12 Things I'd Miss about Japan

As of now, I’m still not sure where my life will take me. Sometimes I wonder if I will live in Japan forever or if I will move back home…or elsewhere. I’m sure I’ve done my share fair of complaining in past posts about things that annoy me in Japan and things I miss about America. Believe me, there are still things that really frustrate me about living here. However, today I want to share with you something I think about quite often. What would I miss about Japan if I left? From my first day living here, I told myself not to take this experience for granted because who knows how long it’ll last? I’ve made it a point to appreciate certain things about living here. I decided to write a post about this topic the other day when my friend and I had a discussion about things we really like about Japan. Some things are quite obvious but others not so much.

This post is going to be set up as a list (not in any particular order).

1)      Oi Ocha: Oi Ocha is a brand of Japanese green tea that I drink every single day. It has basically become my water. I could make Japanese green tea back in the states, but it will never be Oi Ocha. I would miss having such easy access to green tea in general.

*Image from Google.

2)      Konbini: Japanese convenience stores bring a whole new level to the meaning “convenient.” You can do anything at a convenience store in Japan: pay your bills, buy concert tickets, mail things, print pictures, and of course buy all sorts of delicious things. Oh onigiri…I will miss you so much if I leave Japan. Also, konbini are EVERYWHERE! They’re like Starbucks in a big city. Usually you can see at least two from wherever you’re standing.

*Image from Google.

3)      Hanami (and flowers in general): It doesn’t matter what time of year it is or where you are living in Japan, there is always something in bloom, and the Japanese make it a point to really enjoy it whether it’s plum blossoms, cherry blossom, hydrangea, and so on. I haven’t heard of other countries celebrating the blooming of flowers in the same way that Japan does. Sitting under delicate cherry flowers in mild whether surrounded by the laugher of friends and feeling the warmth of alcohol is something I never want to give up. Houses, stores, and streets are lined with flowers everywhere you go. My appreciation for flowers has at least quadrupled since moving to Japan. Which brings me to my next point…

4)      Fish!: Before moving to Japan, I probably knew like 5 kinds of fish haha! Fish was fish. I still have a lot to learn, but I can now appreciate many varieties and flavors of fish. The funny part is that I don’t know the English words for probably more than half of the kinds of fish I eat. And dear sweet jesus, if I ever left Japan, I would, and I kid you not, go through serious sushi withdraws. I give America credit for their creativity with sushi, but no sushi in America can compare to the taste, freshness, quality, and pure talent that goes into sushi made by a legit chef in Japan. Do you know how often I eat sushi? I’d say probably at least twice a week. I don’t always go out to eat it. I simply pick up a box at the supermarket on my way home. Supermarket sushi’s quality is still very legit in my opinion, and sushi in Japan is very affordable!

Maguro Ittetsu in Kyobashi.

5)      Nomihoudai: aka “All you can drink.” All you can drink menus are offered at almost every pub you go to in Japan. You pay around $15-$20 for two hours of all you can drink booze. That’s a lot of booze! Drinking is Japan is easy and inexpensive…and you can drink basically anywhere! Parks, streets, on trains, etc. Definitely would miss that.

6)      Politeness and Customer Service: I remember how in America I would sometimes get agitated with rude staff at restaurants, on the phone, or in stores and whatnot. You could obviously tell they didn’t give a crap about you, and they were just there to get paid by doing the minimum. Heck, I remember being downright scared by American airport staff yelling at the passengers when I came home two winters ago. That way doesn’t fly here in Japan. If you are in any sort of service position, it is your job…no…your duty to be as a polite and accommodating to the patron as humanly possible. That mindset often carries over to everyday life as well. Sure, there are some weird things that aren’t taboo here like they are in America, for example body weight, but in general, you will never have people say anything rude to you or be too direct.  Everywhere you go, you can expect top service. It’s wonderful.

