6/26/2022 0 Comments Week 11: Hakone and JuneThe biggest thing that I did these last two weeks is go to Hakone for three days. Hakone is a city that is a little far from Tokyo and is a popular tourist spot. I took the Hakone Romancecar to get there. Funny enough, the romancecar was just a limited express train that goes from Tokyo to Hakone. On my first day, I headed to my hotel and checked in. The hotel I booked was extremely cheap because it was a shared room with other guests. While I gave up privacy, the price I paid was too good to give up. Unfortunately, most of the day already passed by the time I got to the hotel, so there wasn't much I could do. However, the hotel has a restaurant that serves dinner and breakfast. I decided to eat there, and luckily some of the staff spoke English. I was able to have a small chat with the bartender and got to learn a bit about him. I find these kinds of conversations really interesting since I get to learn about where a person comes from. It's surprised me that people from many countries come to Japan. On the second day, I spent the entire day outside going around the town and taking photos. The highlights of the day were taking pictures around Lake Ashi. I walked along the lake and was able to get different perspectives of the lake and its surroundings. I was also able to take some pictures of Hakone's well known Torii Gates. I had a great time going around the area and taking pictures of the many things I saw. On the last day, I headed back to the station where the romancecar stops at. I had a few hours before my train would come, so I walked around and bought some souveniers to bring back. I noticed that there was a lot of sweets that were special to Hakone that I did not see anywhere else. The same goes for other souviniers. The town is known for their special design that is engraved into wood. I found it all really interested and nice to learn. There has been one big issue though that will persist throughout the rest of my time in Japan. The weather has taken a turn for the worst as it has become too hot. It's almost over 90 degrees everyday and the humidity is the worst. Whenever I exit a building, I get hit with a blast of hot air and it makes me want to go back inside. This weather will make going out a bit more inconvenient, but it doesn't falter me from making big plans.
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6/1/2022 0 Comments Week 9For the last two weeks, I decided to do things on my own and went out solo. There were many places that I went on my own. They included Asakusa, Ikebukuro, Yokohama, and Akihabara. Going by myself was a different experience even if I went to them before. By being by myself, I got to look at things at my own pace and take time to look around more closely. When I went to Asakusa, I got a better look at the temples and appreciated the architecture. I never noticed the amount of detail on the temples and I appreciated it more. A couple days later, I went to Ikebukuro and walked around the area. On the day I went, it just so happened to be a cosplay meetup, so there were a lot of people in cosplay of popular anime and manga. The next week, I went to Yokohama and visited the Chinatown. I was surprised when I went there because it is much different compared to the Chinatown back in Honolulu. While the one in Honolulu primarily focuses on selling fresh produce, the one in Yokohama is a place where people spend time and have fun. The area is filled with restaurants and food stands. Additionally, there were a few Chinese temples, and it was interesting being able to compare them to the Japanese ones. I spent a few more hours walking around the city before heading back home.
A couple days later, I accompanied the club I joined to a restuarant outing. It was a Sichuan restaurant, so many of their dishes were spicy. It was a big change of pace for me because not many restaurants offered spicy food. Afterwards, a group of us decided to spend some more time together. It was an interesting experience since I was the only one there who couldn't speak Japanese. The others wanted to talk to me and some could speak English but not all. This made me want to learn Japanese more and I wish I was more proficient at the language. Looking forward, I would like to spend more time going outside of the city. I have not tried using the bullet train or a plane to reach a different city, so I would like to do that next. |
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August 2022
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