Family Dinner

So my family and Dan got together for Sunday Dinner last week. My mom had come over to my house and tried playing Guitar Hero and she loved it. So I have pictures of everyone giving it a go. Howard and my Mom weren't very good but we'll forgive them.:P Click on each image for a bigger version.

My mom loving Slow Ride by Foghat


Danielle playing


Josh giving it a go


Myself giving it a try


Dan playing


Howard playing


So just to let you all know I finally beat Guitar hero on Medium last night. I'm actually sick today so I'm taking up time by updating by blog. Sorry I don't update that often. Until next time ^^.

Christmas morning

Well I've decided to try to keep up my blog while I'm back in Utah.

This was the view from my parents back yard from the porch Christmas morning. Quite a site I think.


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Christmas was pretty fun this year. I just went to my parents house and watched a few movies with them. The movies were "Ratatoulli", "Amazing Grace", and "The peaceful Warrior".
All of these movies were great and I would suggest them to anyone.

Well tonight is New years eve and I'm having some friends coming over. We're not the major partying type though so no drinking will be going on. Just playing games and maybe watching some movies. Anyway I'll post again soon with pics and details of what I've been doing lately.

Thanks,

Jesse K.

Last adventure before I come home

Well this will probably be my last post on this blog. Today I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Tons and tons of fish are auctioned here every day. The auctions start at 3:00am and go until about 9:00am. It was quite a thing to see. I hope you enjoy the pictures. If open fish or blood bothers you, you might not want to look at these.
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3 weeks since my last post

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. Since I've gotten back to Tokyo I've been kind of laying low saving my money for when I come back to the states in about a week. I'm still planning to go to the fish market this week before I leave so look forward to pics from that. Otherwise I'm still alive and I'll see you all soon.

Now I'm in Beppu, a town known for its hot springs

So today I went even further south and am now on the southern most island of the main islands. Beppu is quite a pretty as you will see from my pictures. I think this is the last place I'm going to go to and I'll be heading back to Tokyo the day after tomorrow. For tomorrow though, I'm going to try some of the outdoor onsens. I'm really looking forward to it.

And for those who don't know, I've decided to come back home a little earlier than I had planned. It didn't work out with getting a job (well more like getting a work visa) but that's ok. It has been a very fun vacation so far and I still have a month left. Anyway I've taken a few pictures so far so please enjoy!
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The next day in Hiroshima

Well today I decided to head to the Peace memorial museum. It was very big and had a lot of information about why America chose to hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It took me about 2 hours to go through the entire museum. It was quite sad and kind of left you feeling depressed but it is history and it happened to real people. After the museum I went to Hiroshima castle which was rebuilt in the 1960's. It was pretty and I took a few pictures of that as well. Then on my way back home I found an arcade center with 6 floors of arcades, prize machines, pachinko, and karaoke.
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My trip away from Tokyo

Lets see, where should I start... I guess I’ll start from the beginning, which is usually always a good place to start from. So this was the 1^st time for me riding on a Shikansen (Bullet Train). It was quite something as we moved along Japan at around 150 miles per hour. I took a video and quite a few pictures of the country side of that so here it is.

