Day 20: Obento Sunday~!

Sunday was a rather nice day, full of good eats and supermarket adventures! It's so fun going to the supermarkets here; so much interesting and delicious-looking food! :) Since we were going to have curry rice soon, we went and picked up some ingredients for it, such as veggies and curry roux (blocks). Since it was lunchtime and we were all hungry (all being Mari, myself, and her son Bruckie) we picked up some goodies! I got a classic Japanese o-bento and a little salad. We also bought a fancy roll cake since Mari's since it was church day for Mari. They were handing out free samples and it was sooo good! XD
The o-bento was tasty and fun to eat! The little bit of spaghetti under the little sausage made me nostalgic, and the fried shrimp was good too! All in all, a very satisfying lunch. Mari is awesome. :)
The roll cake was sooooo creamy, sweet, and fluffy! I really enjoyed it! It was a relaxing day; from my room upstairs I could hear Mari and her church friends sing songs and it was rather comforting. I was able to talk to Andrew a bit, which made me happy! Yay!

Day 18: Feeling the Heat!

Ok, I am going to be honest here. This whole week has been really hard for me. I've been feeling very lonely and homseick. It's natural to feel this way, since I have been here for a while, and I still have three weeks before I go back home. I am trying to stay busy and strong; I need to stay motivated! I miss Andrew, my family, and school sooooooo much! I just need to keep in mind that they are rooting for me and that it's okay. It's just hard. This is the first time I have ever been in another country, let alone for this long! I think it's a bit overwhelming for me.

This day, last Saturday, was hard. I felt sick because of the night before, and I didn't have any plans. I missed Andrew like crazy. Luckily, I was still reading the book I had brought, so I read that to relax. In the afternoon, it was so lovely so I walked to the little park down the street to read a bit. I snapped some pics because there was such a nice view! I love how Japan has so many little hidden pathways~ :)

Anyway, I am trying to stay positive! Sadly, I have finished that book so I hope I can find another one in English at a bookstore this weekend...thank goodness for little parks though. They can clear your mind. :) I did get a lot of mosquito bites though.....it's that time of year!

Day 17: The Day I Actually Became Sick of Food...

I will admit, all the eating I did n this day did me in. I felt pretty sick for a few days after and am just now getting over it.

Friday, around lunchtime, I was feeling adventurous and decided to go out and eat ramen for lunch. Going out and doing things really helps combat the homesickness. I went to a rather popular ramen place nearby and ordered the wontonmen, ramen that has thin wontons in it. It was pretty good, and everyone was nice to me there too! No one looked at me funny when I brought out my big camera. The ramen noodles were thin (Hakata-style?) and tasty! The soup was fatty and a bit spicy, but it was all right. I finished quickly and walked to a pastry shop in the opposite direction from the house! I ordered three goodies: a chocolate and nuts cake slice, a green tea macaron, and a strawberry tart. After I chatted with Andrew for a bit (yay!) I took some pictures of the chocolate cake and macaron for my book project. I ate both, and felt a bit sick, but I shrugged it off. Then, after relaxing for a bit, I was told that we were going out to Yakitori (grilled chicken parts on skewers)!
We ended up waiting for an hour since we were such a large party (I'm staying with a big family!) and when we finally were seated, we were all so hungry! We ordered a ton of food!
I got an apricot sake drink, since I am of age in Japan, and it was very tasty and sweet! I ate so much! There was chicken skin (all of this on skewers by the way), asparagus and pork, bacon and mochi, chicken wings, salad, shio ramen, and so much more!
For some reason, I started feeling overwhelmed and kind of sick. I think the food in Japan is too rich; there is a lot of fat in dishes, which makes them heavy. Add in the hot and humid weather, and you get an Ophelia with a queasy stomach! I was so tired, and I was also starting my "womanly times" if you get what I mean, which made me feel so much worse.
I am taking a break from ramen right now....my stomach is rebelling against heavy food. I have been eating lightly because I want to be healthy and feel good in this weather. It was a fun day, but full of food! XD Crazy times!

Day 16: Shopping Fun!

I was happy to spend Thursday afternoon shopping with Mari! She took time off work to hang out with me and it was fun! We first shopped for shoes in Namba, and we both got a cute pair of sandals~! :) Then we drove to Umeda to go to Kiddyland, an underground shopping area with tons of stores full of cute things, haha~ I found some awesome Mameshiba stuff! It was just fun to walk around and be out~ :) I even found my mom a cute gift, which made me happy. Mari and I were so exhausted after shopping, but it was a good kind of tired. :) We didn't have time to go to a popular store called Loft, so we are going this weekend!

That cream puff pictured above was so delicious! The cream was light and vanilla-flavored; I really enjoyed it! We were so hungry afterwards of course! ;)

Anyway, it was a fun shoping day! Thank you Mari for spending the day with me! :D

Day 15: Osaka Aquarium Adventure!

I had wanted to go to the Osaka Aquarium for a long time! Known as the Kaiyukan, it is located at the Osaka Port next to the ocean! I was really looking forward to seeing the ocean and going on an adventure!
The Kaiyukan is a wonderfully easy place to walk around. I felt so much freedom as I looked at the animals; all the aquariums I'd been to in California were always so crowded and small. But, at this one there seemed to be a lot of room to enjoy the animals.
The fish were cool! There were many different kinds! I loved the cute otters; they were so playful! The Kapibara (picture at top) was so statuesque and awesome. XD The seals were so pretty and smooth when they swam. The crabs were soooo scary! >.<
I really enjoyed seeing the special Japanese whale shark! So cute and chill~ There were finless porpoises too, and those were so pretty and white!
The Kaiyukan seemed like a great place for families and couples. Yes, I went by myself and it was a little lonely. But. I kept thinking about how I want to go with Andrew someday and that helped me cheer up a bit. I did some shopping for gifts in the Kaiyukan and in the mall across the way. I found a Studio Ghibli store! YAY! I got some cute special things~
I took the train to Senri-Chuo when I was done and walked around there for a while. I was starting to get sick of all the shops and the constant shopping though....too much! Mari came and picked me up when she was done with work and I was glad, since I was exhausted. I am so happy I got to be near the ocean again! :) ALso, more cookies and green tea ice cream doesn't hurt! ;)

Day 14: Feeling a bit homesick...

Tuesday was a hard day. I was not feeling well and I was still a bit homesick for school and all my loved ones. Mari was kind enough to bring me to her volunteer work to help out so I wouldn't feel bummed at home. It was a hot day and I was so sleepy in the stuffy office. Everyone there was really nice; they could probably see that I was shy!
The office was for an organization in Minoh known as MOFGA. I forgot what it stands for, but I know it has something to do with helping international people in Mino. I helped translate and then typed up a flyer. It was nice to have something to do!
We had goodies from a tiny bakery down the street for lunch. :) It was a humble shop, so that was fun!
All in all, a hot, humid, homesick, humble kind of day~! (so many "h" words, lol)

Day 13: Taco Night!

I was still feeling a bit down about the night before, but I tried to cheer up. Not much went on during the day....just taking it easy. I was starting to miss school, Andrew, and my family quite a bit so I tried to keep myself busy. I helped around the house, started cooking the taco meat, and went shopping with Mari to finish getting the ingredients we needed! I was so happy to be cooking for the family; the girls were really craving tacos and I was glad to be able to make something they liked and wanted. :) The sour cream was a bit funky...it tasted okay but was hard like butter! We also got some guacamole chips and those went fast! The meat wasn't spicy, but was very comforting! I was proud of myself for being able to cook a meal that was to feed about 7 people! XD