Today was my last full day in Japan. I can’t believe it has all come to an end so soon! All in all, it was a really great experience. I didn’t have anything pressing to do today, so I first woke-up at noon. It was pouring rain outside, so I went back to sleep for another hour. It was 1:00pm by the time I rolled out of bed. I Skyped with Jenna while I got ready, then once the rain lightened up, I grabbed my umbrella and went out for a walk around Tokyo Station. I bought a few last minute gifts and spent almost all of my remaining change. I have about 610 yen left for tomorrow’s snacks. Overall, it was just a lazy and relaxing day.
For dinner, I met Masaru in the lobby at 6:00pm for my last dinner in Japan. He wanted to take me out to sukiyaki since I hadn’t had any while in Japan. He had a certain restaurant in mind, so we took the subway a couple stops to Ginza. The restaurant was really nice, and the atmosphere was nice. He ordered the dinner set of beef sukiyaki for both of us, but I wasn’t really sure what to expect. As an appetizer, a small square of Japanese pumpkin gelatin came out, and it was delicious. Next, a small bowl of raw egg was given to both of us in anticipation for the sukiyaki. A gas range was placed on our table and a large plate of beef and vegetables was also brought out. The lady started the fire, and she began cooking the vegetables and meat for us. She did this the entire time until we finished all of the food. She additionally would serve us whenever we would finish what she had given us before. It was a really weird concept. Every time she gave us the sukiyaki, she placed it in our bowl of raw egg, and that’s how we ate it. It’s a good thing I don’t have a problem with eating raw egg that why, otherwise the meal definitely wouldn’t have been as tasty. I was full by the end of the beef and vegetable sukiyaki, but there was still the udon sukiyaki left. Using the same pan, our waitress cooked the udon in the sukiyaki sauce along with four pieces of “fu” (breadlike squares made from wheat). The consistency of fu was very close to that of soft mochi, and I liked it a lot. I ate all of my udon, and for dessert, we each received a small square of Bavarian cream with a roasted slice of banana on top. It was delicious! I was completely full, but it was a great meal to end my trip. In total, it cost just short of 10,000 yen.
We caught the subway back to the Pearl Hotel, and Uncle Masaru made sure I could have a late checkout at 11:00am instead of 10:00am. I thanked him once again for dinner, and he left for the night. The rest of the night I relaxed and finalized my packing. It still feels a bit surreal that I will be leaving Japan tomorrow, but I am prepping myself for the really long flight. Hopefully I will be able to sleep for most of the time we are in the air.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
20 June 2009
I got up a little bit earlier this morning since I wanted to spend most of the day exploring the Odaiba area in Tokyo. I awoke around 10:30am, so I was able to leave by 11:30am. I took the subway to Shimbashi, then from there, I caught the Yurikamome Monorail Line. The interesting thing about the Yurikamome Monorail was that it was completely computer-driven; in other words, there was not person driving or operating the vehicle. It is pretty amazing how technologically advanced many of Japan’s gadgets are. I had to take the Yurikamome Line for twelve minutes, and at no point could I tell it was not driven by a person. Pretty neat!
Once arriving in Odaiba, there were tons of buildings and sites that I wanted to visit. The area itself was very interesting, and it was very similar to the atmosphere of a boardwalk. Odaiba additionally had the first habitable beach I have encountered while in Japan. There was even a surf shop where you could rent surfboards, though the waves did not seem very favorable for surfing. To my surprise, there were many people laying out on the beach with their towels either tanning or reading a book, while young children played in the sand or at the shoreline. It was a really nice experience with the Tokyo skyscrapers within sight across the bay.
The first landmark I visited was Tokyo’s Statue of Liberty. I’ve never actually visited the one in the United States, so visiting this one was pretty cool. Supposedly, it was a gift to Japan from France, but it was much smaller than the United States’. Next, I visited the Fuji Television Building which was designed by Kenzo Tange & Associates. It was built in 1996, but it was still a very modern and intriguing building. It was a bit too touristy for my liking, but I really enjoyed the 270 degree view from the observatory at the top. It cost me 500 yen, but it was worth it. The ceiling in the observatory was also very architecturally interesting since it exposed the gridded structure of the space. The observatory was actually a complete sphere constructed of titanium on the exterior. The sphere was suspended between a three-dimensional grid of column shafts and suspended walkways. It is something you have to see to completely understand. My next destination was the Odaiba’s Telecom Center by HOK. I was really interested to visit a project done abroad by HOK since that was the company I worked for last fall. It was a beautiful walk meandering my way to the Telecom Center which was the opposite direction from mainland Tokyo. Along the way, there were some other architecturally engaging structures which were either museums or Fuji Television secondary buildings. Once arriving at the Telecom Center, I was completely amazed. The building was a simple square with a large square void cut out of the center. Since the Haneda Airport runway was located directly behind the building, airplanes that were arriving or departing the airport were perfectly framed in-flight through the square void in the building. It was a perfect picture spot! I wonder if that’s why HOK originally made that design decision…
After the Telecom Center, there weren’t any outstanding buildings that I had to visit before leaving. Since I had plenty of time to kill however, I decided to finish walking the loop around Odaiba. I walked by the Odaiba rainbow ferris wheel and was able to walk across the Teleport Pedestrian Bridge. Both of these were very iconic in Tokyo. Lastly, I walked across the Nozomi Bridge to Ariake to quickly photograph the Ariake Clean Center Tower and Ariake Sports Center/Water Reclamation Building. These had both stood out as I had walked across the Teleport Bridge. This completed my visit to Odaiba since I had pretty much visited everything that was there. I caught the Yurikamome Line back to Shimbashi and took the subway back to Tokyo Station.
I did a bit more packing until my dinner plans at 5:00pm with Masaru and his two daughters, Tomoko and Hiroko. I had met them once before in the U.S., so I was very excited to see them again. I think the last time I saw them was when I was still in elementary school, but I still clearly remembered them. We met in my hotel lobby and walked a couple blocks to a restaurant that the girls had picked out. The restaurant was somewhat a tapas bar restaurant, so we ordered many small plates of food. We ordered a wide range from sushi, to shumei, to fried cartilage, to salad. Tomoko and Hiroko both spoke a little bit of English too, so we had a great time talking and laughing. We sat and talked and ate for a couple of hours, then left by 8:00pm so Tomoko could make the one and a half hour trip home to the Saitama Prefecture. They all talked about visiting the U.S. within the next year, so I’m hoping that becomes a reality.
Once arriving in Odaiba, there were tons of buildings and sites that I wanted to visit. The area itself was very interesting, and it was very similar to the atmosphere of a boardwalk. Odaiba additionally had the first habitable beach I have encountered while in Japan. There was even a surf shop where you could rent surfboards, though the waves did not seem very favorable for surfing. To my surprise, there were many people laying out on the beach with their towels either tanning or reading a book, while young children played in the sand or at the shoreline. It was a really nice experience with the Tokyo skyscrapers within sight across the bay.
The first landmark I visited was Tokyo’s Statue of Liberty. I’ve never actually visited the one in the United States, so visiting this one was pretty cool. Supposedly, it was a gift to Japan from France, but it was much smaller than the United States’. Next, I visited the Fuji Television Building which was designed by Kenzo Tange & Associates. It was built in 1996, but it was still a very modern and intriguing building. It was a bit too touristy for my liking, but I really enjoyed the 270 degree view from the observatory at the top. It cost me 500 yen, but it was worth it. The ceiling in the observatory was also very architecturally interesting since it exposed the gridded structure of the space. The observatory was actually a complete sphere constructed of titanium on the exterior. The sphere was suspended between a three-dimensional grid of column shafts and suspended walkways. It is something you have to see to completely understand. My next destination was the Odaiba’s Telecom Center by HOK. I was really interested to visit a project done abroad by HOK since that was the company I worked for last fall. It was a beautiful walk meandering my way to the Telecom Center which was the opposite direction from mainland Tokyo. Along the way, there were some other architecturally engaging structures which were either museums or Fuji Television secondary buildings. Once arriving at the Telecom Center, I was completely amazed. The building was a simple square with a large square void cut out of the center. Since the Haneda Airport runway was located directly behind the building, airplanes that were arriving or departing the airport were perfectly framed in-flight through the square void in the building. It was a perfect picture spot! I wonder if that’s why HOK originally made that design decision…
After the Telecom Center, there weren’t any outstanding buildings that I had to visit before leaving. Since I had plenty of time to kill however, I decided to finish walking the loop around Odaiba. I walked by the Odaiba rainbow ferris wheel and was able to walk across the Teleport Pedestrian Bridge. Both of these were very iconic in Tokyo. Lastly, I walked across the Nozomi Bridge to Ariake to quickly photograph the Ariake Clean Center Tower and Ariake Sports Center/Water Reclamation Building. These had both stood out as I had walked across the Teleport Bridge. This completed my visit to Odaiba since I had pretty much visited everything that was there. I caught the Yurikamome Line back to Shimbashi and took the subway back to Tokyo Station.
I did a bit more packing until my dinner plans at 5:00pm with Masaru and his two daughters, Tomoko and Hiroko. I had met them once before in the U.S., so I was very excited to see them again. I think the last time I saw them was when I was still in elementary school, but I still clearly remembered them. We met in my hotel lobby and walked a couple blocks to a restaurant that the girls had picked out. The restaurant was somewhat a tapas bar restaurant, so we ordered many small plates of food. We ordered a wide range from sushi, to shumei, to fried cartilage, to salad. Tomoko and Hiroko both spoke a little bit of English too, so we had a great time talking and laughing. We sat and talked and ate for a couple of hours, then left by 8:00pm so Tomoko could make the one and a half hour trip home to the Saitama Prefecture. They all talked about visiting the U.S. within the next year, so I’m hoping that becomes a reality.
Friday, June 19, 2009
19 June 2009
Today was another lazy day. I woke-up at noon and got ready by 1:00pm. I had flipped through my two architectural guide books last night, so I had marked two projects that I was interested in seeing. The first project was the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center. It was a decent walk away from Tatsumi Station, but the Tatsumi area was surprisingly green. There was a nice path leading from the station directly to the swimming center, and it was lined with large green trees. The shade was greatly appreciated since it was really hot outside. The swimming center was huge, so it was very difficult to photograph. I noticed that people were swimming in the pool, so I inquired about going in to take a few photographs of the interior. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to, so I made the long walk back to the station. My next stop was Kamiyacho to see the Great Buddha Hall. Supposedly it was a new type of religion in Tokyo, and the building frankly looked a bit intimidating. Since I was alone, I was too scared to go inside by myself. The building was completely black with no windows, and the façade consisted of a stepped system that created a diamond-shaped building. It was like the bases of two pyramids were placed together. Strange! The exterior photographs were sufficient enough for me!
It was really hot and humid outside, so I was exhausted from the heat. It was almost 5:00pm, and I had dinner plans with Uncle Masaru at 6:00pm. I caught the subway back to the Pearl Hotel and took a short nap. For dinner, Masaru and I walked to Tokyo Station. I am continually amazed by how many restaurants and shops are in there! Masaru wanted to get some sort of meat or steak, so I let him choose a place since he was going to pay. First we went to a restaurant that served only cow tongue, but it was already full. We ended up going to a Japanese steak and hamburg restaurant two doors down. I couldn’t read the menu, so Masaru ordered the same meal for both of us. It consisted of salad and sardine sashimi for an appetizer, squash soup, a 180g Japanese beef steak, and sherbet for dessert. Each of our courses cost 5,000 yen! Wow it was good, but it was definitely expensive as well. I fully enjoyed the meal, and I’m really grateful that Masaru had been so generous to me. We talked for a bit, then he walked me back to the hotel since it was close to 8:00pm. We have plans again tomorrow night with Tomoko and Hiroko too, so I’m really excited about that. The rest of the night I worked on my travel journal and began packing to assess how much space I actually have in my luggage.
