A year ago, I lived in Kariya

It's almost a year when we moved in Okazaki. I used to lived in Kariya, when I first came to Japan. Reminiscing, we lived in an apartment on the 2nd floor, in front of our apartment is a rice field, on the left side of it is a convenience store and on the other side is a gasoline station. On both side of our apartment are residential houses and on the back side is a small playground, where we play badminton. It's a small town with only few stores to visit, places to go and people to see but not so rural. UStore is just a 5 minutes walk from our place, we used to go there for kaimono (shopping). It's a good thing that Aichi University of Education is located within our town so, it is accessible to public transportation. The bus station is approximately 10 minutes walk from our place. I used to go to Aichi University of Education for my Nihongo class, they offer free lessons with volunteer AUE students as teacher. Aside from the free lessons, they also organize trips across Japan, off course for foreigners like me, and other activities like outdoor yakiniku (barbeque) and parties. My first sakura (cherry blossom) in Japan is in Suhara koen also located in or town, this park is very memorable for me. Our picnics were always held in this place and it has an indoor pool were we used to swim. I am really at home in Kariya, I will always remember this place wherever I may be.

Suhara Koen
■ Address: Aichi-ken, Kariya-shi, Igaya-cho, Suhara 4-1
■ Details about the location: Area with tennis court, heated pool and lake boats (the use of these facilities is charged separately). The barbecue is done around the lake which has table seating, in areas identified by the administration itself. Please stay and learn about the rules for use of this venue. In case of larger groups of 20 people can use the area's homeless.
■ Value for the use:
* It's free. It is necessary to bring all the utensils for the barbecue
■ Time: All day until sunset.
* Closed on Wednesdays, but if it falls on a holiday, will operate normally and will close the following day.
■ Reservations and information concerning the location: 0566-36-8122 (in Japanese) reservations must be made at least 1 month in advance.
■ Parking: Free

Aichi University of Education(愛知教育大学, Aichi kyōiku daigaku)
Website: www.aichi-edu.ac.jp/eng/index.html

Rafting in Gifu

Summer goes on and to make it more fun, me and my Japanese friend decided to try rafting. It was my first time to do rafting and I was so excited. Saturday October 13 we went to Gifu, the weather is not that good, no clear sky, cloudy and a bit rainy. On my friend's time calculation in his car navigation, we'll be late to catch 9 am, our starting time. In a hurry, we never got the chance to stop and eat breakfast. It's a good thing that we traveled smoothly, we were 30 mins. earlier from our expected time of arrival, we quickly dropped by at a konbini, bought some foods and drinks and ate breakfast on the car, then went directly to our rafting base.
At the camp, we had a brief orientation about rafting. After that, we went to our appropriate lockers room to changed clothes and wear our rafting suits. Outside, ODSS staffs were starting to distribute rafting gears like life jackets, helmets and paddles. When we are all set, we took a bus ride to the rafting place. Along the way, one of the staff discussed some extra precautionary methods while rafting. The rubber boats were ready when we reached our destination, then we divided ourselves into groups, the boat can accommodate 8 person, each group has its own team guide. There are 7 persons in our boat including our guide Abe chan. I taught his a very serious man, but my impression on him was wrong, his a very funny, talkative guy and I like his sense of humor. At last! we are ready to paddle. All of a sudden, the weather is favourable to us, the sky is clear and the sun came out. Together with my boat mates we paddle down the river and obeyed whatever instructions our guide gave to us. As the boat flow by itself gently down the stream, I felt so relaxed seeing the beautiful green surroundings, clear water from the river, hearing the sound of nature, seeing the birds and the fishes. Off course, the intense, fun and thrill is present as I pictured rafting akin to a roller coaster with no trails. The excitement rise up every time we encounter waves, high current and even a drop. Also, plunged ourselves into the river and do diving from a cliff. We made a stop at a riverside for a homemade lunch, everyone enjoys a sweetfish (ayu アユ, 鮎 ) meal. Lunch break is over and we are off to set for our afternoon rafting tour. Finally, we have reached ODSS camp, our tour is over. We returned the gears and changed our clothes. Lastly, we had our snack and watched a photo session, photos which are taken by ODSS photographer during our rafting course. Before, heading back home, me and my friend went to an onsen to have a relaxing bath. I had a great time on that day, rafting is so much fun, it's a must try for everyone seeking thrill, fun and adventure for their summer activities.