7)      The Healthcare System. There are things I don’t like about universal healthcare they’re pushing in America, but I must admit, Japan does it well. It is incredibly quick and convenient when you have a medical issue. There are multiple doctors’ offices for every part of your body in every town you visit. Is your throat sore? Do your eyes hurt? Just stop in at the local office on your way home. No appointment needed. Are you traveling out of town? It doesn’t matter. Every doctor is your doctor. All you have to do is show your insurance card, and you will receive a diagnosis and whatever medication you need right away. The pharmacy is always conveniently next door or in the doctor’s office itself. Did I mention it’s cheap? Think about $15 or $20 for the visit and the medicine together.

8)      Trains: Of course I miss having my own car and the freedom to go wherever I want whenever I want, but in Japan (and America, too), having a car is super expensive and in a big city, inconvenient. You can get most places in Japan by train without ever needing to use a car. It’s cheaper than using a car, and it’s better for the environment. You don’t have to worry about directions or losing your way, because you just type station A and B into your phone, and it explains clearly what trains to ride, how much it’ll cost, and exactly what time you will arrive to where you want to go. Delays are not that common in Japan. Trains are clean and run like clockwork. You never have to worry about drinking and driving. If only trains ran all through the night, I would be perfectly satisfied with never owning a car here.

*Image from Google.

9)      Anime and Manga: You will never get weird looks or be criticized if you are an adult reading a comic book in public. It’s normal.

*Image from Google.

10)   Speaking Japanese: I enjoy speaking Japanese. I’ve worked hard at it, and I think it’s fun. My ability to speak Japanese makes me feel cool and smart. If leaving Japan meant that my Japanese level would decline, I would be pretty depressed. Even when I go home for short winter breaks, I feel frustrated that I can’t use my Japanese. I feel that it is now a part of me that I don’t ever want to lose.

11)   Being Special: This can kind of go both ways. Before you give me a speech about how you are special no matter what blah blah blah, just hear me out. In Japan, if you are a non-Asian foreigner, you are basically celebrity status. There are things I completely hate about being a foreigner in Japan (see my “Being Foreign in Japan” post), but there are definitely upsides I would miss if I ever left here. For example, I would miss getting compliments for things I never cared about or didn’t have to try at like having long eyelashes, pale skin, gold hair, and blue eyes. Being able to get away with things or getting special treatment just for being foreign is nice too. I like that in a Japanese society where people are expected to work overtime for no extra pay, I am allowed to leave work at my contracted time without any opposition. I like that I can get special deals or free entrance to places just for being foreign.

12)   People and Places: This is pretty obvious and true of any place you go or visit, but I still feel the need to mention it. I have formed so many important relationships here. There are people here who I love, and as it feels with my family and friends in America, it would hurt my heart to be apart from them. There are also places in Japan that I feel home, places that I would long for if I couldn’t go to them.

That’s all I can think of for now. If I ever feel motivated to add more (which I’m sure there are things I’m forgetting), I will do so.

Tottori

On the last weekend of my summer vacation, I went on a trip to Tottori with Shinya. It was our big event for the summer. I chose Tottori because even though it’s not super popular, it has a few famous sights, and it’s somewhere I hadn’t been yet. I’ve already been to most of the really famous places, so I’m trying to make my way around to the slightly less famous places and increase the number of prefectures I’ve visited. We left on a Saturday morning and returned Sunday night. It was short, but nice. It would’ve been too expensive to stay two nights since we were staying in a nice ryokan. Plus, Shinya had to work on late on Friday and early on Monday (my first day back to work was on the following Tuesday).

On Saturday, we rode trains from our town to Tottori Station. We reserved our seats in advance so we would be able to sit. It was roughly a 3 hour trip. We didn’t take a shinkansen, but instead we rode a tokkyu train (in English maybe it’s called like super express or something). It’s fast, but not as fast as a shinkansen…or as expensive. I always kind of like long train rides. It’s fun to relax, eat snacks, play games on your phone, and sleep lol.

