lorellie...adventures

Family Holiday

2013-03-12T00:25:00.000-07:00

First of all, sorry for letting my posts get so behind! I think about blogging all the time, but time doesn't allow me to get around to it. I realise I haven't made a post since around the time of my birthday, about three months ago. To tell the truth, I am still having major troubles with image hosting sites, and I don't like to post unless I have at least one photo. However, life still goes on and more exciting events happen that I want to write about. So I suppose I will add in photos later if possible.

So getting to the exciting stuff!! (I hope...)

On December 24th 2012, my Mum, Colin and Alex came to Japan for a wonderful holiday! I met them at Nagoya airport, and we stayed in Kani for a few days.

On the 26th we headed for Tokyo. Unfortunately we weren't to experience, or even see the craziness of the city; time limits and all that.

However, the reason we went to Tokyo was for Disneyland! I really love characters like Hello Kitty, but Ive never been huge on Disney. I loved the movies, but I suppose the characters were more captivating when I was younger. However Disneyland changed all that instantly, and all the merchandise was irresistible I wanted everything!

So we took a shinkansen from Nagoya to Tokyo, and on to Maihama Station. We stayed at the Hilton (wasn't it?). It's the first time I've stayed at a hotel that has staff to take your bags to your room with you...so fancy! Hehe.

We stayed in the Japanese style room, which was quite spacious and nice. I wonder what the western rooms looked like though. Even the hallways were themed (here's where I wish I could upload a photo...) The had a Disney store so I wanted it all before we even got to the theme park

All in all I liked the hotel, but I think more food options would have been better. There was an expensive buffet restaurant which was pretty yummy, but it also didn't really have anything I felt like eating.

So the next day we were off to Disneyland, and it was so exciting! The rides were quite fun; our first was Pirates of the Caribbean. Although the line was a little long, it really only took about fifteen or twenty minutes to get on the boat.

However, after that, more people had entered the park and the waiting times got ridiculous. It took us perhaps two hours to get onto a roller coaster type ride; it made me want to give up rides altogether because I didn't want to wait anymore!! But hey, it's Disneyland.

I really had so much fun, but I didn't get to see everything. I really recommend going for two days. And we didn't even go to Disneysea! By five o'clock we were really exhausted and cold (being winter and all). I wanted to see more, considering it closes around ten, but it was just too much. My feet were killing me.

It got dark, and so came my favourite part of the day; buying merchandise! I got quite a lot of nice things, like a Stitch hat, pretty earrings, Mickey Mouse rice crackers...I was pretty happy, but could easily have spent a fortune.

The next day we were back at Tokyo station to catch another shinkansen to Kyoto.

The hotel in Kyoto was better than I had expected, not that I thought it would be terrible. But in my experience, hotel rooms in Japan are quite small. I do tend to go for cheap business hotels though. Small, but nice and clean with big tvs.

Anyway, these rooms were quite spacious and comfortable. Alex and I shared a room, with Mum and Colin across the hall. Both of our rooms had different furniture which was nice.

In Kyoto, we were able to see Kiyomizu temple, which has been my favourite since I went there when I was 16. Not to mention it's insanely famous. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single Japanese person who hasn't heard of it.

Alex and Colin lined up to drink the special water, where you can make a wish. They bought a nice cup, made me wish I had gotten one too! So Mum and I were able to try it, even though we didn't line up :) Walking through the shops, I was able to buy more cute tabi socks; they'e unexpectedly comfortable. I have a funny toe too so it feels nice :)

We all got some ice-cream, Mum and I got green tea flavour; delicious!

After the temple we headed to Gion, an area famous for it's geiko and maiko. I also went here my first time in Japan and saw the maiko dancing. And once again, I could have bought everything. Tourist areas generally have crappy souvenirs, but I found Kyoto to have many desirable items of nice quality...and price. Too expensive!!

That night, like usual, we had trouble finding food because of Alex and his limited menu. But we found an all you can eat Chinese buffet in the hotel complex. We had a few drinks beforehand, which for me ended up being a silly idea. Upon being seated, the waitress proceeded to tell us they had an all you can eat crab special as well, for a little extra. Being a little tipsy, I agreed without thinking, despite very few of us liking crab. Well, only Colin likes crab. But after eating two legs he started feeling his allergies kicking in. So I was left to eat a whole plate of crab legs. Me being me, I don't like leaving leftover. So I ate it all. Needless to say, I didn't really have much room for any of the buffet food.

The next day was unfortunately raining, and sightseeing in the rain in Kyoto is really not very fun. Lots of walking, with next to no cover. My plans to see Kinkakuji and Fushimi Inari were ruined, so we stayed in the hotel, and explored the nearby department store. But taking a break was also okay.

The next day we headed back to Kani. I was able to take everyone to my favourite yakitori restaurant, and I think they enjoyed it :)

And then, on the 2nd of January 2013, everyone left! It was a little sad, but I knew that I would see them again in a couple of months...when I leave Japan...

Hikone Castle

2013-01-31T20:24:00.001-08:00

Back in time to the 8th of December...

As I mentioned in my previous post, getting to Hikone Castle on my birthday was a major failure.

However, the following weekend we made it, and quite easily I may add.

First, we took a look at the museum housing the usual artifacts that Japanese castles have; samurai armour, scrolls, tea ceremony items, clothing. It was also in the museum where we were able to see Hikonyan, the cute character I had been waiting for.

We were squashed into a room with about fifty other people clamouring to see this mysterious mascot. When 'it' entered, there were squeals of joy, mostly from the young and elderly women. Some men looked quite interested as well. I wasn't able to get a good photo because people constantly had their cameras and phones right in front of me, so I had to find this one online.

While it was cute, I guess I was expecting a lot more (but of what, I don't really know). It posed for around five minutes, and then we were ushered out to let the next group in.

The castle itself was very beautiful, so I was impressed. There was also a film crew and around fifteen people dressed in kimono. I felt sorry for them, wrapped in their blankets. The wind was ice-cold, coming directly from Lake Biwa, and it never let up.

