Day 17 - More Takamatsu

For those of you keeping track, it seems like today should be day 16, but I realized I made a mistake with my labeling! Today is actually day 17, including the day I left Calgary. 

I woke up extremely late today; 10:30 in fact. After getting dressed and eating breakfast, we headed to the shopping arcade once more before meeting up at the station to travel to our first temple in Shikoku. 

We decided to venture to Zentsuji, one of the temples on the 88 temple on the Shikoku pilgrimage path. The walk was hot, but I had a little towel to cover the back of neck. I had to say that it help beat the heat! The part of Takamatsu, known as Zentsuji was quite quiet. There were only a few other people walking down the hot streets. It was somewhat peaceful, but lonely after getting accustomed to the bustle of bigger cities. 

The temple itself was nice to look at, though I cannot say that it really impressed me. I guess it's due to be fact that we visited a never of shrines and temples already. Afterwards, we headed to Yashima, a mountain with a nice view of the city. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to catch a shuttle to the top of the summit. 

Due to that, we headed back, relatively early, to our area. We grabbed some ramen again and headed back to our hotel. 

At Yashima station. It was sad that we missed the chance to see the summit. 

Day 16 - Takamatsu

Got up early to eat one last continental breakfast at the hotel in Himeji. They had different thing to eat today!

Afterwards, we packed and checked out.  We took a bullet train to Okayama before taking a rapid JR train, called Marine Liner, to Shikoku --> another island that houses four prefectures. 

The train was a double decker, where we were at the bottom. That meant that we weren't able to see all the sights as we went across the bridge that connected the main island, Honshu, to this island. 

As we arrived at the station, we went to our hotel to drop off our luggage. We soon set sail to Ritsurin Garden. It was very photogenic: a daimyo garden that is apparently one of the top 3 in Japan. I can see why. 

After spending a couple hours, we headed back to the hotel to check in. Unlike other hotels, our room was in a separate building. We got to our rooms, which were in different floors since we got a Japanese style room while my brother and my friend got a western style room. A great thing about our room is the amount of space. It kinda reminded me of Kawaguchiko Inn last year. 

After napping for a bit, we headed out for dinner. We ventured to the shopping arcades and found ourselves a place that served the specialty udon of our city: Saniku Udon. It had a thicker texture in general compared to other types of udon. 

After wondering around the shopping arcades, we headed back to our hotel. 

And that's day 15!

Day 15 - Miyajima, Hiroshima and Okunosha

Blogging as we're coming back from Mihara station in Hiroshima prefecture. It's about 90 minutes in length and I have nothing else to keep me awake. Trying not to sleep now, so I can sleep when I get back. 

The hotel we recently switch to had a complementary breakfast. Therefore, we woke up at 6:40ish to grab a bite to eat. I had to say that there were a variety of items to pick from: sausages, scrambled eggs, oniguri (rice balls), salads and fruits to name a few. I definitely had a hearty meal, in which I would be thankful for the rest of our long day. 

After breakfast, it was off to our first site: Miyajima. It took a while for we had to transfer trains to get to the station closest to the island. We then boarded a ferry, which took about 10 minutes to get to the island. From there, we headed straight towards the Torii shrine in the middle of the... Bay... (Not sure what it's called). Along the way, we encountered many deer. Unlike Nara though, they seemed to have a liking for paper. Some of us had our maps bitten into!

The Torii shrine was at low tide, so you could see bits of the "dirtied" bottoms of the gate. The shrine next to it wasn't as impressive at low tide as well. =\. It looked totally different than the pictures I saw online. 

After walking around for a bit and purchasing some sweets (including Hiroshima Cola --> similar to regular Cola), it was off to Hiroshima to see the Peace Menorial Park. The park was magnificent and eye-opening. We first saw the A-bomb dome after arriving by tram. The ruined building served as a reminder of the destruction war can bring, I would say, to everyone involved. After visiting the dome, we ventured to find the monument that was inspired by Sadako, a girl who was irradiated when she was younger and died from leukaemia. It was very moving to see the statue; the statue of peace for the world. The figure on top holding the crane really hit deep. It was such a mournful, yet inspirational image. 

