Day 247 - 4th of May

11:31pm　セミナーハウス

天気：晴れ

Never thought I’d be saying this but I’ve got the air con on in here because it’s too hot; winter has definitely left us. It’s been such a warm day today, and while storm clouds were threatening this evening, it hasn’t rained at all. I’ve been working on my Japanese presentation pretty solidly all afternoon, and I’m still not finished; I’ve only got one day left now. On the plus side, I got out for a bit today to enjoy the weather… After breakfast at 10, I played KH for a while, and then got on my bike and rode down to the station. On the way, I took some photos of the abundance of azalea bushes in full bloom in front of the Komatsu plant, and also stopped at a local shrine I had rode past a few times, but never been in. It’s called 甲鉾神社 (Kouhoko Shrine), and it was small but peaceful. Going down the big hill today was great because the lights were timed perfectly so that I didn’t have to slow down for the traffic in front. Getting to the station, I parked my bike, this time in a proper park. It’s actually an automated “bike rack” (that’s the best way I could think to describe it) that charges you depending on how long you leave it there. The first 90 minutes are free, and had I known this earlier I definitely would have used it; that’s what lack of investigation gets you.

In the 90 minutes I had, I got a lot done. I went to animate and found the Hetalia character song’s sheet music book (I was so happy about that), and also got some Hetalia pins from a gatchapon. It’s funny because they weren’t there on Saturday when I went, and the machine was almost empty already; goes to show how popular it is. I had a look at the clothes on the men’s floor, but didn’t find anything I liked, so I went over to Book Off; I didn’t find anything there either. I got back with time to spare, and soon figured out how to free my bike from the clutches of the evil bike rack; just had to type in the number rack it was in into the machine nearby. Then I made my way back home; that was hot work. I decided I would buy the tickets to the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo today, since I heard they sold out fast. In order to do that, I had to go to Lawsons to use a machine that would print out a receipt that I could give to the people at the counter in exchange for the tickets; sounds complicated right. And it was, especially because it took me a while to figure out how to get the machine to do what I wanted it to do; these girls came up to help me, which was really nice of them.

Carly and I had tentatively planned to go the museum on Sunday, pretty much as soon as we get to Tokyo, but that day was sold out, so I went for the Monday. Thinking about it now, I’m actually happier with that. It means we don’t have to rush at all on Sunday; I’m sure we’ll be tired after being on the night bus for 8 hours or so. Simon was telling me about his trip to Tokyo this afternoon (he just got back), and it sounds as though he had a really great time; I’m looking forward to it. I worked on my presentation until about 7:30, and then went up to make dinner; pasta bake. I ended up making enough to last three meals however it wasn’t quite saucy enough, so I think I’m going to have to buy some more to put in it. After dinner, I was bombarded by more food; Julie was giving out cake, and Sam mochi. I also had another orange, and it wasn’t as sour this time; still really messy though. I stayed up there until about 9, and then got a bit more done on my presentation. I’m learning words like symbiosis and photosynthesis in Japanese, which is kind of cool even though I’m probably never going to use them outside this presentation; oh well. I’m mostly worried about being able to remember it all, as some of the sentences are pretty full on; I think I might get Yuji to check it over for me when I’m done. Anyway, I’d better get some sleep now; last day of holiday tomorrow…

Day 223 - 10th of April

8:37am　普通

天気：晴れ

I’m on the local train to Amagasaki, to change over for 姫路 (Himeji – lit. “Princess Road”); I’m with Rachel, Rachael and Sarah. I got up at 6:30 this morning, showered and had porridge for breakfast; and a very hasty breakfast that was. The four of us left for the Hirakata station at 7 by bus, and then took the train to Kyobashi. There, we went to the JR ticket office and picked up an all day rail pass to Himeji, which was really convenient and saved a bit of money too. We’re at Amagasaki now…

8:58am　新快速

Now we’re on the “special rapid” (never been on one of these before) to Himeji; just got to sit down. It’s a beautiful sunny, warm day today, and it may actually end up being too hot; especially since the line to get into the castle is going to be very long. Oh well, it’s definitely going to be worth it. I’m going to do a bit of study now; well, try too…

