Monday 8.13.07

So Guess waht I did on Monday?! Well, yes, hopefully you've guessed it. I went to yet another fireworks festival in 関, the city that I teach in. I went with マナミ、江原さん、ゆみこ、and my student's family. The Seki fireworks wasn't a really big fireworks festival, but it was still very nice. It was by the river, so the view was gorgeous. You get to be really close to the fireworks, and experience it. So far my rating for fireworks in Japan is : 岐阜長良川　＞　関　＞　八百津　＞　川辺
# note: not that 川辺(kawabe) is bad or anything, but it's just that the fence was blocking the view, and also there were too many things going on at once.

So 2 more left to go 諏訪湖 and 美濃加茂


After 関花火, we (me ehara, yumiko) went to 郡上八幡 to see the famous お踊り, where people dance pretty much all night (8pm to 4am?). When we got to 郡上八幡, it was so cool there =) I guess it is because it is kinda to the north and maybe high up in the mountain? Anyway, and the good thing about gujo is that almost everyone there wears 浴衣. I was disappointed when I went to the fireworks, not a lot of people wear 浴衣. Well some girls wear it, and boy arent they cute. hehe =p

So the お踊り was very interesting. However, since I have ADD, or at least I think I do, I got bored after about 5 minutes. I can't believe that people actually dance for that long even though they change the songs throughout the night. Also, it is a little hot since it's a little crowded =( However, if you haven't been there, it would be a great experience!!

Saturday

So today was another fireworks event. Today was the Kawabe fireworks festivals. The Kawabe fireworks finale was terrific, but i didn't really like it that much. Some of the fireworks were blocked by the fence >"<>"< However, it was still fun.

Sunday

Today I went to Yumi's house, and we cooked lunch.  Today was also RJ's bday party, but I couldn't go.  We had so many parties at Seki school this month, so I didn't really have enough money to go.

So Naru picked me up from my apt, and we went to Apita to buy food.  It was so hot on Sunday T.T and the real summer is going to be much hotter.  Sigh, I seriously will die.  So we went to Yumi's house and cooked lunch.  Then we sat around feeling a little bored, well, at least me.  But then we went with Yumi because she was going to vote.  The voting place was a small area inside a elementary school?  They had 8 people working there!!! OMG.  sigh, that's the japanese way i guess.  After Yumi finished voting, we went playing in the playground.  It's been so long since I last played in any kind of playground.  Then I was telling them to try the boomerang at the playground, but they didn't think it's big enough.

So, we went to Yumi's old elementary school to throw boomerang.  We tried a few times, but we couldn't do it.  I think it is because there was no wind.  So, we finally went back to Yumi's house and cooked dinner.  When we got back to the house, Yumi's dad was talking to me and offered me shochu.  Then later, I poured some for him, but it was 100% completely shochu.  He couldn't really drink it, so I drank some.  i mixed it with water and honey again to mask the bitter taste of the shochu.  I can't really handle bitter stuff at all >"<  After i finished the shochu, I could feel the alcohol starting to work its magic!! hahaha.  I felt I was starting to get hot already, my body getting red and stuff.  And this time, my hands, feet, arm, face were all getting really BRIGHT red.  It was kinda funny.  i knew after the alcohol evaporates from my body, I'd be fine.  I think I drank a little bit too much cuz I could feel my veins popping and my heart pumping really hard.  So I laid down on the tatami mats and rested a bit, and slept for a little bit.

I had a great time, and it was fun.  I really wanted to know what would happen when I get drunk.  i think I would just collapse and fall asleep when I get drunk tho.  I guess that is a good thing?? .... MAYBE~~~  I think we will find out someday

Saturday - 7.21

On Saturday, we had a farewell party for my co-worker, Ryota.  He is the sub teacher for the Japanese teachers in Chubu area.  We finally got a new teacher for my school, so Ryota will go back to head office and maybe head off to another school.  Anyway, so we had a party at Nanpuu 南風; they serve Okinawa沖繩 cuisine.  I think it's not really authentic and is tailored more for people not from Okinawa.  However, the food was still VERY good!!   We had so much food, but we pretty much finished all the food!!  I helped a lot, of course >"<  We stayed at the restaurant/izakaya until they closed (1am), then we headed to Karaoke!! WHEE~~~  We sang until 5AM because the place closes at 5 >"<   It was definitely not enough T.T  I finally got back home at 630ish?  I think this was the best party by far

Cairns!!