8-1-07
So after I arrived in Kyoto the 1^st thing I did was start looking for my Ryokan (Japanese style inn). I was reading the guide on the Frommer’s book that I have. The directions aren’t that greatest in that book I found out. You almost always have to find someone to ask if they know the place as long as you’re around the right area. Anyway, once I got in I was covered in sweat from carrying around my huge luggage. So I changed my clothes and rested for a while then set out to take a quick look at Kyoto. I found that there was a large river right next to my Ryokan so I took several pictures of that. Then I walked around town for quite a while just getting the feel for Kyoto. After than I got to my room and then took a nice cold shower. After a while of resting in my room I got up again to get something to eat around 8:00pm. After searching for quite a while and seeing that hardly anything was open after 7pm I found a small place that was right next to my hotel. After that I went back to the Ryokan and just watched a few movies and went to bed. Here are the pictures I took that day.
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8-2-07
Ok, the next day I got up around 7:30 because I ordered the Japanese style breakfast and I needed to come down to the main eating hall at 8:00. It was a pretty good meal, not super tasty but not bad. So I was pretty tired still after breakfast because I kept waking up in the middle of the night, so I went back to sleep until almost 10:00. Oh and some of you might have noticed I was getting on MSN and still being able to check Email while I was there. I found a wireless network that wasn’t secured but it was a little far away so the connection wasn’t the greatest. I kept having to re-connect all the time. Of course the day that I left was when it was working best. OK, well on with the story. When I woke up I walked to the Kyoto station, picked up the travelers information and ended up taking the bus to a memorial called “Sanjusangedo Hall”. It was quite a sight but too bad I was only allowed to take pictures outside of it. There were quite a few national treasures inside that were very pretty. It houses 1,001 life-size images of the thousand-handed Kannon. They had gold on most of them and they are basically Buddhist woman and each of them were a little different from each other. Then I went to the Kyoto National Museum and saw some very old artifacts in there dating from the 11^th Century. I wasn’t allowed to take very many pictures in there either. Actually I wasn’t sure it was allowed at all so I kind of took them on the sly. Anyway, after that I went to Kiyomizu Temple. This temple is very pretty, and it was all put together without a single nail. On my way up to the temple I found a massive cemetery which I took a few pictures of because I just love the way the cemeteries in Japan look. Then after all this sight seeing I grabbed a quick bite to eat and was pretty exhausted from all the walking so I headed home. Here are the pictures from that day.
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8-3-07
Now the next day was pretty cool also. The first thing I did was head to Nijo Castle. It was quite a view and I took some video and pictures of this place. The one thing I loved about the inside of this castle, (which we weren’t allowed to take pictures) was the flooring. The floor was made out of a wood called Nightingale Wood. The reason it was so cool was because when you stepped on it, it made a squeaking noise that was quite distinct from any normal squeak. I guess the wood was actually made to do it so if there were any intruders during the night it would alert the guards someone was coming. The grounds of the castle though, were my favorite part. The garden was quite magnificent. I took quite a few pictures and some video of that as well. There was a board showing depending what month of the year it was, depended on what was blooming.
Before I got to my next destination, I thought I had found but realized I didn’t. I guess I found a shrine along with another cemetery which was kind of on the mountain side. It was very pretty and I took some video and pictures of that as well.
After that I went to Ryoanji Temple. Inside it has the famous Zen rock garden. Though it was very pretty I had realized that I had left the fan I had bought in a restaurant when I was using the restroom. So I kind of rushed though that place and took some video and pictures though.
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8-4-07
On this day I got up a bit late because I couldn’t sleep very well in that Ryokan. I just got up, went to the Kyoto station and road the 10:20 train to Nara.
When I got to Nara is was super hot (around 90F with humidity) so I was sweating my head off once again. The 1^st thing I did was look for a place to stay again. This was another Ryokan that Frommer’s suggested. Now this one was nice. It was a little old but it had a really nice peaceful feeling to it. There was a small garden in the middle grounds and it had a public bath (one for men and one for women). So when I got in, it was a bit too early to get in my room. So once again I took off from there, leaving my heavy luggage behind. I went to the Nara park and found lots of deer everywhere. You could buy crackers and feed them right out of your hand. It was amazing how docile these deer were. You could reach out and pet them and they would just stand there with out a care in the world. I took some pictures of that. Then I went to the Kofukuji Temple and their treasure house. Pictures were not allowed so I didn’t get any of the artifacts. After that I was so tired and hot I walked back to the Ryokan which I was quite proud of finding because it was on the other side of town. I got back but it was still a little early but they saw how drenched I was they told me I could go to my room early. At about 6PM I took my first ever communal bath. Though there was no one there it was still quite interesting. You have to wash your entire body outside of the bath then once you’re done with that you can go into the bath tub. Oh yeah, and I also used my first coin laundry while I was here too. Here are the pictures from that day.
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8-5-07
So on Sunday I got up, had a Japanese style breakfast that was really well made at this Ryokan. I met some Japanese people in the dining room and had a nice chat with them. The man didn’t know any Japanese but his wife was Japanese. I figured out they were from California. Her family lives here in Japan so she wanted to see her family and tour with her husband. Then some people from Holland came in and I talked with them for a little while as well. So after breakfast I set out and went to the Todaji Temple. This is the temple that houses the famous biggest Buddha statue in all of Japan. It was originally built in the mid-700’s and has gone through several natural disasters so the head has been rebuilt about 3 times since it was made. After that I went to the Kasuga Grand Shrine. I think this was my favorite shrine so far. There were so many stone lanterns on the road side, it was just very peaceful and beautiful. After this I went to a restaurant that served a Japanese style Bentou (meal in a box). Then I was so sweaty once again I went back to my room, turned the A/C on full blast and took a nap. I think while I’ve been in Japan I have consumed the most liquid I ever have. Now I know why they have vending machines everywhere. So people don’t die of thirst. Anyway, after that I didn’t go anywhere really but I took another bath and this time there were some people in there. I talked a little with them but in this heat you can’t stay in the bath for very long. Anyway here are the pics for that day as well.
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8-6-07
So on Monday, I got up, talked with the same Japanese people at breakfast and learn their names are Jerry and Jamie. They took a picture with me but I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. So I set out in the morning and head to Osaka because I had to change to a shikansen again from there to Hiroshima. Once I got to Osaka I learn I had to go to Shin-Osaka which is where the shikansen was. While there I thought I had lost my JR rail pass and was going to go back to Osaka station to look for it. Fortunately someone found it and the lady I had talked to about loosing it came and found me before I left to Osaka station. So it takes about 1hr and 30 min from Osaka to get to Hiroshima. It was a nice ride and I was able to read a lot of the book Josh (my brother) had recommended me. I got to Hiroshima and find my hotel quickly so I could get out of the heat again (because once again, I was sweating my head off). After I took a shower and got cooled down I went out and got dinner. I had Okonomiyaki, which is basically like a big Japanese style pancake with lots of ingredients mixed in. This one had bacon, shrimp, scallops, noodles, cabbage, onions, chives, and eggs. It was very delicious. I took some pictures of that being made as well. Then after that I headed to the peace memorial park where the event was being held where they put paper lanterns in the water and float them down the river in memorial of all the lives that were lost on the day the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It was very pretty and there was lots of music too. I took a lot of video and pictures of that. Most of my pictures didn’t turn out that well though so at least you have the video. Luckily my hotel has a fast wired connection so I can update my blog tonight.
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P.S. I’ll upload the videos later once I edit them back in Tokyo.

