UWAAAH!!!~
Has it really been OVER 1 (O.N.E.!) month since my last travel entry???

I'm really sorry about that, but most of you know why!
I'm still working on my new blog project and it's finally going into a good direction and I'm slowly getting there (still lots of work involved from now on, though!)
Also, in less than 2 weeks (HOMG!) I'm off to Germany!
Anyways, doing all that coding, changing/improving my LJ design seems like a piece of cake now (but I'm too lazy and still quite content with the layout anways XD)...

Enough of my blabbering let's get started, there's a lot to show and explain, so get ready!~

Bitchu Takahashi (Okayama) (April 3rd 2011):

( From Okayama to Takahashi: Raikyuji Temple and Hina Matsuri ExhibitionCollapse )



And everything is so colorful!

( Bitchu Matsuyama Castle: the highest castle above sea level in Japan!Collapse )



As you can see, the main tower isn't really big at all.

( Read more...Collapse )

I hope you enjoyed this post.
Next up: Tsuyama (and then back to Okayama because I suck! )
I don't know when I'll be able to write the next travel post. I'm pretty sure that I won't have time before I leave for Germany where I'll stay for 2 weeks, so you might have to wait another month, but after that I'll be properly back, I swear! ;o; .....

I couldn't even finish this entry in one day! That's how busy I am.
Thanks for reading and being patient!

Hullo!

Finally another travel entry. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

Takamatsu and Yashima (April 1st 2011):

( Let"s start with Takamatsu Castle!~Collapse )



( Next: Ritsurin Garden!~Collapse )



Bamboo forest!!!! :3333
And you also could walk inside some of those houses as they're all small museums. It's the year of the rabbit and it's truly the cutest year out there, ne?! ^-^

( Off to Yashima!Collapse )

Next up: Kurashiki
Stay tuned and thanks for being patient readers!
See you next time!~

Hello!

I hope everybody is alright.
I'm back from my short Osaka trip and it was SO REFRESHING AND RELAXING!!! The best thing I could have done! I'm so glad I went!
I enjoyed 2 stage plays with Ikuta Toma (I'll write in detail about those in a separate entry soon!). I met kanefunnn and we had a lot of fun, eating yummie food and talking a lot!
In those two days I was completely cut off of any news and I almost completely forgot what happened. Life in Osaka as well, went on as normal, it was great!

I left early in the morning on Thursday and arrived in Osaka around noon time. I had a quick lunch sitting in front of Osakajou Hall and then I went off to watch the stage play which took over 3 hours! Then I spent the rest of the day with kanefunnn
In my hotel (super tired) I quickly checked out options for the next day because the other stage play wouldn't start before 7pm, enough time for some sightseeing. The "problem" was that I've already been to pretty much everything in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. I wanted to go to Amanohashidate (again!), but as I only had half a day, that would have been too short. In the end I decided to go to Uji in Kyoto (famous for its green tea ) and it was great!!
I took some photos in Osaka as well as in Uji to show you how normal life in the rest of Japan is! I hope that calms a few people down, though, things seem to have calmed down anyways?!
Enjoy!

Osaka (March 17th 2011) + Uji (March 18th 2011):

( Osaka! Long time no see!!Collapse )



( Read more...Collapse )



( Uji City in Kyoto!~Collapse )

Well, as you can see I've completely calmed down for now.
This trip was great! Things seem to have calmed down in general. I think and I hope they'll get the other reactors under control soon. They even found some people alive in the disaster zone. That's so great! ;o;
I think it's too early to say things are safe, but I stopped worrying for now and it feels good!
So many people I know left the country in the last few days, some were forced to by their companies or Embassies, it seems. (though you always can reject! )
I won't leave this country unless it's really necessary. I would have left Tokyo if I lived there and moved further to the Southwest of Japan as some people did. That's still cheaper and less drastic than buying an expensive plane ticket.
Funny thing is that some people who told me that I'm panicking to much have left the country already while I'm still here! XD
Anyways, hope everybody is doing fine and thanks so much for caring so much!!! ^_____^ You guys are GREAT!!!!

Hullo!~

We're slowly approaching the end of my winter vacation. Only 2 more days including today's entry. *sob*
However, those 2 days include my personal highlights, so I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did.
As especially today's day was a highlight there are WAY TOO MANY PHOTOS. According to this poll the majority of my readers prefers not splitted up entries and ave ONE day in ONE entry.
WARNING: Extremely image heavy entry ahead!!~ You might need some time to scroll and read through all of it!


Nagano (January 6th 2011):

( Zenkoji TempleCollapse )



( Snow Monkeys here I cooooooooooome!!! ~~~~~~Collapse )



( + 23094820398420394 more XDCollapse )



AND FINALLY WE'RE FINISHED!!! I think that was the longest travel entry EVER!!!!
Hope you enjoyed it although you probably had to scroll like crazy!
Coming up next: Matsumoto and Suwa (aka 2 castles!!)
Thanks for reading!

