お花見

Yesterday, I went to go see the cherry blossoms in a park in Shinjuku. After eating lunch at an Indian place with my friend and her parents, we went over to the park. It was a lot bigger than I expected and had tons of cherry trees. Dark pink, light pink, almost white. There was an 'Amazon greenhouse', but it was closed. Then a French garden too. I was really surprised at how many people came out, especially since it started raining. My favorite tree was this one that had light pink blossoms and really dark pink ones at the same time. It was really pretty and really relaxing.





After that, Nobuko and I went over to Kameido and went to karaoke for a bit to hide out from the rain. Then we went to get our hair cut. =D I didn't realize how many hair-related words I don't know in Japanese. Like bangs and things like that. I'm glad the guy was really patient when I was trying to explain myself. It's really different from the place I go to in the states. They cover your eyes with a cloth when they wash your hair, two people blow dry (it's so hard not to laugh), then they do this weird head massage thing that feels like they're trying to pull your head off. Haha.

Anyway, afterwards we went to a cafe and Nobuko helped explain why some of the stuff I said didn't make sense and things like that. Oh man, that was an experience. Haha. Pictures later!

読み終わった！

I finally finished reading 小さな王子さま！

It really is a great book. (That's saying a lot considering it still had that much of an impact, even reading it in my 2nd language.) Recommend, recommend, recommend!

I was looking for a new book to read today in Ikebukuro and came across what I initially thought was a new Haruki Murakami book. (It's the same one Yoshikaga Kajiwara has on his blog.) It turned out to be Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" translated by Murakami. Go figure. I'm probably going to take another stab at とかげ (Lizard) by Banana Yoshimoto, but before that I'm going to read the book Rie bought me for Christmas. 大切なきみ (You are Special). It's a translated copy of the book by Max Lucado. It's short like a children's book, so I'll let you know how it goes~

あっちこっち all over the place!

So today I went here and there. It was nice to get out of my apartment for a whole day for once. I had an amazing night of sleep since I forced myself to stay awake the night before and woke up nice and early, did a little cleaning, then left~~

First stop was Ikebukuro for money, then Koujimachi to go to school and get a new ID. Since I had to wait around for an hour I ended up at Tully's with a milk & honey latte reading more of 小さな王子様. I'm almost done! It's a really cute book and I highly recommend it. After getting my new ID, it was back to Ikebukuro for more errands.

I ended up getting a new commuter pass (finally) and a new wallet. Wallets are so expensive here. >.< Especially since it's spring and everything in the stores is a new arrival or some new spring fashion. I ended up with a nice, simple, beige and brown patent leather Comme Ca Du Mode wallet for a bit more than I would have liked to pay, but much less than a lot of the other ones available. (I told a friend how much it costed and she said it was cheap, so I've concluded that Japan is just ridiculous.) Some weird creepy old guy came up to me and was like, "Are you free? Are you meeting someone? Do you have an hour to spend with me?" and crap. I tried the I-don't-speak-Japanese-and-I'm-American tactic with him, but it didn't work, so I basically called Monique, then walked away as fast as I could. o_O Creeps.

I met up with Monique after that and we went to Cafe Du Monde. I think I might be addicted... Followed by an hour of karaoke. I love weekday karaoke prices. So cheap! And Monique is a great singer. ^^ Then we walked around the department stores for a little bit before heading off to Komegoma station to meet Aya. (I picked up the latest CD Data magazine since they have a huge article on Utada Hikaru and a mini issue of Hirai Ken. =D Hopefully I'll get around to reading it soon.)

At Komegoma, we stopped at a combini for food and then went on our way to Rikugien (六義園) to see the cherry blossoms all lit up. It was gorgeous!!! They have a huuuge sakura tree in full bloom that's lit up for a few days this month because of the beautiful blossoms. I'll be posting pictures. It was nice to sit and appreciate nature, eat (Aya brought us Beard Papa's cream puffs, she's so sweet), and chat with friends. I didn't know hanami was such a big deal here. I mean, I know its popular and all, but they have stamps and stuff, kind of like they do at National Parks back home to prove that you went and all that. Pretty intense. Since it was night time, I'm hoping to also make it out to Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms during the day. We'll see...




Sorry the pictures are so blurry. Since it was night time, it was hard to get the setting on my camera to work...that and there was a breeze and I was cold...which didn't help my unsteady hand. T_T

何年ぶり食べなかったデザート

The dessert I haven't eaten in how many years...

久しぶりにビニエを食べられました！アメリカのデザートなので池袋のカフェがあってびっくりした！おいしかった！
I was able to eat beinets (I really can't spell that word) today! I was surprised to find a cafe in Ikebukuro that has them since it's an American dessert. Yum! (It's Cafe Du Monde...my mom used to make these waaaay back in the day. ^^)

In case you're wondering, these things are square shaped 'pillow-like' desserts that are fried. They sort of taste like donuts but are empty on the inside. They have powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar on them. They taste great! =D

キレイじゃん？

Pretty huh?

日本にいなかった間にこれが咲いた！キレイ〜
While I away from Japan, look what bloomed! Pretty~

ただいま！

やっと日本に戻って来た！飛行機の中にあ、日本に戻りたいと思ったが成田空港に到着して、エクスプレスの切符を買って、東京の悪い点を急に思い出した。

東京の運送は本当に複雑なんだ！私にとってソウルはもっとのんびり！韓国に住んでいる人に言ったら超びっくりさせたみたいけどソウルの方は本当にやさしい。メトロは簡単だし、安いし、そんなに満員じゃないだし。

今成田エクスプレスに乗ってる私はまだソウルにいたい！そう思って続けたら幸せにならないよね。

I'm back!

