Thursday, January 23, 2014
Second-hand lovin'
I am fond of second-hand shops. I love the quirky things and fashionable clothes that I cannot otherwise afford in real life, but I can buy at a fraction of the real price from ukay shops. One Sunday in Kobe after mass, I scoured the stores under the Motomachi train station to check out the second hand shops. Most of the stalls were closed, but some were open. Them offered everything from old Japanese books, vinyl records, toys, figurines, watches, samurai swords, cameras as well as clothes and accessories. At first I was really enjoying myself until I began thinking about Pinoy horror movies like Feng Shui and Segunda Mano. In any case, I saw a lot of interesting stuff for sale.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
White Christmas
I am a bit of a Christmas junkie. I would start buying gifts for everyone as early as July or August when shops would hold their mid-year sale. I get a kick out of wrapping gifts and hiding them inside my closet so they would not get dusty. In September, we would already set up our Christmas tree in Bulacan.
Last year, I was on a plane to Japan in August, and settling in a new house in September. We were busy reading books and articles in October and November, and writing papers and preparing presentations in December. I barely had time to pick up a gift for the exchange gifts.
On Christmas day, we tagged along ours seniors' field trip to Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go. Being self-confessed free-riders, we wanted to explore much of Japan without having to plan the trip by ourselves. It was exciting to see snow for the first time but it was kinda sad, kinda cold that I didn't have parties and dinners and what not on Christmas.
For our field trip, Kobe University lets us choose from a list of destinations. We nailed two of the destinations in the list last November - Hiroshima and Kurashiki. Last December we wanted to experience snow so we went with our senpais to Kanazawa and Kurashiki. We used the johachi kippu, a less expensive way to get to our destination. We went to Kanazawa on Christmas Day. On our way there, we already passed by snow-covered mountains. We were expecting to see snow in Kanazawa but the weather apps say that we are two days too early. When we arrived in Kanazawa, it was really cold but there was no snow at all. First, we visited the Higashi Chaya District, an area of geisha teahouses. Some of the chaya are open as museums, but there are some which still operate as geisha teahouses.
Our next stop was Kenroku-en Garden, said to be one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. Our senior said the garden is more splendid when covered with snow.
The next day we visited Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO world heritage site famous for their traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old. Finally, snow!!!
Last year, I was on a plane to Japan in August, and settling in a new house in September. We were busy reading books and articles in October and November, and writing papers and preparing presentations in December. I barely had time to pick up a gift for the exchange gifts.
On Christmas day, we tagged along ours seniors' field trip to Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go. Being self-confessed free-riders, we wanted to explore much of Japan without having to plan the trip by ourselves. It was exciting to see snow for the first time but it was kinda sad, kinda cold that I didn't have parties and dinners and what not on Christmas.
For our field trip, Kobe University lets us choose from a list of destinations. We nailed two of the destinations in the list last November - Hiroshima and Kurashiki. Last December we wanted to experience snow so we went with our senpais to Kanazawa and Kurashiki. We used the johachi kippu, a less expensive way to get to our destination. We went to Kanazawa on Christmas Day. On our way there, we already passed by snow-covered mountains. We were expecting to see snow in Kanazawa but the weather apps say that we are two days too early. When we arrived in Kanazawa, it was really cold but there was no snow at all. First, we visited the Higashi Chaya District, an area of geisha teahouses. Some of the chaya are open as museums, but there are some which still operate as geisha teahouses.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Dinner
I just came home from a farewell dinner with Professor Yutaka Katayama, the professor who is responsible for bringing us here to Japan. The dinner was heartwarming, not just because it was a farewell dinner - and everything seems to be rosier and more sentimental when you have to say goodbye to someone, but also because it was really touching to hear a foreigner talk about the Philippines with such knowledge, and love for the Philippines as he does.
When he interviewed me for the scholarship, he asked where National Power Corporation was and I said it is in Quezon City. He pursued and asked "Where is it in Quezon City? Saan siya?" I was taken aback because, okay, he can speak Tagalog. And later when we were talking about lawmaking in the Philippines, he explained how he was involved in the enactment of the Clean Air Act, and he explained what provisions should have been included but were discarded in the Bicameral Conference Committee Meetings. And I thought, okay so I cannot BS this guy. He seems to know more than I do about Philippine policy.
