Kobe: Ikuta Shrine

It is winter break right now and many other international students have already gone home or went off to other neighboring Asian countries such as South Korea, Taiwan or Hong Kong. I’m one of the few who chose to remind in Japan to check out even more of the country. Except I haven’t been doing much besides lazying around. I’ve been running around everywhere almost seven days a week since coming to Japan and during the semester that I guess it feels nice to do absolutely nothing for awhile. Well, I didn’t want to waste TOO much time so off I went to another city that I have been meaning to check out for awhile: Kobe.

Food in Japan 4

It’s that time again. Various things to discover and try here in the land of the rising sun. It was nabe (鍋, clay pot) week at the school cafeteria awhile back and a different nabe dish was featured everyday. Here’s my sukiyaki set.

Kadoma: A Walk in the Neighborhood

A slower paced post for once to show you a bit of the neighborhood I live in. I currently live with my host family in Kadoma, Osaka. It is one of the quieter and peaceful city that is somewhat “far out there” (some of the Japanese students haven’t even heard of this city) but thanks to Japan’s excellent public transportation service, I can still conveniently get around to the main cities easily.

Tokyu Hands

Tokyu Hands is a giant everything-store found all over Japan especially in major cities. The place is a heaven for all things craft related like pens, pencils, stationery, paint, art supplies, and tools. As well as… just about anything else really. The biggest one in Osaka seems to be in Shinsaibashi where I went to get more pencils. You should definitely check out one of these stores if you ever come across one in Japan. You can find all sorts of neat and unusual items here.

Kobe Luminarie 2012

The Kobe Luminarie light festival is not exactly a Christmas related illumination event. The lights are a memorial to the Hanshin earthquake in 1995 which claimed over 6000 lives and devastated Kobe. A tragic event that was but Kobe has managed to rebuilt itself and standing strong now.

Osaka: Christmas Lights in Umeda

Continuing from the previous post. Starting from Yodoyabashi station again, we will now venture toward Umeda to check out more Christmas lighting displays.

Osaka: Hikari Renaissance 2012

It is Christmas season and Japan is in the holiday spirits right now. What that means is that most major commercial districts in the cities will have prominent light festivities dazzling everyone walking out and about at night (more so than all the neon lights, signs and billboards everywhere). I live closest to Osaka city so let’s take a walk through that :D

Tokyo: The Hub

Last event in my Tokyo trip: kickin’ it during Happy Hour with ASM and GaiGun, fellow gunpla bloggers and comrades, at a British pub in Akiba.

Tokyo: Toyota Auto Salon Amlux

Another car post. What is an Amlux? I have no idea but this building houses a few show floors of Toyota’s current car models, a rental space, and a car rental. Basically, a giant Toyota car dealer with some cool things for people to do and see.

Tokyo: Quick Stop at Shibuya

I didn’t have any plans to tour Shibuya but stopped by anyway just to check out the famous crosswalk outside Shibuya station’s Hachiko exit. Didn’t really do anything except checked out the area outside the station since it was raining and I was lugging all my stuff around.

Kyoto: Kiyomizudera

It is autumn in Japan and the tree leaves are turning into a beautiful array of red, orange and yellow. It’s just beautiful! What better way to enjoy the season than to go to a temple with a bunch of friends and enjoy being surrounded by nature? This time it’s Kiyomizudera 清水寺 in Kyoto.

Tokyo: Spoon Type-One Honda Shop

Here’s one for the JDM enthusiasts. Especially if you are into Honda. Spoon Sports is one of the premier tuner companies (the other being Mugen) for Honda and their performance parts are highly sought after. Type-One is a Honda tuning shop opened by Spoon Sports founder, Ichishima Tatsuru and as such, the place is full of track toys that most Honda enthusiasts can only dream and drool about. Me being one of them ^^;. I’ve known about this shop for years but never imagined I would actually be able to visit this place in person…

Kansai Gaidai: InFes 2012

Hopping through time again; now let’s jump back to the weekend of November 2nd. Schools in Japan love throwing festivals and Kansai Gaidai is no different even though it is a university. Every year, the school will host the “International Festival” (InFes) by the KGU students (both local and international) that showcase international cultures to the locals and anyone who decides to come. For all the years that I have been in school, this festival was… impressive and amazing.

Tokyo: Shinjuku Part 2

The next morning in Shinjuku. I was hoping to get some good shots of the city but it was raining TToTT.

Tokyo: Shinjuku

I didn’t really do much in Shinjuku besides walking around and sightseeing so I can’t really say much about this place other than it was busy… just like the rest of Tokyo. I should’ve done my homework before coming here since all my destinations were decided on the go ^^;. I was also traveling alone at this time as well so exploring the night life wasn’t all that compelling.