As today approach I constantly wished to sit for a while since my feet hurt. I wished incorrectly. We had meditation early in the morning and I had to use every ounce of my strength to keep good posture and attempt to weave my legs into a braid. It was really interesting process wise, however I am weak willed and not very good at sitting still. One part that was really surprising was being hit by the long stick to help you focus or wakeup or if your back hurts. It really did do what the monk said I felt very energized directly after.
At the shrine we meditated at
After that was visiting the national treasure of the Sanjusangendo Shrine. This was sort of a speed run and photography wasn’t allowed but there were 1000 golden (colored not material) buddha statues which was a little spooky. The building was massive and every time I thought we saw all the statues there were more.
Next was a look into the Japanese tea ceremony. Our guide told us that an actual ceremony takes FOUR HOURS. However we had a summary version and even got to try the tea ourselves. The most interesting part was that when holding the tea cup you have the most beautiful facing side of the cup towards you, but when you drink you face it away as you don’t touch your lips to the most beautiful part.
Finally we got a look around the area and some smaller temples!
I even got Japanese Wendy’s and the BEST burger I’ve ever had. Teriyaki Avocado!
Today was about as busy as I expected it to be, but boy I did not think it would physically affect my body as much as it did.
Today was finally our free day!! Which meant that me, Megan, and Chloe were up early in the morning to head to Kiyomizu-dera and rent kimonos for the morning! The store was certainly not prepared for a very tall American woman to walk in, so the kimono itself was a little tight and the shoes were a bit too small, but it was still fun to walk around and take lots of photos!! My feet were dying after three hours of waddling through thick crowds and cute stores trying to find some good spots to take pictures. But we did get a lot of really good shots!
After we finally peeled our kimonos off, we made the walk to the Kyoto Pokemon Center to see if it would be as busy as it was on Wednesday. To our surprise, there was no line or crowd at all! I was able to buy a couple small things, like another Made in Japan charm with Eevee on it and an adorable sleeping Eevee plush (Can you tell I like Eevee?). I really wanted a coin purse, but they were out of the medium size which was the only one that I wanted so my search for the perfect coin purse continues (and at this rate will likely continue until a day or two before we leave, with my luck).
Our other plan for today before we head back to the hotel to meet with KCG was to visit the Loutre Otter Cafe, which was one of the big wishlist items that we wanted to do, but unfortunately they were too busy. Hopefully we can go back on Friday and play with the otters!
Hanging out with KCG at getting to meet our teammates for the first time was super fun! They ordered lots of pizza and other sides (though there was only 1 pizza without a bunch of toppings that I don’t like that was swiftly devoured) and brought a lot of snacks and candy for us to try. There was also a small group of boys that were repeatedly eating wasabi, for reasons that will always elude me. Everyone from my team was super nice and I am looking forward to working with them for the game jam!
To end the night, a majority of our group hung out in Brody and Vincent’s room and played Jackbox party games and Mariokart 8 Deluxe while “drinking” (aka we bought some random stuff from the stores, sipped a little, and then forgot that we were drinking because we were very into the game). It was really nice to get to hang out with everyone because we’d been trying to do it for a while but had always come back to the hotel too exhausted to do anything. I’m a bit nervous for the game jam tomorrow, but I’m definitely looking forward to getting to sit down for a majority of the day!
We started another early day with a quick breakfast and boarding the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. After the 3 hour train ride, we arrived and had lunch at a local food court where I tried tsukamen for the first time.
After lunch, we visited the peace memorial dome. All of us were pretty solemn, but at the same time this was an important visit.
Crane Statue during a school visit
During this time, we also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. This was another site that was definitely important to go see.
Afterwards, we took a short visit to a small castle and temple before heading to an okonomiyaki restaurant. It was very delicious and filling. Mine had various types of seafood, green onion, egg, along with other foods.
Lastly, a group made a extremely quick trip to the Pokemon center. This was the only one that had a shiny Gyardos.
We all ran back to rendezvous with the rest of the group to take the Shinkansen back to Kyoto. Overall, a very heavy day physically and emotionally but well worth the trip!
