8 April 2009

This morning was a sluggish one for everyone since most people got minimal to no sleep. People were really struggling in Japanese class, so I continue to be very fortunate to have been exposed to it from a very young age. I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily better off than other people, but it definitely helps. After Japanese class, Trudy and I tried a new noodle shop that looked very similar to Nakau. The prices were almost exactly the same, and you got your order ticket through a vending machine. I had a bowl of udon with fried inari skin for 250 yen, and it was very tasty.
Studio seemed longer than usual today since everyone had to present their final projects. The output was very impressive, especially considering the fact that we are in Japan. Afterwards, Derick and I decided to pay a visit to Nijo Castle. Many of my classmates planned to visit it tonight, but I wanted to shoot photos of the building in daylight and in night. At night, the cherry blossoms were lit from below in the garden, and that was the main attraction everyone wanted to see. Derick and I took the subway line to Nijo Castle, and the station was literally right across the street from the castle. It only cost 200 yen to get in since we selected the student ticket price on the ticket machine. I’m not sure if we were supposed to do that or not, but we got in anyway with no questions asked.
Once inside, we were thoroughly disappointed to find out that the main castle of Nijo Castle is closed off to visitors at 4pm. What a disappointment! The garden was still very beautiful, and I’m glad I went at night to see the spectacular lights, but I am definitely planning another trip back to Nijo to see the castle during the day. For dinner, Derick and I came upon a different location of Nakau and ate there for a large cheap meal. I had a beef rice bowl and added tsukemono to the side for a total of 540 yen. I am trying to add some sort of green dish to each of my meals to be more balanced with my diet, but we’ll see how that works out. I have noticed that many restaurants just don’t have salads or anything green that isn’t ridiculously overpriced.
We took the subway back to my hotel but decided to wander around the Gion District again to see the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, they weren’t illuminated anymore, but Derick was still able to get some good photos. Afterwards, we wandered around the Cherry Blossom Festival again and saw a total of FOUR geishas! I actually talked to one, but she did not talk back. Derick and I, along with many tourists, were trying to photograph them, but it is very difficult in such heavy pedestrian traffic. We got a couple of photos, but they weren’t anything spectacular. In general, it was a cool way to end our last night in our Sanjo Hotel.
Once arriving back at the hotel around 10:30pm, I went with Jeff to the arcade since we hadn’t been there yet. I decided it was ok to stay out a bit later since we somewhat get to sleep in tomorrow. Tomorrow is our moving day, so we don’t have to checkout until 10:30am. Norio will take us to the new apartments, then we have a field trip to Uji planned with Don. It sounds like we will be able to see more cool temples. Before then, I’m just making the most of the massage chairs in the lounge since it is the last time I will probably have this luxury during the rest of my stay in Japan.