Today we had some free time where we were able to go explore Kyoto independently from a big group. I had learned about a Neon Genesis Evangelion exhibit at the Toei Studio Park in Kyoto. As a big Evangelion fan I was so excited and this was genuinely an experience I was so grateful to have gotten the chance to have.
The exhibit featured a life-sized model of Eva Unit-01 that you could take pictures with, go on top of, and even go on the hand. I got pictures with my favorite characters 😀 and even stood on the model’s hand. They incorporated a lot of elements from the series and it was such a fun experience.
Before leaving the park, we had a quick lunch break and I ordered the Misato Katsuragi curry ramen 🙂
We ended the night with a kickoff for the RIT x KCG game jam where we got to officially meet our teammates and start planning ideas. I am looking forward to working with everyone in the days to come.
Today we traveled from Kyoto to Hiroshima. I was looking forward to visiting Hiroshima because of everything I have learned about it, and was not at all disappointed. The scenery was beautiful with moving memorials and stunning gardens. We saw the Hiroshima dome which was a building left standing after the bombing. The dome was located on the side of a river near the blast center, and it was so surreal to stand in the very place of such a huge historical event.
The above picture matches almost perfectly one of the pictures from right after the bombings, and it brought tears to my eyes seeing such a place in real life.
After walking around the memorial garden and the dome we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum where I was able to learn a lot about the events of the atomic bombing, the health impact, and the rebuilding of the city. What was most moving were the survivor stories and witness testimonies. In the Peace Memorial Park, we passed a man who told us he was the son of one of the oldest survivors of the bombings, and was passing along information about his testimony and peace advocation.
After visiting the memorial sites, we also traveled to a shinto shrine in Hiroshima where we walked around briefly and saw some cute koi fish. It was a relaxing way to decompress after the powerful yet emotional morning.
Finally, to end the day, we enjoyed a traditional Hiroshima dish called okonomiyaki for dinner. The okonomiyaki was delicious and the restaurant staff were very kind and welcoming. Afterward we took the bullet train back to Kyoto and crashed for the night in preparation for our free time the following day.
Today was game jam day! We started by opening up Unreal and downloaded the repo our team made beforehand. The game our team decided to make was a 2.5D puzzle game in which two players must work together to solve puzzles. The characters and environment is 3D while the backgrounds are 2D. The narrative follows 2 space explorers from different galaxies that find themselves stranded on the same deserted planet. They must work together using the various strengths that they acquired from their different cultural backgrounds in order to find their way home.
For the jam I was the designated team manager and sound engineer/composer. Seeing as how I don’t know how to make sound effects nor music, creative commons was my best friend. I also made the Trello for our team to keep track of tasks necessary for completion. The main 11 hrs of the day for me were spent finding sound assets, editing then in Audacity, asking the team members if they liked them, then repeating. The japanese students on our team seemed to really like the background music I found for the game, and I was pretty happy with the sound effects I found for each character. My goal was to differentiate the players in sound, so the technical based character had more futuristic sounding effects compared to the spiritual character. It wasn’t my job to impliment the sounds into Unreal, but I did it anyway try and learn the program a little bit, but I undid my changes before pushing the repo.
During the jam we had to communicate via both google translate and DEEPL, which was a bit challenging but not as much of an issue as I had initially thought. One of our group members spoke pretty good english, which made a huge difference, but one of them was also remote since he hurt his leg. The challenge of working together to complete this game in such a short amount of time was the real highlight of the experience. It was a bit jank and unorganized, but thats part of the fun I think. We had bento boxes for lunch/dinner which were super yummy! After working diligently for 11 straight hours and reaching a point where we thought we could wrap up in the morning, it was time to head home for the night. We bussed the KCG students over to a train station and then headed back to our hotel, where all of us hung out in one of our hotel rooms and played Jackbox games on the switch, which was really fun. After hanging with everybody for a few hours I played some Zelda and went to bed. Overall a really fun and unique experience! Excited to finish up the game tomorrow and present it to our special guests :).
Since I slightly passed away from our tiring journey yesterday, I slept in today while my roomie Megan and a few others went out for an early morning kimono dress-up session. I went to breakfast at around 8am and came back and napped until around 1pm.
I headed out with Jess to Kyoto station to grab some new clothes from uniqlo & order from mister donut for the first time! We also managed to squeeze in lunch before rushing back to the hotel to head out again at 4pm to check out the KCG campus.
