Rodrigo

11/06/14
Finally got off the plane. There was a lot of kanji. It was all overwhelming but it was really cool. I recognized a lot of kanji but I forgot the readings. I still knew their general meanings. The first thing that we did was take a group picture I'm front of the doors that we exited from. Then we had to go and exchange our money. Turns out the rate that day was a lot better than the previous trips. Afterwards the next thing that we had to do was to get the jr rail passes, but it took a really long time and we ended up waiting  for at least 2 hours. Also, senses ended up giving us our first challenge which was to find out which bus we had to get on to to get to the hotel that we were staying at, and where to go to ride it. Logan and I figured it out. It was cool. We waited for some more and Atul amd I decided to go outside and see what the weather is like, it actually reminded both of us of our native country. The bus was also a coach like bus which further showed us how similar it is to Philippines. We finally got to the hotel amd it has a very a, American look to it, and t was modern, but the keys were completely old fashioned. Well then I slept afterwards

11/07/14
So today started off with me waking up to Grant's ds button presses. Anyway, I asked him what time it was and he said that it was before 4:30 so I went back to sleep and woke up fifteen minutes later. We had to get downstairs by six and we were early so we went down and explored a bit. Breakfast was really nice, it was very familiar with bacon and eggs but we ate it with chopsticks and the there was actual Japanese food there. We then got on a bullet train for three hours and it was very long but it was nothing compared to the fourteen hr flight. And btw bullet trains have wheels. Yup I know the lies are real. After arriving in Kyoto we left our luggage at the hostel that we were staying at and went hiking at arashi Yama. It was a very long hike up a mountain and me and a couple other people were the first group to reach the top. It was very accomplishing. Our calves were tired and we fed monkeys, it was all worth it. The view was awesome too. Afterwards we went to a bamboo forest and it was really cool. There was a point where Atul and I decided to go on a different route and temporarily got lost but we knew the general direction of here we needed to meet so we got there safely. We then got a beautiful spread of a completely vegetarian meal that was bizarre. But charengi is what we said which is basically challenge and so we were determined to eat it all. I was taught a new degree of patience with the hiking, the walking, the bullet train, and the dinner as we'll.

11/08/14
Today was the our first real day in Kyoto. We basically walked everywhere today and it was tiring. But what we got out of it was a lot of exposure to the nature and the peace that exists in Kyoto. We first went into enkouji which was a really nice place. I really don't have much to say except for the fact that it was really beautiful and serene. Then we went to two other temples and they were awesome too. 
 This picture is a ground level view of the steps to the Enkouji that we went to.

 These two pictures are me playing around with the focus in my phone camera, and trying to get a clear photo. It was kinda cool.
 More fooling around with my phone camera
 This is the first rock garden that we saw and as you can see someone has taken a rake and carved out the racks into a pattern.
 Yup that is our two sensei's that is chaperoning us
 More rock garden. you like?
 Ok, this tree just looks really cool. The white on top with the rock garden background makes for a good contrast.
 A nice decoration that I found.
 That is Grant....walking
 More trees. These are not the best pictures that I have btw
 Ok this is getting better right? The colors are awesome
 This is a nice tranquil photo. Mitchelle E says that it gave him a sense of tranquility when he looked at this photo, what do you guys think?
 A pond
 Bamboo

 I like this photo a lot. I tried to make the tree look like it is huge compared to the mountains in the background. I don't know much about photos, but I try
 Ok this is the top of the top of the path in Enkouji. There is a path that we are supposed to stay on but I went higher to get a much better picture
 Taken from the same place. I think it looks much better.

The three photos above are the same but one has the sun at the top. It was really beautiful
 This is a nice looking tree.
 More of that rock garden set up
 The colors!
 For this one I wish that I had gotten those trees a little bit more off centered but it will do.
 Contrast picture
 Yup that tree makes the picture so much better
 Nature
 Tree before the entrance to the main area of the temple
 I seem to like contrasting pictures
 Look at how I framed the picture by using the branch of that tree. Oh and pink!
 Look at those ripples!
 The 12 photos above are from Ginkaku-ji temple. I really tried to capture the autumn colors in the pictures. I just had a lot of fun with taking these pictures. Everything was just beautiful and much better (in my opinion) than any of the parks in America. It is just so serene and beautiful.
 Random gate area thing.
 I took this at a bridge as the sun was setting. I think it looks really cool
 One of the back streets in Kyoto. It is really cool, it is thin but it is just cool. There is a sense of adventure and discovery in Japan. It really felt like we were part of the Japanese style of life.
These are random pictures that I took as we winded down the day and looked for food to eat. We walked a lot, it may not seem like much in the pictures but we walked around for at least an hour before we found a restaurant to eat at.

