MOUNTAIN, finally!!

Friday, January 24

 Ugh so I had almost this whole post written in my phone and then I lost all of it! So here it goes again...

Guess what?? I got up my courage and tried one of the little fish this morning!

(See? There it is on my plate!)

It was silver inside and really gritty. I wasn't too fond if it. 

And Yuko was helping Miyabi so I didn't know if I was eating it right or how much of it I was supposed to eat...

(Yay, I ate it!)

We also had bunny apple, and for those of you who are like wtf every time I say that, here's a picture!

(See the ears like pop up off the apple? Yuko has some serious cutting skills!)

We also had this really good miso soup with pickled daikon in it!

Things I didn't like in America, but now have all the time and enjoy:

- tea

- miso soup

- radishes (well only pickled daikon when it's cooked. It's soo good cooked!)

So it was supposed to get up to 52 degrees today, so I decided to break out my new tights! I used google to convert my height and discovered I'm 167 cm, so I was worried the tights would be too small, but I guess 2 cm doesn't matter because they fit perfectly!

(They're soooo cute, ne?)

Ha but when I got to my bike, I discovered the seat was frozen!

Yeah, that was a fun ride to the station. When I got there, my hands were numb and my nose was running. In Japan, though, it's okay because if you ever need a tissue, chances are there's someone down road passing out tissues!

I got to experience running for a train for the first time today! I left the bike area at 7:42 and realized I could catch the 7:47 rapid train if I ran. So I did! I tripped when I stubbed my toe on this piece of floor that was sticking up, but I caught myself like a pro and didn't fall! And I made it literally a second before the train pulled in. :)

Btw for those who are interested, karaoke was so cheap for us the other day because we got a student discount. If you're just visiting it'll be a bit more expensive.

Also, we were lucky and got a room with a disco ball. Taylor said every other time they've gone, they've gotten one of the crappier rooms without one. She wants to try and get the room with the stage (she heard there's one) next time!

So I got to school 40 minutes early because I took the early train. Rana was there already, doing homework, so I sat with her. I didn't have any to do so I attempted to read my Japanese manga lol.

Before class, Esteban was talking to some guys about going to an onsen with a Japanese friend of his. I said I wanted to go to! They said I could, so now I have to find some girls to go too. I'm so excited!!

Class was meh. The quiz was super easy. I taught Mutsukawa sensei about how Denny's in America is different from the Denny's in Japan lol. I also didn't bring my book because I didn't want to lug it around when Rana and I went shopping later. It turned out not to matter, because I just read along with the guy next to me.

After class, during the 15 min break between classes, I rushed over to the computer lab to RSVP to this International New Year's Party on Sunday Minju told me about. 

Today's food trucks. Kebabs and coffee. They change every day. Yesterday there was a cool one with bread in the shape of a cone with ice cream on top!

Then I had project class. We talked about what we wanted to do for our project that  we have to present in Japanese. Fu dropped the class, so now it's just me and one other girl lol. I'm going to do my project on matsuri (Japanese festivals), and talk about a different one for each season of the year. I'm really excited!

After class, I met Rana in the CJS lobby. Matsui san gave me a map to the post office that accepts traveler's checks!

Then Rana and I headed out for lunch and shopping. 

Aaand we walked over to Mountain!! Which is super close to Nanzan btw!

I finally got to go! (I've been wanting to go since I discovered its existence while I was still in America last year). It was so exciting!!

We were standing out front taking pictures of the sign when these cute Japanese guys started talking to us. We told them we wanted to get the ichigo pasta (strawberry pasta) and they said that's what they had just had and that it was delicious and showed us pictures they'd taken of it. I asked them about the matcha (green tea) pasta too.

When we got in and were seated, we decided to order one ichigo pasta and one matcha pasta!

They were good, but tasted kind of weird haha. We both liked the ichigo pasta better. 

They were both kind of too sweet, though, and we agreed we wouldn't eat them again.

After "lunch", we walked back to Yagoto Nisseki station and took the subway to Kamimaeza. 

