Tarento of the week

This weeks featured tarento is , my personal favorite, Oguri Shun!!!!!!!!!!!!

He has been acting in J-doramas since 1995, he has done 38 so far and he has also stared in 18 J-movies. He usually plays the misterious sexy guy but on his most recent dorama "Binbo Danshi" (currently airing on channel 10 in japan) he plays a poor student who is very optimistic and a little bit goofy.

I have to admit at first I was expecting the usual misterious character but it's actually quite refreshing to see him in a different type of character for a change.

Whats that? you wish you could watch the episodes of Binbo Danshi but you dont live in japan?

Not to worry, I got your back, you can see the episodes that have already been aired at Veoh.com, some episodes require you to download veoh tv in order to see the entire episode but it is totally worth it, also next time you want to watch doramas on your computer it comes in pretty handy , plus , it's FREE.

To view the episodes on veoh.com , visit this link: http://www.veoh.com/search.html?type=&search=binbo+danshi&advSearch=-contentSourceName%3A%28YouTube.com%29

To visit the oficial Binbo Danshi website go to http://www.ntv.co.jp/binbou/

Anpanman

When I was still living in my country , me and my friends would allways watch doramas and anime series or japanese movies, anything japanese we could get our hands on, but never did I hear anything about Anpanman, so when I arrived here and found a lot of kids wearing t-shirts and backpacks and dolls, blankets, etc... All these things had a funny little guys face on it, so I asked who was that character, it was Anpanman.

Eventhough Anpanman first came out in 1968 he is still very popular , kids love him , so I turned once again to Youtube.com to see some episodes, now Im in love with Anpanman too.

I think its really cute how all the caracters are named after different types of japanese food and also how he saves people from hunger by taking off one of his cheeks (they are made of anpan), overall the series promotes healthy eating , reminds me of popeye.

You can see 15 episodes of Anpanman in Youtube.com by visiting this link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SHPWOoxVRSQ

Enoki Food Poisoning

Sorry for the late post today, it's now 9:30 pm here , I spent the whole day in bed with a really bad headache and an upset stomach and very very dizzy, I thought I was getting the flue or something like that but it turned out to be food poisoning.

This morning , like every morning , I prepared miso soup for breakfast, I added tofu and enoki, this is not the first time I cook enoki, but it was the first time I undercooked it, turns out, it's very dangerous to undercook mushrooms even if they are edible, I did not know that, so learn from my mistake and if you are cooking anything that uses enoki in it, be sure to cook it well before eating and also dont buy them if they look brownish or slimy.

Genji Monogatari Museum

The Genji Monogatari Museum introduces the world of Genji in a three-dimensional representation. The permanent exhibitions in the "Spring Room" exhibit a 1:100 scale model of Genji's Rokujo-In residence where he enjoyed his most glorious and exiting days.

The "Autumn Room" portrays one famous scene from the final 10 chapters, the "Hashi-hime" episode where Kaoru sees the daughthers of the Eighth Prince for the first time and falls in love.

While at the Museum you can watch a screening of the "Ukifune" chapter, the movie has no subtitles but you can get a headset whith english translations at the front desk, you can also purchase the dvd version for about 5000 yen at the museums gift shop.

Uji takes great pride in having been the stage for the last 10 chapters in the Genji Monogatari. In Heian times Uji was a retreat for most aristocrats so its only natural to have been featured in such an important tale.

When in Uji you can visit 10 monuments dedicated to the Tale of Genji and you can get the information and map to locate them at the Museum, I personally couldnt go to take pics of all the monuments because yesterday turned out to be "Haru Ichiban" (the first wind storm of spring)

It was really cold and super windy, reminded me of huricane weather back in my country, so I came back home early, but I took a lot of pics for you guys and uploaded them to my flickr account you can see them at http://flickr.com/photos/54973022@N00 , also if you havent had a change to read the Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) yet, I found this great ebook with all the chapters in english at http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Genji/00000010.htm

Here's a little vieo I made to show the illustration mural from the Genji Monogatari museum, I thought the illustrations were gorgeous, enjoy!

Saturday Morning

Its already saturday, so today Ill be going to the Genji Monogatari museum in Uji , Ill be posting the photos and info tomorrow for you guys to see.

Hina Matsuri Ham Dolls

Hina matsuri will soon be here (3-3-08), so the local supermarket (Kyoto Co-op) made this ham sculpture of the traditional dolls, I thought it was super kawaii so I took a picture for you guys to see. some supermarkets play a specific song depending on upcoming holidays, so if you go to an Izumiya supermarket you will hear the hina matsuri song non stop.

It's called "Ureshii Hinamatsuri (Happy Hinamatsuri)" I tried to look for a traditional style .mp3 version on line but none were available right now but I did find a midi file so you can listen to the melody and I also found the lyrics, I absolutely love this song:

Ureshii Hinamatsuri.midi

Akari o tsukemashou bonbori ni
明かりをつけましょう　ぼんぼりに

Ohana o agemashou momo no hana
お花をあげましょう　桃の花

Go-nin bayashi no fue taiko
五人ばやしの　笛太鼓

Kyo wa tanoshii Hinamatsuri

今日は楽しいひな祭り

Translation:

Let's light the lanterns
Let's set peach flowers
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums
Today is a joyful Dolls' Festival

How to take the bus in Kyoto

Ok, so today Im going to explain how to use the Kyoto bus system to get around Kyoto.

Kyoto city has a very tourist oriented bus system, all signs at the station have English text in them and the bus ticket center workers can speak enough English to give you a brochure with all the information you need and sell you a bus pass (which is all you need ).

