New Year's Preparations, or Rather A Lazy Afternoon Reading Manga (12/30/12)

Hey oh y’all,

While Sumi was out shopping, I decided to take the day off and read some manga. I would be remiss if I did not talk about manga at least once during my Japan trip.

Why am I here?

Here is a bit of overview: I generally prefer shonen (boys) manga – this is the stereotypical stuff with explosions, fights, panels of angry faces, (the occasional uber cutesy pretty girl), and whatnot. You may know this as the Dragonball/Naruto/One Piece/etc. stuff. You can say Shonen Jump and just about everyone here will know what you’re talking about (whether or not you want to admit you know it is up to you).

Ok...I guess this is better reading.

But it is not the only type of manga: just like Americans have the “Twilight” series and its various spin-offs, there is popular girly girl manga, shojo. And it’s pretty much summed up as “Twilight” in various settings, usually a Japanese high school. Not really my cup of tea (but I will plug Ouran High School Host Club since, while it is a shojo anime, it’s satirical and funny).

And Sumi (despite what she says about otaku culture) likes manga/anime too. She likes Shirokuma Café (an animal based manga that stars a panda-kun).

Yay! Shirokuma Café!

If I pick up some more manga sometime, I will continue in the future (oh and I’ll be taking a class on Japanese pop culture so stay tuned!).

-DC

Shhh...Sumi actually likes video games.

New Year's Preparations (12/30/12)

Hi everybody,

It’s almost New Year’s here in Japan. And that means lots of preparation for the new year! Let's make the new year a great beginning!

First it we have to make mochi (sweet rice cake)!

Then we have to go shopping for a big dinner. One of the key parts of New Year’s dinner is tai (sea bream?). It’s a traditional fish that you serve at celebration times or “omedetai" (special, celebratory).

Kaimono shiyou (let's go shopping!)!

Tomorrow, New Year’s Eve, we will stay up and listen for the ringing in of the New Year! Best wishes to everyone!

Anyone want a fish for a gift?

-Sumi

Goodbye Tokyo (12/29/12)

Hi everybody,

As we take the Shinkansen down to Wakayama, we would like to thank all of our friends in Tokyo who helped make our trip great! Special shout-outs to Hayato Mori for hosting us and to Mariko Kitada for planning a super fun outing to Hakone! But thank you to everyone who we saw and who showed us around Tokyo.

We had a lot of fun! We hope to see you again soon! Arigatou gozaimasu! Jaa mata!

-Sumi

Shinkansen to Wakyama (12/29/12)

Hey oh y'all,

Today’s shout out goes to David Lam because today we took the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train). He likes the word しんかんせん。

It’s a lot like the Taiwan High Speed Rail. Similar look, similar speed, similar convenience…even the seats are similar (with tray tables that have a map of the train on them). It’s cool, I guess…The more interesting feature is probably the view of Mt. Fuji…that is if you are awake to see it…high speed train seats are more comfortable than plane seats so it was a nice nap I suppose…

Anyways, we came down from Tokyo to Osaka in about 2.5 hours, and then took another 1-hour train into Wakayama where we will spend the New Year’s Holiday!

I hope to experience (and show y’all) some of the New Year’s traditions here. For Japan, New Year’s is probably the biggest holiday, so it’s very exciting. Stay tuned!

All aboard the Shinkansen! Complete w/ travel bentou (lunchbox) and pocari!

-DC

Camping in Hakone (12/28/12)

 Hi everybody,

While David is geeking out over his newfound passion for nature photography, I will tell you about our fun trip to Hakone to conclude our Tokyo trip.

Yay! Yakisoba!

We took a 2.5 hour bus from Tokyo to Hakone.

Once we got there, we started a lunch barbeque. We grilled meat, vegetables, and yakisoba (grilled noodles).

Then it started to snow! So pretty!

Then we went inside and played a bunch of games like uno, hide and seek, and jenga!

Then we made curry! Yay curry!

It was kind of cold, but that’s ok. I had a lot of fun!

This morning was really pretty as well! It was sunny and clear, and the view of the lake was all shiny! We had hot chocolate at this cute cafe which was right next to the lake.

This afternoon we will say goodbye to Tokyo and take the bullet train down to Wakayama for New Year’s! See you soon!

-Sumi

Can we eat now?

Tanoshii! (Fun times!)

Samui ne? (It's cold, neh?)

Cute lakeside café!