After the statue, we moved to the Cepitaph (I think that's what it's called) for the victims of the war. After a court ole moments, it was time to head to our final destination: Okunoshima. 

Okunoshima, or otherwise known as Rabbit Island was quite a distance away from the hustle and bustle of modern Hiroshima. We had to take a ferry as well to reach the island. Upon arriving on the island, we were greeted by many rabbits. I had to say initially that I wasn't really lookin forward into feeding rabbits, or going to the island, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable. The rabbits would swarm around you, kinda like how the deer did in Nara, though they weren't as large or as aggressive. 

Some of the rabbits were quite shy, which made it kinda cute when you fed them. Others were aggressive and physically blocked others from getting at the food. Like humans, it seemed like rabbits all have certain traits as well! After a couple hours, we headed straight back to a pier to catch the last boat back to the main island. 

And here I am now! It was quite the day with visiting all brand new sites. I never expected the peace park to leave such an impact on me, for it reminded me of the horrors of war. Rest in peace. 

Day 14 - Himeji

We slept in today. After waking up and eating a quick breakfast, it was time to pack up and check out to move onto our next destination. 

Himeji was cloudy and grey when we arrived. As we walked towards the hotel, it started to rain lightly. As we dropped off our luggage at the hotel, we ventured to find a place to eat (Coco Curry House: great curry) and to see the main attraction: Himeji Castle. 

The castle has just finished renovations in March. It's apparently as white as it was first built. The insides of the castle were extremely bare. The stairs were quite steep to climb within the castle. I was worried at times that I would slip and fall. 

After the castle, it started to rain quite heavily, but we ventured to the nearby Kokoen gardens. We didn't go in far, but it was enough for us to see how it was like. Finally, we left to see an anime building known as Animate. There were TONS of anime and manga material within the building!

After accomplishing all that, we went back to the hotel to check in. We went out afterwards to look for dinner, but with our dwindling cash, we went to a place that we knew accepted our credit cards: conscience stores. After dinner, we headed back close to Himeji castle to take a picture of what it looked like at night, though we didn't stay long since it was raining quite hard. 

And that's pretty much it! Time for bed since tomorrow is going to be quite a day!

Day 13 - Kobe

The day started off with laundry. Once that was completed, we went to the Uniqlo to make some exchanges and for me to purchase some long socks. The short socks I bought the day before were great, though a bit tight for my feet. (25-27 cm feels a lot different than American  25-27). Hopefully these long socks would be better!

Afterwards, we took the train to Osaka, so we can take another train to Sannomiya: the heart of Kobe city. And of course, our first stop was to find a Kobe Beef restaurant. 

It took us a while to find the recommended restaurant, for there were two of them with the same names. Once we arrived, it was full, so we made a reservation for 30 minutes later and proceeded to head to a Tokyo Hands store to wait hungrily. 

We came back and were prompted to our seats, which was set up in a bar like fashion in front of the "stainless steel countertop stove" or whatever it's called. We were eagerly awaiting or meal. 

It started off with a, I believe if I heard our waitress correctly, a roast Kobe Beef appetizer. It was delicately seasoned with what seemed like a soy based sauce. Perhaps I was highly expecting s delight meal meal, thus making me biased, but the appetizer was absolutely delicious. After the appetizer, our chef came out with salads and brought out the 4 slabs of Kobe Beef. 

