More Kaimono!!!

4/15-

Went shopping in good old Osu today. I finally got to see the Temple during the day. IT IS GORGEOUS!

We walked by and you could hear the monks chanting. We went inside and there was a giant shrine with lots of figurines and statues. The monks were burning incense and banging on big gong like drums. I bought a prayer board. Outside the shrine it was really crowded. On a random side note there was a pigeon man. He was playing with the pigeons…and they were landing on him and standing on his shoulders, arms, and head. It was something.

PIGEON MAN!

Anyways... on my amazing shopping trip this time, I finally bought some shoes!!!! YES!!! SHOES!!!!

We also stopped by the one shrine in the middle of the shopping center. This time I went down the stairs and saw the actual shrine. It was made completely from stone. It was really odd because it was really cool there, even though outside it was pretty warm.

When we came out we also saw another path that led to another temple, It was hidden behind a bunch of stores, but its architecture was similar to the type that is used on old castles. So I left not exactly sure what it was. Me and the group also discovered another shrine that we hadn’t seen before. It had the red tori and everything. Another popular thing that goes on at the shrines is they put bibs on all the statues. There were dog statues with bibs, it was interesting to say the least.

One of the manikins in the shops....BEAR HEAD!

花見 Take 2!

4/12-


Collette, Leah, and I went back to Irigaike Park, and this time the Sakura were in full bloom! It was so beautiful. And of course we did the slide at the park. Also the nice thing was that a ton of turtles were out of the water! They were sunbathing and being all cute!



The sun, flowers, and lake make such a lovely combo.



Actual pink flowers! Cause in case you haven't noticed, sakura aren't really pink :P


Artsy Fartsy Shot!


Lovely!


WEEEE!!!!! Down the slide I go!


Just GORGEOUS!


It was such a pretty day.


The turtles all sunbathing!!!


A unique water fountain outside the park.

水族館

4/10-

GAHH!!! AQUARIUM!!!! Ok so the Nagoya Port aquarium is huge and amazing! They had so many amazing animals and the place itself was just beautiful. It was right next to the ocean. They had a dolphin show and everything! So instead of explaining it all, it’s photo overload time!

You know you are in a Japanese Aquarium when you hear everyone saying 食べたい！- I want to eat it!

花見

4/5-

Today was flower viewing day. A big group of us went to Irigaike Park to see the cherry blossoms. Not too many of them were not in bloom, but we did have a giant picnic! There were giant koi fish in the lake. There were flopping around and fighting too. It was a little crazy. Chris, Sarah, Collette, and I explored the park, did some slides, and it was great.

No Naruto Here!

4/2-

Today was the Ninja House field Trip. It was about a 2-hour bus ride. The first stop was an old museum where we did silk cord braiding. It was a little hard, but once you got into the swing of it, it wasn’t so bad, almost relaxing. The only part that got to you after a while was the sitting on the floor part. Makes your back hurt. But the end result was really neat. I ended up with my very own silk cord bracelet. So after that it was a stop at a food market where everyone got lunch and ice cream. I ate a delicious pork bun and giyoza. Then it was off to the Ninja House. It was really neat! They brought us in the actual house and showed us all the sliding doors and panels for quick escapes. There were also drop down ceilings and under ground passageways.

The tour guides were all dressed in special outfits. The women ninjas were not called ninjas, but kunoichi. Here’s the fun part about that word… く-ku　ノ-no　一-ichi and when you put all the symbols together, it makes the kanji for woman、女。Cool right!

Then there was an underground museum part where they had a bunch of ancient artifacts of weapons, tools, and clothes.

Next was a show where actors in costume performed skits and demonstrated how certain weapons were used. The one girl was kicking some real butt! I then got to do some exploring. That's when we came across a shinto shrine, and other really neat architectures. The weather was so beautiful and sunny! It was a great day.

Lots of little kids were all dressed as ninjas!!!

Tebasaki Night!

4/1-

So one of the many things Nagoya is famous for is their special types of chicken wings called tebasaki. They are covered in pepper and other amazing spices, which make them oh so delicious!!

We went to a place in Sakae called Yamachan. It was like a 6 course meal, but since there were so many people, no one really got enough food. That was the only down side of the evening, I left hungry. But the meal was one set price and it included nomihodai, which is all you can drink, alcohol and non-alcohol.

First the meal started with salad, then sashimi, the wings, more kinds of weird Japanese salads, sushi, and then little ice cream sandwiches for desert. A huge group of us went. We overwhelmed all the Japanese. Gaijin bomb, as we call it.