My flight leaves Japan tonight at 10pm on Sunday July 11th. I'll be landing at Honolulu Airport on Sunday June 11th at 11am. Turns out I'll get to re-live my day. Inneresting.
I don't really know what to say.
I've made some very good friends while here and I have grown extremely fond of my host family. It is really tough for me to leave.
:(
Keri
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Just some photos of my daily life
Hey I haven't updated in awhile so I decided to do some double updates, so make sure you dont miss the other new post below.
These are just some photos of everyday things.
Myoden Station
Japan is bringing the heat. Trying to stay cool with my free fan and a giant ice cream.
Japanese school kids are スーパ かわいいですよ！
sunset outside my window
マーリン chillin in the bathroom
These are just some photos of everyday things.
Myoden Station
Japan is bringing the heat. Trying to stay cool with my free fan and a giant ice cream.
Japanese school kids are スーパ かわいいですよ！
sunset outside my window
マーリン chillin in the bathroom
Saturday, June 26, 2010
butler's cafe and other crazy themed cafes in Japan
Okay, so a lot of us have heard about crazy Japan culture, fashion, etc. Living here and experiencing these things for the past couple of months have debunked a number of these pesky rumors (weird underwear fashion) and reaffirmed others (crazy toilets both primitive and high-tech).
Funky fashion. As hilarious as this would be, it's just not true.
However, some of the truly "funky/crazy" or better put, uniquely Japanese fads are not commonly known outside of Japan (at least not in the US). Since being in Japan I have discovered the Japanese obsession with themed cafes, which as crazy as they are seem to attract very little attention, since I had never heard of them prior to this visit. I am differentiating here between the word cafe and restaurant because I know there are numerous other countries who have themed restaurants. The themed cafes here can hardly be compared to anything I have ever experienced before. So what kind of themed cafes are there? And what do they offer?
Cat Cafe/Dog Cafe
In order to enter the cat cafe you must pay the 1,000yen entrance fee (about $10). And much like the name suggests, Cat cafes are devoted to cats! Within the cafe there are between 15-20 gorgeous pedigreed cats lounging around for you to pet and play with (assuming they are willing to oblige you). Aside from playing with the cats like any cafe there is a menu offering food and drinks, all named in a cat fashion. I myself haven't visited one of these but a number of my friends have. Here are some photos from their trip.
Cats and cat themed things everywhere!!!
The Dog Cafe is a little different from that of the Cat cafe. Unlike the cat cafe there are no actual dogs in the cafe. Instead it is a cafe where you go to with your dog. I know many people in America tend to go to lunch and bring their dog with them and I know I said these cafes are unlike anything in America, so trust me it gets weirder (not obscenely weird, just different). Okay, so at the Dog cafe you can order food and a cappuccino for yourself, turns out you can also order a puppychino and little bone shaped treats for wo/man's best friend as well! After enjoying your meal together dog and owner can play together with a variety of dog toys offered at the cafe, or even attend a small obedience class (only offered at select cafes)
Christian Cafe (or Christon Cafe as the Japanese call it)
Christon cafe is a church themed cafe. No there are not priests or nuns walking around this cafe, but the decor and menu revolves around the theme of Christianity. The dining area is decorated with giant crucifixes, gargoyles and images of a bloodied Christ weeping on the cross. The menu includes such fare as the "Small Devil" cocktail flavored with strawberry cream and cassis, and "God-made Hamburger".
Butler/Maid cafes
Ok, so I'm mostly going to focus on talking about the Butler cafe because I went to one. Anyway, so as one of our field trips for my Japanese pop culture class we went to a butler cafe. The most popular butler cafe's tend to be ones with foreign butlers (aka Caucasians, but other ethnicities too). So what is a butler cafe? Well I guess the best way to describe one is that it is a place where you (ladies mostly, but gentlemen too) get treated like royalty. In fact, upon entering the cafe I was greeted with, "welcome my princess". hehehe. I failed at suppressing my laughter. The particular butler cafe we visited didn't have an entrance fee per say, but you were required to order at least one drink and one food item. And since these items aren't cheap the price tends to be around $15-20. Aside from the food and beverage menu there is an additional special princess menu where you can order (I forget the princessy themed names for most of them but... here we go) a drink (alcoholic) which I guess the butlers make especially for you (special mixes) based on your personality ($10). Or you can order a photo opp. with your favorite butler ($5), a deluxe photo opp. where the butler of your choice picks you up in his arms ($10), or something called cinderella time (or something like that) where all of the butlers in the cafe will each put on a special performance for you ($20), for Japanese customers they can also order an english lesson ($30). Being broke college students none of us paid for these extras. But anyway, the butlers give you a special bell for your table to ring whenever you require their service. Upon hearing the ring they will all say, "yes my princess" and come over to see what you require. As it turns out the butlers will also escort you to and from the bathroom. (the boys do not get this special treatment but
they are called prince)
Japanese women tend to frequent these due to their penchant for foreign men. Also they like being served for a change since they spend all of their day taking care of the husband, the kids, the house, etc.
