Fuji Television

Today after class, 18 of us went to Odaiba to visit the Fuji Television station. When we got there, they gave us bags with fans and a dvd about the station. I guess the tour they took us on was special because we went into restricted areas. (We didn't see any famous people though.) We saw two of the main rooms, one where all the stations come into, and the other where Fuji TV sends everything out from. Apparently, if you do as little as even touch the glass window, security will come and take you away. We saw the sets for the sports broadcast (below) and for a show called わかってちょーだい！ (Please Understand!) Overall, it was pretty interesting.


The rest of the time, we looked around Odaiba a bit. The ferris wheel was lit up and really pretty, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. We got tickets for the observatory dome from Fuji TV, but we were pooped, so we'll probably just go back later and use them (The observatory is the big round ball, below.) Odaiba is really cute and colorful. We saw the Rainbow Bridge all lit up with lit up boats floating around under it, and there's a fake Statue of Liberty by the water. (I have no idea why.) I'll probably end up going back again some other time.

東京国際和太鼓コンテスト＆池袋防災官

Tokyo International Wadaiko Contest and Ikebukuro Bousaikan!
Sunday was the taiko competition. It was held at Kodomo no Shiro (Children's Castle) in the theatre. It really was an all day event. We left Kameido at 9:45 AM and got back at the same time PM. I was able to see Ayano, who was nice enough to reserve tickets for me and Tom. Asano was selling stuff outside of the theatre, but I didn't buy anything. The competition was great. There were two categories, odaiko and kumidaiko (big drum and group drumming). There was a standard song for each category that all contestants had to play before playing their free piece. I really agree with who won. The winners of the kumidaiko section were really cool to watch. They had these very sharp diagonal movements that looked good. (Though I must say, I like TAIKOPROJECT better than all the groups there.) I don't know how to read the kanji for the group names correctly, so I can't really say what their name is, but they definitely deserved the $10,000 prize money the most. Both first and second place for the odaiko section were great to me, so I didn't have a preference. There was, notably, a ten year old in one of the kumidaiko groups who wasn't genius, but could definitely keep up (and show me up any day). According to the program, he already has 8 years of experience. Talk about crazy. Unfortunately, I only got a picture of the sign outside and the stage during intermission...I thought I was being considerate by taking pictures with the house lights up when no one was onstage, but they still told me I had to put my camera away. Boo.


Today I didn't have regular class. Instead, half of our language school went to the Ikebukuro Bousaikan (Disaster Prevention Building). Sounds boring right? But, it was actually pretty fun. We don't do any sort of disaster training in the U.S. except for a few fire drills, but this building is entirely about what to do in case of fires, earthquakes, and or any other disaster. We started out by watching one of those dumb videos about what to do during a fire. Then we took turns in groups of six going through a simulation room. (Everyone else watched what they did on a camera.) It was a room full of smoke and we had to find our way to the other end. There were a lot of doors, and a buzzer went off whenever someone wasn't ducking low enough away from the smoke. If you didn't close the doors behind you, the smoke got worse, and in some cases, the lady turned off the lights to make it more difficult. After that, we talked about what to do during an earthquake (which happen quite frequently in Japan). Afterwards, we took turns in groups of five in a simulation room. It was a room with a table, five chairs, a burner, and a pot. We'd sit at the table and once the 'earthquake' started, we had to crawl under the table, and one person could attempt to turn off the burner and move the pan. It was interesting since, again, we could watch each group on a screen. I was surprised how much the simulation room shook. A few people actually screamed. The 'earthquakes' are based on actual big earthquakes there have been, like Kobe and Tokyo. Next, we learned how to use a fire extinguisher and went into groups to put out a simulation fire. (I realized while I was doing it that I'd never used a fire extinguisher before...I came all the way to Japan to learn that?) And lastly, we watched a lame 3D video of people in an earthquake. So anti-climactic, but still way better than class. =)

Strange Foods Etcetera, with Theo and Yoko

Whooo, so far this weekend has been pretty fun. Yesterday, I went to Shinjuku and met up with Yoko and a few other people who studied abroad at UCI. (Yoko planned a mini suprise gathering for Theo.) I ended up talking to Naomi the most, which was cool since she's really nice. There was even a girl who came all the way from Kyoto. So I spent the night talking, eating, and drinking beer in a little restaurant/drinking place in Kabuki-cho. We found 3 bugs while we were sitting down, which was sort of gross, but that aside, it was fun. As we were walking back to the station, I saw a square watermelon. Yep, a real square watermelon. Haha. I ran into a bunch of EAP kids when I got back to the Kameido station. They were all going clubbing, but that definitely did not happen for me.