Delicious green tea and a Japanese sweet.

Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan.

Castle beams.

Hikone Castle itself.

Happy Birthday...

2012-12-21T22:22:00.002-08:00

...to me!

Oops, it was 21 days ago :p So on December 1st it was was 23rd birthday. But I'm fast learning that getting older isn't fun, so I was quick to tell everyone that it was my second 22nd. I'm not the kind of person to lie about their age since I'm still young and I don't really need to, but I think I needed to slowly ease myself into the idea of being 23.

Anyway! I had planned a nice drive to Hikone Castle in Shiga prefecture, next to the biggest lake in Japan, Lake Biwa. Afterwards we would return to Kani for dinner at my favourite yakitori restaurant. Suzuka arrived in Kani and we set off at about 12pm on Saturday! Unfortunately for us, I thought I could remember the directions seeing as it was only a one-road trip. However, the first turn I made put us on the wrong track. Eventually I felt like things were off, but Suzuka checked her iPhone for directions and assured us we were going the right way. We weren't.

We ended up going towards Nagoya and then all around Gifu. We ended up driving for four hours to arrive nowhere. We decided to go to Inuyama Castle instead, seeing as Suzuka had never been there, but we arrived right on closing time.

I was extremely downcast and had a few tears. Back home we had a hot chocolate and then headed to dinner. Ice and his wife Antonietta met us there, and we had a really lovely dinner.

Dede took his camera, so he's the one with the photos. I'll have to wait for him to put them on Facebook, so I can repost them here!

The following weekend...

Dede and I made it Hikone!! It was a freezing, awfully cold day. And...I'll finish this entry tomorrow. I'm feeling lazy now :p

The Absolute Halloween 2012

2012-11-01T16:56:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Dede and I went to Nagoya for Halloween. A friend said that he and others were going to attend 'The Absolute Halloween', which included entry to seven different clubs, all for only 3000 yen! (about $35AU) Considering Halloween isn't really celebrated in Australia, we didn't want to miss this opportunity.

On Thursday I ordered my costume, and Dede decided to be a zombie so we had to research how to do all of his makeup. My costume arrived Friday night, thank goodness! Then we went out to buy a LOT of makeup, which funnily enough was mostly for Dede.

On Saturday we got to the hotel at around 3:30pm and realised that it was located within one minute of most of the clubs! We both got ready...Dede's makeup took about four hours.

At around 8:00pm we went to our first place, the Red Rock Club. Turns out it was an Australian bar so there were plenty of people to talk to. They had a deal going; 3000 yen for an all you can eat buffet and all you can drink. We should have arrived earlier, it was from 6:00pm - 9:00pm!!

We met a few people, but our friends hadn't arrived in Nagoya yet so we stayed at the same spot. At 8:30pm they announced there would be a costume competition. I was hoping to win a prize, and thought I had a pretty good chance...and I did!! I won third place with my Little Red Riding Hood costume. I got a cute little cat toy, and a 1500 yen voucher which I couldn't use on the night, so we'll have to go back again sometime.

Lots of girls during the night wanted photos with me :p

At around 9:00pm we were off to meet our friends!

I don't think we made it to all the clubs...it was a pretty exhausting night!

The first two clubs were fun; the night had only just begun so there weren't many people about and I could dance on my own in the dark :p The last club we went to was awful. The DJ played un-dance-able songs, and kept cutting the track to yell out "Are you having a good time? Happy Halloween". Awful.

Oh, and yes, I danced. I think I enjoyed it for the first time. I put it down to my recent exercise routine. Ten minutes of leg toning, ten minutes of cardio, then six minutes of dancing to PSY.

The next day, the hotel offered either western or Japanese style breakfast. The western was pitiful; bread and coffee. Awful bread too, melon-pan and stuff like that. Not even really western. So we had Japanese; udon noodles, rice, etc. It was so yummy!

Takayama, Gifu Prefecture - Part Two

2012-09-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

After the huge meal at the ryokan, we went to bed fairly early. The futons were laid out for us at about 9:00pm, and I'm pretty sure I went straight to sleep. It was much more comfortable than my bed back at home.

I woke up the next day quite early. The sun coming through the blinds looked so nice I decided to take some early morning photos while Dede was still dead to the world.

Soon after getting up it was time for breakfast. While it was much smaller than dinner, I was still full from the night before.

Miso cooking. We had pieces of nori, which we filled with rice and miso, which made a kind of sushi (explained to us by another nice lady). It was really nice. I love miso soup, but generally don't like miso on it's own. It's far too strong. But this way was really delicious.

We stayed in our room until checkout, but I really didn't want to go. It was so relaxing, and another night there would have been ideal. But alas, it was Sunday and I had work the next day. Upon checking out, the lady gave us both some pretty red chopsticks. She was very kind upon arrival and departure, and kept acting very surprised at my level of Japanese. We had heard some people talking very loudly in English in the room next to ours during dinner to their server, so I assume they didn't know very much.

Next, we soon came upon one of the two morning markets, and the older parts of town.

I like this photo of me best. Dede always make me stop and smile at the camera. It's so unnatural and I always look average. Even though I look funny here it captures the moment.

And then it was time for lunch, where I had a Hida-Don set meal.

Very yummy, but I was a little put off that they gave me a spoon. I suppose they get a lot of tourists who can't use chopsticks, but they didn't give a spoon to Dede! I guess I just hate it that some people assume you are a tourist. I probably hate it even more when people say "Wow, you can use chopsticks!! How on earth did you learn that?" Umm...we have chopsticks back home too. And I've been using them ever since I can remember. Talk about frustrating!

Seeing as we came by train and not car, we could only visit places on foot. Because of this, we had hours to spend until our train. We ended up finding a bowling alley, had three games where I lost miserably, then onto a nearby park. I had a nap on the park bench! I was tired out.

And that was our time in Takayama. I wish we had longer to explore, but I was very happy. I would love to go back again sometime.

