Highlights of work produced before uni, Collated for UCAS Portfolio to apply for University.
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Tuesday 20 October 2015
Thursday 1 October 2015
World Ballet Day
Happy World Ballet Day 2015!!!!
To be honest I never really knew this was a thing but now I am aware, I think it calls for celebration every year.
This year the organisation has put together a marathon of ballet from all over the world to our device screens. 23 hours of jaw dropping ballet to feast your eyes on. Companies from all over the world; Australian Ballet, Bolshio, Royal Ballet, Ballet of Canada and SAN Ballet.
I was at school most of today but any free time I had my eyes glued to a screen. And as soon I got home I but on my pointe shoes and have spent the last few hours dancing round the house. which is a lot more fun than it might sound.
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To be honest I never really knew this was a thing but now I am aware, I think it calls for celebration every year.
This year the organisation has put together a marathon of ballet from all over the world to our device screens. 23 hours of jaw dropping ballet to feast your eyes on. Companies from all over the world; Australian Ballet, Bolshio, Royal Ballet, Ballet of Canada and SAN Ballet.
I was at school most of today but any free time I had my eyes glued to a screen. And as soon I got home I but on my pointe shoes and have spent the last few hours dancing round the house. which is a lot more fun than it might sound.
I post this in the hope that you get to see at least a snippet of the live streaming. I am so pleased and it has been very refreshing for me seeing as I have been able to find a dance school so far.
Go watch it!!!
Love Maria xx
Monday 14 September 2015
First week of school
Good Morning,
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So after a lot of kerfuffle and sorting out I finally enrolled at the British School in Tokyo.
I started on the 31st August, I know early right. I was called in for the afternoon to sort paperwork and talk to our teachers, I have to admit it was kind of scary, but it didn't last long and it made it easier for the actual first day after.
When I arrived everyone was given their timetables for the year, but because my registration papers weren't in order, I didn't have a timetable. So the first thing I had to do was create a make shift timetable on a scrap piece of paper. Physics, Chemistry and... Maths. I hadn't planned on maths but they convinced me that it would help with the other subjects. Once I had completed the form and spoken to all the relevant people it was time to go.
When I arrived everyone was given their timetables for the year, but because my registration papers weren't in order, I didn't have a timetable. So the first thing I had to do was create a make shift timetable on a scrap piece of paper. Physics, Chemistry and... Maths. I hadn't planned on maths but they convinced me that it would help with the other subjects. Once I had completed the form and spoken to all the relevant people it was time to go.
I thought it was quite funny actually I had not officially been offered a place but they expected me to start attending on the first day of school. In fact it wasn't until the next week I was legitimate, while on a school trip. (I'll explain later)
From the first few days I feel I learnt a lot about the school. It is so different to my school in the UK. for starters it's tiny! The whole of secondary school, that's Y7-Y13, is around 800 people and Y13 can't be more than 20! To come from a school where there were between 1-2000, its insane. Then there are the people; I thought I had traveled a lot, and I probably had in comparison to anyone at Oxted but here I feel so untraveled. I know that was naive to think that seeing as its a international British school, but oh well.
All the students seem nice, but I feel I need to give it some more time before I can form a proper opinion or make friends. however they have told me I should hold back on my opinion on the school as well. So I'm sure there will be an update school blog in a few months.
The most stressful thing so far is getting up and ready in the morning. The school day starts in Tokyo at 8.30am which means because I live in Utsunomiya I have to get up at 5.30! Meaning my morning routine has changed significantly. Cue girly talk; I now have to shower in the evening which isn't to bad as I quite like that, I also have to pack my bag and decide what to wear (that's another story) before I go to sleep. When I wake up I throw on whatever I chose, use the facilities, grab my breakfast for the train and if I have time swig a mug of tea. And off to the train I go.
At this school we have a sort of uniform, you cant just wear what you like, as I was used to. Its not exactly a uniform more if a dress code which is; Tokyo business. This normally consists of a shirt and a skirt. Yeah, there is a real difference between Tokyo Business and International Business.
Maria xx
Friday 11 September 2015
Thursday 10 September 2015
The search for Mt.Fuji and a Giant comes to town.
Hi,
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Last weekend was a Japanese holiday for looking after the spirits of the deceased in your family. So we decided to take the opportunity of the time off and go exploring once more. This time my mums friend Marianne came to join us as she was over as well. We knew we wanted to go back to the Izu Peninsula as we had heard such good things about it and it was not too far. However because of the national holiday booking hotel was rather difficult. In the end we found a hotel in Hakone which is near the peninsula next to a beautiful lake. The booking was kind of rushed so no time for planning or anything, we thought we could do that once we were there.
So on Friday we set off for Hakone in the Car. I noticed immediately that it was taking us straight through Tokyo which I thought was odd and I assumed it would be more congested and my mum didn't particularly fancy driving through the streets of Tokyo. But in fact there is no other option, they do not have a M25 equivalent in Japan, their motorways go over the top off or underneath the great city. Good planning but that does mean if you don't know where you are going and you find yourself in a never ending tunnel and your sat-nav looses connection you are in a bit of a predicament.