It was really hot and humid outside, so I was exhausted from the heat. It was almost 5:00pm, and I had dinner plans with Uncle Masaru at 6:00pm. I caught the subway back to the Pearl Hotel and took a short nap. For dinner, Masaru and I walked to Tokyo Station. I am continually amazed by how many restaurants and shops are in there! Masaru wanted to get some sort of meat or steak, so I let him choose a place since he was going to pay. First we went to a restaurant that served only cow tongue, but it was already full. We ended up going to a Japanese steak and hamburg restaurant two doors down. I couldn’t read the menu, so Masaru ordered the same meal for both of us. It consisted of salad and sardine sashimi for an appetizer, squash soup, a 180g Japanese beef steak, and sherbet for dessert. Each of our courses cost 5,000 yen! Wow it was good, but it was definitely expensive as well. I fully enjoyed the meal, and I’m really grateful that Masaru had been so generous to me. We talked for a bit, then he walked me back to the hotel since it was close to 8:00pm. We have plans again tomorrow night with Tomoko and Hiroko too, so I’m really excited about that. The rest of the night I worked on my travel journal and began packing to assess how much space I actually have in my luggage.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
18 June 2009
This morning I slept in until my alarm went off at 11:30am. It felt nice to sleep in and not have to worry about doing anything during the day. I Skyped with my parents briefly, then planned out the rest of my day. I left the hotel a little after noon, and my first stop was Ginza. Ginza is located directly adjacent to the area I am staying at, so it was a short 15 minute walk. I stopped at the Tokyo International Forum to photograph the interior, but since there was a convention going on, I was limited in the areas I was able to access and photograph. Next, I did some final shopping at UniQlo, and many things were surprisingly on sale, which was a nice surprise. After Ginza, I caught two subway lines to Jimbocho, where I returned to the Nanyodo Architectural Bookstore. I took my time browsing through the vast array of books, and I ultimately decided on two more books to purchase. It is really hard to decide which books to buy since most of them cannot be purchased in the U.S., nor can they be mailed to the U.S. if purchased online. And the books that can be purchased online usually cost about double the list price, which is no good either. Oh well. Size and weight of the books also played a major role in my decisions since I am tight on space and weight with my luggage. It will be very interesting to see how well everything fits when I pack to leave.
By the time I finished shopping in Jimbocho, my skin was really sticky from the humidity. I returned to the Pearl Hotel to cool off a bit before grabbing dinner. During that time, I was able to Skype with Jenna and hear about what she had been up to recently. For dinner, I was craving tonkatsu over curry rice. I had seen a small vending machine restaurant yesterday, so I was determined to find it again for tonight’s dinner. This task turned out to be much harder than I imagined since there were numerous levels of restaurants and shops underneath Tokyo Station. During my journey to find dinner, I stumbled upon a section of shops that only sold [cute] character goods. It was the perfect section for me, but also very dangerous. I surprisingly didn’t buy anything, but I may return there later when I’m not starving for dinner. I ended up finding the place after wandering around for a good chunk of time. I ordered exactly what I was craving, and it hit the spot. Eating alone in Japan is always a bit strange to me since almost everyone eating alone is a businessman in a black suit. I must stand out immediately as a tourist! There was only one other woman in the restaurant that ate at tonight, but at least I wasn’t the only one!
Once I was ready to leave the station, I could not find the exit. It was so weird! I kept following signs, but the signs never seemed to lead to an exit. It was really confusing, and I kept going from floor to floor trying to find an exit. Eventually I found one, and it was such a relief! Geez, I must seriously be dumb! On the walk back to the hotel, I wandered around the surrounding area to see what was there. Most places were closed since it was past business hours, but I found a 7-11 to buy my evening snacks at. Once back at the hotel, I showered and worked on my travel journal until eventually going to sleep.
By the time I finished shopping in Jimbocho, my skin was really sticky from the humidity. I returned to the Pearl Hotel to cool off a bit before grabbing dinner. During that time, I was able to Skype with Jenna and hear about what she had been up to recently. For dinner, I was craving tonkatsu over curry rice. I had seen a small vending machine restaurant yesterday, so I was determined to find it again for tonight’s dinner. This task turned out to be much harder than I imagined since there were numerous levels of restaurants and shops underneath Tokyo Station. During my journey to find dinner, I stumbled upon a section of shops that only sold [cute] character goods. It was the perfect section for me, but also very dangerous. I surprisingly didn’t buy anything, but I may return there later when I’m not starving for dinner. I ended up finding the place after wandering around for a good chunk of time. I ordered exactly what I was craving, and it hit the spot. Eating alone in Japan is always a bit strange to me since almost everyone eating alone is a businessman in a black suit. I must stand out immediately as a tourist! There was only one other woman in the restaurant that ate at tonight, but at least I wasn’t the only one!
Once I was ready to leave the station, I could not find the exit. It was so weird! I kept following signs, but the signs never seemed to lead to an exit. It was really confusing, and I kept going from floor to floor trying to find an exit. Eventually I found one, and it was such a relief! Geez, I must seriously be dumb! On the walk back to the hotel, I wandered around the surrounding area to see what was there. Most places were closed since it was past business hours, but I found a 7-11 to buy my evening snacks at. Once back at the hotel, I showered and worked on my travel journal until eventually going to sleep.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
17 June 2009
I got up at 8:00am this morning since I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get ready and finalize my packing. I was really sad to already be leaving Nagano since the time seemed to fly by way too quickly. A taxi came at 9:20am to take us to the train station. The limited express train we were taking to Tokyo was scheduled to depart at 9:36am. It came on-time, and we boarded for the two and a half hour train ride. I slept for part of the trip, but I was too excited to sleep for the entire time. I also wanted to spend as much time with Miyo and Toshio as I could, since I wouldn’t see them after today. Along the way, the train hit two unscheduled delays due to problems on the tracks ahead. We were delayed for a total of 30 minutes! Once arriving into Shinjuku Station, we still had to transfer onto the subway trains and take it to Tokyo Station. By the time we got off at Tokyo Station and walked to the Pearl Hotel, where I had reservations to stay for the next five days, all of my other relatives were waiting in the lobby. Today was basically a small family reunion of my grandma’s brothers and sisters. In attendance, there was my grandma’s brother Toshio (with his wife, Katsuko), my grandma’s brother Kunio (with his wife, Setsuko), my grandma’s brother Masaru, and my grandma’s sister Miyo (with her husband, Toshio). It was really a special and meaningful opportunity to finally meet some of my extended family members. Before leaving the hotel, I setup my laptop and used Skype to call the U.S. My grandma was already waiting patiently at my house with my parents and sister. We connected the call, and my grandma was able to see her brothers and sisters while additionally being able to talk with them. Everyone in Japan was also able to see what my parents and sister looked like too. It was really meaningful and was probably one of the highlights of my trip. Everyone was really happy to see each other, and since many of them don’t have computers, it was an otherwise unavailable opportunity to Skype. I’m so glad everything worked out!
After Skyping, we all went to late lunch within Tokyo Station. There were endless amounts of restaurants to choose from, but we ended up going to a Chinese restaurant since I’m assuming they all eat Japanese food everyday. We ordered family style, so everyone was able to eat a little bit of everything. It was really good. By the time we finished, it was already almost 4:00pm. Since all of the relatives had to do a bit of traveling on the trains to get home, they decided it was time to leave. I was able to convince everyone to take a few group photos before leaving since it was definitely a memory worth documenting. We said our final goodbyes, and Masaru and I waved to everyone as their passed through the train gates. I was full of mixed feelings: on one hand, I was really glad I was able to meet and spend time with everyone, but on the other hand, I was sad that it only lasted for a few hours. I hope I can someday make it back to Japan in order to see everyone again! Masaru walked me back to the Pearl Hotel so he could get his backpack out of my room, then he left to go home as well. After staying at Miyo’s house for a week exactly, it was kind of weird to be alone in my hotel room at the beginning. I was pretty tired from all of the activities earlier in the day though, so I used the rest of the evening to finish up my papers for Arch 420. Now that I have that done, I only have to finish my travel journal for Arch 480. Ugh. I’m almost there!
After Skyping, we all went to late lunch within Tokyo Station. There were endless amounts of restaurants to choose from, but we ended up going to a Chinese restaurant since I’m assuming they all eat Japanese food everyday. We ordered family style, so everyone was able to eat a little bit of everything. It was really good. By the time we finished, it was already almost 4:00pm. Since all of the relatives had to do a bit of traveling on the trains to get home, they decided it was time to leave. I was able to convince everyone to take a few group photos before leaving since it was definitely a memory worth documenting. We said our final goodbyes, and Masaru and I waved to everyone as their passed through the train gates. I was full of mixed feelings: on one hand, I was really glad I was able to meet and spend time with everyone, but on the other hand, I was sad that it only lasted for a few hours. I hope I can someday make it back to Japan in order to see everyone again! Masaru walked me back to the Pearl Hotel so he could get his backpack out of my room, then he left to go home as well. After staying at Miyo’s house for a week exactly, it was kind of weird to be alone in my hotel room at the beginning. I was pretty tired from all of the activities earlier in the day though, so I used the rest of the evening to finish up my papers for Arch 420. Now that I have that done, I only have to finish my travel journal for Arch 480. Ugh. I’m almost there!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
16 June 2009
Today is my last full day in Suwa, Nagano with my relatives. I am so sad! After waking up late as usual, Miyo had mochi, fried rice, soup, vegetables, tsukemono, scallops, and leftover veggie rolls for brunch. It was very good, and she always recooks leftovers very well. Once we finished eating, Toshio drove Masaru and I to the Lake Suwa and Akahiko Museum which was designed by Toyo Ito. Toshio dropped us off, then left to take care of his own errands. The building itself was supposed to look like the bottom side of a boat, and it curved smoothly into the small grassy hillside. Its aesthetic was very sleek, and there was some beautiful about its slenderness against the surrounding buildings and landscape. The museum itself was much less impressive. It only cost 350 yen to get in, and the special exhibition gallery was closed. There were only two small permanent galleries upstairs, which didn’t really have anything of extreme significance. I almost felt kind of bad for the poor little museum. We were the only two people inside of it. After leaving the museum, we began to walk back to the house since we did not have a car. Walking along Suwa Lake was really refreshing, even though it was fairly windy. Dark clouds were rolling in overhead, since it was supposed to rain later that afternoon. We made a quick stop at Jusco so I could browse for any last minute gifts for some of my friends, then we made it back just in time to barely miss the beginning of the rain. It seems like no matter where I go in Japan, the weather is always variable and unpredictable.
The afternoon was a very lazy one since we didn’t have anything else planned for the day. We sat around and talked, and I also worked on some of my residual homework. For dinner, Miyo made chicken yaki tori, gyoza, soup, croquettes, tsukemono, and fresh fruit. It was so delicious! I will definitely miss her good home cooking! The rest of the evening we sat around and talked a lot. I think we are all surprised that the time passed so quickly. I am excited that we will all be going to Tokyo tomorrow, except for Mitsunori since he has to work. We Skyped with my parents so they could thank him for everything he did for me, and I said my final goodbyes to him before he went to sleep. I did my last minute packing, then went to sleep too since I have to get up early tomorrow morning to leave for Tokyo.