Pics of my home in Utah

I figured I would post some pictures of my home back in Utah because I have a few friends from Japan looking at my photos. I don't want them just looking at their country. I don't have very many but I hope you enjoy. I'll comment on the pictures themselves.
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Hanabi (fireworks) and an old town

So last night I went with Yann and Fabian to the Hanabi show in Asakusa. We had a lot of fun. I couldn't believe how many people there were. I guess last year there were around 900,000 people which is an insane amount. That means roughly 10% of Tokyo was there. I took some video so I hope you enjoy that. I'll edit the blog a little later so you can see it in here. My video work once again isn't that great and it was really crowded. You can hear the people in the background yelling "Tamaiya!" or something like that. I guess it's kind of a traditional thing to do. I took out most of the really sudden movements so here you are.



Then today I went with Fabian and our landlady (I forget her name! どもすみません） to an older town not far from my house. Just 2 stations away from Kameari Station. But she pretty much only spoke in Japanese so I was able to practice a whole lot today. It was very fun. I posted pictures of that as well. We ate at quite a few places. She really seems to enjoy eating. Fabian and I had just had breakfast right before we left and then she took us to a place right after we got to the town. Then about an hour later we stopped at a Japanese coffee shop and had a small drink with a small cracker. After we left the town and came back to Kameari she asked me if I had ever had Soba before. I told her I hadn't and by this time Fabian had to go somewhere so it was just me and her. But she took me to one of the oldest Soba shops that is in Kameari and had that. It was very good, and I also had some vegetables and shrimp in tempura. Anyway here are the pictures.
Enjoy!
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Tokyo Imperial Palace

So today I decided to go to the Tokyo Imperial Palace. I figured out that it is closed on Mondays and Fridays for some reason. So I was just able to take some pictures just outside of it, around the moat area. It is still quite pretty though. The trees that are on the walkway are Sakura trees which is one of the things I really want to see. I guess I'll have to get that job to stay here until March which is when the Sakura trees bloom. I can imagine how pretty it would be around the whole Palace. Anyway, I took quite a few pictures of the Palace.

I also went to Hibiya park and took a few pictures there as well. Here is the link to the pictures.
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Today I went to the Tokyo National Museum and had my 1st interview for an English teaching job.