5:00pm　新快速

We’re back on the special express now, home bound! My feet are very sore, but it was definitely worth it; I knew it would be. The only problem is I’m too tired to write about it now; I’m going to doze for a bit…

10:51pm　セミナーハウス

Feeling a bit better now that I’ve had a nice hot shower and I’m lying down. Today was… gosh I can’t even describe it, but I know I have to. I just have to say right now that I’m so, so glad that I decided to go; it really was an amazing experience…We arrived in Himeji at about 10, and after I picked up the second volume of Reborn from a book store in the station, we made our way through an underground shopping arcade, and up onto the main street. Already, we could see the castle, standing proudly at the end of the busy main street; I already had both cameras out. Walking there, we past many interesting statues, an information centre with a cool model of the castle, and also got some food from the convenience store to eat when we got into the grounds, since there aren’t any food stalls within; I just got some onigiri, anpan, and a bottle of orange juice. Getting closer, we noticed the remains of the outer walls of the original castle town, now not much more than grassy mounds topped with ancient trees, with stone skirting their bases. Soon enough, we had reached the end of the street, the castle looking increasing grand; a huge moat, and stone walls surrounding the bailey; the “White Heron” proudly standing atop a cloud of pinks and greens ~ it is sometimes referred to as 白鷺城 (shirasakijo – “White Heron Castle”) because of it brilliant white exterior.

We crossed the white arching bridge, and entered the gate to the bailey, and were soon surrounded by 100s of sakura trees. We really had come at the perfect time! Just about all of them were in full bloom, or just past, which meant that we not only got to appreciate them at the height of their glory but also, when the wind blew, the petals would be caught in a flurry, before landing silently on the ground; it was truly a magical sight. And believe me when I say, I got my cherry blossom fill today; there must have been at least a thousand trees on the grounds if not more. Since it was still relatively early in the day, we decided to tour the castle first, before eating lunch. Already, a patchwork of blue tarps skirted the sakura, families and business colleagues enjoying their meals and the shade; it was actually getting quite hot. Waiting in the line-up to purchase tickets proved to be relatively short. Upon entry, Rachel bumped into one of her classmates, and they chatted for a bit with we planned our next move. After passing though another gate, we decided to check out the gardens first, before entering the main keep; cherry blossom heaven. I noticed that the palace was nearby (like the one at Nijo castle, this one was also called Nishi no Maru), and asked if the girls wanted to walk through it. It was free to go in, but when we got to the entrance, we had to take off our shoes and carry them with us in plastic bags; this was understandable, but odd. The interior was all wooden, and at some points very low or narrow; the stairs, which were almost ladders, were especially scary. “Stone throwing holes” were one of the cool features of the castle, which was a long curving structure of interconnecting rooms, almost all of them offering a view of the main keep.

Exiting at the other end, we put our shoes back on, disposed the plastic bags in the designated bins, and then made our way back through the garden; I found some pin dispensers on the way, so now I have two more. Even though they were doing a lot of construction work already, for the most part it didn’t obstruct the beautiful scenery. There was a giant crane set up next to the main keep, but even then you could easily take photos that didn’t include it; they had positioned it at an ideal angle and distance away. Unlike the line to the admission booths, the line to get into the main keep for far from short; our “siege” didn’t seem very dramatic at such a sluggish pace. When we finally found the end of the line, we were in a small courtyard with a well that someone had apparently been thrown into for being “naughty". By this point, it was very hot in the sun, and my bag was feeling heavy, but I endured; we were soon in the shade of the trees and the wall. In the same way that I couldn’t get much study done on the train this morning (because I was too distracted by the scenery), I didn’t have much luck reading Reborn. Even going at that pace, there was so much to see so in the end, while it took about an hour to get into the keep, it was far from boring; incidentally, I noticed Natalie in the exiting lane about halfway up.

