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The Beauty of Japan - Day 1
I decide to be more positive and get out of this laziness hole. It is time to be more productive and give this blog something worth reading! With that said, there is no better story in my life except my trip to Japan. Another reason is because I also need to record that awesome experience somewhere else outside my head, so that in case I forget it like stupid hero(ine)s in TV drama get their amnesia because of some not-so-important things, the story will not be gone just like that.
This post is dedicated to the first day of our very quick trip, July 16th 2014. I went with two friends to Osaka, Kansai. We planned this trip since around a year ago. We bought the tickets on September 2013, I still had the copy on my laptop.
The trip technically started the night before. We flew in the evening to Kuala Lumpur, then took a connecting flight to Kansai International Airport from there. We arrived at morning on Japan. One of the team members had arrived in Osaka previously, so he picked us up on airport.
First thing we did was actually buying a pass for subways and buses for 11 days straight, haha. It saved our life quite much because we did not have to worry about buying and paying for tickets every time we want to take a subway train or bus. Saved us from making mistakes while buying due to the language, and saved us the time with less confusion, especially because Japanese are so accurate with their schedules.
An overnight trip undoubtedly made us very hungry, so the next thing in mind was food. We were planning to have breakfast, but it ended as a lunch. That friend who had arrived first stayed somewhere else with his brother, so they needed to pack their things to move to the new house with us. To save time we ate at a place nearby, a fast Italian food restaurant: Saizeriya.
I missed my Doria. I think I need to get one soon.
With a full stomach, we marched to our (new) place to stay. It was a small boarding house but it felt like home. The name was Yoccola Islands. I regret not taking photos with the house or the hosts because they were all kind and awesome. It matters not! For I shall return there soon and make a proper stay there! We left all our luggage there and prepared for the real adventure!
We arrived at Kyoto to check out a festival, but we did not go there straight. We took a walk around, enjoying the scenery, when we found a riverbed nearby. We decided to get down there and rest for a while, taking in the view we normally saw on anime only. To me it was very refreshing. The water was clean and cool, there were birds flying nearby, and even (high?) school kids playing very close to water. They threw stones or just splashed water to each other for fun. I was looking at the original source of everything I saw and read only. How awesome would that feel? Have fun imagining it.
Somewhere in Kyoto.
As the day shifted to afternoon, we left the riverbed. It was time to enjoy the first day of Gion Matsuri. After reading the information on Wikipedia, turned out it was not the first day, but more like the last day before the parade around town. So yeah, "first day" for me. :P It was a very interesting experience. I am not someone who often go to festival and such, and Gion Matsuri that day was especially very crowded and busy. Lots of people, lots of food, the heat of summer, the music, and the ornaments being displayed were awesome combination. We walked around, checking the floats, took photos, had shaved ice due to amazing heat of summer (and man, shaved ice could not taste better than THAT! Now I understand why it is so popular in manga and anime for summer festivals~), tried green tea ice cream (float), and just generally checking things around. We walked around for hours that my feet could no longer take.
One of the floats. The photo missed the high tip, though.
Humans. Humans everywhere. Too many humans.
Awesome event was awesome, so we kept on going until around 8 PM before we took the train home.
Beautiful, beautiful day. Too bad that a message from home ruined the spirit, with a notice that half of the students must return on Monday to re-take an exam. The teachers found out that the questions from previous group's exam were leaked to us. We closed the day begging for forgiveness from the teachers, suggesting a plan that allow us to take the exam by internet from Japan so we did not have to return. I slept with such hope hanging on the air, half knowing that it was impossible, yet still hoped for a miracle.
"If God could send me here, He would surely help me so I can stay and enjoy this trip, wouldn't He?"
One of many attempts of throwing rock into the river. HI!
This post is dedicated to the first day of our very quick trip, July 16th 2014. I went with two friends to Osaka, Kansai. We planned this trip since around a year ago. We bought the tickets on September 2013, I still had the copy on my laptop.
The trip technically started the night before. We flew in the evening to Kuala Lumpur, then took a connecting flight to Kansai International Airport from there. We arrived at morning on Japan. One of the team members had arrived in Osaka previously, so he picked us up on airport.
First thing we did was actually buying a pass for subways and buses for 11 days straight, haha. It saved our life quite much because we did not have to worry about buying and paying for tickets every time we want to take a subway train or bus. Saved us from making mistakes while buying due to the language, and saved us the time with less confusion, especially because Japanese are so accurate with their schedules.
An overnight trip undoubtedly made us very hungry, so the next thing in mind was food. We were planning to have breakfast, but it ended as a lunch. That friend who had arrived first stayed somewhere else with his brother, so they needed to pack their things to move to the new house with us. To save time we ate at a place nearby, a fast Italian food restaurant: Saizeriya.
I missed my Doria. I think I need to get one soon.
With a full stomach, we marched to our (new) place to stay. It was a small boarding house but it felt like home. The name was Yoccola Islands. I regret not taking photos with the house or the hosts because they were all kind and awesome. It matters not! For I shall return there soon and make a proper stay there! We left all our luggage there and prepared for the real adventure!
We arrived at Kyoto to check out a festival, but we did not go there straight. We took a walk around, enjoying the scenery, when we found a riverbed nearby. We decided to get down there and rest for a while, taking in the view we normally saw on anime only. To me it was very refreshing. The water was clean and cool, there were birds flying nearby, and even (high?) school kids playing very close to water. They threw stones or just splashed water to each other for fun. I was looking at the original source of everything I saw and read only. How awesome would that feel? Have fun imagining it.
Somewhere in Kyoto.
As the day shifted to afternoon, we left the riverbed. It was time to enjoy the first day of Gion Matsuri. After reading the information on Wikipedia, turned out it was not the first day, but more like the last day before the parade around town. So yeah, "first day" for me. :P It was a very interesting experience. I am not someone who often go to festival and such, and Gion Matsuri that day was especially very crowded and busy. Lots of people, lots of food, the heat of summer, the music, and the ornaments being displayed were awesome combination. We walked around, checking the floats, took photos, had shaved ice due to amazing heat of summer (and man, shaved ice could not taste better than THAT! Now I understand why it is so popular in manga and anime for summer festivals~), tried green tea ice cream (float), and just generally checking things around. We walked around for hours that my feet could no longer take.
One of the floats. The photo missed the high tip, though.
Humans. Humans everywhere. Too many humans.
Awesome event was awesome, so we kept on going until around 8 PM before we took the train home.
Beautiful, beautiful day. Too bad that a message from home ruined the spirit, with a notice that half of the students must return on Monday to re-take an exam. The teachers found out that the questions from previous group's exam were leaked to us. We closed the day begging for forgiveness from the teachers, suggesting a plan that allow us to take the exam by internet from Japan so we did not have to return. I slept with such hope hanging on the air, half knowing that it was impossible, yet still hoped for a miracle.
"If God could send me here, He would surely help me so I can stay and enjoy this trip, wouldn't He?"
One of many attempts of throwing rock into the river. HI!
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We haven't set a date yet since we don't have enough money to do it yet. But someday we will go and it'll be super fun! :D
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It's been awhile since I had sushi at the local restaurant near me... perhaps I should go there soon. :3
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