Takayama, Gifu Prefecture - Part One

2012-09-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

September 8th marked four years for Dede and I, so I decided on taking a trip to Takayama for the weekend. I had been wanting to go there ever since moving to Gifu. It's quite famous for it's old preserved town area.

The day before leaving, Dede's present to me arrived. It was a brand new Nikon D5100! I was quite excited to get it, because I have been relying on Dede's beautiful photos for my blog for most of the time I have been in Japan. Now I can make my own!

These are the first two photos I took outside of my window at home:

I know I have a lot to learn but it certainly looks better than my digital camera! Of course I will still use it, because lugging a DSLR around all the time is not always practical.

Anyway, back to our weekend!

The train ride took quite a while, perhaps three hours? We took the longest, but cheapest train there. I wasn't willing to pay extra for a quicker trip.

I'm quite happy with the river photo :)

When we arrived in Takayama, it was only a short walk to Ryokan Tanabe (traditional Japanese inn)

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside is really beautiful and modern.

The bathroom was really, really beautiful I think. I would like to have the same kind in my house someday...that being said, I didn't even use the bath. I ended up trying out the onsen. When I arrived there were two older women already there, but after I arrived they soon left, leaving it to me! There was an indoor bath, nothing special, outside there were two small, one person baths made of some kind of special stone. I wish I had been able to take a photo, but considering it a private area I wasn't able to. But it was so relaxing! I would have stayed longer, but I heard a woman's voice over the PA system. I wasn't sure what she was saying, so I thought I had better leave just in case it was closing or something.

We opted to have dinner at 6:30pm, so at around 6:20pm a lady came into our room to begin preparing. It truly was a feast.

I'm not a huge fan of soba; udon is my favourite, but this was delicious!

We chose the Hida beef course. Hida beef is from the northern region of Gifu, named Hida. It's quite famous Japan wide. Well, I'm only guessing, because it has won awards Japan wide for the past couple of years.
You cook it yourself on this hot plate thing. I actually saved it til last, when I was bursting from all the food. Maybe not the best idea...but the beef just melted in your mouth and had such a lovely flavour. If only there was more!

I'm not a big fan of asparagus either, but this was yummy.

More Hida beef, which was cooked as a soup.

Eggplant, with some kind of yellow sauce...I can't quite remember.

Octopus. Glad to say I tried it, it was bearable, but not delicious. I did not eat it all.

Dede and I decided the middle one was some kind of fish guts, as it looked very similar to the one we tried on my birthday. Luckily this one did not make me nearly vomit, and I was able to eat it! It was actually quite nice. Of course, being from the sea, I would not order it again.

More sea stuff. No thank you. I tried to eat it, but when there is skin and bones involved, it makes it much harder to stomach.

Sashimi! Something I actually like. I find it strange that I can't stand the majority of cooked fish, but when it comes to fresh, uncooked slices, I go crazy! So yummy.

Not sure...as I was nearing the end I realised I wouldn't be able to eat everything so I left this.

I ate this, shell fish and all. It wasn't too bad actually. It had a smoky flavour and I quite liked it, but I avoided looking at the shells directly.

All of those photos of me eating aren't really my best look, but what can you do! I'd just had a bath, no time to make myself pretty.

Day Two coming soon!

Gangnam Style

2012-09-14T03:11:00.001-07:00

If you haven't heard of the k-pop star Psy, you must really be living under a rock! His song Gangnam Style has been taking youtube (and the world) by storm since it's release in July this year. To be honest I was a little late catching onto this crazy myself. I first heard the song about two weeks ago and didn't really understand what everyone was raving about. For some reason I heard it again today, and I'm hooked!

Take a listen, it will make you smile!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

I listened to an interview with Psy and Ryan Seacrest, and Psy seems to be a really sweet, down to earth guy. Plus his English is really beautiful. He's already made about four albums if my wikipedia memory serves me correctly :p but I can't seem to find any music other than Gangnam Style! I'd really like to hear the rest of this album and the others. In the past he was quite controversial in Korea.

I hope to post some photos of my recent trip to Takayama, Gifu Prefecture soon :) お楽しみ！！

PS. Now I want to learn Korean. It sounds like such a difficult, but nice sounding language. Apparently the grammar is similar to Japanese, but it does mean I'd have to learn the writing system too, when I am far from mastering Japanese kanji. One day!!

I have a problem

2012-08-31T01:08:00.000-07:00

Today is my second day back at school, and man is it draining! It is still as hot as anything here, and standing in the classroom is hell. They have fans going, but they do nothing but push the stinking, thick air all around. Sweat is constantly dripping down my back (that is not an exaggeration), so I always make sure I'm wearing something dark so it doesn't show up so much.

But yes, I have a problem! And it is to do with my brain. You see, during the holidays I had a few things to do on my wishlist. The ones crossed out are what I achieved.

1. Draw
2. Paint
3. Play The Sims 3
~~4. Watch awesome movies~~
~~5. Climb Mount Fuji~~
6. Meet up with Suzuka and Manami
~~7. Go to Nagano City~~
~~8. Meet up with Mai~~
~~9. Study for the D~~ecember JLPT N2 (the second highest level of Japanese Proficiency Test, for those of you who are not in the 'know'). Half crossed out because I still have a lot to learn.

While it looks like a pretty good effort, the majority of what I actually did was outside the house, and was a total of about a week. I had FIVE weeks off! Although the things I wanted to do were quite small, and don't really seem like much, I really wanted to do them. (Plus they were free! 1-3)

Why didn't I? I had everything I needed lying around the house...it's because of my brain!

The things I wanted to do around home seemed so fun, I didn't know where to start. So I put on a movie or a cool TV show while thinking about it. By the end of the movie/episode, I hadn't decided. So I'd start another movie. Again and again until the day was over!

And today, at the start of my long awaited weekend (after only two days of work, oh dear...), I'm still not sure where to start.

I bought a really beautiful 1000 piece puzzle of Alice in Wonderland...but The Sims are calling me as well! I'm going to have to learn to make decisions some day.