Once we finally arrived in Hakone, we had not stopped and as we past a restaurants after some tremendous hairpin turns we decided to stop for a bite before reaching the hotel. And when I say tremendous turns I mean you literally went back on yourself 180 and then almost 90 degrees up. The restaurant seemed to be busy so we thought that was a good indication that it was good. We were soo wrong. When we entered the restaurants it was dark and smelt pungently of incense, we were handed a menu in English with very little choice; none of which you would have heard of before. The menu consisted of descriptions like;
- Rice milk soup - good for baby food
- Rice patties - gelatinous rice pounded to a paste served with either soy sauce or beans... Good for the gut
- Balls of something - basically like eating a plastic bouncy ball.
You can imagine they were disgusting and I couldn't manage to eat more than a mouthful of each.
So when we got to the hotel we had lunch again. The hotel was really nice, the views were amazing and the ground were filled is plants. That night we had dinner in the Japanese restaurant and subsequently went to sleep as we were all very tired.
We were rudely awoken by some loud shuddering noise. First we thought it was thunder but it was too consistent, then we thought it might be an earthquake but things weren't shaking. I played around with the idea that it could be a giant coming to greet us but that wasn't the case obviously. My mum did some research and as she thought the lake was once a crater before and that is was no longer active but just behind our hotel is another volcano which turned out to be very active this year. When we asked the hotel we were told it was a military base nearby, I'm not sure I believe that though..
Nevertheless we ventured out on to the crater lake. It was beautiful, hot and sunny. During the research we found out that we should be able to see Mount Fuji from Hakone so whilst on the boat we searched. It's huge so we were astounded when we couldn't find it. Like what the hell. Unfortunately even though it was a beautiful day there were still clouds lingering just where the view of the volcano would have been. Then, that afternoon we went up a gondola up another mountain and the view was spectacular again you couldn't see Mount Fuji but you could see the Lakes and the peninsula and Atami.
The next day it was time to go home and we had given up seeing Mount Fuji, however when we went down for breakfast on the balcony it suddenly decided to show its face/peak. I almost thought I was imagining it but it was there. And although you could only just see it it was still memorable and exciting.
On the way home we passed Tokyo Sky Tree at sunset and although I want to see it up close seeing the whole thing in that lighting was amazing. I can't wait to try and draw it.
Maria x
Once we finally arrived in Hakone, we had not stopped and as we past a restaurants after some tremendous hairpin turns we decided to stop for a bite before reaching the hotel. And when I say tremendous turns I mean you literally went back on yourself 180 and then almost 90 degrees up. The restaurant seemed to be busy so we thought that was a good indication that it was good. We were soo wrong. When we entered the restaurants it was dark and smelt pungently of incense, we were handed a menu in English with very little choice; none of which you would have heard of before. The menu consisted of descriptions like;- Rice milk soup - good for baby food
- Rice patties - gelatinous rice pounded to a paste served with either soy sauce or beans... Good for the gut
- Balls of something - basically like eating a plastic bouncy ball.
You can imagine they were disgusting and I couldn't manage to eat more than a mouthful of each.
So when we got to the hotel we had lunch again. The hotel was really nice, the views were amazing and the ground were filled is plants. That night we had dinner in the Japanese restaurant and subsequently went to sleep as we were all very tired.
Nevertheless we ventured out on to the crater lake. It was beautiful, hot and sunny. During the research we found out that we should be able to see Mount Fuji from Hakone so whilst on the boat we searched. It's huge so we were astounded when we couldn't find it. Like what the hell. Unfortunately even though it was a beautiful day there were still clouds lingering just where the view of the volcano would have been. Then, that afternoon we went up a gondola up another mountain and the view was spectacular again you couldn't see Mount Fuji but you could see the Lakes and the peninsula and Atami.
The next day it was time to go home and we had given up seeing Mount Fuji, however when we went down for breakfast on the balcony it suddenly decided to show its face/peak. I almost thought I was imagining it but it was there. And although you could only just see it it was still memorable and exciting.
On the way home we passed Tokyo Sky Tree at sunset and although I want to see it up close seeing the whole thing in that lighting was amazing. I can't wait to try and draw it.
Maria x
Sunday 30 August 2015
Amy gets ill & updates
Morning,
Just a quick update and a few anecdotes from the past few weeks.
So my cousin Amy left a few weeks ago and on the week that she left she contracted a cold probably from all the little kids in Disney. So When it came to send her home she was coughing everywhere. As you may know the Japanese are somewhat clean freaks, so sending Amy on public transport was not a great idea. The solution; face mask. They are not very effective but it is polite to abide by their rules. It does make for some funny photos.
This month I also got the results for both my A levels and my Intermediate ballet exam. I passed the ballet exam, which I am so happy about as I have been working for it a long time. I am also amazed as I told you how badly I thought the pointe work went. As for the A levels, I did quite well in those too, not as great as I suppose I wanted; but definitely improved compared to last year. I finished 1 A level this year (DT) with a C, I also did 2 AS levels; physics and chemistry and got Ds in both, I know that doesn't sound great but they were almost Cs and they are better than the Es I got last year and easier to improve upon next year.
We are still waiting for our furniture to arrive and we are now pining for a sofa as the floor gets tiresome.
Hope you like my blog, please leave comments on what you would like to read about.
Maria xx
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Just a quick update and a few anecdotes from the past few weeks.
So my cousin Amy left a few weeks ago and on the week that she left she contracted a cold probably from all the little kids in Disney. So When it came to send her home she was coughing everywhere. As you may know the Japanese are somewhat clean freaks, so sending Amy on public transport was not a great idea. The solution; face mask. They are not very effective but it is polite to abide by their rules. It does make for some funny photos.
