Livin' it up: Kobe style

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I really enjoyed my time in Kobe. Going out there was a gamble (since there was the looming threat of the arrival of a super typhoon), but it certainly paid off as I thouroughly enjoyed my time there.

When I first arrived, my first stop was the Shin-Kobe ropeway which took me up to the Nunobiki Herb Garden, which was quite pretty and had many different kinds of flowers (and of course, herbs) to see. Many people were even sampling some of the different herbs that they had growing there.

At the top of the ropeway -- cafes, shops, etc.

 



View of Kobe

 Following that, I decided to head back down to Shin-Kobe, stopping at the dual Nunobiki waterfalls along the way.

The Nunobiki Waterfalls

I could have visited the European village they have there, (apparently it has many different styles of European houses),but I wasn't so interested in doing that, so...

Instead, I headed back into the more central area of Kobe and wandered my way down to Chinatown. At that point it was already getting dark, but Chinatown in Kobe is really vibrant- it has tons of lanterns along the streets and many different vendors out on the street selling all different kinds of food, and there are people everywhere: sitting down, hanging with friends and wandering around. It's a pretty cool place.

                               

Next, I made my way down to the harbour area since I was considering going up into Kobe Tower.

Kobe Tower

But instead, on my way there, I could hear some really loud music coming from the other side of the road, so I decided to check that out instead.  Turns out that there was a big Indian festival going on! The music had been coming from the stage where there were many belly dancing performances going on! I stopped and watched for a while, and then wandered around to check out the various food stalls and shopping stalls that were set up, eventually circling back to the stage to watch more of the dancing. Pretty cool event to run into!

This was when the audience started dancing along with the people on the stage

If this video doesn't work, click here to watch.

But that wasn't the end of my night! Oh no, not the end at all! As I was walking back towards my hotel through a fancy kind of shopping area, I came across a small crowd of people who were clapping for an event that had just finished. Disappointing, right? Nope, not at all, because they announced that they would start again in about 15 minutes, and being curious, I stuck around and waited it out (while I was waiting a slightly drunk man wandered by a couple times telling everyone how cool and interesting this event was :P). Anyway, it was definitely worth the wait, as it was indeed a pretty cool event. It was what I'll call a live street painting event. So, the guy started out with two large black canvases/walls and started adding one color at a time to each of them. When he was finished he had two scenes of Kobe. One of the harbor area, and the other of downtown Kobe of the streets near where we were.  It was awesome!

The painting of Kobe's harbor area

Scene of downtown Kobe

If this video doesn't work, click here to watch.

My night didn't even end there! I made one more stop and the Kobe Government Building to go up and take a look at the night scenery of Kobe. It was also quite nice although difficult to take pictures of because of the reflection on the glass from the lights inside. One really cool thing though was that on the mountains they had some lights set up in different shapes, but because it was dark you couldn't see the mountains, just the lights, so it looked like they were floating in the middle of the air!


The next day, I headed out to Harborland, as I wanted to see the monument to the 1994 earthquake that they have there (there's also a section of the port that they left as the earthquake made it).

 

Anyway down at the harbor I also found a big event -- Radio Kansai was holding a music festival! (And coincidentally as I was reading through the list of artists performing, my favourite, ヨシダ ヒロキ was also going to be there, although not until later in the day). So, since it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, I hung out there for most of the day wandering between the different stages they had set up, listening and watching different performances, going through the food stalls and also taking a stroll through the surrounding shopping areas when there were no artists that interested me.
An excellent way to spend a day, if I don't say so myself!

Kobe's pretty Harborland



One of the groups performing at the music festival

A pretty street in the shopping area of Harborland

Yes, there's a ferris wheel here too

 

  

I took the bus back to Takamatsu that evening and got back to the wind and rain that was the typhoon just starting to hit us. The next day (Monday) which was also a holiday had probably the worst of the typhoon with very strong winds and rain all day long.  But overall, it was an amazing weekend!

To see more of my photos from Kobe, click here.

ヨシダヒロキ Street Live in Osaka

This weekend was a long weekend for me, and as luck would have it, one of my favorite Japanese musicians, ヨシダヒロキ (Yoshida Hiroki), (who I met last summer in Osaka) was doing a street live on Friday night. So I had to take advantage of my day off and headed up to Osaka for an amazing evening!