Well i guess i should write about my Cairns trip.

so saturday we had a party for yumiko because it was her bday.  We were in engiya(izakaya) till i think 1am?  Then we went to yotsuba and stayed till 4 something.  By the time I got home, it's 5am.  The sky was already getting bright.  I shouldn't have gone to yotsuba since I didn't really drink or eat anything , but I still had to pay.  Also, when I decided to go to yotsuba, I was not tired at all.  However, just when we got to yotsuba, I was tired >"<  Anyway, after I got back home, I had to quickly to pack all my things and take a quick shower because I needed to catch the 5:06am train from minooota.  I was so tired on the train that I overslept.  Thank god, I woke up in time and was able to get to nagoya in time.  The reason that I wanted to get to Nagoya that early is because I wanted to ride the newest N700 Shinkansen.  This time, since I thought the company is paying, i might as well take the green car.  Man was the green car sweet.  The new N700 car was just amazing.   It was like riding in business class.  The bad thing is that later I found out I had to pay the ticket out of my own pocket >"<  But, it's worth it.  

Well, so I arrived in Tokyo like at 830AM.  I was tired and didnt know where to go.  So, I hopped on the yamanote line, the line that circles around tokyo, and kinda slept on the train. lol :p.  Then Masao suggested to go to Akiba.  I couldn't decide if I should go to Akiba or Harajuku.  I wondered if I go to Harajuku, I probably go bankrupt haha.  So, I went to Akiba and checked out prices for computers, getting a estimate of how much I would need to spend to build a computer or buy one.

After Akiba, I went back to Tokyo station and checked out Maruzen, the bookstore, for Japanese study books.  I was just killing my time before it was time to go to Narita airport.  I was really exhausted and overslept on the Narita express again!! hahaha.  So It was a good thing that I took the earlier train to the airport.  So i had to catch the train from terminal one back to terminal two.

The flight was really nice, and we got the emergency exit seats.  It was very nice!!  The flight was 8 hours? but we only got a dinner >"<  We dont have those personal screens either for playing games and stuff.

Well after we got to Cairns airport, I found out that I lost my passport on the airplane.  I told the trainer who was in charge of us that.  And she thought I was kidding.  HAHA  It was pretty funny.  So the airport staff had to look for my passport and luckily it was there.  After we got out of the airport, we went to the GEOS wellness center.  The house was nice.  The weather was beautiful in Australia.  Although it's winter, Cairns is actually in the tropical zone.  The highs are around 24 everyday, but at night, it's quite chilly.  After we got settled down a bit, we made some breakfast.  We had heaps of food around the house, but it was almost gone by the time we left.  The JETs all went back to sleep and all of us NETs just hung around and chat.  I was tired and was zoning out during the conversations because I didn't really sleep on the flight.

We were really bored cuz we pretty much had 5 hours of free time before we go visit the Cairns school.  By the time we get to the school, I was like a zombie.  It was so hard for me to keep awake listening to the manager talking >"<  Then we had some fun talking to the students, looking around the school.  I was really impressed by the school.  And i really think my students would greatly benefit from it if they study there.

At night, we had a barbecue party back at the house.  I thought we would cook the meat ourselves, but to my surprise, we actually had caterers who cooked for us.  The food was amazing except the steak>"<  It wasn't steak at all.  It was more like some pieces of meat.  And the guy cooked them so well >"<  It wasn't medium at all.  Later during the party, this woman, Gynette, was just absolutely hilarious.  She was really drunk and was the best fun ever.

The next day, Tuesday, we went to Green Island.  I tried scuba diving there.  Boy, was that wonderful.  I saw a sea turtle during our dive.  It was amazing.  After the island, we got back to Cairns and went to the night market and shopped around.  On the streets, we met two Korean girls and ate their pizzas.  Later, when we were walking on the street, Scott, another GEOS teacher, and I met the girls again.  We went to a mexican restaurant and had a good time.  The crazy thing was that after we went back to the night market to shop around, the girls actually came back looking for us.  However, the other teachers didn't really tell them to stick around >"<  Well, they were much older than me, and were not really my type anyway.  But still, Argh...

