Tokyo

In December we went on a trip to Tokyo. The main purpose was so I could take the LSAT, but we figured why not have fun too!

We stayed at Sakura Hotel which was lovely! The room was small, but it was cheap, clean, and safe.  We had dinner at a no name salary man restaurant. Basically it's a restaurant that serves food that is easy to eat very quickly so that salary men can eat something after work.  Our first night we turned in early on account of my exam.

The next morning we made our way to Temple University. Rob wished me good luck and went to take on the town. The test was hard, I didn't study enough, and I felt ill. Hopefully I did well. Lol

After I met with Rob and he told me he had spent the morning in Akihabara. So we decided to go back there. We bought a delightful heated toilet seat, as well as some other small shopping. Akihabara had an interesting array of stores which mostly consisted of adult shops and technology stores. Mixed in were the navi establishments, maid cafes, and restaurants. Oddly enough it didn't feel seedy.

The next day we hit up Shinjuku and went shopping. We sat at the Starbucks above the main pedestrian crossing which was so busy! Then we went to Ginza to look at the Christmas lights and check out the Sony showroom. They had all these new cameras and TVs and I want all of them! Also Rob wanted to go see the Nissan Blade Glider car. After a busy day we went to Tokyo skytree. It is the tallest free-standing structure in the world! At the base of the tower there were shops including a Ghibli store! 

We had a blast in Tokyo! There were so many gaijin compared to Kumamoto! We ate at krispy kreme, many McDonalds, and many salary man restaurants. I can't wait to go back!

Hanging With Kagonyan's Cats

 

 

The kitties at the Kagonyan cat cafe are big cuties. I happened to catch some pictures of their shenanigans while volunteering. Within a first few days of me being their, Nameko (the black and white cat in the first picture) was adopted. He was my favorite, so it was bittersweet. Hopefully he had gone to a good home!

 

Please enjoy the pictures!

 

Also, I found the Kamitori location for Kagonyan! It is right by the sports store "Steps" (it's bright yellow). If you're heading from Kamitori down the main stretch, you'll see Steps on the left. Make a left and you'll see the café on the right hand side a building or two down. It is on the second floor.

 

...we'll update the blog shortly on our recent adventures! ^.^

 

 

 

Although Caramel is not up for adoption, he is the inspiration for murals and ties.

 

Most of these cats are up for adoption. The love cuddling, being affection, and great companions.

 

They also LOVE nabe pots in front of the heater. Oishi des! 

 

Shin wanted in on the loving, but only room for two! 

Kagome and her bestie were cuddling, Keisuke wanted warm lap cuddles, and Mukku just doesn't care whats up.  

Like I said, they love nabe pots. 

 

-Jessica

Cat Cafe in Kumamoto City, Japan

Here in Kumamoto City there are a few Cat Cafe / Shelters. My personal favorite is called Kagonyan, which is located on Shimotori, but there is also one run by the same owner on the Kamitori section of the main drag. 

In addition to these two fabulous cafe's, there is one close to the intersection of the 57 and the 3, called "Mico."

A cat cafe is a cat lover's paradise. A customer pays a set fee and usually has to buy a drink or food item. At Kagonyan Shinshegai you pay 400¥ for 30 minutes and you have to a buy a drink or some food. After the initial 30 minutes you have to pay 100¥ for every 10 minutes. They also have two hour packages that include a combinations of food, time and drinks.  In addition, you can put a 100¥ coin inside a little house figurine and when it plays a song the cats will come running because of treats. The fees go towards the cats livelihoods and health. 

Cat Cafe's are especially good when you can't own your own cat. For example, my hubby and I can't have cats in our apartment, so its perfect. It is also a good setup for people who are moving frequently, traveling often, or have cat allergies in the family.

Most of the cats are adoptable except for a few that belong to the owner: Caramel キャラメル, Ginger- ジンジャー, Michan みっちゃん, Mukkuムック, and Mimi. From what I understand it is FREE to adopt the cats! They need good homes, and they are all so precious.

This one is Nameko, she's a cutey! She loves naps, laps, and attention.

The cats are attracted to the heaters and the heated blankets, they also cuddle for warmth constantly. Most of these cats are available for adoption and are looking for good homes!

Both of these websites are in Japanese, but if you use Google translate you can get the gist! 

Cats that are adoptable that you can hang out with.

More cats that are adoptable and cute.

On the left you can see the nifty cat tree that looks like it was DIY style. The cats love it and scale the sides all the way to the top where they can sit on its glass top under a heating vent. On the top right you can see one of the cuties at the shop. Finally on the bottom right is Ginger, who belongs to the owner and lives permanently at the cafe. 

