Tue 7 Dec
KOBE ILLUMINATION
went with some friends to the Kobe illumination in Sannomiya which started after the Hanshin earthquake i heard. it`s apparently a really big event here and lotsa people come crowding up near LV and camwhore at all the pretty lights.
then we had some italian for dinner before going home.
Wed 8 Dec
jigged Coffee Hour (which nobody knew about until late yesterday arvo) and went to Harbourland with Erica for some shoes for the party on Friday =]
Fri 10 Dec
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PARTY
went to Takarazuka hotel with host family for the KGU international student party. it was fun to go out dressed up nicely for once and to see everyone else dressed up.
pigged out on the food (where you had to be quick otherwise there`d be none left) and camwhored.
then some of us went for allnighter k for an afterparty. we k-ed in our beloved (it seems) shidax cos it was much cheaper than the jankare in tsukaguchi and k-ed till 5am. then we went to nishikita hoping to bum in maccas for a bit to learn that it was still closed. so we went to the maccas in kotoen and sat there eating and chatting for a couple hours till bout 9 something AM.
Sat 11 Dec
slept through the whole day till 9PM something. so in order to fix up the body clock i decided to just stay up all night studying before going out the next day
Sun 12 Dec
USJ!!!
slept in from a power nap from the day/night switch day and got to USJ an hour later than everyone else. kudos to Hiroki for the USJ ticket!
the day was spent predominantly in lines waiting to go on the rides but BOY were some of those rides worth it. we went on the:
- spiderman ride (thumbs up!)
- jurassic park ride (thumbs up!)
- terminator show (thumbs up!)
- hollywood dream (thumbs up!)
- jaws ride at night (thumbs up!)
- and the backdraft show
and then we went to the shounen jump shop and i just had to get this
=D
and then for dinner we went to the takoyaki museum and ate some takoyaki before heading home
note: photos to be uploaded later...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
week 11
Thu 2 Dec
HOLY CRAP I CANNOT BELIEVE IT DECEMBER ALREADY!
it`s been exactly 3 months since I started this adventure and it continues....
today we had to go visit the KGU primary school and talk with little kids. surprisingly it was fun and i kinda wished i got to stay back for lunch with them but i had political economy class (which i ended up sleeping through it again).
Sat 4 Dec
volunteered to go to the exchange information session to help the japanese student(s) coming to Sydney next year to help them out life in Sydney. it was fun and got to make another japanese friend but sooo friggin early at 9.30am on a Saturday....
and then....
HEIDI CONCERT
..... WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!
SOOOO much better than the Scandal concert i went to earlier in the semester, but then i might be biased cos at least with this band it was not only good music, good performers but lotsa eyecandy as well, compared to seeing a bunch of girls around my age in school uniform on stage.
Sun 5 Dec
went to Osaka Castle with the good ole fellow SGs who were in Japan for holidays. kinda felt like a mini reunion hehe. THANK YOU GIRLS FOR MEETING UP!!! it was really nice to see some familiar faces =]
then we went to Shinsaibashi where they shopped, and then i had to go home for dinner and do some homework that was due the next day.
HOLY CRAP I CANNOT BELIEVE IT DECEMBER ALREADY!
it`s been exactly 3 months since I started this adventure and it continues....
today we had to go visit the KGU primary school and talk with little kids. surprisingly it was fun and i kinda wished i got to stay back for lunch with them but i had political economy class (which i ended up sleeping through it again).
Sat 4 Dec
volunteered to go to the exchange information session to help the japanese student(s) coming to Sydney next year to help them out life in Sydney. it was fun and got to make another japanese friend but sooo friggin early at 9.30am on a Saturday....
and then....
HEIDI CONCERT
..... WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!
SOOOO much better than the Scandal concert i went to earlier in the semester, but then i might be biased cos at least with this band it was not only good music, good performers but lotsa eyecandy as well, compared to seeing a bunch of girls around my age in school uniform on stage.
Sun 5 Dec
went to Osaka Castle with the good ole fellow SGs who were in Japan for holidays. kinda felt like a mini reunion hehe. THANK YOU GIRLS FOR MEETING UP!!! it was really nice to see some familiar faces =]
then we went to Shinsaibashi where they shopped, and then i had to go home for dinner and do some homework that was due the next day.
week 10
okay now this is just grossly late but anyways...
Tue 23 Nov
PUBLIC HOLIDAY!!!
went to the Mitsui Outlet Park near Tarumi (which is another 20mins west of Sannomiya on the JR), which is like a DFO much 50 times better. there were 3 shopping centres full of clothing, shoes, bag stores ==> shopping heaven
i bought a nice navy overcoat for half price =]
and the place is quite nice by the water. you can see awaji bridge and awaji island and a bit of shikoku int he horizon.
