Today, I went to Yokohama! It was a tour arranged by SISEC (Sophia International Student Exchange Council), an international circle in Sophia University. Around 125 people showed up for this event! There were so many people that, at first, I wondered, "Is it really going to be okay?" because usually, with large groups, things are very unorganized and a lot of time is wasted trying to gather everyone's attention. However, things worked out really well; I was really surprised.
We were divided into seven or eight groups of nine, and then each explored the city on our own. To break the ice, we played a few games together: charades and the like. After, each group went off on their own. My group first went to Chukagai, the Chinatown of Japan. There were soooo many restaurants and food shops/stands, cloth stores, and various souvenir shops. In comparison to the Chinatown in New York, this one is relatively small, but it is surely a thousand times cleaner and actually even more crowded.
A panda store! EVERYTHING inside was panda-related.
We walked around a bit and then went to eat lunch at a restaurant called, "梅蘭," (bairan). The food there was okay. Actually, as I flipped through the menu, everything was wayyyyy expensive--definitely two to three times as expensive as New York Chinese food. A simple order of dim sum soup dumplings here was ¥840 (about $9), whereas in Flushing, the most it could possibly be is ~$3.50. As for quality and taste, definitely no match for Flushing Chinese food.
If I didn't already mention, almost all restaurants in Japan have a 3D display of their menu.
Pan-fried dumplings
Handmade steamed dumplings
After lunch, we walked around some more and went to try the street food. There were a lot of stands selling roasted chestnuts, sesame balls, baozi, mantou, etc... I saw an ingredient shop that sold laoganma! (a delicious hot sauce). I have yet to find Chinese black vinegar, though. :(
Panda meat buns! That's what they're called, so I wonder is it panda meat buns or panda meat buns?
Yamashita Park The view of Tokyo Bay was amazing. They had these tiny trees planted around the park.
You can see Yokohama Bay Bridge in the background!
Can you see the ferris wheel? That's from Minato Mirai 21, an area of redeveloped docks.
That rectangular building at the left is the Landmark Tower, the third tallest structure in Japan.
They had these rickshaws outside the park, which reminded me of the ones pulled by horses in Central Park. These were, of course manually cycled by people. The good thing is that they provide blankets for the passengers!
There is still so much of Yokohama left to see. This time, I only went to Chinatown and Yamashita Park. I still have yet to go to Minato Mirai 21, the Foreigner's Cemetery, and the Sankei-en Garden.
A bit more about prepaid cellphones: I went with my friend to buy a prepaid cellphone the other day, so I can tell you guys a little of what I found out. We went to the Sofmap store in Akihabara, to where all the cellphone companies were and asked the employees there. Initially, someone told us that cellphone companies have stopped dealing with prepaid phones since over a year ago, with no explanation. He told us that the best bet was to get a rental a the airport. However, I found this hard to believe since another one of our dorm mates just purchased a prepaid phone the other day. .____. Anyway, so later, a guy at one of the companies (I think it was willcom or softbank) came up to us and said they could do it. The cheapest plan there was had a ¥3000 fee, plus some more for the actual phone. The total cost ended up to be about ¥5000. So what you need to bring with you is your passport and your residence card. The paperwork was long, so be prepared to sit for an hour~. Also, if you don't really know any Japanese, please find someone to go with you! otherwise, you'll be in there forever, since no one speaks English.
I went indoor climbing today with a couple of friends. It was my first time, so I didn't know what to expect or what to bring. There were two places we found: one was outside Kawaguchi Station and the other place was in Akihabara. We chose the latter since two of us were beginners and it was a smaller place with a shorter wall. The place had three floors. The first floor was mainly supplies and the front desk; the other half had two walls with easy climbs. The second floor was mixed; there were all different levels of difficulty. Some of them seemed near impossible, since the "wall" was literally parallel to the ground, but there was one kid who was climbing it as if gravity didn't affect him. The final floor was the newest to the place. There was an outer space theme, so the design was really nice.
