Best Ramen I've had so far

I'm not going to bother to write a lot about this. It just IS the best ramen ever!!! It is soooooo tasty and cheap (600 yen) and the staff now recognise me haha. I took the "Kitakyushu boys on tour" to this place and they loved it. If you come to Kyoto I'll take you there and you can see how good it is for yourself.

Enjoy...

Not all shrines are child-friendly

Down the road from my dorm is a shrine that is anything but family friendly. Without any signs telling me what it was for, I can only deduce that it is a fertility shrine. It is slightly hidden in a forest but not more than 3 m from the road and it is in fact, right in front of somebody's house next to their drive way. Therefore I'm not sure if it is a private worshipping place? If it is not for worship and it is private, then the owner is just kinky!

Birthday party with new friends

It has been a few days since I last wrote something. A party isn't something I'd usually write about, but because there are photos of my new mates I thought I'd upload them anyways.

This really is an International House. From the top of my head I can recall people coming from Australia, USA, Bulgaria, UK, Sweden, Finland, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Spain and France. The Swedes and the Australians are in a majority. With 7 of us from each of these 2 countries. That's a lot of Swedes!!! How that happens, I have no idea. Out of so many Universities in Japan, 7 end up here. Strange, to say the least.

It is not good for my Japanese with so many foreigners living together but it is just so much fun that I wouldn't want to swap accomodation. These guys and gals are the best! I'm planning on joining a sports club here instead to make some friends from the land of the rising sun.

Gathering up on a hill overlooking Kyoto.

Junko - She doesn't live with us but loves partying (and drinking Swedish vodka and talking Swedish)
Half of the house partying
Aussies + French dude

Ootoya - Food!

Restaurant Ootoya!

This will be the first food review of a restaurant in Japan. Until now I have eaten the most delicious food, but considering most of it has been of the fast food or cafeteria type I've decided not to bring those up unless they are exceptionally tasty.

Restaurant 大戸屋, Ootoya , is located near the river Sanjo and the road of kuwaramachidori. It is on google maps if you search for Ootoya, kyoto.

The restaurant is small but the staff are friendly and the food is excellent. Ordering food is a piece of cake because they have a picture based menu, a picture based and English menu and from what I've seen, 2 staff members that speak good English. I have been 2 times and have been surprised at how busy the restaurant was but that must be a good sign I suppose? It is slightly noisy though.

The food is about 700 yen (100 SEK) for a meal, that includes meat and rice and miso soup and if you order soft drinks it is all you can drink. I have had the ton katsu (fried pork) and chicken katsu (fried chicken) and have enjoyed both meals.

Ton Katsu

Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Price:4/5

Overall: 4/5

Japanweirdness!

What the hell? lol, haha, wtf. omg and everything in between. Zina and I were in town looking to get a mobile phone (which is a story of epic proportions including 7 softbank stores, 6 hours, several failed attempts at communication and me becoming her guarantor and kind of guardian since she isn't 20 years old yet) and we stopped on the way to buy a drink because it was so hot.

The Drink

What we thought was just a melon flavoured fanta drink turned out to be something completely different. After opening the can and drinking 1/5th of it, all of a sudden no more liquid came out of the can. It felt like something was inside the can blocking the opening. I turned it upside down and very slowly goo dribbled out of the can onto the ground!

After this I had to carefully try and read the instructions on the side of the can. Apparently the can has to be shook before being opened and drunk to break the goo (aka jelly) into smaller pieces. We tried doing this by blocking the whole with our fingers. Not a good idea since I ended up being covered in sticky drink residue and gooey goo. The drink was tasty though, so for next time Ill be shaking it before drinking. I want it shaken, not stirred!

The Lake

About 5 minutes away from I-House 2 there is this little lake where it is possible to rent a boat for an hour for 900 yen. The sun was shining, it was 28C and a little breeze so Zina, Rosie and I decided to sit in the middle of the lake and have a drink.

The Lake

Out in the middle of the lake
(They had no life jackets to give us, so comments about this please =P)
Zina taking in the sites
Overlooking Kyoto from the hill next by our house

It is so beautiful out here in Kyoto, I really enjoy it here. It is city life, without actually living in the big city and it is quiet too but without the deadness feel of living out of town. Also, with all the hills and nature surrounding us it just too nice. 1 drawback though is of course all the creatures of the 100 legged type, the 4 legged type and the 8 legged type. Oh well, its something I can live with.