As we munched on the lightly dressed, but highly tasty salad, the chef started to cook the beef. We all wanted it rare, so he cooked two slices at a time and served a quarter of each one to all of us. It was like a show when he cooked as we saw him masterfully handled the knife and spatula-like device (let's just call it a spatula). He cut the slices of beef into equal slices and served us. Before we ate, he would explain to us what the recommended way was to season our meat (and later our vegetables) with the 4 types of I was most impressed as he scooped up the excess meat juice with the spatula. Between slices of beef, we had our vegetables cooked for us. Once again, it was quite delightful. Finally, we had a fried rice dish, along with some sort of... Beef broth miso soup? Finally, a tasty sorbet and coffee to finish a wonderful meal. It was my most expensive meal to date, but the amount of time that it took to eat (the entire process from the first appetizer till the coffee took around an hour) was definitely worth the price. It also gave me some pride in our Alberta beef, in that our beef is somewhat similar in terms of taste. Definitely not the marbling of fat, but general taste. 

After a fulfilling meal, we walked to the Chinatown. It was fairly large and had lots of interesting scenery. I found myself the grape drink that I saw on YouTube: a drink with pieces of grape inside. 

We then travelled to harbour land. The scenery was pleasant and there were quite a few shops around the place. We didn't spend a lot of time there, so we headed back to Kyoto to eat dinner at s buffet place before heading back to our hotel. 

Tis the events of day 12! Off to Himeji tomorrow!

Day 12 - Nara and Osaka Nights

On the train to Osaka right now from Nara with at least 10-15 more minutes to go. I might as well start blogging now:

I started the day waking up at my new normal time of around 8:30. We headed off to Daimaru first to pick up an item first. Afterwards, we headed down to Kyoto station to look for Aeon Mall. I was in need for more socks since I'll be wearing my hiking shoes more throughout the trip. 

After a quick walk, we arrived at Uniqlo. It had pretty cheap clothes: probably an equivalent to an Old Navy or Gap back home. The socks were a bit pricy at 990 yen for two pairs, but their t-shirts were at the same price. I bought myself some socks and shorts too prolong myself along this trip. 

After shopping, we headed upstairs to grab a bite to eat. It was an extremely tasty sukiyaki lunch set, that we all happened to get. 

After lunch, we finally headed to Nara. Unlike last year, the sun was shining and the skies were a clear light blue. It was a hot walk towards Nara park and Todaiji. 

Once we arrived at Nara park, we were greeted by the deer once again. They seemed a little bit more passive this time around, or maybe I opted out to feed them this time. After the park, we trudged towards Todaiji. It was a lot more crowded than last time. After purchasing souvenirs, we headed back to the station to head to find dinner in Osaka. 

***

We found an okonomiyaki place near Namba station. It turned out to be a delightful eat as we were able to try out 4 different types of okonomiyaki: beef, beef with egg and green onions (surprisingly slightly different than regular beef for me), pork and a potato/rice cake. After dinner, we walked around Dotonbori for a while. We found a Takoyaki place that serves pretty good Takoyaki. 

My mission for food in Osaka is complete. 

Finally found the Glico Man!

Day 11 - Northern and Western Kyoto

I wanted to blog yesterday, but I dropped my phone in the tub while I was soaking my feet. My calluses have started to crack, which led to me having to soak my feet in the first place. 

We started off the day by doing laundry. Last time, I placed my slightly wet laundry into my luggage, leaving and extremely damp smell a couple days later. This time, I took the hair dryer inside our room and dried out any pieces that were still wet. 

After that, we headed down to Arashiyama to find the bamboo grove. We rode bikes again, but just to find the groves. It was a bit of a pricy ride, but it did save a lot of time for our next destination : The golden pavilion. 

Unlike last time, we opted to take the bus. I had a fear of taking the bus since I didn't really know how they operated. It turned out to be a lot easier than it looked. Thus, we saved time and my heels didn't have to crack some more! 

The Golden Pavilion didn't have the wow factor for me this time around. I took a couple of snaps and moved on to our third and final destination: Kitano Tenman-gu for the street market. When we arrived a bit before 5, we saw a lot of the vendors packing up. I thought that they finished at 9 during the once a month festival, but it turned out to be a lot sooner than 9. We managed to grab a bite of Takoyaki at a stand and I put Ina prayer to whom the shrine was built for. The story goes that the man was once exiled due to political reasons, so they built this shrine to appease his spirit. Students would go pray to him for luck since he was known to be a scholar.., or so if I read the information correctly. 

