Kiki

Have you ever had a dog? I’ve had a dog for 10 years. She is an Irish setter.

She is the most curious dog I’ve ever had. She likes following people; especially me.  She waits to see what we do then starts playing, even though we don’t play at all. Also, she moves restlessly all the time.  When I walk her, she always looks for cats, birds and even insects.  If she finds them, it is going to be a trouble for me. She starts running suddenly to catch them. Even I can’t see them, but she knows where they are. That is her instinct, because she is a hunting dog. When she was young, I often got injured during walks. She was so mischievous.  Now she is old, but she’s still energetic like a puppy. However, she doesn’t like being alone outside. For example, when I go into a supermarket with her, she has to wait for me outside. Then she will cry until I return.  But, as soon as she sees me, she stops crying and romps so much. That is so cute to me. She is like my baby.

When I first got her, many people thought she was a dachshund with long legs.  But since she has such an interesting character and not so many Japanese people have Irish setters, she is known very well in the neighborhood. In addition, she is always friendly, so people talk to me often while I’m walking her.

I really like having Irish setter.  So, if I have a dog next time, I would like to have Irish setter again!

I found a movie that we can know about Irish setter. I will be happy if you like them after you see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooK_VY3nA4w

My Dream

Do you like flowers? I like it so much! One of my hobbies is arranging flowers. I’ve started learning it since early this year. I took a lesson once a week before I went to Canada. So, I am still pretty new in this hobby, but I always enjoyed it when I had lessons.

Also, I like making bouquets; especially mini bouquets.Since I am interested in arranging flower, my dream is to become a florist. I want my dream to come true, but I think I need more skills in flower arrangement and obviously more knowledge about flowers.

Lately I have been thinking about taking a flower arrangement course in Japan once I graduated from college. During the course, I will work at a flower shop as a part-time job. I think it should hopefully prepared me in getting ready to go into work fields. I was worried that maybe I should concentrating in studying rather than working while studying. Because my part-time job is related to my course, this should help me well in the future. If I have more than basic skills about flowers, it should help me a lot when I am working in my work field. This is the first time for me to have this kind of spirit. I think this is the way for me and I want to make this as my long term career.

In the future, I want to work at a flower shop somewhere overseas .
Hopefully I can be in charge of coordinating the flowers for big events like weddings and functions. I think it is fun to coordinate flowers, because it keeps changing depends on the event.I believe my job can make people happy. That is what I want to do in my life.

Japanese Snow Monkeys

Japanese monkey or known as Japanese Macaque or saru (as the Japanese called it). Is a native Japanese mammal with an interesting behaviour. You can see this animal easily during winter especially near natural hot springs in Japan.

Can you imagine monkeys actually enjoy in taking bath just like human? Some monkeys go there and take a dip in hot springs. They do it to keep their body warm by using the heat from hot spring. Just like any normal human, monkeys like to take a dip in hot spring together with their families. That’s why it is so interesting to see monkeys do the same thing as human.
These animal can be seen only in cold region in Japan, especially places that snow often. The scenery of hot springs with full of monkeys and the snow as the background is so harmonic. It feels so relaxing, looking at the monkeys enjoying the hot spring. That’s why many tourists come just to see the view of monkeys in hot spring every winter.

I wish I could see it someday!

Character Bento

   Have you ever heard of bento? Bento means lunch box in Japanese. I’d like to explain more about lunch box called character bento or people called it Chara-ben.

  People make cute characters like animal, famous people or sometimes cartoon character for lunch box. The ingredients are just ordinary foods like we normally eat. For example, meat, vegetables and fruits or more less whatever they need in order to create the characters. You will notice that Japanese people use seaweed very often in making their bento. Why would they make bento as attractive as possible? Who normally eats it? Here is one answer I know. In Japan, most of children in kindergartens and many students in primary schools bring bento for their lunch to schools. As you know, it is hard to feed children; even if they have never ate it before. What mother wants is to have their children eat healthy foods. So they try to make bento more interesting. It is not easy for mothers to make chara-ben interesting. After many trials and errors, some mothers created blogs in how to make chara-ben to help others in making a good chara-ben.Nowadays, chara-ben doesn’t just make children fun, also it made mothers go crazy. Because mothers have made chara-ben as their hobbies and they enjoy in sharing their knowledge about bento with others. 

   Chara-ben is such a wonderful lunch box. Because when children open the bento, many colorful foods attract them and it makes them eat more. Sometimes children do not know what are the ingredients . Because they just love the funny decoration that is on bento. By the way, not all mothers in Japan make chara-ben. But many mothers do. 
    
Chara-ben is not just a lunch box. It makes people enjoy eating and feel happy when they see it. It would make people eat more and more. So, if you have the opportunity to try, I really recommend you to eat it and I am pretty sure you will love it!!

 

UNIQLO

            UNIQLO is a clothing company from Japan. The company runs about 944 stores all over the world and sells high quality Japanese clothes. I would like to use the UNIQLO store in NY as an example. Because it just opened on 5th avenue this year and I visited there this past October. So you will see how nice of store it is and you will know what kind of company UNIQLO is.