Here’s what Jess & I ordered wrow! I embarrassingly went into the wrong storefront after getting the menus mixed up and we apologized while going to the store to the left of the menu instead….
Pretend the image is properly oriented I can’t believe wordpress doesn’t have this option included in the base post editor
The food was so yummy…..katsu perfectly cooked & juicy, didn’t feel oily or greasy at all. I could drink a gallon of their miso soup too…
Baby’s first time at a mister donut!!! It’s been 2 days and I’ve yet to eat what I ordered but I’m sure its delicious.
Arrived at KCG’s graduate campus for a quick tour!
We then headed to KCG’s main campus to meet the students that would be game jamming with us! Shoutout to nametag guy ?
It was nerve wracking to meet our teammates for the first time, but I was excited to practice my japanese! One of our team members ended up not hanging out with us as often due to being nervous, but I have faith in him for our actual game jam. They brought tons of snacks for us to try, and we also had pizza-la delivery! I’ve heard of the chain name before but I was not expecting the pizza to taste so…sweet? Many of us ended up sharing similar sentiments after the dinner meet.
We shared a very crowded bus with the KCG students on our way back to the hotel & also saw Kyoto Tower!
hey folks. i had a bad day. i’d rather not write about it but i don’t want to get in trouble or something.
i will first go over my thoughts on the hiroshima museum. i was already pretty well-educated on this event but of course it was a lot to take in. seeing the mundane, everyday possessions of people and then reading the graphic way their family members found them never got easier. war is probably one of my biggest fears and while i believe the existence of the museum is a necessity, this did make it hard to get out of my head for the rest of the day.
the next thing i remember doing was going to another shrine, but i was so dead tired from all of the walking over the past few days that i didn’t see much. i’m sure it was a lovely place but all i really remember was the koi in the moat.
[these fish were so cool. we threw ants from the wall surrounding the pond and they actually ate them.]
everyone went to the main building but i hung back to sit down for a bit. i looked up at the trees. had some empty thoughts.
[this is your sign to listen to entomongaku by chypho.]
everyone seemed to be in a tough spot so we pretty much went straight to dinner at the special okonomiyaki place. mine was very good but i wish i didn’t ask for pork, it didn’t add much. this wasn’t my first time eating this and every time i just kind of fail to understand the hype. like, this is a food. it’s fine. it’s not like it tastes bad, but it’s never an experience that inspires a repeat from me. i’m never thinking “man i would love an okonomiyaki right now.” but that’s ok. i think it’s good to have some foods that are only meant to be tried once.
[this tasted a lot like the okonomiyaki at my favorite japanese restaurant back at home. i’ve actually been learning how authentic that food is through this trip, it’s one-to-one with all of my favorites.]
anyway after that i lost my actual irreplaceable train pass and had a really sudden panic attack. steve handled it well but i hate that everyone knows what i look like when i cry now! really makes you just want to go in a room and never come out! haha. anyway bye :2
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.
On the first day, Maddy and I went to Shibuya. We saw the famous crossing and explored the area. We went to the Mandarake in Shibuya and other stores, such as the Pokemon Center, the official Nintendo Store, and the Mugiwara Store known for its One Piece merchandise.
More importantly, for breakfast, I went to 7-11 and got a melon Fanta and a tuna and mayonnaise rice ball. It was a very good start to the day. The melon Fanta was very refreshing and sweet drink, and the rice ball had an umami flavor that paired well with the drink. The rice ball was also incredibly easy to eat and was almost criminally convenient.
For lunch, I ate pork oil noodles with a side of rice. We were able to order our food using a screen, so there weren’t any issues ordering our food. The noodles were savory and filling, so I wasn’t able to finish my side of rice. Still, the pairing fit well together because the rice helped balance out the strong flavor of the noodles.
Pork oil noodles with a side of rice
Second Day: Harajuku
The next day, we headed out to Harajuku. We did a lot of walking around, checking out shops, and looking at the amazing outfits people in the area were wearing.
For breakfast, we stopped by 7-11 again. I picked out a ham and cucumber sandwich, steamed bread with egg, and a yuzu and lemon soda. The cucumbers on the sandwich made eating it feel more refreshing to eat in the warm morning air, and the ham added the necessary flavor. The yuzu and lemon soda was very tangy and unlike any soda I’ve ever had in the U.S. Lastly, the steamed bread with egg was sweet, light, and fluffy; a perfect way to finish off breakfast.