Before the long train ride from Tokyo to Kyoto, Brody, Vincent, Maddy and I went to the Shinigawa Aqua Park. We saw many amazing aquatic animals I had only seen in movies and video games (mainly Animal Crossing). Afterward, we hopped on the train, where I spent the whole time gawking at the scenery. We ended the day with a 10-course meal at our welcome dinner in Kyoto.
Pictures from the day
To start out the day, I had a matcha cake roll that I got from 7-11 the previous night. It was super yummy and only a little sweet. It was effortless to eat before Maddy and I headed out to meet up with Vincent and Brody for an actual meal
Matcha cake roll
In terms of real food, I ended up getting pork fried rice. The green onion, egg, and pork combination was incredibly satisfying to eat. The addition of the rice make the dish filling, making it perfect to have before the long train ride that awaited.
Pork fried rice
The last meal of the day was the 10-course meal that we had as a part of our welcome dinner to Kyoto. We started out with a few small dishes including squid, pickled vegetables, bok choy, and pork. As the soup was cooking, we were given a small assortment of sushi. The soup was a type of fish soup, but I, regrettably, do not recall what it is called. After that, we had more pork that we dipped into hot oil to cook ourselves. That was followed by a salad that I did not end up eating due to my allergy to raw vegetables. After that, we had shrimp tempura with fried lotus and pepper. That was followed by more sushi, which we got to see prepared by a professional chef. After that was a tofu dish with a gelatin soup base on top. After that was another soup that was followed by ice cream. Everything that I was able to eat was delicious. I wish I was able to eat more of the delicious dinner, but sadly, I am allergic to life.
Similar to our first day with an early start, my friend Fabian and I embarked on a memorable journey. I woke up at the early hour of 3:40 am, engaging in some productive work on my blog after grabbing a cup of coffee from a vending machine. Meanwhile, Fabian discovered that he had misplaced his travel bag, prompting him to search for it unsuccessfully.
It wasn’t until we ventured outside the building to have breakfast that he checked his phone and received a notification indicating that his AirPods were located inside the bag. Thankfully, with the assistance of a helpful individual near the eastern entrance, we managed to recover the missing bag. For more detailed information, please refer to Fabian’s blog.
Finally, around 10 am, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast comprising bacon and eggs. The bread was particularly noteworthy, boasting a delightful cake-like texture.
To occupy our time, we embarked on a journey through the local area, during which I purchased some gifts for my family. Along the way, we unexpectedly stumbled upon a quaint shrine and encountered an intriguing garden as we made our way back to the hotel. We took a short break at a nearby 7/11 to quench our thirst.
Subsequently, we reconvened in the hotel lobby, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the rest of our group.
I had a fascinating encounter in the lobby with an individual who happened to be a car drifter. He shared that he was currently filming a Netflix documentary on drifting and had recently met Keiichi Tsuchiya, renowned as the drift king himself. Naturally, I found this conversation quite cool, and I even started following him on Instagram. It will be interesting to watch the documentary once it becomes available.
As a group, we then embarked on the shinkansen (Bullet Train) to commence our journey to Kyoto. During the train ride, I dedicated my time to working on completing my latest blog post, although the internet connection proved to be less than ideal. Additionally, I attempted the Peridot experiment, but encountered difficulties updating the app until after we arrived at our destination. I must mention that the train ride was an exhilarating experience due to its remarkable speed, causing the images captured by any camera I used to distort from the sheer velocity. It was truly a wild experience.
Upon our arrival in Kyoto, we dropped off our belongings on the bus and proceeded to a group dinner. This particular meal overwhelmed me with pure emotion, as we were treated to a traditional Japanese 10-course feast. I never imagined I would have the opportunity to partake in such an experience, even if I were to visit this country on my own. I am immensely grateful to Stephen Jacobs, RIT, and KCG for organizing this unforgettable dining experience.
Following the dinner, we made our way back to the hotel, where I am currently writing this account. Tomorrow, on the 23rd, I plan to post this entry, as I am quite tired and in need of some restful sleep.