Coming Home - Soundwave

2012-08-07T16:27:00.002-07:00

I just found a wonderful reason to definitely return home when this contract ends at the end of January. One of my all-time favourite bands are coming to Australia for Soundwave! The band I want to see most is A Perfect Circle. The singer of that band is also the singer of Tool, who I saw last year (best thing I have ever seen!).

I'm also pretty keen on seeing Linkin Park and Blink 182. It's funny, because I've been listening a lot to Blink lately, like when I was in High School. The Offspring are okay, I hate Paramore. Their songs are catchy, but to me they just seem like teenage girl music; for those who aren't into pop and are just getting into heavier stuff. Dede likes them, but oh well. Garbage are alright too but I don't know a lot of their songs. Sum41 are awful, although I must admit I did (still do?) own one of their albums. Oh yeah, and Metallica? No thanks!

Actually thinking about, Linkin Park would be awesome. I should listen to their music more.

But I want to see A Perfect Circle so badly! I love them!

One of the greatest challenges

2012-08-06T23:50:00.001-07:00

See that beautiful mountain? It is Japan's most famous mountain, and the biggest at 3776 meters. It is an active volcano, but the last time it erupted as 1708. It is one of the three Holy Mountains of Japan, and can be seen in countless art pieces from history. Mount Fuji, of course...

The crazy thing is, I am going to be on the peak of this mountain in five days time. And I am very, very scared. We are going to start climbing around 7:00pm on Saturday night, to arrive on the summit at about 1:00am Sunday morning. Then we wait for the sun to rise. Oh, I just checked the weather and there is going to be a little bit of rain. Goody. I bet that means it will be cloudy and we won't be able to see anything as well.

Why am I scared? Well, I've never been one for exercise. And the outdoors are pretty and all but I don't like tramping around for hours. Especially on an incline! And although I don't like to admit it, I am pretty lazy.

I told Dede yesterday that he should be prepared for tears. Not of joy at the beautiful sight. Tears of pain and anger. I do want to see it. I just think walking for six hours is a bit impossible for someone like me.

Either way, the bus tickets are booked (although I haven't paid for them yet) and we are going. I'm going to do my best to survive, and who knows, maybe on Sunday night when I am happy back in my own bed I will think it was all worth it. We'll have to see.

Oh, and I have to carry Dede's heavy camera and all his lenses. He wants to take three litres of water so he's going to carry that and the food. I was already not looking forward to this without having stuff to carry. This new news just makes me a little mad.

Three Day Weekend!!

2012-07-15T08:33:00.001-07:00

Yes, at the moment it is a three-day holiday here in sweaty Japan. Today Dede and I took off to Nagoya for some Chinese and shopping. He ended up buying yet another lens for his camera, and well, I just got a meal. I'm pretty sure we spent over two hours at the camera store so I didn't get to look at very much :(

Other than that there hasn't been any else new! So take a look at some photos from the past month or so.

I had been craving some sweet wine, which is surprisingly hard to find here. So I ordered some Brown Brothers Zibibbo online! It's from a Japanese store, so I figure I could find it instore...somewhere. But no such luck yet ;)

I may live in what's technically called a 'city', but there are still little rice-paddies surrounding my house. It's wonderful! I love watching the older people planting and tending to their rice (as I haven't seen any young people at it yet!)

Quite a while ago I got a coupon from McDonald's for a free pack of small fries, which I tried to redeem at one point. The woman looked confused when I handed her the coupon and asked for the rest of my order, but at the time I didn't worry. When I got home I realised she charged me for the fries! So I sent an email through the McDonald's website...what I got was the manager of the store calling me and apologising profusely. He offered to send me the money in the mail, and a day later I got it, along with this letter! It is written in very polite Japanese. I don't know whether to take it as genuinely sorry or some kind of dig at me because it was only 210 yen (about $2.50AU). When I got the phone call I did feel very bad for complaining about something so minuscule. His voice did sound very genuine so I hope so!!

One month ago it was our friend Suzuka's birthday, and she wanted to spend it with us so we met up in Nagoya for an afternoon. We decided on a Chinese restaurant which ended up being quite expensive, however Dede had just been paid so he paid for the entire thing.

We decided to share everything we had ordered, and this is the Mabo-Doufu. It. Was. Amazing. Best Mabo-Doufu I have ever had, and I LOVE this dish.

I can't remember what this dish was (Chinese restaurants in Japan tend to have their menus in English as well which is really nice, considering Chinese only uses kanji), which is really unfortunate because it's what I ordered. I'm pretty sure it was pork, and man, if I had known it would be so yummy I wouldn't have shared at all! The flavours and herbs were fantastic.

Suzuka is so darn photogenic! Look at me :( I hate my hair right now. I want my fringe back but I'm going to wait until my hair grows longer again. Months later I am still regretting cutting my hair. Oh, and the wine! It was awesome too. Dry, but not too much. We ended up getting quite tipsy by the end on just one bottle between the three of us. We were all very hungry before eating, I think that's why.

A little bit of crispy chicken, simple soup and fried rice. My favourite was definitely what I talked about above though.

Yummiest drink ever. A Strawberry Chuhai, and it tasted exactly like fresh strawberries. I think I had three...

Another day...and I have no idea where this is. It's Dede's photo so maybe I wasn't even there. Just thought it was really pretty.

At Gifu Castle.

Dede's sister and her boyfriend came over to Japan for a holiday and we got to see them for one night. We took them to the Aeon Mall for dinner, and it was Chinese once again. I also got Mabo-Doufu this time but it wasn't fantastic.

Outside my house a week or so ago. So pretty!

Last weekend Dede and I travelled to Gifu City to see the third biggest Buddha in Japan. It was pretty impressive, I sat directly in front of it for about ten minutes. It was great to see, even though I have already seen the biggest (but that was a long time ago now...)

Where the Buddha is housed.