           First, I had a first good impression when I visited UNIQLO in NY. When you see the store from outside, you will be surprised by the big show windows it has. Also, there are some mannequins wearing chic clothes, which make us fascinated. As soon as you step through the door, there are two long escalators to the second floors in front of you. Also, you will see the high ceiling, bright lights and hear nice music. Then you can feel the modern atmosphere with white color as a main theme, too. While you are shopping, you will see some wide monitors that keep showing us many models wearing UNIQLO clothes. And many fashionable staff wearing UNIQLO clothes are everywhere in the store. So if you see the monitors and the staff, they will help you to imagine yourself wearing the clothes you want. Also if you have any questions about clothes, you will be able to ask the staff without constraint. I asked them about clothes when I was there, and they were very friendly.

           Second, why do I choose UNIQLO to buy clothes? Because I like casual fashion, and the clothes are high quality, and the prices are reasonable. So I don't hesitate so much when I choose to buy them.  In addition, they have good variety of clothes. For example, they make their original designed clothes with animations, famous designers and singers. Then the company sells them for the limited time. Also, it uses famous people as models for its advertisement. They really attract people to buy clothes. If you go to subway in NY, you will see many advertisements of UNIQLO with many models. Also they have the most famous product named HEATTECH. Its lightweight high-tech fabric which creates heat to warm you up and keep you warm. A lot of people in Japan buy it to spend the winter season.

            UNIQLO isn't a company that just sells clothes. The company has great ideas to make the world better, and believes in the power of clothing. I have seen a documentary of UNIQLO before. One example of this is that the company collects clothes that their customers don't wear any more, and distributes them to people who need the clothes in developing countries. I have never seen a company do charity work with clothes. I think it's a new activity made by UNIQLO.  Also, I think the company has a great responsibility as a clothing company. I was really impressed to see it. And I thought I am proud of UNIQLO as a Japanese company in the world.

              Finally, why do I buy clothes from UNIQLO? That's because I like their clothes very much and I respect the company. Also, I feel I can change the world with UNIQLO, if I give it back my used clothes. This is so great, because if many people do it all over the world, the dream of improving the world can come true. UNIQLO is such a great company which provides nice clothes and has a responsibility for the society. So I really recommend you go to stores if you have a chance. 

Here is UNIQLO website:http://www.uniqlo.com/us/ 

Please check it out!

English and My First Language

       Listen carefully when you talk to people who speak English and Japanese. These languages have differences and similarities.  One example of differences is about describing themselves. When people speak English and say “ I ”, there is only way to indicate self. But Japanese language has many ways to say “ I ” such as Watashi, Watakushi, Atashi, Boku, Ore.  People change how they indicate self depending  on they are a male or female, situations and people who they talk with. The other example of differences is when we listen to English; we will know the result beginning of sentences. For example “I don’t eat fish”. People say “don’t” after “I”.  So people can understand “you don’t eat fish” at the beginning of the conversation. But when people speak Japanese, you should listen carefully. That’s because people tell you the result at the end of sentences. For example “Watashi wa sakana wo tabemasen” . In this case, tabemasen is “ don’t eat”, so if you don’t listen to what people say until they finish speaking, you won’t be able to understand them.  However, these languages have similarities. For example Japanese use English words such as “table”, “glass”, “fork”, “knife”, and “kiss” in their daily lives. So if English speakers listen to these words in Japanese, they will understand what people say. Even though these languages are spoken in different countries, some words are similar, but please don’t forget to listen to Japanese carefully until they finish speaking. Also if you pay attention to the differences and similarities, you may think it's interesting and you will enjoy learning these languages.

What My Bedroom Looks Like

Do you think Japanese people sleep on futons in tatami rooms? I want to demonstrate my bedroom as an example and you’ll know how Japanese houses have been changing in recent years. My square bedroom is not a traditional Japanese style, even though I have a tatami room in my house. My house is a Canadian style house. Please imagine a square room with cream colored walls and you are at the back right corner. There is a nice white door with a gold knob imported from Canada to go into my bedroom. And you see a brown desk on left side in the corner. Beside the desk, there is a bed with a yellow bed seat. Also, I have pretty white windows from Canada between the desk and the bed, and on the far wall next to the bed. On the far right, there is a small white door that is also from Canada. That's one of the entrances to go to the storage room. The wall on the right side is decorated with postcards, CD's and stickers. So, nowadays people prefer to live in western style houses. Also we'd like to keep storage rooms in our houses even though a lot of people are used to having small sheds in their yards before. Our house styles are getting universal.

※storage room    It's a place people keep things which they don't use for a while such as heaters,fans,futons etc.

Fukuoka part 2 !!

I'd like to continue talking about Fukuoka, this time about tourist attractions.
There are many interesting places in Fukuoka , but I'll introduce most famous places .

First we have a beautiful tower in the city also near by the sea.

It's " Fukuoka Tower" !!  The height is 234 m ,  it's the highest seashore tower in Japan and it's just less than half the height of the CN Tower.