When we arrived in Tottori, it was around lunch time, so we went to a soba restaurant we researched in advance. One of the specialties in Tottori is soba apparently. On the way, I was able to take in the atmosphere of Tottori. I saw these umbrella things all over the place on manhole covers, in the station, in stores, etc. I later found out that they are called “shan shan.” They are umbrellas used in Tottori’s most famous festival. People dance with the umbrellas in a parade. So basically shan shan is their mascot. I came to like shan shan very much because they were silly and fun to say.

Huge shan shan in the station.

Shan shan man hole cover,

Me with a shan shan. :)

Tottori City had a rural feel to it. It was pretty small and quaint. There was one main street that extended away from the station and was lined with little mom & pop shops and restaurants. There were hardly any people anywhere! I don’t think I saw any other foreigners.

Tottori looked like this.

The soba restaurant was fun. The noodles were cut differently than regular soba. It tasted very homemade and delicious!

Soba!

After lunch, we wanted to explore a little before checking in to our ryokan (Japanese style hotel). We went to the tourist center and learned about this awesome deal where you could rent a taxi for 3 hours for only 1000 yen. This special service was only available for foreigners, and since I’m a foreigner, I was able to get the deal! The tourist center worker made us an itinerary and gave it to our taxi driver who became our own little tourist guide.

We got to see two different lakes, a shrine, and the ocean. Our taxi driver was the one who taught us about shan shan and other various things about Tottori. I was really excited to see the ocean. The taxi driver even took our picture for us! The shrine we went to was called Hakuto Shrine. There’s a historical story behind the shrine involving a woman and a rabbit, but I didn’t really understand. Shinya and I went through all of the processes of going to a shrine. We washed our hands and mouth, bowed to the god, threw in money, clapped, rang the bell and so on. We also chose mikuji (fortunes). They weren’t that good, so we tied them to the tree.

LakeKoyama.

Sea of Japan.

At Hakuto Shrine.

Bad mikuji.

We got to our ryokan around 6pm. Our room was so spacious and nie! We could see the harbor from our window. We had some hot tea and then immediately went to take baths in the onsen. The onsen also had a nice view of the harbor. I relaxed and bathed for an hour or so, put on my yukata, and met Shinya in a private dining room. Kaiseki ryouri (a meal consisting of many courses of seasonal/regional specialties) is one of the amazing things about staying in a ryokan. It was my first time to eat it. I’ve stayed in cheap ryokan before, and one even had an onsen, but this was my first time to stay in such a nice place and have kaiseki ryouri. The meal was probably my favorite thing about the trip. I think it was Shinya’s too. There was an old woman who served us all the food in our private room. She complimented us a lot and called us oniisan and oneesan. It was so much fun haha! The food was INCREDIBLE! I’ve never had such a fresh feast of seafood before! I got to eat crab legs which I was really excited about. We got to try white squid which is famous in Tottori. There was also sashimi, scallops cooked in rice wine, kamameishi (which we had to have made into onigiri because we were so full), and much much much more! We were so stuffed, we couldn’t move haha! We both had drinks during dinner, and I had fun pouring Shinya’s beer for him. It’s a Japanese thing. After dinner, we relaxed in our room while drinking, playing games, and watching TV. It was a really good day!

Dinner time!!

Scallops cooked in sake.

Sashimi.

White squid.

Crab legs.

I forgot what this is called, but ya, it's a fish lol.
I put a shiso leaf over its face as I ate it.

Shinya very full and happy.

The next morning, we woke up, and after I took a shower, we had a nice Japanese style breakfast. It was my first time to have a Japanese breakfast. Shinya taught me how to eat rice with tsukemono and nori.

Breakfast.

