tokyo.

After breakfast, Mayo and I headed for Yokohama city. Even though it is in another prefecture, it is very easy to get to Yokohama by train. Yeah, you guessed it, we again planned our route the night before.


Huh? Woodstock? Yes, there is a snoopy town at the Yokohama Mirai shopping centre. Since I really like snoopy, I practically defleted my wallet there. Look! Udonstock is also making her mark!

After hanging around the huge mall and some crazy purikura sessions with Mayo, we headed to Yokohama's Chinatown for lunch. We were both really hungry at that time, so decided to get some all you can eat dimsum. Gosh, I miss Chinese food so much!

Here is a side note about Yokohama's Chinatown. I think even though that Chinatown is pretty big and busy, it is very much assimilated with Japanese culture. I couldn't really find anything that's authentic Chinese there. I would say I like the Chinatown in Kobe more.

After lunch, Mayo and I were too tired to go to all the places we had planned the day before. So I decided to just go to Yokohama's original international harbour and the Yokohama International Doll Museum.

Tokyo trip 2

November 4th, 2006, cloudy

Well, you can't say you have been to Tokyo without going to Dinsey World right? So, of course then I went to Disney Sea. Disney Sea is similar to Disney Land with Disney stories that take place on water.

There is a special train (still part of the city transit) that is designated to take people to either Disney Land or Disney Sea. See this Mickey Mouse door? It tell you you are going to Disney!!

Mayo and I arrived Disney Sea around 9 am. We had our entire route and events planned out the night before so we don't waste too much time. Rumour has it that line ups at Disney is long long and long. Yes, it is. Fortunately there was this fast track system which tells us when to come back to the rides so we can use the time in between to do other things, like watch shows. So, here I was, while waiting for our first ride, trying to make this machine fly.

Greet and Smile, all the Disney Sea characters come ashore to say hello to everyone. Too bad we spent too much time figuring out our ways... so, missed the chance to take pictures with them :(

After many activities and shows in between, our rides finally began. Let's see, how many did we get on? There was 20,000 league under sea, journey to the centre of the earth, a boat cruise touring Disney Sea, Indian Jones, and Tower of Terror (did I get the name right Mayo? or was it Town of Horror, or....?) . So, about 5-6 rides with an hour of wait in between each one. I would say the rides are not particularly scary because they are designed for kids, but they are certainly full of fun and advanture!


Wondering what we did while we waited for our rides? Well, you can see here, we ate, watched 3 amazing acqubatic shows, and walked, walked and walked....... until about 8pm at night. By the end, my feet almost died. I think Mayo's were, already dead.....

Tokyo trip 1

November 3rd, 2006, cloudy

Arrived Tokyo and met up with Mayo around 2pm on this day. I really must say and Mayo and I do work very well together. We planned our entire trip before I went to Tokyo. So, without delay, we headed for Asakusa 浅草. Asakusa is a bit north of Tokyo city central; it has a famous temple and a street of concession stands selling omiyage and snacks.

Even though I am not superstitious, it looked fun to draw a fortune. But I got #44!! (those of my Chinese friends... you know what that means....) but it was a good luck charm though. so, I thought it was very ironic and kept the descriptino slip in my journal. wahaha!!

Wondering what this is? There is a kind of Japanese food called Oden. It is similar to Chinese hotpot. What I am eating here is a kind of oden. It is seaweed cake with miso sauce on a stick! Ahhh... yummy but so salty!

After visiting many many food concessions, I concluded my lunch at Asakusa with this yummy sweet. It is candy dipped in wheat caramel. Mayo got one with strawberry in it. I think hers is probably better cuz mine was too sweet....

Right after Asakusa, we went to Akihabara 秋葉原- The Electric city. You can really find fancy electronics, and anime stuff there. Even sexy lamps!! Akihabara is great especially for geeks and nerds who are crazy for anime. (like my next door neighbour Matt ^^)

I concluded my first day in Tokyo at Akihabara. Oh yeah, this is a concession stand selling canned oden. When Mayo first told me they sell these hot in vending machines in the winter too, I couldn't believe it. Now, I saw it for myself!!

My first enkai 宴会

Have you ever seen Japanese style social gathering on Japanese drama? Looks familiar? I was invited by my base school to a social gathering to celebrate the success of the anual cultural festival at the school. Wonder what the long hall space in the middle is for? Well, it is for people to go around and pour others drinks and to talk. So, the teachers that went on that night really went table to table to talk to each other. I am never comfortable with this kind of events and especially I had to speak Japanese. So, I just sat at my table for people to come talk to me.


k, enough with the customs. The food they served that night was really extravagent. First, we started with some seafood salad mix and tempura.