Photos!
My princess pancakes
Maid cafes are pretty similar, there are girls dressed in cute maid outfits. You are also able to pay for photos with the maids, or pay to have them play card games with you. These cafes attract a lot of Otaku (super intense Japanese manga nerds). The maids are actually really cute (so my friends tell me who have gone) and do weird "Japanese cute" dances and make strange cute gestures and wishes over your food when they bring it to you.
Photos! (courtesy of Alex)
Cute maid cafe pancakes
Photo with their maid
Funky fashion. As hilarious as this would be, it's just not true.
However, some of the truly "funky/crazy" or better put, uniquely Japanese fads are not commonly known outside of Japan (at least not in the US). Since being in Japan I have discovered the Japanese obsession with themed cafes, which as crazy as they are seem to attract very little attention, since I had never heard of them prior to this visit. I am differentiating here between the word cafe and restaurant because I know there are numerous other countries who have themed restaurants. The themed cafes here can hardly be compared to anything I have ever experienced before. So what kind of themed cafes are there? And what do they offer?
Cat Cafe/Dog Cafe
In order to enter the cat cafe you must pay the 1,000yen entrance fee (about $10). And much like the name suggests, Cat cafes are devoted to cats! Within the cafe there are between 15-20 gorgeous pedigreed cats lounging around for you to pet and play with (assuming they are willing to oblige you). Aside from playing with the cats like any cafe there is a menu offering food and drinks, all named in a cat fashion. I myself haven't visited one of these but a number of my friends have. Here are some photos from their trip.
Cats and cat themed things everywhere!!!
The Dog Cafe is a little different from that of the Cat cafe. Unlike the cat cafe there are no actual dogs in the cafe. Instead it is a cafe where you go to with your dog. I know many people in America tend to go to lunch and bring their dog with them and I know I said these cafes are unlike anything in America, so trust me it gets weirder (not obscenely weird, just different). Okay, so at the Dog cafe you can order food and a cappuccino for yourself, turns out you can also order a puppychino and little bone shaped treats for wo/man's best friend as well! After enjoying your meal together dog and owner can play together with a variety of dog toys offered at the cafe, or even attend a small obedience class (only offered at select cafes)
Christian Cafe (or Christon Cafe as the Japanese call it)
Christon cafe is a church themed cafe. No there are not priests or nuns walking around this cafe, but the decor and menu revolves around the theme of Christianity. The dining area is decorated with giant crucifixes, gargoyles and images of a bloodied Christ weeping on the cross. The menu includes such fare as the "Small Devil" cocktail flavored with strawberry cream and cassis, and "God-made Hamburger".
Butler/Maid cafes
Ok, so I'm mostly going to focus on talking about the Butler cafe because I went to one. Anyway, so as one of our field trips for my Japanese pop culture class we went to a butler cafe. The most popular butler cafe's tend to be ones with foreign butlers (aka Caucasians, but other ethnicities too). So what is a butler cafe? Well I guess the best way to describe one is that it is a place where you (ladies mostly, but gentlemen too) get treated like royalty. In fact, upon entering the cafe I was greeted with, "welcome my princess". hehehe. I failed at suppressing my laughter. The particular butler cafe we visited didn't have an entrance fee per say, but you were required to order at least one drink and one food item. And since these items aren't cheap the price tends to be around $15-20. Aside from the food and beverage menu there is an additional special princess menu where you can order (I forget the princessy themed names for most of them but... here we go) a drink (alcoholic) which I guess the butlers make especially for you (special mixes) based on your personality ($10). Or you can order a photo opp. with your favorite butler ($5), a deluxe photo opp. where the butler of your choice picks you up in his arms ($10), or something called cinderella time (or something like that) where all of the butlers in the cafe will each put on a special performance for you ($20), for Japanese customers they can also order an english lesson ($30). Being broke college students none of us paid for these extras. But anyway, the butlers give you a special bell for your table to ring whenever you require their service. Upon hearing the ring they will all say, "yes my princess" and come over to see what you require. As it turns out the butlers will also escort you to and from the bathroom. (the boys do not get this special treatment but
they are called prince)
Japanese women tend to frequent these due to their penchant for foreign men. Also they like being served for a change since they spend all of their day taking care of the husband, the kids, the house, etc.
Photos!
My princess pancakes
Maid cafes are pretty similar, there are girls dressed in cute maid outfits. You are also able to pay for photos with the maids, or pay to have them play card games with you. These cafes attract a lot of Otaku (super intense Japanese manga nerds). The maids are actually really cute (so my friends tell me who have gone) and do weird "Japanese cute" dances and make strange cute gestures and wishes over your food when they bring it to you.