After breakfast, we checked out and took a taxi to Tottori Sakyu. Tottori Sakyu is the main famous sight in Tottori. It’s basically a small desert with large sand dunes that borders the ocean. There are also camels! It was a tough climb to the top, but we made it and could see the beautiful ocean…it was overcast outside though. I learned Shinya was afraid of heights, so we quickly went down the other side so I could play in the water. There were people practicing parasailing off of the sand dunes. That was fun to watch.

Tottori Sakyu.

View from the top. It doesn't look very high, but if you look
at the coast, there is a tiny dot whit is actually a person.
That should give you some perspective. Poor Shinya was
shaking at the top because he was scared of the height.

Playing in the water.

So then, something kind of bad happened…it started down pouring! Like the worst it could possibly be. We got drenched to the point where it would be impossible to ride on a train back because we would ruin the seats and probably get sick from being soaked and under the air conditioning. We still had quite a while before our scheduled train time, so Shinya suggested that after buying souvenirs at the nearby shop and changing into our dirty, sweaty clothes from the previous day (Shinya only brought one pair of jeans and shoes so he couldn’t change), that we go to a love hotel to shower, and dry our clothes with a hair dryer. We were planning on going to the sand museum and possibly having lunch somewhere, but our plans had to change.

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So now I’m going to tell you about love hotels haha! It was my first time to go to one! The reason I am telling you about it is because we didn’t go there to do the dirty lol. I wouldn’t want to share the story if that were the case. Love hotels are an interesting part of Japanese culture, so I’m glad I can give you explanation!

Maybe you are wondering why Shinya would suggest going to a love hotel and not some other hotel. Good question. Love hotels can be rented for a short period of time like 2 hours, 3 hours, half days, etc. Love hotels range in price depending on how nice they are and how long you stay. Nice ones can be quite expensive (they resemble regular hotels and can have different amenities), but standard ones are quite affordable. I believe we rented our room for about 3 hours and it was around 4000 yen (2000 yen each).

So when you walk in, there is no receptionist. I think there is someone on staff, but they are hidden and will only come if beckoned. There is a wall with pictures of rooms with buttons for each room. The pictures that are lit up mean that those rooms are available. The rooms usually have different themes or styles. When you press the button, signs light up on the walls pointing you in the direction of your room. Your room of choice will automatically be unlocked for you. There are no keys involved. You can lock the door once you enter.

The rooms themselves aren’t that much different at first glance from a regular hotel room, unless you get a crazy themed one or something. There are some differences though. Overall, the décor is a little more tacky than a regular hotel (I’m sure there are all sorts of style love hotels, though). The color scheme is a little less neutral and there are gaudy fake flower arrangements and whatnot.

I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s pretty standard that every love hotel room has a full size bath in case you’d like to bathe together and a washlet toilet for cleaning your privates before and after you know what. In the shower, they have every necessity you can think of: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream, towels, robes, hair brushes, dryers, aftershave, lotions, cologne/perfume, and more. In the fridge, there is wide selection of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. It’s set up where you can put in a coin and open each slot for where each drink is contained. On the table, they provide a lighter and ashtray. Next to the bed in a heart-shaped dish are condoms. The lights are on dimmers. There is a very large screened TV in which I believe you can watch porn. We didn’t turn on the TV, though. I have just been told that that’s what you can do. There is also a small vending machine in the room that contains…things. I didn’t look too close because I didn’t want Shinya to notice, but I think there were things like mini vibrators, condoms, panties, handcuffs, lube and stuff like that. Kinda wish I took a closer look haha!

When you are finished, you put your money into a machine in the room. You don’t set the amount of time you want stay in advance. From the time you open the door, a timer begins that keeps track of how long you’ve been there. When you are ready to leave, it tells you how much money you owe according to how long you stayed. The whole process is so discreet, and you don’t have to deal with any staff.