Fri 26 Nov
HIROSHIMA TRIP!!!
caught the midnight bus from Osaka to HIROSHIMA!!! =D
Sat 27 Nov
arrived in Hiroshima at about 6.30am and had maccas for brekkie (since it was the only place open with food until 7.30am). then somehow found our way to the K`s House (since we left through the wrong exit). then we trekked it to Hiroshima Castle. instantly felt the memory of the atomic bomb with the marked out patches of where things used to be and remnants of trees that survived the bomb. we also went into the castle tower (nb: FREE entry for foreign exchange students!) and checked out some old stuff and tried on some old traditional Japanese garments for FREE =]
then we bought some bread and iced latte along to the way to Peace Park. AGAIN you instantly feel overwhelmed by the damage the bomb had caused upon the city. it`s just simply amazing how the A-bomb dome managed to survive it as well as the shinto gate (which has been moved to hiroshima castle). we bumped into some guy from Sydney as we were listening to some Japanese survivor guy talk about the atomic bomb and the consequences of it. then we went into Peace Park Museum (only ￥５０ entry peepz!). again felt all depressed and shocked at the amount of ruin the bomb had caused, especially the juxtaposition of the two dioramas of the before/after models of hiroshima city. the life-sized diorama of children with singed hair, melting skin drooping off of them and ragged clothes made an impression, as well as the spooky shadow of the guy on the Sumitomo bank staircase that remained from the time of bombing.
afterwards, we parted ways with guy from Sydney and went into the local shopping centre for some gloves or whatever people people wanted. then finally at bout 9.30pm we went to eat dinner. really wanted to eat hiroshima-style okonomiyaki but we were too hungry and ended up in this really cheap teishoku ramen restaurant.
Sun 28 Nov
slept in till 8.30, 9am packed up and checked out from the room but we left our luggage with the reception to go to miyajima. we took the more expensive but faster route by taking the JR train to miyajimaguchi station, then got on the JR ferry to miyajima. once we got there, we saw wild deer again (this time they dun have spots on their bodies). camwhored a bit throughout the day. checked out the red torii in the water, and tried to make it to momijidani park. spent most of our time in the omotesando (main shopping street), which can be summarised by rice scoops, momiji manju and KAKI (oysters)! dunno why but the kaki in miyajima is just soooooo friggin GOOOOOOOOOOOD
then we went back to the red shinto gate to take sunset photos then made it back to hiroshima and finally got to eat the famous hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. it was GOOOOOD. highly recommended =]
then we got on the 10.30pm bus back to osaka, arriving at 5 something AM. went home, showered, dumped my crap made my way out again to school for 9am class
Tue 23 Nov
PUBLIC HOLIDAY!!!
went to the Mitsui Outlet Park near Tarumi (which is another 20mins west of Sannomiya on the JR), which is like a DFO much 50 times better. there were 3 shopping centres full of clothing, shoes, bag stores ==> shopping heaven
i bought a nice navy overcoat for half price =]
and the place is quite nice by the water. you can see awaji bridge and awaji island and a bit of shikoku int he horizon.
Fri 26 Nov
HIROSHIMA TRIP!!!
caught the midnight bus from Osaka to HIROSHIMA!!! =D
Sat 27 Nov
arrived in Hiroshima at about 6.30am and had maccas for brekkie (since it was the only place open with food until 7.30am). then somehow found our way to the K`s House (since we left through the wrong exit). then we trekked it to Hiroshima Castle. instantly felt the memory of the atomic bomb with the marked out patches of where things used to be and remnants of trees that survived the bomb. we also went into the castle tower (nb: FREE entry for foreign exchange students!) and checked out some old stuff and tried on some old traditional Japanese garments for FREE =]
then we bought some bread and iced latte along to the way to Peace Park. AGAIN you instantly feel overwhelmed by the damage the bomb had caused upon the city. it`s just simply amazing how the A-bomb dome managed to survive it as well as the shinto gate (which has been moved to hiroshima castle). we bumped into some guy from Sydney as we were listening to some Japanese survivor guy talk about the atomic bomb and the consequences of it. then we went into Peace Park Museum (only ￥５０ entry peepz!). again felt all depressed and shocked at the amount of ruin the bomb had caused, especially the juxtaposition of the two dioramas of the before/after models of hiroshima city. the life-sized diorama of children with singed hair, melting skin drooping off of them and ragged clothes made an impression, as well as the spooky shadow of the guy on the Sumitomo bank staircase that remained from the time of bombing.
afterwards, we parted ways with guy from Sydney and went into the local shopping centre for some gloves or whatever people people wanted. then finally at bout 9.30pm we went to eat dinner. really wanted to eat hiroshima-style okonomiyaki but we were too hungry and ended up in this really cheap teishoku ramen restaurant.
