Japan 2012

Newest first

Trip start
June 17, 2012
Japan 2012 fannypakit
Osaka, Japan
June 17, 2012 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
CRAZY FIRST DAY OF JAPAN!

After missing the Flyaway by 3 minutes (going to blame Cristina for this one) and having an hour delay, I was convinced that America didn’t want me to leave to Japan. The 11 hour flight to Narita wasn’t bad at all, but upon leaving the plane, a (very sweet) Japanese airport employee was calling out my name and seriously hustled me to get to my connecting flight because they were going to close check-in in an half hour. So included in this half hour of madness, I dashed across the airport, impatiently maneuvered my way through immigration and customs, and hauled ass to make it to my connecting flight with literally less than five minutes to spare. Got to KIX in one piece luckily and I used the limited Japanese I knew to send my luggage to the university and used the ticket machine to buy bus fare for the bus to ITM where our hotel for the first night was. Stressful ass first day, but the hotel was really nice! And I felt super accomplished for handling on foreign territory.

Some takeaways:
I recommend almost always flying in and out of Tokyo, Haneda over Narita if you could. From Tokyo, connections to other cities are much easier and cheaper than flying direct there. Most times you'll have a connection from NRT/HND anyway if you plan on flying elsewhere. The shinkansen is ridiculously efficient and can be inexpensive with a JR Pass.

Japan has a very efficient luggage transportation system through Yamato Transport. Do yourself a favor and ship your luggage (if it's very large) to your hotel or where you are staying and vice versa to the airport. It really is a game changer considering I had to pack for 3 months in Japan.Read more
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Japan 2012 fannypakit
Mino, Osaka
June 24, 2012 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Week 1 is over!

Japan was fine and dandy minus the fact that the day we come in is the day that a typhoon was hitting Osaka. I had to buy an umbrella the first day since I had left it in my luggage that was sent to the university and my umbrella broke by the end of the day. Sad day, man.

Lots of necessary purchases made within the first week, like laundry detergent, toilet paper, and stuff I wish I knew to bring instead of having to buy here because Japan is expensive (the yen is strong..). Cooking is also challenging given we do not have any kitchenware, but we do have a stove and fridge. The AC controller does not work and learning how to use the washer-dryer was such a struggle.

We have classes at Mino campus of Osaka University and it has been a breeze so far. I am lucky I had an obsession with Japanese when younger so I knew the basics. Here's to getting immersed in the Japanese culture!Read more
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Japan 2012 fannypakit
Umeda, Osaka
June 30, 2012 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
We went to Umeda (Downtown Osaka) and did a lot of shopping! Not really me, but I did buy a pair of wedges and shorts. We also went to the Umeda Sky Building, Floating Garden with a height of 157m and goes like 40 floors up. Gorgeous view of Osaka! There was some kind of Tanabata celebration going on, so there were a lot of colorful flags around the Sky Building. Some of the group went to Osaka Castle instead of the Umeda Sky Building, that'll hopefully be another day.

We had takoyaki and yakisoba at a legit place and speak the majority of the day exploring all the sites. I was told some people went to Don Quiqote and spent hours in there! I couldn't believe it. Don Quiqote is a famous discounted mega store in Japan and literally you can buy anything and everything there for a fraction of the price you would find at a department store or regular drugstore. I haven't gone into one yet, but I can sense why it may be bad for my wallet..

This week, we also checked out Shinsaibashi and Nanba area where they parties are at! Holy shit, I cannot believe the trains end at midnight, so people legit party until 5am when the first trains run. I was unbelievable tired, but we made it back to our dorms at like fucking 7am. Guess what? Then, we woke up at 10am to go meet up to go to Osaka Aquarium. Wow, how am I still alive?Read more
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Japan 2012 fannypakit
Mino, Osaka
July 2, 2012 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Happy Fourth of July! The week consisted of basically nothing but class, class, and class. For Fourth of July, Kazu took us out to AYCE shabu shabu at Kin no Buta. We had a feast and it was definitely some of the BEST Japanese food I’ve had since coming here. We came back expecting to drink and set off fireworks but the boys failed and didn’t buy the fireworks like they were supposed to. Instead, we played with fireworks the next night, but only had sparklers as the boys failed again and didn’t buy the larger fireworks.

It's been relatively quit this week due to the ongoing storms (thanks typhoon..) and not having many things planned. It really is so hard getting out of the country side, but we're making it work.Read more
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Japan 2012 fannypakit
Kyoto, Japan
July 6, 2012 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
Early morning, set off to Kyoto with two others (Joseph and Abraham). Took us quite a while to get there, having to take the hankyu bus, subway, and JR line. But at last, we made it to Kyoto a little before 12pm.

Was greeted by Hiroko who I met as one of the Japanese supporter’s friends during our trip to the aquarium. She, her friend, and her friend’s brother were our tour guides for the day. Let me just say they are the sweetest people ever! Yuka’s brother, Nobu, wouldn’t let us pay for anything (we had to literally argue to pay for dinner) and he drove us all around Kyoto just to show us around (:

Our first stop was lunch at a ramen place as Abraham has never had ramen since coming to Japan. Ramen and gyoza, yum. Then we set off for Kinkaku-ji, which is Kyoto’s golden pavilion. Quite a sight as it’s painted in gold and surrounded by beautiful gardens and a tea house. We got fortunes there and I ended up with a pretty good one, please do bless me with such luck!

After Kinkaku-ji, we go across town to Arashiyama to check out the Bamboo Forest and hike up to Monkey Park. The Bamboo Forest is easily the most gorgeous sight I’ve seen in Japan yet. Hiking up to Monkey Park was quite a feat and we got to feed the wild monkeys right when we got up there. There was also a boar and birds up there, kind of random.

Next stop was Gion, which is the district known for geishas. It’s a very traditional block filled with tourists and local restaurants. Of course, our luck wasn’t by our side and we didn’t see any geishas, but we did spot many people in yukatas–not the same.

Dinner was AYCE yakiniku at Chi Fa Ja, which is a restaurant my sensei recommended to the class. Yakiniku is very similar to KBBQ and not gonna lie, nothing beats KBBQ brisket. But damn, Japanese yakiniku is on a whole another level. Their short ribs, literally melted in my mouth. And I’m normally not a fan of pork belly kalbi, but damn, Japan does it so well. IT WAS SO GOOD. Got my fix of meat and am so satisfied with that meal.

Spent two hours at dinner so we only had about an hour left in Kyoto before we had to catch the train back to Osaka. We decided to shop around the area Chi Fa Ja was at. Bought some yatsuhashi omiyage for Andy per request, and I get to see him next weekend in Tokyo! Super stoked, but not excited for what’s going to be a crazy amount of tourists and people.Read more
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Trip end
July 6, 2012

Osaka, Japan

Mino, Osaka

Umeda, Osaka

Mino, Osaka

Kyoto, Japan