Pork ham and cucumber sandwich steamed bread with egg, and yuzu and lemon soda
After walking around for a couple of hours before the stores opened, Maddy and I wanted to sit down somewhere so we didn’t burn ourselves out. So I got Maddy to go into McDonald’s because an enticing ad depicted a delicious-looking peach drink. The ad worked because that’s what we both got (plus hashbrowns). The hashbrowns were typical McDonald’s hashbrowns: yummy and salty. The peach drink was lightly sweet with a strong peach flavor, and there were peach chunks on the bottom that added a refreshing feel to the sugary drink.
McDonald’s peach drink with a hashbrown
For lunch, I got udon with spicy cod roe and a side of rice. Thankfully, I was able to eat everything this time around. The strong umami flavor of the spicy cod roe was nicely balanced out by the rice. Sadly, although good, it was not spicy as I was expecting it to be. The egg yolks made the dish more savory, and all the toppings added more texture and umami flavor to the dish.
Udon with spicy cod roe and a side of rice
Third Day: Shimokitazawa and Shinjuku
On our third day, we went to From Software headquarters to bask in excellence and pray some of their game design skills to impart to us for just being in their presence. After getting a glimpse of a Sanrio-themed train, we went thrifting at Shimokitazawa. Afterward, we went to Shinjuku on a whim and experienced the lively nightlife there.
More importantly, the first meal of the day, which was in Shimokitazawa, was an omurice dish with demiglazed beef that came with some broth and a small salad. The salad had a tangy dressing that paired well with the lettuce which was a good way to start off the meal. The beef made the omurice incredibly savory, and combining it with the ketchip-covered rice helped to lessen the strong savoriness.
Omurice with demiglazed beef
For dinner in Shinjuku, I had fried rice and pork dumplings. The fried rice had a very subtle flavor, but was filling and delicious. The pork dumplings were very juicy and paired well with a good dipping of soy sauce.
Fried ricePork dumplings
Day 4: Meeting Up with the Class
On our last early day, we traveled over to Shinigawa to meet up with everyone else. After struggling with our heavy suitcases and miscommunication about which hotel we were in, Maddy and I decided to visit The National Art Center (mainly because John Wick 4 took place there).
For breakfast, I had some discounted goodies for 7-11. The first thing I ate was a chocolate-coated donut. It was sweet and crunchy, but it was a little bland. For the price, I would be willing to buy it again. The second batch of goodies I had were honeyberry and cream cheese-filled rice cakes. Although the flavor was wonderful, I did not enjoy the texture of the cream cheese. However, for the price, I cannot complain.
Chocolate coated donut and rice cakes filled with honeyberry and cream cheese
For lunch, I had soba noodles with shrimp tempura. It was amazing. No qualms at all. There were seasonings readily available, so I added some to add a little more flavor. I didn’t believe the dish could get any better, but the seasoning made it reach new heights. I may also be biased though because I was incredibly hungry and tired, and food always tastes better when hungry and tired.
Soba noodles with shrimp tempura
After meeting up with the rest of the crew, we all got dinner together at a food court near the Shinigawa Prince Hotel, which is the hotel we were staying at for the night. I got takoyaki with spicy cod roe. The spicy cod roe was also not spicy this time around, and there was nothing to balance out the strong umami flavor of the cod roe. The takoyaki itself was delicious and I highly recommend it, but everything together was not as good as the spicy cod roe with udon and a side of rice I had a few days ago.
Takoyaki with spicy cod roe
After this, Maddy, Vincent, Brody and I went on a little night adventure around Shinigawa, had a meeting about Magic Makers, and then head to bed. The official trip begins!
I thought that today’s blog post would be super chill all the way through — we’re never that lucky, right? (Or unlucky, in my opinion!)
Today we took the Shinkansen to Hiroshima, the site of the first nuclear bomb dropped on Japan in the final days of WWII. While I was looking forward to a better look into the city’s history, I certainly didn’t think that I would be as affected emotionally as I was by this trip. After brunch, we first stopped at the A-bomb Dome, which is a building that was close to the hypocenter of the nuclear explosion that remained partially intact, miraculously. There was a man standing outside who was sharing information about his mother, who at 105 is currently the oldest survivor of the Hiroshima bomb alive today. He told us the story of how his mother developed bladder cancer twice due to the radiation caused by the blast, but that she made a full recovery and is still alive and healthy today. This was my first bitter taste of the overwhelming impact of this event.
