Stars Shining Bright Above You

Hi all!
Sorry about the lengthy wait. The internet was fixed as of Thursday night, but by the time it was fixed, I had gotten busy.
So, by the time I had the time to sit down and write, it was Monday. 
Well, I decided, may as well wait until Wednesday to upload. 

However, not too much has been going on, so nothing has really been missed.
Happy belated Thanksgiving to all of my American readers, however! I could not celebrate on that Thursday, but spent the night with a friend of mine and her roommate, American friends of mine from my university, on Sunday night, and together we had dinner and watched a movie together. Japan has a lack of turkey, so instead we had a baked pumpkin dish, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, devilled eggs, and turnip greens. We ate late, however, and by the time the movie that we watched after dinner had ended, I could have caught a train back to Machida, but from there, I would have missed my last train back to the dormitory. So, I stayed overnight instead, and left that morning. I wasn't too worried about it, since I don't have classes on Mondays. 

I had work on Saturday, and I will go to work again on Tuesday, and I have been keeping busy with class quite well. I did Japanese calligraphy today in my kanji class. I did the same in the same class the semester previous, but this time around, I felt as though I had improved since the last time. Perhaps my hands are just more used to how Japanese writing feels. Still not great, but hey. I didn't get ink all over my hands again this time.
No real plans for this weekend as of yet, we'll see what happens. I may go to my friend's house again on Sunday, but whether or not that will happen I'm not quite sure yet.

Food-wise, I've been trying to watch what I eat, and I've been continuing to watch what has been considered "in season" in grocery stores. It was yams a few weeks ago, and now it's things like potatoes and some of the other Japanese traditional fruits. Good ways to save money is to pay attention to slight tampering discounts, items in season, and general sales.  I haven't tried anything new out lately, but I did go to the Thai restaurant that my friend works at with another friend of mine today. I felt like Thai food, but didn't want to ask her to make it for me, so I just decided to surprise her at work today. I've also been working on my improvisation skills in regard to cooking, and I noticed that I had the makings for spaghetti. I thought I was hungry last night, so I made up some sauce with the intent of eating it, but then I found that I was just thirsty, so I've still got the sauce sitting in my refrigerator waiting the day that I need something quick to eat. I like pasta. Eat and drink domestically, if you can. Imported things are expensive, so when you can, just buy it locally, or at least nationally.

Group cooking also helps, remember. I'm having takoyaki with some friends tomorrow night, for example. 
My Thai friend often cooks for me, and in return, I will occasionally cook for her. 
Learning how to cook, if you don't know how, or learning to make foods that you enjoy eating during your stay, will save you a lot of money as well. I've started, just recently, making my own sushi: 

One of the most beautiful pieces of sushi that I've ever seen.

I didn't make it, but it was inspiration.

A dish of food that my Thai friend made for me.

It was also delicious.

My sushi. Not nearly as pretty as it could have been, but it tasted right, at least, and that's all I wanted.

Money-saving wise, if you're interesting in doing shopping and the like, sales of summer and fall clothes were on sale just recently. Japan's clothes may be expensive, but with proper timing, you can find clothes at decent prices. Of course, there's also the recycle/thrift shops to look into, as well. Today, I went shopping at one of these stores to see about accommodating a new fashion interest of mine [not that I really keep up with fashion, but certain trends and things do occasionally catch my interest], and found myself a neat button-up shirt for about 700 yen, or about 7.50$~8.00$ in US currency. Granted, you can find brand-new shirts at that price in the US, but in Japan, that's... Pretty good, all things considered. For whatever reason, clothes are painfully expensive unless you know when and where to look. Even in the thrift stores, they have the clothes divided by brand-name and non-brand, and the brand names, though remarkably cheaper than their usual prices, are often within the 2,500~7,000 yen range, depending on what it is and it's condition. In contrast, those without brand can be anywhere from 200~1,500 yen, more or less. 

If you can get there by foot, walk. Mass transit is moderate, but if you can walk it, do so. Especially if it's a nice day. Might save you a few dollars or so, and those dollars can add up. Taxis are impossible, from what I've gathered, with something of a five-minute drive costing upwards of roughly $20 dollars, if I'm not mistaken.

I've also noticed that besides just sales, a lot of products in Japan are very seasonal. Vending machines, once it is cold, has a section of drinks that are heated, but once it is warm, they are all served cold. There are flavours of liquor, flavours of regular drinks, foods, sweets, and even chip/crisp flavours. 

Christmas stuff started appearing right after Halloween. I waited until Thanksgiving, though, but I went on to the 100 yen store and bought myself a Christmas tree, and decorations. Decorate it right, and it doesn't look quite as cheap as the items generally do.
Still looks pretty cheap, but hey. I'm a college student with no money.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.