I would have been very difficult for besiegers to even get to the main keep; the castle is such an intricate complex of paths and walls. The walls themselves have holes of alternating shapes in them, and each one could potentially have a rifleman on the other side, poised to fire. When we did finally get to the entrance, we went through the same procedure as the palace. Carrying my bagged shoes in one hand and my video camera in the other proved to be a little unruly especially when climbing the stairs. The central tower was six storeys high, and there were a few historical artefacts displayed throughout, including samurai armour, scrolls and rifles and spears; it had a very different feel to the museum-like set ups of Nagoya and Osaka castles. It was lit only by natural light, which meant that it was actually quite dark in many places. Like the palace, it was relatively unfurnished. It was quite crowded and near the beginning, Rachael and I got separated from Rachel and Sarah. We ended up getting to the top first, because the other two got stuck in the crowd at the bottom of the stairs on one of the lower floors, in order to limit the number of people in the top. At the top, we took in the amazing view of the grounds and the city beyond; it was very impressive. Interestingly there was a shrine, 刑部 (Osakabe), on the top floor, which was actually originally situated on the hill that they built the castle. They ended up moving the shrine during construction, and then relocating in inside the tower when they were finished; I think that’s really cool.

Going up the stairs was a bit worrying, but coming down was even worse. Like the palace too, these stairs were precariously steep, and I had to bend over to get under the crossbeam near the top. Going back down though, I had to basically climb under it, which was no easy task, especially when the stairs were slippery and I was in socks; Rachel, tall like me, had a similar struggle. We met up again on the 4^th floor, and then made our way back down, past more interesting artefacts; including a model of the original castle town. Again exiting from a different side, we made our way back out of the main keep, our descent much faster than our climb. Feeling very hungry, after a few more photos we exited out into a park and sat down on a rock for lunch, watching playful pigeons. After a bit of a rest, we continued exploring the grounds coming across 姫路神社 (Himeji Shrine), which was absolutely beautiful; I could understand why I would be a popular location for weddings. We walked through more gardens, and climbed to the top of the wall surrounded by the moat, finding a fiery ginger cat sleeping in the top of a water feature; it wasn’t running. We were now on the east side of the castle, were the construction work was much more obvious. It had gotten cloudy, and subsequently cooled down, so walking back around to the front of the complex was much more comfortable. To the left of us was another park filled with people enjoying the sakura, and to the right, a zoo. Once we got to the south east corner, we took our last few photos of the castle, with two shachi (tiger-headed fish) in the foreground. It was about 3:30 by this point, so we decided to call it a day, and headed back towards the train station; the castle would be closing at 4 anyway. On the way back, we past a market, and went over to a convenience store so Rachel could pick up some food; she hadn’t eaten yet.

Finally, we went to a ダイソー (Daiso), a100 yen store. It was basically three floors of cheap goods, most of them 105円; cause of the tax. Sarah was looking for gyoza press (which she found), and ended up buying a whole heap of other things; reminded me of Mum a discount shop. I found a big teddy bear to cuddle and some children’s books, one of which was kobutorijisan (the story we read in Reading and writing); I didn’t end up buying anything though. Before leaving for the station, both Rachael and I bought bread from the grocery store on the first floor. We made our way back to station, and were soon riding the special rapid back to Amagasaki. I was so sleepy and dozed off a couple of times. Rachel on the other hand, was too intent on seeing the sea to sleep; understandable since she lives in the middle of America. Once we got to Amagasaki, we hoped platforms and took the limited express back to Kyobashi; not that it made much difference since it stops just as frequently as the local. I read a little bit more of Reborn and now I’ve only got about 10 pages left; glad I bought the second volume today. Once we got to Kyobashi we went over to the Keihan side and Rachael suggested that we try to use the all-day passes that we got today on the Keihan line. So, I went up to ask one of the station attendants if we could use the ticket, and he said no. But he directed us around to an office, and said we could exchange the all-day JR ticket for an all-day Keihan ticket; very cool. So we relinquished our JR tickets, which were stamped twice, and then we received the Keihan tickets; so we ended up saving 320円.