The last day, we had to leave for school at 8AM for inspection.  But, that's usually for the managers.  In addition, since we got a really detailed tour of the school, we didn't really have to go back to the school.  So, we pretty much had a hour to ourselves.

Our flight was delayed for about an hour and a half, but we were only a half an hour late when we got back to Narita.  The food for the returning flight was much better.  We had hot chocolate and also ice cream between the meals!!  Oh, when I was passing through customs, the Japanese officer only asked me "is that all ur luggage? and where did u go?"  The security was so loose.

After we got out of customs, we had to take the narita express to shinagawa.  The hotel that GEOS booked for us was really nice.  It was the Shinagawa Prince Hotel.  It was a lot nicer than the one I had to stay in Nagoya.  It was on the 33rd floor, and the view was just spectacular.  We could even see the Tokyo tower.

After we got settled down a bit, we headed out for dinner.  We found this ramen shop that had a special going on that night.  The ramen cost only ----- are you ready for this?    The ramen only cost 200 yen.  Yes!! 200 yen.  So that was pretty much the end of the night.  I was planning to go to shinjuku , but I didn't really have the energy to party all night.  The next morning I had to take the 6 o'clock Shinkansen from Shinagawa back to Nagoya, then back to minooota.  I finally got back to my apartment at 920ish.  I went back to my apartment, left my things, and take the 950 train to Seki to get things ready for my classes.

Overall, the trip was good thought it's a bit tiring.  But, the thing is IT'S ALL FREE!! hehe.  well, i had to pay for scuba diving and souvenirs.

台風4号

Typhoon No. 4 (Mina? I think)

Everyone was making such a big deal about this typhoon.  It was a pretty destructive storm , but it did not really do any real damage to our area.  Man, i'm so disappointed.  i was so ready to see some flood or really strong winds.  sigh~  But, nothing happened!!  It was sunny all day today.  Grrr...

With such a nice weather like today, it just made me wanna go for a ride >"<  Driving a convertible, a nice sports car.  Sigh i miss driving >"<

Friday Dinner

Yes, it's been a long time since our last party, so we decided to just have a random party today.

Nah, I was just joking. The reason why we had a party was because なるwent to 飛騨[HIDA]area last Sunday for his soccer game, and he bought some chicken there. He says the chicken is very good, and he always buys the chicken whenever he goes to 飛騨. It wasnt a really special party, but we still had a good time. I also brought all the お土産[souvenirs] that I bought from 神戸[KOBE].

The cheesecake from 神戸 was really good. There were only 6 cheesecakes, but there were 7 of us there. I was teasing 弓子 that she can't eat the cheesecake because she didn't get me my Evisu jeans. Later, I asked her if she wanted the cheesecake as her birthday present, and she said no. Oh well, that's too bad =,= So, I devoured the cheesecake and savored the taste.

[side note]: pictures will come later (as always) hehe :-)

Kaitei Sushi for Dinner

So today after class, my student's grandmother asked if I had time to have dinner with them.  Of course, I said yes!!  Food is always NICE!!  So they took me to a Kaitei sushi restaurant to eat sushi. YUM YUM~~  So First I had hotate (Scallop)  It's really fresh and tasted very very good!!I also had this "Ebi Mayo" slightly torched shrimp with mayonnaise.  Man, it was delicious.  I couldn't find anything wrong with it.  The shrimp was not dry like regular shrimp sushis.  I think the mayo added some moisture to the sushi.
I think this is some oil from some fish.  Or it could be the fish skin?  Anyway, it tasted very oily, but it's all good.  I love those creamy, oily texture in my mouth.  This sushi was very GOOD!
This is ume with jellyfish and shiso.  The texture is really interesting.  The combination of the three ingredients have taught my taste-buds a completely new taste.  It was a little bit too salty, but that could be because I dipped it in soy sauce before I ate it. 
This is a small squid sushi.  Very nice.  But kind of usual.
Ahh... How can you eat sushi without Otoro.  One of my fav!!  I actually ate uni too, but after I got the uni, I just devoured it right there.  There was no time for pictures.  I realized before it was all too late T.T
This is marinated nasu (eggplant), which is one of Japanese people's favorite.  It was rather good, but kind of plain.  Not very exciting sushi.
The girls are really funny and ate like eggs and corn. sigh~ kids.  But I also had um miso clam soup.  Gosh, I love seafood.  i wish I was a little hungrier at the time we ate.  I knew I shouldn't have eaten that much before my lesson >"<