Once you exit Kyoto Station through the central gate (right in front of the Kyoto Tower Hotel) you will be able to see the bus ticket center to your right hand side, you can pick up sightseeing maps and buy yourself a 1 or 2 day bus pass that lets you board all the buses on the sightseeing route for an unlimited amount of times within the time span you purchased, I highly recommend getting the 500 yen 1 day pass, if you get lost like I did, you can board any bus and find your way back to Kyoto station and you can save all that money to buy some dango or whatever suits your fancy.

Anyways…… back to the subject

Figuring out which bus goes where is very easy since the bus terminals say which historical places they go to, there are also charts you can easily find at the terminal with all that info and if you picked up the bus route map at the ticket center you will be able to know on which bus stop to get off, don’t worry if you don’t speak Japanese, the Kyoto buses announce the stops for tourist sites in English so you will know where to get off.

Bus Rules:
- Don’t cut in line while waiting to get on the bus.

- You board the bus through the back door and exit through the front.

- While on the bus turn your cell phone to quite mode, it is considered very rude to talk on the phone on the bus , so call people back once you get off the bus.

- If you are paying with cash, have exact change ready (usually 220 yen on flat rate buses) if you don’t have change you can get change right on the bus on the exchange machine, the booklets from the bus ticket center have very detailed information of how to do that, so read them carefully before riding the bus.

- Some seats on the bus are designated for pregnant, disability or seniors so do pay attention to the stickers on the windows before you sit down and if someone is entitled to the handicap seat and you are sitting on one please give your seat to that person and get your self some good karma and a little respect from your fellow bus riders.

- To get off the bus push one of the little buttons on the side of the bus and you will be able to get off the bus on the next available stop.

Other than that, enjoy your bus ride and have a great day, yeay!!!!!

Information links:

This link has the basic kyoto transport information for the bus and subway and also a lot of info about kyoto: http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/access/transport.html

This link has the day pass ticket information with prices and details : http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/info_required/transportation/bus&taxis/

This is the best info link I've found so far, before you come to Kyoto you can download a PDF file with the bus routes and also the Kyoto tourist guidebook on this website , scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says "Visiting Kyoto" http://hellokcb.or.jp/eng/download_centre/index.html

Jero - The Enka Singer

The first time I saw Jero on TV I though he was going to sing hip hop, judging by the way he was dressed, I was really surprised when he started singing Enka.

Jero was born in the U.S. and actually graduated from the University of Pittsburg as a Computer Engineer. His grandmother was japanese and exposed him to enka music at an early age, so he grew up liking traditional japanese music.

Jero came to japan and participated in a tv karaoke contest show where he was scouted by JVC music, he has then been in japan for the last 2 years taking vocal trainning and will release his first cd at the end of this month, Im definetly looking forward to hearing all his songs, I think he's style can only be described as Pop Enka , I think that enka music will be exposed to a whole new kind of audience thanks to him, but dont take it from me , you can judge for yourself, here is Jero's debut video :



Jero's Blog (in japanese, the dude speaks fluently y'all)

Jero's Website

Kamakura Amida Buddha

Kamakura (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 km south-south-west of Tokyo

Kamakura is mostly known for its temples and shrines. The most visited temple in Kamakura is the Kōtoku-in, with the huge statue of Amida Buddha. This statue was once inside a temple but a 15th Century tsunami destroyed the temple, the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since.

There are way too many interesting historical sites in Kamakura so if you are only going to visit for 1 day read up and select the sites that you would like to see the most, I found this page with a lot of great info on historical facts and sites in Kamakura .

Visit “ A guide to Kamakura” at : http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~qm9t-kndu/

How to get there:

The fastest way in is by JR Yokosuka Line from Yokohama or Tokyo Station (55 minutes from the latter, ¥890). The JR Kamakura-Enoshima Free Kippu (¥1,110 from Yokohama, ¥1,970 from Tokyo) gets you a round trip to/from Kamakura (local trains only) plus unlimited use of Enoden and Shonan Monorail lines.

A cheaper alternative is to take the private Odakyu line from Shinjuku to Fujisawa, then change onto the rattling old Enoden (江ノ電) half-train/half-streetcar line that terminates in Kamakura. The longer (about 90-minute) travel time is compensated for by views of Enoshima island and the Shonan coast. The Enoshima-Kamakura Free Pass (¥1,430) will get you a roundtrip from Shinjuku and unlimited use of the Enoden line for one day.

Finally!!!!!

When I first got here I thought that blogging about my everyday life in japan would be the best way to keep in touch with my friends and also to share my experience with people interested in Japan, little did I know I would not have internet connection for almost 2 months, Yikes!

I arrived at Narita airport Christmas day 2007 to meet my boyfriend, move in together and live happilly ever after.

The moving in part was ok but for the first month and a half I pretty much had no way of beeing able to post daily and upload all my images, so, I apologize for the long wait and shall now promise to make it up to you guys by posting daily until the day I die or something like that.

Why did it take so long to set up the internet service?

Good question!!!,
it just so happens that my dear boyfriend rented a Mansion (japanese for 3 room appartment) for us to live in, but the building admistration has already made a deal with a specific internet provider therefore people residing in this mansion can only get the service from them and eventhough the previous tennants used that same internet company the installation waiting time is of about a month, hence the long wait, but we are actualy lucky since some other internet roviders take about 3 months to give you internet service, at least that is the situation here in little ol Fushimi, in Kyoto.

The good part is I now live in Kyoto so I can post about some really cool places.