This month I also got the results for both my A levels and my Intermediate ballet exam. I passed the ballet exam, which I am so happy about as I have been working for it a long time. I am also amazed as I told you how badly I thought the pointe work went. As for the A levels, I did quite well in those too, not as great as I suppose I wanted; but definitely improved compared to last year. I finished 1 A level this year (DT) with a C, I also did 2 AS levels; physics and chemistry and got Ds in both, I know that doesn't sound great but they were almost Cs and they are better than the Es I got last year and easier to improve upon next year.
We are still waiting for our furniture to arrive and we are now pining for a sofa as the floor gets tiresome.
Hope you like my blog, please leave comments on what you would like to read about.
Maria xx
Thursday 27 August 2015
Holiday - the last day.
I don't want it to be over! Although I feel like we were so busy and on the go I need a holiday to relax after the holiday.So to make the most of the last day before getting the train back to Utsunomiya we went into Tokyo to explore and with an agenda.
The Agenda is as follows;
- Buy new lens for Amy's Camera
- Look at new Ballet shoes
- Shop Generally, obviously
- Visit Sky Tree
- See the imperial palace- Go to Ginza
- Go to Shibuya
And if you've ever been to Tokyo in August you will know that that list is almost impossible to achieve because of the heat and Humidity that comes with cramped tall city buildings. Which is why we hardly made a dent in what we wanted to do. But I will tell you about what did go down that day.
We got into Tokyo station we proceeded to find our way through the maze to the Shinkansen Gate, as we wanted to store our luggage somewhere with easy access. However lots of people seemed to have the same idea as the lockers were full and there was a huge queue for overflow locker space.
We finally got out of the train station and decided our first port of call was the imperial palace. Seemed easily enough we had a map and it was clearly marked. Little did we know at the time it was baking hot as it was approaching noon and, that you can only see the castle from the gardens which you have to pay for and the entrance is on the other side of the park. So instead of seeing the most amazing castle we saw a huge stone wall and a line of trees. Don't be too down heartened though because we were able to see the two moats which were home to turtles and giant fish so that was interesting to watch.
Next on the agenda; lens fro Amy's camera, we decide to head up Ginza as it is only 3 minutes away by subway. It also had shopping opportunities and none of us had been before. First stop the camera shop unusually difficult to locate and I think we may have ended up at a different one than we intended but oh well. Amy bought an amazing lens with a considerable discount compared to buying it in the UK.After that we
stumbled upon A&F. I haven't been to one of their stores for probably two years and oh my god it smelt amazing. I don't know what the smell is and you cant buy it to take with you but it is unique and sensational. So I am now not so bummed about going shopping in Japan.
Once the very tiring but not so productive day was over we collected our luggage and hopped on the next train back Utsunomiya where we slept very well.
Hope you enjoyed your my account of our holiday this year,
Maria xx
Monday 24 August 2015
Holiday - Disney
DISNEY, who wouldn't be excited.
Instead of staying another day in Atami we decided to head into Tokyo early. We arrived at our hotel at 10am and we decided to go to Disney Sea! We were in the park before 11.
Disney Sea Tokyo is the only one of its kind, you would imagine it might be something like Animal Kingdom in Florida; you would be wrong. It's kind of amazing and so much better, I would say its a mix between the Studios, Epcot and a hint of A Kingdom. However it really is in a league of its own. It gets in Sea from the fact that it is basically in the sea, not quite but its on the coast and all the water used throughout the park comes from the ocean. If you love an immersive experience you will love it, the theming and attention to detail is amazing you could quite easily be lost and transported to amazing scenes. Seeing as this wasn't planned, best decision ever!
Disney is a really big thing in Japan it seems, everyone was walking around with ears and matching outfits and bright chaotic t-shirts. Many of them far older than me and Amy, so for the first time ever we bought bows. I feel like this is unusual, most little girls go to Disney and the first they they buy are ears, most likely a waste and I guess my mum knew it because I got to the age of 18 without having the experience. I have to say though it was probably the best place to go all out.
While going around the park we noticed a face that we had never come across, Duffy. After posting it on Facebook my uncle knowingly informed us who he is, although I'm pretty sure he didn't know either until he goggled it. Duffy formally known as the Disney bear is a bear Minnie made Mickey to take with him on his journeys, aw cute right? So, naturally I had to have one. There are two things you can never grow out of these are; cuddly teddies and Disney!
The next day as planned we went to Tokyo Disneyland, its pretty much the same as any other Disneyland apart from the layout and the addition of Toon Town and of course everything is in Japanese. Even mickey Mouse is Japanese, his voice higher in pitch as well. However the language is not consistent throughout, some is still in English but its doesn't make sense for those bits to be in English and others not. For example a song that was sung throughout a parade which i had never heard before was in English but when they showed a clip of Belle or Peter Pan in London it was in Japanese. I thoroughly enjoyed myself though.
Another thing I noticed about Tokyo Disney is that it a lot cheaper than other Disney resorts, not cheap in comparison to Japan but if you compare the merchandise prices in Florida to that of Tokyo there is a significant difference. My mum for most of her life has wanted to dine at the themed restaurant Blue Lagoon set in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but we have never gone a) because of the price and b) we could never get seats. Unlike other resorts you cannot book tables at any of the restaurants, so we headed down on the off chance that it wasn't full and it wasn't too expensive. Neither was the case, we were seated immediately and it was very reasonable for the food and experience. It was amazing, I loved it even if we did have hassle with Amy's eating requirements. We then finished the day off with the illumination of Cinderella's castle, mesmerizing and magical as one would expect.
