Fun Times is Nara

Back in January, Sam and I decided to travel around Japan. Sam had never been to Nara before so she wanted to check it out. She was interested in seeing different things that Nara had to offer, but wasn’t too sure of what was there. She had asked me what kind of things were there since I had been before, but all I knew about Nara was Todaiji and that there was tons of deer!

When we first arrived in Nara It became very obvious that the town was filled with deer and that it was going to be an interesting adventure that day. We had decided that we would like to see the Temple first so that’s where we had headed, Unfortunately it started to rain! Sam and I are very stubborn so we didn’t let the rain stop us from our mission. As soon as we made it to the temple, there was even more deer! Sam was so excited we she saw them that she bought some biscuits to feed them. Big mistake! The deer swarmed her with excitement over the food they were about to get. After being bitten a few times (hahaha) Sam was able to get away from the deer and we were able to check out the temple.

The temple in Nara was very interesting and I Learned that it was home to one of the largest Buddha statues in Japan. I don’t know too much about Buddhism but I do enjoy visiting different Temples and seeing the different temples. Each temple is very unique and has a different atmosphere, which I enjoy.  After leaving the temple Sam and I were pretty tired so decided to call it a day. If you know about anything else in Nara be sure to let us know!

Until next time….

みなさんこんにちは。

この冬はまだ雪が降っておらず、暖冬を感じる毎日ですね。

しかし、しっかり冷え込む日もありまだまだ寒さを感じる日は続きそうです。

そんな中でも春を感じることができるものを見つけました。

桜です。この時期に咲くということは代表的なソメイヨシノではないのでしょうが、

寒い冬の次には暖かな春がやってくることを感じさせてくれました。

Last week I went to an onsen about 30 minutes from Ogaki City called Yuge no Sato. It is up on a hill so you can see the whole valley around Ogaki — you can even see Gifu Castle and the 43 Building! From far away, Ogaki looks like a big city with tall buildings and lots of lights. The countryside around Yuge no Sato is really pretty and I was surprised to see so many tea fields. My friends and I walked up the VERY steep hill to the onsen so it was a relief to take a hot bath afterward!

In the evening, we had a vegetarian meal with several courses. I was vegetarian for 12 years, and I still prefer eating no meat at most meals. There were some things I had never eaten before, like thistle stalks, sesame tofu and a lot of mountain mushrooms. I felt very relaxed after this day trip, and I’d like to go to more onsen in the area!

本日２月３日は節分ですね。

「鬼は外、福は内」と豆まきをして、年齢の数だけ豆を食べます。

恵方巻もこの日くらいしか食べることが出来ないので、楽しみです！

そして楽しみといえば、今週日曜日に開催されるアカデミー賞授賞式ですね☆

今年の個人的注目はハリウッドの映画の祭典において、

韓国映画『パラサイト 半地下の家族』がどれだけ賞を獲得できるのか。

レオナルド・ディカプリオが『ジョーカー』のホアキン・フェニックスを

おさえて悲願のオスカー像を手に入れることができるのか。。。！

アカデミー賞授賞式は日本時間だと来週の月曜日になるので、待ちきれません。

Hey, Y’all! So I recently went to Taiwan and it was my 3rd asian country to visit! Taiwan is very very different than Japan and Korea, but not necessarily in a bad way! I suppose I believed it was very technological but I was very wrong, as 90% of the places didn’t accept VISA, but cash only which was a huge burden on me at the time. Regardless of that, Taiwan was very beautiful with lots of traditional shrines and night markets! The night market in Keelung City was especially huge, and all the food was so good!