But I eventually got the scholarship, and later we got the last subject he was teaching in Kobe University - Local Development. We have Japanese, Italian and Indonesian classmates but he would talk about the Philippines most of the time. He even tells us inside stories - do you know that the owner of this grocery chain is a smuggler and that his girlfriend works in the office of that official? He talks about things like that, which are not common knowledge to most Filipinos. He could not have gotten that from reading the news, but from being friends with so many Filipinos in the academe, in government, in the media.
Earlier, he was talking about the 1986 EDSA Revolution and how this event has been very significant in his life that he uses 1986 in all his email addresses. Anyway, he was a visiting professor at the Political Science Department of the University of the Philippines at that time. During the Snap Elections, he monitored the elections from a polling precint in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo in Makati City. He was expecting something big to happen but from nine in the morning until half an hour before the end of the voting time, nothing much happened. And then in the last hour, goons with high-powered guns trooped to the precint and seized all the voting paraphernalia. He started taking pictures of what was happening. A goon who saw what he was doing aimed to hit him with a rifle but he said, "No, no, I'm friends with Barangay Captain Villanueva", who he said was the head of Barangay Nagkaisahan at that time, and won the Silver Medal in Boxing in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964." The goon spared him, and he escaped.
He went on to say that days prior to the EDSA Revolution, an official from the Japanese Embassy called him and said that some things are happening. He followed the news closely, as he listened to Radio Veritas. He learned that some people are going to EDSA so he went too. He was really moved by what he saw, and he took lots of pictures. When Marcos fleed from Malacanang, Katayama sensei was in Camp Crame and he witnessed the euphoria of some of the members of the PC.
He asked us about our plans after graduating from Kobe University. When he was about to leave, we gave him a pen and a planner and he was a bit teary-eyed. It is too bad that he is retiring by the end of the month to transfer to another university in Kyoto. He said that he is tasked in that university to create a department for international studies. I feel very honored to have met him.###
When he interviewed me for the scholarship, he asked where National Power Corporation was and I said it is in Quezon City. He pursued and asked "Where is it in Quezon City? Saan siya?" I was taken aback because, okay, he can speak Tagalog. And later when we were talking about lawmaking in the Philippines, he explained how he was involved in the enactment of the Clean Air Act, and he explained what provisions should have been included but were discarded in the Bicameral Conference Committee Meetings. And I thought, okay so I cannot BS this guy. He seems to know more than I do about Philippine policy.
But I eventually got the scholarship, and later we got the last subject he was teaching in Kobe University - Local Development. We have Japanese, Italian and Indonesian classmates but he would talk about the Philippines most of the time. He even tells us inside stories - do you know that the owner of this grocery chain is a smuggler and that his girlfriend works in the office of that official? He talks about things like that, which are not common knowledge to most Filipinos. He could not have gotten that from reading the news, but from being friends with so many Filipinos in the academe, in government, in the media.
Earlier, he was talking about the 1986 EDSA Revolution and how this event has been very significant in his life that he uses 1986 in all his email addresses. Anyway, he was a visiting professor at the Political Science Department of the University of the Philippines at that time. During the Snap Elections, he monitored the elections from a polling precint in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo in Makati City. He was expecting something big to happen but from nine in the morning until half an hour before the end of the voting time, nothing much happened. And then in the last hour, goons with high-powered guns trooped to the precint and seized all the voting paraphernalia. He started taking pictures of what was happening. A goon who saw what he was doing aimed to hit him with a rifle but he said, "No, no, I'm friends with Barangay Captain Villanueva", who he said was the head of Barangay Nagkaisahan at that time, and won the Silver Medal in Boxing in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964." The goon spared him, and he escaped.
He went on to say that days prior to the EDSA Revolution, an official from the Japanese Embassy called him and said that some things are happening. He followed the news closely, as he listened to Radio Veritas. He learned that some people are going to EDSA so he went too. He was really moved by what he saw, and he took lots of pictures. When Marcos fleed from Malacanang, Katayama sensei was in Camp Crame and he witnessed the euphoria of some of the members of the PC.
He asked us about our plans after graduating from Kobe University. When he was about to leave, we gave him a pen and a planner and he was a bit teary-eyed. It is too bad that he is retiring by the end of the month to transfer to another university in Kyoto. He said that he is tasked in that university to create a department for international studies. I feel very honored to have met him.###
Friday, November 1, 2013
So school has officially started
a month ago.
One subject, which requires us to read two whole books at a time, will end in two weeks. I have another class which is conducted only twice a month. I will have an extensive class in February which will last for only a week. Studying here is relatively easier than studying in UP. For instance, we don't need to look for the readings in the library, we just show up in class and the professor will hand out the readings for the next meeting. We don't have to spend for photocopying. I remember breaking the bank when I was in law school as you have to buy books and photocopy tons and tons of cases. We have a card that allows us to print and photocopy up to 3000 pages. Very convenient.