We took a bus that led us back directly to our hotel. I took a nap before we headed out for ramen. And that literally marked our 10th day!

Day 10 - Osaka

Woke up early with plans to sort out my luggage. That never happened because I realized that not drying my clothes properly has led them to stink up my luggage... I will have to deal with the issue in a couple of hours time =\

After getting ready for the day, it was off to Osaka. We caught a bullet train, which took us about 14 minutes to get to the place. We ventured out to our first destination: Osaka Castle. It was really grand and elaborate. They turned some parts of the inside into an exquisite museum on Hideyoshi Totomi's life. 

After the museum, we met up with a friend of a friend. He took us around the area we were in and to a onsen nearby. It was my first time at an onsen. It was awkward at first, but I started to get used to the idea. There were many different baths to try out!

After, we walked for nearly 60 minutes to see a waterfall lit up in the dark. It was quite a long walk and it had led to my calluses on my feet to crack =\. The sandals I bought this year are not as good for my feet compared to the pair I usedast year. =\

And now off to sleep! It's 2AM here...

Bright sign as we were walking to the waterfalls. 

Day 9 - Skytree and Odaiba

My brother and I woke up early today to catch the train to Tokyo. We were up almost two hours before our departure time, yet we barely made it to the station on time. Lesson learnt: I should do things the day before....

Upon arrival at Tokyo, we met up with our cousin. It's only been a year, but it felt a lot longer since we last met. She took us to the Skytree, which was the first time for me. It's amazing how tall the structure was: all of Tokyo seemed so small from such a height! We then headed for lunch at a restaurant within the Skytree. It had a spectacular view and the food was quite tasty. 

Afterwards, it was off to Odaiba. We mostly just walked around this district, for I was somewhat familiar with some of the sights. 

The reunion was mostly a quiet one since my brother and I could not speak Japanese, nor can she speak much English. However, it's the family time that's the most important part, like what I mentioned in my Japan blogs last year. Even though, it's been only a week and it took 6 hours to get to Tokyo and back, it is my favorite part of the trip thus far. Always treasure those close to you!

At a station

Day 8 - Made it to the top this time!

Meant to post this yesterday, but I literally fell asleep after arriving back at our hotel last night. 

We travelled down to Southern Kyoto. Our main target was Fushimi Inari, or otherwise known as the shrine with 1000 Torii gates. It was a rainy day, thus making the climb extremely sweaty. We made it to the top (unlike last year where we had to stop) and I was literally drenched to the teeth. 

After descending back down, we ventured a bit around Fushimi before venturing to another part of the region to find sake; as a gift for my relatives. We finally arrived at Gekkaiken Sake Museum: one of the biggest sake manufacturers in Japan. There was a variety of sake to choose from and I even found a non-alcoholic version for me to try out. It had the great sake taste, but without the alcohol. 

After a quick lunch at Mos Burger, we went to find Toji Temple and the largest pagoda in Kyoto/Japan. There was a lot of rain so we didn't stay long. We returned back to our hotel before heading out to eat dinner at a small diner. 

And that's that!

Day 7 - Central Kyoto

I think this was the first time that I woke up late during this trip. I initially woke up at 7:45, but snoozed till around 9:30. I think I finally got over my jet lag! 

We started by walking to Nijo Castle. The outside was magnificent, but unfortunately the inside was closed to the public on Tuesday's. Afterwards, we walked to the gardens that housed the imperial palace of Kyoto. It was quite a large garden, and it was sweltering hot as we walked across the vast expanse to find the castle. Unfortunately once again, we couldn't enter since you needed to order tickets ahead of time. 

After a weary hot morning, we made our way to lunch at an automated sushi place. Most of the dishes were 100 yen! Being automated made it really neat as well. It's a shame we don't have these type of sushi joints in Calgary!