Today was an interesting day, to say the least. I woke up early once more, and while most people opted to stay near the hotel and take it easy today to rest and recover from all the activities this week so far, I felt ready to go still and so decided to take the Shinkansen to Osaka! I went with Liam, and so together we managed to get a ticket from the JR Service counter and catch one. The ride was surprisingly short, only 30 minutes! Once there, we navigated the Shin-Osaka station and manged to find the subway. I refilled my Suica card that I had purchased earlier on Day 2, and honestly I can’t believe I didn’t fill it up sooner, it’s so convenient! Although I did almost put it in the ticket slot and get it stuck in the machine conveyor.
Once we rode the subway into Osaka, we moved on to our main goal: finding the Rikuro Cheesecake Store and buying some fluffy cheescake! Pavel really wanted to have their cheesecake, but was too tired today to make the trek, so I offered to go and bring some back for him. We walked through the city, and it was shocking how urban and reminiscent of NYC it was! There were so many stores, and once we entered into a shopping street district, it felt somewhat similar to Nishiki market in terms of spacing. A bit farther down, we found Rikuro’s! They were selling their cheesecakes, but I wanted to try going to their café upstairs, since we had came all this way I figured we should sit down and enjoy their cheesecake before bringing some back. But then we learned that their café only opens at 11:30am! It was about 10:15am when we arrived. so we wandered around the area a bit. We found a Book-Off store, but it was infortuantely closed until 1pm, and we also found a small temple nestled in a side street near the shops. It was very quaint, and I was even able to get another stamp for my stamp book!
Osaka had quite the interesting style of architecture!
Finally, it was 11:15am, so we headed back to the café and got in line. But then the worst happened; the café cut off the first batch of guests right before us. The wait was an hour, and that wasn’t quite worth it for us a that time, so we settled for getting a cheesecake to go and found a place to eat it by the river in the city. The cheesecake was super light and fluffy, but also wasn’t too sweet either. It was warm, and honestly tasted pretty good! It was about 18cm in circumference, and I ate about 1/3 of it, then packed up the rest for Pavel. After that, we took the train again down to the Osaka Pokémon Center! It was very cool, and I bought my first piece of Pokémon merch from there.
The famous Rikuro Cheesecake!
Liam went back to the hotel a bit earlier while I stayed behind to look at the Nintendo and Capcom stores there, and then I made my way down to Umeda station there and found a JR ticket machine to get a Shinkansen ticket back. However, the machine gave me an error when I tried to verify my JR Pass, and so I had to go on the in-person line and get a ticket from the counter. Once I got it, it was for a 2:18pm train, and it was currently about 1:50pm, so I had time.
Or so I thought.
I walked back to the main plaze of the station, and realized my first miscalculation: I had no idea where the Shinkansen platform was. I ran around a bit trying to get my bearings, before finding stairs that led to JR Lines, and on those platforms I saw signs for the Shinkansen. “Good” I thought, but then I noticed that it didn’t look similar to the other platforms I had been on before. I found a transit officer and asked him in Japanese if I was at the right platform. He pointed down the tracks, and said that I had to be at Shin-Osaka station to catch it. I was at Umeda station. But, he told me, I could catch a train here to Shin-Osaka, but it was on the platform next to ours. So I rushed over there, and was still confused because I wasn’t sure how this would work, like if I had to pay a fare for this local train? So I asked another transit officer nearby, and he said the same thing, and pointed to track 7 and said to take that one. Track 8’s train arrived first though, and the sign said both trains stopped at Shin-Osaka. Track 7’s train even said it was delayed a few mins, so I opted for track 8, thinking it would leave sooner.
I was wrong, turns out, and the other local train arrived and left before mine, and mine moved much slower for some reason. When it finally arrived at Shin-Osaka station, I sprinted out and weaved through the crowds, frantically searching for my platform, but alas to no avail. I finally asked one last ticket officer nearby where to find my platform, and he looked and said that it had left already, and I should take another train arriving at 2:54pm instead. It was 2:21pm, I had missed my train 3 minutes. Tired and a bit defeated, I walked up the escalator to the new platform, and waited until the Shinkansen came and boarded.
The Pokémon Center, Nintendo Store, and Capcom Store were all close to each other!