I just wish we don't have to write a thesis though, hahaha. Constant source of stress!
P.S. Stress-induced pimples are back huhuhu.
One subject, which requires us to read two whole books at a time, will end in two weeks. I have another class which is conducted only twice a month. I will have an extensive class in February which will last for only a week. Studying here is relatively easier than studying in UP. For instance, we don't need to look for the readings in the library, we just show up in class and the professor will hand out the readings for the next meeting. We don't have to spend for photocopying. I remember breaking the bank when I was in law school as you have to buy books and photocopy tons and tons of cases. We have a card that allows us to print and photocopy up to 3000 pages. Very convenient.
I just wish we don't have to write a thesis though, hahaha. Constant source of stress!
P.S. Stress-induced pimples are back huhuhu.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Life in suspended animation
When we arrived in Japan, we stayed for a few days in Shin-Osaka Washington Hotel with the other JDS scholars from different countries. I'm not exactly Ms. Congeniality so I didn't make any new friends at once, except for this Bangladeshi guy I almost had an altercation with. By the second week, some of the fellows started moving out of the hotel to proceed to the respective cities of their universities. On September 12, we moved straight to our new apartment in Kobe.
We were told that most of the apartments in Japan are totally empty when one moves in. As I wasn't "inheriting" a bed from our senior fellows, I had to buy my own. For the first few nights I had to sleep on the floor with only a comforter for cushion.
I initially wanted to buy a real bed with a real mattress but then again we'd have to dispose them when we leave in two years. And the disposal might turn out to be more expensive than the bed, so after a few days of indecision, I settled for this one.
The room does not have a closet so that's another problem. Fortunately, one of the senior fellows gave his closet to me (ok he made me pay for it).
I think I'm ready to start my life here. :)
P.S. Living here is like taking a break from my real life. I'm beginning to understand why some people choose to stay here.
We were told that most of the apartments in Japan are totally empty when one moves in. As I wasn't "inheriting" a bed from our senior fellows, I had to buy my own. For the first few nights I had to sleep on the floor with only a comforter for cushion.
I initially wanted to buy a real bed with a real mattress but then again we'd have to dispose them when we leave in two years. And the disposal might turn out to be more expensive than the bed, so after a few days of indecision, I settled for this one.
I think I'm ready to start my life here. :)
P.S. Living here is like taking a break from my real life. I'm beginning to understand why some people choose to stay here.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
I don't get it. How do Japanese women manage to stay slim despite the endless array of sweets and cakes and breads and chocolates and other tasty treats available to them? I have been here for only two weeks and I can't fit in my pants anymore.
I am on a two-year food trip. Has it been a week already when I decided to explore Shin-Osaka Station? There is a gourmet street within the station complex. I looked around for the cheapest noodle house as I was craving noodles. I got in one and ordered something that looked familiar based on the picture - beef noodles with dark sauce which I was guessing to be soy sauce or the like. It turned out to be curry udon. I didn't think I'd be able to finish the whole thing but I did. I surprise myself sometimes.
Oh I'll get fat here.###
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Shinsaibashi-Suji
The thing with starting a new life in a new city is that it requires you to buy loads of stuff like beds and doormats and toiletries basket and the like -- a perfect excuse, really, to go out and shop.
It was a clear day, and the hotel we were staying in was two minutes away from Shin-Osaka station.
So today I took the subway to Shinsaibashi, said to be Osaka's best known shopping district. And when I came out of the station, Louis Vuitton and Fendi were the first ones to greet me. But I skipped their invite and headed straight to Shinsaibashi-Suji, a long covered street that features well-known brands alongside quaint shops selling shoes or clothes or trinkets or antique Japanese books. Will I ever be able to read Murakami in Japanese? I wonder.
So okay, the shopping street I went to doesn't exactly sell the things I need to buy, but I was happy nonetheless. There were rows and rows of shops. I loved the Kitkat store in particular. I love being pleasantly lost in places I have never been to.
It was a clear day, and the hotel we were staying in was two minutes away from Shin-Osaka station.
So okay, the shopping street I went to doesn't exactly sell the things I need to buy, but I was happy nonetheless. There were rows and rows of shops. I loved the Kitkat store in particular. I love being pleasantly lost in places I have never been to.
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