Hello to all that read this journal. I have decided I must update on my recent activities in Japan. The following is an account of my experience at Gion Matsuri (Gion festival), seeing the new HP film, and travelling to Yokohama for 2 days.

So, first up is my experience at the Gion Matsuri. I went on Wednesday and the crowds weren`t as bad as I was expecting. No different then travelling around Tokyo on a regular day... Anyway, I enjoyed looking at the different floats and all the fun little stalls that were set up. I am now the owener of a cute Hello Kitty mask! One of my English conversation students bought it for me as a souvenier. I also bought a candied strawberry. I loves my candied fruit!!! Soo good!

The next day, I took the train to Takanohara to see HP and the Half Blood Prince. The movie was fairly good, but there are things they left out that I was kinda looking forward to seeing how it would be filmed in a movie. As usual, time constraints and long stories are never a good mix when making a movie based on a novel. Although, I must say I was kinda depressed after the movie even though I knew what was going to happen. Oh well, I ate a curry omelet and rice and bought a yummy crepe. I also played a few songs on Taiko Drum Master in the mall`s arcade area.

Sunday, I left in the morning for Yokohama. I went to Sea Paradise lodated on Hakkejima Island. The park was very fansinating and some of the attractions allowed you to get pretty close to the resident sea mammals. There was even an area where you could touch dolphins and such, but I had no luck. Sad Day! Buy, I enjoyed the roller coaster and getting soaked on the water ride. Of course, many pictures were taken!

The next day, I checked out early and walked around China Town while waiting for the shops to actually open. About 2 hours later, I bought a steamed meat bun and checked out this mall-like building that had an area featuring how the pandas are raised in China. Of course, I couldn`t resist buying a bubble tea. After that, I walked over to the harbor and checked out the Hikawamaru, the Yokohama Harbor Tower, and some famous red brick buildings that were made into shopping districs that reminded me of the open shops in Hawaii. I then made my way towards Cosmo World to ride some roller coasters. The highlight was riding the Spinning Rollercoaster. Yes, the cart really did spin. It was like being on a tilt-a-whirl!!!! There was also an Ice Paradise place that featured many different ice sculptures.

By then I was ubber tired, so I headed towards a train station in order to go back south to Kyoto.

I was looking at the cover of Kuroshitsuji volume 7 that was just released on Saturday when I noticed that it said something about the anime. Upon closer inspection, I found out there is going to be a second series for Kuroshitsu!! I can't wait till it aires. I didn't think they would make a second season. This has made my day!

Hey all. Well, I signed up to take some days off in August to come home. I am now looking for some cheap prices on tickets, preferably using NWA as I have a miles plan with them. If all goes well, I should be home somewhere between August 1st and the 14th! I hope to be able to hook up with some of my friends while I am home. And of course hanging out with my family and pets!! I definately want to do a BBQ salmon one day!!! Looking forward to being home! Wish me luck on finding cheap tickets.

Well, the rainy season came late, but it definately is here now. It rained yester morning and rained this morning as well. There was such a lovely thunder storm at 5:45 a.m. this morning that I ended up waking up to listen to it. It was nice being up that early because I had time to make a good breakfast and call my father for Father's Day. I think it is going to be a good day today. ^_^

Ok, so I guess I have yet to post about my latest adventure on the net yet. Last weekend I went to Ikebukuro in Tokyo to see the Kuroshitsuji musical. Since Tokyo is pretty far away from Kyoto, I decided to spend the night in a hotel so that I could explore the are a bit since I don't get many chances to go to Tokyo.
So, I took the shinkansen to Tokyo on Saturday and found a hotel. With all the long travelling and a long week of work, I didn't really feel like going out on Saturday night. Sunday, I woke up to watch Shinkenger (gotta get my Aibacchi fix!). After that check out was before 10:00 a.m., so I decided to check out as soon as I was ready and explore the area around my hotel. I happened to find a Denny's, so I ate there for breakfast. Gotta say, I like the Denny's back in the states better. But, it was still nice to eat there.
After that I caught the train to the east side of Ikebukuro where the musical was to take place. The musical was in a hall that was part of Sunshine City. As I knew there were tons of things to do at Sunshine City, I headed out early. I spent quite a while at the aquarium looking at all the pretty fish and watching part of a seal show. After that I went back inside so find that there was a floor filled with international clothing stores like Gap and Northface!! I will definately go back when I feel like clothes shopping!! About then, I decided it was about time to find the hall where the musical was to take place and buy some souveniers. Unfortunately, it was the last performance and thus the keystrap I really wanted was already sold out!!! But, the musical itself totally made up for it. It was an original storyline that they made up just for the event. The story was fun and all the actors portrayed their characters fairly well. I songs were pretty good too! I still think it is funny that the song I found hardest to understand what they were singing is the one that was supposed to be English...
After all the excitement, I went back home and prepared for the next week of work.