The afternoon was a very lazy one since we didn’t have anything else planned for the day. We sat around and talked, and I also worked on some of my residual homework. For dinner, Miyo made chicken yaki tori, gyoza, soup, croquettes, tsukemono, and fresh fruit. It was so delicious! I will definitely miss her good home cooking! The rest of the evening we sat around and talked a lot. I think we are all surprised that the time passed so quickly. I am excited that we will all be going to Tokyo tomorrow, except for Mitsunori since he has to work. We Skyped with my parents so they could thank him for everything he did for me, and I said my final goodbyes to him before he went to sleep. I did my last minute packing, then went to sleep too since I have to get up early tomorrow morning to leave for Tokyo.
Monday, June 15, 2009
15 June 2009
I slept in until noon as usual, and it felt especially good after staying up a bit later than I had originally planned since I got carried away with updating my blog and photos. For brunch, Miyo made ramen with lots of greens on top. It was a huge bowl, so I was very full by the time I finished it. After brunch, Toshio wanted to take me to Matsumoto City to visit the Yamabiko Dome. I had never heard of the structure, so I was curious to see what he was excited about. Matsumoto City was one city over from where Naoko, Toshio and Miyo’s daughter, lived. It took about 50 minutes to get to Matsumoto City, and once we were there, the dome was very easy to spot. It was homogenous in design all the way around, except for a wooden awning at the entrance. What made the dome architecturally interesting was the radial pleating constructed of wood. It had rained off and on during the drive over to Matsumoto, but once we got there, the clouds parted, and the sun shone through to illuminate the building. It was beautiful. Toshio wasn’t sure if I’d be able to see the beautiful interior since most places are closed on Mondays. He walked into the dome anyways, and the lady at the front window said it was alright. We were lucky once again! The inside of the dome was even more amazing than the outside. The interior was almost entirely made of wood, and the radial pleating was clearly accentuated. No events were going on either, so all of our photos were very clean. The versatility of the space was very intriguing as well since it could be used as multiple tennis courts, two playing fields, or one baseball diamond. What a concept! We finished taking pictures, and right after jumping back into the Prius, it began to rain again. Perfect timing!
Toshio didn’t have any other major buildings to show me, so we drove back to Suwa. Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store so I could buy my favorite candy to take back to the U.S. We also stopped at the train station to purchase our reserved train tickets back to Tokyo for this upcoming Wednesday, June 17th. I can’t believe I am already going to leave Nagano! Lastly, we stopped at a small camera store so I could print out some of my photos of me and the relatives to give to them before I leave. Masaru had printed a couple of his photos to give to me, so I returned the favor to him, Miyo, Toshio, and Mitsunori. I usually take most of the group photos with my camera anyways since I have a tripod. It has really come in handy during my stay in Nagano. I got the photos printed, and we returned home just in time for dinner.
For dinner, Miyo prepared some veggie roll things, scallops, lotus roots, tsukemono, rice, grilled vegetables, and fresh fruit. It was another filling meal. Mitsunori came home late as usual, and he surprised me with an architecture magazine he had picked up from the store on his way home. He is really thoughtful! The rest of the night we all looked through the magazine, and I had surprisingly visited a couple different places showcased in the articles. I shared a couple more of my architecture books with them and also showed them more of my photos. It was a fun night overall. I can’t believe tomorrow will be my last full day here in Suwa. I am going to be sad to leave. Tomorrow we will walk to a museum that is close to their house, since we saw it in the architectural magazine, and it is supposedly done by Toyo Ito. Other than that, I have no idea what we will be doing.
Toshio didn’t have any other major buildings to show me, so we drove back to Suwa. Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store so I could buy my favorite candy to take back to the U.S. We also stopped at the train station to purchase our reserved train tickets back to Tokyo for this upcoming Wednesday, June 17th. I can’t believe I am already going to leave Nagano! Lastly, we stopped at a small camera store so I could print out some of my photos of me and the relatives to give to them before I leave. Masaru had printed a couple of his photos to give to me, so I returned the favor to him, Miyo, Toshio, and Mitsunori. I usually take most of the group photos with my camera anyways since I have a tripod. It has really come in handy during my stay in Nagano. I got the photos printed, and we returned home just in time for dinner.
For dinner, Miyo prepared some veggie roll things, scallops, lotus roots, tsukemono, rice, grilled vegetables, and fresh fruit. It was another filling meal. Mitsunori came home late as usual, and he surprised me with an architecture magazine he had picked up from the store on his way home. He is really thoughtful! The rest of the night we all looked through the magazine, and I had surprisingly visited a couple different places showcased in the articles. I shared a couple more of my architecture books with them and also showed them more of my photos. It was a fun night overall. I can’t believe tomorrow will be my last full day here in Suwa. I am going to be sad to leave. Tomorrow we will walk to a museum that is close to their house, since we saw it in the architectural magazine, and it is supposedly done by Toyo Ito. Other than that, I have no idea what we will be doing.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
14 June 2009
Sleeping in was really nice today since we had such a long day yesterday. Once I got up and going, Miyo already had brunch waiting on the table for me. Today’s brunch was huge, so I had to turn some of it down even before I sat down. There was a huge dish of yaki soba stir fry that probably could’ve fed three people, plus a piece of salmon with bowl of chestnut rice. Miyo was also going to make me some bread, but I told her not to. I took out about half of the yaki soba stir fly and left it on another dish since there was no way I was going to eat it all. I ate everything else but had to leave a little bit of the rice. I guess Miyo still hasn’t realized that I’m not a huge rice eater.
After eating, Mitsunori told me that he had a full day planned out for us. Toshio and Miyo were going to stay home, so Mitsunori, Masaru, and I jumped in the Prius to start our day. Our first stop was Takashima Castle in Suwa. It was a really small castle, especially in comparison to many of the other castles I have visited in Japan, but it still had a nice view over Suwa from the top. Next we drove for almost an hour to Yatsugatake Museum in Shinshu, Nagano. In plan, it was a very interestingly shaped building, with multiple domes and barrel vaults. The interior was interesting as well since the ceilings were somewhat screened with draped fabric. Mitsunori and Masaru didn’t even seemed interested in the exhibits, so it almost made me laugh since we were literally just walking through the building. Oh well.
The last stop Mitsunori had planned was an outdoor “mall” that he said had gained popularity and fame over the years. He wasn’t really sure what was there, but he assumed I might like the architecture. It was somewhere in the middle of the mountains where you could only get by car. I was a bit skeptical, but I hoped for the best. Upon arriving there, I realized that there were two famous projects grouped with the outdoor “mall”. The establishment was called Risonare, and it reminded me of Santana Row in San Jose, except with a large hotel. The two famous projects were both by Klein Dytham Architects, and I had actually met Astrid Klein during one of our firm visits with Don. The first one we looked at was Brillare, a wedding reception hall. It was long and narrow, and it looked just like the pictures I had seen of it. There was an event going on inside of it, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any interior photos. The second project, which is one of their most iconic projects, was the Leaf Chapel. It is basically a huge dome with half of the outer shell being operable. We were lucky that no weddings were currently going on inside of it, so one of the employees from the wedding salon let us tour the structure and its surroundings. Wow, it was so amazing and beautiful! All three of us were completely blown away! I still couldn’t believe that we had stumbled upon these projects completely accidentally. It was a fabulous way to end our outing.
On the way back, we got a call from Miyo saying her daughter Naoko and her husband had stopped by to visit. We were going to go out for dinner since we were all together. There was heavy traffic on the expressway on our way back home since there was road construction, but we still made it back by 6:00pm. For dinner, we went to Sunlake, a restaurant somewhat comparable to Denny’s in Japan. I ordered the cheese hamburg with eggplant and fries. It was really tasty. Naoko and her husband live about 50 minutes away from Suwa in a neighboring town. They didn’t speak any English, so I wasn’t able to directly talk with them at all. After dinner, they left to drive home, and we came back home. We had plans to Skype with my grandparents and family at 10:15pm our time, so we waited around until then. It was nice to Skype as a group again, but the quality was worse than last time. I still can’t quite figure out what the problem is, so it is frustrating. The main thing is that we were all still able to talk, so that was nice, and everyone was happy. I worked on my assignments a bit more then went to sleep to end a long day.
After eating, Mitsunori told me that he had a full day planned out for us. Toshio and Miyo were going to stay home, so Mitsunori, Masaru, and I jumped in the Prius to start our day. Our first stop was Takashima Castle in Suwa. It was a really small castle, especially in comparison to many of the other castles I have visited in Japan, but it still had a nice view over Suwa from the top. Next we drove for almost an hour to Yatsugatake Museum in Shinshu, Nagano. In plan, it was a very interestingly shaped building, with multiple domes and barrel vaults. The interior was interesting as well since the ceilings were somewhat screened with draped fabric. Mitsunori and Masaru didn’t even seemed interested in the exhibits, so it almost made me laugh since we were literally just walking through the building. Oh well.
The last stop Mitsunori had planned was an outdoor “mall” that he said had gained popularity and fame over the years. He wasn’t really sure what was there, but he assumed I might like the architecture. It was somewhere in the middle of the mountains where you could only get by car. I was a bit skeptical, but I hoped for the best. Upon arriving there, I realized that there were two famous projects grouped with the outdoor “mall”. The establishment was called Risonare, and it reminded me of Santana Row in San Jose, except with a large hotel. The two famous projects were both by Klein Dytham Architects, and I had actually met Astrid Klein during one of our firm visits with Don. The first one we looked at was Brillare, a wedding reception hall. It was long and narrow, and it looked just like the pictures I had seen of it. There was an event going on inside of it, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any interior photos. The second project, which is one of their most iconic projects, was the Leaf Chapel. It is basically a huge dome with half of the outer shell being operable. We were lucky that no weddings were currently going on inside of it, so one of the employees from the wedding salon let us tour the structure and its surroundings. Wow, it was so amazing and beautiful! All three of us were completely blown away! I still couldn’t believe that we had stumbled upon these projects completely accidentally. It was a fabulous way to end our outing.
On the way back, we got a call from Miyo saying her daughter Naoko and her husband had stopped by to visit. We were going to go out for dinner since we were all together. There was heavy traffic on the expressway on our way back home since there was road construction, but we still made it back by 6:00pm. For dinner, we went to Sunlake, a restaurant somewhat comparable to Denny’s in Japan. I ordered the cheese hamburg with eggplant and fries. It was really tasty. Naoko and her husband live about 50 minutes away from Suwa in a neighboring town. They didn’t speak any English, so I wasn’t able to directly talk with them at all. After dinner, they left to drive home, and we came back home. We had plans to Skype with my grandparents and family at 10:15pm our time, so we waited around until then. It was nice to Skype as a group again, but the quality was worse than last time. I still can’t quite figure out what the problem is, so it is frustrating. The main thing is that we were all still able to talk, so that was nice, and everyone was happy. I worked on my assignments a bit more then went to sleep to end a long day.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
13 June 2009
Today was our big outing since it was the beginning of the weekend, so all five of us piled into their Toyota Prius. Mitsunori drove since we were going quite a ways, and it was somewhat new territory. Our first stop was at the Rose Festa in Shinshu Nakano. It took over an hour to drive there, and the rain was just stopping when we arrived. We parked and then had to take a short bus ride in order to get to the gardens. Toshio, Miyo, and Mitsunori had all been there before, but the roses weren’t in full bloom anymore. The garden was still beautiful, and we enjoyed the nice weather as we wandered along the meandering paths. Toshio additionally bought everyone rose-flavored soft cream cones, but I only tasted rose very subtly. Our next stop was in Obuse, a small historic town that was known for its authentic old buildings and shops. On our way, we stopped at a sushi restaurant where everyone ate a quick bite of sushi. I was still very full from the huge breakfast Miyo had made me of ham, eggs, salad, cucumbers, tsukemono, soup, and bread, so I opted not to eat. Obuse was really nice, but it was also full of tourists. We went into a candle museum which was very interesting, and we otherwise just wandered around the small shops. Before leaving, Miyo purchased some chestnut rice to eat once we got home.