I actually think love hotels are really cool! I’d like to go back sometime when I don’t have to go just to dry my clothes and take a shower haha. ;) I kind of wonder why we don’t have things like this in the U.S. My first thought was that many young Japanese people live with their parents until they get married, so Japanese couples have nowhere to go to be alone and do their business. In America, there are cheap motels for people in that situation…but they are not clean or well equipped like Japanese love hotels. Also, Japan does have this whole weird sex culture thing. I don’t know…what are your thoughts? Why do you think love hotels are popular in Japan but not so much overseas?

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Anyway, just to finish up my Tottori trip story, when we finished showering, eating our leftover onigiri, and, drying our clothes, we made our way towards the station by walking. We killed the last little bit of time by having tea and coffee in a café while talking about the highlights of our trip. The train ride home felt long, and we were both very tired by the end of it, but we had a nice first trip together. Shinya doesn’t travel that much, so he was really excited about the whole experience and wanted to talk about the next trip right away. I told him it was up to him where we went next since I chose Tottori. I’m looking forward to wherever and whenever that’ll be. I’ll keep you updated!

My Night at the Police Station

*READ BEFORE YOU ASSUME!

On a random week night during summer vacation, I had a frightening experience. Let me tell you about it from the beginning…

During summer vacation, my sleeping schedule was pretty extreme. I would go to bed at about 5 in the morning and wake up at about 2pm.  So, on a Wednesday night, Shinya came over after work to chill for a bit before going home around 11:00 or so. He had to work the next day. Since 11pm was still early for me, I decided to chill out at my local bar I always go to, White & Cigar. It closes at 3am, so I figured I’d relax there for about 3 hours and call it a night.

I arrived at about midnight, and at that time, there was only one person there. He is a regular customer who I’m friends with. We chatted together and with the bartender a bit until two other men came in together. We chatted with them a little and talked about movies and alcohol. One of the guys went home leaving his friend behind. Over the course of time, other regulars who are my friends came and left, and in the end (from about 2:30am), it was just me, one of my regular friends, and the remaining guy I didn’t know from the beginning.

For those of you who know me, you probably know about my strong alcohol tolerance. As usual, I was drinking cocktails consisting of alcohol only. The bartender even set one of my drinks on fire to show how potent it was haha! However, I was never more than just buzzed. Throughout the time I was there with the guy I didn’t know, he was really impressed by my drink choices and wanted to try everything I was drinking for himself. Take note that when he first got there, he was already a bit tipsy and was drinking seabreezes (a weak cocktail) which lead me to believe that he wasn’t that good at handling alcohol. So anyway, I warned him that what I was drinking wasn’t for the faint of heart. I was drinking crazy things like Spyritus and Lemon Hart. However, since he was already drunk, he didn’t care. I didn’t really care either to be honest.

The bartender lit some Lemon Hart on fire
to show us how potent it is.

He began to get progressively complicated to speak to. His speech was incomprehensible to me, and he was at the point of making farm animal noises as a joke. So basically I began to ignore him and talk with my girl friend sitting next to me. Sometimes he’d try to chime in, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying, and according to the bartender, what he was saying had no relation to our conversation. In some instances, he was apparently insulting my friend and calling her ugly. It became past 3am, so I asked for my check. My friend was almost done with her drink. It was about that time when the man out of nowhere became angry and violent for unknown reasons.

I wasn’t paying attention to him at all when he suddenly starts yelling, and I see a glass fly past me in the direction of the bartender and shatter on the wall. I was like WTF?! He goes to grab one of the big glass peanut jars, and all I can say is “Yamete! Yamete (Stop! Stop!)!” I cover my head and face as he proceeds to throw that over the bar, too. Luckily it didn’t shatter. At that point, my friend and I get out of our seats, afraid he will throw something else. He’s yelling things I can’t understand. He approaches my friend and I and shoves my friend on the shoulder. She is a very thin Japanese woman, so she almost fell over, but I caught her thankfully. The bartender came around the bar to try

to restrain him and tells us to go home, but the man is between us and the entrance. The man, screaming about who knows what, picks up one of the barstools and chucks it THROUGH the window, shattering it. At this point, it has gotten scary, and the only thing I can think to do is grab my friend’s wrist, pull her into the bathroom, and lock us in. I felt sorry for leaving the bartender alone with the man because he is not the fighting type, but I’m sure he was concerned about our safety and wanted us away from the crazy man. Unfortunately, neither of us grabbed our phones that were in our purses (there was no time to think while all of this was going on).