Well, it looks like I am going to be able to make it to the Kuroshitsuji musical!! My ticket came in the mail on Saturday!! I am soo excited. I am going to the June 9th performance as it is a sunday and I usually have ikebana on saturday mornings. There is another kuroshitsu event going on that I want to go to as well. Not sure if I will go or not though.

Besides that, nothing much has happened. I started teaching at elementry schools for the first time this year. It was fun. I look forward to playing with the students in English for the remainder of this week. Next week I am off to another elementry school and then the week after that I am going back to Joyo Chu! Too bad I am not at Joyo Chu this week or I may have been able to go on a school trip to Kobe with some of the students.

Oh yeah, I haven`t reported on here about Adventure World. It was rainy that day which kinda sucked as I didn`t get to ride any of the rides that I wanted to check out. I was able to finish the stamp rally which was fun. I got to see the twin pandas, Meihin and Eihin. I also got to see a dolphin show and a seal show. After the seal show I got to feed a seal. That was pretty awesome! After that I went around and took many pictures of the animals. I posted those up on my facebook.

OMGs, I had soo much fun at the Dream Live. The atmosphere was soo up beat and excited, I couldn't help but be a part of it. Even though I had a nice comfortable seat to sit in, I stood almost the whole time. The songs were fun and the dancing was cracktacular as always. I can't wait to go to another tenimyu! Ohoh, and amayzingly enough, one of the actors actually fell off the catwalk-like part of the stage. I felt sorry for him, but he was able to get back up again and got himself re-oriented. Later in the act, he said that he was soo excited that he made a mistake. He was wearing a mask so I could kinda see where that could come from. Aaa, I am soo happy I decided to go. This has been one of my most fun experiences in Japan. Next time maybe I can have someone go with me and then it could be even more fun!

More updates on my Golden Week adventures to come!

I still can't believe I am actually going to a Prince of Tennis musical!!! I bought my ticket yesturday. It was a last minute decision to go now instead of wait until the show is in Kobe which is closer. I figured since I have more time off as it is Golden Week that I might as well go to Tokyo and see it. I know it is not the cast that I really like, but I have always wanted to go see one of these and it being a DL is even better. I am going to have to make sure I have enough money for buying momentos. I dream has come true and another will come soon. KIMERU is coming to Osaka this summer on his tour!!!

I really can't wait until I go to Adventure World. There they have twin panda cubs. I really want to see them. And, you can feed elephants and touch dolphins. I guess the park itself is kinda like a Busch Gardens and Sea World with rides, animals, and sea shows. I think I will be going on Tuesday.

Today was my first day at Joyo Middle School since last school year. It was great being able to see my favorite teacher friends and get into the classrooms again. Today I taught 1st graders so I had a short introduction and then helped students cut out alphabet cards to be used for a card-taking game. Many of the first graders still act like elementry school students, but I am sure that will pass as they get settled into their new middle school life. I look forward to working with them in the future.

Also, it turns out that not only am I at Joyo for only 6 days, but all these days are 1/2 days and there are no classes in the afternoon. This means tons of free time this week, but I am happy to be back in a place that I like with teachers that actually talk to me. It also gives me tons of time to read manga! I started reading Yakitate Japan today. So far it is exactly like the anime, but I am hoping it will be different in the future.