After the Buddha we went to coffee chain (cafe perhaps?) called Komeda; I've seen it everywhere but never thought to go inside. It was a hot day so we decided to get some shaved ice and a drink. Dede ordered the mini and I got the regular size. Regular size in Japan tends to be what I would call mini-mini, so I figured it would be the same here. Nope. You can't really tell from this photo, but my shaved ice was HUGE! It was a struggle to eat it. Not only that, I forgot that I had ordered ice-cream for my iced chocolate, and ordered extra for the ice too! A little bit too much on the sweet-side for me.

After a long, long time I finally got motivated to take some photos of my apartment. I had been planning to do this ever since moving in, so I'm happy I've finally done it. This is what my LeoPalace looks like:

In the living room there is a simple table which can fold down and make more room if you need it. On this particular day I was studying Japanese quite hard, but on a normal day it looks just as messy! It turns into a junk table whether I want it to or not.

The other side of the living room...which is also the bedroom! There is a lot of storage space under the bed which is where all our suitcases and snowboards are living at the moment. The bed is a single though, so as it's getting hotter it's not very comfortable.

I finally bought myself some indoor slippers to use on the wooden floors; I'm tired of getting footprints on it and having to wipe them off by hand. But it's so hot now that I keep forgetting to wear them anyway!!

There's a nice amount of wardrobe space too, but no shelves, so I'm using my suitcase at the moment. It's also good that we both get our own wardrobe too.

My teen tiny kitchen. It is incredibly hard to cook here but I make do.

There isn't very much space for kitchen supplies so I try and stick it all here.

And my small fridge. It's usually very full.

Bathroom...I don't know why this photo is turned. The original is not this way and this stupid blog keeps uploading it this way. I hate it when things aren't perfect!

These turned pictures make me really mad...

And last of all I have an intercom!! I can see who is outside, and I can talk to them through it! It's great!

Such a big post. I'll have to update regularly again so that the next posts are not so long! See you soon.

A hot summer night

2012-07-13T05:20:00.003-07:00

Hello all...I'm sorry for the long absence. I can't believe how busy I have been lately, planning lessons and all that. I usually stay back at school until 4.30 ~ 5.00, even though I can leave at 3.30. It has been so humid and sticky too, so I tend to have a shower and then fall asleep until about 8.00! Then I have to cook and really, really can not be bothered doing anything else. That means that I don't clean up, so I have a lot of cleaning to do on the weekends. It's never ending and I'm getting a little fed up. But leaving the house messy makes me angry too so I have to do it!

But yes, it's a hot summer night. Although the heat is awful, I like nights like this. My apartment is surrounded by rice fields, and it means that there are many, many frogs living in the water. It's relaxing just looking out my window into the dark nights and hearing them croaking away. It sounds like there are thousands!

Well here's a few pictures which must be over a month old - I couldn't possibly wear jeans in this heat...even my stockings are getting unbearable! I can't remember the last time I went outside without stockings.

Me outside the gate to Kiyomizu Temple; NOT the famous Kyoto Temple. This is a teeny temple which was actually constructed by the same man who made the Kyoto one. I guess he couldn't think of a better name. I'm guessing this one came first. It's so small and in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Minokamo.

At Showa Mura. I still really do not like posing for photos. Can you see how uncomfortable I am? It doesn't help that I'm in a foreign country where everyone is interested in looking at me, and boyfriend with a crazily complicated camera and he wants to try out different poses and settings, etc. It's not a fun experience at all!!

I tried archery, and it was so much fun!!

I got one quite close to the bulls-eye! Dede claims it was his, but I don't think so...

I don't know what you call that face, but the trees are pretty!

Tsumago (or was is Magome?) Dede and I went to two beautiful towns within driving distance, and back at my old Nagano Prefecture. They have been preserved in Edo Period style and are so, so beautiful. I didn't want to steal too many photos from Dede so here's one of my favourites.

We found a waterfall on the way home. Naturally Dede wanted to take photos of it. I'm sure we were here for over an hour. Somehow, I wish he was into Architecture as much as when I met him. Photography is nice and all, but it means you have to spend a lot of time outdoors, just waiting. Not fun...but it ends up being worth it!

PS: I noticed that this blog got over 160 page views today!! And more than 3000 since I've had it!! I was so surprised. I have a feeling that many people are looking up my company as it is recruiting time again and I heard there are a lot of positions for September. Anyway, I hope whoever is reading this enjoys it!!

Maori-chan

2012-06-18T02:03:00.001-07:00

Japanese has a lot of different suffixes for names, the most well known being ~san (Yamada-san, Honda-san, etc). In the past it was often translated as Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss. However, we obviously don't seem to use these in normal conversation! Well for me at least, the last time I did was in High School. Of course we still see it regularly in letters.

I have one JTE who hasn't realised that this little part of English has changed, and there is no need to translate ~san anymore. All the students in her classes are now referred to as Mr. Okada, Ms. Yamaguchi, etc. I want to correct her on this; friends are calling each other Mr and Ms and it's really odd for me. But now I feel it is too late...

But what I was getting at! There is another suffix, very famous among anime fans. This is ~chan. It's basically a cute way of saying someone's name. Amon friends, they shorten their name and add on ~chan. For example, Su-chan (Suzuka), Non-chan (Nozomi), and the list goes on. I think it's not a very unique way of giving nicknames, but that's Japan for you.

The other day I gave a talk on Maori culture, in particular Maori clothing. The class I spoke to really enjoyed it, more than I though they would. When I explained my family history about having a little Maori and Japanese blood, they went berserk.

Today I went back to that class and discovered that one of the students (non-Japanese by the way) has now given me the nickname Maori-chan. It's hilarious for me and them, so I like it! The student who has decided to call me this is one of the most enthusiastic kids in the class when answering questions; always love that in Japan. His name is Gabrielle, he speaks English in a thick Japanese accent, but I think he is from Brazil or somewhere. At first I thought he was putting on the accent but now I think it's real!

Random Maori lady. Can you see the resemblance? Hehe...