Today, I woke up and got an email from Yoko. We met up at Kichijoji (almost the end of the Sobu Line) with Theo and Megumi. Theo wanted to go to a yakitori (grilled chicken skewer) place called Iseya. I've never eaten so many different parts of animals before. We started out with mimiga- (pig ear) and nasu (Japanese eggplant). Then we moved on to the stranger stuff (yes, stranger than pig ear). I had hinatori (baby bird), intestine, heart (not as bad as it sounds), tongue (I ate this one before I knew what it was, then they told me...surprisingly, it tastes good. It's just kinda chewy), soft bone (nankotsu), liver (such a gross texture, but Theo liked it, so he finished it off), kashira (head...though it isn't like...head on a stick or anything), and this thing called ガツ (gatsu), which sounds like 'guts' to me. We couldn't really figure out what it was, but we were guessing stomach lining...that one was really chewy. We had other things like tomato and green onion too, but the other things were definitely more interesting. Surprisingly, it was really cheap. It turned out to 900 yen each or something, not bad considering we all also had 2 types of tea.

After that, we went shopping. At Jeansmate Theo bought a pair of Edwin/Levi jeans. Is Edwin a Japanese or American brand? We couldn't figure it out. I also bought a few gifts for people, which I think will be great, but I can't say what they are just in case. We went to this store called graniph and I bought a t-shirt that says "SOUL" and has some silver diamonds on it. I just tried it on, and it fits perfectly. (It's a size S! ...but since the shirts are unisex, S actually means M.) Afterwards, we went to Denny's for soda/tea and ice cream. Theo's actually having a kickback thing at Bakayama at ICU right now, but I opted not to go since I'm pooped. I have to wake up early enough to get to Kodomo no Shiro in Shinjuku for the International Taiko Competition! ...I hope we have time to visit the BAPE store. =X Tis all for now!

Ura Omote Sendai Hagi @ Kabuki-za

Test. Kanji quiz. Midterm. Kabuki. Will post when I'm not so tired. It was amazing. More later.


Alright. So last night I went to Ginza with a bunch of JLI to see a Kabuki play called Ura Omote Sendai Hagi (Sendai Hagi Front and Back) at a theatre called Kabuki-za. The play was split into 4 acts that were actually kind of hard to follow. For example, a gong was supposed to represent dusk....yeah. Our English listening guide was really useful. All of the actors were men, even the women roles. There was one actor, Kanzaburo, who played 3 roles during the play. Shichinosuke (the emperor from The Last Samurai) was in the first act, which was interesting to see since I didn't know he was a Kabuki actor. The costumes and stage were stunning, but I couldn't take pictures. It was weird how during the 25 minute intermission everyone busted out boxed meals and started eating, especially since in the States you aren't allowed to eat in theatres. Anyway, there were a couple of kids in the play and they had this really strange high, held out voice thing that they did. It's apparently supposed to train their voices and give them 'psychological distance' from the characters they play (since many of them tend to be very tragic). The last thing that made an impression on me was how the stage rotated and they changed the entire set up in a minute. I didn't know the stage could turn until they started moving it. The play lasted for 3 and a half hours. Overall, it was really great to watch.


While we were in Ginza, we noticed that it's right next to Tsukiji and decided we should take a trip there sometime to see the fish market. (That means getting there around 5am in order to watch the auction and get in line for sushi.) I want to try the katsudou sashimi. (The live sashimi that they knock out and cut up.) One guy in my class was telling us about how he got the katsudou octopus and it woke up while they were eating. In theory, I want to try it, but I don't know if I can actually stomach it. Besides that, I also signed up to go to a sumo stable at 6:30am before school. Hahaha, I hope it's interesting.