After the whole bullet train fiasco, I had about half an hour to decompress at our hotel room before heading back out to our first meeting with the KCG students and the first session of the Game Jam! After receving a great tour of their new building, we met with the students in a casual snack and pizza social, and I had to put my Japanese lessons to the test. Since many of the students didn’t really speak a lot of English, I tried my best to use my Japanese to conversate, and I think it went somewhat well! I was able to hold a few longer basic converstations, and any phrases I didn’t understand I was able to somewhat decipher through context clues. I met Shoma and Reo (both from my Game Jam team) as well as Oono, Kento, and Ryotaro. During the meetup, Shoma and Reo introduced me and the team to an old Japanese snack, deep fried sugar that was similar in texture to cotton candy, in the sense that it was very airy, but had a crunchy shell to it. It was very good, probably my favorite snack of the night! After food and socializing, we worked a bit in teams to set up projects, and then we all headed home at around 8pm. Some of the KCG students rode the bus with us to get dropped off at the train station, and I had a great converstation about Gundam with Kento!
Team and group pics!
Overall, it was a very eventful day, and culminated in a great experience! Now on to see what tomorrow holds for us!
Starting off strong with a yummy breakfast. I don’t ever eat breakfast in my daily schedule so having it built into our schedules during this trip was really nice and something that I appreciate lots!
Today we set out bright and early for a traditional zazen meditation session with a cool monk at a beautiful temple. I’m not exactly a religious person, but man do I love temples.
The architecture of traditional japanese temples is always so gorgeous, the lush greenery & gentle sounds of nature just instantly put me at ease. I felt so comfortable there.
During the first block of meditation (15 min), my right leg fell asleep about 5 minutes before the block was over, and I contemplated letting it fall asleep and not moving until the session was over but then I got insanely paranoid that I would permanently injure a nerve or something if I didn’t adjust my position, so I had to let go of my (self-perceived) perfect meditation posture.
I used to meditate often when I suffered from insomnia & heavier loads of stress, but I haven’t had the time lately and the session today helped spark my desire and motivation to meditate at home again. It was genuinely so peaceful and lovely….
The monk recommended us to experience the Whacking(tm) at least once, usually reserved for those who have trouble maintaining focus during sessions. I was hesitant at first since I thought I was doing well maintaining focus and keeping my mind clear, but upon the others’ recommendations, I asked for a whack during the second meditation block and I did not enjoy it as much as it was advertised.
When you’d like to request a whack, you’re meant to place your hands together in a praying motion, bow, and wait for the monk to then use his stick to whack both sides of your back (left and right), twice on each side. I was also informed by Toshi-san that other temples may do this unprompted if they catch the meditator asleep, so it was nice that this temple lets you request it!
After meditation, we headed to one of the locations we were at the previous day to witness and experience a traditional japanese tea ceremony (not full length). The hostess was kind and understanding, and taught us about just some of the nuances behind tea ceremony etiquette. When drinking from the bowl, you want the most decorative part of the bowl to face you, the person who will be holding the bowl, and you turn the bowl twice clockwise before drinking, so that your lips are not placed directly on the beauty of the bowl.
While I enjoy matcha, I am not great with bitter foods or drinks. But I offered myself to be the volunteer to drink the hostess’ dose of matcha due to my interest in the ceremony! Yes the matcha was bitter. I drank all of it out of respect and then proceeded to drink the dose of tea that I made myself shortly after. As someone who is extremely poor at downing any amount of liquid more than a cup (and as someone who is bad with bitter tastes), I think I had a real brave moment today.
We then headed to the Nishiki Market to grab some food, before I popped back to our hotel to rest for an hour or so. We were scheduled to go to Round1 for bowling at 6pm, so I headed back outside about 40 minutes prior to the meeting time.
Bowling happened. I believe some KCG students played with some of our students, but I had a very full team with Emma, Todd, Shannon and Kat. I forgot how awful I am with bowling, but they had a special vocaloid drinks menu so that was my coping mechanism for the night.
We headed out and arrived home at around 10pm, our feet feeling like lead from the past 2 days.
On the train to Kyoto, a strange space creature was birthed from a strange egg. I then bestowed the name of the one who will one day incite terror upon the universe, Jimmy. However, for now, Jimmy remains a weak being incapable of self reliance. For now, he hides within the world of my phone where I feed him food. I also used a special training technique called playing catch in order to prepare him for his future conquests.