Photos! (courtesy of Alex)
Cute maid cafe pancakes
Photo with their maid
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Trip to Ito
Before I begin my post regarding the field trip IES took to Shizuoka prefecture I want to first want to highlight a small event that took place during this excursion.
Last Saturday on the 12th IES had taken us on a field trip to go tea leaf picking in Shizuoka prefecture. I had been sick the entire week up until the field trip, but since I was feeling better I thought it was fine if I went. Anyway, during our lunch which was at a small tendon restaurant I had a very interesting experience of...I guess Japanese hospitality. I had been sitting with my friends Stephyn and Veronica waiting to get our food when I had a small fit of sneezes. Thankfully I had packed along a small amount of kleenex and blew my nose. After that we all just were sitting and chatting, still waiting for our food. I feel some snot running out of my nose, and as gross as it is I went to wipe it with my hand because I didn't have any clean kleenex readily available. When I drew my hand back i was shocked to see that it was covered in blood! Turned out my runny nose was actually a nosebleed. What happened next happened so quickly I honestly hardly noticed it happening. My friend Veronica had pulled out a wad of kleenex and handed it to me and then the next thing I know I am surrounded by a whole Armada of Japanese women. One women was tossing me kleenex after kleenex, while another woman was holding my head back and gently patting the back of my neck while the other Japanese women were asking my friends if I was ok. I was so surprised that so many people would come to my rescue, and over something so small as a nose bleed. My bloody nose didn't last very long, only a couple minutes, but the sweet ladies kept coming to check on me. They brought me a vinegar covered napkin, which I guess is some form of Japanese remedy for nose bleed, as well as bringing me a giant box of tissues and cold water to drink. I made sure to thank these ladies with many arigato gozaimasu 's. Before leaving the restaurant I told them thank you one more time and got a photo with two of my rescuers.
The lady on my left was the one who had tilted back my head and given me a small neck massage. The other lady had brought me all of my post nosebleed supplies.
OK, so the rest of my Ito trip was much less action packed, here we go.
First thing you should know about Shizuoka prefecture is that it is FAR from Tokyo! We were on the bus for about 4 hours going there. I slept on the ride there for the most part, but it was a little challenging because well intentioned guide-o san was being annoying as hell telling us about every single thing that we passed during the 4 hour trip over a loud speaker. Anyway, after a very exciting lunch we had to hop on the bus for another 30 minutes to get to our tea leaf picking site.
After having to spend so much time on the bus we were all excited to get out and pick tea leafs until we realized how HOT it was outside! Even worse, we found out we needed to wear tea leaf picking outfits that consisted of long sleeves and many layers!!!! I'm not going to bother elaborating on our tea leaf picking experience, because honestly it's pretty self explanatory. See tea leaf, pick tea leaf, put in basket[period]. Although it was hot in the tea leaf outfits we really had a lot of fun wearing them. What was a little disappointing was that we only got to pick tea leaves for about 10 minutes. After driving for 4+ hours to get here you would think we would have more time to pick leaves. WRONG-O. We also found out that we wouldn't be able to make tea from our tea leaves because we wouldn't be doing the tea leaf drying there (takes about 3 hours) so we just have leaves that we can do nothing with. A little disappointing.
We then climbed back on the bus for another 3o minute drive to get to one of the local shrines in the area. The shrine was pretty similar to a lot of the smaller shrines around Japan. So it wasn't anything too special, but the town it was located in was very cute. We got to wander around it for awhile. I went to the small public foot onsen which is located right above the river. It was really nice, but very very very hot water!!!! Also wandered around the little shops. After this we got back on the bus, and the ride home took us over 4 hours.
Although this had been a fairly fun experience it really wasn't worth it. We spent about 9 hours of the day on a bus, and only about 1 hour of actual field trip excursions. There isn't much for me to write about because we were literally on the bus for the whole day.
Here are some photos.
Me picking tea leaves! :D
My tea leaves
The cute foot onsen
Soaking my feet, the water was so hot I didn't want to put my legs in.