Maria xx
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Instead of staying another day in Atami we decided to head into Tokyo early. We arrived at our hotel at 10am and we decided to go to Disney Sea! We were in the park before 11.
Disney is a really big thing in Japan it seems, everyone was walking around with ears and matching outfits and bright chaotic t-shirts. Many of them far older than me and Amy, so for the first time ever we bought bows. I feel like this is unusual, most little girls go to Disney and the first they they buy are ears, most likely a waste and I guess my mum knew it because I got to the age of 18 without having the experience. I have to say though it was probably the best place to go all out.While going around the park we noticed a face that we had never come across, Duffy. After posting it on Facebook my uncle knowingly informed us who he is, although I'm pretty sure he didn't know either until he goggled it. Duffy formally known as the Disney bear is a bear Minnie made Mickey to take with him on his journeys, aw cute right? So, naturally I had to have one. There are two things you can never grow out of these are; cuddly teddies and Disney!
The next day as planned we went to Tokyo Disneyland, its pretty much the same as any other Disneyland apart from the layout and the addition of Toon Town and of course everything is in Japanese. Even mickey Mouse is Japanese, his voice higher in pitch as well. However the language is not consistent throughout, some is still in English but its doesn't make sense for those bits to be in English and others not. For example a song that was sung throughout a parade which i had never heard before was in English but when they showed a clip of Belle or Peter Pan in London it was in Japanese. I thoroughly enjoyed myself though.
Another thing I noticed about Tokyo Disney is that it a lot cheaper than other Disney resorts, not cheap in comparison to Japan but if you compare the merchandise prices in Florida to that of Tokyo there is a significant difference. My mum for most of her life has wanted to dine at the themed restaurant Blue Lagoon set in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but we have never gone a) because of the price and b) we could never get seats. Unlike other resorts you cannot book tables at any of the restaurants, so we headed down on the off chance that it wasn't full and it wasn't too expensive. Neither was the case, we were seated immediately and it was very reasonable for the food and experience. It was amazing, I loved it even if we did have hassle with Amy's eating requirements. We then finished the day off with the illumination of Cinderella's castle, mesmerizing and magical as one would expect.
Maria xx
Tuesday 18 August 2015
Holiday - Atami
Morning, (its morning somewhere right)
So as I said in my previous blog my mum, my cousin and I went on a tour of south of Japan. This entry is about stop number 2; Atami. This section was meant to last 2 days, time to recoup our energy and relax, well that is not quite what happened. Read on to found out more.
After spending most of the day in Kyoto we jumped on a train on our way to Atami, that was more challenging than it needed to be too. We realised that the journey was somewhat longer than we had expected, so we thought we would upgrade our tickets to reserved seats. We have done it before but the guy at the desk just was not having it and didn't really want to help us, he did eventually and only by refunding the tickets and then charging us again. And then charging Amy the full price.
When we finally arrived it was dark and we decided to get a taxi to the hotel, just as well as it was miles away up a hill. We were tired and when realising it was so far away and asked if we could have dinner at the hotel, No. We assumed it was because it was late so we headed off back down to the town via another taxi. The town was CLOSED! Only 2 restaurants open, and one was McDonalds and the other was a sushi restaurant which was kinda crappy. However the view from our room was amazing and the beds were quite comfortable after some adjustments made by Amy which involved me sleeping on what looked like a marshmallow or a cloud.
We woke up and before went to breakfast, nothing special, and then went to the reception to ask about dinner again. This time we were told it was not included in our price (which we knew) we said we would pay. "No, Impossible!". We literally laughed out loud and just walked off. We decided to have a picnic in our room instead.
It's not OK to be in the middle of nowhere and not serve your guests food especially when the nearest place to eat is a 10 minute taxi journey and its closed.
We made our way to the beach which was OK, but our experience at the hotel had already tainted our vision and it was hard to relax. We had lunch a place called Jonathan's which overlooked the beach and kept ourselves out of the midday heat. The rest of the day was spent on the beach, hot, soft sand and lovely blue skies. The sea was sublime; clear blue and not extremely cold, refreshing and it had pontoons that you could swim out to. The afternoon was stress free and very relaxing and I don't think any of us wanted to go back to the hotel.
Needless to say we were not enthused at our time in Atami and the next day we had planned to spend on the beach. But after the events of the previous days we decided instead to go to Tokyo early. We woke up super early; called for a taxi, guzzled breakfast and checked out. Unbelievable when we checked out they gave us a leaflet about their restaurant with the receipt! Oh yeah the food that cheap and good quality but we can't eat, argh!
We jumped in the taxi and we were off to Tokyo!!!
See you there :)
Maria xx
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So as I said in my previous blog my mum, my cousin and I went on a tour of south of Japan. This entry is about stop number 2; Atami. This section was meant to last 2 days, time to recoup our energy and relax, well that is not quite what happened. Read on to found out more.
After spending most of the day in Kyoto we jumped on a train on our way to Atami, that was more challenging than it needed to be too. We realised that the journey was somewhat longer than we had expected, so we thought we would upgrade our tickets to reserved seats. We have done it before but the guy at the desk just was not having it and didn't really want to help us, he did eventually and only by refunding the tickets and then charging us again. And then charging Amy the full price.