Speaking Japanese

2012-06-15T23:33:00.001-07:00

Speaking and listening to Japanese has always been my weak point; I always found it much easier to focus on reading and writing. But of course I want to be able to communicate verbally to a much higher degree within the smallest amount of time possible.

Yesterday at school the Grade 2 students were off on a field trip, so the school was significantly quieter. I felt brave enough to venture to the Grade 1 floor and try and find some kids to talk to during lunch. Luckily I found a group of girls, who of course exclaimed 英語分かんない！eigo wakannai, or "I don't understand English!" I don't know why they bother to yell this at me every time I see them. I tell them that simple English is enough, but if they really want to talk to me Japanese is okay. I usually just stick in a few English phrases that they should know.

Anyway, as I was speaking to them I was amazed that words were just flowing out of my mouth without really thinking. I was explaining the differences between the grade structure of Japanese schools compared to Australian. I found that once I start thinking "Oh, I'm speaking Japanese quite well!" I begin to go downhill again. I have to find a way to stop thinking about what I'm doing; that is a very difficult thing to do.

Anyway, I think they really enjoyed speaking with me...well I certainly did. But for someone who isn't really used to leading a conversation (I usually just sit back and speak when I want to say something), being an ALT is definitely a challenge. I always knew it would be, but I'm liking it.

I haven't been brave enough to ask to take some photos of the school so this is one I got from the Higashi Kani Junior High School website:

Oh, and happily I have another student who has suddenly taken a huge interest in me; her name is 春香 Haruka and she waves ecstatically whenever she sees me now. At lunch she asked me "What colour is Spring to you?" From this question I can only guess that she takes outside English lessons as her class is still only learning "This is my chair. That is the blackboard."

I have a new blog!

2012-06-13T05:41:00.001-07:00

Yes that's right, I've just created a brand new blog for my food adventures. Here is the link:

http://lorelliecuisine.blogspot.jp/

My aim is to document dishes that I will be cooking in the future, and also to talk about some of the food I have tried from restaurants. I'll probably still post some food related photos here too, but talk about it in more detail over there. I hope you like it, and maybe you'll try some of my recipes :)

Good night! xx

Japanese Cuisine

2012-06-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

Every day, the idea of 給食 (kyuushoku), or school lunch, always makes me feel a little scared. It could be anything. I hate the feeling of walking into the lunch room to grab my tray of food and discovering something I would rather feed a dog. Some days are fantastic; today we had minestrone soup with two slices of bread (and not white bread too I might add! Brown bread is almost impossible to buy), a simple salad, and a small slice of salmon. I would've been happier without the salmon, but that's a seafood hater for you!

Other times I have had...what I can only describe as whitebait piled onto a piece of toast about five times thicker than usual, and covered in cheese. I hate the little fish most. Actually any kind of fish is not exciting for me. I usually do my best to eat it first, then finish it off with my rice and (usually) miso soup. Sometimes a tasteless piece of meat. Once I even had whale...even though it actually tasted okay, if a little dry.

There is one Japanese food that a large amount of visitors to Japan try to avoid: 納豆 natto. It has been described as smelling like an old foot, rotting cheese, amonia...the list goes on. Back in Kiso I was lucky and never got natto in my school lunch. However as of last Friday, I have had it about four times.

I suppose I should explain exactly what natto is! It is basically fermented soybeans, covered in sticky goo. When eating it, you must wave your chopsticks round and round so that the goo doesn't turn into spiderwebs and go everywhere!

We get our natto in little tubs, accompanied with small packets of soy sauce and mustard. I must admit I have never smelt natto without the soy sauce and mustard already stirred in, nor do I plan to. Actually, with the mustard it is bearable to eat, and there isn't any disgusting smell. All it tastes like is mustard-y sticky beans. It doesn't taste amazing, but it doesn't taste awful either. Here is a photo from wikipedia of natto:

To be honest, I prefer natto to fish. With fish, there is always a distinct flavour. With natto...well I already explained. We always have a bowl of rice, a yummy soup and yummy salad along with natto, so I can always finish my meal with something delicious!

Eihoji Temple

2012-06-08T23:51:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks back Dede and I went on an adventure to nearby Tajimi, a city a bit bigger than Kani. We went to see Eihoji Temple, and here are the photos I took:

There were quite a few buildings leading up to the temple, so unfortunately I don't know what they were all called.

I wondered how many people had died in a well. Wells always seem to have scary stories. The Ring, obviously, but also a well at Himeji castle is supposed to be very haunted.

This orange gate seemed a bit out of place, and it even had love hearts carved into it.

Not Eihoji Temple.

Not Eihoji Temple, but close!

And this was the temple!! Of course, we came during repair work :(

And there was a scared snake! She slithered into the rocks behind her when Dede approached.

Dede setting up; he was there for about twenty minutes.

This would have been so beautiful, I wish I could've seen it.

Friendly koi and an inquisitive turtle. I love koi!

Dede was taking photos here for over half an hour. I got very bored. You can only look around for so long.

Because Dede hardly takes photos of me any more, I have to take tacky self-photos. I'm too afraid to smile because the surrounding people were already gawking at me enough.

I went on a mountain climbing adventure while waiting for Dede. Of course he had disappeared by the time I came back, and he had returned to the car.

My ducky friends.

Next we drove quite a way past Nakatsugawa to a rock museum.

They had a pyramid! Inside there is quite a fun maze, and it is really cool underground.

We found another temple, and this is the view from the top; a small theme park in the middle of the mountains.

Still not quite sure why I can now post photos. Maybe blogger changed it's mind...

I also want a DSLR like Dede now. According to him, the sky wouldn't be so white in my photos if I had the settings that a DSLR has. The sky was blue that day!

I am confused.

2012-06-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

...for some reason I could put these photos up. I am terribly confused!!

Two large pizzas, a crappy pasta, one 1.25L coke (not pictured) and a free can of Coke. That is what $100 can get you in Japan. PITIFUL! Back in Australia we could get the same pack for about $25! And I thought that was expensive :( Makes you appreciate the simple things in (Australian) life. Man I miss Domino's!