After sushi, we ventured to the dollar store next door before heading back to do some laundry. We then headed back to Teramachi street (and bits of a closed down Nishiki) to shop for souvenirs. After that, it was off to Kyoto tower to take pictures of the night sky of Kyoto. 

Dinner took place at Kyoto station's 10th floor. It's essentially a Ramen Alley, with so many different ramen restaurants to pick from. The ramen we had was absolutely delicious. It kind of reminded me of the one I had in Sapporo. 

And that's for today! More Kyoto tomorrow before we start taking more day trips!

Within Kyoto Station

Day 6 - Back to Kyoto

Woke up early again after getting in about 5 hours of sleep. I couldn't fall asleep so I ended up watching the second episode of the reaper arc of Gintama. It's going to be a short arc, yet it's pretty good in my books!

After a couple hours of gaming, cleaning and what not, it was time to check out and head to the next location on our trip: Kyoto. We got our JR passes and booked reserved seats for the Hikari Shinkansen. Hikari had more stops than the Nozomi, yet it was only a tad longer than Nozomi. 

Once we arrived at Kyoto station, we took a subway to our hotel. It was relatively easy to check in, with a key given to us instead of a card key. It reminded me of the hotel in Nara we stayed at last year. 

After settling in, we went for lunch at a family restaurant. I had a raw tuna rice bowl with a side of cold udon (I swear... Japan is carbohydrate heaven). After lunch, we proceeded down Shijo street and into Daimaru department store to look for a particular store. I bought somethings that I needed for my journey. 

After the department store, we ventured into a store called Tokyo Hands. The easiest way to describe this store is a discovery hut, Home Outfitters and a stationary store mixed in one! We spent quite. A bit of time here to shop. 

At around 6-7, we headed to Taramachi street to explore. It was late, so many business were closed. We ate dinner at a restaurant that seemingly specialized omelette rice. I never had one before, so I was glad to finally give it a try. It was pretty good, but bigger than I expected. 

After dinner, it was off to see an old temple. 

And that was pretty much it for today. Time to sleep!

Day 4 and 5 - Mount Fuji

From where I left off yesterday, we arrived at Kawaguchiko and board the bus to the fifth station. Unfortunately, it was busy and we were the last people to get on the bus, thus meaning we had to stand for 50 minutes. 

Upon arrival on the mountain, the first thing I noticed was the throng of people getting ready to climb it at night. It seemed almost as busy as the daytime groups we saw last year. 

We got ourselves ready and proceeded to venture on in the darkness. The first thing I noticed was that it was a lot more difficult climbing without walking sticks. I immediately felt more strain on my knees when compared to last year's climb. 

Unlike last year, it was relatively clear for the ascent. It was, however, extremely windy. As we approached the 6th station, I reread the sign about bullet climbers, those that climbed without getting adequate rest. Aka: our group. It essentially stated that we were more prone to injury and giving up on re climb to the summit. Little did I know that it would foretell our journey on the mountain. 

We made relatively good headway up the hill, though during break times I found myself to be dozing off from the lack of sleep. We were doing well up to about halfway through the 7th and 8th station. At this point in time, we were extremely tired and sore. We all made the decision to give up on the climb to the summit to see the sunrise and go find a mountain hut to sleep for a few hours. 

We found one and paid the exorbitant high price to sleep. The beds were wider than the ones in the last mountain hit we were in, though they were contained in little boxes. I literally had no room for my feet, so they were awkwardly propped on the wall as my head touched the other side. 

We were awoken by a staff member a few hours after to inform us of the sunrise. Even though it wasn't at the summit, it was an extremely pleasant sight to behold. We then trudged up the mountain again, hoping to reach the summit. 

However, the summit was surrounded by clouds, making it obscure to see from our location halfway between the 8th and 8.5 station. Slightly frightened about the chance of a thunderstorm later on in the day, we decided to give up our quest and started to descend back down to the 5th station. 

It was a windy descent followed by a whack of wasps once again! I thought they were only targeting me until I realized that there were many wasps around the area! Darn them!

