Wanderland: JENESYS at Japan

I promised I would post something about my short summer trip to Japan.

The trip was all-expense paid trip by the Japanese government. The trip was called JENESYS Programme. In return, I participated as one of the goodwill ambassadors to Tohoku, the region struck by the March 11, 2011 tsunami. We were also sent as delegate under the Go Green batch. I was supposed to go there last year but since the tsunami struck, it was postponed. The programme was twelve days, nine days were spent in Japan.

During the first two days we delegates checked-in at CSB Hotel located at Taft Ave. We were briefed before the programme. We were reminded of the things we should know about the trip. It was at this time that I met the other delegates and my 22 groupmates plus 1 supervisor!

We flew to Japan via All Nippon Airways. It was a long flight and I was pretty excited to see Japan. When we landed, we were greeted by our JICE supervisors - Tange-san and Yoshida-san. On our way to Tokyo Dome Hotel, we saw different landmarks during the long bus trip. I saw Tokyo Sky Tree! When we arrived at the hotel, we got our keys and left our luggage at our respective rooms. My room's view was Tokyo Dome City. We then went to a hall for more orientations.

 top left: Plane flight NH950; top right: plane ticket; bottom: Room 1331's view and I.

The following day, we had a big breakfast. (Japan trip food blog up next!) We then went to Tokyo Station to ride a shinkansen (bullet train) to Furukawa. From Furukawa, we went to a port to ride a ferry to Kesennuma Oshima. When we went down, we were met by an old lady who drove us to Riasu-Sou, a local inn. After dinner, I tried the public bath and wore a yukata. It was a first for me! Plus sleeping on a futon.

 left: Shinkansen to Furukawa; right: Outside Riasu-sou; bottom: stack of futon

Next day, we went to the beach to do some clean-up. While cleaning, I spoke with the other volunteers. They applauded me for my Nihongo even if I am not good at it. After, we went to Mt. Kameyama to listen to a local's story about the tsunami. As we went up the mountain, she described the events that had happened. It was indeed a sad story. Each one of us gave her a big hug after her story. We went back to the inn, had lunch and met some fishermen. We made bindama - it is used as a floater for the fishing nets. We went back to the port to go to Ichinoseki at around 4pm. Everyone bid us goodbye while doing a common practice to them. We were to hold one end of a ribbon and they will hold the other end. According to Tange-san, it means that wherever you go, we will always be connected. While travelling, we went to the deck to feel the cold wind. IT WAS COOOLD! There were a lot of seagulls and my groupmates sang their hearts out.

We went to Ichinoseki and spent the night at Kanpo no Yado. There, I spoke with Nakano-san, one of our JICE coordinators in Tohoku. After, we tried the onsen. It was embarrasing but it was a lot of fun! We set up our futon after and the day ended.

top left: Mount Kameyama welcome sign; top right: Me with groupmates and volunteer workers at the beach; bottom: Locals saying goodbye as we leave.

After breakfast, we went to Sendai to catch our plane to Kobe, Hyogo. We had to say goodbye to Nakano-san at the airport. She had been a good and nice company during the trip. In Hyogo, we went to a hotel to have lunch. We had sumptuous Kobe beef! I ate it immediately so that we could go around. We went to where the cherry blossoms were to take photos. Even if it drizzled, we still took photos. We went to Kobe Recycle Center after for a lecture. Then we went to our hotel, Kobe Meriken Oriental Hotel. We finally had a chance to go out! We walked around Kobe port and went to Mosaic Mall. I bought Kobe pudding since it was suggested by Isaku-san, a Japanese who we met in the Philippines. It was delish!

 left: Nakano-san and I; right: inside the recycle center; bottom: sakura and I

The following day, we went to JICA Kansai to meet our host families. We were pretty giddy to know who they were. When it was our turn, we stood up and said our host family's last name, "Otani-san!" A young couple with a suuuuper cute kiddo stood up and greeted us. We introduced ourselves and we planned the day ahead. We then decided to go to Arima Onsen. It was a place in Kobe where hot springs are found. We had lunch and tried the foot onsen outside called Kin no Yu Spa. The water was 40C! It was reaaaaally hot! We were then given an hour to go around. We looked around, we saw Tenjin shrine and Zenpuku-ji temple. The shrine was the source of the water of the onsen we tried. While the temple had a 270 year old weeping cherry tree called Itozakura. We also tried different kinds of senbei, a local snack. After Arima, we went to Takarazuka-kageki. It is famous for its music, according to my host father, Yoshi-san. We visited Yoshi-san's family for them to meet us. Obaachan (grandma) performed sado (tea ceremony) for us while we ate hanami dango. The tea called maccha (mat-cha) was bitter but it became delicious after a few sips. We said goodbye and we went to the grocery to buy ingredients for dinner. While they picked out the food, we looked around for snacks and souvenirs. When we paid, it was quite interesting. The cashier lady put the purchases back in the basket. We proceeded to a different counter where we would pack the products ourselves. We went to Nishinomiya, where their or our home was located. Before settling in, we walked around the subdivision and took photos. When we went back, we played with Yuto-kun, our little brother. Later on, I helped my mom, Mayumi-san to prepare dinner. I chopped the cabbage and cucumbers. She showed us how to make inari-zushi. It is a rice-filled fried tofu packet. She also showed us how to make pickled cucumbers. While we were finishing off the sushi, dad cooked okonomiyaki for us.