This is something I made :) Unfortunately I didn't have Dede's camera so it's hard to see the details. But this is Garlic Tofu slices with a sweet Sake and Soy Sauce (from a fantastic tofu recipe book), and rice with Spicy Eggplant (my creation). It was so yummy, I can't even express how awesome it was!

I am addicted to stationary, and when I discovered a medium-sized stationary store around the corner from my house I nearly had a heart attack. Those Copic pens usually sell for over $100 in Australia (very good quality for drawing, and Dede uses them for Architecture as well), but here they were only $20, normal price! I suppose things work out (the pizza).

On another note I am having a great time cooking new things all the time. I'm actually thinking I should make another blog for my food adventures. I think it might be easier to for me, and easier to read too :) What do you think?

Here is a nice song for the day :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4mriENldAg Man I want to see this band live so badly!

This blog sucks.

2012-06-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

To be more precise, this blog hosting site sucks (blogger). When I signed on a few years ago, I was under the impression that I could make as any posts as I liked, and stick in as many photos as well. All was well until a couple of weeks ago when I tried to put in a whole heap of new photos, when blogger told me that I had run out of space and would need to start paying a monthly fee! The fee is only a couple of dollars, but a couple of dollars that I need! Plus I don't have a credit card, makes online payments a little tricky.

When I was in Japan the second time on exchange, I always took the time to resize my photos before posting, but this time around I just don't have the time, so I only edit them. If I had known that I was limited by space I would've taken the time :(

My predicament is deciding whether to give in and pay up, or simply start another blog with this site and continue there again for free. The annoying thing for me is I like things to be ordered and to make sense, and if I made another blog it just wouldn't feel the same.

I'm a bit bored today so I may tackle the problem in a minute.

Sweat!

2012-05-18T02:34:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite bands lately has been Queens of the Stone Age. I remember listening to them back in High School, the first song I heard on Rage was the song "Go With the Flow". It was usually late at night, and it gave me butterflies in my stomach. I love songs like that.

At the time I had heard of the band "Eagles of Death Metal", (one of the members is also in QOTSA)but no one I knew had the album, and then I guess I just forgot about them. Only recently I got three of their albums and they are great! This song has been stuck in my head for the past three days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx005f_cAVI

Unfortunately this video is bad quality.

This song is called "Solid Gold", and I think if this had been the first song of theirs that I had heard, I wouldn't like them. I'm sure you can tell why. But now that I know what the band is about after listening to other songs, I actually think this one is quite catchy. I just wish it would get out of my head already!

Maybe you should listen to "I Only Want You" first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHY1xCl4Qak

xx

Photos!

2012-05-15T04:01:00.000-07:00

We love cooking! As you can tell, we have lots of rice and noodle stuff, it's so great! I will never get sick of rice, unless it is risotto - gross. Some of the shots here are from restaurants, like the bottom left Indian Curry from Nagoya, and the two naan bread shots, from an Indian takeaway not too far from my home! The far left, second from the bottom was the best tonkatsu I have had in my life, from a restaurant with a nice atmosphere. I'll take anyone who wants to go, only a ten minute drive from here :)

*I would have made my own collage, but with no time, I deciding to go for a crappy internet one!

A very, very creepy looking love hotel. This one has free food and drink!! They must be desperate for customers...

View from the front balcony.

More photos soon, this isn't all of them! xx

Life Update

2012-05-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it has been so long since my last post. I can't believe the last time I wrote on here was before I left Kiso!

Well in any case, I am now living in Kani City, located in Gifu Prefecture. It's still quite small for a 'city', but now I am actually in some kind of civilisation and I am really enjoying it! I actually have a choice of supermarkets, and places to shop for clothing. Plus, there's a McDonald's just down the road, only a five minute walk away :) I've only been there twice, so I think that is a good effort for me.

The two schools that I am at now are very different from Kiso. For one, there are many more kids (which I was expecting). They are also more eager to speak to me, which I am enjoying. But it also means that there are other kids more willing to speak their mind; rude boys to be exact. Half of the time they are lovely and practice their English with me, other times they are asking me inappropriate things. I don't care, they're curious and growing up. It really doesn't happen all too often, but I either ignore it or tell them that that's not something they should be asking me.

I also have a much, much, bigger work load. The teachers here expect a lot of me. I guess I had it easy in Kiso. While I am enjoying the challenge, I am exhausted every single night. I have also had teachers expecting me to conduct entire lessons without them telling me I even have a class on. It has been frustrating but I'm learning to cope with it. Teaching Elementary basically on my own in Kiso was a big learning curve, and this time my two Junior High's are testing me as well. I'm so tired!!

My new schools are named Nishi Kani and Higashi Kani (West and East). I also will be teaching at Seto Kindergarten, but I haven't been there yet. It is only once a month.

Some very recent news: a few days ago Dede got himself a full time job! I am so happy for him. His new job is located about an hour by train from where I live, so it's still really close. His interview lasted for three hours, and he had to demonstrate his teaching style for forty minutes as well. To tell the truth, I was very worried about that, from hearing his previous interviews. But this time I gave him a few pointers and ideas and it got him through. Luckily he is very quick on his feet. They offered him the job while he was still there! It was such a relief for the both of us.

This week is Golden Week, my second one in Japan. We went to Nagoya to visit Suzuka and Manami, but Manami fell asleep after her part time job so we didn't get to see her! So the three of us went to Nagoya Castle. This was my third time going, two times more than I had planned on going. The outside is great, but the inside is boring. It does have some interesting models of how the original castle looked. I still can't help thinking why didn't they construct the inside traditionally. After the castle we went to Nagoya Dome...the baseball was on but we didn't watch it. I don't like baseball at all but I think it would be nice to see a game in Japan once. The atmosphere looks fun :)

We went shopping, Suzuka showed us a foreign food store (our kind of food!!) and we bought up large. Dede and I are going to go on a cooking rampage after this!! The majority of our money definitely goes into food :p

For the next day of Golden Week we went to the rose garden in Kani; apparently Kani is famous for it's roses and there are over 7000 varieties. Unfortunately the roses aren't quite in season so the entire park was just green...very few flowers at all. We will have to return in a month's time to see them in bloom.