We made it back in one piece and headed back to Shinjuku after a lengthy ride from Kawaguchiko to Otsuki. During the ride, I was thinking about why we weren't able to succeed in our mission to climb to the top. I thought I was a lot fitter than last year seeing that I lost a lot of fat and regained muscle strength. (Which was evident in that it was a lot easier to climb this time compared to last year.)

The difference being was the lack of sleep. In hindsight, I should have booked this event for a later time, one in that we had time to readjust our body clocks (last year was a fluke) and recover from any illnesses (darn you bronchitis). 

I doubt I'll ever climb it again, but I will keep those pointers in mind! Now off to sleep after not sleeping for like 36 hours! We're done with the first step of our journey: onto Kyoto next!

Day 4 - I'm a fool!

Day 4 in Japan! I got up early and turned on my 3DS to download the star knight quest for MH4U. After a couple rounds, it was around 9 AM. It was time to check out of our rooms. 

We left our luggage at the hotel since we had a single room booked for our luggage. Then we trodded down Shinjuku to look for lunch. We went to a department store looking for Unagi, but it was too busy for tight schedules. We ended up going to a different area of Shinjuku for more conveyor belt sushi. It was better than yesterday's in my opinion, though more expensive. 

After our meal, it was off to try out a Japanese Starbucks/Timmies called Doutor. I got myself a peach mix drink, which turned out to be very good. 

We returned to our hotel to check in our single room and to drop off our luggage. We got changed and headed to the train station to catch our train...

And here I am now, on the train blogging about our upcoming trip to climb Mount Fuji. The saying goes: "You're a fool to not climb it once, but a fool to climb it twice. This will be my second time up the mountain. I'm not really looking forward to it, but fortunately we'll have time and the right conditions to explore the crater. 

Day 3 - Rainy Shinjuku

After a restless night, in which I probably got around 3 hours of sleep in total, I woke up at 5 and entertained myself with gaming till around 9. 

We left to see the free sights of Shinjuku. Unfortunately, it was raining quite a bit, making the journey a bit wet... quite wet. 

We started with the fire station museum, which was a decent sight. It had the history of fire fighting within the district. There was a helicopter as well, but it was  unfortunately closed to the public today. After the station, we moved to see Shinjuku gardens, but it turned out you needed to pay in order to enter. It was also closed, so we proceeded to our next destination --> back to Kabukicho to look  for a quick takoyaki lunch. 

As we walked towards the takoyaki stand, we found a conveyor belt restaurant, so we stopped there to eat. After filling our stomaches for a bit, we eventually found the takoyaki place. 

It was then off to the municipal government. The entrance was trickier to enter than expected, but we found it eventually. After venturing to the 45th floor of the south observatory, taking a bunch of pictures of the scenery and resting for a while to relax our tired feet, we proceeded to the Toto showroom. 

The Toto showroom had a variety of layouts of everyday living. It had various kitchen concepts and bathrooms. It kind of reminded me of IKEA, just without rooms like the bedroom (from what I recall out of my cloudy mind). 

We returned back to our hotel. As weary as I was, I ended up napping for a lot longer than expected. At around 9, we proceeded to look for a place that sold dangos, but it turned out that the subway was having issues. We turned back to the nearest 7-11 to stock up for dinner and breakfast. 

And here I am: Tired, but satisfied. Just to finish dinner, take a shower and head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be quite the grind: up Mount Fuji once again! Hopefully my feet will have recovered and I won't have coughing fits as we climb!

In front of the building. 

Day 1 and 2 - Flight to Narita

EI'm currently on the plane with no desire to sleep. I took cat naps here and there, worked a bit on MH4U and reviewed my hiragana. It doesn't help that the information entertainment, or whatever the screen in front of me is called, is down, so why not start blogging now?

We're almost 6 hours in our flight, though it feels a lot longer than last year. Perhaps I'm just more anxious for this trip than I was last year?