Hello everyone,
Today was quite the adventure for me. I went to the Tokyo Nation Museum that is by Ueno park. It was quite cool in there... literally it was really hot today and the museum was nice and air conditioned. But anyway, I took quite a few pictures in the museum so enjoy. Some items were asked not to be photographed for some reason so some really cool stuff I can't show you. Anyway here are the pictures.
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Now for your main question. My interview went really well I think. It's at a school called Doremi Garden Preschool. So as you can tell by the name it is a preschool. So I'll be teaching 1-5 year old kids and having to change diapers sometimes! lol I guess that's ok, I've never changed a diaper but I know I'll have to some day so I might as well learn now. Anyway, they want me to come back on Tuesday to try out a lesson and see how the kids like me. One of the interviewers asked me if I had a college degree though. I told him I didn't so he said that might cause a problem getting a work visa. He said he thinks they ask for a photocopy of your diploma when you apply for a visa. I told him I would check into though and see if this is going to be a problem. I hope it's not, but anyway, wish me luck!

Today I went to Hana Rikyu Gardens and Asakusa

All right, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. Today I'm going to make up for it because I took a TON of pictures. And there is a surprise at the end of all the pictures.

So I was going to go to the Tokyo Museum today but I found out it was closed by its website on Mondays. So I decided to do something a little different. I'm pretty much following the Frommer's guide for things to do in Tokyo.

I started out at the garden which was really neat and nice looking. I took a lot of pictures of that so please take a look at them. After I was done with the garden I took a boat ride to Asakusa.

This is where I had the most fun. I made up today for all the times I haven't eaten out. I went to a restaurant that was called ちんや（chin-ya). This was in the Frommer's book as a place to take a break. And since I hadn't eaten all day and it was almost 3PM I figured it would be a good place to go... Boy was I surprised. I had no idea what it was going to be like but it was sure awesome. I walk in and it looked like a lobby for a hotel. There was a place to take off your shoes and put your umbrella. So I get greated by this woman wearing a kimono and she asks me if it's just me. So we go to an elevator and she tells me to wait for it to come. Once it comes she escorts me to the 3rd floor and a room that was on the 3rd floor. It had a table with 4 chairs and it was setup quite nicely. So I took a few pictures of that. But what's next is the best part. I have to use some of my Japanese to communicate because they don't speak very much English at all. I wait a while in the room and then my waitress comes in with the menu. I figure out that a meal is 5,600 yen and that I'm getting Sukiyaki! The pictures will kind of let you know what Sukiyaki is but it was the 1st time for me ever having it. I remember watching in Anime, characters doing this and thinking "That would be really awesome to try one day." Well today was the day. So it was a bit expensive but it was SOOO good. I kind of felt bad only being 1 person when it's usually a pretty social thing to do. But I guess that's life.

After the restaurant I went and explored Asakusa a bit but my camera's batteries ran out so I ended the trip a little early. But the surprise is what I bought in Asakusa.

Here are the pictures of the park, Asakusa, and the restaurant Chin-ya.
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Tonight I went to a club with Yann

so tonight I went to a club with Yann in Shibuya. It was a club where you can drink and eat as much pizza as you wanted for 2500 yen. I did meet a few girls while I was there. Some of them knew English pretty well so I was able to communicate fully. But I guess we can just say that after about an hour it was quite boring and no one else was talking to me. lol. So I guess the club scene just isn't for me yet. Everyone was surprised that I didn't smoke or drink. 2 girls that I met said that Yann was the devil and I was the angel, it made me laugh. But I don't really have experience with girls so most of my conversations ended pretty quick. Anyway, I was only able to take a few pictures of Shibuya because Yann was in a hurry to get to the club. So here they are.
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Tokyo Tower for today

Today I went to Tokyo Tower and it was quite fun. It was pretty funny though. They had a small theme park in the tower, then on other floors there were stores, restaurants, and other stuff. I took quite a few pictures.

There are two observation decks. It costs 850 yen to go the the 1st main observation deck. Then an additional 600 yen to go to the special observation deck.

On the special observation deck there was a giant netting around it I guess for safety. So it did take a little away from the scenic view. There was also a shrine and a small park by the tower so I took a few pictures there as well.
Enjoy.

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I went to Ueno Park today

Well today I got a bit adventurous and went the furthest I have from a station today. lol. I went to Ueno park and it was quite beautiful. I took a lot of pictures so have a look. I'm waiting for my room mate to come home so I can see if he wants to go somewhere to eat. I still haven't really eaten out yet since I've been here, though I did go to a kaiten zushi shop on the day I came in. Now I want to try something other than sushi! heh. Here are the pics.
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Enjoy!