For further details:
Visit ODSS website http://www.odss.co.jp/

Nagara River
The Nagara River (長良川, Nagara-gawa) has its source in the city of Gujo, Gifu prefecture, joining many branches, and flows into Isewan as one of the Kiso three rivers. Previously, the river was named Sunomata River (墨俣川 Sunomata-gawa). With a length of 166 km (103 mi), it drains an area of 1,985 km² in the Chubu region and empties into Ise bay. The waters of the Nagara River is chosen as "the 100th selections of clean water", and is uniquely chosen as "the 88th selections of the best beaches in Japan " as a river. Although the river flows through the center of the city, its clean water is loved by many people. When summer comes, the dry riverbed will be crowded with people enjoying water activities. The river is also a popular tourist destination because of Nagaragawa onsen, a collection of natural hot springs that are known for their high iron content.

Konbini (Japanese Convenience Store) vs Sari-sari Store

Circle K, Family Mart, Lawson, Seven Eleven, konbini everywhere. In the Philippines convenience stores were not that popular as compared to Japan, instead we have our own version of neighborhood store which is the "Sari-sari store". Here's an inside look on these two stores:

Konbini (a japanese word for convenience store)

-More than 40,000 convenience stores can be found across Japan, most of them are open 24 hours 7 days a week.
- It offers a wide variety of products and services:

• Foods including ready to eat conbini meals such as onigiri (rice balls), sandwiches, bread, chips, candy, obento (lunch boxes), instant ramen, microwave meals and hot foods like fried chicken, nikuman and oden.


• Hot and cold beverages including soda, coffee, tea, water, sport drinks, juice, milk and vitamin drinks. Many convenience stores also sell alcoholic beverages including beer, happoshu, chuhai, nihonshu, shochu and wine.


• Body care products, cosmetics, batteries, blank CDs and tapes, umbrellas, newspapers, magazines and comics.

- Services Includes:

• Photocopying / fax service


• ATM


• Bill payment such as utilities, other bills and tax payment service


• Tickets reservations for concerts, theme parks, airlines, highway buses etc,


• Delivery or postal service


• Charging service for electronic money


• Digital Camera prints

Sari-sari store (the word sari-sari is Tagalog for "various kinds")- Uniquely Filipino style, they are everywhere and they pop up here and there, often side by side.
- They are privately operated, often from a window in a home, and carry small quantities of a wide variety of products. Commodities are displayed in a large screen-covered or metal barred window in front of the house. To save on space, most of the items are hanging from the ceiling.
- Basic product items are:

• Canned items (sardines, corned beef, tuna, salmon, and cooking oil)


• Drink items (bottled water, soft drinks, beer and liquors etc.)


• Sweet items (affordable chocolates and candies)


• Body Care products (shampoos, toothpaste, hair gel etc.)


• Plain food items (such as breads)


• Miscellaneous items (cigarettes)

- The sari-sari store allows members of the community easy access to basic commodities at low costs. Following the concept of "tingi", a customer can buy 'units' of the product rather than whole package. For example, instead of buying a bottle of shampoo you can buy one or two sachets of shampoos for only 4 pesos (8 yen). It is not just shampoo that you can purchase as single items, cooking oil, toothpaste, sugar, salt, charcoal, lollies, even single cigarettes can be purchased tingi.
- An integral part of every community. The stores frequently provide covered benches for people to sit on during congregation. Some men would spend some time drinking while women discuss the latest local news. Youths also use the place to hang out. Children would also rest here in the afternoon after playing and buy soft drinks and snacks.
- With rare exceptions, the Sari-Sari stores are not self service. The owner sits at a small window behind metal bars, and hands you whatever you request. The stores generally provide some credit to people who run up a bill between paydays. This "line of credit" is quite limited, perhaps 200-300 pesos (400 yen - 500 yen).

Sari-sari stores may not be as convenient compare to konbinis with its products and services, for us Filipinos it is an important economic and social location in a Filipino community. Surely, proudly Pinoy.