Wow, Hikaru no Go has been getting a lot of publicity lately. Today they started airing the anime on t.v. again and they have been issuing special versions of the manga. It is fun seeing a favorite anime on tv. I wonder if the amount of young people playing go has decreased again so they are tryinng to get more young people interested in playing. I would play if I could find a good teacher... But, then I may not have enough time as I want to join a tennis club that I found in my city and I have my ikebana on Saturdays. I also have been thinking on and off of joining the taiko club that someone told me about. Hmm, I can't get too busy on weekends or I won't be able to travel as much...

A new school year has started, so I want to try and get more involved in clubs. Maybe I will visit the volleyball club at Kita. I have been thinking on joining the volleyball club at Joyo chu anyway.

Man, why can't my body decide if it wants to be happy and full of power or wimpy and not able to get any power out??? Today I stayed home because I just couldn't get the energy to do anything this morning. All I wanted to do was sleep. So, I slept for a while longer and then took a bath. I will say that taking a lavender bath did help me. I am thinking it might be a vitamin imbalance or my body telling me to eat less junk food and do more exercising. Either way, I am starting to take vitamins again and will work on changing my diet again. On top of that it is that time of the month, so that could be a factor as well. I do tend to be more suseptible to emotional changes when that time of the month comes around. I guess I will just take it easy today and use it for a day to re-evaluate what I have been doing and what needs to be changed so I can come up with a plan of attack.

Kehe, now I feel stupid. I was sure that the key was in the pocket of one of my sweaters because I knew I wore it the last day I had ridden my bike. I checked the pocket many times, but could not find it because I thought the sweater only had one pocket. yesturday I thought I would check that sweater one more time and then I had the idea to see if there really was only one pocket. I found out a.) there are two pockets on that sweater and b.) it was that pocket I chose to hide my key in. Yay, I found it! Now I need to ask my supervisor if he can't make a double in case I really do lose my key.

Hello everyone!!! So, lately there has been a lot of testing in the schools, so classes have been few for me. In fact, I have not had any all week yet, but will finally have classes tomorrow!!! Yay, something to do!

Well, sometime this weekend, I have missplaced my bike key. I noticed it was not where it was supposed to be yesturday, so I looked in all the clothes pockets, emptied out my purse, and even cleaned my apartment to look for it, but alas it was nowhere to be found. I think it may have fell out of my coat when I was carrying it around all day on Saturday. I ended up walking to school today, but that wasn`s necessarily a bad thing, it actually made my morning more doable. I am usually slow and groggy in the morning, but this morning with the nice walk to school, I was alert and ready by the time I got to school instead of half asleep. While it is inconvenient not to be able ot use my bike as I am sure there is no spare, I also learned that doing things out of the ordinally once in a while can be fun. I am thinking on walking to school again tomorrow even if I get my bike fixed. ^_^

Since I didn`t have any ikebana class this week, I decided to go on a trip. As I have been working on my list of places I have yet to go, I decided to go to Himeji Castle as it if fairly close to where I am and it will knock off one more place on list of places to go during Golden Week. Now all I have to decide from is Mt. Fuji, Lake Biwa, Adventure World, and Yokohoma. Anyway, back to the Himeji story.

So, I took a pretty long train ride to get there. After that, I found my way towards the castle. There were some booths set up for food, so I went to see what was there but nothing really looked all that good. I continued on my way to Himeji! Himeji is a very pretty castle, especially in spring. All the pink sakura trees blooming against a white castle makes for some excellant pictures and great memories. I even had a chance to go inside the castle and see the old toilets as well as spears, horse saddle, and many other artifacts. The 6 story castle had a great view of Himeji city. I had a great time! I can`t wait to do more travels in Japan!

Today a need to buy my ticket for Dream Live 6th! Yay!!!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I picked up the newest Jump SQ to read the new chapter of Shin Tenipuri. Nice to know that the characters have not changed much at all. I am looking forward to seeing the new matches to see if any new skills get released. As if Fuji needs anymore Triple Counters. What is it now, doubled? Hehe. Although, I must say for all the hype with the new series, why is it that there has been no good releases of merchandicing lately? And where did all the Kikumaru stuffs go? It is mostly all Fuji, Tez, and Echizen...

Oh well, at least the Saiunkoku Monogatari illustration book was pretty. I pre-ordered it and picked it up on Saturday. Oh, such pretty artwork. I was soo happy when I read that there was going to be an illustration book for it. I have always liked the art work in SaiMon.

