Going Back in Time

日本

It's love, all ways.

Staying True

When you're in a place that should be home but your heart is missing....left behind in another place waiting for you to come & take it back.

Snapshots

I am sorry that I have been a little bit MIA with the blog lately (as some as you may know, I've been experiencing some stress with regards to school & my home university / graduation etc). Anyways, I haven't felt super motivated to be blogging BUT I feel like things are starting to look up. So0o, I wanted to give a little update by sharing some photos of what I have been up to. 

Fushimi Inari -Shinto Shrine (Kyoto)

Fushimi-Inari

Shrine

These gates (Torii) line the trail the entire way up the mountain

Wish I understood Kanji...

Carry meee

Attempting the perfect "jump" shot

Take 2

At least we tried...

Shrines on Shines on Shrines

Serene

Arashiyama

Gardens 

Life

The beginning of Autumn  in Japan-
soon the leaves will be Red<3

Changing colors

Getting spiritual

Bamboo Forest

Unfathomable Beauty <3

:)

Traditional Meal usually eaten by Buddhist Monks

View from the top of the Monkey Park

Monkey checkin out the view ;)

Share your wisdom with me...

inLOVE

Last Train Home - Pure luck we all made it

Sleepyyyy :D

Tomo & I

Sunset at the River

English gone wrong...

We found a Nepali Restaurant <3<3<3

My FAV type of food

MOMOs

Ecstatic

Franny & Jaana

The End to an Amazing Day :D

*** As a footnote about Iwatayama Monkey Park that I visited in Arashiyama. The monkeys are free and seemingly treated well. The only cause for concern is that there is a structure (almost like a cage) in which people can go to experience feeding the monkeys through the bars. I didn't know about the feeding before I went and yes, I did choose to take part in it. After some reflection, I don't know if this was the right choice. It obviously isn't ideal for them to become reliant on humans for their food buut I must admit I have not researched into this any further since I went.

Ryukoku!

So this past week has felt quite long and exhausting but it was rather productive and I did quite a few things... I guess that is why I have not written on the blog for about a week. The highlights from the previous week include completing orientation week for school and having my first course (Japanese language) as well as getting to spend more time in Kyoto. Ryukoku University has three different campuses, two of which are in Kyoto (Fukakusa and Omiya) and then Seta, the one I will be attending here in Otsu. Orientation lasted three days and began at Seta campus. Over the course of the three days we learned about the classes offered to us, how to use the university computer system, daily life in Japan, traffic rules and also had a formal entrance ceremony. The orientation itself felt quite long and I am glad that it is over haha. The entrance ceremony was interesting because it was all in Japanese, I was little disappointed there was zero translation because it would've been nice to have an idea of what was going on or who some of the important people were who talked/ played a role in the ceremony ...but oh well. Over the weekend I spent some time at PopEye ( the local bar here in Otsu that we like) and I had a really great time. I got to drink Meyers Rum (Jamaican rum I always had in my fridge when I lived in Jamaica) and they even played reggae music. It felt a little like home. The staff there is awesome and remembers all of our names. They are talkative and love to joke around. On Saturday I went to Kyoto with Jaana and Mii. We had planned to go to the Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) but unfortunately we were too late to reach there in time for the last tour. Instead we went to Gion which is a district in Kyoto well-known for Geisha. We wandered around and got to explore some shrines around the area and also enjoyed the sunset. Eventually, we got hungry so we decided to try and find a Ramen restaurant that Jaana had heard about. Although it was a bit of a struggle trying to find it, once we finally did it was well worth it. They had a vegetarian ramen and it was definitely the best meal I have had in Japan so far, hands down! I cannot wait to go back :) After dinner we went down by Kamo River and met up with the boys (Teemu, Wiktor and Francesco) we got some drinks and watched fire dancers perform-- so amazing! It was a man and a woman who had their faces painted along with a woman who played some sort of flute and also dj'd some music (all with a sleeping baby on her back) & there were also two little kids running around the whole time! A little unsettling at first because of how dangerous it seemed for these children to be running through their parents fire dancing but they definitely added to the show. After the performance ended, we headed to a pub in Kyoto and had some more drinks before finally returning to Otsu via the last train of the night.Today,  I had planned to be a little bit more productive but have only gotten out of my place to do a bit of shopping and other than that I have been having a pretty lazy day. Hopefully, preparing me for school tomorrow and allowing me to be well rested. Its nice to be getting into a bit of a groove here so I am looking forward to this upcoming week of classes and to see what they'll be like!

Here are some pictures from the last week:

Okonomiyaki - crepe-like deliciousness

Kyoto Tower from Kyoto Station Skywalk

Kyoto Station @ Night - this building is unreal.
(15 stories, has restauants, malls, and a ton of other amenities)

In Kyoto Station

Ryukoku's Formal Entrance Ceremony

JAS

Temple

Gardens 

Simplicity 

Shrine 

Gion

Sunset

Shrine

Lanterns

Bad Fortunes 

Best Ramen !!!!

Kyoto 

Tower Beer!

:)