After Obuse, our last stop was Zenkoji Temple. It is one of the largest and most famous temples in Nagano, so it was a must that we visit it. After a little bit of difficulty finding it, we finally parked and walked onto the temple grounds. There was tons of people there, and they were also setting up for a concert later that night. I thought the idea of having a concert at such a famous temple was pretty sad, but I guess times must be hard these days. We walked in and around the temple, and Masaru showed me the proper way to do all of the “religious” routines. Mainly I was just supposed to make wishes for the future and think about things I wanted to be healed. It was nice to finally have someone explain the process to me.
We left Zenkoji Temple around 5:00pm, and it was time to head home. Since Miyo had not been able to cook all afternoon, they decided we would stop to eat at their favorite yaki niku restaurant. It was fairly close to their house, so I napped in the car until we got there. The yaki niku place was really busy, and we had to wait for a short while. Once seated, we ordered two plates of kalbi beef, two plates beef tongue, beef liver, beef roast steak, and pork roast steak. It also came with bean sprouts and cabbage to cook alongside it. It was a lot of food, but it was really really good. I think yaki niku is one of my favorite restaurants to eat at since you get to cook it yourself, and that in itself is pretty fun. We all got our fill, and for dessert, we got vanilla soft cream cones from the restaurant complimentarily. It was a good day.
We were all pretty tired by the time we got home. We talked until about midnight, then we all went to bed. I tried to work on some of my leftover Arch 420 assignments, but I was too tired. I figure it’s better to get some rest than be tired all the time. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I’m sure someone will have something planned for me again.
After Obuse, our last stop was Zenkoji Temple. It is one of the largest and most famous temples in Nagano, so it was a must that we visit it. After a little bit of difficulty finding it, we finally parked and walked onto the temple grounds. There was tons of people there, and they were also setting up for a concert later that night. I thought the idea of having a concert at such a famous temple was pretty sad, but I guess times must be hard these days. We walked in and around the temple, and Masaru showed me the proper way to do all of the “religious” routines. Mainly I was just supposed to make wishes for the future and think about things I wanted to be healed. It was nice to finally have someone explain the process to me.
We left Zenkoji Temple around 5:00pm, and it was time to head home. Since Miyo had not been able to cook all afternoon, they decided we would stop to eat at their favorite yaki niku restaurant. It was fairly close to their house, so I napped in the car until we got there. The yaki niku place was really busy, and we had to wait for a short while. Once seated, we ordered two plates of kalbi beef, two plates beef tongue, beef liver, beef roast steak, and pork roast steak. It also came with bean sprouts and cabbage to cook alongside it. It was a lot of food, but it was really really good. I think yaki niku is one of my favorite restaurants to eat at since you get to cook it yourself, and that in itself is pretty fun. We all got our fill, and for dessert, we got vanilla soft cream cones from the restaurant complimentarily. It was a good day.
We were all pretty tired by the time we got home. We talked until about midnight, then we all went to bed. I tried to work on some of my leftover Arch 420 assignments, but I was too tired. I figure it’s better to get some rest than be tired all the time. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I’m sure someone will have something planned for me again.
Friday, June 12, 2009
12 June 2009
We didn’t have plans until after noon today again, so everyone told me to sleep in. I think they can tell that I’m pretty tired from all of my school work and travelling, so I didn’t mind taking advantage of the extra sleeping time. I set my alarm for 11:30am, and that’s exactly when I woke-up. As always, Miyo had brunch ready for everyone when I came downstairs. Today’s brunch consisted of new combinations from last night’s leftovers. Miyo is just so creative! She added a few other items as well to make it more like breakfast, such as sausages, fresh fruit, and inari sushi. I definitely got my fill of the good foods!
Just like yesterday, Toshio and Masaru had plans to take me further around Nagano. Miyo stayed at home again, presumably to rest and take care of chores around the house. I don’t think she is really interested in a lot of the museums and such that we visit. The first museum we visited was the Kitazawa Museum of Art. The featured exhibit was on Emile Galle, who is known for his glass works. It was really amazing. Next, we stopped at the Taizi Harada Art Museum. It housed many pieces of artwork that made you feel closer to home in Japan. Lastly, we visited the Glass Artware Museum. There was an extensive collection from Daum and Lalique, and I probably enjoyed these the most. Downstairs in the museum, there was also a large gift shop and glass blowing shop. It was just nice to look at all of the nice pieces. By the time we finished looking around the glass shop, Toshio wanted to take a coffee break. We sat down in the museum café, and he ordered coffee and cake for everyone, except I chose to have water instead of coffee. I had no idea what he got for me since I couldn’t read the menu at all. I ended up getting three sample squares of three different cakes, which all turned out to be very good. After finishing up our snack, we got in the car to head home since I was almost 4:30pm, and Masaru had offered to cook dinner. On the way back home, Toshio stopped at Mister Donut since Masaru told him that all Americans eat donuts, cake, and pie for snack at night. That is obviously not true, but Masaru thought I was being polite. Anyways, Toshio ended up buying me three donuts of my choice since he wouldn’t take no for an answer. We drove home afterward, and Masaru prepared dinner.
For dinner, Masaru made pork shabu shabu with lettuce, daikon, green sprouts, and sauces. This was also complemented by Miyo’s grilled shitake mushrooms, pickles, tomatoes, and miso soup. We had quite the choice of foods. I ate until I was full, then we had cantaloupe and apples for dessert. It amazes me that they always eat so healthily. The rest of the evening, I showed them my house and other relatives’ houses on Google Maps using street view. I also showed them some of my past projects and tried to explain the concept of 3D modeling. I’m pretty sure everything was over their head, but at least I tried since they were all curious. The language barrier seems to be increasingly frustrating, but I’m trying to make the best of it. I ate my donut for snack and drank the Fanta grape soda Miyo had gotten for me at the grocery store. I can’t help but laugh since they think I am such a fatty at night with my snacks. Oh well. Tomorrow they have plans to take me to a rose garden and some historic town, so I have to get up early since we plan to leave by 8:30am. That should be interesting. I’m hoping Miyo will come along too though since she hasn’t joined us on any of our outings yet, and I think it’d be really nice to spend some quality time with her as well.
Just like yesterday, Toshio and Masaru had plans to take me further around Nagano. Miyo stayed at home again, presumably to rest and take care of chores around the house. I don’t think she is really interested in a lot of the museums and such that we visit. The first museum we visited was the Kitazawa Museum of Art. The featured exhibit was on Emile Galle, who is known for his glass works. It was really amazing. Next, we stopped at the Taizi Harada Art Museum. It housed many pieces of artwork that made you feel closer to home in Japan. Lastly, we visited the Glass Artware Museum. There was an extensive collection from Daum and Lalique, and I probably enjoyed these the most. Downstairs in the museum, there was also a large gift shop and glass blowing shop. It was just nice to look at all of the nice pieces. By the time we finished looking around the glass shop, Toshio wanted to take a coffee break. We sat down in the museum café, and he ordered coffee and cake for everyone, except I chose to have water instead of coffee. I had no idea what he got for me since I couldn’t read the menu at all. I ended up getting three sample squares of three different cakes, which all turned out to be very good. After finishing up our snack, we got in the car to head home since I was almost 4:30pm, and Masaru had offered to cook dinner. On the way back home, Toshio stopped at Mister Donut since Masaru told him that all Americans eat donuts, cake, and pie for snack at night. That is obviously not true, but Masaru thought I was being polite. Anyways, Toshio ended up buying me three donuts of my choice since he wouldn’t take no for an answer. We drove home afterward, and Masaru prepared dinner.
For dinner, Masaru made pork shabu shabu with lettuce, daikon, green sprouts, and sauces. This was also complemented by Miyo’s grilled shitake mushrooms, pickles, tomatoes, and miso soup. We had quite the choice of foods. I ate until I was full, then we had cantaloupe and apples for dessert. It amazes me that they always eat so healthily. The rest of the evening, I showed them my house and other relatives’ houses on Google Maps using street view. I also showed them some of my past projects and tried to explain the concept of 3D modeling. I’m pretty sure everything was over their head, but at least I tried since they were all curious. The language barrier seems to be increasingly frustrating, but I’m trying to make the best of it. I ate my donut for snack and drank the Fanta grape soda Miyo had gotten for me at the grocery store. I can’t help but laugh since they think I am such a fatty at night with my snacks. Oh well. Tomorrow they have plans to take me to a rose garden and some historic town, so I have to get up early since we plan to leave by 8:30am. That should be interesting. I’m hoping Miyo will come along too though since she hasn’t joined us on any of our outings yet, and I think it’d be really nice to spend some quality time with her as well.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
11 June 2009
I slept-in until noon this morning, and it was really nice! I probably could’ve slept even longer since I’ve been so tired, but twelve hours of sleep was sufficient. Miyo had brunch ready when I went downstairs, so we had fried rice with tsukemono and other leftovers from last night’s dinner. It was quite a large meal, especially since it was the first one for the day for me. After finishing up with brunch, Toshio, Masaru, and I left in their Prius to visit a couple sites around their house. First we visited Suwa Shrine. It was pretty warm outside, so I hoped it wasn’t located up a steep mountainside or anything. Luckily it was situated close to the road, so the walk wasn’t bad at all. Next, we walked to the Music Box Museum. A lady gave us a short tour of the two-story museum and demonstrated multiple music boxes to our group. It was really neat since I had never really seen so many large scale music boxes. Music is a universal language as well, so I didn’t have to worry about the language barrier while listening to the music. Following the Music Box Museum, we walked a couple blocks to the Seiko Watch Museum. Behind the museum, there was a huge water-driven astrological clock. We were able to walk inside of the two-story structure, but it was very hot and stuffy inside. The water wheel was incredibly loud, but I guess it makes sense since the gadget was substantially old. The museum itself probably would’ve been much more interesting if I could’ve read Japanese. There were many hands-on gadgets to help you learn about how a clock works, but I couldn’t read the signs so I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Toshio and Masaru don’t take much time to walk through museums though, so at least I don’t have to feel bad about walking through them fairly quickly. Lastly, we visited the stone Buddha. We parked in front of another temple which was being renovated, and we walked for about 10 minutes along a dirt path to find it. We took some photos in front of it and headed home for dinner.
Miyo had been cooking for most of the day since she stayed at home while we were out. Dinner is always eaten at 6:00pm, so we made sure to get home by that time. For dinner, Miyo had made shumai, bamboo rice, grilled vegetables, tsukemono, and miso soup. It was once again a really good meal! I feel so lucky to have such good homemade meals everyday for every meal. Hopefully I don’t get too fat! Haha. The rest of the evening was very relaxing. We had plans to Skype with my parents and grandma at 10:30pm our time, so we all showered and waited for the exciting Skype call. As planned, my parents called at 10:30pm, and Miyo, Masaru, Toshio, Mitsunori, and I were all able to talk with my grandma and parents. It was such a special moment for everyone! Everyone talked for about 30 minutes until we finally said our goodbyes. The rest of the night, Masaru, Miyo, and Toshio were completely astounded by the possibilities of the internet. I don’t think they completely understand how Skype works yet, but hopefully we were able to do it again soon.