Winter is hard on me, though, so I've gotten a bit of a case of the winter blues [and my skin feels dry and disgusting], so I've been a person of few words as of late. I'm fine, though. Nothing I'm not used to. 
Just thought I should give an explanation to the shortness of my post. I'll try to make it longer next time, okay? 
Sorry about that.

But, we'll see how things go.
Talk to you all next week~

-RD

Another Postponement

Sorry about this, all.

My internet has been down for the past few days, and the only reason I have internet at all right now is because I'm borrowing it from a friend, and I don't want to be online too long for that.

Hopefully this will be remedied by tomorrow. If not, I will have the post up as soon as possible.

Until then!

Absurd and beautifully hilarious dialogue from one of the greatest games ever.

-RD 

I'm Your Only Friend, I'm Not Your Only Friend, but I'm a Little Glowing Friend...

Mount Fuji is incredible.
I just thought I'd go ahead and get that off my chest. 

Shinjuku and Shin-Ookuba were fun on Saturday, don't get me wrong [I bought a new scarf huzzah!], but my trip on Sunday trumped it several times over, just because of the sheer tradition of it all.
But, I'll go over Saturday, as well. I did wind up spending a bit of money--it's Tokyo, after all. It's relatively fortunate that the exchange rate has gone back up, at least for the time being. I'd drawn out enough money to cover my expenses for Saturday and Sunday while the exchange rate was at 80 yen to the dollar, as opposed to the 77 it had dropped to over the summer. 

Oh dear. I just got some frustrating news and can't remember what I was writing about. Let's see...

Oh!
Right. I met my friend in Shin-Okubo, a part of Shinjuku at about noon on Saturday. We proceeded to wander around the area's Korean town, picking up lunch along the way. I forgot my camera, so I'm sorry--no pictures of Saturday. Wasn't much to take pictures of, though--didn't do anything really brand-new and exciting. I did enjoy Korea Town quite a bit, though. I like Korean culture, too, you see, so the food and experience there was lovely. Afterwards, though, we walked to Shinjuku and went into an arcade. We played around for a while before giving up and wandering around, window shopping and having tea and coffee and the like.
And pasta for dinner, which was incredibly delicious. 

So, that's Saturday in a nutshell. Nothing too different from anything I've had the opportunity of before. 

But Sunday, oh my. Sunday.
Granted, I had to get up at 6:10 AM in order to leave on time, but it was so worth it. 
I met up with the group going who also lived in the dormitory at 6:30 AM, and we went to the convenient store to buy breakfast and the like. I also bought a spare set of batteries, which, as it turned out, was a wise investment. Afterwards, we all hopped on the train and were off. Where we stopped to transfer trains was completely out in the boondocks, and it was quaint and lovely.

This was the adorable little station that we walked to from the first one.

It was so far out in the country that I couldn't even use the train card that we use in the city.

I had to buy an actual ticket.

It was incredibly charming. Happy I had the money on me.

Some of the scenery.

The station.

Station name.

And I looked up.

And lo and behold, Fuji was visible from the clouds. 

It was cloudy and overcast, and the forecast said that it would start to rain, so I thought ahead and packed my umbrella. After we got on to the next train, we were on our way to Gotemba, one of the closer cities to Mt Fuji. And along the train, the mountain became more and more apparent. 

Oh, look! 

I see you!

Just a bridge. Thought it was interesting enough.

Bridge and mountains.

Mountains are the best.

There you are!

Finally, after a while, we got to Gotemba, where we were to meet our Folklore teacher and some volunteers to drive us around. 
Firstly, after waiting for the teacher and volunteers to get the rental vans, we headed for the head of all the Asama shrines in the area. 

The entry gate.

Some stairs on the inside. It led off into a trail that I explored later on.

The main entryway.

Some of the leaves and how they changed.

The actual shrine.

With a priest!

The water source, I believe, for where they get the water to purify before praying.

Could be mistaken.

For all I know, it could be just a tiny river.

But the water was incredibly clean.

So. I don't know.

Either way, it was lovely.

The view from the path that I showed the stairs of a few pictures back.

Leaving, I took pictures of the trees turning.

This was absolutely breathtaking in real life.

At the shrine, I drew a fortune that was mediocre at best. Said it was the lowest of good luck, but I thing it was bad luck. It told me that my business was going to struggle and that I should work really hard at school or I won't succeed. It also told me, very straightforward and demandingly, to "give up" on love. For those learning or who know Japanese, it told me, very straightforwardly, 「あきらめなさい」. I laughed. That fortune was humourous in a rather painful way, though, so I just went ahead and hung it up for the shrine-god to take back. Hopefully I'll keep the luck from my last fortune. That one was much better.

