Our trip to Kyoto was so cool! It was so fun to see it’s beautiful streets. I also found it really awesome that Fuka was able to join us she was so kind and friendly! My favorite place we visited was the Nijo Castle in which Tokugawa Ieyasu used to display his power. The Castle was huge and walking inside made it easier to imagine what experiencing the Edo era might have felt like. It was also really cool to see the room where the Tokugawa era was declared ended. I felt moved imagining what the feelings were in that room that day.  In Kyoto I also visited the bathhouse around the corner from our Airbnb. That was so cool and I wish I had gone to it sooner!! Visiting Kyto has been the coolest expereince for my so far!

I really enjoyed our day trip to Magome it made sense why it was a destination spot for so many travelors around the world. My favorite part of visiting Magome was the free tea shed available for hikers. I thought that was a really sweet way to connect people. It made me feel so welcomed. The water at Magome was so clear! I belive its the most clear water I have ever seen. While towards the end I felt really tired, the walk was so worth it and beautiful. I’m glad we got to visit.

I’ve used up two full highlight reels now and I’m approaching a third, I’ve taken so many pictures it’s crazy. Kyoto was pretty overwhelming on the first day with all of the people. After the first day I was able to find some nice places that weren’t as crowded, and I really enjoyed the places we visited, as well as walking along the river in the rain. Being able to go for walks at night and come back whenever I wanted was fun.

The most recent thing we did was a trip to ghibli park, but I may save this for my week three post because I’m pretty sure we’re on week three right now and I’m a week late. My favorite temple in Kyoto was probably sanjusangendo, and it was awesome that a monk was there chanting suttras. There are so many places I want to show my mom if/when I study abroad and she visits.

During the Kyoto trip, I found myself along the shops in the Nishiki market. The shops had treats like spicy ice cream and wagyu sticks. Needless to say, walking through that street hungry was a bad idea. But alas, that is in fact what I did. So as I scanned the array of options for a snack, something caught my eye. It was crab tempura. I’ve never seen anything other than vegetables as tempura so I thought “hmm I wonder if this will be good” but I decided not to get it because what if something better was just around the corner?

There were many options around the corner, but that crab tempura was stuck in my head. I guess that meant I had to try it! So I did, and it was amazing. The best tempura I’ve ever had 🙂

At the end of the first week in Japan, Breanna and I visited the Nagoya Port Aquarium which is located near the port (surprise!) in the southern part of the city. Even though it was very crowded, we were able to explore different sea creatures and attend two shows. The first show we watched was with dolphins. They have been jumping and performing different tricks for the audience. The second show was with orcas. There were two of them and their size was huge! They also jumped out of the water but not as high as dolphins did due to their large size. We have also seen a feeding of penguins. There were a lot of them in the tank and their behavior was very funny because they were so excited for food that they kept swimming back and forth in the water. Additionally, we saw a lot of different unusual sea creatures like sea warms (that’s not their actual name but they looked like warms so we named them that). The Aquarium had a lot of merch with them and we even bought key chains with these funny sea creatures 🙂

Is this the best way to space the posts? um,,,, \_(o~o)_/

I thought the Hikone Castle was really cool. Seeing a fully built out castle complex was nice, and there was a ton to do there. The garden was really peaceful. A couple of us explored town trying to find something to eat, and found a pasta place which was pretty good. There we held a Hiko-Nyan conference. If only we also got to see the mascot at the castle as well 🙁 . I think Hiko-Nyan liked the smell of the food, 多分。

I had a great time at Kyoto I was able to see a bunch of amazing temples have a bunch of good food and was able to try 2 different bath houses. My favorite part of the trip was my adventure to Kurama where I got to see a temple after closing hours and go to an onsen in the mountains it was beautiful there.

I’m having lots of fun not that I know the area pretty well. The commute to Nanzan is starting to take it’s toll, however the break in Kyoto from the hill next to 7/11 has been nice. I’m extremely happy with the gym membership I was able to get and I keep learning more in Yagoto. I tried blowfish and sea urchin in the same night at a sushi bar, I liked the blowfish, and didn’t really like the sea urchin honestly.

As we head to Kyoto I’m looking forward for a change in scenery but also expecting a lot more tourists ewhich is disappointing.

Unfortunately the deadline for the final project is coming up, but I’ll have plenty of time to get it done. (I think!)

I hope I have lots of fun in Kyoto, and have a good return back to Nagoya.

So I probably sound like a broken record with expressing how much I love character goods but– this was really peak for me okay.

Yesterday was just a really good day, I started off by taking with the housekeeper at the Kenshu center (Fukui San?) and was able to practice Japanese and at the end he wanted a picture together, it was really sweet.

Then I went to Osu kannon and got misokatsu on sticks it was very enjoyable. And then I went to surugaya, a hobby shop I did not go to yet. It’s organization had me floored, and in each category there were multiple small baskets at the bottom of the shelves with plushies from the series inside. I loved looking through them and found some really good quality Snow Miku rubber keychains. And then I found their nendroid section! Although there wasn’t a Miku nendroid I wanted I saw a Lio Fotia nendroid (the guy from Promare, the movie I have been talking about); and I had to get him. Also found a cute pokedoll alolan vulpix. Followed this up buy some rhythm gaming at taito.

Then I went to get gyoza for dinner which was really good and affordable!

The program has been a lot of fun so far. I’ve become very familiar with Nagoya at this point, and I’m pretty confident at navigating the city. Our excursions have taken us to a lot of places I wouldn’t have found otherwise, and one of my favorite things to do has been to walk without a plan and see what I find.

The food here is really amazing, and I’ve already fallen into having favorite regular spots to eat. The convenience stores and supermarkets are pretty great too. I’ve been eating a lot of baked goods.

Some highlights so far have been stumbling into a temple, going to the Higashiyama Sky Tower, and accidentally finding a cosplay event in Sakae.

I’m excited to practice my Japanese more in Kyoto.