I'm finally back in Japan! On the plane I thought, "Ah, I wanna go back to Japan," but after getting to the airport and buying my Narita Express ticket I suddenly started remembering the reasons I don't like Tokyo.

Transportation in Tokyo is confusing! To me, Seoul is much more relaxing. When I said that to people living in Seoul they seemed like they were waaay surprised, but Seoul is so much easier. The metro is simple, cheap, and not as crowded. Riding the express right now, I still wanna be in Seoul.

I guess if I keep thinking like that I'll never be happy.

韓国HOT뜨거!

Okay, so Korea is not really hotddeuguh, but the bus was burning up. haha. I bought some pretty good sweet potato fried bread at the rest stop...kinda like sweet potato donuts. XD

Sooo...GYEONGJU!

10th!

We checked into the Gyeongju Tourist Hotel...(soo touristy) and got tourist information from the little booth. We ended up taking bus number 11 to Bulguksa. Our bus driver was pretty cool, telling us when to get off and all since we were confused. It felt much safer than the buses in Vietnam. Bulguksa is a UNESCO World Heritage site. I studied it last semester in my art history class. The four deva kings are at the entrace (one for each cardinal direction, standing on those bad things...I forgot what they're called, but I like how colorful they are. ^^) There are the stairs that lead to heaven and the archway stairs, but no one is allowed to actually use them, you have to go up the side. It has some great statues of Birushana and Shakamuni, and some famous pagodas like Dapotap and Seokgatap. (Stephanie: the 'tap' part of those...tower/pagoda = 塔 = 탑 = TOP...it makes sense now. I was laughing to myself and I'm pretty sure someone thought I was crazy.) Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the actual statues in the temple because of preservation and all that. It was really cool to see all the things I learned about and understand what they're about. (Cause I'm a nerd...)

After Bulguksa, we went to the bus stop to wait for the bus to Sokkuram Grotto. We met an old Japanese guy there. He kept trying to get Monique to speak Japanese and stuff. He kind of weirded me out, but it was alright. Good Japanese practice I guess. The bus we were waiting for came over an hour late because it broke down, but we did also meet a guy from Germany and a Korean girl traveling together, so we were quite a strange collection of people going off to see Sokkuram. So up we went by bus to get to the top of Toamsan. There was some great scenery around, and a little bit of snow left. Unfortunately, again, we weren't allowed to take pictures of Sokkuram. It's lit really well and you could see the kongo rikishi (I forgot what it is in English...but these two warrior guys) and the 4 deva kings again. I wish we could have gone inside (there's glass) because I wanted to see the disciple reliefs behind the Buddha statue. The statue itself was really beautiful. It's very peaceful and well proportioned. It has a jewel 'third-eye' on its forehead that's supposed to align with other places (either temples or King Munmu's Underwater Tomb...I can't remember right now) and reflect the sun. So cool. =D I was really excited to see it.

The bus driver didn't want to drive us all back down early, so the five of us ended up hiking down Toamsan back to Bulguksa. It took us only around half an hour (thank god it was downhill) and then we took a bus back to Gyeongju station. It was a really interesting day. The last thing we did was eat dinner: kalbitang (beef soup) at this little restaurant. It's weird, in Gyeongju it's hard to find restaurants but really easy to find places selling 경주빵, this barley bread that Gyeongju is famous for. Since we were beat, we spent the rest of the night watching music vieos on Mnet, then Men in Black. XD

Today!

Today we left the hotel around 9:30 to find the Tomb of General Kim Yushin. We walked pretty far and ended up asking an old man for directions. I couldn't understand him very well, but he was so animated we were able to figure out what he was saying. Gen. Kim Yushin was a general who had a large role in uniting Korea (Unified Silla) after the Three Kingdoms period. His tomb is very simple though. It's a really big, grassy hill with stone relief work of the zodiac animals around it. There are a couple stone tablets with writing on them, but obviously, I couldn't tell what they said. I just wish the grass had been green, other wise it was neat to see. Some of the zodiac reliefs are wearing down, but we noticed on the way back that the lantern fixtures on the street have copies of the zodiac animals on them.

The bus ride back was uneventful save the fact that there was a tv show on KBS that was about how to smile pretty. XD Weird stuff. Then it got really hot and I started listening to 1TYM and laughing to myself. T_T I had my Gyeongju bread and yangpa rings to occupy me. (I like the yangpa rings here, they're like funyuns but a lot less salty.) When we got back, we relaxed a bit and talked to Marie, who's living in the guesthouse with Seri. She's from Australia but is riding the Korean Wave full on. She went to KBS yesterday and met Sweet Sorrow...crazy stuff. She knows A LOT about Korean entertainment. For dinner, we went to a nearby bbq place and had 'neck scruff' to eat. Hahaha, my dictionary is hilarious. Then back to Lovice for patbingsu! Yum!

We leave tomorrow, so we'll most likely just be hanging out until we have to catch our bus to the airport. I'm surprised at how much I didn't buy, but generally I don't think I need any of it. We saw and ate a lot which definitely makes it worth it. =D