Yesterday I heard a scream coming from one of the girls room. Apparently there was a big spider in there. My curiosity got the better of me (I cant stand spiders at all) and I went in to help kill it. After moving the bed which that spider was hiding under, it ran across the wall and towards the main door. It was the biggest spider I have ever seen. A good 8-10cms in diameter. (It got killed before I could take a picture so you will just have to believe me).

So far in our rooms there has been lots of wildlife. Besides us, the students and our wild life ^^, there has been 1 centipede, 1 gecko and 1 spider all in the past 4 days. That's all that we have been able to see *shudders* haha

International House II - Welcome Party

I love I-House II. It beats any dorm that I have lived in so far (but maybe equals F4) hands down. I think it is a combination of the rooms, house layout, location, the manager and his wife and of course the other exchange students! Everyone gets along so easily and the parties are insane!

For the Welcome party the manger and his wife, the Moritas, cooked us Japanese food. Rice, curry, noodles, meat and gyouza (Chinese dumpling kind of things). These 2 are the nicest people and let us have parties as long as we are semi-quiet after 11 PM. They live here at I-House 2. But they do think that there is too much English being spoken and so they want to introduce a non-English and Swedish speaking day. There are 7 swedes here so it happens that all you can hear from the corridors is Swedish :|

The Moritas

Japanese Curry and rice - My favourite!

地震 jishin - Earthquake simulator!!!

The fire department came with a truck that simulated earthquakes to level 7 on the Richter scale. Can I say it was awesome? I know earthquakes aren't supposed to be fun but we had exactly that with this machine. So far there has been 1 earthquake of 3.7 on the scale since I've been here. Unfortunately I did not feel it. Maybe next time, I'm sure there will be more. Lets hope it isn't a big one though. Katie seems to be worried about getting one in Tokyo, see her blog here.

Induction to Ritsumeikan University

Welcoming speeches and the people who would talk to us about safety.

During our welcome ceremony that included speeches in Japanese and English, there was a group of old ladies that "taught" us how to carry our bags and purses properly while walking in town to avoid getting robbed. Even though Japan is one of the safest countries in the world they were adamant in telling us to hold on to our bags as tightly as possible. Also, if you have a bag in the basket of your bike you should cover it with a net so that a thief can't do a drive(ride)-by and steal things out of the basket. They taught us these things while doing sketches. It was pretty funny to see.

The Old Lady Gang with a bike skit

Yesterday a friend of mine left his wallet in his basket before going into the store. A person outside walked by and saw this wallet and then went into the store where we had parked outside of trying to find the owner. We got it back 10 minutes later, without even realising that it had been left outside. Japanese people are very very nice!

The Police department's judo sensei came and showed us some basic moves in case we were confronted with an evil doer. ^_^

During the welcome ceremony we got food. Free food :) Everyone had a great time. I tried some squid that was tastier than I had expected. Overall, I think we are 99 exchange students for this semester! Lots of 外人 gaijin (foreigners)

Mukade むかで Centipede attack!

So, I read the warning signs here at the dormitory like everybody else and thought nothing more of it. Today, a mukade, a poisonous centipede crawled in through someones window, went into the corridor and under someone else's bedroom door. These centipedes are no joke. The one that was caught and killed here was at least 7 cms long and disgusting!

I'm sure that everyone will have an extra look in their rooms and in the bed for these nasty creatures!!! I have already checked mine, haha. I've blocked my door to the hallway with an old towel, while others taped playing cards to the bottom of the door to stop them sneaking in!

They like warm and humid or cool and dark places to live. Therefore, a messy room with lots of hiding places is an ideal place for these creepy crawlies. From now on, my room is going to be 100% spotless. Not a single thing on the floor for these mukade to hide in or under.

The sign by the notice board.
Click to enlarge and read the text.
Read the "first aid" info and "disposal" section. These seem almost impossible to kill

A real mukade. Evil looking MoFo!!!
The one in our dormitory wasn't as colourful as this one.

For Mattias

Flush -> New water goes via the faucet -> You can wash your hands -> Then it refills the tank.

'本当に便利ですよ!
Really convenient!

Breakfast of Champions

Pfft, off to Uni early and no food at home. Had to boil an egg and put it on the 1 inch thick bread!!! Why is bread so thick here? And when you buy a loaf it only has 6 slices of bread. I just don't get it?! Can some one please explain it to me?

立命館大学 Ritsumeikan university

Ritsumeikan university has a campus!!! So very different from Cardiff university that is located in the city and that has no proper campus at all. It is fun to have lots of students all gathered together at the same spot. It gives a university a different atmosphere. The campus of Kinguasa is where I'll be studying and it has 3 different cafeterias. (Very important!!!) The food is really cheap, 350 ish Yen and you get a lots of food. I've really enjoyed walking about the campus and watching the students going about their own business. So much sport and activities that everyone seem so in to! On Monday I'm going to have to look into the Aikido club and maybe even the Tae Kwon Do club, even if it is not Japanese.