I was also able to get the new releases of the Hikaru no Go re-release. So pretty, and yet it moves quite fast. So far it has been the same as the anime, but I hear that changes once you get to the end of the series were the manga goes on to have the Hokuto Cup matches whereas the anime did not. I am looking forward to reading that. Oh, and they are showing re-runs of the anime on Tokyo tv. later this month. Too bad I won`t be able to see it as I am in the Kansai region. Le Sigh!

Manga update end...

So, Spring break is over and now I am back to my regular schedule. I had a lot of fun with my parents in Japan and now have a more homey apartment because of it. I also was able to see what Tokyo Disney Sea is like because when we went to Tokyo Disney there were soo many people there that they stopped selling tickets to Tokyo Disney. Disney Sea was also crowded and all we ended up doing was eating, riding the steam train, and waiting in line for 2 hours to go on one ride. I am going to have to go back during the off season so that I can see more. I also found time to ride on the Sagano Romantic Train which was fun. The view was awesome and I got some pretty good flat stanely pics for my mom. At the ending train station there was a beautiful flower garden with tons of orchids. The Miyako Odori was beautiful. Not only were the geisha dancers nicely coordinated, but the backgrounds were very gorgeous. It was fun hanging out with the JOYOUS members and having them speak with my parents who know no Japanese.
Other than that, I made some meals and we hung out at my apartment.

During ikebana class on Saturday I got a certificate of completion of the beginners level of classes in my study conferences I go to. Next time will be the style of arranging I am not good at, but I will try my best. I still have one more lesson on Saturday to prepare and I think I am slowing understanding how to do it. ^_^ Maybe I will be able to be a Japanese and ikebana teacher when I return.

On Thursday, I am going to a Do As Infinity concert. I may have to take a 1/2 day in order to make it in time as it is in Osaka and it takes at least an hour to get there. I don`t know classes start tomorrow and I am at a new school...

Hello everyone! Well, Spring break has come which means I am at the board of eduaction with nothing really to do. I was reading manga, but my eyes got tired from all the reading. My friend leaves today... Tomorrow I have to teach kids in the morning and then I need to catch the shinkansen to Tokyo to meet up with my parents. I will then be in Tokyo for a few days and bring my parents down to Kyoto for the rest of their vist.

Yestuday I went to go to Dragonball Evolution with my friend in Takanohara. Before that we ate dinner and played Taiko no Tatsujin after eating yummy crepes. Dragonball Evolution was a let down. I was thinking it was a Japanese film, but it was actually an American film that they released in Japan first. Probably to test the waters. I did recognize one of the dubber actors. It turns out he is going to Sakura con as well. So yes, the Japanese dubber for Goku is going ot Sakura Con!!! He also voiced InuYasha, Ranma, Enki, and many other characters! That is sooo exciting. Now I really wish I could go to Sakura Con! Le sigh.

So, my friend came in on Friday. I was going to surprise her at the airport, but her flight came in early and I didn`t know if she had luggage or not, so I figured she had already left on her way to Kyoto station where we were to meet. So, I went back to Kyoto station and she was not there. Thinking she may have gone to Terada stn, I went back home. When she wasn`t there, I went back to Kyoto station to look for her but there were too many people. By the time I finally was able to meet up with her it was 11:30 p.m. Pretty much, all we did was meet up, eat, and sleep.