I'm a pretty athletic person, so I really enjoyed it. Next time I go, I will remember to cut my nails! I was afraid of having a nail accident, so it was holding me back. If anyone decides to go, though, be warned that your hands are going to hurt. The rocks are pretty rough (feels like a nail filer) to ensure a firm grip, so it definitely makes your skin all rough and dry. Also, as the difficulty increases, there is more stress on your upper body and hands, so you will get calluses! I wish there were gloves, but there weren't any in the store.
After three hours of climbing, my hands were kind of swollen. When I washed my hands afterwards, I almost cried. Whether you use hot water or cold water, it still burns. And soap doesn't help, either. Everything that comes into contact with it hurts, even wind. And it will hurt for the next few hours; I was barely able to hold my camera.
On our way back home, we had dinner out. We went to a kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant around Nishikawa-guchi Station. Kaitenzushi is a restaurant where sushi is placed on a rotating conveyor belt. The tables and seats are arranged around this belt and people can just take whatever they like from the conveyor. There is usually someone standing inside the belt, continuously making fresh sushi, so you can also order your food by telling him. The price of each dish is separated by different colored or designed plates. Basically, every time you finish a plate, you put it to the side and when you are finished eating, the check is settled by counting how many of each plate you ate.
More on the commuter's pass. As I am getting more familiar with the transportation system here, I realize that since route A and B both have the same start and end destinations, it doesn't really matter which one you take, since there is no record of where you transfer. Therefore, as long as you enter at Nishigawaguchi and exit at Yotsuya, it will be free. The only thing is the stops in between; if you are planning to go out a lot and want to save some money, you can consider the stops in between, figure out which stations you use often, and choose the route which passes those places.
Today, I went to school for day 2 of freshman welcome week. In terms of signing up for clubs and circles, it was basically the same as yesterday. Since I went at an earlier time today, though, I was able to catch a glimpse of the outside performances by a different club.
Track & Field
All guys!
After, I decided to go to Harajuku, and walk along Omotesando because I heard it was a good shopping area. And it sure was. There were so many stores, tons of brand names, from Chanel to Dior, Burberry, Missoni, Louis Vuitton, and Shu Uemura! which was sadly pulled entirely out of the states a few years ago.
My favoriteeee!
A "bazaar" Temples in the middle of skyscrapers are the norm in Tokyo.
<3
We ate at a small restaurant hidden within the ward. The food was pretty standard. The only thing I didn't like about it was the indoor smoking.
煮魚定食 Fish and minced radish with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, hot rice, tofu, cabbage miso soup, pickled pickles.
A cool staircase.. I'm wondering if it's the fire escape?
I would love to gaze out of those windows.
こどもの城 The Children's Castle
We walked all the way to Shibuya and decided to enter Shibuya 109, a huge shopping mall for girls. The store stood eight floors tall, with two lower levels. There were sooooo many shops, mostly girly styles, with lace and bow ties, which I'm all for, but honestly, after a while, I felt the mall was just one giant store; I really couldn't tell the difference between the shops, since the styles were all the same!
But no cameras allowed in the store. :(
I wanted to show and share so much.
The only thing I managed to get on camera: cell phone straps and key chains.
Note that these are two to three times bigger than an iPhone!
I actually managed to go through the entire store, all eight floors. After that, I went to Tokyu Department store. I liked that place much more; the environment was more relaxed (no heavy music or young girls bustling around in 7-inch platforms), and it was more spacious. Below this department store is Tokyu Food Show, which is exactly as the name proclaims: a spot for gourmet foods, ranging from sweets to deli goods to wine, eat in, take-out, etc. A lot of the place did not allow cameras, so I could only take a limited amount of pictures.
A roll cake tower. You can actually buy the "kit" and build it yourself.
Seeing this just makes me happy. :)
^. <
in the making..
pork shumai - first time I've seen shumai made of pork.
meat bun
some type of shumai/dumpling - everything is homemade!
sooo many kebabs, and all of them looked so good...
mochiiiii
And if you don't know already, I love freshly baked bread.
