Samedi 01 F�vrier
[Visite] A snowless winter can be so dull
...that I'm so happy we have a free pass to visit stuff otherwise I don't think I would have come here in winter.
A friend and I decided to go to the Umekoji park. A park located in the west of the Kyoto station.
By looking at the pictures, we were quite looking forward to it.
The park is really big and next to it there is the Kyoto aquarium and the JR steam locomotive museum (something?).
We didn't get in the aquarium as it was way too expensive XD.. There were two bubbles / glasses through which we could see the outdoor "pool" but there was nothing to see... Apart from dirt XD
At least the colours were neat XD I like this blue so much *_*
Then we walked around the park looking for the entrance.
But there was no entrance as we were already in the park. At least, we could practice our Japanese 
Because we didn't understand why we got a free access to a free park, I checked the website one more time. Actually the free access is for a garden that is inside the park: suzaku no niwa. And inside this garden there was another place: inochi no mori.
And by using a freshly acquired skill, we asked a Japanese for the way.
That's amazing how much we improved (well I think I still suck at understanding their reply but ok XD)
The park is really great, and the atmosphere is really nice. And I will always like the sound of a waterfall 
However, it was sad as the grass wasn't green and the trees didn't have any leave.
Hopefully it was a sunny otherwise it would have been really sad.
At least we didn't pay for that, and we know for sure that coming here in spring will be wonderful 
Pictures: 2014-02-01 Umekoji Park
Posté par T@ntely à 12:00:00
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Jeudi 30 Janvier
[Visite] Sencha-do !
Franchement j'm'épate XD
J'arrive à travailler, faire mes devoirs, sortir et aller en cours sans aucun souci 8)
C'est faux !
XD.. Je dors pas assez, j'suis super crevée XD Et j'suis obligée de travailler le week-end pour rattraper le temps perdu... Mais dans un sens je gère quand même XD On peut dire.
Je passe juste mon temps à courir mais à part ça, ça roule XD
Et maintenant, je fais même des trucs la semaine XD Oui oui, comme si me fatiguer le week-end était pas suffisant
Déjà mercredi, j'avais prévu d'aller faire mes devoirs avec un ami. Je sais plus trop pourquoi XD.. Mais c'est toujours fun :D
Pour l'occasion, j'ai décidé d'aller dans un café dont je connaissais juste le nom. Et en fait, c'est un café pour étudiants où les boissons sont gratuites... Mais faut s'inscrire XD J'ai pas tout compris, apparemment c'est pour chercher un job, mais bon, c'était sympa... Et pas cher x) Bon ils ont que du café, du thé et du jus d'orange mais on va pas chipoter !
Après les devoirs, ben on est allés dans un resto juste à côté, auquel j'étais allée la semaine précédentes avec des amies. C'est bien le riz à volonté *_*
Puis jeudi, j'ai eu l'occasion d'assister à une cérémonie du thé \o/ C'était assez informel donc c'était cool. Juste que j'ai dû acheter des chaussettes blanches XD..
Ça se passait dans un magasin de wagashi.
C'était après les cours, et évidemment il fallait se dépêcher pour arriver à l'heure. L'avantage c'est que c'est super proche de là où j'habite XD
C'était ma première cérémonie, donc ben j'ai pas pu comparer avec la cérémonie "traditionnelle". Là, on a assisté à un Senchadō (wiki explique mieux que moi XD) et la technique utilisée était chabako temae (cha : thé, bako: boîte).
Et voici la boboîte !
Et voici le wagashi auquel on a eu droit :
(L'image a été un peu toshopée parce que j'ai involontairement trop squishé mon dagashi quand je l'ai pris avec les baguettes XD..)
C'est censé représenter l'attente du printemps. Son nom : harumachi (traduction littérale XD) En dessous de la couche blanche, qui représente la neige, on aperçoit le vert qui représente l'herbe, le printemps, etc. *_*
J'aime bien c'est poétique XD
Et on a eu 2 tasses de thé (apparemment c'est lié au fait que ce soit du sencha ?)
C'était intéressant de noter à quel point tous les mouvements était calculés et réfléchis. Puis y a tellement de rituels XD C'est marrant.
Et au final c'était assez logique : tu t'excuses auprès des autres avant de te servir, tu nettoies les baguettes que t'as utilisées, etc.
Enfin, ça, c'est la partie spectateur XD La partie où tu fais la cérémonie je pense pas que j'y arriverai un jour Puis faut avoir de la grâce et tout le reste XD
A la fin de la cérémonie, on a eu droit à d'autres confiseries \o/
J'ai goûté que le vert, qui est censé représenter un pin (ou je sais pas quelle partie du pin XD). Le nom japonais est matsu qui est un homonyme du verbe attendre. Et donc dans des poèmes, le pin peut représenter l'attente XD
Ils s'amusent bien les Jap avec leurs jeux de mots XD.. En FR on n'en a aussi XD !
