Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Kyushu Cities: Kumamoto + Fukuoka


Kumamon from Kumamoto
Kumamoto and Fukuoka, the big cities of Kyushu! What adventure, what promise they hold! I had wanted to visit Kumamoto and Fukuoka since arriving in Miyazaki. I had heard that Miyazaki was a profoundly rural prefecture, and apparently, if you want some urban flare, Fukuoka City and Kumamoto City are the places to be.

Also, Kumamon, the Kumamoto mascot, is literally everywhere in Miyazaki. He's a black bear with two red cheeks and everyone goes crazy for him!
Hi, Mu and Ka from Miyazaki

However, I think that's a little strange because we have our own mascots, named Himuka. They’re three dogs dressed as a chicken, a hyuganatsu, and a palm tree, because Miyzaki has food, nature and fun. Totally reasonable. And way cuter than a bear! Though I suppose it's debatable...

Regardless, when I heard that the Miyazaki JETs were planning a trip to see sumo wrestling in Fukuoka, I signed up ASAP! The idea of seeing a sumo match appealed to my deep love of obscure sports, and it already lined up with my hopes of seeing Fukuoka, so it was a win win! When I realized Kumamoto was on the way as well, I decided to make a whole trip of it. 

So on Saturday, I headed out to visit my friend Elley, another JET, in Kumamoto. She has a great little apartment in the city, so we had the opportunity to chat, do some shopping and explore! 
We even got to go to a movie theatre and see Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar-- which to me was crazy because the closest cinema to my house in Kadogawa is about an hour and a half away. It felt so luxurious (I missed the movies!), and that particular movie was absolutely thrilling too. Go check it out if you get a moment!






The Kumamoto foliage was much brighter than the leaves in Kadogawa.





When Sunday rolled around, it was time to head to Fukuoka! We arrived in the city about two hours before I had to pick up my sumo ticket, so Elley and I wanted to do some sightseeing. Fukuoka is known for the amazing canals interspersed throughout the city, and apparently even little gondolas float along the water from time to time.



Ellen standing like a cool person in Fukuoka


I had heard about this place called Hakata Owl Cafe from other JETs who had gone before, so we stopped in for a visit. My other JET friend, Louise, met up with us there as well. 

It did not disappoint. For around $10 USD, we got coffee and to hold owls. My dreams came true.

 Owl-tside the owl cafe...

 Hedwig says hello!

 People holding owls!

 Ellen holding Riku-kun

 Louise petting the adorable Koko-chan

 Selfie with Riku-kun! He's not that into it.

 Here was my favorite owl, Taro-chan! I loved his tiny moustache!

 Taro-chan and I being besties.

Ellen was really interested in Taro-chan, and Taro-chan was really interested in Elley's arm.

After a nice owl coffee and several minutes trying to get decent pictures of me holding said owls, Louise and I realized we would be late for sumo if we didn’t head over right away, so we grabbed a taxi and made our way over to the sumo-plex.




Ian looking pensive in our box seats for high quality sumo viewing.

My paparazzi shot of a sumo right before his bout!
The sumo matches were actually fantastic. I think it might be my new favorite sport. We had all purchased box seats to check out the athletes-- let me tell you, it was worth it! I even started a little wager among my fellow JETs to guess who would win each round. The losers all had to buy the winner something from the conbini (which is Japanese for convenience store). I was really invested in trying to win, to the point where I was practically screaming at the athletes during every match! It was so exciting!




I didn’t take too many photos because I was honestly just enjoying myself so much, and I figured the photos probably wouldn’t be great anyway. Regardless, it was an awesome time! I'd love to go back next year.


Especially if I could run into this dude again! SUMO POWER!

Saturday, December 6, 2014

My First Japanese Thanksgiving


Oh the holidays-- the joy, the laughter, the family togetherness. What a wonderful time to wear a sweater and surround yourself with good people who you care about!

Obviously, living abroad changes the “family” part of things a little bit. However, the American JETs weren’t going to give up our delectable holiday without a warm-hearted fight! 

So the Northern Miyazaki American JETs (plus one Canadian) were still able to have a good time, eat delicious things and enjoy warm fuzzy thankfulness feelings. Amelia, our hostess, even procured a turkey for everyone to share! It was a lovely evening and I ate until I wanted to lay down and sleep for ten thousand years.





I set out to create my first ever baked dessert in Japan and it turned out quite successful actually. I bought some simple ingredients and made apple crumble. Paired with vanilla ice cream and slightly burnt around the edges, it still turned out to be quite delicious. I was very happy with the results. It was truly caramel-y decadence.


Thanksgiving in Japan was so nice and I was able to call up my family during their annual Thanksgiving brunch by waking up at 6am! Maybe I wasn’t as coherent as I wish I could have been but it was still nice to see everyone’s beautiful faces. 

I think living abroad is good for self-awareness. When I’m living in California, I always take everything for granted. I don’t pay attention to the little things that make life so rich and full (i.e. a hug from my parents or a nice conversation over coffee with my oldest friends). 

When you are taken out of your comfort zone and relocated, the things about your hometown just stand out in a different way. The things that I really miss about Thanksgiving aren’t the foods (which are GREAT all the same) but spending time with my friends and family back home.

Okay, maybe the foods too. There are these really great celery stick things my mom always makes...

(Our Game of Thrones Thanksgiving photo ;)


Friday, November 14, 2014

In the Time of Love and Onsen: Fun in Yufuin


The weekend before last, one of my good English teacher friends and I decided to take a mini-trip to one of Miyazaki's neighboring prefectures, Oita, to explore, eat and generally check things out. There was tons to see and do, but by far, my favorite spot that we stopped by was Yufuin.

A tiny town about two and a half hours from Kadogawa, Yufuin is absolutely adorable. It's known all over Japan for it's amazing outdoor onsen, which are public hot spring baths. I was surprised to learn however that it also has an amazingly cool little downtown area. It reminded me of a Japanese Nevada City, CA. Yufuin is petite, but not lacking in character, chock full of hip little shops and natural beauty. Just make sure to get into town early, as most of the public onsen close at 3pm!

First stop in Yufuin was "Shoya no Yakata" onsen, located on a scenic hillside about ten minutes outside of Yufuin. The drive up was breath-taking, and we could even see the steam from the natural hot spring rising up from the site. The actual baths themselves are incredible. Since Shoya no Yakata sports a natural hot spring, we were basically bathing on the mountainside, in warm, milky blue water, surrounded by trees. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I really tried to relish in the moment.







Next it was lunchtime. Julia and I visited Siesta, a organic/vegan cafe in downtown Yufuin, which serves vegan versions of traditional Japanese set meals, along with a nice little cup of coffee and a small dessert. Not to mention it was actually the cutest cafe I've ever seen.







After that, it was time for onsen #2, which was called Musoen. Another outdoor wonderland, we found ourselves with an view overlooking Yufuin town, the mountains, and the big open skies. The resort area was really beautiful as well. I can't get over just how scenic everything was. I think every four minutes I was just screaming, "Wow! I've died and gone to heaven!"






After that, we had a final stroll around downtown Yufuin before it was time to pack it in and head home. We had a lot of nice chats with friendly Oita folks and tried many, many free samples.









We were treated to a lovely Yufuin sunset as we drove our two and a half hour drive back to Miyazaki. I truly couldn't recommend Yufuin highly enough. Honestly, I wouldn't mind going back. There are still so many treats to try and so many onsen to relax in! Thanks for an amazing day Yufuin!


If you're planning on visiting Yufuin anytime soon, I used the Japan travel guide for information on places to visit and it was incredibly helpful.

Thanks for reading!