The Room

This is what my room looks like. It is slightly bigger than my room at Severn Point, Cardiff. The bed is bigger and I have much more closet space and a fridge. Also, the washbasin is massive. My neighbours are so cool. Making the most amazing friends! Absolutely loving it. カラオケに行こう！

Seen from the door, looking towards the balcony. I've always been lucky enough to have the bed with my left side by the wall, even here in Kyoto. It feels much better that way for some reason.

Big Bed!

Bamboo forest view, via the balcony!

More of my view. Not as fancy as a high rise building but it is still very nice. Quiet too for that matter.

Desk space + too much left over room. Need more books or something i think.

Closet space and frige.







Wash basin, next to my door.

Toilet with a faucet on top. Only ever seen these in Japan. Toostop water wastage by allowing you to wash your hands with the same water that then goes into the toilet tank?

A lesson learnt

I have now learnt a valuable lesson in communication. If you start a talking to someone in good sounding, grammatically correct Japanese they will automatically assume that you can speak fluent Japanese and will start talking back at insane speeds and complicated grammar.

I went into AU to get some information on prepaid and contract phones. I started off by stating that I'm a foreigner living here in japan for a year and that I am an exchange student at Ritsumeikan university and I am interested in buying a phone and that I had some simple questions about contracts and a specific phone. Furthermore I wanted some information written in English if they had any.

All i got from the guy was a long speech about how living in japan for 1 year was not a good option for a contract phone since it would be cheaper with a 2 year contract and then I lost track of what the salesman was saying. He carried on talking about the phones specific technology (I could pick that word out of the bombardment of Japanese thrown at me) but didn't understand anything else. I was then given information written in Japanese and he said thank you and goodbye. I still don't know if he was expecting a response from me but all i could say was that unfortunately I'm not here for 2 years so i have to think about it.

So unless you want to become like this guy on the left and go insane due to the frustration of not understanding people's explanations the lesson is this:

If you are on an intermediate level of Japanese and when speaking Japanese to a Japanese person ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS start off by saying "my Japanese is not good and please speak slowly to me and use easy words that I might understand". That, or ask 英語が話せますか。 Do you speak English?

Good luck everyone!

My good friend John has also learned a lesson this week, but it relates to kanji. Check it out here.

1 week in...

I've now officially been in Kyoto for 1 week. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it is like I'm living in a dream world. It is very surreal, but I'm loving it (play McDonald's theme song in your head). Everyday I notice something new that I didn't the first time I went past a place or a new kanji that I recognise that draws my attention.

My favourite one, being a student with no money, is the kanji for bargain or special deal. Cheaper food with an expiry date coming up in 2 days is fine! I'll be wolfing it down tonight anyway.

Yesterday while spending time at Ritsumeikan University I saw a couple of jump rope teams. These people were doing the most insane things ever though possible with a jump rope in 27 C sunny weather. I'm going to try and catch it on film next week. I'm in awe off their dedication to this. Apparently it is some sort of sports circle (team) at Ritsumeikan and they are here everyday of their summer break practicing to be ready once the semester starts again.

Also, I have now come to terms with my terrible japanese communcation skills. I can understand what people are asking most of the time but I can't make myself properly understood. There is just too much vocab and grammar that I have forgotten. The worst example was the other day when a group of us tried to eat at an all you can eat for 330 yen place (25 SEK). After telling the waiter that a person in the group was allergic to this and that and then asking which food was OK we start to order. Apparently we all had to choose from the same type of menu and only some drinks were included etc etc. All this went over our heads and after 20 minutes of trying in both Japanese and English, we had to walk out. It was so embarrassing, I'm still shaking my head at myself. However, we did go to an awesome restaurant after this. Review will be poster later =)

京都！！！ Kyoto!!!

A couple of days after arriving at my dormitory, International House II here in Kyoto I finally managed to wake up early enough to do some exploring of the area near by. My dormitry is a 45 minute from the main shopping district of Kyoto by bike. It is not centrally located but it is not too bad.

I'm loving Kyoto. It is so easy to get around. The city is very flat, and the roads are so smooth. What a difference to the potholed footpaths of the UK and hilly Borås. After going down the (only) hill from my dormitory to the shopping street I rode absentmindedly. All of a sudden I was right next to a small area of Kyoto that is full of old wooden buildings that have the feel as if they were built 50 years ago, but with the modern look of today's architecture. Only later did I find out it was called 嵐山,　Arashiyama. Apparently they have a monkey park(!) and the best time to go sightseeing there is fall when the leaves change colour and spring, for sakura season. There is also lots of small local restaurants, temples and gift shops here. Unfortunately I haven't had time to explore of all of Arashiyama yet, but I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities.