When we finally arrived it was dark and we decided to get a taxi to the hotel, just as well as it was miles away up a hill. We were tired and when realising it was so far away and asked if we could have dinner at the hotel, No. We assumed it was because it was late so we headed off back down to the town via another taxi. The town was CLOSED! Only 2 restaurants open, and one was McDonalds and the other was a sushi restaurant which was kinda crappy. However the view from our room was amazing and the beds were quite comfortable after some adjustments made by Amy which involved me sleeping on what looked like a marshmallow or a cloud.
We woke up and before went to breakfast, nothing special, and then went to the reception to ask about dinner again. This time we were told it was not included in our price (which we knew) we said we would pay. "No, Impossible!". We literally laughed out loud and just walked off. We decided to have a picnic in our room instead.
It's not OK to be in the middle of nowhere and not serve your guests food especially when the nearest place to eat is a 10 minute taxi journey and its closed.
We made our way to the beach which was OK, but our experience at the hotel had already tainted our vision and it was hard to relax. We had lunch a place called Jonathan's which overlooked the beach and kept ourselves out of the midday heat. The rest of the day was spent on the beach, hot, soft sand and lovely blue skies. The sea was sublime; clear blue and not extremely cold, refreshing and it had pontoons that you could swim out to. The afternoon was stress free and very relaxing and I don't think any of us wanted to go back to the hotel.
Needless to say we were not enthused at our time in Atami and the next day we had planned to spend on the beach. But after the events of the previous days we decided instead to go to Tokyo early. We woke up super early; called for a taxi, guzzled breakfast and checked out. Unbelievable when we checked out they gave us a leaflet about their restaurant with the receipt! Oh yeah the food that cheap and good quality but we can't eat, argh!
We jumped in the taxi and we were off to Tokyo!!!
See you there :)
Maria xx
Wednesday 12 August 2015
Holiday - Kyoto
Afternoon,
So last week my mum, Amy and I went on holiday. My mum had the week off because the site was shut down. We decided to do a tour of the south of Japan as it is quite as way from where we are based. Quite excitingly I was given the task of planning the holiday completely, I normally have an input but this year it was all up to me, muah ahaha! A tad stressful but it was fun.
Plan of Action -
Day 1 - Travel to Kyoto, Explore, Sleep
Day 2 - Bamboo forest, Travel to Atami, Sleep
Day 3 - Relax, Sleep
Day 4 - Relax, Travel to Tokyo, sleep (not what actually happened but explain later)
Day 5 - Tokyo Disneyland, sleep
Day 6 - Tokyo Shopping, Home, sleep
Because so much happened that week I have decided to do 1 blog for each location, so stay tuned for the adventures of Atami and Tokyo.
So on the first day we began very early in the morning as we had to get a train to Kyoto which took around 3 hours. That is a lot I know but when you think about it, its 522 km away vertically on the other end of Japan, which would take you around 7 hours to drive without stops, it all doesn't seem that bad. The train was quite simple as well just one change at Tokyo and very civilised. they say the north and the south of Japan are very different, and they would not be wrong. You wouldn't expect it but why not, its like 2 different neighbouring states in America, still american but have completely different cultures.
We arrived I decided to take them to the Inari Shrine only a 5 minute train journey away from Kyoto central. This is typical tourist territory like most of the trip, its often the front cover of the travel books and its no wonder why; its so beautiful. However the picture are deceiving; from the picture it looks like there is one row of maybe 50-100 gates, not quite. The gates go on endlessly in various sizes and were wiggling up a bloody mountain. Don't get me wrong, its amazing and it was fun but not when its like 35 degrees and you have suitcases to bring with you up the hour long trek.
In the evening we arrived at our hotel in Arashiyama and we were completely frazzled, I'm surprised we even made it to dinner, I could have fallen asleep right then and there. As a result we went to bed at the ridiculous time of 8.30, I haven't gone to bed that early since I was 5!
We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to explore the Bamboo forests. Breakfast is always interesting, no matter where you go it seems; just varying degrees of odd. On our way to the Forest only a 15 minute walk from our hotel, we stumbled upon a bicycle hire shop where you could rent a bike for 1000 yen a day (that's £6 for the whole day!) and it was definitely money well spent. Arashiyama is not the biggest of places but it is spread out and it would be hard to do everything in one day, however with the bikes we were able to see almost everything with time to spare.
The two main attraction for us would be the Bamboo Forest (of course) and the Scenic railway. They were both amazing experiences and it felt like you were transported to a different world. From the streets you could hardly tell there was a forest behind, until you take a little alley street and then all of a sudden you are immersed in Bamboo and you have lost site of the bus street behind. The bamboos Shoot up as far as the eye can see. Even the fences are made of bamboo shoots. It's incredible and I cant quite do it justice in words.
The Scenic railway is a steam train that runs along the bamboo forests as well as vast river that winds around the mountainous range. On our journey we saw that it is the perfect river for a white water rafting experience however that would have needed to be booked in advance. The colours and the views were to die for and it was so relaxing to look out onto whilst chugging along on an odd train. Very nice and peaceful end to our stay in Kyoto.
Stay tuned for what happened next on our holiday
Maria xx
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So last week my mum, Amy and I went on holiday. My mum had the week off because the site was shut down. We decided to do a tour of the south of Japan as it is quite as way from where we are based. Quite excitingly I was given the task of planning the holiday completely, I normally have an input but this year it was all up to me, muah ahaha! A tad stressful but it was fun.
