Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Sorry for the long gap between entries! I wanted to make sure that more of my very last taste of Japan was accounted for
After working hard for finals, I took off to Tokyo a couple days before my parents were due to come in and see me. When I stumbled off the night bus at 10am, I wandered to Nishi-Nippori Station, where I meandered to and fro shrines and temples, had the best "yomogi" (a mint-flavored herb) mochi, and saw the amazing and spacious national museum in Ueno Park. The second day, I saw Meiji Jingu (huuge huge place…), Harajuku (I recommend going to a art cafe called "Design Festa Gallery"—amazing food and high-school age artists that will blow your socks off), and Omote Sando road (lit from side to side with Christmas-light filled trees and sparkling Gucci and Prada shops and tiny art galleries), finishing by dipping in brown-colored hotsprings in Asakusa.When my parents arrived, we saw a bit of the gorgeous Hama Rikyu Japanese garden, ate the best sushi in my life at Tsukiji Fish market, then hopped on the train to Nagoya.
We just spent time in Nagoya saying goodbye to my friends and host family, then headed to Kyoto. There (in the midst of the first snow I'd seen in Japan!) we went to Nishiki Market to eat chikua fish-cake for breakfast, and the Kyoto Craft museum behind Heian Shrine. Since it was New Years Eve, we got to see the huge bell rung by a couple dozen monks at Chion-In (108 times for the 108 negative human emotions). The next day was Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, and Kyoto Station, all absolutely gorgeous in their own way.
Then we went to Nara (big Buddha and amazing only-tofu cuisine!), and Kobe (a city much like San Francisco where I met an old exchange student who had stayed at our home, and ate o-sechi--traditional New Years cuisine, including sake with gold flakes in it!). Now, we are staying in Okinawa, known for amazing pottery, glass work, friendly people, and infinitely blue oceans. Yesterday I tried mimi-ga (pig ear) for the first time, it was surprisingly tasty!
Keep tuned for my final entry wrapping up this amazing four months in Japan!
- comments