On arriving at Osaka station's bus terminal, I was immediately reminded why I like Osaka.  There were already people performing their music even though it was still only early afternoon. When I think about Osaka, I always think about all the music that seems to be around all the time. (I must've walked by at least 2 or 3 guitar stores on the way to my hotel, and in the Umeda area, there always seems to be people carrying their guitars and other instruments around with them.

Before the live started I got a nice welcoming wave from Yoshida-san plus a handshake (but what do you call it when its not really a handshake but the 'cool handclasp' and shoulder bump?) (he still remembers me from last year).
That night it was unfortunately raining quite a bit and I forgot to being an umbrella, so I had to stand a little far off to stay dry-but I could still hear, and that's the important thing anyway. Because his music is wonderful!

I really enjoyed listening to him, and he came to chat in between sections (he'd sing for maybe 30 minutes, the another group would do the same and they switched back and forth the whole evening). While we were chatting, I also found out he's going to be doing a live in Takamatsu in September! Yay!!! Plus then he'll have his new CD too! Something else to look forward to! ^_^

After the live, we chatted some more and he told me that he had another live Saturday afternoon, and I should go, and he'll see me there since I hadn't decided what time I was leaving Osaka. ^_-

He also decided he'd take a picture with me, and started with the typical Asian 'V' pose, but then changed his mind and decided on this one:

And also here's a few videos from the live--listening is probably better than watching--like I said I stood a bit far off and I was paying more attention to listening than the videos, so sometimes it points to random things or you get to see my fingers ^_^;

If the video doesn't work, click here!  

If this video doesn't work, click here. 

If this video doesn't work, click here.

If the video doesn't work, click here.

If the video doesn't work, click here.

Kyoto for a day

So last weekend I headed up to Kyoto for one day.  A single day -- yes, that's all.  A cousin was visiting Japan and happened to be in Kyoto on the weekend, so at her request, I headed up there to meet with her and the friend she was travelling with for the afternoon.

My day started with an adventure first thing in the morning! I had gotten up early to catch an early bus to Kyoto (it takes about 3h40m to get there from Takamatsu), but when I got to the bus terminal closest to where I live, I was given the surprise of finding out that the ticket office isn't open that early and you can't buy tickets for Kyoto from the ticket vending machine at that location.  Excellent.  So, instead, I had to make my way down to Takamatsu station to the main bus terminal, and had to catch the next bus (which was about an hour later than the one I'd planned to take).

Eventually I got to Kyoto, and with only a little bit of time to spare before the cousin's train arrived, I scoped out the station (it's been a while since I've been there) to look for potential places for lunch.

Who knew the stairs at Kyoto Station lit up at night and do a little light show?

Once I met up with my cousin and her friend, we went for lunch, got them to their hotel and then wandered around for a bit in the area where their hotel was -- being Kyoto, we of course came across a few temples, which the friend took pictures of.  After that, they had to leave as they had a tour scheduled, giving me some free time before I decided to hunt for a place for supper before catching the last bus out of Kyoto in the evening. 

One of the shrines we wandered through the grounds of

I ended up going to Fushimi Inari Shrine (the shrine with THOUSANDS of torii gates) because I wanted to go through the whole thing (the last time I was there I didn't get to see much as I was with a group on a limited time schedule).  So I trekked my way up to the very top and back down and around.  It took just over an hour to do the entire course, but it was a little bit brutal because it was so HOT!

Yep, did the whole thing this time, not just the little bottom portion!

 

 

Lots and lots of torii gates everywhere

 

Cute little kitten!

 

To see some more pictures of some nice torii gates at Fushimi Inari, click here.

After a quick dinner, I hopped on the last bus which made it back to Takamatsu by about 10:30, and that was my whirlwind day trip to Kyoto (the main reason why I didn't stay for Sunday too was because for whatever reason, there were absolutely NO hotels available for the Saturday night, so there you have it).

Obon Holiday

In Japan, Obon is a national holiday that lasts about 3 days, giving pretty much everyone a beautiful 5 day weekend.  I have to say mine was absolutely BRILLIANT!!