So we ate okonomiyaki, inarizushi, pickled cucumbers and tofu with ginger and soy sauce. We had a toast. We drank Japanese wine called sake while our parents drank Philippine wine called lambanog. After dinner, we watched tv and talked about Japanese showbiz. I took a shower after my friend and we went to sleep.

 left: Kin no Yu Spa; right: Kobe sunrise;
bottom left: Tenji Shrine; bottom right: Itozakura

I woke up to the smell of onions being sauteed and Yuto-kun's voice. I slid the door and greeted them good morning. I groomed myself and joined them for breakfast after fixing the futon. Breakfast was delicious. It was mom's own recipe plus there was umeboshi - pickled plums and a jam for rice. I think there was something else I forgot. My parents showed us their wedding book and told us their love story. Sooo cute! :"> Before leaving the house, mom gave us a gift. We headed out to the mall. Our first stop, the arcade. We took photos using the purikura booth. We shopped for more souvenirs and had lunch at Mos Burgers. We went to the Y100 shop after. We shopped a lot and took another set of photos using the purikura booth just outside the shop. Dad gave us a bag of snacks for our little brothers back in the Philippines. We went to JICA again for the farewell party. We met the families of each and ate dinner. We had a presentation set for the host families and they too prepared something for us. When it was about time to part ways, tears were found on most, if not everyone's faces. We were sad since the time was short but we were attached to them already. When they left, we assembled ourselves and we went down. Luckily, my family was still there!!! We said our final goodbyes then. In the bus, I opened the gift they gave me and it was cuuute bag!

 top left: purikura screen; top right: Mos Burger; bottom: gift from Otani family

We went to Kobe College the following day. A small speech was delivered by the school's president, I think. We went to a different hall after for a chapel hour. We went back to where the speech was delivered and there was a series of talks from the students and a talk from our side. After we proceeded to a lounge where we had lunch with the students. While eating, we introduced ourselves and talked to each other. We presented a song after and they played the Koto after. We were welcomed to try playing the Koto, and I did! It was sort of easy but it was difficult tracking the string to be strummed. When I was satisfied, I joined the others. We took a commemorative photo after. We proceeded to JICA again for a workshop which will help us formulate our speech for the presentation.

 top left: Kobe College; top right: playing the Koto; bottom: group photo

We were now set to go back to Tokyo. We had our things ready and rode the bus. We went to JICA for sado. We were able to try making our own bowl of maccha. I chatted with the obaachans while waiting for things to be wrapped up. We left JICA and went to Minatogawa Shrine. In the shrine, we were taught about the shrine, and how to act in a shrine. We tried praying rituals there. While waiting for my turn, I watched the baptism that was being held inside the hall, called Haiden (?). We went to look for more souvenirs. I tried the omikuji and got little luck. I bought an omamori for all-around good luck.  We went to ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel to have shabu shabu for lunch! Here was a small thing I remembered.

Me: Sumimasen, gohan onegaishimasu! (Excuse me, rice please!)

Waitress: Ah~ chotto matte kudasai. (Oh, please wait a moment.)

Me: Hai. (Yes.)

Waitress: asdfghhjjllsdasdklghl desu. (asdfghhjjllsdasdklghl.)

Me: Uh, hai. (Uh, yes.)

Waitress: Nihongo ga jozu desu ne! (Your nihongo is good.)

Me: Ah~ Iie, iie. Jozu ja arimasen. (Oh, no no. I'm not good.)

I think she was telling me that the rice was still being cooked so I just said yes. HAHAHAHA

We were given gifts by the resto's owner and we kept it for everyone to eat. At the train station, I asked Tange-san to translate my omikuji since I did not understand everything. Such little luck I have! I slept my butt off at the train. We didn't see Mt. Fuji since it was cloudy. :( We went to a mall to eat dinner and we saw the Kyoto and Aichi group there. I'm not sure if the Okinawa group was there. We ate fast and looked around the mall. But everything was expensive! :(

left: tea ceremony; right: making tea;
bottom: Minatogawa shrine entrance 

On our last day, we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for our reporting session. Then we took more and more photos before going to Ginza. In Ginza, we had lunch at Monsoon Cafe. and there was this super duper cutie patootie waiter I went out with a few friends to visit the pattisserie just outside the restaurant. I bought cream puff and the strawberry marshmallow thing. I shared the marshmallow with them and kept the cream puff all to myself. >:) At the airport we said our goodbyes to our coordinators who were in tears. :'( It was definitely a fun and knowledgeable experience with them! We hugged them and exchanged business cards. Then we flew back to the Philippines.  

 left: photo with Tange-san and two groupmates- julie and cion;

right: photo with Yoshida-san

Now, I still keep in touch with everyone. I try to e-mail them regularly. I don't want to forget the experiences we had in Japan.

There a lots of opportunities open, and this was one of 'em.

 Realizations:

The trip as a whole was very fun. But I must not forget the real purpose of the trip. I was an ambassador and I should let people know about Japan. So far, Japan has been recuperating from the tsunami. It is sad for people to remember such incident but the have risen after their fall. Now Japan has been speedily recovering. The wastes had been cleaned and they were able to build new infrastructures after.

 top photos and bottom left: post-tsunami; bottom right: Mount Kameyama

In Kobe, it was interesting to know that people cooperate with the waste disposal routine of the city. This is not quite evident here. I will soon deliver this message in a forum we will be conducting. I wish that we too could follow Japan and be an example to other countries as well.