While we were locked in the bathroom, the man tried to open the door once. We heard more shuffling and yelling. There were times of silence though. We were concerned about whether the bartender would be able to call the police. Meanwhile, my friend was crying and contemplating running out to get her phone which I strongly discouraged because I thought the man would become angry again. Plus I’m sure the bartender wanted us to stay safe in the restroom. It seemed like we were in the bathroom forever until we heard sirens. We heard the man fight with the police until the bartender final came and told us it was safe for us to come out.

Apparently, while we were in the bathroom, the man had fits of anger and moments of silence. He didn’t hurt the bartender, but instead asked for more beer while muttering to himself. While the man was drinking the beer, the bartender was able to call the police. THANK GOODNESS!

The police told us we had to immediately go to the station for questioning. It was about 4 or 4:30 at this point. I was nervous because my Japanese isn’t perfect, but I did my best to answer their questions. They questioned all four of us in separate rooms (I could hear the man still going crazy through the walls). It took forever… At about 7:00, the questioning was over, and we were all exhausted. Then we found out that we still had to go back to the bar to take pictures. Basically the cops had us stand in different positions to reenact what happened. They took many pictures for about half an hour. By the time I got home and into bed, it was about 8am. Good thing I had no work the next day!!

In the end, things turned out fine. No one was hurt, and the man paid for all the damage and bought a cake for us as an apology. I ate the cake, but I never want to see his face again. He is banned from the bar. Throughout the whole experience, I was pretty calm. I was shocked but not panicking. The next day or so I was a little traumatized, but I soon got over it. Shinya was pretty worried about me which I appreciated.

If I think about it now, I wonder if I should’ve been more scared like my friend was. I think I still have a child’s mindset that nothing bad will actually happen to me. What if that man grabbed a knife from, behind the counter in his rage? What if the glass hit me or my friends? Those things were very possible. I have trained myself to not think about “what if’s,” but maybe I should think a little more carefully about possible realities. What can I do to be prepared in these sorts of situations?

This isn’t the first act of violence I’ve witnessed in Japan. Actually, at the same bar, I’ve seen a brawl between three men (I think one was trying to break them up). At that time, glasses were broken over heads, punches to the face were thrown (the sound a fist makes when hitting skin is not like what you hear in the movies), and blood was drawn. Luckily it didn’t last long, they went outside, and disappeared. I wasn’t involved in that. I was just a witness, and the police weren’t called, so I didn’t care that much. I just felt bad that the bartender’s stuff was broken. I helped him pick up.

I’ve seen a woman screaming at her boyfriend/husband (I don’t know) at the top of her lungs in the middle of the street while continuously beating him with her purse. He just stood there and took it. I might be forgetting some other violent events as well.

Japan has an image of being so safe, but in my experience, I don’t find it to be that safe. Sure, there are no guns, people generally are more polite, and you can often leave your purse or phone at a table while you use the restroom without anything happening (I’d never do that though haha). However, I have had more dangerous experiences in Japan than I have in the U.S. I’ve also heard personal experiences from my friends as well.

I always wonder if I put myself in these situations. Maybe I didn’t have many bad experiences in the U.S. because I didn’t go to bars or clubs often, and I didn’t live alone. Is it because I’m a foreign woman in Japan that I attract bad men? In Japan, I have seen violence, I have been threatened and stalked (I also went to the police that time. I have never been to the police station in the U.S.!), I have been groped in bars, clubs, and on trains, my friends have been stalked and groped, one of my friends even had a pervert expose himself to her (actually, a guy exposed himself to me in Hokkaido once, but he was Canadian, so maybe that doesn’t count when it comes to talking about Japan’s safety), and lastly, my friends’ wallets have been stolen.