Other than that, I've mostly been doing school stuff. I've also found out how much I like melon bread. So yummy. Oh yeah, I gave in and bought the expensive grapes. They were delicious. =) Last Friday, Theo came to visit. He helped me get started with EAP, so it was cool to see him. This is a picture of a funny Engrish window we passed. If you look carefully enough, you can see us in the reflection. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to make it vertical.) Isn't it great that they don't have any English speaking staff, but their sign is completely gramatically correct and in English?

Women's Wrestling

I haven't really been up to anything interesting lately. I figured out how to use the barcode scanner on my phone and downloaded a Clazziquai ringtone, so that was kind of fun. I also stopped by Book-Off and got the 2nd volume of Honey and Clover. I decided I should just keep with the manga. I bought "Tokage" by Banana Yoshimoto, but it's too hard for me to read because of the kanji. Anyway, after class I've been really sleepy, so I've been sleeping during the hottest part of the day and waking up later to do stuff. On Friday, I went with a bunch of people in my class to Moss Burger, which is kind a little burger place. Nothing to scream about, except that they had one 'hamburger' with rice cicles instead of bread and a seafood patty instead of meat. It looked pretty weird. (I just had the good ol' Moss Burger.) Later that night, by chance, we all left our rooms to go eat dinner and ended up at McDonald's. (I know, I said I wasn't going back anytime soon, but I figured good company was more important.) There's a Tandoori McPita thing here that's actually pretty good. (and Qoo for soda!) Anyway, after that we decided to spend a little time in Sun Street because of a little event going on...


Women's Pro Wrestling. No joke. There was a ring set up in the middle of the plaza and they had these women dressed in funny outfits wrestling each other. My personal favorite was the girl in the green with the Jafro. I couldn't watch it that long though since it felt sort of stupid and very awkward. I thought Sun Street mainly just had kid's things, but I guess not. I wonder what other kinds of events they do there. That had to be one of the strangest things I've seen so far. Afterwards, we (minus Anjee) went out for some drinks. I don't really have plans for the rest of the weekend. I spent today being a bum, but I guess I'll probably do a lot of studying. I have a test on Tuesday and a midterm on Wednesday. Augh. By the way, I haven't been too great about taking a lot of pictures since it feels weird to take pictures of things I see everyday, but I'm working on it!

Honey & Clover....and Fruit?

PLUS +
- used bookstores (so I can buy the Honey & Clover manga!)
- great public transportation
- great home goods/stationary stores (like George's, where I buy my mmmg.)
- aloe yogurt
- yogurt and ice cream available in drink packets (Coolish!)


MINUS -
- horrible fresh fruit (I bought a 300yen apple and it was beautiful...but not so tasty.)
- wasteful packaging (Do you really need to wrap an apple in plastic AND cushioning?)
- hot, humid weather
- packed trains and nowhere to sit
- tiny airplane bathrooms


I'm so disappointed in my apple and my watermelon. The only good fresh fruit I've bought here is that yellow watermelon. I'm dying to buy grapes, but they're 9-10 bucks for 2 bunches. We'll see when I give in. On the other hand, I'm excited to read Honey & Clover. I liked the movie, so I'm hoping the fairly short manga will be just as good...and easy enough to read.

Fireworks & DMC Japan 2007

On Saturday, I went to my first fireworks show in Japan. It was one of the last ones in the Tokyo area. It was by Tokyo bay. There were thousands of people there...it was disgustingly hot walking to see them since there were people everywhere. The actual fireworks were amazing though. They went on for over an hour. So many colors and different kinds. The pictures don't really do justice to how pretty they were. We didn't stay for the very very end because we wanted to beat the ridiculous rush to the trains. They had to shut down roads and everything. I love fireworks...now I understand why Japanese people are into them so much.

