Tokyo Tower! On Monday Nov 5, 2012

Tokyo is just too awesome! Got the opportunity to go Tokyo Tower for FREE! Yep - Free ;). Thanks to the  Bunkyo Festival in Saitama, I won (sadly only one) free ticket to Tokyo Tower. Yao also got tickets, 2 of them, from random drawing on the same day from Bunkyo's festival but in Tokyo, where we attend class. So the rest of the crew who went to Tokyo tower with us had to pay. :(
Other than that, check the photos below! ^ ^ We were up sooo high! >.<

Tohoku, Minami Sanriku (Shinagawa + Utatsu)

So this past weekend (Oct 27-29th, 2012), I had a great opportunity to go up to Minamisanriku in Tohoku where the Tsunami and Earthquake hit since March 11th of 2011. It was a 7 hours drive up north from Tokyo! However, it was such an amazing experience because the international students from my Japanese School and I got the chance to do some volunteer work as well as talk to victims. One of the victims, she is Filipino and married to a Japanese. Her name is Amelia. It was nice to talk to her and see that she is in such great spirit. It really breaks my heart to know what people have lost, yet they have managed to stay so strong. She told us about the restaurant her husband spent years building and establishing. It's so sad to know such long hard work was washed away in seconds. Their home/restaurant was located right in between two rivers and the sea. And so it had water gushing in all three directions. However, now her husband is trying again to rebuild his restaurant and already has a little business started. Amelia, as a coordinator from the disaster, also said that there were elderly people who just gave up at trying to rebuild their lives. This is a very sad case. Japan is still slowly recovering and we all as well must help encourage them. We also got the opportunity to talk to Junior leaders. These Junior leaders are young people. There was 5 of them and most of them were in their 1st year of high school. It was very assuring to learn that these young folks still want to stay and rebuild their town in the future instead of moving away from such disasters like the tsunami. One of them wants to start a restaurant for his community in the future and hopes to draw in many people. Because of high hopes like this from many youngsters in the Minamisariku area, I really want to visit Japan again to see how much Tohoku Minamisanriku will grow. The last thing we did on our trip was visiting a Buddhist temple. That was an evacuation center for many people when the tsunami hit. Also, the monks help a lot with many anxiety that people go through. Check the photos of the trip down below. ;)

The Junior leaders showing their brainstorming ideas.

Group photo

The Buddhist Temple

Photo with the two monks. (The one in thick glasses is a monk too)

Only the foundations of what's left of the houses in Minamisanriku.
Our job was to dig to the bottom of the side of the foundation so bulldozers can  scoop the dirt more easily

Group photo of the girls after our volunteer work

Ghibli Museum!

I've been sooooo behind in updating my BLOG! There's just so much to do and no time to sit and  blog...what can I say. Well really quick, I got the opportunity to go and visit the Ghibli Museum! AWESOMENESS!!!! I got to touch Hayao Miyazaki's work! And see a model of his work station and such. If you don't know about Miyazaki, he is the creator of Spirited Away, (Google it). You should watch some of his animations. I recommend Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, & Castle in the Sky. There's so much more, but give those a try if you don't know about Miyazaki.
For those who do know about Ghibli, did you guys know, Studio Ghibli was very close to perishing in the past because many people were not drawn into Miyazaki's earlier work? Not until Princess Mononoke came out, which was like, suppose to be his last creation, did it actually received a lot of sales in order for Studio Ghibli to sustain. And then Spirited Away made the big shot and Studio Ghibli survived! Thank goodness because Miyazaki is so creative and unique!
I went to the Ghibli Museum on Monday the 22nd and boy, there were so many people there! (Although my Cool Japan class professor did say there shouldn't be a lot of people because it's a weekday. Imagine if it was a weekend. Whew!) Sadly they don't allow people to take pictures in the Museum so I can't share the wonderful experience I had through photos. Only some :(
 Overall, it was fun. I bought some souvenirs for my sister and nieces and I just know my sister will like it, hopefully. It's the thought that counts! But do check out some photos I was able to capture below!