Last Saturday on the 12th IES had taken us on a field trip to go tea leaf picking in Shizuoka prefecture. I had been sick the entire week up until the field trip, but since I was feeling better I thought it was fine if I went. Anyway, during our lunch which was at a small tendon restaurant I had a very interesting experience of...I guess Japanese hospitality. I had been sitting with my friends Stephyn and Veronica waiting to get our food when I had a small fit of sneezes. Thankfully I had packed along a small amount of kleenex and blew my nose. After that we all just were sitting and chatting, still waiting for our food. I feel some snot running out of my nose, and as gross as it is I went to wipe it with my hand because I didn't have any clean kleenex readily available. When I drew my hand back i was shocked to see that it was covered in blood! Turned out my runny nose was actually a nosebleed. What happened next happened so quickly I honestly hardly noticed it happening. My friend Veronica had pulled out a wad of kleenex and handed it to me and then the next thing I know I am surrounded by a whole Armada of Japanese women. One women was tossing me kleenex after kleenex, while another woman was holding my head back and gently patting the back of my neck while the other Japanese women were asking my friends if I was ok. I was so surprised that so many people would come to my rescue, and over something so small as a nose bleed. My bloody nose didn't last very long, only a couple minutes, but the sweet ladies kept coming to check on me. They brought me a vinegar covered napkin, which I guess is some form of Japanese remedy for nose bleed, as well as bringing me a giant box of tissues and cold water to drink. I made sure to thank these ladies with many arigato gozaimasu 's. Before leaving the restaurant I told them thank you one more time and got a photo with two of my rescuers.
The lady on my left was the one who had tilted back my head and given me a small neck massage. The other lady had brought me all of my post nosebleed supplies.
OK, so the rest of my Ito trip was much less action packed, here we go.
First thing you should know about Shizuoka prefecture is that it is FAR from Tokyo! We were on the bus for about 4 hours going there. I slept on the ride there for the most part, but it was a little challenging because well intentioned guide-o san was being annoying as hell telling us about every single thing that we passed during the 4 hour trip over a loud speaker. Anyway, after a very exciting lunch we had to hop on the bus for another 30 minutes to get to our tea leaf picking site.
After having to spend so much time on the bus we were all excited to get out and pick tea leafs until we realized how HOT it was outside! Even worse, we found out we needed to wear tea leaf picking outfits that consisted of long sleeves and many layers!!!! I'm not going to bother elaborating on our tea leaf picking experience, because honestly it's pretty self explanatory. See tea leaf, pick tea leaf, put in basket[period]. Although it was hot in the tea leaf outfits we really had a lot of fun wearing them. What was a little disappointing was that we only got to pick tea leaves for about 10 minutes. After driving for 4+ hours to get here you would think we would have more time to pick leaves. WRONG-O. We also found out that we wouldn't be able to make tea from our tea leaves because we wouldn't be doing the tea leaf drying there (takes about 3 hours) so we just have leaves that we can do nothing with. A little disappointing.
We then climbed back on the bus for another 3o minute drive to get to one of the local shrines in the area. The shrine was pretty similar to a lot of the smaller shrines around Japan. So it wasn't anything too special, but the town it was located in was very cute. We got to wander around it for awhile. I went to the small public foot onsen which is located right above the river. It was really nice, but very very very hot water!!!! Also wandered around the little shops. After this we got back on the bus, and the ride home took us over 4 hours.
Although this had been a fairly fun experience it really wasn't worth it. We spent about 9 hours of the day on a bus, and only about 1 hour of actual field trip excursions. There isn't much for me to write about because we were literally on the bus for the whole day.
Here are some photos.
Me picking tea leaves! :D
My tea leaves
The cute foot onsen
Soaking my feet, the water was so hot I didn't want to put my legs in.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Party all day and all night.
About a week ago my some of my friends and had a night out in Tokyo. It was a really fun experience unlike anything I've ever done before. So I wanted to share it with you guys.
Alex, Veronica, and I had decided awhile ago that we wanted to go out to dinner at this really interesting sounding bar/restaurant. We decided this was a perfect way to begin our Tokyo night. The restaurant we went to is called The Lock Up. It's a chain and has several locations throughout Japan's major cities. Tokyo has two locations. One in Shibuya and one in Ikebukuro. We went to the one in Shibuya since it's a really lively part of Tokyo (Ikebukuro is also a lively spot, but we're also more familiar with Shibuya). We had understood that the concept behind The Lock Up is kind of like a prison themed restaurant. Turned out it was much much more! The restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of the basement in one of the buildings in Shibuya. BUT while you are trying to get from the entrance to the actual restaurant you have to walk through a haunted passage. With wrong turns, spooks, dim lighting, and creepy noises. None of us were expecting this so we were freaking out while walking through it and ended up screaming from fright when we came across our hostess (a hot police officer). After getting over our initial shock our hostess handcuffed us and took us to our jail cell.
The drink menu was really cool! (I will post pictures below) The food itself was pretty much normal food, but the price was also normal so it was fine. After ordering our food the lights (or at least the few lights that were on to begin with) in the entire restaurant went out and death metal mixed in with chain saw music began playing on the speakers. Next thing I know, our jail cell is being attacked by crazy monsters. This happens about every hour and lasts for about 3 minutes. It is really fun and adds to the crazy dining experience.