After getting back to Hirakatashi, Rachael, Sarah, and I took the bus home, while Rachel decided to walk; she does like to walk. Getting back, I dumped my stuff in my room (Hugo-less) and then went up to make dinner. Ash was there, and I talked with her about her day; she had gone to Shinsaibashi and bought some magazines and a costume of one of her favourite anime characters. Sarah soon joined us, but just as soon left; I hadn’t even started eating dinner. I mixed the leftovers from last night with the rest of my pasta, and it turned out very nicely. It was very quiet in the kitchen (everyone was out), and apart from Ash and I, there were only about 4 other people in there, including Sam. He had wanted to come today, but hadn’t woken up; I wonder if he’ll go tomorrow with Jazz? Katie was next to join us, and she recalled her wonderful day in Kyoto, seeing the Philosopher’s Path and 平安神宮 (Heian Shrine, which I still want to go to), all transformed by the sakura. I think that seeing Himeji castle during sakura season tramps almost everything else, so I’m extremely glad I went; can’t say that enough. Katie soon left, and Rachel replaced her and we continued to chat for a while going our separate ways. To end this post on a rather dramatic note, I found out something from Ash tonight that I couldn’t believe; this was later confirmed in an email from the CIE. One of the students from Kansai Gaidai was arrested for the possession of marijuana!!! Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to think they could get away with something like that, especially in a country like Japan that has zero tolerance of drugs; obviously someone who isn’t in their right mind. Ash and I were speculating who it might be, but it might be someone we don’t even know; so many questions left unanswered. Needless to say, there will be severe repercussions for whoever did it, including detention without bail for up to six months, and deportation from Japan for up to 10 years. Absolutely crazy…

Day 187 - 5th of March

天気：曇り

Today was a great day; a great start to the weekend... I got my morning Japanese classes over with in the morning, and then decided to go home for lunch; I also had a little nap. I got back to uni for my Gender and Sexuality class at 1:15, in which we talked about masculinity and rites of passage to manhood; a bit of cross over from last semester. After class, we picked up our tickets for Takarazuka, and also received a plot summary, which will be a great help I’m sure; and another week of uni was over! I went downstairs to meet Rachel, where she proceeded to tell me that she’d forgotten the paperwork. So, we rode back home, she got the necessary papers, and we were back out in a flash. Riding down to the station was again, quite terrifying, and I don’t think it’s worth it, especially since when we got there, the bikes already in the parking space Simon and I had found, had all received tickets. Luckily, we were in and out of the city office in about 10 minutes, and weren’t caught. Since it was only about 3:30, we decided to go on a bit of a bike ride; it was way too early to pick up dinner.

I took Rachel up to the Okami shrine on the top of the forested hill (which was no easy feat with our bikes), and the plum grove there was in full bloom; I wish I’d brought my camera. We enjoyed that for a while, and then took in the view, sitting under a gazebo for a few hours just chatting; it was really peaceful. At about 5:30, when it did start to get cold, we decided it was time to go, and made our way back towards the university, to New Delhi. Rachel, had a list of what everyone wanted, so it was pretty easy to order everything. We had to wait about 20 minutes for it to be ready, so in that time we went to Fresco, and I picked up a few goodies for tonight’s TV viewing, including some great oranges. We left our bikes at Fresco (since they were less in the way there), and got back to New Delhi a bit early. In the time we had to wait, they gave us mango laisse, and when we did finally get the food, they gave us a huge discount; at least $10 off!!! We walked back to Fresco, and promptly rode back home; we didn’t want the food getting cold.

Getting back, I immediately went upstairs to heat up my yakisoba, kinda regretting not getting New Delhi. But, I don’t think I’ll have to wait very long for my next fix. For the price, and quality (and quantity) of the food, we thinking we’re going to make New Delhi part of our Friday night tradition. As soon as I got back down with my food, we started watching Firefly, and by the end of the night, we’d watched the last 4 episodes, and the movie “Serenity”. There were of course, a few breaks, in between. I got to eat my profiteroles, and sakura-an pan, which tasted amazing; just like the ice cream. We also had a bit of an interruption when Simon came in, telling us his keys were locked in his room; his roommate was out. So, he’d found Hugo, and borrowed his keys in order to get back in here, and then had to go back out to give them back. So, he needed someone to open the gate, and side door for him. His coming in the lounge room to ask me though was completely unnecessary, as he was able to get in when someone else returned home. It was about 1:30 by the time we finished, and then Simon came in to sleep on the lounge; I talked with him for a little while, then got to bed myself. I really enjoyed the movie, and it did help to tie up most of the loose ends the series had brought up. But, although I felt closure, I really wish there was more; the series was a lot of fun, and the characters were great.