The next day was the kimono festival day in Kyoto where if we wear Kimono around Kyoto you can get free entry to shrines and free subway/bus. So, we went to go find the kimono rental place that was to be near Nijo Eiki. I was thinking since it was close to Nijo street, it would also be close to Nijo Castle. Of course, I was wrong. We ended up having to ask a bus driver for directions and with the little information there was on the advertisment, all we knew was to take the subway to Nijo stn and not Nijo Castle mae. So, we asked the station master for directions and they ended up calling the place to get dirctions which, we later found out where either wrong, or we are bad at following directions... We finally found it by asking an older man at a kimono store in which he called the store again and told them to wait on the corner as we were looking for the place. About 3 hours later, we finally found the store and got all dressed up in kimono. After that, we went to Hein Jingu shrine. Took tons of pictures on the way and of course got lost... Ended up near the place I got to when I was last lost, so I knew we had to turn around. By the time we got there, Jennifer was complaining about the condition of her feet as the shoes they gave her to wear were too small for her feet. Lucky enough I have small feet, so it was not that bad for me. He strolled around in Heian Jingu, then decided we wanted to go to Yasuka shrine. By then, Jennifer`s feet were killing her, so we took a rickshaw to Chion temple. It was pretty fun and we got some pretty good looks as well as lauging. But, I did get to learn some pretty cool information about Kyoto from the driver/puller of the rickshaw. At the end we got a sticker and a packet of post cards for having a 30 minute trip. After that we checked out Yasuka shrine and ate some taiyaki while going to see the sakura at Maruyama Park. By that time it was getting pretty late, so we went back towards home.

The next day we went on an adventure to get the stamps to be on a board that has the shrines of the 4 corners of Kyoto on it and Heian Shrine. Since we got the board at Heian shrine and went to Yasuka the other day, we only had the other three left. Luckily, there were good directions on where to go for the others, so we found them quite easily and were able to get the rest of the stamps. The other temples were pretty neat, especially the one that was near Arashiyama. But, it started raining when we were at the furthest north one and I only brought one umbrella. That would be all good if I were the same height as Jennifer, but we are the oposite. I am short and she is rather tall. So, it was interesting trying to keep both of us dry and the front of my skirt as well as my socked ended up got saoked. We figured it was going to be raining for quite some time, so we stopped in a yakimochi store to figure out what bus to take to get some food and wait out the weather. Turned out it was the same bus we took up, so we got back onto that bus and got off at Karusama Shijo to eat at my favorite restaurant called Star. After that we checked out the Animate as well as the nearby Book Off. I bought volume 6 of Kuroshitsuji at the animate and then bought 9 volumes of Wildlife and the first 6 volumes of Yakitatte Japan. We then went back home.

Today I had to work, so I left my friend to do whatever she wanted. I left her my train pass, so she can use it if she wanted. Hopefully she was able to get more money as the banks were closed on the weekend, so I had to draw her up a map to the bank in Joyo as well as the post office that is across the street from it. Tomorrow I have work as well so I hope she can find something she wants to do for tomorrow as well. Tomorrow is the end of the year assembly and then after that I have nothing to do, so I am happy I bought that manga so I can read. ^_^

Finally a warm, spring-like day has arrived. I did not have to wear a heavy coat today and the sun is nice and warm. I have been waiting for these days to return! Soon I will be able to put away my kotatsu and do laundry more regularly. I even got to help plant some flowers in planters today! I enjoyed helping out the kids!

Only problem with this warmth is that now I just want to be outside. It is prefect weather for a nice walk or a bikeride. But, alas, I have to finish up cleaning today as I am going to Kyoto tomorrow. After that I have an English conersation class in the evening. Today I am going to do the Who Am I game. I remember doing this game back in my religious education gatherings back in high school. Should be fun.

I started watching Hunter x Hunter over again. I am just about to the good part where Gon, Kurapica and leorio go to Killua`s house to bring him back. Bad thing is, it is making me really really want to buy the raw version of the manga and read it. I already decided that I couldn`t do that because I started the collection in English and don`t need doubles of it. Ah, the trials of a manga/anime lover.

Yesturday I cleaned all afternoon. I finally got my living room and bedroom cleaned. Now, all I have to do is clean my kitchen and hang up some stuffs in my living room to make it more homey. ^_^ I shall be ready for Friday!

Oh, I can`t wait till friday. My friend from college is coming and we are going to go to Fushimi Inari, Osaka, and be involved in an event where if you wear a kimono around Kyoto, you can get free bus/subway tickets as well as free admission to some temples/shrines/museums. I have yet to choose the path we are going to take yet, but I am looking forward to it. My friend stays until the 25th, and then my parents come the next day.

My absence of luck shows as I have to teach kids for two hours the morning my parents come. This means I have to rush to the train station from teaching in order to catch the shinkansen to Tokyo to guide my parents. I will then be in Tokyo for 3 days! We are going to Tokyo Disney!!!! I can`t wait.