Photos:
Veronica, Alex, and I about to enter the creepy passage way.
A few of the crazzy drinks they sell. That is a jelly eye ball in the bottom right drink.
Being in jail for so long turned us into mad scientist!
Before I write about my experience at the club in Shibuya I have to give you a little bit of background about clubbing in Japan. Ok, well the last train of the night usually leaves Tokyo around 12am and the next trains dont start up until 5a.m. So if you are planning on staying out in Tokyo, it means you are literally staying out all night. So here we go!
We decided to go to Club Atom, which turns out is a fairly famous club in Shibuya. We chose this one mostly because of the price. Entrance fee before 12a.m. is about $10 and if you're a girl this fee also includes 2 drink tickets. This is a really good price because most clubs are around $20 for girls with no drink tickets and $30 for guys (no drink tickets). The club has 3 floors. The main floor (located on the 5th floor of the building) is the middle floor with a bar, dj booth, dance area, and small area for lounging. This floor played a mix of hip-hop,pop,dance,and techno. The floor below looked kind of like an underground cave and played trance music. The top floor was a bar and lounge that played hip-hop and r&b music.
At first when we got there around 11:30p.m. and the club was pretty empty so we ordered some drinks, and sat around chatting and checking out the place. Something really cool that this club offered was a mini hair salon. It was located adjacent to the bar on a raised platform slightly sectioned off from the main club area. There were 3 hair stylist that were curling girls hair for them. I don't know how it worked but the girls had gotten a ticket from somewhere either for free or by paying that would allow them to get their hair done. This wasn't offered all night, it stopped a little after 12 so maybe it was somehow a part of the happy hour, I'm not sure. After 12:30 the club had started to fill up and we decided to get out on the dance floor. Dancing in a club in Japan is so different from at home. Everyone in the club faces the dj while dancing. And it seems like the favorite move is the fist pump. Might be because there isn't much room for anything else. Another strange thing was that there were a lot of Japanese business men at the club, you could tell they were Japanese business men because they were wearing their business attire. Really different.
The club had mostly Japanese, but there were a few Koreans and also some caucasians. The music was a really interesting mix because they would play popular American songs that you would expect in a club, popular techno music, popular Japanese pop and techno music, but they would also play really strange music for a club, such as Justin Beiber, Avril Lavigne, and the YMCA song. It was really strange but fun to rock out to anyway. Staying up had been a bit of a challenge, around 2:30 I had gotten really tired and just wanted to fall asleep. There are seats reserved for ladies throughout the club, but my friend Veronica found out the hard way that you are not allowed to nap in these seats (club workers will wake you up). After about 30 minutes of resting and chatting with Veronica and some friendly Japanese I was able to get back on the dance floor. Our friend Alex didn't seem to need as many breaks as we did, but that is probably because he wasn't wearing heels and he had some help from whiskey to keep him awake and going. After our 30minute rest Veronica and I were ready to keep partying it up. The club stayed packed until the time we left around 4:45~5:00am. We ended up going to McDonald's to get some water and some breakfast before heading home on the very first train at around 5:30.
I got home at 7 had a quick breakfast with my host family before my host brother and sister went to school and then I crashed. I literally crashed all day. I went to bed at 7am woke up at 4 to get a glass of water and then went back to sleep until right before dinner at 6:45p.m. It was really fun experiencing Tokyo's night life, but I don't plan on doing this again. I really did enjoy the club but I enjoy spending my afternoons exploring Tokyo more than spending my whole day sleeping.
Here are some photos of the club from their websites. Photos weren't allowed in the club.
Club entrance
The main dance floor. The view point is from the DJ, so you are looking across the dance floor, see the lounge area with the bar in the very back.
The 4th floor that looks like a cave. It only opens after 12:30am
The bar/lounge on the 6th floor.
Alex, Veronica, and I had decided awhile ago that we wanted to go out to dinner at this really interesting sounding bar/restaurant. We decided this was a perfect way to begin our Tokyo night. The restaurant we went to is called The Lock Up. It's a chain and has several locations throughout Japan's major cities. Tokyo has two locations. One in Shibuya and one in Ikebukuro. We went to the one in Shibuya since it's a really lively part of Tokyo (Ikebukuro is also a lively spot, but we're also more familiar with Shibuya). We had understood that the concept behind The Lock Up is kind of like a prison themed restaurant. Turned out it was much much more! The restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of the basement in one of the buildings in Shibuya. BUT while you are trying to get from the entrance to the actual restaurant you have to walk through a haunted passage. With wrong turns, spooks, dim lighting, and creepy noises. None of us were expecting this so we were freaking out while walking through it and ended up screaming from fright when we came across our hostess (a hot police officer). After getting over our initial shock our hostess handcuffed us and took us to our jail cell.