Day 180 - 26th of February

11:31pm　セミナーハウス

天気：雨天

Well all good things come to an end, including the beautiful sunny weather. Today was a miserable rainy day, although it still wasn’t that cold; I guess that’s something. Anyway, I didn’t let the rain stop me from having a good day… I got up just before my alarm was about to go off at 7:50. For some reason, I almost always manage to do that; I must have a very good internal clock. I got ready, and then made my way to uni. I decided to ride, even though it was raining; this decision was partially due to the fact that there were no more umbrellas to borrow. It really wasn’t raining that heavily anyway, and I was wearing a jacket. I met Mori Sempai on the way, and we rode into uni together. Getting to class, we basically spent the 50 minutes revising for the lesson test on Monday; I’m looking forward to it… Then it was time for Reading and Writing, we again started off with a speech, and then sensei informed us of the oldest road in Japan; near Nara!!! I really, really want to go and check it out; he’s given us all the information, and recommended cherry blossom season. Saigou sensei is great; I always take away a lot from his classes. I was so hungry after class, and decided I might as well go home for lunch, since my next class wasn’t until 1:15; I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t have a bike.

I did my homework first (this way I would get it done fast since I was so hungry), and then tucked into lunch; the usual. I had a little nap afterwards, and then it was time to head back to uni once more; still raining. In Gender and Sexuality, the Professor has been letting us watch the Olympics for the first 10-15 minutes of class. Today was the last day of the women’s figure skating and we got to watch 安藤美姫 (Miki Ando), dressed as Cleopatra; she was really good. Then we got stuck into it. After class, we went down to his office to pay for the Takarazuka tickets, which have been successfully secured; can’t wait! Then I was home time again; this time for the rest of the weekend; yay. I went up to the kitchen to eat a mandarin, and caught the end of the women’s figure skating; or more likely a reply. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing well, not much actually. Just when I started to get into Deltora Quest again, I realised it was already time to go to sentou; a few days earlier Yuji had told Hugo and I that he was planning a trip today. I admired Hugo’s enthusiasm, being his first time to a sentou. It ended up just being Yuji, Hugo and I.

Since we all had bikes, of course we rode; still raining. I had let Hugo know all the “rules” of the bathhouse, and Yuji also helped to explain things. We got there just after 6, and stayed for about an hour; so relaxing. I got to see another Yazuka, though his tattoos weren’t nearly as impressive as the last guys; he only had them covering his arms. Hugo seemed to enjoy himself, although the heat of the water made him feel a little out of it; does the same thing to me. I think it’s something you really have to get used too; it’s so hard to spend any longer in there without starting to feel dizzy. Riding back, I relished the feeling of the rain hitting me in the face. Yuji didn’t share my enjoyment, holding his red umbrella over his head; I’m always amazed when people can ride and hold an umbrella at the same time. When we got back, I went into the lounge, and watched a bit of The Fifth Element. Biancha had confiscated the lounge, so no Firefly tonight; oh well.

I soon went up to make dinner, which turned out nicely. I diced up some chicken, put it with some onions, and pasta sauce, then added two eggs, before putting it on top of spaghetti and sprinkling it with cheese; I could become a chef yet. I doubt it though; I just like having fun with food. I stayed in the kitchen and talked with the girls for a while, and then went down with Rachael to watch Episode Denzel: On the way to a Smile (an FFAC spin-off), in the lounge. Biancha, Liz, and Will were watching Edward Scissor-hands, and I couldn’t help but be a little distracted; I love that movie. I ended up watching the last 30 minutes of it, laughing as Biancha was moved to tears by it. Then I watched some more of FFACC with Rachael before calling it a night. After my shower I realised that the top of my right foot was no longer numb. I had just gotten so used to it, that I hadn’t even noticed the change. Feeling it now, it’s still a little strange, but much better than it was; I’m on the road to full recovery, I hope. Well, that’ll do me. I don’t have very much planned for the weekend; might go out somewhere. Most importantly, I have to study for my lesson test…