Plan of Action -
Day 1 - Travel to Kyoto, Explore, Sleep
Day 2 - Bamboo forest, Travel to Atami, Sleep
Day 3 - Relax, Sleep
Day 4 - Relax, Travel to Tokyo, sleep (not what actually happened but explain later)
Day 5 - Tokyo Disneyland, sleep
Day 6 - Tokyo Shopping, Home, sleep
Because so much happened that week I have decided to do 1 blog for each location, so stay tuned for the adventures of Atami and Tokyo.
So on the first day we began very early in the morning as we had to get a train to Kyoto which took around 3 hours. That is a lot I know but when you think about it, its 522 km away vertically on the other end of Japan, which would take you around 7 hours to drive without stops, it all doesn't seem that bad. The train was quite simple as well just one change at Tokyo and very civilised. they say the north and the south of Japan are very different, and they would not be wrong. You wouldn't expect it but why not, its like 2 different neighbouring states in America, still american but have completely different cultures.
We arrived I decided to take them to the Inari Shrine only a 5 minute train journey away from Kyoto central. This is typical tourist territory like most of the trip, its often the front cover of the travel books and its no wonder why; its so beautiful. However the picture are deceiving; from the picture it looks like there is one row of maybe 50-100 gates, not quite. The gates go on endlessly in various sizes and were wiggling up a bloody mountain. Don't get me wrong, its amazing and it was fun but not when its like 35 degrees and you have suitcases to bring with you up the hour long trek.In the evening we arrived at our hotel in Arashiyama and we were completely frazzled, I'm surprised we even made it to dinner, I could have fallen asleep right then and there. As a result we went to bed at the ridiculous time of 8.30, I haven't gone to bed that early since I was 5!
We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to explore the Bamboo forests. Breakfast is always interesting, no matter where you go it seems; just varying degrees of odd. On our way to the Forest only a 15 minute walk from our hotel, we stumbled upon a bicycle hire shop where you could rent a bike for 1000 yen a day (that's £6 for the whole day!) and it was definitely money well spent. Arashiyama is not the biggest of places but it is spread out and it would be hard to do everything in one day, however with the bikes we were able to see almost everything with time to spare.
The two main attraction for us would be the Bamboo Forest (of course) and the Scenic railway. They were both amazing experiences and it felt like you were transported to a different world. From the streets you could hardly tell there was a forest behind, until you take a little alley street and then all of a sudden you are immersed in Bamboo and you have lost site of the bus street behind. The bamboos Shoot up as far as the eye can see. Even the fences are made of bamboo shoots. It's incredible and I cant quite do it justice in words.The Scenic railway is a steam train that runs along the bamboo forests as well as vast river that winds around the mountainous range. On our journey we saw that it is the perfect river for a white water rafting experience however that would have needed to be booked in advance. The colours and the views were to die for and it was so relaxing to look out onto whilst chugging along on an odd train. Very nice and peaceful end to our stay in Kyoto.
Stay tuned for what happened next on our holiday
Maria xx
Thursday 6 August 2015
We Have the Keys!! Empty Apartment Tour
Hello
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At last we have moved in, I say moved in I mean we have the keys but we cant move in yet, we have literally no furniture! So here it is, what a lot of you have been waiting for a tour of the all be it empty apartment.
I apologise in advance if the sound quality is not very good, but I thought it would be nicer for you to watch a video than read hundreds of words, easier on the brain.
Thank you, hope you enjoyed seeing the apartment and let me know if you would like another post when there is actually furniture.
Maria xx
GSK Girls hockey team, Orange United.
Hi, long time no see! I apologise, I've been on holiday and Wi-Fi connection has been sporadic and is continuing to be so.
My mum works for GSK and on a Saturday we were invited to attend one of the companies hockey matches. From that first sentence you would expect it to be a small, amateur, friendly girls hockey team, and that's where you would be completely wrong! The team is in actual fact a official professional team called Orange United. And some of the team members play for Japan in the Olympics, cool right?
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My mum works for GSK and on a Saturday we were invited to attend one of the companies hockey matches. From that first sentence you would expect it to be a small, amateur, friendly girls hockey team, and that's where you would be completely wrong! The team is in actual fact a official professional team called Orange United. And some of the team members play for Japan in the Olympics, cool right?
So we set off Saturday morning from the site with a coach load of supporters as well as another coach on the way from Tokyo. it was about a 3 hour drive away in a neighbouring prefecture; Satima. As soon as we got on the bus we were handed piles of merchandising to support the team. We had cool bags, towels, fans, horns, toothpaste and water which all came in very useful during the day. Everyone was wearing orange of course and everyone except me hadn't taken that into account. They stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of Orange.
We stopped for lunch at an outlet centre, which I am sure was a bad idea. We were given 2 hours so they obliviously wanted us to shop. I did quite well I guess, I didn't go overboard but I got a fossil I Pad case for £4 (yes!) and a gym top from Nike and a sponge that looks like a doughnut for the apartment.
Then off to the game, when we arrived it was excruciatingly hot, you have no idea. We thought it was just because we were English, but other people were hot too. We later found out that it was the hottest day of the year so far at 44 degrees Celsius, 44! With no shade watching hockey seemed almost impossible, but by the time we sat down on the bleachers and started watching the game, we forget about it.
