Kobe, Osaka, Karaoke and Lots of Gyoza

The past few days have been excellent. If not extremely tiring. Since it has been exam week at school, I haven't been required to attend at all, meaning I had heaps of free time on my hands. I decided to spend it with the other foreign students from my school, Miyako and Ellen. Mostly since they are both leaving at the end of next month and we may never see each other again!

On Tuesday we met at school and rode to Teramachi and Shijo to do some shopping. Originally we had planned to see a movie, but over Starbucks it was decided that we would go to karaoke instead (Much to Ellen's dismay). Karaoke was fun, but Ellen had to go and meet her sister so we had to leave fairly quickly. We took purikura and then Ellen left. Afterwards Miyako and I grabbed some KFC to eat. It was my first time eating KFC in Japan, and it wasn't all that different haha. It was filling though, and not too disagreeable. It started raining while we were riding home, which was annoying, but kind of nice since it was so hot that day and helped cool us down a bit.

On Wednesday I met up with Miyako again and we went to a nearby art/craft center where her grandmother works. We tried our hand at making some...things. I don't even know what to call what we did in English, that's how unartistic I am. But it was fun and afterwards we watched a kimono show and then ate lunch at the cafeteria with her grandmother.

Thursday was fantastic. I met up with Miyako again on the bus to Kyoto Station and we caught a train to Osaka. At first we just explored HEP5, a big shopping mall out the front of JR Station Osaka. I went there last time I went to Osaka, and it's most recognizable by the huge ferris wheel on its roof. I saw heaps of stuff I wanted to buy but it was all kind of pricey. 8,400yen for a belt is a bit extreme for me.

After HEP5 we walked around Osaka a bit and where feeling hungry. Lucky for us we stumbled upon Gyoza Stadium! Craig had told me about this place before and said it was great, so I had to go myself. It's kind of like a theme park attraction in the fact that it's very themed to the point where they play mock traditional Japanese songs about gyoza all the time. There are two main seating areas and around each one there are differet stalls set up. They all specialise in different types of gyoza, and they're fairly affordable. So you choose a seat, order from 2 or 3 different stalls and then you can eat all the gyoza you want! It was all really, really good.

Gyoza Stadium was a hit, and I'm definitely going back there sometime. But after that we had no idea what to do! Miyako suggested catching a train on the Hankyu line and going to Sannomiya in Kobe. I thought it was a great idea, since I'd never been to Kobe before. So we set off that way! Sannomiya is great. It's a much more lively and interesting shopping district than anything in Kyoto. There are those digital TV screens on buildings and everything.

After looking around Sannnomiya we started walking towards the sea and Harborland. We had a mission... after trying Gyoza Stadium we had to try Kobe's Sweets Harbor. A themed place like Gyoza Stadium, only specialising in sweets and cakes from all around the world. We finally made it there after a lot of walking and went in. It was designed to feel like a harbor, with the seats being little ships and everything! In Gyoza Stadium fashion there were a lot of different stalls specialising in different things, from ice creams, to cakes, to a stall which boasted to have all the different types of pudding from around the world!

We ordered ice cream first and Miyako went with the random ice cream flavour. The store has a new flavour every day which is a mix of lots of different things, once you order it you have to try and guess what it is! I think this time it was Coffee, Melon and something else all mixed together. I played it safe and went with a Mango ice cream haha. After that we ate this wafer-ish thing with strawberries, custard and cream on it. Very filling.

After Sweets Harbor, I got a message from Carissa who I had emailed knowing she lived in Kobe. I called her and we planned to meet up in Sannomiya for a karaoke get-together, and she was bringing along Felicia, who I had met last time when we all went to Osaka together.

Before catching a train back to Sannomiya I got around to purchasing an ICOCA card. Basically it's this nifty alternative to buying train tickets. You scan the card in at the gate when you go into the station, and then when you go out again at whatever station you end up at; it calculates the fare for you and deducts it from the prepaid charge balance on the card. Better than having to choose which type of ticket to buy every time, which can be annoyng and tricky if you aren't sure.

I've heard I may be changing host families within the next few weeks and will probably be catching a train to and from school, so it will be handy to have. Anyway, we met up with Carissa and Felicia who had just come from school in their school uniforms (Haha) and we went to karaoke. They had to be out of the city by 9PM, since their teachers were apparently patrolling the city to catch any students who were out late at night! Only in Japan. We ended up taking purikura after karaoke and eating McDonalds. I tried the teriyaki burger for the first time and it was rather agreeable, they sure didn't hold back on the mayo though.

After McDonalds we all headed home. Once we were back at Kyoto Station we found out the bus we would normally catch to get home had already finished, so we had to catch another bus that went on a huge detour. I ended up getting off out the front of the Daitokuji and walking home for 20 minutes or so. This wouldn't be too bad, but despite being past 11 at night it was still around 28 degrees or even higher, and ridiculously muggy and humid.

I was home a bit late, which wasn't so good. But this is the first time it's ever happened, so I got let off the hook for now... haha. I need to be more careful about the trains and buses here! I didn't realise how long it would take just to get back home.

Today I am recovering from all the walking done yesterday and just relaxing for my last day off school before classes start again on Monday. Not long to Summer vacation now! How exciting! I have photos from all the stuff I did, and hopefully will get around to putting them up soon!

Ice Cream: My Best Friend

Today I as I was walking home from the local 7/11, I received the strangest 'What-The-Hell!?' stare since I have been in Japan from a father walking along infront of me with his son. I have had the mouth wide open gapes from people riding past me on bikes while I walk to school, but this was on a whole new level. It doesn't surprise me. I haven't showered for 24 hours, it's disgustingly humid and here I was waddling down the road with my skinny leg jeans, thongs and an obscenely brightly coloured yellow Astro Boy shirt on. Fashion faux pas, my bad.