Miyo had been cooking for most of the day since she stayed at home while we were out. Dinner is always eaten at 6:00pm, so we made sure to get home by that time. For dinner, Miyo had made shumai, bamboo rice, grilled vegetables, tsukemono, and miso soup. It was once again a really good meal! I feel so lucky to have such good homemade meals everyday for every meal. Hopefully I don’t get too fat! Haha. The rest of the evening was very relaxing. We had plans to Skype with my parents and grandma at 10:30pm our time, so we all showered and waited for the exciting Skype call. As planned, my parents called at 10:30pm, and Miyo, Masaru, Toshio, Mitsunori, and I were all able to talk with my grandma and parents. It was such a special moment for everyone! Everyone talked for about 30 minutes until we finally said our goodbyes. The rest of the night, Masaru, Miyo, and Toshio were completely astounded by the possibilities of the internet. I don’t think they completely understand how Skype works yet, but hopefully we were able to do it again soon.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
10 June 2009
Today the Japan program ended. We had to check out of the NOMYC for the last time, so sheets were due at 9:00am, and keys were due by 10:00am. I already had plans to meet Masaru at 9:00am at the front gate of the NOMYC, so I was the first one to leave. Don happened to be walking through our rooms to make sure we were all up and getting ready, so I gave him my key and left. By the time I got to the front gate with all of my luggage, it was about 9:10am. Masaru was waiting there patiently, and once I arrived, we caught a taxi to Shinjuku Station. Masaru had already purchased tickets for the super express Azsua train to Nagano at 11:00am. Since we arrived to Shinjuku Station at 9:30am, he went to the JR office and switched the tickets for the train at 10:00am. We found our way to the platform and caught the train as scheduled. The ride to Nagano took 2 hours and 5 minutes. I slept for almost the entire way since I was really tired. Masaru slept a little bit too, so I didn’t feel as bad for being so tired.
When we pulled into the station in Nagano, Miyo was already waiting for us on the platform! I could tell she was really excited to see us. Her husband Toshio was waiting for us right outside of the gate, and he immediately helped me with my extremely heavy luggage. We walked to their car, which turned out to be a brand new silver Toyota Prius. We loaded my luggage into the back of the car, and it surprisingly fit with no problem. On the way back to their house, we stopped at a café restaurant to grab some lunch since it was just past noon. They helped me pick out something to order, so I ended up getting sliced beef with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and bread. I think they thought I hadn’t eaten very much meat during my trip. It was really good, and the meat was amazingly tender. Afterwards, we drove to their house, which was still less than 10 minutes from the station. It was a two-story house with a decent sized backyard. All three bedrooms were upstairs, and the stairway was very narrow. I struggled with Miyo to get my large luggage upstairs, so I felt really bad. They were really excited to have me visiting them though, so we sat around and talked for the majority of the day. At one point, I was able to setup the wireless router and Skype with both my parents and Meddie and Yoshi. It was really neat.
For dinner, Miyo cooked a wonderful meal of shrimp fried with cracker crumbs, potato salad, many tsukemonos, rice, and lipton chicken noodle soup that she had gotten from my grandma in the mail. It was quite the combination of good foods! Communication was a bit rough since Masaru is our only form of communication, but it definitely makes things interesting. Hopefully one day I can at least speak conversational Japanese. Miyo and Toshio’s son Mitsunori came home from work late, so I met him later in the evening. He is in his thirties and doesn’t speak any English either. I can already tell it will be a very interesting 7 days here in Nagano. We were able to somewhat plan out our next couple of days too, so I will probably be visiting a lot of museums and shrines. Nagano is situated around a beautiful lake too, so I’m hoping the sky will clear up a bit so I can see Mount Fuji from my bedroom window. Overall, I am really exhausted, so I will get lots of sleep tonight and start tomorrow fresh.
When we pulled into the station in Nagano, Miyo was already waiting for us on the platform! I could tell she was really excited to see us. Her husband Toshio was waiting for us right outside of the gate, and he immediately helped me with my extremely heavy luggage. We walked to their car, which turned out to be a brand new silver Toyota Prius. We loaded my luggage into the back of the car, and it surprisingly fit with no problem. On the way back to their house, we stopped at a café restaurant to grab some lunch since it was just past noon. They helped me pick out something to order, so I ended up getting sliced beef with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and bread. I think they thought I hadn’t eaten very much meat during my trip. It was really good, and the meat was amazingly tender. Afterwards, we drove to their house, which was still less than 10 minutes from the station. It was a two-story house with a decent sized backyard. All three bedrooms were upstairs, and the stairway was very narrow. I struggled with Miyo to get my large luggage upstairs, so I felt really bad. They were really excited to have me visiting them though, so we sat around and talked for the majority of the day. At one point, I was able to setup the wireless router and Skype with both my parents and Meddie and Yoshi. It was really neat.
For dinner, Miyo cooked a wonderful meal of shrimp fried with cracker crumbs, potato salad, many tsukemonos, rice, and lipton chicken noodle soup that she had gotten from my grandma in the mail. It was quite the combination of good foods! Communication was a bit rough since Masaru is our only form of communication, but it definitely makes things interesting. Hopefully one day I can at least speak conversational Japanese. Miyo and Toshio’s son Mitsunori came home from work late, so I met him later in the evening. He is in his thirties and doesn’t speak any English either. I can already tell it will be a very interesting 7 days here in Nagano. We were able to somewhat plan out our next couple of days too, so I will probably be visiting a lot of museums and shrines. Nagano is situated around a beautiful lake too, so I’m hoping the sky will clear up a bit so I can see Mount Fuji from my bedroom window. Overall, I am really exhausted, so I will get lots of sleep tonight and start tomorrow fresh.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
9 June 2009
We had our very last class meeting for the Japan Extended Field Trip this morning at 9:30am in room 108. It was kind of sad, but since I’m staying twelve days longer, it didn’t has as much of an impact on me compared to people who would be flying out tomorrow. Don briefly recapped all of the items that were still due and restated all of the extended deadlines. I think it is such a pain to still have to finish work even though the quarter is over! I guess that’s just how it goes. After class, Norio and I had plans to visit the GA Gallery in Shinjuku. It looked fairly close on the map, so we decided to walk since it was fairly nice outside. After getting lost a couple of times, we eventually happened upon it unexpectedly. Unfortunately, no exhibition was currently going on, so we could only look through the extensive GA bookstore. GA stands for Global Architecture, but its publications only come out of Japan. There was a really nice selection of books at the GA Gallery, but they were priced over the list price, so we didn’t buy anything. We must’ve spent a solid hour looking at books though, so it was a nice way to relax during our last full day. On the way back, we grabbed a late lunch at the Chinese restaurant across from the NOMYC. I ordered the fried rice and a side of gyoza for 1,000 yen. That place was probably my favorite Chinese restaurant that I found in Japan, so I’m glad I was able to eat there one last time before leaving. After lunch, we went back to rest before our finale group dinner tonight with Don.
Dinner was scheduled for 6:30pm at a restaurant four stops away on the Odakyu Line. Norio and I wanted to visit one of Shigeru Ban’s projects that was only two stops away, so we left at 4:45pm to make sure we wouldn’t be late. Using our guide book as our map, we navigated our way to where we thought the project should be. After talking to a few of the locals, we found out that the building was the same, but the paper tube structure that Ban is known for was taken out about three years ago. What a disappointment! The paper tubes were the only iconic element of the building, so we didn’t even take any pictures. A funny coincidence was that one of the ladies that we talked to actually owns a house in Walnut Creek, but she also lives in Japan, fluent in both Japanese and English. That was a nice surprise. We were disappointed nonetheless though, so we headed to the train station to head to dinner.
We got to the station a little bit early, so I decided to try pachinko. Norio wanted me to at least have the experience, so I decided I might as well try. I put in 1,000 yen and the little silver balls came out. All I had to do was turn the knob on the right and watch the balls come shooting out at the top of the machine. They all fell, and Norio said my goal was to get it into one opening at the bottom center. Every time a ball entered the slot, the digital slot machine in the center would spin. If any of the numbers lined up, I would win big money. Unfortunately, I didn’t become a millionaire that night, but it was still fun. I can definitely see how that could be addicting since it was more like a game than gambling.
We met the group at 6:30pm and headed to dinner. The restaurant Don chose was a drinking venue that also served dinner. It was very nice, and we got an area to ourselves. Don had already chosen a multi-course meal, since the program was going to cover the cost of the food. Some of the dishes we ate were salad, sashimi, oysters, amaebe (sweet shrimp) tempura, somen, and cake. It was a great meal to celebrate the end of our trip together! Afterwards, we stopped at an arcade to take group photos in one of the large photo booths. It was a lot of fun, and Don was even a bit tipsy. It was quite memorable, and we got some great photos. Some people wanted to stay out even later to do karaoke and drink in Shinjuku, but I decided to head back with the other half of the people since it was already 10:30pm. I still had to pack and finish up an assignment, so that ended my evening.
Dinner was scheduled for 6:30pm at a restaurant four stops away on the Odakyu Line. Norio and I wanted to visit one of Shigeru Ban’s projects that was only two stops away, so we left at 4:45pm to make sure we wouldn’t be late. Using our guide book as our map, we navigated our way to where we thought the project should be. After talking to a few of the locals, we found out that the building was the same, but the paper tube structure that Ban is known for was taken out about three years ago. What a disappointment! The paper tubes were the only iconic element of the building, so we didn’t even take any pictures. A funny coincidence was that one of the ladies that we talked to actually owns a house in Walnut Creek, but she also lives in Japan, fluent in both Japanese and English. That was a nice surprise. We were disappointed nonetheless though, so we headed to the train station to head to dinner.
We got to the station a little bit early, so I decided to try pachinko. Norio wanted me to at least have the experience, so I decided I might as well try. I put in 1,000 yen and the little silver balls came out. All I had to do was turn the knob on the right and watch the balls come shooting out at the top of the machine. They all fell, and Norio said my goal was to get it into one opening at the bottom center. Every time a ball entered the slot, the digital slot machine in the center would spin. If any of the numbers lined up, I would win big money. Unfortunately, I didn’t become a millionaire that night, but it was still fun. I can definitely see how that could be addicting since it was more like a game than gambling.
We met the group at 6:30pm and headed to dinner. The restaurant Don chose was a drinking venue that also served dinner. It was very nice, and we got an area to ourselves. Don had already chosen a multi-course meal, since the program was going to cover the cost of the food. Some of the dishes we ate were salad, sashimi, oysters, amaebe (sweet shrimp) tempura, somen, and cake. It was a great meal to celebrate the end of our trip together! Afterwards, we stopped at an arcade to take group photos in one of the large photo booths. It was a lot of fun, and Don was even a bit tipsy. It was quite memorable, and we got some great photos. Some people wanted to stay out even later to do karaoke and drink in Shinjuku, but I decided to head back with the other half of the people since it was already 10:30pm. I still had to pack and finish up an assignment, so that ended my evening.
Monday, June 8, 2009
8 June 2009
Don had an optional trip planned to Kamakura today, so I was definitely interested in taking part. Since Kamakura is past Yokohama however, it was going to get a longer and more complicated train ride to get there. We met at Shibuya Station at 11:20am in order to catch the 11:30am Tokyu Toyoko Line to Yokohama. From Yokohama, we took a JR Line to Kamakura, where we then transferred to the Kamakura local line to ultimately arrive at the Hase stop. Kamakura had the small town feel with the tourism influence. We grabbed a quick lunch for half an hour, so Norio, Derrick, and I got croquette on a stick from the local butcher. It was really good, especially for only 170 yen! For dessert, Derrick and I got milk-flavored soft serve ice cream for 300 yen since it was still hot and humid outside. We met back up with Don, and he led us to the Kamakura Daibutsu. The Daibutsu is the second largest Buddha in Japan, only second to the one we had seen earlier at Todaiji Temple in Nara. The Daibutsu was constructed of bronze, and we were even able to go inside of it for the meager 20 yen charge. It was interesting to see how the Buddha was actually constructed since that was one aspect that we hadn’t seen before. That was about it for the large Buddha viewing.