Toyota Oiden Matsuri

The first festival I ever attended in Japan is the Toyota Oiden Matsuri. The word "OIDEN" means "come here" in the local dialect. It is held from the last Friday to Sunday in July every year. The first day and second day are "OIDEN-SO-ODORI" (all dancing OIDEN) day held in the central shopping district of Toyota City, just off of Meitetsu Toyota Line, Toyota Station. People wearing original costumes dance in the streets all day and they play the same song, in a cheerful melody the lyrics of the song goes something like this "OIDEN MIRIN, ODORO MAI!!" (Come on here!, Let's dance together!). On the last day, is the fireworks festival held on the bank of Yahagi River. An amazing fireworks display which includes 10,000 curtain of fireworks, and melody HANABI which are co-ordinated with music.

Jologs in Japan (My First Encounter)

On board a JAL flight the first time I came to Japan I was excited yet worried. My interest in Japan is due to my aunt`s influence. My aunt is an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) in Japan. Every time she returns back home, I always take a looked on her photo albums, fascinated with her pictures which where taken from Disneyland, Tokyo, Yokohama, Hokkaido and so on, and hearing her wonderful stories, I was urged to go to Japan. It was my first time to travel outside my country with only few Japanese words and phrases in my pocket and since it was my first time I was too shy that I might make myself look like a fool. Boarding the plane my mind is full of thoughts of what will I do, what will I say thing. JAL`s crew and majority of the passengers where Japanese. In English I asked one of the crew where 54K seat is, and I was thankful she understood me and pointed where it is located. I was happy that I`ll be sitting beside the window for I always wanted to see the view on top. Beside me, sitting is a Japanese guy and a bit later moved to a vacant seat. I felt so out casted, within the row I was sitting alone. Just to ease my boredom I requested for some reading materials, the crew handed to me a Japanese newspaper, browsing it, the more I felt stupid. I secretly laughed at myself, duh! how do I read these stuff? I asked myself, it was completely nonsense for me, so what I did is pretend that I was actually reading the newspaper. It was time for meals, an old attendant with his food cart came and started talking to me in Japanese, Duh! I was mentally blocked at that time and I completely can`t understand what he`s talking about, and so the easiest way to respond... is to nod my head and say hai! He then served me meals, which is a Japanese cuisine, then he continued talking, I listened keenly and recognized some words such as ocha (tea), kohi (coffee), koora (cola), juice, mizu (water), so I figured out that he`s asking what drink would I want, I replied "cola pls.". After finishing my meals, I put the tray on the table beside my seat, then I fell asleep. I was unconscious hearing some announcements from the crew since I can`t understand it, I just ignored them and kept on sleeping. We were close to take off when I woke up and found on my desk some documents to be fill out, one of the crew might put it while I was sleeping and might noticed that I am a foreigner because one of the documents is for non Japanese. Instead of filling out the forms I laid my eyes on the window though it was already dark I was fascinated on the view below. seeing the glowing lights from houses, buildings, Bridges, cars, Ferris wheel, boats and so on, I was overwhelmed with what I have been seeing that moment. Leaving the plane I still can`t take my eyes off the window as I continued to glance the view outside the plane. As I got off the plane I put my attention on my co passengers, since It was my first time I knew nothing. As I followed them for a long walk, that`s when I realized how big Chubu Airport compared to the one we have in the Philippines. I kept on following them even on doing step by step airport procedures. The good thing about the airport is that there are English captions on every signs. In front of an immigration officer I was nervous, the Japanese officer looks so strict, as she take a look on my passport she then at the same time was giving me a pierce look as she studied every part on my face. I felt so conscious and wants to melt down. I felt so relieved when I was cleared. Heading towards Customs Bureau I was hoping they will not inspect my baggage, the officer greeted me and threw me questions in English " Where are you from?", "What will you do in Japan?" with a smile I answered to his questions. It`s a good thing that the officer just let me passed without even inspecting my baggage. As I head off to the exit I was so excited, finally Japan.. here I come...

Welcome to my Blog...

Skishue here.. Thanks for visiting my blog. Japan is a very interesting country, with its unique culture, modern infrastracture, high-tech gadgets, robots, anime, JPop, Ninjas, Geisha, Mt. Fuji, sushi, ramen and off course Hello Kitty and so on... Hello!! Japan is how my life is here in Japan, anything about Japan that is my blog is all about. Konnichiwa, minna san!!! Welcome to my Blog...