Just before Obon, Japan got hit with a typhoon, which of course, was no fun at all, plus it had been raining for a while before as well, not to mention, I managed to get myself a bit sick, so all in all, this vacation, (which included a wonderful clearing up of the weather) was timed VERY well!

The first day of vacation I stayed in Takamatsu, visiting the beach that I like to go to during the day, and then, by chance, I found out there was a festival going on that evening as well, so I stayed around for that and it was definitely worth it!  There were TONS of food stalls plus some little activities and games like trying to scoop up little fish, or fishing balloons out of water, and of course, the highlight of the evening was the fireworks!!  They were absolutely beautiful, and the colors were very vivid -- but you don't have to take my word for it, you can watch a video if you'd like!  They also lasted for quite a long time -- maybe off and on for an hour or more...The only thing about this festival that I wasn't so much a fan of, was the MASSES of people -- they were everywhere!  All along the water edge, sitting covering the road, the park space and of course, crowded into the areas where the food and games were.  It seemed like the entire population of Takamatsu, plus more from the surrounding areas came out that night!  (although the fireworks were apparently on for three nights)  Going home, a bus ride that typically takes about 30 minutes took close to 1.5 hours due to all of the traffic and the sheer mass of pedestrians trying to get around.  Don't even get me started on the sardine tins that the trains were. Pure craziness -- that's the best way to describe it I think!

The only picture that turned out nicely from the evening's fireworks

To see some video from the fireworks, click here!

The rest of my vacation time was spent in Wakayama.  Hehehe...amusing story -- when I got back and told the staff at my school that I went to Wakayama, they were very surprised, saying things like, "Wakayama?! Wakayama?? Why? Why Wakayama? What's there?"  Well, I'll tell you what's there -- to be short and succinct -- some beautiful coastal scenery and some awesome beaches.

Some of that nice coastal scenery for you

The truth is though, I had researched about and also been recommended by a friend to go to the beach in Shirahama, and had intended to do so on my summer vacation to Japan last year, but ended up not having the time to do so, so, I decided I would try to head out there on this extra long weekend.  After all, it is relatively close to where I live -- an hourish train ride to Tokushima, then 30 minutes on the bus to the ferry terminal, then a 2 hour ferry ride puts you in Wakayama city, and Shirahama is about another 2 hours on the train from there.  Really, not bad at all!

The first day that I arrived in Wakayama, it was fairly late in the afternoon, so even though it was sunny, there wasn't really enough time to go to a beach, so instead, I checked into my hotel, then visited a temple (Kimiidera), and followed up with dinner and booking my tickets to Shirahama the next day.

This and the above are some pictures from Kimiidera in Wakayama City

View from Kimiidera

The next day was probably one of the best of my vacation.  After the 2 hour train ride to Shirahama from Wakayama (where it rained off and on, causing me a bit of worry), I finally arrived, and after picking up a map, and a day bus pass, I was off on my way to take in the sights.  The first stop was the Sandanbeki cliffs -- which have some absolutely amazing and breath-taking views.  You can pick your way over the rocks to take in the view at your own leisure.

    

 

My next stop was the Senjojiki rock formation -- a lot of colorful sandstone that has been eroded by the ocean water, has a lot of interesting little tide pools and is beautiful from a typical perspective, not to mention the added benefit that I got as a geogeek.

To see a compilation of video clips from the Sandanbeki Cliffs and Senjojiki Rock formation, click here.
 
After that I went to the 'Submarine Observation Tower' where you were supposed to be able to go down underwater and see through windows into the ocean.  This one, I think was a bit overrated -- I mean, sure it was interesting to see the fish swimming by, but it wasn't quite what I expected, and I was a little underwhelmed.  But that's ok because the ENTIRE rest of my day (before and after) was so awesome!

My next stop was the Engetsu Islet, which is this tiny little island with a hole in it -- and it is yet another one of the famous views in Shirahama.  You could also take a glass-bottom boat out to the island, but I decided not to, figuring that I was able to get nice enough views without going on a boat out to the island itself.