***

It is now night time. After I blogged the earlier part, I fell into a restless sleep. The landing was quite turbulent, I predict due to the typhoon that Japan is currently facing. Due to the weather, everything was quite grey, though the wind was a nice effect to counterbalance the heat and humidity. 

We walked around quite a bit once we left the airport via the Narita Express (NEX). We explored parts of Shinjuku my brother and I went to previously, and tried venturing to new areas near our hotel. There was a ramen place which we are at. It turned out to be a good eat; which is a regret I had last year where I didn't venture to a lot of restaurants. We even ended up in the infamous Kabuchiko district, due to the flashing lights. 

We quickly made our way out due to the heckling from some individuals trying to persuade us to spend money at their club they're promoting. It was an interesting experience, which kinda reminded me of the time I spent at Las Vegas. 

Our feets were getting tired, so we headed back to our hotel after stocking up for breakfast. 

And now a shower and then sleep! It's been an extemely long day for me today. 

Gah... Picture is sideways!

Brief 2nd Year Experience as a Junior High Teacher

I should have done this earlier during the summer lull, I guess now is as good as a time as any other.

My second year as a junior high teacher... Definitely a lot easier than my first year in that I was fortunate enough to have a similar schedule to what I had last year. I taught Science 7, Math 8 and karate as an option. I was able to implement what I thought worked well in my first year, and made improvements to other things that did not go as well in my first year.

All in all, my second year went by EXTREMELY quickly in my eyes (for the most part anyways). One reason could be attributed to the various events that took place this year and the extra curricular I was involved in as well.

I don't have as many points as last year, but here are the things that I learned as a second year teacher:

1) Set the tone on day 1. On the first day of classes, I made sure to lay down the expectations of my students, and more importantly... myself. We're both accountable for the learning that takes place in the classroom! Also, I made sure to stick to my expectations... which led to me giving detention on the first day of classes! Word got around the school, and I had to say that I didn't have as much classroom management problems that I had in my first year. (I guess another reason could be due to the fact that I wasn't a first year teacher =P )

2) Exercise. I started working out again last August. It was a great way to relieve any stress that I experienced during the work day. Plus, it allowed me to lose a lot of weight and gave me a boost in confidence in terms of my physical appearance. At times, I also met a couple of my students at the gym, which I felt allowed me to build a rapport outside of school. It also reminded me that we all need some time away from school/homework.

3) Get involved with extra-curricular: I wasn't that involved in my first year, so I made sure to pull my weight during my second year. It gave me experiences that I wouldn't have received if I was consistently in my classroom. Once again, it allowed me to see a different side of the students in my school! =)

4) Your immunity is a lot better in the second year... Or so I thought till I was hit buy a couple illnesses in June! I can't really complain since I was healthy for most of the year.

5) Teaching can be heartbreaking, yet heartwarming at the same time. I haven't really experienced it as much in my first year, but I was able to develop, what I felt, strong relationships with my students. I remember being in my last practicum and how certain students will tell intimate stories to my mentor teacher. I didn't quite understand at that point in time since from my own personal experiences, a teacher was just there to teach me. Never did I thought that we could offer, hopefully, useful pieces of information.

Due to these relationships that I had with a few of my students, they told me about their fears, their anxiety, but also their strengths and their pride. I felt empathy for their troubles, but also shared their pride when they succeeded. It was something that defines this profession, that makes it very human... if you understand what I'm trying to get at! So all in all, do your best to relate to your students! They'll start to warm up to you! =)

And that's pretty much it! Summer has just begun, though I'm anticipating my 3rd year of teaching! Hopefully it'll be as great, or even better than this year!

Eggs Benedict Poutine = Delicious!

After teaching piano today, I went to go eat with a couple friends at Naina's Kitchen. It's a small restaurant located down South.

I was recommended to try their Eggs Benedict Poutine, though I initially hesitated... I had sinned quite a bit this week and it was apparent due to the bit of weight gain I had (nothing too dramatic, but I had to admit it did dampen my spirits a bit).

I finally caved in and got the renowned poutine.