I really enjoyed the game; it probably helped that we won 5-1, but it wasn't just that. The atmosphere our side was making was outstanding; we all had hooters, we had a man with a giant drum and many song and chants to try and get the gist of. It was incomparable to our opponents that just sweltered on the opposite bleachers,
few in number and rather glum, I felt sorry for them.
Overall a enjoyable day which ended in being exhausted in the evening. A good night sleep was definitely had that night.
Maria xx
We stopped for lunch at an outlet centre, which I am sure was a bad idea. We were given 2 hours so they obliviously wanted us to shop. I did quite well I guess, I didn't go overboard but I got a fossil I Pad case for £4 (yes!) and a gym top from Nike and a sponge that looks like a doughnut for the apartment.
Then off to the game, when we arrived it was excruciatingly hot, you have no idea. We thought it was just because we were English, but other people were hot too. We later found out that it was the hottest day of the year so far at 44 degrees Celsius, 44! With no shade watching hockey seemed almost impossible, but by the time we sat down on the bleachers and started watching the game, we forget about it.
I really enjoyed the game; it probably helped that we won 5-1, but it wasn't just that. The atmosphere our side was making was outstanding; we all had hooters, we had a man with a giant drum and many song and chants to try and get the gist of. It was incomparable to our opponents that just sweltered on the opposite bleachers,few in number and rather glum, I felt sorry for them.
Overall a enjoyable day which ended in being exhausted in the evening. A good night sleep was definitely had that night.
Maria xx
Sunday 26 July 2015
Nagano
Hi, hope you are all doing well ;)
So this weekend was bank holiday weekend so we thought we would look at going away and staying over a night. I have now met most of my mums colleges, they all seem very nice and they can all be quite funny. So one of them, his name is Richard decided to joins us on our adventure across Japan. We decided on going to Nagano, my mum has already been but not for very long. I say Nagano but it's not really Nagano we went to, Nagano and vicinity.
When we arrived we went straight to the monkey park. The monkeys aren't enclosed they are free to come and go as they please, they choose to come back. This means you can get really close to them, it's unreal how close, you have to be careful where you step as they scurry round your feet. One of them took a particular liking to my mums new umbrella, in fact they had a little fight over it. Hilarious. We then went up further to Shiga-kogen to go to the lake and the board walk, however when we got their we realised it was a three hour walk from the end of the bus line and it had started raining. Opps.
Our hotel was on the Onsen street and we had a traditional Japanese room with futons and its own Onsen. In the evening the street was filled with people in robes going to each Onsen. I know the water is all the same but they believe each Onsen is good for a different part of the body. This time I did try however the water stinks of sulphur and it is incredibly hot, I could only poke my foot in and my foot was red for a while after. We all slept well which was good because Richard had planned the day after and we would need our energy.
On our way to the train station we passed a peace shrine, which was a statute of lady towering over Yudadanka. There was also a large bell that a few people were seen hitting with a tree trunk. It was explained that they were praying/wishing, so me and Amy decided to pray for our A levels, we need as much luck as we can get.
Obuse is in between the two. We had a English leaflet of the region and Richard had made it out plan to do all the 12 things on the leaflet. We had done the 6 already so there were only 6 to go. However it was a particularly hot and humid day, and there was a lot of walking. To be honest I'm not entirely sure what we went to see the heat was somewhat clouding my vision. First we walking about 5 km to a shrine on the outskirts of Obuse which was cute and then we made our way back to the station via the chestnut tree street, in the midday heat.
From Obuse we made our way back to Nagano but we stopped of a few stations before so that we could have lunch and visit the Zenkoji Temple. For lunch we had cold soba noodles (buckwheat) and tempura with unlimited supply of water, very refreshing, and it much nicer than it sounds. We then went to the shrine which was very big and grand. It had a long straight road that leads to it. First it had a arch/entrance, then a giant gate (which we climbed up; very steep steps), and then the main temple surrounded by many smaller temples. I really liked it, however I thought that the tourism had slightly spoiled the sanctuary feel.
After we walked back to Nagano station and made our way back to Utsunomiya. The following week is quite short as we get the keys on Friday, so stay tuned for more info on that.
Maria xx
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So this weekend was bank holiday weekend so we thought we would look at going away and staying over a night. I have now met most of my mums colleges, they all seem very nice and they can all be quite funny. So one of them, his name is Richard decided to joins us on our adventure across Japan. We decided on going to Nagano, my mum has already been but not for very long. I say Nagano but it's not really Nagano we went to, Nagano and vicinity.Yudadanka
Yudadanka is under an hour north from Nagano. It's popular for its Onsen street and the Snow monkeys that bathe in the volcanic pools. If you watched the BBC documentary on Japan's wildlife recently then you might have heard of/recognise it.When we arrived we went straight to the monkey park. The monkeys aren't enclosed they are free to come and go as they please, they choose to come back. This means you can get really close to them, it's unreal how close, you have to be careful where you step as they scurry round your feet. One of them took a particular liking to my mums new umbrella, in fact they had a little fight over it. Hilarious. We then went up further to Shiga-kogen to go to the lake and the board walk, however when we got their we realised it was a three hour walk from the end of the bus line and it had started raining. Opps.
Our hotel was on the Onsen street and we had a traditional Japanese room with futons and its own Onsen. In the evening the street was filled with people in robes going to each Onsen. I know the water is all the same but they believe each Onsen is good for a different part of the body. This time I did try however the water stinks of sulphur and it is incredibly hot, I could only poke my foot in and my foot was red for a while after. We all slept well which was good because Richard had planned the day after and we would need our energy.
