Instruments and Aquariums

THE AQUARIUM
and other junk

Word of the Post:

WAKAME - This is the type of seaweed that is used in Miso soup, not nori as I had always believed.  I’ve been using nori in my miso for a while because it’s pretty cheap, but my soup always turned out way saltier than it should be. That’s because nori is salted and dried to add more flavor and make it more edible by itself.  So now you know, if you wanna make a nice bowl of miso, grab the wakame.

- - -

It’s been around two weeks since the last time I posted up on this blog……………….

Already?!

Oh well, even if it’s not being read, I wanna write it for my memories in the future, so here I go.


So what did I do?  Hmmm…

That’s right, on the 16th, I went to a concert involving an auto-harp and an ocarina group (for those thinking along the lines of Legend of Zelda, not quite like that ocarina).  First, what was this concert for:  supporting Japan after the disaster of the tsunami.  Because, yes, things here still aren’t fixed, that was a really bad disaster.

Anyways, our sensei (Japanese teacher) treated us to some sushi at a really classy place that is actually located on the campus called the “campus hotel.”  It was pretty pricey, but the food was real high quality and we didn’t have to pay a dime because sensei paid for everything.

After the meal we wandered up to the third story and into the place the concert was going to take place in, where, after an introductory speech was spoken, some really bad players played for us for thirty or so minutes.  Of the songs they played, one of them was the flipping Astroboy theme.  Really…?  Astroboy??

Can’t blame them for being bad, though.  They said it was just a part of their hobby.

After they played, the real show started.  Now the two that came up, (there were only two), they were pros.  This is where the auto-harp came into play.  If you don’t know what an auto-harp looks like, here’s a picture:



The lady that played on the auto-harp was a-freaking-mazing!  Her fingers danced over that tiny harp like nothing.  Her husband was the one on the ocarina.  I suppose it’s actually called a Kokarina, now that I’m reading the paper.  Unfortunately I can’t read their names, I can only make out a few kanji, and it doesn’t really help with translating the names, their last name starts with Kuro though.

All I can say is, though the beginning of the concert was painful with the hobby players playing, the pros made the entire thing worth while.  With no pictures of the place, though, I can’t do much but post a few photos of the paper and gift sensei got us.



October 22nd 2011
We finally went on the trip that’s been planned out for us since we got here.  We had to fork over 1000 yen to pay for it, but the trip was totally worth it.  Basically our 1000 yen each paid for two busses, a meal for each of us, and a trip into an aquarium!  That’s awesome.

Before leaving, I went to the fifth floor where Elise, Sarah, Cho, and Tomomi-san all live together!  :(
Anyways, I caught Elise in the act of eating food.

Also saw Cho and Sarah as they were leaving their rooms.

We had to get to the meeting place at 8:30 that morning so that we could check in, get our water, and board the bus.  We didn’t actually take off until around 9:30 though.  The trip took us about an hour to get there.



Where is there?  Asunaro, the city that houses the Sky Tree (Yet to be complete)!

When we arrived, the first thing we did was go to an aquarium.  That was at around 10:30.  We were given about an hour and a half to wander around, take pictures, and buy some souvenirs.  So many cute animals, with so little time.


In the distance looms a giant ferris wheel.



Where is the flipping entrance....??  Wait a minute, wait a minute.  Oh!  Found it!


Group picture!!  This is everyone who came on the trip with us.
Hmm.  Gary's not here!  >(

The actual aquarium is to the right of this sign, walk up a few steps, and in the distance looms a giant glass....dome:


Yes, my friends.  That is the destination!  And it did start raining once we got there.  Traitorous weather...


This is, by far, one of my favorite pictures.  The guy on the right is not a random passerby.

The guy on the right is named (see, nicknamed) Thunder.  Sarah says it's a weak nickname since it has no power, it's just noise.  This is, in a sense, a picture of Thunder in personality: socially awkward.

As for the giant dome in the back, that's the entrance to the aquarium.  Isn't that cool?  An aquarium located near the ocean that is actually below your feet!  It was a really pretty place.


Top view of the inside of the dome.


Into the abyss.  And what's that?  I spy with my little eye, a few foreigners on the right side.
Finally, we made it into the aquarium.


Oh Sarah, showing exactly what is expected when spotting a giant penguin plushie...


Here's one of me.  Belly fat!  :(
I didn't even notice Cho making the bunny ears...


Attention Whore.


No explanation needed.

So we spent a bit of time there, and after we wandered over to fill our hungry bodies.

We hit up an all you can eat Yakiniku restaurant, like, Naruto style, Yakiniku!

That was pretty fun.  Grab all the meat you can, grill it up, and eat!  They also had jello, noodles, veggies, curry, rice, and soups.  The main deal was obviously the meat though!  It was also all you can drink!  You can imagine how stuffed we got from that place.  Sarah and I were both basically on the mindset that it was all you can eat, so try to eat it all, since food is expensive and we’re both cheap-asses.


See that smile on Sarah's face.  She knows that this is all you can eat.

After filling our stomachs to the max, we got back in the bus and headed over to a shrine, where I saw a resident miko and witnessed a wedding.  I really did not want to take pictures of the newly-wed though, it felt like an invasion of privacy.  It was really formal, old school Japanese style though, really nice stuff.

For some reason, that day made me more tired than usual, and upon getting back on the bus, I was really bushed, and basically konked out for the hour it took to get back home.  You can imagine that I basically went to my room and slept too.

Now it is today, and all I did today was……..nothing!  So see you next time, where I will update some more and hopefully have some method of posting pictures!