In Japan - Field Trip Part 4: Tsurukagaoka Hachimangu (Kamakura)

Next on the list: Tsurukagaoka Hachimangu. Still in Kamakura. There was a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony when we visited the shrine :) Lucky! It's not the type of sakura I normally see around my dorm, but it's very pink and beautiful! A lot of doves here. We saw a weird ema advertising a website. NO NAME LOL On the way to the main shrine, there were quite a number of candy stalls. One of them is ichigo-ume or...

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In Japan - Field Trip Part 3: Hokokuji (Kamakura)

Alright, back with the field trip story last weekend! On the second day, we left the ryokan and then first we visited 報國寺 (Hokokuji - a temple's name, basically).  But I guess one attraction that you cannot miss here is the bamboo forest. These bamboos are called Mousou bamboo, and they are the biggest species of bamboo. I forgot about the average heights of the bamboo; if I'm not mistaken my teacher told me it was around 40 m....

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In Japan - Ambulance Experience

It's not part of the Enoshima-Kamakura field trip, but since it just happened about 12 hours ago I can't think of anything else but this incident. Basically, Americans have a habit of doing pre-gaming (i.e., drinking alcoholic drinks bought from supermarket or stores before heading off for a drink in a bar or other places that serve alcoholic drinks). Doing so will help lower the total cost required to get you drunk. I wasn't planning on going all night for a karaoke session till morning because.. I wasn't invited in the first place. I only...

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In Japan - Field Trip Part 2: Ryokan Stay

One of the most exciting part about this field trip is a ryokan experience. I haven't been to a ryokan before, and although I have been sleeping on futon for the past few weeks in my dorm, it's not on a tatami. The ryokan that we went to was called KKR (I don't know what it stands for). It's located in Zushi. The ryokan was kind of hidden within quiet residential area, so if you haven't been there before it probably will take some...

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In Japan - Field Trip Part 1: Enoshima

School field trip! Sounds awesome, right? It was a happy trip, and I was excited about staying in a ryokan (Japanese traditional inn) for one night. Although I wished that people whom I shared the room with would be a little respectful and considerate. My blog probably isn't the best place to complain, but I tried to be patient. Yep.  So anyways, the trip starts on Saturday morning with a 3 hour lecture on the history of places we would...

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