Tonight, I just got back from the DMC Japan DJ Championships 2007. It's a DJ competition to go to the worldwide DMC competition and represent Japan. It was at LIQUIDROOM, a club in Ebisu. I couldn't take very many pictures since I wasn't really in a great place in the crowd to take pictures, though I was able to see everything. There was the 'Battle For Japan Supremacy', which was done battle style. DJ BUNTA won that one (he had the most old school sound), but I personally liked いく (iku). He had this trumpet beat that I really liked. After that there was a singles category where everyone performed and the winner was selected. A few of the DJs were my age. One of them, DJ TATAKI did a good hip hop/rock beat. 宮島 (Miyajima) won this category and is going to represent Japan for the worldwide DMC. I'm glad he won, he's so quick on the turntable.

After that, KIREEK was up and everyone got to dance, though Japanese people don't seem to dance much. Then there was a bit more dancing while they set up equipment for Tucker, who's this crazy Japanese guy who plays all these instruments. He got all into it and did a goth-sounding rendition of Swan Lake. He did some crazy stuff: handstand on his organ-like instrument, crowdsurf (the crowd was definitely not thick enough to carry him, but a couple of our guys made sure to catch him), and set the top of the thing he did a handstand on on fire. At that point, even though he could play music, I just thought he was crazy.


So I'm all ready to just leave, but everyone else wanted to stay...and I'm really glad I did because Q-Bert performed. He made everyone else look bad. So precise and so quick. (He's won the US DMC and the worldwide DMC.) That in itself was amazing. One of the guys I was with was so stoked on it he wouldn't stop talking. It was hilarious and a lot of fun. The show is supposed to come out on DVD sometime, and I'm thinking it might just be worth it to buy...I'm pretty sure we'll show up on it somewhere if they show the crowd. =D Such a good hip hop show, and from what I've been told, I won't find another one much better.

random fun stuff

Whoo, the week is finally over! Besides school, I haven't been doing anything important. Yesterday, a friend from ICU asked if I wanted to climb Mt. Fuji, but I don't have any of the proper clothes or anything, so I'll have to hold off on that until later. I did, however, see 4 sumos on the train on my way home today. One of them had a Bvlgari wallet tucked into his obi, which I thought was funny. Afterwards, I met up with Eunice so we could have lunch together. We went to this little hamburger (as in meat patty, not sandwich) restaurant called 'Pepper' that's by the station. Yummy yummy. Afterwards I went to visit her apartment (which is very pink and cute). She brought me an omiyage Hello Kitty strap from her trip to the Tanabata festival in Sendai. It's a special Sendai Tanabata Festival one. After that we went to the arcade to take purikura (sticky pictures) and play the taiko video game, which I made the high score list on, bwahahaha. She's going to give me the puri next time I see her, since they didn't have scissors at the arcade. The pictures above are actually the puri that the machine sends to your phone email, then I forwarded those to my computer email. Nifty, huh?


Tonight I just hung out with Aya. We walked around Kameido and visited Don Quixote, which is like Wal Mart, but with more things and higher quality. That store is insane! Clothes, designer items, food, alcohol, sports equipment, home goods, etc, etc, etc. I also went to Mister Doughnut for the first time, which was way better than in the states. I had the D.Pop, which is basically 6 donught holes in different flavors and tried the maccha donught, which was very green and gross looking, but tasty. We spent the rest of the night just chatting and watching tv. Barefoot Gen, an anime about Hiroshima/WW2, was apparently made into a drama and it's so sad...I can't really recommend it beccause it's so depressing, but that was interesting. There was also a variety show about how women stay fit and healthy. Apparently there is such thing as 'face yoga' which basically has a bunch of different 'face poses' that work your muscles. It's hilarious to watch, but judging from the before/after shots, might actually help keep people looking young. It looks kinda like the photo, but that face wasn't even the funniest of all the ones they showed. (I look like crap, but I thought it was hilarious. We were sitting there making the funniest faces.)


Tomorrow we're going to try to go to the hanabi taikai (fireworks show/gathering/thing). It's supposed to be the last one in the Tokyo area. Then later this month I'll be going to Kabuki with JLI and hopefully also to the International Taiko Contest with a friend from UCSD. That's the game plan anyway, later!