Après tout ça, on a pu discuter (enfin plutôt écouter en ce qui me concerne) avec le proprio de l'établissement. Etonnamment j'ai compris pas mal de mots, en fait j'ai compris 70% de ce qu'il a dit. Et j'ai regoûté le haskappu et j'ai appris qu'on m'avait menti XD Y en a pas qu'au Japon !
Enfin, d'après Wiki, le Lonicera caerulea, de son petit nom XD, n'est pas super courant dans le monde ! Et j'me demande qu'elle était la probabilité pour que le proprio tombe sur quelqu'un qui connaissait déjà ce fruit
En venant, mon ami voulait qu'on étudie ensemble. Bon à part faire mes devoirs j'voyais pas trop quoi étudier mais j'aime bien quand même XD
Malheureusement pour moi, la cérémonie a fini plus tard que prévu et il fallait déjà que je retourne assister à une réunion qui finalement a pas eu lieu XD.. Ça m'aurait pas tant dérangée si la suivante avait pas commencé avec 40 minutes de retard ?
Enfin bref, ça m'a donné le temps de dîner XD.. Mais franchement, ça fatigue tout ça
Posté par T@ntely à 18:00:00
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Samedi 25 Janvier
[Visite] Nothing will stop me XD
Ok so because we have a pass to visit stuff for free, I challenged myself to go to all of these places XD
I don't think I will manage (because I'm already so busy) but at least if I can manage to go to the places I actually want to go, it will be nice...
So, this is why with a classmate we decided to go to Nijo castle.
I already went last year, and it was even my first visit in 2013, but because this time was free... And because this time I could use my camera...
We had to meet up at noon (it was early enough knowing that the day before I was still out and being crazy at 23:30 XD And I need time to get home and ready to sleep roh) and surprisingly I wasn't late. It might be because I woke up before my alarm clock
So we met, we entered the castle and... I noticed that I forgot my memory card XD.. Again.
However, because this occurred several times to me I now own two cards. I planned on putting the second one in my pocket but I wasn't sure if I actually did it (yeah, I don't sleep enough, I forget stuff XD..)
And luckily for me, I did not forget [In the end, it doesn't change much regarding the quality of the pictures. I can even say that the pictures taken with my phone look better XD..]
I was lucky that it was a castle and not a temple because my friend is not the most discrete individual on earth XD
But we had so much fun
I didn't take a lot of pictures (I already had most of them XD) but I still like that :D (just that I don't have any inspiration left lol)
After we were done we headed to the city centre to eat lunch (it was around 13:00. For once it was a normal hour to have lunch XD)
My friend wanted to go to the sushi place and luckily for me, it was too full Ah I didn't mind that much XD Sushi once in a while it's ok.
So... He told me about this pizza buffet... And wow! It was the one we went last time :D And now I DO know the name: Shakey's!
Again, I ate too much XD But it was good. And it wasn't that bad to be that full because my day only started.
I had to meet a friend in Nara to attend the Wakakusa Yamayaki event.
There are several small events but the main ones are the fireworks and the "yamayaki". As the name says, they put the Mount Wakakusa on fire They play with fire too much in Japan imho...
But it sounded so interesting.
Actually, I heard about it thanks to a classmate, who in the end couldn't come, but because I had a friend who did plan to go...
I thought that I would be late, but I wasn't (I really don't know how I managed not to be late twice the same day!)
However I was soooo tired. Unfortunately for me, the trains were too crowded. I didn't want to sit and later have to give my seat to an old person or whatsoever.
So I stood up for most of the journey. I tried to sleep while standing. I don't think I managed but I could rest.
Then when I finally got a sit, I slept and kind of scared myself because I didn't keep track of the stops.
It reminded me of the conversation we had to learn at school: you are a stupid foreigner who takes the train and keeps asking stupid questions because you're not able to manage on your own XD..
But I wasn't this stupid foreigner. I did ask about the direction before boarding but once in I managed alone! (by using my phone with Internet XD)
But to come back to the story We met and then went to a Vietnamese restaurant. I only ordered a drink because I was still full! (Expensive drink >> Baka)
We asked the cashier about a good spot to see the event and we headed to Todai-ji (I think? XD)
And there were a lot of people. But the people wasn't the annoying part. No, it wasn't even the deer. It was the stupid street lamps! They were everywhere and you couldn't look up without seeing them. Not only they hurt your eyes but also they spoil the night pictures!
If I can go another time, I will go up the hill... Stupid lamps.
But well. We had to deal with that. Taking pictures by night was challenging enough and the lamps didn't help. Nor the tall foreigners T_T
After 15 minutes of fireworks, they put the mountain on fire.
I thought that taking the fireworks on picture was difficult, but taking the giant fire was even more difficult. I don't know why XD..
So please appreciate these artistic blurs (:
After that we headed home and followed the huge mass of people. Somehow our train wasn't that full. And I could get a seat after several stops.
I'm so glad I planned to stay home the following day. I can't continue like that XD..
Pictures:
2014-01-25-1 Nijojo
2014-01-25-2 Nara
2014-01-25-3 Wakakusa Yamayaki
2014-01-25-4 Nara
Posté par T@ntely à 12:00:00
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