The drink menu was really cool! (I will post pictures below) The food itself was pretty much normal food, but the price was also normal so it was fine. After ordering our food the lights (or at least the few lights that were on to begin with) in the entire restaurant went out and death metal mixed in with chain saw music began playing on the speakers. Next thing I know, our jail cell is being attacked by crazy monsters. This happens about every hour and lasts for about 3 minutes. It is really fun and adds to the crazy dining experience.
Photos:
Veronica, Alex, and I about to enter the creepy passage way.
A few of the crazzy drinks they sell. That is a jelly eye ball in the bottom right drink.
Being in jail for so long turned us into mad scientist!
Before I write about my experience at the club in Shibuya I have to give you a little bit of background about clubbing in Japan. Ok, well the last train of the night usually leaves Tokyo around 12am and the next trains dont start up until 5a.m. So if you are planning on staying out in Tokyo, it means you are literally staying out all night. So here we go!
We decided to go to Club Atom, which turns out is a fairly famous club in Shibuya. We chose this one mostly because of the price. Entrance fee before 12a.m. is about $10 and if you're a girl this fee also includes 2 drink tickets. This is a really good price because most clubs are around $20 for girls with no drink tickets and $30 for guys (no drink tickets). The club has 3 floors. The main floor (located on the 5th floor of the building) is the middle floor with a bar, dj booth, dance area, and small area for lounging. This floor played a mix of hip-hop,pop,dance,and techno. The floor below looked kind of like an underground cave and played trance music. The top floor was a bar and lounge that played hip-hop and r&b music.
At first when we got there around 11:30p.m. and the club was pretty empty so we ordered some drinks, and sat around chatting and checking out the place. Something really cool that this club offered was a mini hair salon. It was located adjacent to the bar on a raised platform slightly sectioned off from the main club area. There were 3 hair stylist that were curling girls hair for them. I don't know how it worked but the girls had gotten a ticket from somewhere either for free or by paying that would allow them to get their hair done. This wasn't offered all night, it stopped a little after 12 so maybe it was somehow a part of the happy hour, I'm not sure. After 12:30 the club had started to fill up and we decided to get out on the dance floor. Dancing in a club in Japan is so different from at home. Everyone in the club faces the dj while dancing. And it seems like the favorite move is the fist pump. Might be because there isn't much room for anything else. Another strange thing was that there were a lot of Japanese business men at the club, you could tell they were Japanese business men because they were wearing their business attire. Really different.
The club had mostly Japanese, but there were a few Koreans and also some caucasians. The music was a really interesting mix because they would play popular American songs that you would expect in a club, popular techno music, popular Japanese pop and techno music, but they would also play really strange music for a club, such as Justin Beiber, Avril Lavigne, and the YMCA song. It was really strange but fun to rock out to anyway. Staying up had been a bit of a challenge, around 2:30 I had gotten really tired and just wanted to fall asleep. There are seats reserved for ladies throughout the club, but my friend Veronica found out the hard way that you are not allowed to nap in these seats (club workers will wake you up). After about 30 minutes of resting and chatting with Veronica and some friendly Japanese I was able to get back on the dance floor. Our friend Alex didn't seem to need as many breaks as we did, but that is probably because he wasn't wearing heels and he had some help from whiskey to keep him awake and going. After our 30minute rest Veronica and I were ready to keep partying it up. The club stayed packed until the time we left around 4:45~5:00am. We ended up going to McDonald's to get some water and some breakfast before heading home on the very first train at around 5:30.
I got home at 7 had a quick breakfast with my host family before my host brother and sister went to school and then I crashed. I literally crashed all day. I went to bed at 7am woke up at 4 to get a glass of water and then went back to sleep until right before dinner at 6:45p.m. It was really fun experiencing Tokyo's night life, but I don't plan on doing this again. I really did enjoy the club but I enjoy spending my afternoons exploring Tokyo more than spending my whole day sleeping.
Here are some photos of the club from their websites. Photos weren't allowed in the club.
Club entrance
The main dance floor. The view point is from the DJ, so you are looking across the dance floor, see the lounge area with the bar in the very back.
The 4th floor that looks like a cave. It only opens after 12:30am
The bar/lounge on the 6th floor.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Final Okinawa Post
Day 3
On our third day in Okinawa we went to the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Park and Museum as well as Okinawa World.
The Peace Memorial Park was really awe inspiring. It is a similar concept to the Vietnam Memorial in DC. Throughout the park there are hundreds of granite/marble? (not sure) slabs with the names of those who died during the battle of Okinawa (during ww2). However what makes this memorial park unique is that it doesn't only list the names of those who served in the military that died, but instead it lists the names of military and civilians from every country involved that died during the battle. Currently there are about 250,000 names, but this number expands as more people submit names of deceased family members who had been involved. Both the Museum and Park where really moving, I think all of us had been pretty affected by visiting these sites.