While not impressive yet, Jimmy’s stats will soon greatly improve to become the strongest… hopefully.
Note: There are less photos today due to many locations restricting photography (I also left my phone at the hotel lmao)
The day began with a meditation at a temple led by a monk. 2 – 15 minute meditation sessions were held. I enjoyed the first 5 minutes before my legs started hurting. This was overall a pleasant experience to start the morning, however, I could have done without the second session.
After that, everyone else got up and left me behind. How embarrassing…for them. Freed from the clutches of the group I had my newfound freedom at last. No one could stop me from finding a new bus… and then I ran into Steve. Returning back to the bus was my only option.
The next stop was a temple where over 1,000 golden statues were held. It is said that you will be able to see yourself in at least one of them. I definitely saw myself in the small Mushu like dragon.
Next, we returned to the old streets of Tokyo where we walked around to see various smaller shrines and gardens. We circled back to participate in a tea ceremony where we made matcha green tea and learned the proper etiquette in a ceremony.
The group then made our way to Nishiki market where we had lunch. It was very crowded so some of us had lunch at Wendys. I got pesto pasta with shrimp and avocado along with both sets of Tokyo Revengers combo meals. On our way back to rest at the hotel, I also got the legendary Lawson’s socks which are rumored to me the most comfortable sock money can buy.
After a much needed rest, we went bowling at round 1 where I ordered special vocaloid themed drinks and dominated the competition.
There were also various arcade games. I gravitated toward the rhythm games where had we not had to get up early, would have stayed there all night.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow we go to Hiroshima.
Today was our trip to Hiroshima. Obviously it is a very sobering and educational experience but it was such an interesting day overall.
We started the day early with breakfast at 7am and being on the skinkansen around 8:30. The ride to Hiroshima was about a 2 hour ride on the bullet train. I spent the time confirming our kimono appointments for tomorrow.
Once we got off the train, we got some food. I got a cookies and cream cake and vanilla Frappuccino from Starbucks. After food we headed over to see the dome. The dome is a still standing building from before the A bomb fell. It was incredible to see, especially the before and after.
After that we walked around the Peace Memorial Park. There were many flowers and school children going on a trip to see Hiroshima. We also then learned about the legend of the paper cranes. There’s a statue representing a school girl that got leukemia from the bomb and how she made paper cranes to wish for her health. The story goes that she died before she could finish all the cranes to grant her wish ( you need 1001) but her classmates finished it for her. We saw a group of school children bow and say thank you to the statue in the park.
After that we headed towards the actual museum. I didn’t take many photos since this was a very personal experience and it felt wrong to really take photos of such a thing.
The museum itself was wonderfully put together. The story of the bombing was extremely well told and made me cry at one point. I think the most impactful thing for me was seeing the clothes of the children that died from the bomb and reading the stories of the people who came home covered in burns and radioactive energy. The destruction was everyone and was really emotional.
The whole museum was a very emotionally strong experience for me that I don’t think I could put into words all that well. It really is something you have to see for yourself.
After the museum we sat outside for a bit. Some school children ( like 8 or 10 years old) came up to us and said hello. I responded in Japanese and the kids literally jumped back in shock. It was so cute!
Afterwards we went on an adventure to find Hiroshima Castle. It was so hot outside and I was in jeans so I wasn’t doing that hot. We eventually made it to the adjoining shrine and relaxed there for a bit. It was pretty with the guardian there being koi fish.
After that we headed to dinner. We got okonomiyaki ( Japanese pizza but instead of crust it’s cabbage). I tried it but wasn’t a fan. The meat and mochi in it was good though.
Afterwards, a small group broke off to run to the Pokémon center! I was in that group haha. We took a taxi over to the center, ran up the stairs and got in. I got some cookies while everyone else shopped. The reason we rushed was because we had to meet back up with the rest of the group to make our train back to Kyoto. We had 20 minutes to meet up with everyone and we were 30 minutes out of the station. We literally speed walked back to the station and made it just in time! We got on our train and I took a little nap. From here we just got back to the hotel and got ready for bed.
See ya next time blog for our very special Kimono edition!