Hullo~
I hope you all enjoy your Sunday!

I left Shirakawago (Gifu Prefecture) by bus and went to Kanazawa (Ishikawa Prefecture). I ate yummie dinner and went to bed early.
I wasn't really lucky in Kanazawa as the weather was quite horrible, so the photos aren't that good this time.
Anyways here we go!~

Kanazawa - Day 1 (January 4th 2011):

( Oh, rainy daa~ys!~Collapse )



( The Castle Hunter is back!!Collapse )



Back outside. I really love the shape of those two trees in front of the castle. Perfect!!

( Read more...Collapse )

Not really good photos this time due to the weather and all, but I hope you still enjoyed it a bit at least.
Maybe you understand now why I personally didn't really enjoy Kanazawa that much and why it will never be in my top 10 list (^-^') ...
Next up: half a day in Kanazawa and half a day in Toyama (yay yet another castle!! )

Thanks for reading.
Bye~buu

Let's straight go to the next travel entry!
I left Tokyo via highway bus. It took almost 6h to get to Takayama. Once we entered Nagano Prefecture there was suddenly quite some snow. Something I couldn't imagine coming from Tokyo where it was quite nice with sunshine and no snow at all.
The further we went, the colder it got. Once we arrived in Hida Takayama everything was covered in snow like WOAH!!! Not just a little bit but some meters of snow on the streets, the trees and everywhere!
It's not like I've never seen so much snow (actually we tend to have even more back home at times), but it was the first time in Japan, so I was really surprised!
It was already night when I arrived at my hotel. I barely made it, because the snow on the streets made it impossible for me to drag my luggage. At least my hotel there had an onsen (*__*) Paradise!~
And in places where it snows that much and where it gets quite cold they seem to have better insulation and they do have central heating it seems!! Thus far I thought they only have that in Hokkaido
During my long bus drive I found out that at that time keikazama was also in Takayama and I really wanted to meet her , but yet again we didn't manage in the end ;____; Too bad!

Although I arrived on the 1st of January I just dropped dead into my bed and so let's start with the next morning:

Takayama - Day 1 (January 2nd 2011):

( Sa ru bo boooooooo!~Collapse )



( Welcome to Chubu! The snow country!Collapse )



( Read more...Collapse )

Thanks a lot for reading!
Comments are appreciated.

Hello!
It's been crazy busy days. Today as well, but I finished what I needed to do a while ago and now I have a little bit of time before I get busy again later today.
So here's part 2 of the autumn leaves in Miyajima!

Miyajima (November 21st, 2010):

( Ready? Set?! Go!!!!!!Collapse )



So beautiful!!!

( Read more...Collapse )



Oi, no sleeping here!!

( Read more...Collapse )

And that's it already. Well, I shouldn't say that. I guess for one day that's more than enough photos
I hope you enjoyed it. That's all for travel photos for the moment, but winter vacation and thus new travel photos is just around the corner, so there ya go!
Thanks for reading! Comments are love

HELLO!!!!!!

Yes, I'm still alive and I'm finally back!!! Sorry for the long hiatus, but as most of you know I had lots of things to do these past few weeks.
NOW I'm finally FREEEEEE!!!! :D
Time to be happy right? NO!!!!!!

People who follow my Twitter probably already know this, but today the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) was held all over the world (and in some places it's not yet time - stupid time difference XD)
I've never taken the test before. Basically because the lower levels (previously 4kyuu, 3kyuu now N5, N4, N3) don't get you anywhere, but the higher levels (previously 2kyuu, 1kyuu now N2, N1) are considered as "business level Japanese" and can open you doors jobwise and stuff.
They changed the whole testing system for the first time this year, so all old study material and all knowledge from old tests won't help as much anymore.
Although I already passed the second highest level in mock tests over a year ago, I still haven't taken it until today.
Why? Because it's expensive and so I wanted to make sure that I would be able to pass it.

I missed the application deadline for the July test (also something new, only in Japan you can take the test twice a year now - previously you only could take it in December) and that's why I took it today instead.
I've already started preparing for N1 (the highest level and my ultimate goal) anyways.

I took this test because I was pretty sure that I could pass it.
Why I was sure? Well, I took tons of mock tests that introduced the new testing style and typical questions and all. (I also took the real N2 from July!)
My overall average was 81%.
For N2 there are 3 sections: (my average mock test percentage)
Vocabulary/Kanji (~82%)
Reading (~66%)
Listening (~92%)

( Some photos from this morning~Collapse )



Can you believe it's already December when you see these photos?? ^^;

( So, was it worth all the money, the long journey, the years of sacrificing my free time in order to study??? ............ NOOOOO!!!!! ;o; ..Collapse )

Everybody, please let me hear about your JLPT experience? Not only today's but in general!
How many people were there? Did you have any rule breakers?
Congratulations to all of you who passed 2kyuu or 1kyuu. You are awesome! (If we use the old grading system then I would have passed, too, though ;o; ....?!)

