April 四月

 We had a welcome party for the new teacher in the English Department. The salad served during the party was so refreshing and appetizing. 

 A bread truck comes to my visiting school once a month to sell bread and cakes. One of my ex-students works at the vocational center which makes the bread. My supervisor bought this pumpkin chiffon cake and gave it to me. I realized that I've come to use the word "kind" very often in  Japan. But I can't think of a better word to describe the people who are taking the trouble to take care of me.  

In my recent cooking lesson, I learned to make "Datemaki" , a kind of Japanese rolled egg, which is usually eaten during the Japanese New Year. 

 

The spring tournament　for many sports clubs have began. I caught my school's first baseball game. The third-year students saw me in the audience stand and waved happily to me. I was really glad. I remembered the first time when I went for a match and everyone was too shy to even say "Hi". I'll really miss these boys.  

The one and only picture I took with the cherry blossoms

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富山の桜

The cherry blossom season in Toyama city is coming to an end. The sight of the falling petals like falling snow is absolutely beautifully, painfully beautiful.









Over the weekend, I went to Johana to do some photography. Johana is in the south-western part of Toyama prefecture, in Nanto City. It's near the mountains and is relatively difficult to access because there's only one train that goes there and it runs only once per hour.

But Johana is a beautiful area , being so close to the mountains. Since it's near the mountains, the blooming of the cherry blossoms is also later as compared to Toyama City. The flowers were in full bloom and the reflections of the cherry trees on the irrigated rice fields were so beautiful.





The Nanto City website gave daily updates about the blooming status of the cherry tree I wanted to photograph. I was EXTREMELY lucky because

1. The tree was in full bloom.
2. It was a sunny day. (Weather in Toyama is sadly very, very rainy and gloomy.)
3. It was the weekend.

It took me 1.5 hours to get to the nearest station and another 35-min walk to the photography spot. Since it was a famous photography spot and the cherry tree was in full bloom, there were many, many photographers there already.

I have no idea how he got down there because the only way to get down was down the mud steps. But I thought he was really cool. He had his monopod attached to his wheelchair since he wasn't able to hold the camera steadily.

The final shots
(Click on pictures for higher resolution pictures.)

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桜 Cherry Blossoms

本当に春が大好きです。
今年は富山県の松川公園と生物園で写真を取りました。

I really love spring.
This year, I went to the Matsukawa River and the Botanic Gardens to take pictures.

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Haircut~

I've been keeping my hair long since I came to Japan about 1.5 years ago. My students and teachers are used to seeing me without bangs. So, when I came to school with my new bangs, many teachers and students asked me if something had happened to trigger my haircut. LOL

It feels good to begin the new school year with a refreshing haircut. I won't be teaching the third-year students so I'll definitely miss them. On the other hand, I can't wait to start classes with my new first-year students. I always feel nervous meeting the new students because the class atmosphere is so serious. But it's nice to see how the class dynamics change as time goes by.

Cheers, to a better new year! Follow @germanium9

Mail from VIP Japan

This came in the mail today! :) It's a gift for my VIP Japan membership renewal. It's a really nice pouch. I can't bear to use it.

That aside, I'm really excited about the ALIVE Japan Tour. I managed to get tickets for both nights at Saitama Arena. One of them is a VIP ticket. \(^^)/

The ticket sales must be doing very well because they just added more shows in Yokohama and Osaka. Follow @germanium9

Seoul Trip Day 5- Fortress Wall Tour, last minute shopping, bossam

Fortress Wall Tour

The second walking tour which I signed up for was the Naksan Seonggwalk (Fortress Walk) Tour. I was fortunate to have the same guide who brought me around the Hanok village.






The fortress wall area is a really nice place to hang out. The next time I come here, I'll bring coke and food to chill out. :) The night view should be really nice here.

Last minute shopping

As this was my last day in Seoul (cry), I spent the rest of the day doing last minute shopping at Dongdaemun, Myeongdong and Edae.

Grabbed some street food to recharge after that mini hike up the fortress wall

Many stores in Edae were selling these New Balance lookalike shoes. It's the most in footwear in Korea now. Ditch your heels and grab some comfy sneakers!

I went back to the Kpop stores in Myeongdong to grab CDs for friends.
CDs in Korea are SO much cheaper than those in Singapore and Japan.

Bossam dinner in Edae

I met a korean friend and he brought me to a restaurant which serves Bossam. Bossam is a dish in which steamed pork is wrapped in leaf vegetables. You can also add raw onion, garlic or kimchi. The meal came with so much banchan (side dishes).

Bossam

Yummy steamed pork

banchan

And more banchan..

I totally overspent. I had such a hard time squeezing all my shopping loot into the luggage. I was a little guilty for going out of control with my spending. But I really enjoyed my trip!! I was a little worried that I might be bored during the trip. But it turned out pretty okay!!

I can't wait for my next trip to Seoul! There are still so many things I want to do in Seoul!

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

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Seoul Trip Day 4- YG, Bukchon Hanok Village, Samcheongdong

YG Entertainment

I woke up real early to go to YG Entertainment. To get there, take the subway to Hapjeong Station and go out from Exit 8. Once you're out, you'll see the SK gas station. Walk past the gas station.

Walk past the first gas station.

Continue walking straight passing some small stalls.

You will reach the second gas station. Walk past it.

You will pass this restaurant along the way.

Shortly after you pass the restaurant, you'll come to this junction. You should see the YG building from here. Make a right turn in.

YG Entertainment building

I wasn't planning to camp there to wait. So I just snapped a picture and moved on.

Bukchon Hanok Village Tour

If you visit the visitseoul website, there are various free walking tours which you can sign up for. The first walking tour which I signed up for was the Bukchon Hanok Village Tour. It has many traditional korean hanok houses and a few korean dramas such as Personal Preferences were filmed there.

I was the only one in the tour so I had a personal guide all to myself. My guide was a friendly and very active old man. It was a pretty good tour and I highly recommend people to sign up for the tours. It's much more interesting to have someone explain stuff to you.

I like how they integrate modernity into the traditional houses.

We passed by this school which was the filming location of a famous korean drama. There were many Japanese tourists taking pictures outside the school.

Samcheongdong

After I thanked my guide and treated him to a cup of coffee, I went to Samcheongdong which was also in the same area. Samcheongdong is a very quaint area with many small boutiques and cafes. Samcheongdong is a nice and cosy area and the wall drawings adds character to the area.











Beans Bins, Samcheongdong

Many Taiwanese guidebook highly recommend the Beans Bins Cafe for their waffles. I dropped by the cafe and ordered a Fruits Waffles. The waffles was huge and topped with fruits. The main disadvantage about traveling alone is that it's difficult to try a wide variety of food. I was so full from eating the waffles that I couldn't try any other desserts.


Next: Seoul Trip Day 5 - Fortress Wall Walking Tour and last minute shopping Follow @germanium9