(Cute owl crosswalk button)

There, we walked around the roofed in mall in Osu. 

(Awesome dragon on the side of the building!)

I was so excited because I found the kitty tights I've been wanting ever since I saw them on Instagram!

(They're all so cute! It was hard not to buy them all haha)

All the ones I saw first were over 330 yen, so I'm happy I waited to buy them till we saw them at the 300 yen store.

(The 300 yen store where I bought them. Totally my kind of store ;) )

(Same store)

(There were others with bows too but I didn't like those as much)

Then we just walked around and looked in stores that perked out interest.

(Lawlz wtf... And I just noticed above it that thing says "capcake" rofl)

(Weird unzippable bra/bikini tops we saw)

(Giant alpacas for Bridget - I would've bought you one but they were $20 and my suitcase is only so big lol)

(I kind of really wanted this shirt)

(Engriiiiishhh)

(Saw another SanKyuu mart!)

Then we decided to head to Sakae (we wanted to ride the Ferris wheel at Sunshine Sakae), so we walked through the Osu Kannon temple, which was under construction).

(Beautiful paper cranes! Iro iro iro (Japanese for various colors lol))

(So many birds! Rana was afraid they'd poop on us haha)

It was really warm while we were walking, so much so that we took off our coats for a while. Man it's so temperate here in Japan. I saw one of my friends post that it was 0 degrees in Blacksburg, so I feel really lucky haha.

At one point we crossed the street via this walking overpass. I noticed that like the staircases near my host family's place, there's a ramp up the middle for wheelchairs and bikes. Japan is so cute!

We weren't completely sure how to get to Sunshine Sakae, since I'd only ever gone from Sakae station, so I had the idea to ask these two policemen we saw.

They were so nice and helpful and whipped out this laptop thing to show us a map of the area!

After we parted from them, we found Sunshine Sakae with no problem!

Also, we saw this cute window display on the way:

So we went right up to ride the Ferris wheel (called the Sky Boat)!

It was so fun! Our little capsule thing was all clear glass so we could see all over the city and we went so high up! There was a little tv in there that let us select what music we wanted to listen to during the ride as well!

Ha, we took a bunch of selfies

It did a raffle!

Then the tv started doing a raffle where we had to press the button in our capsule thing to try to get all 7s in a row to win a prize. At first we got 787, but then we got to try for another chance and we got it. Then on the second chance, we got 777!

The lady saw me taking a picture of this as we got back down and she got our prize for us!

(1000 yen coupon for use in the stores inside Sunshine Sakae!)

I thought maybe it was rigged so everyone always wins, but with a prize like this, I'm not so sure!

So Rana and I looked around Sunshine Sakae, but couldn't find anything we wanted. So Rana told me to keep the coupon for when I come back another time. She's so nice!!

Then Rana decided to head home because she had blisters from waking so much. I decided to look around a bit in Oasis 21.

Finally, a full shot!

First I went up to the pool on the roof to take some shots:

Back inside Oasis 21, I found the Studio Ghibli store, but everything was so expensive! It was cool to look around, though! 

I really liked this Calcifer frying pan :)

This was at a clothing store:

(That shirt. I really hope it means what I think it means lol)

And then I headed home!

At home, I taught Miyabi how to play Crazy 8s! I killed her haha. She taught me how to play a game called Pigtail, which she won both times.

Then she showed me this really involved magic trick, where I picked a card and she did all this shuffling. I was so sure she was going to end up with the wrong card in the end, but it was the card I'd picked! I have no idea how she did it!! It was so awesome!

Then we had dinner. It was really good! We had these Chinese dumplings that I really like and udon noodles. I also ate a lot of these salmon wrapped in seaweed things we've been having recently. I like them because they taste like Point Lookout haha.

And we had bunny apples for dessert!

After dinner, Miyabi re-taught me how to play Speed (it's been so long since I've played it!). I kept beating her over and over. We played so many times! I played her mom too and her mom was really fast, but we ended up tying!

Good night, America!!