The funniest thing ever was that quite a lot of the people taking N2 in my room didn't seem to understand what the examiner said to them XD
Also, I was pretty much the only one who could speak fluently with one of the bus drivers.
Well, but who cares. I suck when it's actually really important. I deserve to have failed the test - that's how much I suck, I guess :(

It was a life experience today. Definitely. Not a good one, though. But, yeah.

That's enough for today.
I should feel crappy but I feel refreshed at the moment. Probably because all the pressure is gone now :) And I'm finally free to do other things again. Feeling like an idiot to have sacrificed so much of my free time on Japanese studies in the last few years, though.

I went to Miyajima when the autumn colors were most beautiful a few weeks ago. Please look forward to some awesome photos which will be up soon.
Also, I still need to post the surprise I keep talking about so often XD
But, it's a busy week, so we'll see.

P.S.: Oh and I don't wanna hear any "OH, I'm sure you passed blah" comforting sentences, k? I tell you I really, really completely failed the reading so unless they change their grading system I have no chance :(
P.P.S.: Actually I wanted to treat myself and finally watch the new Harry Potter in cinema, but now I'm not sure if I really deserve this :/ ....

Beloved bed here I come

Finally it's time for the next travel entry!!
Sorry for the long wait (~_~)

Because of the Mt. Fuji dilemma we had to change our plans completely as you might remeber. We wanted to go to Inuyama the day before this, but as it was raining cats and dogs we had to stay in Nagoya.
Instead we did Inuyama and Gifu in ONE DAY! Nothing I'd recommend, but I wanted to visit both cities and we didn't have any more days left over, so no choice!
Luckily the weather was great and so I took my DSLR with me again :D (=> better quality)
It was a busy day, so expect tons of photos.

Here we go~

Inuyama and Gifu (August 13th, 2010):



We started out in Inuyama (犬山) which literally means "dog mountain".
Inuyama is probably most famous for its castle (which you also can see in this first photo).
"The only privately owned castle in Japan and one of the nicest original examples of feudal Japanese fortifications. Originally built in 1537 by Oda Nobuyasu, grandfather of Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who helped end the long civil war that preceded the Tokugawa Shogunate, Inuyama is one of a handful of castles designated a Japanese national treasure." (WikiTravel)

There's also an open-air museum called "Meiji Mura Museum". It's huge and you'd spend at least two hours there. I sooo wanted to go but as we also had to go to Gifu, there was just not enough time! :(

( Read more...Collapse )



( Actually we wanted to see 2 more castles, but ...Collapse )

That's all.
Next up: Our trip to Mt. Fuji. Soon you'll know if we were able to climb it, got to the top and could see the sunrise or not. Stay tuned!~

Heulou~

I'm quite busy lately. 　Work is almost killing me and on my days off I study Japanese like crazy (might do an entry about it - if I find some time). I try to keep up with the travel entries, but I can't promise to update every week. We'll see.

Anyways, for now let's continue.
As my brother joined me from the night of the 10th, we were finally together on the 11th. We decided to explore Nagoya together. I spared some good sightseeing spots for when he's with me (like the castle).
The weather was actually quite good compared to most other days during our vacation.
Here we go~
WARNING: This entry contains a shi...load of photos!! I once did a poll, asking whether my f-list prefers long days to be splitted up or not and the majority wanted entries seperated by days even if they get extremely long. Just expect this entry to be twice as long as usually (o_o'') ....

Nagoya Day 2 (August 11th, 2010):

( What a looooong day!Collapse )



Yes, Hello Kitty stone statues. Hello Kitty rules Japan!! And she wants to rule the whole world! XD

( 2 castles in one day ^-^Collapse )



Then it was time for some shaved ice (*__*)v (strawberry for my brother and melon for me, of course WITH milk! :D)

( Awesome taiko performance (videos!!)Collapse )

And then it was time to leave.
It was an awesome, long and eventful day. Plus, we also were lucky with the weather.
At that point we didn't know yet what would await us back at our hotel .....

We went back early enough because we knew we would have to get up early the next day!
Why? Because that's the day when we planned to climb Mt. Fuji! The day I've been preparing for so long! The day I've been reserving the mountain hut and expensive bus tickets for.
Back in the hotel, I was really extremely tired. All that was left, was taking a shower and packing stuff for tomorrow. I kicked my brother out of the room and was already on my way to take a shower when I saw that somebody had called my cellphone.
It was the mountain hut. I immediately called them back. I already had a bad feeling about this.
( Read more...Collapse )

That's all for today.
Sorry it got so long.
Bye☆⌒ヽ(*'、^*)chu