Don had some other sites planned out to visit, but they didn’t sound like anything special. I had already tentatively planned out the rest of my day in Tokyo, since we leave really soon, so I left the group on my own to head back to Tokyo. I was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to remember my way back, but somehow, I was able to do it with no problem. What a relief! Once back in Tokyo, I headed straight to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi to visit the 21/21 Design Sight Museum by Tadao Ando. There was an exhibit called Bones going on, and I had heard from some of my classmates that it was amazing. It cost 1,000 yen to get in, and the museum really was worth it. There were some really cool hands-on exhibits, along with some neat x-rays of objects and living organisms.
After visiting the Bones exhibit, it was still only about 5:30pm. It was supposed to rain today, but the sky was still dry, so I decided to embark on one more adventure for the evening. I jumped on the subway, transferred two different times, and got off at Gokokuji. Saint Mary’s Cathedral, which was a short 10 minute walk from Gokokuji Station, and it was designed by Kengo Tange. It was a really worthwhile trip, and even though I wasn’t able to see the inside since it was closed, the exterior form was still completely amazing. It didn’t rain the entire time I was out either, so I’m glad the day ended well. I took three different subway lines to get back to the NOMYC, and I grabbed a quick dinner at Matsuya with Seth before retiring for the night. The remainder of the evening I tried to catch-up on a few assignments for Arch 420, Skyped with the parentals, and caught up on my blogs and photos. Tomorrow we have our last class meeting at 9:30am, so the program will really feel like it’s coming to an end quickly.
Don had some other sites planned out to visit, but they didn’t sound like anything special. I had already tentatively planned out the rest of my day in Tokyo, since we leave really soon, so I left the group on my own to head back to Tokyo. I was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to remember my way back, but somehow, I was able to do it with no problem. What a relief! Once back in Tokyo, I headed straight to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi to visit the 21/21 Design Sight Museum by Tadao Ando. There was an exhibit called Bones going on, and I had heard from some of my classmates that it was amazing. It cost 1,000 yen to get in, and the museum really was worth it. There were some really cool hands-on exhibits, along with some neat x-rays of objects and living organisms.
After visiting the Bones exhibit, it was still only about 5:30pm. It was supposed to rain today, but the sky was still dry, so I decided to embark on one more adventure for the evening. I jumped on the subway, transferred two different times, and got off at Gokokuji. Saint Mary’s Cathedral, which was a short 10 minute walk from Gokokuji Station, and it was designed by Kengo Tange. It was a really worthwhile trip, and even though I wasn’t able to see the inside since it was closed, the exterior form was still completely amazing. It didn’t rain the entire time I was out either, so I’m glad the day ended well. I took three different subway lines to get back to the NOMYC, and I grabbed a quick dinner at Matsuya with Seth before retiring for the night. The remainder of the evening I tried to catch-up on a few assignments for Arch 420, Skyped with the parentals, and caught up on my blogs and photos. Tomorrow we have our last class meeting at 9:30am, so the program will really feel like it’s coming to an end quickly.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
7 June 2009
Derrick and I both slept in this morning since we were up late enjoying the tv and internet. We left by 11:30am and once again stashed our bags in some lockers in Shinjuku Station. Check-in for the NOMYC was at 4pm, so we didn’t have much time to do too much. We hadn’t been to the Suntory Art Museum yet, so we hopped on the subway to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi. The new exhibit at the Suntory Art Museum featured pieces of art and attire worn during the Edo Period and other parts of Japan’s history. There were many samurai outfits along with swords and guns as well. The museum itself was really beautiful inside, and I was especially surprised that it was located within the Tokyo Midtown Mall. By the time we finished up at the museum, it was time to head back to Shinjuku to get our stuff and return to the NOMYC to check-in.
Don arrived late to meet us, so our schedule was a bit delayed. Eventually we got our keys, sheets, and rooms for the last time. This time the girls got the smaller rooms on the inside of the building curve, and the guys got the larger ones. It sucks, but at least it will help me keep my stuff organized. No one really had plans for the rest of the night, but some of the guys scheduled a visit to the Ramen Museum in Shin-Yokohama with Don. Anyone interested was invited to go, and we additionally planned to get dinner there since you could try ramen from different areas of Japan there. I ended up being the only girl who went, which I found very amusing. It took a while on the train to get there, but it was well worth it. We had to take three different trains to get there, and Don even took us on the wrong train at one point. It was a crazy trip, and we were all starving by the time we arrived at the museum.
The inside of the museum was basically a fun house, similar to the one we had visited in Osaka. The interior was a mini mock-up of a small town in Japan, and the restaurants were located within the buildings. There were eight places to choose from, and I was set on at least trying two of them. At all the venues, we additionally had to option of a regular bowl and a mini bowl. The ramen was fairly expensive for what it was, so I always ordered the mini bowl for 550 yen. The two places I tried were really good, and I wish I had room in my stomach to have tried more! We split up once we were inside, so we were able to share our stories from the different ramens that we tried. By the time we started heading home, it was already around 10pm. I knew it was going to be another long night. On the train ride back, Zach and Scot both fell asleep on either side of me, so Don, Seth, and Derrick were getting a kick out of it. By the time we got back, we were all done for the night. I was beginning to get a headache since I had had such a long day, so I went straight back to the NOMYC, showered, and slept.
Don arrived late to meet us, so our schedule was a bit delayed. Eventually we got our keys, sheets, and rooms for the last time. This time the girls got the smaller rooms on the inside of the building curve, and the guys got the larger ones. It sucks, but at least it will help me keep my stuff organized. No one really had plans for the rest of the night, but some of the guys scheduled a visit to the Ramen Museum in Shin-Yokohama with Don. Anyone interested was invited to go, and we additionally planned to get dinner there since you could try ramen from different areas of Japan there. I ended up being the only girl who went, which I found very amusing. It took a while on the train to get there, but it was well worth it. We had to take three different trains to get there, and Don even took us on the wrong train at one point. It was a crazy trip, and we were all starving by the time we arrived at the museum.
The inside of the museum was basically a fun house, similar to the one we had visited in Osaka. The interior was a mini mock-up of a small town in Japan, and the restaurants were located within the buildings. There were eight places to choose from, and I was set on at least trying two of them. At all the venues, we additionally had to option of a regular bowl and a mini bowl. The ramen was fairly expensive for what it was, so I always ordered the mini bowl for 550 yen. The two places I tried were really good, and I wish I had room in my stomach to have tried more! We split up once we were inside, so we were able to share our stories from the different ramens that we tried. By the time we started heading home, it was already around 10pm. I knew it was going to be another long night. On the train ride back, Zach and Scot both fell asleep on either side of me, so Don, Seth, and Derrick were getting a kick out of it. By the time we got back, we were all done for the night. I was beginning to get a headache since I had had such a long day, so I went straight back to the NOMYC, showered, and slept.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
6 June 2009
Today is officially the last day we will have to move in and out of the NOMYC. It is really exciting since everyone is tired of moving, but it also signifies that the trip is almost over. Since everyone seems to have different opinions about the trip coming to an end, it is interesting to see how much people either liked or disliked Japan.
The morning was the same as any other move out day. We folded and collected our sheets, then turned in our keys. Don planned to take the group to the National Art Center, Suntory Museum, and 21/21 Design Sight Museum, all of which are in Roppongi. Derrick, Norio, and I weren’t sure where we were going to be staying that night, so we decided to opted out of the museum day and instead figure out some accommodations for the night. Following our original plan, we went to Shinjuku in search of a large and cheap love hotel. We walked through an area called Kabukicho which is known as the love hotel area. As we suspected, check-in for staying at love hotels wasn’t until 10 or 11pm, so we decided to stash our stuff in some lockers at Shinjuku Station. Norio ended up getting a call from one of his friends, so we bailed on us and our plans to do his own thing. Derrick and I had plenty of time to kill before trying to check-in at a hotel, so we wandered around Shinjuku to do a bit of shopping, grabbed some tonkatsu for lunch, and then went to Akihabara for a second time. Akihabara is known at the electronic district, so we wandered through many stores and just browsed. It is always fun to try out new cameras, toys, and games. Once it got close to 9pm, we jumped on the subway and returned to Shinjuku. On the way back however, we saw Tokyo Dome, so we decided to stop quickly to wander around. There was a mini theme park there with a huge roller coaster, a log ride, a free fall, and a ferris wheel. It was a really neat atmosphere. We got dinner there since we saw a peppercorn garlic burger set on sale for 760 yen. It was really good. Afterwards, Baskin Robins had a line out the door since they were having a promotion called “Challenge the Triple”. For only 400 yen, you got a triple scoop. This was especially a deal in Japan since a single scoop usually costs 320 yen! Derrick and I were both ready for dessert, so I got chocolate mint, melon musk, and popping shower. It was delicious, and it was a great way to end our adventure.
Since Norio decided to stay out late with his friends, he decided to get a single room at a close-by Toyoko Inn. The only rooms available were smoking single rooms, so Derrick and I were out of luck. Wandering around Kabukicho looking for a love hotel was really difficult without Norio’s guidance. We tried to go to a few, but many wouldn’t accept people who did not speak fluent Japanese. It was really surprising! Finally, since we weren’t able to find any rooms that were reasonable and/or that included karaoke, game systems, etc. Derrick and I ended up resorting to a 24 hour internet café. It cost 3,360 yen for a cubicle with a couch, tv, and computer with internet for 12 hours. It was around 11:30pm when we checked in, so that allowed us until 11:30am to stay and sleep in. The drink bar was free, and it offered milk tea, oolong tea, juices, soda, energy drinks, and hot chocolate. It was kind of weird staying in a cubicle with Derrick in one next to me, but I’m glad I had the experience. I fully enjoyed the internet and tv at the same time and drank more than enough drinks throughout the night. Since I am short, I also easily fit on the couch and was able to get a good night’s rest.
The morning was the same as any other move out day. We folded and collected our sheets, then turned in our keys. Don planned to take the group to the National Art Center, Suntory Museum, and 21/21 Design Sight Museum, all of which are in Roppongi. Derrick, Norio, and I weren’t sure where we were going to be staying that night, so we decided to opted out of the museum day and instead figure out some accommodations for the night. Following our original plan, we went to Shinjuku in search of a large and cheap love hotel. We walked through an area called Kabukicho which is known as the love hotel area. As we suspected, check-in for staying at love hotels wasn’t until 10 or 11pm, so we decided to stash our stuff in some lockers at Shinjuku Station. Norio ended up getting a call from one of his friends, so we bailed on us and our plans to do his own thing. Derrick and I had plenty of time to kill before trying to check-in at a hotel, so we wandered around Shinjuku to do a bit of shopping, grabbed some tonkatsu for lunch, and then went to Akihabara for a second time. Akihabara is known at the electronic district, so we wandered through many stores and just browsed. It is always fun to try out new cameras, toys, and games. Once it got close to 9pm, we jumped on the subway and returned to Shinjuku. On the way back however, we saw Tokyo Dome, so we decided to stop quickly to wander around. There was a mini theme park there with a huge roller coaster, a log ride, a free fall, and a ferris wheel. It was a really neat atmosphere. We got dinner there since we saw a peppercorn garlic burger set on sale for 760 yen. It was really good. Afterwards, Baskin Robins had a line out the door since they were having a promotion called “Challenge the Triple”. For only 400 yen, you got a triple scoop. This was especially a deal in Japan since a single scoop usually costs 320 yen! Derrick and I were both ready for dessert, so I got chocolate mint, melon musk, and popping shower. It was delicious, and it was a great way to end our adventure.
