Hi all!
I have had an amazing trip in Japan so far (like I always do!) and haven’t really had a chance to update on what I have been doing or where I have been. I have found myself some free time this afternoon so here’s a quick summary of what has happened so far:
12th of April: Daniel had driven me up to Sydney the day before and we spent the night in Sydney so I could get up early for my flight. He took me to the airport which was really sweet of him considering his sleeping patterns ^^; Said goodbye, was on my merry way! Arrived in Kansai Airport in the evening, checked into the Nikko Hotel in the Airport then slept!
13th of April: Got the train in Shin-Osaka station and found my accommodation. Got myself settled there then went into Umeda and looked around at places like Yodabashi Camera. It was like a city of electronics and all things geeky and wonderful. Awesome. Awesome to the max. Also snooped around Hep-5 a bit before heading back to the accommodation and sleeping.
14th of April: Got the train early into Kyoto and did plenty of things here! Did some shopping in the department store in the station, FINALLY dragged myself out to Kiyomizudera and just spent AGES there checking out the amazing scenery ^^. Went back to Kyoto station to check out the Osamu Tezuka museum before going back to Higashiyama to get me some accommodation. Found said accommodation and attempted to get some sleep. Was very hard considering I was roomed with 3 other people with sleep apnea. Hmm.
15th of April: The day I had been waiting for most of all – back to Kanazawa! I had been dying to see my old campus as well as all of my teachers, friends and my kouhai Kym! Rocked up to ye olde Kaikan filled with nostalgia and precious memories ;-;! I waited till Kym came back from class and he introduced me to all the wonderful people who live in Kaikan now ^^. We went out to an Okonomiyaki/Yakisoba place to which I had never been – soooo tasty! Got a really good night’s sleep that night ^^
16th of April: Spent the day mainly visiting all the teachers who I had been dying to see again. I also borrowed my old bike from Kym, Old Faithful, and rode to Yamada Denki and KaBos for some shopping. Surprisingly, I didn’t end up buying anything! We went out to Tenguu for dinner that night – such tasty foooood!! Om nom nom nom!
17th of April: Spent the day again mainly on campus visiting more teachers and the staff at the Ryuugakusei Centre. Kym and I had lunch with Okazawa-sensei and Mori-san at one of the really nice restaurants on campus. After that, met some MORE teachers and had a bit of time to chillax in the Common Room in the afternoon. In the evening a whole mob of us went out for some All You Can Eat and Drink down at a restaurant which was so tasty and so much fun! The night got even better… We went out for super awesome and super cheap Karaoke!!! Ended up singing till about 4:30AM and got back to my accommodation at about 5AM just as the sun was coming up.
Now I am running on about 3 hours of sleep and some canned coffee. Uggughguhguhguhgguh… But it was so worth it!!!
Today is the most spectacular day in Kanazawa! The weather is absolutely perfect. There is no better time of year in Kanazawa than when Spring is emerging from the cold grasp of Winter. Really stunning! Today I wanted to go to Kourinbou and Kenrokuen to make the most of this beautiful day… But Kym isn’t awake yet :_D Not sure on what to do. Might just walk around campus and take photos.
In that case, I am off the computer now and I am going to go make the most of my day! Tomorrow Sawada-sensei is coming to meet me in Kanazawa and we will be heading off to Tokyo for the rest of our journey. I know that the pace she is going to set is going to be very, very quick, so if I am going to have a rest at all during my teaching-free period, I may as well take today off before things get crazy tomorrow!
Have a great day all and I look forward to updating more when I have a chance 