The Fukuoka Tower is decorated by seasons such as Christmas illumination.

Here are two pictures of it.

And we have a dome just near by the tower.

The name is " Fukuoka Yahoo! JAPAN  Dome ".

We have baseball match there and we go there to support our home team, Soft Bank Hawks!!

They are a strong team and they won the league this season, so I'm very happy !!

The dome can hold  about 37,025 people for watching baseball.

Right next to the dome, there is Momochihama beach.

People like going there to have wedding parties, nice meals, playing beach sports, walking their dogs and getting on the ferry to other places.


We can go to the aquarium " MARINE WORLD umino-nakamichi" by boats from there.

We enjoy the dolphins and sea lions shows with the ocean in the back !

And there is a park just across the street from the aquarium ; the name is " Uminonakamichi Seaside Park".  It's a national park ; there are gardens, a small zoo, some attractions, outside pools (only summer) in the park.  Sometime we have outdoor concerts there.

Then go back to the town, I'd like to introduce a popular park in Fukuoka.

It's " Ohori park".   The most famous thing in the park is a fireworks festival on 1st of August.

About 400,000 people come to the park to see the fireworks every year.

Also we enjoy Sakura (Cherry blossoms) in Spring there .

Finally I tell you the most famous thing in Fukuoka, it's " Yatai"  which is food stalls.

You can see them in Tenjin area.

At night people push carts into the street and sell food like noodles, Japanese BBQ , alcohol drinks etc.

But people usually eat the most famous food in Fukuoka that is " Tonkotsu  Ramen" .

It"s nodole with pork soup.

I show you the picture of Tonkotsu Ramen.

Fukuoka is famous for it , and it's very popular.

So nowadays a lot of Tonkotsu Ramen restaurants run in many places which is including other country .

For example,  there is a Tonkotsu Ramen restaurant named "Ippudo" in New York.
It's also from Fukuoka.


Thank you for reading!!

Fukuoka part1 !!

Today I'd like to introduce my hometown "Fukuoka "
Especially most famous places in Fukuoka city.

First you might think "Where is Fukuoka?"
You can find it on the bottom left on this map.

Fukuoka is on Kyushu island.
And there is Fukuoka city and Fukuoka prefecture. Fukuoka city is a capital of Fukuoka prefecture.
I'm from Fukuoka city so that I'm going to focus on my city this time.
The population of this city is about 1,480,000.
It's the biggest city on Kyushu island.
The average temperature for the year is about 17℃.


Now I show you the downtown of Fukuoka city ,named "Tenjin."

There are many department stores.People enjoy shopping!

 At  night, lights come on and it's really pretty!

                                              
Please guess where here is...      

                                      
 Here is underground of Tenjin!!
 It's "Tenjin underground mall"
People call here "Tenchika"
 There are about 153 shops . People have lots of fun in this mall.
 About 400,000 pedestrians walk here in a day!

This is one of the famous shopping mall , "Canal City Hakata"

                        
It's about 15 mins from Tenjin by bus.
We can enjoy shopping,movies,musical,having meals..everything!!
We see many decorations for every holiday.

There is beautiful illumination at night.
                                                 
☆http://www.canalcity.co.jp/eg/☆

                                          
This is "Hakata station." You can take Shinkansen to go everywhere in Japan from here.
It was renewed  this March. Nowadays people can go around Kyushu island by Shinkansen!
In the building,there are many shops,restaurants,movie theatre ...We can have fun before our trips from here also we can come here just for shopping!!
Here is close to Tenjin. It takes about 20 mins by bus and only few mins by subway.

☆http://www.jrhakatacity.com/english/☆

This is "Fukuoka airport."
It connects with many places inculding international like China,Korea,Singapore,Vietnam,Thailand...
It takes for one hour and half toTokyo/ Shanghai,China and about one hour to Busan,Korea.
We can go to the Hakata station  for 5 mins  and to Tenjin for 11 mins from here by subway.
It's really convenient!!

☆http://www.fuk-ab.co.jp/english/frame_index.html☆

  This is "Hakata Port International Terminal"
  Trading with asian countries prospers here.
  Also a lot of Japanese go to Busan,Korea by ship from here!
  It's about 4 hours.
  A lot of Koreans  arrive here to visit Fukuoka,too!!

                    Before you board a ship,you need to check-in!

      Here is one of the check-in counters.

There are some ship companies.

                      

                     

OMG!!  I have many things to write!!  I'm gonna introduce about sightseeing places next time!!
To be continued....

Thank you for reading☆

About My Blog

Hi I'm Aya. I'd like to introduce things about Japan in my blog.
The things in my country are different from Canada.
I want to share them with you!
If you are interested in my blog or Japan, please feel free to send a comment to me.

By the way, I want to tell you about my blog's name.
Marimo is algae living in lakes. We only have Marimo in a lake named Akan lake in  Hokkaido,Japan.
They are natural monument of Japan.
I share Marimo's picture with you.
Nowadays we keep them in home or desks in offices wherenever we like .
They make us relaxed. They grow slowly and slowly....


There are Marimo and  shrimps in a small bottle.