On our way to the train station we passed a peace shrine, which was a statute of lady towering over Yudadanka. There was also a large bell that a few people were seen hitting with a tree trunk. It was explained that they were praying/wishing, so me and Amy decided to pray for our A levels, we need as much luck as we can get.Obuse
Obuse is in between the two. We had a English leaflet of the region and Richard had made it out plan to do all the 12 things on the leaflet. We had done the 6 already so there were only 6 to go. However it was a particularly hot and humid day, and there was a lot of walking. To be honest I'm not entirely sure what we went to see the heat was somewhat clouding my vision. First we walking about 5 km to a shrine on the outskirts of Obuse which was cute and then we made our way back to the station via the chestnut tree street, in the midday heat.
Nagano
From Obuse we made our way back to Nagano but we stopped of a few stations before so that we could have lunch and visit the Zenkoji Temple. For lunch we had cold soba noodles (buckwheat) and tempura with unlimited supply of water, very refreshing, and it much nicer than it sounds. We then went to the shrine which was very big and grand. It had a long straight road that leads to it. First it had a arch/entrance, then a giant gate (which we climbed up; very steep steps), and then the main temple surrounded by many smaller temples. I really liked it, however I thought that the tourism had slightly spoiled the sanctuary feel.After we walked back to Nagano station and made our way back to Utsunomiya. The following week is quite short as we get the keys on Friday, so stay tuned for more info on that.
Maria xx
Saturday 25 July 2015
Amy Arrives
Helllooo,
Before was mostly just general house keeping activities, as I knew the likelihood of me getting any work or admin done once Amy arrived was next to none. So I did the expenses for the first week in Japan, boring but it had to be done. And I went to the the bus station to buy a ticket for the bus to pick up Amy. However I did go out to explore Utsunomiya a little more, but nothing important to report, apart from I found a discount store where you can buy really cheap drinks. For example a Coke Zero (Japan doesn't have diet coke) was 60p whereas in the UK it would be around £1.50. I also discovered the gym at the hotel and I have decided to make the most of it while it is free and I'm going to be dragging Amy with me, I'm not sure whether she'll be pleased or not. ;)
Amy arrived very early in the morning on Thursday, which meant I had to get an even earlier bus to the airport about 2 hours away, so I got the bus a 6! I missed Breakfast :(. After waiting around for what seemed like ages, she came through the custom doors and I was able to snap a sneaky pic, which is probably not to flattering, oh well. She had hired a portable Wi-Fi and bought a JR pass so we had to collect those before returning and trying to keep her awake the whole day. I warn you; if you do get a JR pass the queue to collect it can be long so leave plenty of time.
Friday she was a little more awake so we ventured out to the shops in Utsunomiya, I didn't take her to any new shopping places however we managed to do 4 so that was quite impressive. We also went to the shrine opposite Parco which is up resting at the top of 70 steep steps. It's quite small but it was nice and quiet and the views were beautiful. Whilst in Parco we went down to the basement and discovered these large photo booths, so we thought we would give them a go. Entertaining to say the least, you take photos and it basically airbrushes your face and makes your eyes bigger; which must be the aspiration in Japan. Then you exit the booth and go to the customisation station, which of course is all in Japanese. It could be seen as wasting money but, the stories and laughs Amy and I got out of it are invaluable.
This weekend we are going to Nagano so stay tuned
Maria xx
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This week my cousin arrives and I am super excited. We are two peas in a pod (we only have a month between us) and she is my partner in crime. So we are can reek havoc on Japan together, I'm joking.
Before
Before was mostly just general house keeping activities, as I knew the likelihood of me getting any work or admin done once Amy arrived was next to none. So I did the expenses for the first week in Japan, boring but it had to be done. And I went to the the bus station to buy a ticket for the bus to pick up Amy. However I did go out to explore Utsunomiya a little more, but nothing important to report, apart from I found a discount store where you can buy really cheap drinks. For example a Coke Zero (Japan doesn't have diet coke) was 60p whereas in the UK it would be around £1.50. I also discovered the gym at the hotel and I have decided to make the most of it while it is free and I'm going to be dragging Amy with me, I'm not sure whether she'll be pleased or not. ;)
After
Amy arrived very early in the morning on Thursday, which meant I had to get an even earlier bus to the airport about 2 hours away, so I got the bus a 6! I missed Breakfast :(. After waiting around for what seemed like ages, she came through the custom doors and I was able to snap a sneaky pic, which is probably not to flattering, oh well. She had hired a portable Wi-Fi and bought a JR pass so we had to collect those before returning and trying to keep her awake the whole day. I warn you; if you do get a JR pass the queue to collect it can be long so leave plenty of time.Friday she was a little more awake so we ventured out to the shops in Utsunomiya, I didn't take her to any new shopping places however we managed to do 4 so that was quite impressive. We also went to the shrine opposite Parco which is up resting at the top of 70 steep steps. It's quite small but it was nice and quiet and the views were beautiful. Whilst in Parco we went down to the basement and discovered these large photo booths, so we thought we would give them a go. Entertaining to say the least, you take photos and it basically airbrushes your face and makes your eyes bigger; which must be the aspiration in Japan. Then you exit the booth and go to the customisation station, which of course is all in Japanese. It could be seen as wasting money but, the stories and laughs Amy and I got out of it are invaluable.
This weekend we are going to Nagano so stay tuned
Maria xx