After the shrine, it was to the halfway point at Mt Fuji. The road to get up there is curved to the point of absolute ridiculousness, and I can't tell if it's supposed to be helpful or a hindrance to those driving it. Granted, if the breaks jammed, you wouldn't have very far to roll down before you hit a tree and were able to stop, but if you're even just a little bit sleepy, those curves would become absurdly difficult. It was also very cold up there, of course. 

First picture I took on Mt Fuji.

Oh my.

"On Mt Fuji." 

I was on Mt Fuji.

Don't give up on your dreams, kids.

They can come true if you work hard enough.

The halfway marker. 

At first, it was too cloudy to see anything, so we just went inside of the tourist trap and walked around, being treated to some warm broth of some kind and souvenirs. I bought some things for people back home, because there are still a few people on my list of whom I have not gotten gifts for as of yet. 

Vending machine items were two times as expensive as they are back on lower ground, and apparently only get more expensive from there.

$3.50 for a soda. Wow.

The restaurant area in the tourist-trap. It was a really charming place.

I... Yeah.

I just thought it was cool. I really like clocks.

The tourist trap.

We got in the car, not expecting to see the peak of the mountain, but then someone looked up, and, sure enough.

Just. Just enjoy that.

I mean, really.

Wow.

We took our photos and headed down (it was cold!), ears popping the entire way. From there, we headed to a village in Oshino that had water that ran from Mount Fuji into an underwater cavern. The water was really clear, and the area around it was slightly traditionally-styled for past-recreation purposes. It was quite charming. 

The leaves changing again.

Wasn't quite at it's peak yet, but what had changed already was still stunning.

Fish!

I love fish.

A little watermill and all of that for recreational purposes.

I think they made things from corn or something.

Buckwheat?

I don't know. Something.

Look at how clear it is!

Another picture of the building.

Corn!

And people!

A bridge that must have been there primarily for aesthetic purposes, because you had to go into the store to get to the little area to the left.

I have no idea why.

Perhaps to make you purchase things.

Corn!

Just corn this time, no people!

See? I mean... What is that bridge even there for?

I just thought this was charming.

Grass.

Something that was on sale but I was too cheap to buy.

So I took a picture instead..? 

I can imagine how awesome it must taste.

Imagine it with me, would you? I bet it's fabulous.

You could see all the way down to the bottom.

Just a little further down, you could see someone's camera that they had dropped.

Eight meters deep.

A mochi filled with bean paste. Present from our teacher.

... I'd wear it.

We left Oshino, and then we got lunch. A traditional meal for the area, something called "houtou." A noodle soup with vegetables and such in it. It was fantastic, of course. But, we already know that I like food. 

Yummy.

From there, it was off to Narusawa Ice Cave, which, I would show you the Wikipedia link to, but they do not have an entry for it for whatever reason. Basically, though, it's an ice cave that has ice in it year-round, as can be expected from its name, I suppose. A long time ago, back when there was still a Shogunate and before refrigerators, people gathered the ice and took it down to where the Shoguns were and gave it to them. A sign of being wealthy and all of that jazz--you could afford ice.
It was really interesting. I only got a couple of photos and I haven't had time to fix the ones I took from the inside, but here are the ones with enough light to see: 

Entrance, where you buy your ticket, and the tourist trap of a gift shop.

What used to happen.

They'd get the eyes, take it to Edo (old Tokyo), and give it to those who could afford it.

Exit/entry into the cave. It had started raining by this point, so there weren't so many people there.

An interesting map.

And then, last, but certainly not least, and perfect with the rain and sunset, Aokigahara, an area only second to the Golden Gate Bridge in the US for suicide rates, and full of superstition and mystery.

Potentially because of the high radon levels in the area, there are next to no animals in the area we went into and where the suicides most often happen [I heard one crow way off in the distance], and the radon also potentially drives people to feeling even more depressed then they likely were.

I took some pictures, but I haven't yet quite mustered up the courage to look at the pictures that I took inside of the forest, just because of the gloomy atmosphere it already had. If I'd gone during a bright, warm summer day, I'd probably look at them all day long, but.

I'm a little silly sometimes.

Anyway, I did take some pictures that I was willing to look at, and here you have them:

The one picture I managed to edit that came from inside the forest before I weirded myself out.

I don't mean to be superstitious, I really don't.

I'm sure it's lovely during a warm summer day.

The clouds were smoking!

Wow, that was a lot of pictures. From that point, we returned to Gotemba and then back to Fuchinobe, where I came home and slept.

I haven't really done too much worth mentioning since then. Talked to people, visited friends, been having a few problems with school-related stuff. My grades and such are fine, I'm just having a difficult time with regards to next semester. No worries, though. I'll figure it out.

Anyway, I'd best sign off for now, though--sorry to cut it short. It's getting late and I've still got things to do.

So, I'll update you all next week!

Take care, dears.

-RD