Nagoya

We went to Nagoya again today, me and Yumiko. Well, actually, I should have said, Yumiko and I went to Nagoya today? I had to picked up my key chain, and Yumiko had to exchange shoes at Birkenstock and buy a new pair of shoes from strippen, if I remember the name correctly. The strippen or trippen shoes were very cool. I thought she has made a good decision. After that, we entered the dangerous section of town, Osu. I didn't get close to Evisu today because I know I just don't have that much money to buy the jeans although I really want it. The only thing I bought today were blank CD-R's. They were pretty cheap, but I think it is still cheaper back in the States. I also played piano at the big second hand shop in Osu, and I realized that how bad I have become. q(T.T)p

Allright, moving on the important part. Yes, that's right --- DINNER! Well, we went to this buffet style restaurant at LACHIC because I kind of sensed Yumiko wanted to eat there. They serve lots of vegetable dishes, and some of the vegetables are organic! They are "SUPPOSED" to be really healthy, but the way it is prepared made it to be not healthy at all. I was not impressed at all, and I think it was the worst dinner I've ever had in Japan. I wish I could have thrown up all the food that I've eaten and get a refund. It was that horrible. Well, I shouldn't say it's all that horrible, but comparing the price and the food being served....... It was just very very ordinary [>"<] sigh~~! Okay, I have really decided. I need to become really healthy from now and save money because I have a shopping list now. Piano Computer : (iMac/Macbook pro/Windows Desktop) Evisu Jeans Raid Tower Camera is that all? well, I am sure that I will come up with more very very soon. Meanwhile, I really need to save money. I guess I won't eat at all from now on =,=||  So in Osu, I saw this clothing store, and immediately thought of one of my students.  If Chris you are reading, then You should definitely know who I am talking about.   She must have gotten all of her clothes from this place.  It looked 1000% completely identical to what she would wear.

Also, I saw this all suited up minivan, which is really really unusual in America since no one would suit up a minivan.  However, in Japan, people do!!  Some of them have really crazy minivans too, all painted purple or yellow with wings and stuff attached to them.

Thursday party

Today, we had another party. Yes, you've heard me. We had another party, and guess where it is? Yup you've got it. We had another party at kani school. We had salad and kimchi pork. It was the farewell party for Chris. After the party, I had to go with Yumiko to drive Chris back to Nagoya. I ended up getting home at 3AM? It was tiring >"<

Yakiniku party at Morimori

This Sunday we wen to a yakiniku restaurant in Seki for Chris. There were a total of 10 people there. We had so much food that it was crazy!! The highlight of the night is the real "kuro ge wa gyu" It was so good and looked so nice with all the fat spread out on top of the steak. It was absolutely the best. The chicken and the pork was also good. I really need to eat less and start losing weight T.T

Fri 6.8.07

Today, I planned a seminar to explain the supplementary textbooks that my company has to my students. I really want my students to know the benefits of the books and how to use them. i think it would really improve their english level. However, to my surprise, only two studetns showed up!! I am really disappointed.

Anyway, after the seminar, I went to Kani school and finished the leftover food from the party on Thursday. There were only Yumiko, Seiji, and me. We had ginger pork, seafood, yam, and pudding. We also watched "Karei naru ichizoku." I really liked this drama because its seriousness.

MON - June 4th

Today was a relaxing day - went to the post office, bank, and library. Afterwards, Mike and I went to the game store and played PS3! Man, the graphics is good. Then, I went to Mago shopping mall in Seki. In Mago, I met my student's mom. When I finished shopping and getting ready to go back, I met her again. She offered to give me a ride home. HEHE!!

I was thinking things to say to her, and I asked if the watermelon in Japan is always expensive. She said it wasn't really expensive, and she asked me why I asked her. [Sidetrack]: the watermelon is expensive in Japan. About half the size or 1/3 of big watermelons we have in America. And it costs $10USD. Anyway, so I told her that I liked to eat watermelons. She told me that she has watermelons at home and asked me to go to her house and eat watermelon!! hehe. It is nice being a teacher and having nice students who will treat you!!