<-- to blog

in late June i went to japan! it was a trip organized by a teacher at school and i had lots of fun! i was gone for almost 2 weeks and i went all around the country with a few teachers and some other kids from school.

the way there. i had to wake up super early for the first flight and i ate a very ok braekfast sandwich. the flight to japan was the longest flight ive ever been on. it was almost 12 hours and i could not sleep for most of it so i watched lots of movies, played sadoku, and listened to music. it was very nice to land but it was very hot in the airport

the first night. we got to the hotel late at night so i ate random convinience store food then went to bed

the first full day. on the first day we visited Osaka castle and Todaiji temple in Nara. osaka castle was really cool! it was very pretty and inside it was like a museum inside but there were so many stairs my legs were so tired after. then after i went to a resturaunt and got some udon it was so good. then we went to Todaiji temple it was also very pretty and there were tons and tons of deer they were really cute it was weird seeing deer so small. after the castle, temple, and resting at the hotel for a little bit i went to Tower Records Kyoto with some other people it was only a mile from the hotel i got an X Japan cd and a T-shirt. it was so awesome to go there ive always wanted to go to a Tower Records after the record store i tried out a photo booth it edited everyones faces a lot so it was a little funny

the second day. on the second day we went to Kinkaku-ji it was very pretty and Arashiyama bamboo forest it was also very pretty but a little slippery because it had rained a lot earlier in the day and i got some ramen at a resturaunt around there. then we went to Fushimi Inari shrine it was so cool. its on a mountain so at some parts you could see the whole city it was really cool and it was very pretty and fun to walk around. later that night after dinner i went to chiikawa land!!! it was really cool i got a shirt and a hachiware plush keychain (hachiware is my favorite) the building it was in had 3 floors and on each floor there were one or two stores that focused on a different thing like one was miffy and one was snoopy and the first floor was mostly just various stuff. thats where i got my first monchhichi doll who i later named haru. after we went to the nintendo store but we had to be quick because it was kinda close to the time that it closed

the third day. we woke up early and took the bullet train from kyoto to tokyo it was fun to go on the train. it was about a 2 hour ride and on the way there i could see mt fuji out of the window. i never realized how big it is. after the train ride we went to a small town and got lunch i got ramen again but this time it was stir fried with some chicken instead of like a soup. after lunch we went to some caves they were cool and it was nice inside because they were a lot colder than outside but they were very wet and there were some areas where we had to crouch i was afraid that i was going to fall and get all muddy and wet but i didnt. after that we got ice cream then went back to the hotel i was very tired.

the fourth day. this day was full of shopping it was really fun! first we went to shibuya and there i went to the Tower Records there and it was AWESOME!!!!!!! i got lots of cds and little keychain holder things for some photocards i have and a shirt (a very cute shirt) when i got to the Visual Rock section i like blacked out lol. the coolest thing i got there was a signed psycho le cemu cd. then we went to Harjuku in harajuki i got some skirts theyre cute i also checked out MILK it was fun to look around but everything was too expensive for me but im a little more into their older pieces anyway. then we went to Meiji Jingu shrine it was pretty there, it was nice because it was a little less busy than the other shrines and temples we had gone to i wish i wasnt so tired when we went there so i couldve had the energy to walk around more. i slept very good that night

the fith day. we spent like the whole day at a mall i didnt do nearly as much shopping as i did the other day. just looked around and there i ate some very good gyoza it was the biggest gyoza ive ever had probably the best ive ever had too and i had some very good frozen yogurt it had strawberries and brownies and white chocolate on it at the mall i saw meat vending machines ive never seen something like that before. i also had a very cute outfit. i wore a skirt i got from a secondhand store i went to in harajuku and the shirt i got from Tower Shibuya i also tried coffe ice cream for the first time and it was so so good its probably my favorite ice cream flavor now

the sixth day. it was the hottest day of the entire trip. we started the day by going to Meji shrine it was pretty but i made a very very bad outfit choice (long denim skirt and black shirt) so i was so hot but at least my outfit looked nice... then we went to the tokyo tower it was really cool to go up it and i finally got an answer to a question that ive had for a long time after i learned of the tokyo tower mascots. then we went to a garden it was pretty but i was again regretting my outfit choices i had fun walking around though. after the garden we went to Akihabara it was very busy and i almost got lost but after figuring out where i was i went to a hedgehog cafe! the hedgehog was so so so cute it was sleeping most of the time. then we went and did karaoke it was fun i sang some Dir en grey songs i cant sing nearly as good as kyo and my japanese reading skills arent the greatest but it was still really fun! then finnaly it was time to go back to the hotel i was super tired but to get there we had to go on the train and it was super busy i could barely fit i was a little scared i wasnt going to be able to get on but i managed to squeeze in

the seventh day. we left Tokyo and went to Hokkaido. once we got there we went to lake shikotsu it was pretty. then we went to a town but i forgot what it was called -_- but i got some super tasty melon flavored ice cream. i wish they had more melon flavored stuff in the US (other that watermelon). then we went to Asahiyama Memorial Park it was cool too i always like looking over the cities from high up. then we went to the hotel.

the eighth day. we started the day at Jigokudani ive never really seen hotsprings so it was cool, it smelt like sulfer there there was lots of sulfer it smells kinda weird. then we walked around the town there and got lunch i once again had gyoza because i wasnt that hungry and i got a photo book of a cat named kenji there (i think he has an instagram too) hes cute! that night i had sushi for dinner and i learned that i am not really a sushi person it was still ok though i just dont really like cold foods unless its like ice cream or something like that.

the ninth day.we went to a farm, it was fun i like seeing animals. it mostly had sheep they were cute! you could even buy wool from the sheep and stuff made from their wool. they also had lots of snacks! then we went to the airport to go back to tokyo

the tenth day this day was all travel. just airports and plane rides. the plane ride home was like an hour faster on the way back home which was nice but it still starts to get a little rough by the 7th hour and i could only sleep for an hour which was not good. customs took so long once we landed. we were almost late for the last flight but we made it just in time. it was very stressful. it was nice to be home finnally i was really tired. i slept until like noon the next day

i had lots of fun in japan i hope i get the chance to go there again one day. and hopefully then my language skills will be better lol

i miss family mart.