Ginza & Akihabara

How has everyone been at home? Leave me comments or e-mails or something, I want to know what's going on at home too. As for me, I haven't quite figured out how to cook meals on the hot plate I have, so I keep buying food from the convenience store or grocery store. Luckily, 7-11 takes international atm cards, so it's much easier for me to get money. (I walk by one everyday on the way to school.)


On Monday, I went to Ginza with some friends. There are so many nice (and expensive) stores there. We ended up going to a place called Le Cafe Doutor Ginza. The iced cocoa was great. There's also a Cafe Doutor by our school, but for some reason, everything in Ginza is way nicer and more expensive. (The pictures above are of the streets in Ginza and of Kazue, Leina, and me in the cafe.) There was a huge Apple buiding I think my dad would have liked to see. I didn't get to go out yesterday for Kazue's birthday because I had to do homework, and I went to the city office to get my national health insurance card. It took longer than expected. I also changed my au phone plan from regular to student price, which took a long time because we're not attneding an actual university, just a study school. Bleh. My first bill came today too, which was the cost of activation and all that. I really need to figure out this whole money thing...

Anyway, today after class, I went to McDonalds, yes McDonalds. Don't worry though, I ate something they don't have in the states. It's called Ebi Filet-O, which is basically a hamburger that's been replaced with a fried shrimp patty. It actually tastes pretty good, but I don't think I'll be getting it anytime soon because there are definitely better things to eat. After that I went back to Akihabara to waste a bit of time and to help a friend look for some stuff for her cell phone. I've decided that I don't really like it there. There are too many weirdos, nerds, and guys. (Tom found a 6 story 'adult' store and there are all these girls dressed in maid outfits and stuff.) Honestly, it is really 'Electric Town'. I don't know why else people would go there. That's all for now!

nomihoudai...

On Friday, a bunch of people decided to go out to Ikebukuro to drink. (I promise I will not become an alcoholic.) We ended up at a nice place called Tsuki no Shizuku that isn't actually a nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink), but we thought it would be when we went in, and Michelle's friend, Aya, was able to talk to the people there and make it a two hour nomihoudai. It ended up being a pretty good deal, especially considering the people from UCSB had already been ripped off a few times because they look like foreigners. I must say, there was a lot of beer and sake, which one of the guys took to ordering 'atsukande!' (hot). I don't like sake that much, it turns out, but I do like umeshu sours. (Plum sake and soda) After our two hours were up, we went to a place called the Hub, which was basically an English style bar. I didn't drink anything there, but it was really funny to watch everyone try to use their Japanese on people in the bar. We ended up missing the last train, but since none of us wanted to be out until 6am, me and three others split a cab back to Kameido, which in itself is expensive, but considering the circumstances was reasonable. I didn't feel good, but that didn't last for too long. Anyway, that was my first nomihoudai experience, and probably not my last, but I definitely definitely aim to not get wasted, so don't worry. It's not something I could do that often. =)

The rest of the weekend, I just did housekeeping stuff. Laundry here is expensive. 200yen to wash (the loads are much smaller than America) and 100yen for 15 minutes of drying time. I also figured out how to separate and throw out my trash (burnable, unburnable, and plastic bottles), and that one of the cabinet things we have in our rooms turns into a desk, so I'm no longer desk-less! I also have more kanji to study. They're pretty easy, but I would hate to make stupid mistakes on the test or something. This morning I woke up to taiko and someone yelling, "Wasshoi wasshoi!!" but I didn't get ready fast enough to see what it was. Tom told me it was some ouendan thing. (Kind of like a cheering group.) I know I'm in Japan and I should be living it up, but I've been addicted to this drama called 'Coffee Prince', which is what I've been watching all weekend. Ah, class tomorrow. Off to practice kanji!

Shopping!