*Will start to put panoramas

11/09/14
Today was a Kumamoto day. All we did was spend time in Kumamoto. First we got breakfast. I got a bento box and a bunch of fluffy bread. Then we went to Kumamoto castle where we explored the compound. The castle was huge, it was at least 100 feet tall, and the whole compound was at least 150 feet tall. Basically there was a huge wall that surrounds the compound and the actual compound itself starts above the wall. We spent around 3 hrs in the compound and I took a lot of pictures. I was mostly walking around with atul most of the time and we got through the supposed 2 hr hike in about half an hour. Sensei thought we ran through it but we really just walk fast. There were also a lot of turrets and that was really cool. After we did that we went to a samurai's old home and it is the largest samurai house in japan. If anything it was a really peaceful place. One thing that did not go very well was the fact that atul did not pack his frisbee in his day pack, and all I could do was walk by huge open fields and think to myself an opportunity wasted.  After hours of walking we finally arrived back at our hotel and we ate at this really great restaurant. We had udon and some sort of rice bowl. I ate gyudon which is a beef bowl with a miso udon soup. Then atul and I shared a French toast dessert with cereal and ice cream. Also atul and I figured out what we want to do for the KJ presentation. We are going to do a frisbee game after describing the game. It is gonna be awesome!!!

11/10/14
Today we were supposed to have a nicely packed day in Dazaifu. However, it was raining. Because of this, sensei changed the itinerary in hopes that the rain will stop. Therefore, instead of going to the National Museum last, we went there first. Our sensei gave us a challenge to try and find something that we connected with and respond to it. One of them had to be something familiar and the other had to be something unfamiliar. My familiar one was this screen that displayed a story about the mongol invasion of around 4000 ships and the tetsuho bombs that were used. In the mongol invasion story, the ships were all lost in a typhoon that hit them and now there are many trips to try and find those ships and their remains. This reminded me of when there are a lot of ships that get lost in the Bermuda Triangle and we have not been able to find many ships. So I thought that the mystery behind it was really interesting. As for the tetsuho bombs, apparently the samurai's who came across them were taken off guard by the loud bangs and flashes of light that they emitted, and that reminded me of when the British came to America and the native Americans reacted similarly to the guns that they brought with them. Now for the unfamiliar one that looked cool was this really large sword. It was at least 2 meters long! Apparently it was used as a ritual sword. I am not sure what ritual it is used for but yeah it is huge! There were more things that I found in the museum and they all pretty much helped me understand Japanese culture much more. When we were done with the museum we went to go eat lunch. I had ramen and to sticks of food and ice cream. It was really delicious! Also, authentic ramen is much better than cup or instant ramen. Also the street food I had was also really good. It basically defined Japanese life for me. Today was a fun day. It let us explore experience Japan's street life and I got to take some good pictures. Today's picture challenge sensei Yokota set for me was macro pictures.  

11/11/14
Today we went to Nagasaki to visit the museum and the peace park. I have always wondered how Nagasaki bombing was portrayed in Japan. In America, I knew that it was a really bad thing but we never really talked about it because it is something that America did. Upon going there, I have now seen that it is actually worse than I thought it was, and that was because they showed real pictures of the people who got injuries and of the babies and people that were literally turned into coal by the initial explosion. However, we went to the peace park afterwards and at that place, there were statues that many countries submitted to show peace and unity. Though I find it ironic that America did not send them anything. I was also able to take the coolest picture ever when I was at the peace park. Afterwards we went to a Catholic Church and took some pictures there but the main attraction was the glover garden. The photo challenge Yokota sensei gave me was to somehow capture motion. I ended up taking a really cool picture of a bug on one of th cannons and the sun is reflecting off of hi cannon. It looks really cool. While I was there I had what could be the worlds best ice cream! Basically, take the best vanilla ice cream you've had, make it creamier and thicker, and instead of vanilla, the taste is that of condensed milk. Then take the cone and replace it with a sugar cone. Now that is the best ice cream! As for dinner the plan was to go to Chinatown perhaps, however so many people ate that best ice cream and we ended up going to moss burger instead. Moss burger is so much better than the fast food burger places we have here. Then we went home to get ready for the next day.

11/12/14
Today is onsen day. The schedule is to to to Kurokawa where there are 28 onsens, and just relax. The bus ride to get there was very long, but once we got there it was all worth it. Our sensei gave us a mecjlace that allowed us to go to three of the onsens, as long as we meet at the place that was determined. The first onsen was great because I was already tired and had to walk 1.7 km before getting there, we went in pairs, atul was my partner. Anywho, once the second and third onsen come in, it did not feel as good as it did the first time, but it was very relaxing, also, we had our first western foodmformlunch for once, and it wens tomato shrimp cream pasta. Then I bought do,e really delicious. 

6 comments:

  1. These are awesone nature photos!! My favorite is the bamboo photo without the sun. You seem to like the food -- bento box, gyudon, french toast dessert, etc. Happy to know :)

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  2. I like the rock gardens, its so zen... and you do take very good photos! Its so nice to read from your blog all the places that you visited and that you are enjoying Japan - the food, the culture, the place... keep on posting!

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  3. Condensed milk ice cream! That sounds delicious:) can't wait to see the picture of the bug on the cannon

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  4. You must be really sleepy writing the last sentence for the 11/12 blog. :)

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  5. Sweeet pictures dude! And hahaha that last sentence, get some rest ey? :P

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