I have written about this topic before in my “Crime in Japan” and “Being Foreign in Japan” posts. So if you are interested in hearing more about my experiences and feelings on these topics, please read. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this post. Mainly, I want my readers to take one thing away from this post. Don’t think you’re invincible. Bad things CAN happen to you. We hear this all the time from motivational speakers and what not, but really, think about what I’m saying for one minute, even if you are someone who doesn’t go to bars and clubs. Bad things can happen anywhere. Think about what sort of situations can arise and what you would do in those situations. I myself need to take more time to do so. I’m not telling you to worry all the time about something bad happening to you (I used to be like that in college, and it was miserable. It took me a while to fix my mindset in that respect), but I’m telling you to be prepared and to believe that you are not exempt from dangerous situations. 

Summer Vacation 2014

Last summer was very eventful. I went to Korea, my mother came to visit for a while, and I went to Tokyo and more! This summer, I also did a lot of things, but overall, it was a lot more laid back than last year. This year I didn’t have any visitors, so I had more time to myself to chill. Since I just went to Hong Kong in spring and am planning to go to Taiwan in November and America in May, I couldn’t afford to do any overseas travel during the summer vacation. I did however visit a few places and had a lot of fun! So let me tell you about it!

My main big events include a BBQ, the Kobe firework show, the Toukae festival in Nara, a sushi party, the Balabushka day trip, Summer Sonic, and a trip to Tottori. Besides these main things which I will describe in more detail, my normal days and free time was spent watching tons of TV online (my new internet is so awesome!), relaxing, spending time with Shinya, having dinner with friends, and drinking at bars…every day.

Ken's birthday.

Gina was in town.

Lisa's birthday.

Dinner night with the girls.

First I’ll tell you about the BBQ with my friends. We gathered (the usual group of people) at a big park in Sakai, Osaka. It was the first time for Shinya to meet my friends which was exciting. This park was well equipped for having BBQs. We cooked all sorts of meat, and veggies, and lastly we made yakisoba. It was really hot that day. We were all pretty tired from the heat and waking up early, so after the BBQ, we all went our separate ways. Shinya and I stopped at a local café for coffee on the way home which was a nice finish to the day. Perhaps one of the nicest things was that we saw a huge, full rainbow on the way home.

BBQ.

Yuki was crashing our girl picture.
So we decided that he is a girl too.

Rainbow!

The next event was the Kobe fireworks show. I went to it last year with my mother. This year I was excited to go with my boyfriend since it’s something that couples normally do together. I wore a yukata and everything! There was one bad thing about this day though…it was raining the whole time until like 5 minutes before the fireworks began. Yes, I am really grateful that the rain let up miraculously right before the fireworks, and the show didn’t have to be canceled…BUT we were soaked and bummed out. It wasn’t quite the romantic experience I was hoping for, but when the fireworks began, the joy I saw on Shinya’s face gave me so much energy. J He hadn’t seen fireworks since he was a little kid and had no recollection of them. He was so impressed.

Yukata.

Kobe at night.

Best shot.

Fireworks,

A few days later, I went to Toukae (燈花会) in Nara. It’s a big candle festival that takes place at night. It was my first time to attend this festival. I went with one of my coworkers. Before the festival, we had one of the most gorgeous Italian dinners I’ve ever had at a restaurant called Borgo Konishi. The place sat only about 10 people or so. Everything was in small courses, and by the end, we were full! I had such a nice time! The festival itself was very pretty. It had a romantic feeling to it.

Wine.

Fish.

My first glimpse of candles.

Pretty!