They are open from 12:00 pm to 2:00 am Sunday – Thursday, and 12:00 pm to 3:00 am on Friday and Saturday. The one on the Shimotori side is located very close to Mister Donut. If you are walking from the Shimotori Starbucks make a left at Mister Donut and a few buildings down you will see a sign for the cafe. It is located on the 3rd floor. 

A couple other helpful links, including maps!

Kagonyan's Facebook

Kagonyan's Website

Shimotori Kagonyan:

Google Maps Shimotori Side - 熊本県熊本市中央区新市街6－2 (3rd floor)

Phone Number - 096-221-4000

Hours Sun-Thur 12pm-2am

         Frid-Sat   12pm-3am

Kamitori Kagonyan:

Google Maps Kamitori Side (approx. location) - 熊本県熊本市中央区上林町1-31 (2nd floor)
Phone Number - 096-221 -3607 
Hours Sun-Sat 12pm-10pm



If you have any questions, please comment and I'll do my best to answer!
-Jessica

~~UPDATES~~

-The cat café has has tons of kittens coming in lately so go check them out!
- The fee for adoption has changed from being free to 10,000 Yen, because the upkeep of the adorable kitties is expensive.
- I went to the Kamitori Kagonyan and its huge in comparison to the one in the Shimotori. However, the one in the Shimotori has more kittens usually.

Aso, Windmills, and Kosmos

On Wednesday I went with my friend Minami out to Nishihara to see the kosmos(sp?) blooming. They are the most darling little flowers, and in this particular area there were a few fields of flowers. The flowers were different shades of pink, and so simple that they were perfect.

 

Then Minami drove me out even farther into Aso to see the windmills. I can see these windmills from the window in the apartment and they are my favorite part of the mountain range. Once we were up there we could see down into Yamato, see an onsen spa in the distance, and had an interview/video taken of us by an older dude with a nice camera.

 

All in all it was a perfect day, and it wouldn't have been possible without my friend Minami. <3

 

-Jessica

Ashikita Beach Party

This blog post is long overdue, but I've finally gotten around to writing it!

A few weeks ago Rob and I went to Ashikita for a beach party for the Kumamoto ALTs. It was so beautiful! I hadn't seen the beach in a really long time, so it was nice to sit on the sea shore. The sand was a lot rougher than I had expected but everyone liked it just fine. I personally did not go swimming even though other people did. After a certain date in Japan you shouldn't go swimming in the ocean because of jelly fish. Even though on this beach there was what  I assumed to be a jelly fish net, I refused to risk it. I late found out that someone thought they had been stung so I as reaffirmed in my decision!

The beach had huge barriers that looked like they were made of concrete jacks.

Then to finish off a lovely day was this breath taking sunset. Once the day was over the fun night festivities began.

We barbequed mochi, vegetables, and meat on these picnic tables that had built in charcoal pits. After everyone ate and drank until they were merry, people went to sleep in these beautiful cabins that we had reserved. I would love to return to Ashikita, hopefully when the weather is hotter and the jelly fish aren't lurking. It was a successful adventure, and a wonderful memory to add to our Japan experience.

Drunken Horse Festival

A few weekends ago we went into the city with our Host Dad and two of his kids. It was very interesting! In the past they would get the horses drunk and they would stagger around all day. However, they are not allowed to make the horses drunk because of animal cruelty, so the horses just stagger around because they are scared. The horses take the lead of the groups, then they are followed by a person that is supposed to rile up the group. It is supposed to look like the people are chasing the horses. We had a pretty sweet spot to watch the parade because the horses were stopped because of traffic and the city tram. After a while we went to the end of the parade route to watch them take the horses away and also to check out the shrine.

"The festival continues for 5 days. On the first day, the head of Fujisakigu believers prays, and there are ceremonies of lion dance dress purification, musical instrument purification and purification of various instruments.
On the next day, there are a tea dedication ceremony and a haiku dedication ceremony. On the third day, Kenpei Sai (a divine ceremony), dedication of Japanese traditional fighting matches such as fencing, and dedication of traditional Japanese dancing. On the fourth day, purification and decorations of horses, dedication of flower arrangement and travelling portable shrines.
On the fifth day is the parade, headed by kannushi, starting at 6 a.m. (starting ceremony), three portable shrines, parades of followers, lion dances, portable shrines carried by children, and finally the groups of decorated horses. Decorated horse group people are dressed in uniforms of their own, dancing with folding fans, drums, trumpets, shouting "Dookai Dookai" (meaning "how about this?"), chasing the decorated horse of their group. Some horses run violently and sometimes injure people nearby. These groups are from town groups, companies, and graduates of schools and other groups.
The order of the parade is determined by drawing lots. Exceptions are the top three groups which exist near the shrine; which must do preparations and cleanup after the festival." - Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boshita_Festival 