Next, we headed to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, a museum close to the A-bomb Dome that houses many artifacts and personal accounts of how citizens were affected by the Hiroshima bombing. While I wasn’t prepared for this visit to be a particularly joyful one, I also didn’t think that I would find myself in tears twice while walking through the museum. Many pieces of children’s clothing that they were wearing when the blast occurred, as well as personal letters sent from parents to children and vice versa before and after the bombing detailing the devastation caused by the event were extremely difficult for me to read; as much as we are taught about the nuclear bombings in Japan and how much destruction they caused, reading from and listening to the accounts of children orphaned or severely physically damaged by the nuclear explosion makes everything feel a bit more real and all the more horrific.
To cool off after a pretty emotionally stifling experience, we decided to visit a nearby castle that also housed a shrine. We weren’t able to enter the castle itself due to the crowds, but we were able to walk through the gates and visit the shrine. The castle and the surrounding walls and buildings were incredibly beautiful (though not what you might have thought of when i said ‘castle’), and there was a river/moat with some koi fish and turtles in it that were very fun to look at! I personally didn’t pick up any mementos from this shrine, but there were some very cute carp figurines that held a fortune in their mouth that you could open, sort of like a more preservable (more expensive) omikuji!
For dinner, we headed to a local restaurant for some okonomiyaki, which was sort of like a noodle / egg / sauced up pancake that also included cabbage (and onions? i think?) that you could get a bunch of other toppings / fillings with. I only got pork added to mine, but Fabian and Skylar added seafood to theirs and said it was pretty good! Overall I liked it, but I didn’t like how the noodles on the edge were still somewhat raw and crunchy.
The original plan for post-dinner was to head back to the Shinkansen station and shop in that area for an hour and a half until we could jump on a train. I, of course, wasn’t happy with knowing that we had the opportunity to visit another Pokemon Center (yes, there is one in Hiroshima) and didn’t take it, so me and 7 others (Vincent, Brody, Esther, Chloe, Megan, Skylar, and Liam) decided to take taxis to the SOGO shopping center and press our luck. I had learned earlier that day that a TCG promotion had begun yesterday, which was why we were unable to get into the Pokemon Center in Kyoto yesterday, so I was worried that we would meet the same fate here. Thankfully, we made it to the Pokemon Center with plenty of time to spare and NO LINE!! So worth it!
The only problem with making this detour was that now we had to make it back to the train station with almost no time to spare. We wanted to take another taxi, but we realized that it would likely take too long, and finding the subway was a complete nightmare in the basement of Hiroshima. That left us with one option: to walk (or, more accurately, aggressively speed walk) for 30 minutes to make it to the station and avoid missing our train. And we did! And my legs were on fire. We technically made it there 2 minutes late, but that’s only because we made a wrong turn when trying to get into the station itself, which I think is pretty passable given that we were originally going to be 5 minutes late by Google Maps’ calculations.
Personally, it was 100% worth it. There ended up being a ticket issue last minute anyways, so we could have spared a couple of extra minutes, but I’m very proud of myself for taking the risk and making the trip a little bit more interesting (and expensive). The train rides back home were pretty uneventful, and I’m ready to just crash into my bed and wake up early tomorrow morning for another super busy day!
Another early morning today, heading towards a temple for some mediation! As a nice change of pace from the packed schedule of the previous day, we began the day with 2 Zazen mediation sessions. A monk taught us the practice of Zazen mediation, which involves sitting upright cross legged and in a focused stance. By counting to 10 repeatedly, we are able to meditate and clear our minds of troubling thoughts. During the first session, my legs fell painfully asleep so I was a bit distracted. However, for the second session I adjusted my seating position and found a way to sit comfortably and actually mediate. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and a very relaxing way to start the day.
After meditation, we headed back the the Kiyomizu temple area for a tea ceremony. While the other group participated in the ceremony, we explored the area a bit further and got a stunning view of a pagoda-style buddhist temple.
Then, it was our turn for tea! During the ceremony we learned how to make traditional matcha tea and the steps of conducting the ceremony, and we even got to taste the tea and a Japanese sweet. Another relaxing and enlightening activity!
Finally, we ended the day with some delicious food at Nishiki market before resting and then going bowling with some people from KCG. While I definitely wasn’t the best at bowling, I also wasn’t the worst and by the last game I had improved a lot!