The following day, I went to my first sushi party! It was at the restaurant that is like a 2 minute walk from my home. I had met the owner of the restaurant at White & Cigar. That’s when he invited me. Also, his two sons are my students. I had no idea what to expect really before I went to the party (except to eat sushi lol). I didn’t know anyone who would be there. There ended up being around 30 to 40 people, and most of them were quite young! I ended up having a really nice time! I ate a ton of delicious sushi, drank, chatted with everyone, participated in a janken tournament, met the owner’s wife, kids, and their German home stay student, and saw the chefs carve 2 fish into sashimi.  The last part kind of freaked me out, but I was ok. I’m actually going back for another sushi party soon! I can’t wait!

Preparing the food.

Carving a katsuo to be eaten.

The next event I went to was the Balabushka day trip. Balabushka is the bar in Shinsaibashi that I often go to. On the day of the trip, I woke up super early and went to Namba. From there, we rode a charter bus. Maybe there were about 40+ people. We went to an athletic park in Osaka. Still, it was kind of a far ride. We watched Frozen on the ride there and did karaoke on the way back.

At the athletic park, we had a really nice space reserved. It was in the forest with a rushing stream nearby. We drank a lot, had a BBQ, swam in the stream, fished, and played games and so on. I was so exhausted by the end of the day that when I got home around 9 pm, I took a shower and went straight to bed haha! *Interesting point: At the athletic park, I saw a little elementary school girl with a T-shirt that said “Fantastic F*uck 69” on it… probably the worst Engrish shirt I’ve see lol.

Playing in the river.

The group.

Me trying to smash a watermelon lol.

This year I went to Summer Sonic in Osaka rather than Tokyo. I got to see some pretty cool artists like Krewella, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Avenged Sevenfold plus more. I also saw my first K-pop group, CNBLUE. By far, Krewella was the most exciting! I really like Avenged Sevenfold, but I had already seen them before. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a Japanese metalcore band, shocked me with how awesome they were, but I didn’t know them at all before Summer Sonic. Krewella is an EDM group I’ve listened to a lot and like very much. Since I had never seen them, I was so excited! They rocked harder than any metal band at Summer Sonic in my opinion! Usually there are 3 people in the group, but at the show, it was just the two main girls. The other guy is kind of a back up person, so I didn’t really care. Those two girls are drop dead gorgeous and from Chicago. I was totally star struck. Despite the fact that I was sun burnt and thirsty and it being super hot, sweaty, sunny, I danced my heart out to their music in broad daylight. It was a different experience, but it was awesome!

Badass crew.

CNBLUE

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Krewella.

Avenged Sevenfold.

One bad thing that came out of Summer Sonic this year was that although it wasn’t as hot as it was in Tokyo last year, for whatever reason, I got horribly sun burnt this year. Like the worst I’ve ever been burnt in my life. I used sunscreen twice, but it wasn’t enough I guess. Probably because I sweated it off. This sunburn was so bad that I could barely walk at the end of the day. It was so painful. I actually cried when I took a shower (in cold water) because the water hitting my body hurt so badly. For the next few days, I couldn’t walk well when I got out of bed in the morning. I was on painkillers for about a week and was rubbing aloe on my body 3+ times a day. My skin peeled on my back, face, chest, and shoulders, but the worst were my calves. The whole back of my calves were completely covered in blisters. When they broke, my skin came off in huge pieces. It was disgusting. The new skin underneath was raw and painful. I’m writing this blog 3 weeks later, and my skin is still peeling on my legs slightly. Ughhhh. I have learned my lesson. From now on, I’ll apply sunscreen every hour!

Where my wristband was.

Disgusting blisters. :O

The last main event of the summer was my trip to Tottori Prefecture with Shinya, but I will write about that in a separate post. So that concludes my summer vacation! Some parts of me wish I had had more money to do some bigger traveling, but on the other hand, although sometimes it felt like a waste, I think it was good that I had time to just chill. It’s been a long time since I was able to do that. Who knows what the next summer will bring?