Then workers in kimono dress came in to light a nabe pot for us. It had mochi, rice noodles and some mushrooms.


Of course it is not Japanese food without sashimi. this was my favourite dish that night.

Well, they also served like 3 main dishes (though the portion was small), but I was too busy eating and forgot to take pictures.....


Last but not least, a light soup of taro root and dried bean to finish the night.

Another thing I found really funny was that everyone there was busy socializing and nobody cared to eat. So, they all left the food to cool and rushed it down at the end of the night. How strange eh?

my apartment

Finally, finally, my apartment is all set up!! Everywhere is comfy and clean. However, even though my supervisor and the landlady have promise to replace the old kitchen counter top and the floor, they have yet done so!! grhh....!!

Anyways, here is a shot of my livingroom. It is a 6 tatami room. The window looks out to the balcony where I do my laundry and communicate with two co-workers next door. To the left of this photo where you can't see, is a bookshelf and a futon storage.

A shot of my kitchen. You can see the livingroom on the left of this picture. The is kitchen is quite spacious, has a lot of cabinets. But the gas stove top is pretty small, so I always have to be careful not to spill food when I cook!!

Parallel to the livingroom and the kitchen is an extra room which I haven't used very much. I only leave my work materials in there and perhaps will use it as a guest room. Any ideas?

Well, surprised to see my room so tidy? Yeah, me too. My bedroom is also a 6 tatami room. Big and comfortable. Where I stood to take this photo is the door and connected to the kitchen. The right side is the back of the bookshelf and futon storage in the livingroom. The windows look out to the street and neighbourhood. To the left of this photo is my dresser.

Haha, last but not least, bathroom. This room is parallel to my bedroom, and in between is a tiny toilet room with the space of one man. Yeah, after living in Vancouver for so many years, everything in Japan seems very narrow and crowded.


Well, this is it. The grand tour. any questions? curious? Ask me!! ^^

kyoto trip 4

October 9th (continuded)

On top of the Kyoto train station, you can over see the city. notice that there is no other high rise than this very tall torch looking building in the centre of this picture? This tall building is the Kyoto tower. It was built for during the Olympic games in Japan in the 60s. It symbolizes candle light in the night. It in fact caused a lot of controversies when it was being built. The Kyoto ministry of landscaping insists on keeping the buildings in the city relatively the same for environment and asthetic purpose. This way everyone can see almost everywhere of Kyoto city on top of any building in Kyoto, and the traditional landscape is also maintained this way.

After visiting the top of Kyoto station, Taiko and I decided to head off to Kobe early to visit the famous Chinatown!! It was the mid-autumn festival for Chinese people this weekend, so the Chinatown was very busy and lively. Look at me with mr. Piggy. Why now, does he think his own kind is delicious?!! Well, I really miss Chinese food, it's no easy to get equivalent ingredient in Oita to cook Chinese food, so, I had Chinese burger and bubble tea for dinner, yum yum yum!!

Kobe port was the last spot I visited before my ferry. Too bad there was no ferry arriving at this beautiful harbour when I visited that weekend. Next time, I will definitely come here to explore the dramatic history of Kobe harbour.

A picture of the remains of the horrific earthquake in Kobe in 1995. Taiko says Kobe will always remain 80% revived because Kobe is always under so many attacks of nature disasters, and the city can't keep up with the reconstruction. It was too bad that I didn't have time to read and look at the pictures about Kobe earthquake on display in a memorial hall beside the harbour, yup, yup, next time......

kyoto trip 3

Continued from last blog, after lunch, we took the JR to a place called Uji. Uji city is full of history. Part of the world famous "Tales of Genji" novel 源氏物語 is believed to have taken place in Uji.


Uji city is also famous for this palace called Byotoyin 平等院. This was a place of worship and study of Buddhism for a very well respected scholar from the 11th century. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it was too late to go visit inside, so, I could only get some pictures from the outside. Still pretty magnificant.
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October 9th, 2006, sunny

since I had to catch the overnight ferry home that night, we decided not to go too far. So, here we are, Ritsumeikan University- sister school of University of British Columbia! Oh yeah, there is also a clock tower at Ritsumeikan University. Imagine two more buildings on each side of this picture, that's about how big the campus is. Compared to UBC, it is rather small, but I think it is just right ^^

kyoto trip 2

Continued from the previous posting, Ryoanji is a zen garden. If you look closely, you will see the roofs become narrower as they converge. This is designed to create an illusion for the eye that the garden does not seem narrow at corners.