The festival parade gets a little repetitive after a while, but it is still neat. It probably would have been a different experience if we had been drunk along with the parade participants XD People have told me that at the end of the parade at the shrine the horses are slaughtered (horse meat is a delicacy in Kumamoto), but I didn't see any of that...maybe it happened behind closed doors.

In the videos below you can really get the full experience of the parade, the only thing I missed capturing was the especially rowdy horses. 

-J

Our Apartment

          Our apartment has two rooms, kitchen, desk area, two balcony/porches and a full bath. It's our first home! <3

          Our bedroom is sporting some fantabulous sheets from Ikea which have made all the difference. We have a flat screen that in in Japanese. And this room and the living room have huge closets... filled with stuff which is why they are closed. :D

          Here is our living room. Our couch folds out to a bed-like thing so when everyone comes to visit they have a place to stay. This table will be a lifesaver come wintertime because it has a heater on the bottom!

          I love our kitchen because it has enough space for what we need...  maybe it could use some more counter space.... but it's still awesome. 

          The best thing about our apartment though (aside from having air conditioning in our bedroom) is our view! On clear days you can see the windmills close to the volcano Aso. Musashigaoka where we live is in a valley so we are completely surrounded by mountains. They are so beautiful and breathtaking. 

          So far it has been extremely hot and humid, or torrentially raining, comfortable and humid. I imagine that the winter time here will be very similar to that of Miami. 

          I can't wait for our next adventure...this upcoming weekend is the drunken horse festival! See you then!

Amazing Waterfall, Amazing Adventure

          This past weekend we went on a last minute adventure with our best JET ALT neighbor. We went down into Kuma-gun for a fabulous barbecue, I haven't had such good red meat in a reallllly long time. We had to drive about an hour and a half to get to our destination but it was well worth it. It is always nice to make new friends and it is especially nice to have a plethora of English speaking gaijin around.  We stayed the night with another kumajet's house. Her name was Margo and she was so nice, and her house was so amazing and had so many personal touches of home. It definitely inspired me to put a bunch of pictures around our apartment (that blog entry is soon to come). The next morning we woke up and went to the most amazing waterfall I have ever seen in my life. In the front seat you can see Colin driving with a couch surfer named Sam. It was nice to meet him in the midst of his adventures, and such a cool dude. We drove through a lot of wilderness to get to this waterfall, and honestly some roads didn't even look like roads! I picture a lot of scenes from Spirited Away when we drive around in the rural areas. 

 Once we made it to the trail to the waterfall, people made their pitstops in the unisex bathroom and on we went! You can see all of us trekking down as cute husband Rob takes photos. The path was very slippery in some places and looked very worn away, I do not understand why they don't upkeep that area, and moreso why it wasn't packed with people!

          This is the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen in my life. The water was amazingly clear and needless to say freezing cold. We went swimming and some who were daring scaled up a few feet next to the waterfall to jump in. The current was very strong for me, so I passed on that one until next time. 

          Afterwards, we went to a small onsen close by. I love going to onsen. So much. Words cannot express how awesome it is. So I won't even try. ^.^ In the lower picture you can see ALT Karen and CS Sam having fun in the parking lot. The onsen owners were sooooo shocked their were so many foreigners together that he took our picture. We're famous!

          To finish off a lovely weekend we caught more scenic pictures of the mountain filled landscapes and rice fields. So perfect Japan, so perfect.

-Jessica

First month working in Japan

Working in Japan has been a confusing, strange, and wonderful experience. I started working at the Kikuyo Board of Education as soon as our plane from Tokyo landed in Kumamoto. My supervisor, my boss, an English-speaking Japanese coworker, and the other JET ALT met me at the airport. We had a delightful lunch where we spoke extensively about food (my predecessor did not like fish!), the weather, my family, and the wedding. After lunch, it was straight to work! The Kikuyo Board of Education is not like an American board of education. 

First of all, it is not elected. It is a bureaucratic arm of the local government that coordinates between the schools in there town and the government. The BOE builds and renovates schools, manages finances, and spends a great deal of time keeping the matters of the school district in sync.