My last and final stop in Shirahama for the day (other than lunch and going back to the station at the end of the day, of course), was none other than Shirahama Beach, which is apparently a sister beach to Waikiki in Hawaii.  The beach itself was PACKED with people!  All kinds and colors of umbrellas, towels and tents decorated the beach, and it was somewhat difficult to find a space to fit my towel, but I did find one!  The spot I found was rather far from the water, and a bit loud, as it was right in front of this area where a local radio station was blasting music, and there were groups of people on either side of me who were playing their own music, so it was a little chaotic, but all a part of the experience!  I just chose to tune in whichever song sounded the best to me!

To see a little video clip of the craziness at the beach, click here!

While the weather stayed nice for most of that day, it did start to rain around 4 or 5, but that didn't change my plans too much -- I just took one train earlier than I'd planned to back to Wakayama and had supper there rather than in Shirahama (and a delicious meal of okonomiyaki it was too!)

For my last full day in Wakayama, I decided not to go back to Shirahama for a few reasons (the beach being packed, it was a little expensive, it took a bit of time to get there and it looked like rain), and instead found my way to a beach in Wakayama city (Kataonami Beach).  It was much less crowded (although that may have also been due to the fact that it was a little cloudy and there was light rain on and off all day).  Even though it was a lot less crowded, I ended up having a few interesting conversations with some of the other people at the beach if they stopped by me.  Some were just hellos or smiles, or in one case, a thumbs up, others were more curiousity and actual conversations, the most interesting of which, at the end of, the group decided that I was 格好いい！(basically, a cool person)

 

Kataonami Beach

 

On the Sunday, I (sadly) headed back to Takamatsu, since I had to go back to work on Monday, and that was the end of my lovely vacation full of beaches...

Oh and another short aside, interestingly enough, on the ferry back from Wakayama to Tokushima, I ended up running into the person who guided the tour I went on during my very first visit to Japan -- he was still taking tours around.  Small world, hey?

To see many more pictures from my fun in Wakayama, click here.

First adventures in Takamatsu

I can’t believe it’s already been nearly a month since I arrived in Japan!  I suppose I should give a bit of an update on what I’ve been up to this past little while…

I arrived in Takamatsu on the evening of July 4^th, after a ridiculously long flight (which was also kind of repetitive as I started in Calgary, flew to Toronto, and then headed over to Japan…but that’s how Air Canada works sometimes) .  Anyway, on arriving at Takamatsu’s small airport, I was picked up by one of the other foreign teachers from our school, which I was expecting.  However, unexpectedly, there were also 4 or 5 of the Japanese teachers who showed up as well to meet me that day (although we had to stand around at the airport and wait for a couple of them for a few minutes). While I may have preferred to meet them for the first time when I wasn’t falling asleep on my feet, I nonetheless, felt quite welcomed by them – much different than my first feelings on meeting my teachers in Korea.  When I arrived at my apartment, I found that Nicki, (the foreign teacher who picked me up) and my boss had put together a ‘welcome package’ for me, which consisted of a little bit of food (bread, rice and tea), some basic eating utensils, plates, spoons and cups, soap, a couple little towels and some information packages as well (and of course a couple of the t-shirts that I would be wearing at school).  Not to mention, Nicki also lent me a futon, pillow and bath towel so that I wouldn’t have to go shopping for those things right away.  Definitely welcoming.  A few minutes after bringing my suitcases into my new apartment, my boss also showed up with her two kids because she also wanted to meet me.  So many new people in such a short time!  The next day, they had arranged for the security company to come out to set up my alarm system, followed by a visit to my new school, and I spent the rest of the day doing a little bit of shopping for some basic food essentials for my apartment (which also involved a bit of exploring in my area).

 My apartment, by the way is actually a fair enough size, probably about the same size as the one I had in Korea, with the added bonus of extra storage, a balcony and a bathtub!  The only real negative points about my apartment are that the view isn’t the best, the fridge is a little small (well the whole kitchen area actually) and I still haven’t decided how I feel about the elevated bed :P)   23.18m^2 might sound really small, but for one person, it's really a fairly decent size!

My apartment -- if the video doesn't work, click here.