This is also a shot at the same zen garden. Taiko told me the chain under the roof gutter is for the raindrops to drip along so that they do not make sounds as they hit the ground to disturb the thinkers of zen. Pretty clever eh?

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October 8th, 2006, sunny

Mariko could not join me and Taiko yesterday, so we went to meet up with her today. A shot of the Kyoto train station. Kyoto train station is connected to several department stores, so it is always busy, always BIG

After we met up with Mariko, we went to another zen garden. Too bad the red maple viewing season does not start until early to mid November, so it was still mostly green. In some local restaurants, you can see people have taken pictures or created paintings of the four seasons of this exact spot where we stand here. Extremely beautiful I must say.

Famous local cuisine-marinated fish in soba noodle soup. yum yum yum!!!

Kyoto trip 1

October 6th, 2006, cloudy

A friend in Oita told me that there is an inner sea between Oita 大分 and Kobe 神戸, so there is overnight ferry from Oita to Kobe at very affordable price. I can then transfer from Kobe to Kyoto 京都. Therefore, I tried to pack as lightly as possible, and took off to Kobe on the evening of October 6th.

Due to serious turbulance and strong currents, the ferry was delayed for 2 hours......
Because of this though, I saw Golden Gate Bridge in Japan. Well, I have no idea about the name of this bridge. I just thought it looks like it. ^^

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October 7th, 2006
As soon as I arrived, Taiko and I met up. Taiko took me to the famous kinkakuji 金閣寺near her apartment. Yup it is really gold! Shimmering under the sun! Taiko told me that the building used to be a cottage house for a shogun 将軍. The outside is put up by a special gold-leafing technique. Now it is considered a national treasure.

Another shot if it, with beautiful pine trees and back drop.

Anyone knows whwat kind of roof this is? Yes, it is thatch! I would not know about this if I didn't teach Social studies 8 this year. It really is not common to see thatched roof nowadays.

Then Taiko took me to a zen garden, called Ryoanji　龍安寺. I really liked it there. Before I knew nothing about zen. Only to know that it is a study about peace in the surroundings. After visiting Ryoanji, I learned that zen is more about self-realization and the environment. I particularly like this one. It says 吾唯知足- can be translated to be we only know to be content.
More pictures to come!!

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki- Japanese for choosing your own topping pizza!! お好み焼き

There are general two types of Okonomiyaki. One is the DIY type; the other is to have the kitchen make it for you. The DIY type is known as the Osaka style. You can choose a variety of toppings. I had mochi, squid, corn and spinich I believe. yum yum!!



Here is me making my first DIY okomiyaki!! いただきます！！

school days

To be honest, work in Japan is really not stressful for me. Since I am only a teaching assistant, I do not really need to prepare for lessons, nor do I mark tests and homework. A lot of times at junior high schools I just need to make sure students have the correct pronunciation, and that they spell the words correctly.

Oh yeah, this is actually what I do in Japan (of course I am joking!!). Well, I sure do miss those sports meets when I was in Taiwan. Now I get a chance to watch it as a spectator, it feels kind of unfamiliar though.

Occasionally, I get to teach at kindergarten for one day. You have no idea how cute everything is at a kindergarten. Visitors like me are appreciated to eat lunch with the students. The lunchboxes are so small, yet so adorable!!

Since Oita is quite country side, sometimes I have to travel up into the mountains to teach. I once went to this one kindergarten where there are only 6 children. When the teache told me about it, I thought she meant 6 teachers at this school. Then she said there would be 3 more children from the other side of the mountain joining us, I realized she wasn't joking!! ahhh... cute, cute, cute~~

I notice public elementary school students don't have to wear uniform. But they put on these serving uniform at lunch time to serve lunch. they look like tiny cooks!!

my first matsuri!

MATSURI- Japanese for festival. 祭り

A collegue and her friend took us to a local dance festival. Here is a list of sponsors decorated in lanterns!! It really is amazing how dedicated and proud Japanese people are about these local festivals.

oh yeah, a festival is not a festival without concession stands. Lots of yummy food!!

yes, me with another fan. This is the centre stage of the dance festival. Local organizations take turn coming onto the stage to perform.

Look how extravegant the costumes are. People in Japan really take these annual festivals seriously. This is a dance festival. Man, the dances are very very slow though. Took the entire group almost one hour and a half to go around a school track !!