After that we all climbed back onto the bus and drove for 30minutes to get to Okinawa world. Okinawa World is basically the same idea as Hawaii's Polynesian Cultural Center. It's kind of like a museum like park that recreates traditional Okinawan culture. While there we got to see an Eisa dance performance (Okinawan drum dance) as well as learn how to perform one. We also got to walk through a recreation of an Okinawan village which was selling a variety of novelty goods. There was also a garden area filled with various fruit trees and vegetation you can see throughout Okinawa. And one of my favorite highlights was the underground cave we got to walk through.
After all of this we were lucky to get back to the hotel early enough to be able to go swimming before the beach closed! It was really nice! The water was almost the perfect temperature, just a little cold when you first get in, but otherwise nice.
Day 4
We spent the morning wandering around Kokusai St.
After spending an hour and a half window shopping the whole IES group met up for lunch. We got to eat at a hibachi grill that was in a restaurant shaped like a ship. It was very nice, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the building and I think I only took a few pictures while at lunch. After that we went to Naha airport and flew back to Tokyo.
Photos and additional commentaries.
click any photo to enlarge.
The peace memorial park. Names of Japanese/Okinawan citizens/military who died during the battle of Okinawa.
This fountain is a symbol of peace for all and is dedicated for those who died in the battle of Okinawa.
Veronica and I standing outside the Peace Memorial Museum
Jodie and I getting our Hawaii on before going to Okinawa world. (Jodie is also from Hawaii)
Okinawan Eisa performers.
IES students performing the Eisa dance we had been taught.
Underground cave.
Me with Hello Kitty dressed as a Shisha (famous Okinawan decoration which resembles a mixture of a lion and a dog) on Kokusai St.
Hubu sake. One of the more interesting/popular omiyage you can find on Kokusai St.
Very expensive.
Cook preparing our lunch.
Outfit the waitresses/hostess were wearing.
Stephyn, Veronica, and I wearing our "serious" bibs preparing to nom on some yummy food.
On our third day in Okinawa we went to the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Park and Museum as well as Okinawa World.
The Peace Memorial Park was really awe inspiring. It is a similar concept to the Vietnam Memorial in DC. Throughout the park there are hundreds of granite/marble? (not sure) slabs with the names of those who died during the battle of Okinawa (during ww2). However what makes this memorial park unique is that it doesn't only list the names of those who served in the military that died, but instead it lists the names of military and civilians from every country involved that died during the battle. Currently there are about 250,000 names, but this number expands as more people submit names of deceased family members who had been involved. Both the Museum and Park where really moving, I think all of us had been pretty affected by visiting these sites.
After that we all climbed back onto the bus and drove for 30minutes to get to Okinawa world. Okinawa World is basically the same idea as Hawaii's Polynesian Cultural Center. It's kind of like a museum like park that recreates traditional Okinawan culture. While there we got to see an Eisa dance performance (Okinawan drum dance) as well as learn how to perform one. We also got to walk through a recreation of an Okinawan village which was selling a variety of novelty goods. There was also a garden area filled with various fruit trees and vegetation you can see throughout Okinawa. And one of my favorite highlights was the underground cave we got to walk through.
After all of this we were lucky to get back to the hotel early enough to be able to go swimming before the beach closed! It was really nice! The water was almost the perfect temperature, just a little cold when you first get in, but otherwise nice.
Day 4
We spent the morning wandering around Kokusai St.
After spending an hour and a half window shopping the whole IES group met up for lunch. We got to eat at a hibachi grill that was in a restaurant shaped like a ship. It was very nice, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the building and I think I only took a few pictures while at lunch. After that we went to Naha airport and flew back to Tokyo.
Photos and additional commentaries.
click any photo to enlarge.
The peace memorial park. Names of Japanese/Okinawan citizens/military who died during the battle of Okinawa.
This fountain is a symbol of peace for all and is dedicated for those who died in the battle of Okinawa.
Veronica and I standing outside the Peace Memorial Museum
Jodie and I getting our Hawaii on before going to Okinawa world. (Jodie is also from Hawaii)
Okinawan Eisa performers.
IES students performing the Eisa dance we had been taught.
Underground cave.
Me with Hello Kitty dressed as a Shisha (famous Okinawan decoration which resembles a mixture of a lion and a dog) on Kokusai St.
Hubu sake. One of the more interesting/popular omiyage you can find on Kokusai St.
Very expensive.
Cook preparing our lunch.
Outfit the waitresses/hostess were wearing.
Stephyn, Veronica, and I wearing our "serious" bibs preparing to nom on some yummy food.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Okinawa pt. 2
So i realize now that I had failed to post the second day in Okinawa in my last blog even though I said I would cover the 1st and 2nd day. In this post I'm only going to cover the 2nd day because there are so many photos I want to share that there wont be room to write about the 3rd day.