 

Continuing on with my story, on Sunday, more shopping, and then I ended up spending the entire afternoon with my boss and her two kids, since she really wanted me to get a phone asap as a typhoon was predicted to hit Japan later in the week (that day didn’t actually work out for the phone because they needed some documentation that I hadn’t received yet – so the phone was postponed until Monday).  That trip also involved a bit more shopping, with me picking up things like the ‘mattress’ and pillow for my bed, while my boss shopped for things like a new vacuum for her mom.  Monday morning I was set to show up for school, and after being introduced to the students, I was whisked off downtown to city hall to do some paperwork and get my address approved on my residence card.  That was followed by a stop back at the phone company to set up and pick up a phone for me, then back to school for lunch and the rest of the school day.  The rest of that week was a blur of part involvement, part observation and a whole lot of learning about what they do at this school and how they do it in addition to getting over my jet-lag. 

The weekend after my first week here wasn’t too exciting – it involved buying more things for my apartment and exploring the area around where I live as well as walking to the downtown kind of area. 

 

 

 

 

The weekend after that however, was quite fun for me for a few reasons (one of which being that it was a 3-day weekend).  I started by wandering my way downtown, where I picked myself up an Iruca card (basically a money card for the buses and trains in Takamatsu), and then I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting Ritsurin Garden, even though it was crazy hot out. 

 

On Sunday I tried the buses (the only little hiccup being that timing of the bus I was going to catch doesn’t actually run on the weekend or holidays), so I had to wait another half hour for the next one to come.  But it all worked out as I found myself exactly where I wanted to go, which was down by Takamatsu station, where I could walk to the ferry terminal.  Why the ferry terminal? Because I wanted to go to the beach! And it just so happens that the closest island to Takamatsu - Megijima (a 20 min ferry ride) has one.  So I spent a beautiful day there. 

 

 

 

 

The final day of that weekend – the Monday, I tried out the trains here (although the station closest to my apartment is about a 30 min walk…boo) and I visited Takamatsu Castle and curiously wandered my way through the ‘shopping arcade’ – a series of seriously VERY LONG covered roads with TONS of different shops (and down other streets restaurants…although these don’t open til the evening, so they were quite quiet).   

 

 

 

This past weekend was only really a single day weekend, as I had to go to work in the afternoon til kind of late on Saturday to help out with the summer school’s summer party.  Not that it was too difficult – getting things set up, helping out with the BBQ, eating, taking pictures, having fun with kids, and scaring them at the end as we made the school a haunted house they had to go through, and then of course cleaning up at the end (which also involved separating out the extra leftover food – everyone got to take a bit home with them at the end of the night)!

As for life at school, I think I’m getting into the swing of things, although I haven’t actually had a full week of teaching my students because it’s summer and a lot of the time we are currently going out to play in to pool in the time where I would normally be teaching them.  Not that I’m complaining about that mind you, it’s very refreshing in this heat to play in the water.  The students here are pretty cute, and I actually spend a little bit of time with all of them every week.  My main class (Rainbow class) is the 3 turning 4-year olds and I have 7 of them, although next week we’re supposed to be getting a new student to bring my number up to 8.  I spend about half the day with these guys, from 8:30-1.  Then, 3 days of the week I teach Sun class, (4-5 year olds) for a about an hour and a half (on Fridays I get prep time in this period and Wednesdays myself and another teacher alternate teaching a group lesson to the 4-6 year old classes).  The rest of the day (from 3-5) is snack followed by story and then play time – three days of the week I do this in Moon and Star class (1-2 year olds), and the other two days I stay in Sun and Sky class (Sky class is the 5-6 year olds).  Every other week, I also have to stay at school until 5:30 to help clean Moon and Star class, but on those weeks, on Wednesdays I don’t have to come to  school until 11am, so it all works out nicely.  I have to say that the level of English that these kids have is absolutely amazing!  It’s way better than any of my elementary students in Korea and even my 3 year olds can read and are learning to write – it’s crazy – sometimes I have to remind myself of how young they actually are!  Anyway, it all seems to working out fairly well.  No huge problems yet – a few minor melt-downs from my students, but that’s bound to happen.  Maybe my next post will be a little bit more about my students here.  Not sure, let’s wait and see!

To see pictures from my wanderings in Takamatsu, click here.