And it's a choice I will never regret taking... it's savory taste...

Why must life be so cruel at times. =(

A roller coaster of a ride, but Date ended up the way it should have...

After over a week of watching an episode religiously, save for a couple days, I finished watching the last two episodes of the jdorama: Date.

The beginning was awesome. A "love" story between a social outcast and a career-oriented woman. It's an unusual match in that most people wouldn't feel attracted to either of the characters. I thought the screen writers did a marvelous job in making both character repulsive, yet intriguing at the same time. When you think about it, (pardon me if I sound rather ignorant) but how often would a person fall in love with a character that wants to do nothing but to leech off their spouse OR one that finds no sense in romance at all?

The screenwriter, however, managed to make this weird chemistry work between the two leads, from starting out as an similar ideological relationship to one that does bloom into a romantic one. The first half of the show was enjoyable, with the budding relationship between the two.

However... I felt like it went down hill at the start of the second half. Like I stated, I do not like love triangles. I feel like they have been done way too many times in romance dramas. These love triangles, or more like a love square since the main characters had others pursing them, created such a see-saw ride throughout the last half that I felt it became nauseating. The main characters get together with the ones that love them, then the two mains get back together again very briefly, and then back to the supporting characters! I'm making it worse than it sounds, but I felt it was a plot filler to fill up the last couple of episodes...

All in all, it was an enjoyable watch for the most part. A fun romantic comedy that touches base on characters that do exist; not everyone is a dashing princess waiting for her white knight to come woo her. Nor the dream girl walking down a sunlit staircase to the admiring eyes of the hero... I digress.... my imagination is becoming wild...

It's a good story, showing that the definition of love is not the same for everyone. The ending was well thought of, and I enjoyed how they ended it with how the two of them first met: through a date.

It's hard to believe...

that it's been over a year since I visited Japan! To this day, I can still relive certain memorable events. A year ago, I believe we went to Furano to see the Lavender Fields. I also recalled the small town of Biei and how it had a very nostalgic look to the place.

Besides reliving memories, I woke up a lot later today than I did on Monday since I wasn't able to fall asleep last night. I woke up in a coughing fit.,.. which I really hope it'll go away by next week...

Other than that, it was another workout day: squats, bench, back and triceps. My muscles were still sore from the lunges we did yesterday so I had a relatively light day with squats today.

Oh and I finally got my bronze crown in MH4U! Gogmazios was a pain in the behind to fight. You definitely need a team to fight that elder dragon. 

First Official Week Off!

The very first Monday of Summer 2015! Time is going by so slowly, which is kind of a good thing for now anyways! It makes me feel like I have more time to get things done; for summer and for the upcoming school year.

The weekend was relaxing: I got some work done and ventured on the Stampede grounds for a bit on Sunday. It was my first time on the grounds since I worked there in 2012.

As for today, I got up relatively early compared to my normal "holiday mode" hour. I got stuff done, went out and completed some chores and went to work out. I was extremely exhausted near the end, with a noticeable decline in performance.

Rest up and go at it again tomorrow!

Hot July

Hot once again!

Woke up at around 9, ate breakfast and got ready to go out and shop for supplies.

Mission success for the most part I would have to say!

Went and did a few errands afterwards and proceeded to go work out.

Summer is going well... though I wish my cough is going away... I really hope it isn't Bronchitis again...

Canada Day 2015

Yesterday was my last day of work, but it does not explain the reason why I didn't blog last night.

The reason for that... was because I was playing league till late.

As for today, my family and I went out to Banff. It was a pleasant day, in that the temperature was a comfortable 23ish degrees. I was a bit groggy due to the heavy thunderstorm at around 3 AM, but the fresh mountain air did perk me up. 

After walking around the town and visiting the Fairmount hotel, it was off home to finish G2 quests in MH4U. I'm now attempting G3 quests, but I did have the Kushala armor for a while now. =P

And that marks my Canada Day for this year! I'll post about my experiences as a second year teacher soon...