Tina in Japan

Recent favorite UFO Catcher winnnings. Two Raichus and a Pikachu. They’re sooo soft. I love them.  It’s fun to hug all three at once.

These were a fun win. Leslie and Jamie watched me go for the two Raichus. I wanted to get a Raichu for keeps but then I ended up wanting to get the second one cause it was the only one left in the machine. Raichus are very popular so I wanted to go for it.

It was a very fun night. Leslie, Jamie, and I just had dinner at Pepper Lunch, shopped, had desserts, did purikura,  very generic normal things and yet it was honestly a really fun time. I haven’t had such a great time in a while. <3

This was when Yilan and I were in Osaka for lunch. 600-700 yen a piece. The taste just sticked with you after you eat it, and it’s very delicious.  Melty in your mouth goodness.

This adorable baby deer here next to me is what Yilan dubbed as the cutest one of all the ones we’ve seen. She named it “Shikako” and it got the taste of senbei now in its tastebuds. Shikako is going to grow up into a scary deer snatching senbei away from people hands and nibbling on our clothes.

I swear when I went again to Nara the Deer were more vicious. When I went with Leslie back in January the worst thing they did was nibble my hand and get it soggy. This time around they actually bit my leg and side wanting senbei. It hurt D:. They are scary. Still cute. Just scarier. Maybe it’s a sign to not go during March.

My first batch here to go into the kilm for their first firing yesterday! Two cows, a lion, an elephant, a display with an Onigiri, Cat, and Tea cup that can hold a pencil. I had some other works completed but they’re too wet atm to be fired. These are gifts for various people around the dorm and one of them is for one of my Senseis. I may keep a cow for myself. Dont’ blow up!

I love how in Japan, you see something as simple as like say, a cat sleeping on a tree, a group if not hordes of people crowd around that tree to take pictures of the cat(s) sleeping like the paparazzi. What’s great is that this has happened more than just a few times since I’ve been here. Kind of makes me feel happy to know I’m not the only one around that’s easily amused by these things.

When Yilan and I were walking in Ueno Park during the Sakura Festival there were these really cute cats in a pack of three sleeping on one of the Sakura tree branch. It was a huugge crowd of people just wanting to take a picture of them sleeping with their cellphones and cameras. It actually took me a while to just get to the front to take a picture myself! It was indeed really cute though, it was worth it =P

Here you can see some of the other cameras and cellphones before I was able to get a pic of just the cats lol.

So tonight was the Welcome Party held by 105 from the Ryugakusei Center. The whole shindig where you drink, eat, talk, meet new people, etc. I met this guy from Serbia ( i THINK it was Serbia) and the first thing he said was ” hey are you that girl who posted those pictures on your blog?” and then I was puzzled and asked him to elaborate.

He mentions the post about the dormitory room, one of the first entries I posted when I moved here, and he said he was really happy to have seen pictures of the Dorm before to have moved in. I asked him if he remembers the site name and said “it was tinainjapan.com I believe.” lol.  He said that when he searched on Yokohama National University Rooming or whatever my blog was one of the first results. Hooly moly, small world indeed.

Osaka is known for their Takoyaki, when Yilan and I went to see Osaka Castle we both order some. It was incredibly yummy, the batter used tasted really different that we couldn’t put our finger on. =3

Osaka Castle was really modernized and redone. It’s more of a museum than a castle, which isn’t bad necessarily. Awesome displays with artsy sliding doors and walls.  The walk over up to the castle was very scenic as well.

Last semester. This marks me being home in 4 months. Too soon, there is still so much I want to do. There were times during the last week that I was actually looking forward to go home, but today it changed a bit since new events and new people are about to happen, and I feel sad knowing that I can’t enjoy it a good full near year like I could the first semester.

Man I kinda wished SJSU started in September so I would have another month here instead of rushing back by early end of August.

Today I’ve met some of the new exchange students that have enrolled this semester, a lot of them are very cool and I have already am gradually getting to know some of them pretty well. A lot of them are really cool so far.

Today one of my Japanese teachers actually found me a potential part time job to teach English to two kids. I’m grateful for the opportunity if it all pulls through.

Today I had a nice hangout with a lot of students that I’ve known and been with since last semester, we were playing ball and racket sports and it was honestly a lot of fun. It also hit me that this will all end in 4 months to where I probably most likely will not see them again for a long time or ever.

Today I finally had the guts to join a club at the school for Ceramics. It was all Japanese students and they all welcomed me in. It was a very chilled group. We talked about our interests and hobbies. A lot of them were playing on the Wii, or reading comics, or doing ceramic-related stuff. It was really nice and relaxing. I honestly wished I had more balls to just have joined this before when I heard about it.

Today I actually finished a piece. It’s my default mascot(?) cow that I like to draw. I have made something like this before but I wanted to make another one to see if I have any improvements to before. So far so good. I’ll probably make a few more to use as gifts, or other animals.

Needs to be fired, glazed, then fired again, should be good.

I need to make the last 4 months the best it can be. It’s gonna end before I know, the last 6 months slipped by faster than I thought it would, so the last 4 is gonna be like nothing. Gotta make the most of my time!

ugh, the placement test is tomorrow therefore school is starting soon. I don’t want to start, I want a vacation from my vacation =p

Yilan has been here for the past two weeks. One of the highlights was going to Kansai region, to Kobe, to try out the infamous Kobe Beef.

We ate at very nice restaurant and both ordered the Chef’s Course ( if that is the correct term). This was a 6-7 course meal including two steaks of Kobe Beef

The starting soup. It was a chowder soup. It was very light. very nice

The Salad :3 I even ate the cherry tomatoes, and I don’t like cherry tomatoes.

Scallops and Greens <3

And the Kobe Beef!!!!<3 Sirloin style. It was so tender and juicy. Melted in your mouth gooooooood.

The Kobe Styled Pasta.

And lastly, Sakura Blossom ice cream, Creme Brulee, fruits, and coffee.

Yilan ordered a Champagne while we were at it. We both finished the bottle at the end, got a bit tipsy XD;

The entire meal for one person (excluding the Champagne) was under 10,000 yen which was really not bad at all considering we both were figuring to pay more for this meal. It was definitely one of the best ones I’ve had. Great stuff, it’s so worth it to try authentic Kobe Beef at least once.