On Monday we did nothing; just rested and watched movies. I hate being stuck in the apartment, maybe because it is so small, but it was nice to relax after two days of walking and walking. Today I had to work, and also tomorrow, but Thursday onwards it is the last part of Golden Week! Hooray!

After that there are no more holidays until the end of July. But the good thing about that is I have about five weeks off work, and if I understand my contract correctly I get paid in full :) I am really, really looking forward to such a long holiday!

Well I have left out many things I am sure. I hope to be able to write again soon, and include some photos :) xx

Life Update

2012-03-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

I had a great night last night. Originally I had organised to go out to dinner and drinking with a teacher from Fukushima Elementary. He is also leaving Kiso for Yokohama, I suppose to be closer to his girlfriend. Yesterday I got a phone call from him to say that he had been speaking to the Fukushima Junior High Principal (who is retiring) who invited the two of us for dinner at his house.

It ended up being a lovely dinner, prepared by his wife and daughter. I was lucky enough to be given a beautiful hair brooch thingy made out of old kimono; the Principal's mother's kimono actually, so it was very special. Izumi was able to choose one for his girlfriend too.

We both left at about 9.30pm for Chikara. Luckily Brooke and the people she was with were still there; I had heard from Yuki that they were going to be there so I was hoping to say goodbye before I leave Kiso. It would've been nice to get there a bit earlier to talk more...and when I was a little bit more sober, oops.

Anyway, Izumi and I had a drink and some garlic chips (my favourite!) and by then we were both really tired, so we had to walk all the way back home again.

I had some really great conversations that night, and it also really tested my Japanese. I felt so happy that I could have a home-cooked Japanese meal at my Principal's house. I wonder if many other ALTs get to have that kind of experience.

Kani City

2012-03-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened lately. For a start, after my meltdown about having to leave Kiso, I was offered another job in Kani City, Gifu Prefecture. I will be teaching at three Junior High Schools, with occasional visits to Kindergarten and Elementary. A bit of a pity that it won't be a half and half mix like the past six months.

However, after accepting the job I was offered an interview by another company in Nagano. They said that it was possible to find Dede a job, which of course is a very important thing for me. I ended up interviewing with them, and was extremely impressed by the system that they use to keep track of children's progress. I was all set to accept, but the downside was that the job they had considered interviewing Dede for had been filled, and that there was nothing at that time available for him. On the drive home this played on my mind a lot, and that night when they offered me the job I was so, so upset to turn them down. Unfortunately the reason did come down to money. Altia offers a slightly better salary, and the location that I will be moving to will make it easier for Dede to get a job too (at least I am hoping). After I turned them down I had a little cry again; I felt like I had wasted their time and had gotten their hopes up about hiring me. I just hope that they understood my reasons, but in the end it is my interests that I have to look after.

And also, this way I already know what Altia expects of me (at least I hope I do!). I'm a little worried about going to a bigger location; this means more kids and more names...I am hopeless when it comes to names, not to mention names that are foreign to me!

Still don't know when I am moving out, and it is an extremely busy and stressful time. I want to go to Hakuba one last time, I want to go snowboarding this Sunday with some teachers at Fukushima Junior High for one last goodbye, and I have to figure out how to move!! I knew I had bought a lot of items since moving here, but today I bought another large suitcase and I still can't fit everything that I have into it! I'm planning to takkyuubin it, but I still need something to put my items in! Stressful...

Next time I will have many many photos! I have been to two great end of year enkai's, and have received many great gifts. There have been many tears, but I am happy that I am leaving Kiso with such great memories. Only recently I have made some great friends with the staff that I work will, so it will be sad to not be able to see them again. I'm going to do my best to visit again xx

Sad Lorellie

2012-03-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I received the bad news that my contract in Kiso-machi will not be renewed again. Apparently I had too many sick days off so the BOE were worried about me. I wish I had known that my getting sick would have had a negative impact on my chances of another job in the same area. I just can't believe that that was the only reason I can't work here again.

When you go overseas you are bound to pick up bugs and illnesses you have never had before. Like I said, if I had known this earlier I would have gone to school feeling terrible. I thought that I was doing the right thing and now spreading the cold around.

As I was driving to Kaida today (for the last time), I started crying. Thinking about all the lovely kids and the things they have said to me in the past week. The kindy kids asking me to come back and play soon, the kids at Ueda who have to move to Fukushima Elementary this coming school year. Those kids said they were scared about moving to a whole new school with new students, but happy that I would be there too. A familiar face can make all the difference. The teachers at Ueda when turn by turn, telling me how my lessons had impressed them, that I was really organised and that I made it really fun for the kids. When I think of all their faces when the teachers told them that I would be there I just start crying again.

I was never given the chance to say goodbye properly to three of my five schools. I'm really not happy about that. I really would have appreciated it. Maybe I am more upset about that, rather than having to find a new job.

That being said, the company are going to do their best to find me another contract. Like always, nothing is set in stone. I just worked so hard at all five of my schools!!!!! I already had next year's lessons planned out, now that I feel like I know what I am doing. Now that I finally had figured out the kid's levels and all that...seeing as the teachers didn't. (Elementary...Junior High were all sorted)

The life of an ALT. It is an uncertain one.

And the rent!! I have been able to save a substantial amount of money considering I only have to pay 13,000 yen per month. If I go into a proper apartment-style place, it is likely I will be paying the normal 50,000 per month. There goes my savings :(

I don't want to leave. I had thought about going to a bigger place because I do get bored here a lot. But I love this place, I really do. I just know I'm going to cry for a long time, when the day I have to leave comes.

Which brings me to the point...my last day of school is next Friday, after that...will I have a place to live? I don't know.