Since Norio decided to stay out late with his friends, he decided to get a single room at a close-by Toyoko Inn. The only rooms available were smoking single rooms, so Derrick and I were out of luck. Wandering around Kabukicho looking for a love hotel was really difficult without Norio’s guidance. We tried to go to a few, but many wouldn’t accept people who did not speak fluent Japanese. It was really surprising! Finally, since we weren’t able to find any rooms that were reasonable and/or that included karaoke, game systems, etc. Derrick and I ended up resorting to a 24 hour internet café. It cost 3,360 yen for a cubicle with a couch, tv, and computer with internet for 12 hours. It was around 11:30pm when we checked in, so that allowed us until 11:30am to stay and sleep in. The drink bar was free, and it offered milk tea, oolong tea, juices, soda, energy drinks, and hot chocolate. It was kind of weird staying in a cubicle with Derrick in one next to me, but I’m glad I had the experience. I fully enjoyed the internet and tv at the same time and drank more than enough drinks throughout the night. Since I am short, I also easily fit on the couch and was able to get a good night’s rest.
Friday, June 5, 2009
5 June 2009
I didn’t sleep at all last night except for a few really short 10-minute naps. We got our project done by noon when it was due, but I knew I was going to be completely wiped out for the rest of the day. It took about four hours for everyone to present, and by the end, everyone was ready for a nice long nap. Our presentation went alright, but it was hard for everyone to have a complete project in such a short amount of time. Don was still very impressed with the amount of work that everyone had, and he complimented us multiple times on working so hard while in Japan. After class ended, I went straight back to my room and took a nice long nap. I woke-up around 7pm and went to get dinner with Derrick since Norio and Seth had already eaten. We got McDonald’s since we had both been craving that for a day or two. I ordered my usual Filet-o-Fish meal set, and it was great as expected. Tomorrow we have to move out of the NOMYC for one day again, so I spent a good portion of the evening unpacking and repacking my luggage. I’m glad this will be the last time I have to move out and back into this place! I still have no idea where I’ll be staying tomorrow night, but Don gave us each 5,000 yen to pay for our accommodations. As of right now, Derrick, Seth, Norio, and I are thinking of staying at a Love Hotel. Many of our other classmates are planning to stay at one as well, but I don’t think anyone has made any definite plans. We are all pooped out, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I was mainly looking forward to a good night’s rest, so I went to be fairly early for a change.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
4 June 2009
I was up until 5am this morning, but luckily we didn’t have to meet with Don until 12:35pm in order to catch the 12:50pm Tokyu Train to Yokohama. I slept-in until 10am, which was a nice change from getting up early every day. We got into Yokohama around 2pm, and our first office visit was Koizumi Masao’s. Koizumi additionally teaches Master-level architecture courses at a local university, so he had four of his students there to tag along with us. Koizumi gave us a 30 minute presentation on some of his recent works, then he took us to two more firms. Koizumi was nice enough to plan our entire day in Yokohama for us, so we were really lucky to have such a prominent and well-known tour guide. The second office we visited was less than a block away, and it was the office of Mikan Gumi. Mikan is actually French, but he worked in Japan for 15 years. He didn’t have a presentation prepared, so we just walked around the office, and he talked about some of the large models they had constructed. Lastly, we visited Riken Yamamoto’s office. We were three for three on office that had English speakers, so it was nice that we didn’t have to listen to Don translating all the time. At Riken’s office, we were surprised to find out that they sometimes work 100 hours in a week with no days off. That is completely inconceivable, especially when compared to the American work ethic! Wow! It was really interesting to see how differently other countries perform work and to what standard they must meet.
After visiting Riken’s offfce, Mikan and Koizumi continued to lead us around. We visited the Osanbashi Yokohama International Passenger Terminal by Foreign Office Architects. It was my fourth time visiting the port since arriving in Japan, and I’m glad the weather was a little less hazy than usual. We then proceeded to walk around the New Port Opening, since the Zou-no-Hana Port Project was done by Koizumi himself. It was really neat to visit a prominent project with the architect who designed it. What a great opportunity! Finally, we made our way to the area showcasing Yokohama’s 150th Anniversary of the Port Opening. There were multiple exhibitions scattered throughout the area, but we specifically wanted to enter the Nissan Y+150 Forest of Beginners Exhibit since Mikan Gumi was the architect of the structure. He even brought along a few drawing sheets for each of us showing the plan and elevations of the temporary structure. We entered the exhibit after 6pm because the price is cut in half to 1,200 yen. I still can’t believe that it usually costs 2,400 yen to get in! There wasn’t even very much to look at once inside, but the main feature of this particular exhibit was the French “La Machine” mechanical spider. It was approximately 12m tall, and it required about eight people to operate it at any given time. We had to wait about 30 minutes to see the last demonstration, but it was totally worth it. It was almost scary to think that someone could create such a large and operable creature, and I felt like I was in a movie.
After the spider demonstration, we left the exhibit and said goodbye to Mikan. Koizumi had made reservations for us at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, so we started walking back to the Chinatown area. The Chinese restaurant was really small, and our large group filled up the entire thing. Koizumi had already ordered certain dishes for us, so in total, we had about eight plates of different foods come out. The meal was really good, and I was completely full. I’m glad the Cal Poly program paid for it because it turned out to be about 3,500 yen per person! By the time we finished up with dinner, it was already after 10pm. What a long day, and our final project was still due tomorrow! We thanked Koizumi and his students heavily and said our goodbyes. The train ride back to Tokyo went by fairly quickly, and we began working immediately after getting back to the NOMYC. I was pretty much done with my portion of the project, but I still stayed up all night helping everyone else in my group finish up their stuff. It was a really long night.
After visiting Riken’s offfce, Mikan and Koizumi continued to lead us around. We visited the Osanbashi Yokohama International Passenger Terminal by Foreign Office Architects. It was my fourth time visiting the port since arriving in Japan, and I’m glad the weather was a little less hazy than usual. We then proceeded to walk around the New Port Opening, since the Zou-no-Hana Port Project was done by Koizumi himself. It was really neat to visit a prominent project with the architect who designed it. What a great opportunity! Finally, we made our way to the area showcasing Yokohama’s 150th Anniversary of the Port Opening. There were multiple exhibitions scattered throughout the area, but we specifically wanted to enter the Nissan Y+150 Forest of Beginners Exhibit since Mikan Gumi was the architect of the structure. He even brought along a few drawing sheets for each of us showing the plan and elevations of the temporary structure. We entered the exhibit after 6pm because the price is cut in half to 1,200 yen. I still can’t believe that it usually costs 2,400 yen to get in! There wasn’t even very much to look at once inside, but the main feature of this particular exhibit was the French “La Machine” mechanical spider. It was approximately 12m tall, and it required about eight people to operate it at any given time. We had to wait about 30 minutes to see the last demonstration, but it was totally worth it. It was almost scary to think that someone could create such a large and operable creature, and I felt like I was in a movie.
After the spider demonstration, we left the exhibit and said goodbye to Mikan. Koizumi had made reservations for us at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, so we started walking back to the Chinatown area. The Chinese restaurant was really small, and our large group filled up the entire thing. Koizumi had already ordered certain dishes for us, so in total, we had about eight plates of different foods come out. The meal was really good, and I was completely full. I’m glad the Cal Poly program paid for it because it turned out to be about 3,500 yen per person! By the time we finished up with dinner, it was already after 10pm. What a long day, and our final project was still due tomorrow! We thanked Koizumi and his students heavily and said our goodbyes. The train ride back to Tokyo went by fairly quickly, and we began working immediately after getting back to the NOMYC. I was pretty much done with my portion of the project, but I still stayed up all night helping everyone else in my group finish up their stuff. It was a really long night.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
3 June 2009
This morning we had an office visit scheduled at Jun Aoki’s office. He is another really prominent architect in Japan, so I was excited to see his office. We met as a class at the Yoyogi-koen Station and caught the 9:34am train. We made it to Aoki’s office by 10am for our appointment with him, and he fortunately spoke pretty good English. We listened to him discuss a couple of his recent projects, then we were free to look around. I continue to be surprised by the tight working quarters which are common in many of the offices we have visited so far in Japan. There were many polished models on display, so we were able to take many pictures and ask questions about what we saw. We were done with the office visit by 11am, and Don had nothing else planned for us. Norio and I wanted to visit the largest architecture bookstore in the Jimbocho Book District of Tokyo, so we took the subway to the Jimbocho Station. Derrick and Seth headed back to the NOMYC to work on our project. Once in Jimbocho, it was hard for even Norio to navigate his way around. I don’t think I have ever seen that many new and used bookstores before. We had been here one time before with Don, but nothing really looked familiar. Eventually we found Nanyodo Bookstore, and I bought the same boogazine as the Kengo Kuma one, except it was featuring Toyo Ito. I really like Ito’s projects, so I was excited to finally find this boogazine too.
After leaving Nanyodo, Norio was hungry, but I wasn’t. I instead wanted to go back to the Toto Bookstore to buy a book for my friend, so Norio went to get lunch, and I caught the train back to Nogizawa. Eventually we met back up at the NOMYC, and we worked heavily on our design project as a group. For dinner, I actually met up with my Uncle Masaru who lives in Tokyo. He met me at the gate of the NOMYC, and we took the subway to Kappabashi/Asakusa. Since I hadn’t been to Kappabashi before, he wanted to make sure I at least visit that area since it is known at Tokyo’s Food District. We wandered around, and there were many kitchen supply stores. Eventually we wandered into the Asakusa area and sat down at a tempura place. I thought it was really expensive, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. My meal came with a plate of tempura (jumbo prawns, squid, potato, green beans, and jalapeño pepper), rice, two types of tsukemono, miso soup, and green tea for 2,300 yen! It was really good, and the jumbo prawns were by far the largest ones I had ever seen in my life. I was completely full by the end of the meal! We walked around the markets outside of Asakusa Temple, but many of them were closing since it was after 6pm. Uncle Masaru really wanted to buy me some snacks for my room, so we eventually found a small store called Rusk. Rusk sold small baguette-like pieces of bread which were sweet and came in three different flavors. I tried one sample of each flavor, and they were all really good! He ended up buying me a 12-pack with all three flavors in it. I was so grateful! Since it was getting later and I had work to do, we headed back to the NOMYC on the subway. Once back at the NOMYC, I showed him my room and living accommodations, and he was additionally able to meet Norio. I walked him to the Sanjubashi Station, since he had to catch the subway back to his home near Ikebukuro. I grabbed some tea on the way back to my room, since it was going to be another late night of working.
I’m really glad I was able to meet up with Uncle Masaru today. I was somewhat worried about the language barrier being an issue, but his Japanese was pretty good and much better than his writing in emails. He is planning to meet me at the front gate on my last day at the NOMYC, so I now feel confident that we are both on the same page as well. This program is coming to an end really quickly, and I am really looking forward to meeting my Grandma’s other brothers and sister when I travel to Nagano next week.