Sun 28 Nov
slept in till 8.30, 9am packed up and checked out from the room but we left our luggage with the reception to go to miyajima. we took the more expensive but faster route by taking the JR train to miyajimaguchi station, then got on the JR ferry to miyajima. once we got there, we saw wild deer again (this time they dun have spots on their bodies). camwhored a bit throughout the day. checked out the red torii in the water, and tried to make it to momijidani park. spent most of our time in the omotesando (main shopping street), which can be summarised by rice scoops, momiji manju and KAKI (oysters)! dunno why but the kaki in miyajima is just soooooo friggin GOOOOOOOOOOOD
then we went back to the red shinto gate to take sunset photos then made it back to hiroshima and finally got to eat the famous hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. it was GOOOOOD. highly recommended =]
then we got on the 10.30pm bus back to osaka, arriving at 5 something AM. went home, showered, dumped my crap made my way out again to school for 9am class
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Week 9
MIDSEM WEEK CONTINUES
Midsems this week:
- Political economy midterm essay due (handed in 3 days late （ _ _ ）..........o )
- Japanese grammar midsem
- usual Kanji quiz
Wed 17 Nov Coffee Hour
Went to the Kobe Sanda campus for Coffee Hour. Coffee Hour's supposed to be this event were it allows the international students to socialise with the Japanese students, however there were very few Japanese students who turned up on the day. Also, the Sanda campus is FARRRRRRRRRRRRR. it was like a one-hour bus ride to get there (direct) and although it's in kobe it is NOT close to Sannomiya AT ALL. However, I thought the campus looked pretty being on the top of a mountain [even though the buildings all look the same as the Uegahara campus ( the one where we usually go for classes everyday)]
Fri 19 Nov
Karaoke party to celebrate the end of midsems 〜(￣▽￣〜)(〜￣▽￣)〜
Sun 21 Nov
Went to eat Chinese food (was supposed to be dim sum until we learnt that the restaurant was closed that day （ー△ー；）ｴｯ､ﾏｼﾞ？！！！ ) and did a bit of shopping in Harbourland
Midsems this week:
- Political economy midterm essay due (handed in 3 days late （ _ _ ）..........o )
- Japanese grammar midsem
- usual Kanji quiz
Wed 17 Nov Coffee Hour
Went to the Kobe Sanda campus for Coffee Hour. Coffee Hour's supposed to be this event were it allows the international students to socialise with the Japanese students, however there were very few Japanese students who turned up on the day. Also, the Sanda campus is FARRRRRRRRRRRRR. it was like a one-hour bus ride to get there (direct) and although it's in kobe it is NOT close to Sannomiya AT ALL. However, I thought the campus looked pretty being on the top of a mountain [even though the buildings all look the same as the Uegahara campus ( the one where we usually go for classes everyday)]
Fri 19 Nov
Karaoke party to celebrate the end of midsems 〜(￣▽￣〜)(〜￣▽￣)〜
Sun 21 Nov
Went to eat Chinese food (was supposed to be dim sum until we learnt that the restaurant was closed that day （ー△ー；）ｴｯ､ﾏｼﾞ？！！！ ) and did a bit of shopping in Harbourland
Week 8
MIDSEM WEEK
Midsems this week:
- Japanese Listening midsem
- Religious and Traditional Rites midsem
- Kanji midsem
- usual Japanese grammar quiz
Sun 14th Nov KYOTO DAY TRIP
Went to Kyoto to see the autumn leaves.
We visited some shrine near the downtown Kyoto area, Nanzen-ji, had okonomiyaki and green tea twist soft serve, walked to Ginkakuji (to learn that it was closing time by the time we reached it) and had some sushi tasting whale for the first time
my sushi with whale meat on it
Midsems this week:
- Japanese Listening midsem
- Religious and Traditional Rites midsem
- Kanji midsem
- usual Japanese grammar quiz
Sun 14th Nov KYOTO DAY TRIP
Went to Kyoto to see the autumn leaves.
We visited some shrine near the downtown Kyoto area, Nanzen-ji, had okonomiyaki and green tea twist soft serve, walked to Ginkakuji (to learn that it was closing time by the time we reached it) and had some sushi tasting whale for the first time
my sushi with whale meat on it
Week 7
Mon 1 Nov
INSTANT RAMEN MUSEUM!!!