Some more pics around my neighborhood

Here is some more of my neighborhood. Most of these are by the mall called "Ario" that is about a 5 minute walk from my house.
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Enjoy. I'll post some more later.

Pics of my neighborhood

Here are some pictures of a Shrine and a park that is really close to my house. The Shrine is literally almost a 2 minute walk. Enjoy, I'll be posting more soon.
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Today I went to Akihabara

As the title says, I went to Akihabara today. It's a part of Tokyo that has tons and tons of electronics and almost everything you could want if you're a major geek. Here are some pictures so far that I've taken. I'm not going to post them on the blog or it will distort the page. So here is the link to my photobucket pics.
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enjoy!

Ah yes, I guess I forgot to tell you about my room mates. The German (Fabian) has been in Japan for 3 weeks and will probably be here for about another 4 months, But it seems he's on an internship here and he's going to school so he's been busy writing a thesis for his class which he has 3 months more to write.

The French guy (Yan) has been here for 6 months and will probably be here for another 5 months. He's here on a holiday working visa and he works in a bar. I guess his Family is moving to the US in a month or 2 so he's not going to have a country soon (Not quite sure what he meant by that). I guess his Dad is sick of paying so much taxes. He said about 60% of his pay check is taken by the government.

But they took me to the grocery store tonight and Fabian stayed with me. Prices of stuff is kind of expensive. Milk was 170 yen for a liter, so that would calculate to about 5 dollars a gallon-ish. Rice was like 1000 yen for a 2KG package which isn't too bad. about 8$ for 5 lbs.

Even the mall is pretty crazy though. They have tiny carts that are much smaller than the US's and the back wheels can swivel too, so it's really maneuverable. Then a tiny basket fits in the cart and the cart can hold your umbrella which they have little plastic holders for so the rain doesn't get all over the floor when you fold it up. When you get to the cash register, they welcome you, and as they are checking your items they asked me if I wanted chop sticks, but they said it so fast I didn't hear the verb they used lol. But my room mate helped me out there. Then after they check your items, you go down the line a little and pay there. Then after you pay they have a little self service bagging station just a bit after you pay. That was pretty cool I thought.

I'll try to post some pics soon as well, I haven't had much time to take any pictures yet.

Here's my Sakura house apartment

This 8 minute video took about an hour to upload so I'm not sure how often I'll upload movies. We'll see. But here is my apartment and my room mates. The camera skills aren't awesome but I didn't feel like editing the movie. So here you go. どうぞ！

Well I'm here in Japan!

Well I made it to Japan. I'm not going to post any pictures just yet because I'm in Sakura house's internet cafe.

Well my flight was long. If you ever have a chance to take an 11 hour flight.... Don't do it, lol. I did sit next to a Japanese girl that grew up in California so she was fluent in English and Japanese. We didn't get to talk a whole lot until towards the end of the flight, but she helped me out a bit after we landed in the airport.

Lets just say it is SUPER humid here. It was raining when I got in so there was cloud cover so there wasn't much sun if any. BUT... Surprisingly I didn't get lost at all, I was quite proud of myself. Even using the subway was really easy. I only spent like 15 minutes traveling the city before I found my hotel.

There is so much vegetation even in the city it's quite something, quite a bit different from Utah. I hear Japanese conversations everywhere and since they are talking so fast I can only make out a few words here and there. I hope I can adjust to the speed in due time.

Most of the times I've had to talk to people (really just in the airport) most of them knew English so that helped when I couldn't quite explain. Of course when I'm thinking about it after the fact I think about how I could have said it in Japanese. I hope I can come up with responses faster as time goes on, but I don't think that will be a problem.

As soon as I got to my hotel I was sweating so much that I took a really cold shower and turned my rooms cooler to like 18C (about 60F) because it was so hot in there.

Well I'm going to Email a few people to make sure they know I'm safe. Hope to hear from you all soon. I'll post some pics of my puny hotel room tomorrow. lol

Just about time to go

The time is approaching for me to leave to Japan. This was the main reason I made myself this blog. As you can see it has a Japanese theme now, thanks to one of my good friends for doing it for me. I'm not good at all with HTML or Photoshop like he is. I really like how it looks.

Anyway, once I get to Japan I'll probably post new pictures and movies I've taken of Japan on this blog about once a week. So please check back every few days to see "The Adventures of Jesse Kissee!" lol.

I'll post once again when I get into Japan.

Jesse F. Kissee