After leaving Nanyodo, Norio was hungry, but I wasn’t. I instead wanted to go back to the Toto Bookstore to buy a book for my friend, so Norio went to get lunch, and I caught the train back to Nogizawa. Eventually we met back up at the NOMYC, and we worked heavily on our design project as a group. For dinner, I actually met up with my Uncle Masaru who lives in Tokyo. He met me at the gate of the NOMYC, and we took the subway to Kappabashi/Asakusa. Since I hadn’t been to Kappabashi before, he wanted to make sure I at least visit that area since it is known at Tokyo’s Food District. We wandered around, and there were many kitchen supply stores. Eventually we wandered into the Asakusa area and sat down at a tempura place. I thought it was really expensive, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. My meal came with a plate of tempura (jumbo prawns, squid, potato, green beans, and jalapeño pepper), rice, two types of tsukemono, miso soup, and green tea for 2,300 yen! It was really good, and the jumbo prawns were by far the largest ones I had ever seen in my life. I was completely full by the end of the meal! We walked around the markets outside of Asakusa Temple, but many of them were closing since it was after 6pm. Uncle Masaru really wanted to buy me some snacks for my room, so we eventually found a small store called Rusk. Rusk sold small baguette-like pieces of bread which were sweet and came in three different flavors. I tried one sample of each flavor, and they were all really good! He ended up buying me a 12-pack with all three flavors in it. I was so grateful! Since it was getting later and I had work to do, we headed back to the NOMYC on the subway. Once back at the NOMYC, I showed him my room and living accommodations, and he was additionally able to meet Norio. I walked him to the Sanjubashi Station, since he had to catch the subway back to his home near Ikebukuro. I grabbed some tea on the way back to my room, since it was going to be another late night of working.
I’m really glad I was able to meet up with Uncle Masaru today. I was somewhat worried about the language barrier being an issue, but his Japanese was pretty good and much better than his writing in emails. He is planning to meet me at the front gate on my last day at the NOMYC, so I now feel confident that we are both on the same page as well. This program is coming to an end really quickly, and I am really looking forward to meeting my Grandma’s other brothers and sister when I travel to Nagano next week.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
2 June 2009
I woke-up this morning at 9:00am to make sure I had enough time to get ready and turn in my sheet on-time. Don messed up on the schedule a bit, so we were actually supposed to have turned in our sheets two days ago, so we got a bit delayed on turning in our sheets. Afterwards, we walked as a group to the Yoyogi-koen Station and caught the 10:46am train to Nogizawa. We headed to Gallery Ma, one of the most prestigious architecture display galleries in Japan. Klein Dytham Architect’s work was being showcased in the gallery, and Astrid Klein actually met us there to talk about her and Mark Dytham’s work. The exhibit was two stories, and it was really interesting to see how successful foreigners could be in Japan. Both Astrid and Mark had graduated from college in Europe and immediately moved to Japan with no real plan in mind. They both attained jobs at Toyo Ito’s office, which is incredibly hard to do as a foreigner. They eventually started their own firm, and this exhibition in Gallery Ma was celebrating their 20th anniversary of architecture in Japan. After viewing the gallery and talking with Astrid, we went to the Toto Architecture Bookstore located one level below the gallery in the same building. I continue to love the architectural bookstores here since there are so many books that I cannot buy when I’m in the U.S. Many people bought many books, but I settled on one “boogazine”, which is a hybrid between a book and a magazine. It featured only recent works by Kengo Kuma, whose office we visited just last week. The cover had the model from the competition they won recently for an orchestra hall, and the project architect had actually discussed the project with us when we were at Kuma’s firm.
After finalizing our purchases, Don invited Norio, Derrick, and I to get some lunch with him. We found a very reasonable tonkatsu restaurant, and I ordered tonkatsu over rice and curry for 580 yen. It was really really good, especially for the price. I am really going to miss all of the good food for such cheap prices when I return to the U.S. We were all pretty tired after lunch, so we headed back to the NOMYC. Once back at the NOMYC, we couldn’t figure out what we wanted to do. It is supposed to rain the rest of the week, so I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful sunny weather. Derrick and Norio were too tired to even go out, so I decided to go out on my own to explore. I had been wanting to visit Nakano for quite some time now, and since no one else was really interested in going there, I decided today was a great opportunity. I hoped on the train without really knowing the best way of getting there, but I eventually got there just fine. The main attraction in Nakano is the shopping arcade, so I wandered through there. I went into a UniQlo, and the jeans I’ve been looking at were actually on sale. I’ve been waiting for the past month for the jeans to go on sale, and I had never seen them on sale anywhere, so I definitely bought them. The great thing about UniQlo too is that they hem your pants for free. I paid for them, and they said the pants would be ready in 20 minutes. How convenient! I wish all stores in the U.S. did that too. Nothing else really stood out as amazing in Nakano. I just took a lot of pictures of signs and buildings that said Nakano, and I enjoyed the nice weather. I picked-up my jeans on the way back to the station and got back to Sanjubashi Station around 7pm. I picked-up some somen at the convenient store and spent the rest of the evening working on my studio project.
After finalizing our purchases, Don invited Norio, Derrick, and I to get some lunch with him. We found a very reasonable tonkatsu restaurant, and I ordered tonkatsu over rice and curry for 580 yen. It was really really good, especially for the price. I am really going to miss all of the good food for such cheap prices when I return to the U.S. We were all pretty tired after lunch, so we headed back to the NOMYC. Once back at the NOMYC, we couldn’t figure out what we wanted to do. It is supposed to rain the rest of the week, so I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful sunny weather. Derrick and Norio were too tired to even go out, so I decided to go out on my own to explore. I had been wanting to visit Nakano for quite some time now, and since no one else was really interested in going there, I decided today was a great opportunity. I hoped on the train without really knowing the best way of getting there, but I eventually got there just fine. The main attraction in Nakano is the shopping arcade, so I wandered through there. I went into a UniQlo, and the jeans I’ve been looking at were actually on sale. I’ve been waiting for the past month for the jeans to go on sale, and I had never seen them on sale anywhere, so I definitely bought them. The great thing about UniQlo too is that they hem your pants for free. I paid for them, and they said the pants would be ready in 20 minutes. How convenient! I wish all stores in the U.S. did that too. Nothing else really stood out as amazing in Nakano. I just took a lot of pictures of signs and buildings that said Nakano, and I enjoyed the nice weather. I picked-up my jeans on the way back to the station and got back to Sanjubashi Station around 7pm. I picked-up some somen at the convenient store and spent the rest of the evening working on my studio project.
Monday, June 1, 2009
1 June 2009
Wow, today is already June 1st! That is so crazy, since time has just flown by! There are only ten official days of Cal Poly study abroad class left, and my final group project is due in four days. Everything is just coming to a close so quickly! My group met with Don at 9:30am this morning and discussed our project one last time before our final is due this upcoming Friday. He seemed really pleased with our progress, so I’m hoping it’s because he actually liked our design and not because he knows we don’t have time to change it, but whatever. It is what it is. After meeting with him, Norio and I walked to a small coffee shop across the street from the NOMYC. I tried an iced almond latte, and he got his usual coffee. We made plans to visit Shinjuku then Ginza that night to take photos, but we both wanted to take a nap before going out again. We walked back to the NOMYC and decided to meet back up around 3pm. I used the time to mainly catch-up on my blogs and emails, but I also found time to nap for about an hour. When I woke-up at 3pm, I went and woke-up Norio as well. Derrick had originally planned to go with us too, but he was too exhausted to go out. Instead, John asked to go with us, so the three of us headed out toward Shinjuku on foot.
It was slightly raining when we first left the NOMYC, but it stopped after about 10 minutes of walking. We first went up the observatory tower in the Tokyo Government Building by Kenzo Tange, then we went and explored the ground level of the Cocoon Tower, also designed by Kenzo Tange. Afterwards, we had originally planned to go straight to Ginza, but since it was still light outside, Norio wanted to go see an installation in one of the nearby subway stations. We hopped on the subway and got off at Iidabashi Station. The installation consisted of bright green pipes forming linear shapes based off of algorithmic formulas, and Norio said it was done by Makoto Watanabe Architects. It wrapped along the ceiling of the station as the escalators climbed higher and higher to finally reach ground level. The even better part was that we didn’t have to exit the subway gates since the installation was completely contained with the gated areas. Norio, John, and I used it as an opportunity to go somewhere else with the same prepaid ticket. John ended up getting a headache however, so he got off at Shinjuku, and Norio and I proceeded to go back to Roppongi. Norio wanted to photograph the Louis Vuitton store by Jun Aoki since the façade consisted of many clear tubes. I had already seen it, but I took a few photographs anyways. We grabbed a quick dinner at Wendy’s, and I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and chili set for 690 yen. It was really good and really filling. After finishing dinner in Roppongi, we finally got on the subway to Ginza.
Once in Ginza, I was completely amazed by how beautiful the area was at night. The buildings all look completely different, and many of the less aesthetically pleasing buildings during the daytime were completely transformed at night. We walked around for a couple of hours taking photos, and I’m glad the weather was agreeable as well. By the time we finished, it was around 11pm, so most places were closed. Since we were both thirsty and didn’t want to return to the NOMYC, we took the subway to Shibuya so we could grabbed something to drink and eat at Saizeriya. I ordered the Chef’s Salad for 299 yen, along with a voucher for the unlimited drink bar for 180 yen. Norio ordered a bacon and sausage pizza and also got a voucher for the drink bar. That was the second time I went to the drink bar at Saizeriya, and I enjoy to its fullest every time since I love soda and tea so much. We lost track of time while talking so we didn’t end up leaving Saizeriya until around 1am. What a long day! We walked back to the NOMYC and went our separate ways. I took a shower then worked on organizing my photos from earlier. Tomorrow we meet with Klein Dytham Architects at their exhibition in Gallery Ma, so that should be interesting. We also get to change our sheets every week, so we have to turn in our sheets tomorrow morning at 10:15am and get a new set. What a hassle…
It was slightly raining when we first left the NOMYC, but it stopped after about 10 minutes of walking. We first went up the observatory tower in the Tokyo Government Building by Kenzo Tange, then we went and explored the ground level of the Cocoon Tower, also designed by Kenzo Tange. Afterwards, we had originally planned to go straight to Ginza, but since it was still light outside, Norio wanted to go see an installation in one of the nearby subway stations. We hopped on the subway and got off at Iidabashi Station. The installation consisted of bright green pipes forming linear shapes based off of algorithmic formulas, and Norio said it was done by Makoto Watanabe Architects. It wrapped along the ceiling of the station as the escalators climbed higher and higher to finally reach ground level. The even better part was that we didn’t have to exit the subway gates since the installation was completely contained with the gated areas. Norio, John, and I used it as an opportunity to go somewhere else with the same prepaid ticket. John ended up getting a headache however, so he got off at Shinjuku, and Norio and I proceeded to go back to Roppongi. Norio wanted to photograph the Louis Vuitton store by Jun Aoki since the façade consisted of many clear tubes. I had already seen it, but I took a few photographs anyways. We grabbed a quick dinner at Wendy’s, and I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and chili set for 690 yen. It was really good and really filling. After finishing dinner in Roppongi, we finally got on the subway to Ginza.
Once in Ginza, I was completely amazed by how beautiful the area was at night. The buildings all look completely different, and many of the less aesthetically pleasing buildings during the daytime were completely transformed at night. We walked around for a couple of hours taking photos, and I’m glad the weather was agreeable as well. By the time we finished, it was around 11pm, so most places were closed. Since we were both thirsty and didn’t want to return to the NOMYC, we took the subway to Shibuya so we could grabbed something to drink and eat at Saizeriya. I ordered the Chef’s Salad for 299 yen, along with a voucher for the unlimited drink bar for 180 yen. Norio ordered a bacon and sausage pizza and also got a voucher for the drink bar. That was the second time I went to the drink bar at Saizeriya, and I enjoy to its fullest every time since I love soda and tea so much. We lost track of time while talking so we didn’t end up leaving Saizeriya until around 1am. What a long day! We walked back to the NOMYC and went our separate ways. I took a shower then worked on organizing my photos from earlier. Tomorrow we meet with Klein Dytham Architects at their exhibition in Gallery Ma, so that should be interesting. We also get to change our sheets every week, so we have to turn in our sheets tomorrow morning at 10:15am and get a new set. What a hassle…
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