Went to Ikeda (in Osaka prefecture) to visit the Instant Ramen Museum, since the guy who invented it came from Ikeda. Got to see A LOT of cup ramen, like the very first instant noodles, and the various instant noodles from the last 5 decades, how they put the noodles in the cup, etc. Then we got to make our own variation of cup noodles where we got a cup, decorated it and chose our own soup base and toppings.
then we went to the tasting room and ate instant noodles from different prefectures o(>▽<)o
Afterwards, we walked to big park nearby (satsukiyama park, i think it was called). and along the route to get there we noticed a recurring theme happening....
yes.... wombats.... everywhere!
then when we got to the foot of Satsuki Mountain, we found a park and had fun going on the slides and swings
and wandered around the park till we found the free zoo somewhere in it (as well as discovering the autumn foliage beginning to come out) and got to reminisce in some familiar animals from back home...
unfortunately, i was underwhelmed by the number of wombats that they had there (Wombat population in Satsukiyama zoo : 1).
Then we went to the shrine nearby and some random statues in the area (apologies to the sculptor if i offended ya...)
Wed 3rd Nov Culture Day
Went to the Gakuensai (school festival) as it was the last day and also for the free Yuna Ito concert. There was a lot of food stalls, performances and displays by the students. Couldn't take any photos or videos during the concert since there was one of the staff members standing right in front of me.... =___=
After the concert, had Japanese-style yakiniku with a couple of the 3A girls =] 焼肉は美味しかった。
Thanks to the Gakuensai we had school for 3.5 days *thumbs up*
INSTANT RAMEN MUSEUM!!!
Went to Ikeda (in Osaka prefecture) to visit the Instant Ramen Museum, since the guy who invented it came from Ikeda. Got to see A LOT of cup ramen, like the very first instant noodles, and the various instant noodles from the last 5 decades, how they put the noodles in the cup, etc. Then we got to make our own variation of cup noodles where we got a cup, decorated it and chose our own soup base and toppings.
then we went to the tasting room and ate instant noodles from different prefectures o(>▽<)o
Afterwards, we walked to big park nearby (satsukiyama park, i think it was called). and along the route to get there we noticed a recurring theme happening....
yes.... wombats.... everywhere!
then when we got to the foot of Satsuki Mountain, we found a park and had fun going on the slides and swings
and wandered around the park till we found the free zoo somewhere in it (as well as discovering the autumn foliage beginning to come out) and got to reminisce in some familiar animals from back home...
unfortunately, i was underwhelmed by the number of wombats that they had there (Wombat population in Satsukiyama zoo : 1).
Then we went to the shrine nearby and some random statues in the area (apologies to the sculptor if i offended ya...)
Wed 3rd Nov Culture Day
Went to the Gakuensai (school festival) as it was the last day and also for the free Yuna Ito concert. There was a lot of food stalls, performances and displays by the students. Couldn't take any photos or videos during the concert since there was one of the staff members standing right in front of me.... =___=
After the concert, had Japanese-style yakiniku with a couple of the 3A girls =] 焼肉は美味しかった。
Thanks to the Gakuensai we had school for 3.5 days *thumbs up*
Week 6
wow... it really has been a while since I've last posted anything...
the only memorable events that happened this week were...
my multiple assessments on Thursday 28th Oct (speech presentation, then grammar quiz and then political economy presentation)
Fri 29th Oct
went along to izakaya to celebrate Tofu's birthday
Sat 30th Oct
visited Yodobashi in Umeda and checked out electronic dictionaries and MP3 players. Then went to Tsuruashi to eat korean food, which ended up being eating kobe beef and overpriced kimchi. since we were all still hungry afterwards we went to an izakaya in umeda and chilled out there
Sun 31st Oct
School festival at Kangaku begins! (but i didn't go （ー○ー）)
the only memorable events that happened this week were...
my multiple assessments on Thursday 28th Oct (speech presentation, then grammar quiz and then political economy presentation)
Fri 29th Oct
went along to izakaya to celebrate Tofu's birthday
Sat 30th Oct
visited Yodobashi in Umeda and checked out electronic dictionaries and MP3 players. Then went to Tsuruashi to eat korean food, which ended up being eating kobe beef and overpriced kimchi. since we were all still hungry afterwards we went to an izakaya in umeda and chilled out there
Sun 31st Oct
School festival at Kangaku begins! (but i didn't go （ー○ー）)
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