1 down, 7 more to go.

I have been in Japan for one month already! ALREADY! It really doesn't feel like it. I only have 7 more months here...I would hate to say goodbye to the people I've met thus far. Well, gotta enjoy the process right now.


On Thursday, a couple brought me to Mejimura! It is a village filled with historical buildings and artefacts of the Meji Period (that was when Japan changed and adopted many of the practices and culture of the west?). Boy..this place is SUGOI! Very beautiful. It's a good taste of Japan. I even got to ride the choo-choo train!

That's right! Not to mention I got to try some real Japanese curry! It's called Meiji Curry...haha..I guess curry from the Meiji period! It was interesting; it was a bit sweet. Different from the curry that I've tasted. Oishi (delicious) nonetheless. Yes, curry and rice is very big in Japan. I went to the right country!

[Meiji Curry. On the left is a piece of food from another dish. It's an omlette where rice is wrapped inside. Look at the next picture]


[Yes, food display! But people look at me funny when I take pictures of my food.]


On Saturday, so just yesterday, I went to the Robot Museum in Sakae (downtown Nagoya). Ha, I thought it was interesting. It wasn't as big as I had imagined but not too shabby. I got to see the evolution of robots across the world. Not to mention that TRANSFORMERS was part of the collection. Yeeeeh. There was this machine that when you pressed a certain button, it would play a particular song. Well, the instrument would move at a certain angle and speed to make a certain noise/note and would do that for the entire song. I have it on video, but I think it's a bit too big to put online. But the most impressive thing I saw was this robot that could move around on its own and greet people and bring tea/coffee around. AWESOME..I want one.

Today was the best though! I finally made some friends who are MY AGE!!!!!!! After one month, I finally have friends who are not a lot younger or older than me. There are 8 of them, too! I had such a great time with them. They were all part of the worship team, so we definitely shared the same interest! As they sang in Japanese, I sang in English to the same worship song....it was really nice. Good thing we had a translator! Ha...they took me out to dinner. Mmmm..I had some awesome Japanese food. Sorry, I didn't bring my camera..so no pictures. Some really fresh sashimi (raw fish) though! I tried some interesting things tonight....such as...deep fried WHALE! It was dark red/purplish...it tasted pretty good. Mmm...I also had some chicken heart! It tastes better than it sounds! Maybe everything tastes great when it's fried! haha...But Nagoya is known for its chicken wings! OH my...no joke. They weren't as meaty as the ones in Canada but the seasoning was absolutely impressive. I'm in love. Oh yes, I visited the fourth church today and they threw me a welcome lunch. hehe..more foooooood :D They are very kind here. I am definitely taken care of. And they invited me to sing with them for the Christmas concert :D

Every week Hiroko brings me a new dish to try. I tell you...she doesn't believe that I cook for myself. Haha..but I love her. A student brought me a bunch of bananas this week...haa....I didn't want to reject her gift, so I took it. Yes, my tongue still itches when I consume bananas..at least my chest doesn't hurt anymore! Go, banana!

A week of blessing, indeed. Now, time for some randomness:







[yes, drink pokka]


[the operation chair in the Meiji period...oh my....shady]





more randomness......


[my first successful rice ball]


[my creation: rice with ketchup, corn, green onion, green pepper, eggs, and cheese...and topped with some seaweed. Somehow seaweed and cheese tastes pretty good together. Another new discovery is that mayo and oyster sauce is a good combination!]



[my collection of tissue that people give out on the streets as advertisement! This happens in the central part of the city. So, my stash from 2 visits]


[my "TUB" of ice cream. I have yet to find a larger TUB...]


[the front page of a newspaper printed on my birthday]

Okay, enough randomness. All in all, this month has gone by way too fast. I'm doing fine and am loving every aspect of my life in Japan. I should really learn the language in order to be more efficient here...hee...maybe. ROLL-OUT!