While I was at the BOE, I was scheduled time for"Japanese study." That mostly consisted of learning about the process if becoming a Japanese resident, filling out forms, and preparing for Jessica's arrival. I did not do much formal studying of Japanese. I did, however, get the water and gas turned on at the apartment, and I wrote my name just as it appears in my passport (IN ALL CAPS, LAST FIRST MIDDLE) and used my name stamp (inkan) many times.

I also had the opportunity to meet the mayor and the heads of all of the offices AND make formal self-introduction (jikosyokai) in front of the whole crowd! Interspersed between all of the studying and stamping, I made many self-introductions, but none were as stressful as the one in front of the mayor. All of them were in Japanese. The Japanese put great value into their self-introductions.

 

The G-ma section (all about food):
At the BOE, nobody leaves for lunch, except on very special occasions. Most of the staff bring their own lunch from home. For those that do not, the local take-out places deliver. I tried to eat something different every day, but ended up eating curry and katsudon (fried pork cutlet with egg on top, over rice in a bowl) more than once. The food was all delicious. Yes, G-ma, I am eating.

-Rob

Kikuchi Gorge, Festival, and 3,333 Steps in Misato

Our weekend was quite the adventure!

We decided to join Colin (our neighbor ALT) and Alys (an ALT from Kumamoto, super cool) and adventure out to Kikuchi Gorge. It had been a very rainy week and we weren't sure the weather would hold out, but we went anyway. It was really beautiful! The water was ice cold, but also very refreshing. I was scared to jump in the river since the only rivers I am accustomed to are canals, but alas I was pushed! It made the initial shock much easier. We were able to swim around a lot because the river was high from the rainfall. There was a group of local teens that was jumping in in different places, first they jumped in at a small cliff, then they made there way to the waterfall. I could not do this jump, but Rob and Colin did! It was scary! I cannot believe that they actually did it. We headed out once the rain came and we went home to relax a bit before going to a festival.


Panorama of Kikuchi Gorge

When we finally packed up to leave, futons and pillows in tow, we drove about an hour to get to our destination Misato-machi. We parked at a JETS house and walked over. It was great to meet so many other JET ALTs! Everyone is so interested in travel and culture, it is definitely invigorating to hang out with people who love doing what you love too.

The first thing I ate was Teryaki Squid on a stick. YUM! Then we had a sampling of other chicken, pork, seafood items, and beer. The only thing that really got me was the shared bathroom. I was convinced that there was a men's and women's restroom, but no it was a combined one. It downpoured at the festival while the fireworks were going off and drunk people were roaming about, it was such a good time! Rob and I were invited to the walk the next day which sounded like a lot of fun, after hanging out and meeting new people we went to bed.






The next morning was amazing, the rice fields and farming countryside in Japan is breathtaking. A few cars packed up and we were off into the mountains where we took on the challenge of climbing the 3,333 in Misato. I don't know why I thought it would be fun. I never would have made it without the encouragement of the ALTs and Rob. Rob pretty much nagged me up the mountain and I'm so grateful. We got stuck in a few cold rain showers which felt amazing, saw some scary wildlife (ie the Japanese hornet that you die from) and fabulous scenic views.Once we made it to the top, we had finally caught up with everyone. We drank some water and turned around. Going down was faster, but harder on the calves.








We carbed up at a chic pasta place parted ways with the other ALTs, and Alys, Colin, Rob and I made our way to an onsen. Onsen if basically a public bath. It was separated between men and women, and it was intense and amazing. Nobody cared that you were naked, because everyone else was naked. You wash yourself and then chill in this giant tubs filled with spring fed water. Very relaxing and was fun to have to one on one time chatting with Alys. We left the onsen, dropped Alys off at home and went back to Kikuyo to begin the week again.

xoxo

Sunset over Kyushu

Welcome to Japan

Rob had been in Japan a few more weeks than me, but I finally arrived on August 15th. It was literally the longest day of my life because the sun didn't go down until I reach Japan, a whole 20 hours later. I don't know why I was so surprised when I arrived that everything was in Japanese but for some reason I expected a lot of English too (serious culture shock).

In the few days that we have been together in Japan we have done some adventuring, shopping, and reorganizing. Pretty much the first thing I did when waking up from a jetlagged grogginess was nest and move furniture around. I'm quite happy with the placement of everything.

Now it is time to get the blog up and running!

Stay tuned for our upcoming shenanigans and adventures. ^.^

Views from our apartment:



Rain showers

Windmills!



 Kumamon and Hello Kitty