JLI started. I got placed in intermediate class D. (Exactly in the middle, there are 3 classes above me and 3 classes below.) So far it's been easy. I'm not sure if it's just starting out easy and it'll get harder or if this class is too easy for me. We'll see. I went to Akihabara for the first time yesterday. So many electronics! I didn't get anything. The Yodobashi Camera store was gigantic...and me and my friends were like...half of the girls in the whole store. I think I'll probably go back just to play around, especially since its free with my commuter pass. Last night I just got to relax and not do anything. I went to the grocery store and bought a bento and maguro nigiri. It was only around 800yen. (As requested, pictures of what I eat. Heehee.)




After class today, I met up with Eunice, who studied at Sophia University all last year. We went to eat at an italian place and then went to visit the school. I didn't have my camera with me, but I will be taking pictures of the school next time I'm there. The campus is pretty small, but the buildings are tall. It's definitely not wide open or frilly and landscaped like UCI. Eunice helped me get my teiki (commuter pass) so I don't have to keep putting money on my Suica card (Super Urban Intelligent Card, haha). That way a whole month of transportation back and forth froom school will only cost 5040yen instead of around 400yen a day. After that, we went to Kinshicho to shop. I finally bought a new wallet that fits yen. No more toting two wallets! We went back to Kameido and shopped around there too, which is where I got the strap for my camera. It has a cute little bird on it. And finally, a shirt from UNIQLO. It's the one designed by Jessica Michibata (model...I read her blog sometimes on honeyee.com). Guess how much I spent: pencil case, au phone, camera case, camera strap, wallet, shirt. [100yen, 1yen, free, 630yen, 2625yen, and 500yen!] Things in Japan can be expensive, but things aren't turning out as badly as I expected.

Kameido

I moved from Shinagawa to Kameido a few days ago. It was crazy. We had to move all of our stuff on the trains, and on top of that, there was a storm. We got lost and ended up walkiing around for an hour in the storm trying to find the Weekly Mansion Kameido. Then we did all sorts of running around for paperwork and ended up not being able to get cell phones. I was so stressed out. Fortunately, after a little more paperwork and a lot of help from Itakura-san, we were able to get cell phones! I'm using the company au. I have a silver Toshiba A5523T. (I found out today Ruby has it too, but that's cool. I love it, even though it isn't even the best phone they have. It was only one yen!)


The Weekly Mansion Kameido is fairly nice considering how hard it is to find housing, but it is expensive. The inside is narrow and the set up is a little weird (as you can probably tell...the faucet knob controls both the sink and the shower), but it's nice to have private space. There are around 55 or so other EAP students staying here and we all go to Japanese Language Institute (JLI) together on the train. We had our placement test yesterday and I didn't do very well, but classes start tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes. Japanese here is definitely different from in the states, so it might not be bad that I have to start from a lower level. I've heard that we're going to have 2 hours of homework a night. We had our orientation for EAP and JLI today, which was tiring because we had to go all the way to ICU (International Christian University) for it. I spent the rest of the day walking around the Kameido station looking at stores and such with Dorothy and Hana, we're all going to Sophia and it turns out Hana and I both know Sylvia and Dorothy's boyfriend plays taiko...small world!


A few other random notes...

- I tried MOW, the ice cream Yamapi endorses. It's yummy!
- Yellow watermelon is also delicious!
- UNIQLO is everywhere.
- Foods I've eaten (because Mom asked ^.^): ramen, saba shioyaki, asparagus/cream sauce spaghetti, sandwiches, aloe yogurt, bread and apricot jam, lemon water, shabu shabu, and all the delicious homemade dishes that Itakura-san served.
- Japanese trains are insane. You think it won't hold any more people or that someone is gonna go crazy from being so crammed in, but it works.


おばあちゃんへ：こんにちは！お元気ですか？日本はとても楽しいと思います！クラスと比べると、日本の日本語はもっと難しいから初級の一番上のクラスを入るかもしれないです。そして、上智大学のクラスを始まる前に、もう一つのテストを取るそうです。そのテストは上智のプレイスメントだと言われた。話すのはまだ恥ずかしくて、難しくて好きじゃないだけど、頑張っています！品川、渋谷、大台場、浅草に見に行った。今、亀戸に住んでいるけど夏のクラスの後、平和台に引っ越す。心配しないで、先生と友達もいるからね。元気でね！