The stare was worth it though. I arrived home with a tub of Häagen-Dazs Green Tea ice cream. Kind of expensive, but worth every cent. This is the nicest tasting ice cream ever. Well maybe not. It's not as sweet as chocolate or vanilla, but it's damn nice and very refreshing on a day like today.

The past week or so has been a bit hit and miss. On Sunday my friend Ayano visited me from Hyogo and we went shopping in Shijo-Kawaramachi and Teramachi. It was kind of fruitless. I saw heaps of stuff that I wanted but didn't want to part with money. I did end up buying a new (And rather gangster) short sleeved hoodie. It's for Summer so the material is really thin and nice. Ayano randomly bought a watch from one of the Department Stores we visited. After shopping and trying the limited Azuki Bean Frapuccino at Starbucks (So good, this is one we won't be seeing in Australia anytime soon), we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the cinema.

Our seats were so close to the screen, since all the other tickets had been bought. One of the downsides of reserved seating in theatres. The movie itself was mediocre. The series has become progressively worse as it goes along, and a fourth one is already being planned! Quit while you're ahead, I say. It was overly long too. By the end of the credits I just wanted to sleep. I'm being pretty negative though, it wasn't THAT bad. Entertaining at least, and funny at times.

On Thursday in PE we had track and field. Running 50 metre sprints for an hour first up. Japanese kids are good at everything. I guess because they are so active in club activities and do PE as a compulsory subject. I was outrun by most of the people there haha. But my times weren't too awful. After running we went to the gym to do Muscle Training on the equipment. It was tiring, but worth it. I reckon going to a gym at least once every week would make such a difference.

Tomorrow I'm attending a seminar-ish thing being held at a nearby University. It's being held for students in Kyoto and is about international exchange and the like. Should be interesting. Part of the deal is that I have to make a 7 minute speech about school life in my country and my experiences in Japan thus far. I am still in the process of making myself get down to writing said speech. It will be done eventually.

This week I started planning a trip to Tokyo with my friend Craig. The idea is for me to stay there with his host family for a week or so and at some point go to climb Mt Fuji with Samantha. Hopefully it all goes ahead! I coudln't pass up a chance to explore Tokyo properly, and climbing Fuji is a once in a lifetime kind of thing which poses so many photo ops.

Next week I have every day but Monday off school! Reason being that Tuesday-Friday is exam period for the other students. I don't take any exams, so it was either study in the school library or stay at home. Obviously I chose the latter. I'll use the time to do some more exploring around town and waste money on some more Summer-friendly clothes for my wardrobe.

Mostly Living

It has been too long since I've updated here, so I am kind of forcing myself to sit down and write something. This time I haven't been updating simply because I can't think of anything worthwhile to say! The past week hasn't been the best ever, I can say that much.

Last Saturday was enjoyable, as it was my host father's birthday party. It was held at the house and lots of family friends attended. It was interesting to meet their friends and whatnot. About an hour into the party Hiroki disappeared and didn't come back until long after it had finished haha. Seems to be normal for him these days, he hasn't been around much at all.

As seems customary at Japanese parties, much alcohol was consumed by all in attendance. I was greeted with a new bottle of beer everytime I finished one off, without even requesting it! By the end of the night people had drunk too much to drive home and plenty of taxis were called.

This week has been fairly dull. I took Wednesday off school because I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. I really felt like I needed a day to just relax and lounge about, and it did help. In PE on Thursday we played Volleyball (Which I am pathetic at, still) and it left me with bruises all over my arms and hands. What I found funny is that on Friday half the class turned up to school with bandages on their hands, apparently Volleyball is hard work!

Today was spent at home, since I have a splitting headache. I watched some movies to get away from the Japanese overload and here I am updating this blog! Earlier today I was sitting in my room and I heard my name being called repeatedly from out on the street. Surprising to say the least, but it turns out some of my friends from school were outside my house screaming out my name haha. They were nearby so they dropped by to say hi, which was nice of them.

Tomorrow I plan to go out shopping and hopefully see Pirates of the Caribbean! I'm going to force myself to wake up early so I follow this plan through.

Japanese Cuisine

Today we went out in order to celebrate Hiroki (My host brother) and Hideharu's (My host dad) birthdays which are this week. We headed into Shijo at around 5:00 to buy Hiroki's presents which were reasonably enviable. First stop was a Louis Vuitton outlet. Everything in that store was way out of my price range, that's for sure. He was looking for a small carry bag, but didn't like anything there so we soon headed for the Prada store. A small satchel-like bag (And by small I mean small) was settled on and cost about $700 Australian! Amazing. He also bought new, nice shoes for about $200.

After the shopping was over with, we made our way to the restaurant we'd be eating at. It was a small, but expensive, restaurant called せき川 (Sekigawa) a mere walk away from the main shopping street of Shijo. The restaurant was totally traditional Japanese food. Meaning lots of raw meats and seafoods were eaten, horse and whale meats included. I did not want to eat the whale meat at first, but my host family insisted so I thought I may as well try it. It was not revolting but very edible. Must have cost a fortune though.

As far as I could tell the horse meat was raw and very cold and chewy. Not really a remarkable taste either. But overall the meal was delicious and relatively filling while not being fatty at all. After eating lots at Western style restaurants you always feel bloated and large, but after this I felt the same as when I went in! Minus the stomach pains, of course, I was starving beforehand.

It was interesting to experience some of the more Japanese styled foods, and I was surprised that I actually liked most (If not all) of what was on offer!