From Spirited Away!

From Laputa. I got a little boy in my photo. >.<

Laputa

Homestay with the Horie Family

So I'm a little late with updating my stay here in Japan, but I think it's suppose to be good because I've been too distracted with Japan. Well, I had the best Home stay ever! My Host family spoiled me so bad! They bought everything for me, I didn't know what to do. They even went out as to driving me 3hrs just to see the ocean. And, it was my first time at the ocean! I got to touch the ocean water which made me so happy. Unfortunately it wasn't a bright sunny day so we were not able to see the beautiful horizon but I still had a blast. Also, I got to eat the Kurazushi! Watch the video below for details! It's so exciting. Each sushi plate cost 100 yen which is about $1.28. That's actually very cheap for Japan. And it's very good. Plus, for this conveyor belt sushi restaurant, we get prizes! Watch below and for pictures!

Host Family, the brother wasn't around because he's a grad student. Saw him once.

Went to go rent movies for the first night! Such a big place. This was top floor.

My futon! 

Lunch the day after. Mmmm... Curry spaghetti. Host mother's favorite ;) 

My attempt to bake cookies for them with different measurements!

It was a SUCCESS! Whew! Next day they wanted to substitute nuts instead of
chocolate chips, so we did. (These were a little over baked, but still not burnt!)

The living room space. We ate sweets and drank lattes every night. Was so homey :)

Naho Brought her guitar out for me so I could play. I miss playing guitar!

Ku-chan! First night she really liked me. But this second night she didn't and wouldn't
take pictures with me... :(

Dinner! So spoiled. I was fed so well. They made tempura for me!

They drove 3hrs for me! At the ocean. It was so beautiful. I'm glad my
first time at the Ocean was in Japan. This is in Choshi Chiba.

Very good. The squid was actually made from squid ink! Surprising huh?!
I was shocked, it tasted like nothing. I thought it was going to be bitter. Haha!

Jumping pose! Got it Right on the second try!

Naho so cute! I think this might've been her first jumping photo?!

Morning before I leave. Going out for Brunch :). Osewaninarimashita!

NAHO and I.

 Such an awesome family! Had such a great time. It's funny because when I got back, every one was like they had the BEST home stay. Pshhh! I did. Haha. I really did. Felt really at home. I was able to imagine living in Japan and having a life style here. It was tanoshikatta! (FUN)

Sumo & Kabuki

So this weekend has been a really interesting one. I got to see Sumo and Kabuki. Loved it. It was very interesting and the culture that Japan colors is just so beautiful. I do admit I fell asleep at both events at some point of time but nevertheless, it was still a wonderful experience! >.<
I have a short clip of the sumo but unfortunately my camera died on me right before the sumo wrestlers were about to charge at each other. It made me really sad that I couldn't capture it for you guys to see. However, I still posted it below. In addition the photos aren't that great because I sat very far from the stage (for both events) although I saw everything perfectly well. I blame my camera. So anyway, I went to see Sumo on Friday the 21st and Kabuki on Sunday the 23rd. Check out below!

SUMO!

KABUKI

Kabuki, by the way, is all male actors! Beautiful. Although

this show I went to, I believe there might have been female actors too. Or at least it seems so.

National Theater Of Japan - Tokyo

Nezu Festival on Sunday Sept. 16th 2012

The Nezu Festival! It was quite a day. Very fun experience. My classmates and I helped carry a portable shrine (mikoshi) around the neighborhood where we live because it was an activity for our class Shinto and Buddhism. The Nezu Shrine is located about 5 minutes away. Check out the video and picture below. Where you see the group of people carrying a shrine, that's what we did too. Because of my height, the shrine never touched my shoulder. At one point it did because all the tall people took a rest? 0.o  But it was definitely an arm work out because the more the mikoshi shakes, the better of the god! It's a once in a life time experience and I'm glad I did it. Oh and we carried the shrine for a good 3 hrs!

They had a Thai Stand!

My PHO!