I want to go to the monkey park!!!

On the way to Arashiyama I saw a Panda =P













Might go and eat here and post a review later.

Arashiyama























































This is my bike parked on the corner ^_^ . It even has a basket and everything. Perfect for my shopping. Haha. But there are no gears and sometimes the breaks don't work. Oops









Small narrow streets, with lots of people and cars and BIKES of course







A statue of a Tanuki
A creature from Japanese folklore - Translated it means Raccoon Dog. Usually they are seen as mischievous and playful creatures.

This tanuki is drinking alcohol and smoking.





















Temple

京都に行こう！ Lets go to Kyoto

Night time flight from Dubai to Kyoto. 3am departure and 5pm arrival. Flight time is about 9.5 hours. Emirates has stars on the roof of the plane that give some light but otherwise it is mostly dark. Cool feature anyhow.





After getting the passport stamped and the Visa validated and getting through customs, this is what Kansai airport looked like.














The convenience store was the first stop after getting past customs. The MK Taxi (shuttle) to Kyoto and our dorms would take about 2 hours. We need some snacks.

Duncan had saved lots of coins from his previous trips to Japan since he couldn't exchange them. He paid the taxi driver 4500 Yen (£35) in small value coins.

Dubai and the Dubai Metro

After passing through customs we wanted to head down to the main parts of the city to look at Dubai. Most of all we wanted to see the Burj Al Arab, one of the most famous hotels in the world. It has a 7 star rating. Rooms start from 1000 USD a night and they won't let anyone walk in off the streets (which we personally found out). To get to this part of town we had to either take the bus or a taxi, but luckily the day that we arrived was the day that the new metro system was opened. Unluckily, we were not the only ones wanting to ride it on the first day and it was more congested than a rush hour train in Tokyo!

When buying tickets for the metro we saw a sign with the following rules. It was 3 times as long as this picture shows and the value on the left is the fine for breaking a certain rule. After seeing this sign we were very cautious about our water bottles that we carried since one of the rules was "no drinking allowed in prohibited places" but because we didn't know where a prohibited place was we just held onto the bottles.

100 United Arab Emirate dirhams is about 17 GBP.

This is the metro that is fully computer operated. At the time that we rode it, not all of the track was completed and only about 6 stations were open.

Dubai is HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!!!! Even though it was dark when we were there it was a good 40C with 80% + humidity and warm winds. 2 minutes of walking around and our shirts were drenched in sweat. To be honest I don't know how people can work outside at all in a place like that, let alone during the day carrying construction equipment etc. Grass won't grow at all so in Dubai they have water hoses laid out on the sand and plant grass to grow around the hoses.

The sand is always being blown in from the desert and it covers everything that stands still. When people park their cars they cover it with a big car shaped bag to protect it from the sand but also the sun I suppose. Wouldn't want the colour to fade now would you. Most of the cars in Dubai are white and have fully tinted windows to keep the sun away and try and cool the car. How they can see through the windows though is something I've been wondering. When we were aboard a bus with tinted windows all we could see was our own reflections.

This is what happens if you don't cover your car. This is what it looks like at home in Sweden with the snow is blowing around and lands on a car, but this is sand. It has to clog up the engine?

Have I forgotten to mention that in Dubai I'm a rich multimillionaire with my own business tower named after me? Nah, I'm sure I must have told you...

The best thing in Dubai is the AC bus stops. Open the door and step inside a fridge and cool down before walking again. However, it is not the best feeling stepping out of the bus stop into the street again =(Duncan "chillin" on the inside





The Burj Al Arab (the one that looks like a sail) and a neighbouring hotel.

It took us about 40 mins to walk here from the Hall of the Emirates, a large shopping mall. From here we felt that we didn't have time to walk back to the metro and catch it back to the airport so we tried to catch a hotel shuttle to the airport from the Burj Al Arab. To say the least, this didn't work and were stopped by security before getting anywhere close to the Burj Al Arab. Ooops. Hahaha.

Dubai is an amazing sight, but not much to do for those who don't have a lot of money. Food is cheap and so are the taxis. But if you are interested in finding local culture then that will be almost impossible. Everything that we saw is really western. In the shopping mall they have all the same chains that exist in the UK and USA and even Boots has a pharmacy located in the Hall of the Emirates.