So here we go.
Day 2
We woke up really early in the morning to have breakfast. The breakfast food wasn't so great, but really can't complain since the whole trip was so cheap. After we climbed on the bus and drove for about 30 mins (I took a nap since I was still tired) and arrived at where we would be doing glass making. The glass making was really cool! We didn't actually get to do the glass blowing/shaping because we used a mold but we did get to blow it and eventually shape the rim. So it was still a really fun experience.
Afterward we went to Okinawa Ocean Expo, which I guess is similar to Sea World in America. It has the second largest aquarium in the world. Also went to a sea turtle exhibit manatee house and a small dolphin show. This was also the first day I got to go to the beach! There was a public beach at the Expo park where me and a bunch of IES friends went to relax after wandering through the park. The weather was really nice and the water was also pretty nice (but can't compare to Hawaii of course). The aquarium was really cool, but it definitely did not feel like it was the second largest aquarium in the world. I think my favorite part (other than enjoy the sun on the beach) was spending time in the manatee house. The Manatees just seemed so calm and happy so it was really relaxing to watch them just floating around.
We ended up eating lunch at the Expo park since we were spending about 5 hours there to enjoy all the park had to offer. I ended up ordering Tsukemen noodles that came with vegetable tempura. And here is where I had my first run in with the Okinawan cucumber which is called goya. This thing is super bitter and...not very oishii. Since it is really famous in Okinawa it was present at other meals such as our Dinner barbeque later that night, buuuut after my first experience I learned to avoid it.
Here are some photos (click on any photo to enlarge)
Me blowing/shaping my glass cup which I got to keep!
A giant puffer fish at the aquarium
Me with one of the turtles
Dory and Nemo hanging out!
This is the giant part of the aquarium which held 3 whale sharks and tons of giant manta rays! Super cool!
At the dolphin show.
The girls enjoying the beach
Ice cream! I got Okinawan sweet potato flavor.
At the manatee house
Dinner barbeque (you can spot the weird cucumber near the sausages on the platter)
Here is a close up image of the weird Okinawan cucumber
Although they taste really horrible it turns out they are really healthy for you. They have 50 times more vitamin C than a regular cucumber. Maybe that is how Okinawans live so long, eating these things all the time.
I will try to post about the rest of my Okinawa trip as soon as possible!
Oyasumi!
So here we go.
Day 2
We woke up really early in the morning to have breakfast. The breakfast food wasn't so great, but really can't complain since the whole trip was so cheap. After we climbed on the bus and drove for about 30 mins (I took a nap since I was still tired) and arrived at where we would be doing glass making. The glass making was really cool! We didn't actually get to do the glass blowing/shaping because we used a mold but we did get to blow it and eventually shape the rim. So it was still a really fun experience.
Afterward we went to Okinawa Ocean Expo, which I guess is similar to Sea World in America. It has the second largest aquarium in the world. Also went to a sea turtle exhibit manatee house and a small dolphin show. This was also the first day I got to go to the beach! There was a public beach at the Expo park where me and a bunch of IES friends went to relax after wandering through the park. The weather was really nice and the water was also pretty nice (but can't compare to Hawaii of course). The aquarium was really cool, but it definitely did not feel like it was the second largest aquarium in the world. I think my favorite part (other than enjoy the sun on the beach) was spending time in the manatee house. The Manatees just seemed so calm and happy so it was really relaxing to watch them just floating around.
We ended up eating lunch at the Expo park since we were spending about 5 hours there to enjoy all the park had to offer. I ended up ordering Tsukemen noodles that came with vegetable tempura. And here is where I had my first run in with the Okinawan cucumber which is called goya. This thing is super bitter and...not very oishii. Since it is really famous in Okinawa it was present at other meals such as our Dinner barbeque later that night, buuuut after my first experience I learned to avoid it.
Here are some photos (click on any photo to enlarge)
Me blowing/shaping my glass cup which I got to keep!
A giant puffer fish at the aquarium
Me with one of the turtles
Dory and Nemo hanging out!
This is the giant part of the aquarium which held 3 whale sharks and tons of giant manta rays! Super cool!
At the dolphin show.
The girls enjoying the beach
Ice cream! I got Okinawan sweet potato flavor.
At the manatee house
Dinner barbeque (you can spot the weird cucumber near the sausages on the platter)
Here is a close up image of the weird Okinawan cucumber
Although they taste really horrible it turns out they are really healthy for you. They have 50 times more vitamin C than a regular cucumber. Maybe that is how Okinawans live so long, eating these things all the time.
I will try to post about the rest of my Okinawa trip as soon as possible!
Oyasumi!
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