Adventures of Anette

Saturday, January 14, 2012

My Youtube-Videos: The Tōka-Ebisu Festival 2012

Anette 2:32:00 PM

Description: I participated in the Toka-Ebisu Festival in Osaka 2012 as a Fukumusume (Shrine maiden). This video is showing a bit of the festival, and it was taken by my boyfriend's father^^.

大阪の十日戎祭りに福娘としてお世話になりました。このビデオは彼氏のお父さんが撮ってくれた十日戎を紹介する映像です。

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Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel

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Monday, January 9, 2012

TV interview

Day 1 of the Tōka-Ebisu Festival!

Anette 11:18:00 PM

Today was the first day of the Tōka Ebisu (十日戎) festival in the Imamiya-Ebisu jinja shrine in Osaka. I'm participating as one of the Fuku Musume, which are selected shrine maidens who has the task of selling lucky charms in the temple.
I am staying at a hostel close to the shrine, so at least I don't have to go back and forth to Kyoto every day. But with the work starting at 8:30 and ending somewhere around 21:30 it is still quite a long day! With that said, I have had a lot of fun. Even with the long hours it feels like the time is flying. Probably because we are more or less constantly busy.. :p
I have to admit that it is probably easier for me since I got elected as one of four Daihyou Fuku Musume (representative Fuku Musume), because I got a couple of breaks for the TV interviews. Lucky! :)
Still, the experience working at the shrine is a totally unique experience, which I feel really thankful to be a part of.

Me being interviewed on TV

TV interview on the first day of the Tōka-Ebisu Festival

Recommended Hotels in Osaka

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Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel

Superhotel Lohas Honmachi

Khaosan World Namba

The St. Regis Osaka Hotel

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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Fuku Musume

Hair Ornaments for Fuku Musume

Anette 11:25:00 PM

Though most of the things we need as Fuku Musume (such as the kimono, the socks and the shoes) are being provided or rented to us by the shrine, there still are some things we have to get ourselves though this mostly are trivial things, such as safety pins.. However, for those who want to to something more out of their hairdos (and believe me; the Japanese girls certainly do a lot out of it!) has to get their own hair ornaments. I did not have any hair ornaments in particular for being used with my kimono (the flowers and stuff are usually quite big, and the hair ornament I've got already are quite small in size), but luckily my boyfriend Yuma's mother surprised me by lending me some of hers. Actually, it turned out that Yuma's mother also was elected to be a Fuku Musume when she was younger! She showed us some pictures from back then, wearing kimono and working in the shrine.

The Toka Ebisu festival is in the Imamiya Ebisu shrine in Osaka from the 9th till the 11th, which means that there is little more than one week left now! I'm sure it is going to be an experience for lifetime.

Hair ornaments I am going to use with my kimono on the Toka Ebisu festival

Close-up of the hair ornaments

Butterfly hair ornament

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Party

Another Year Over, and a New One just begun

Anette 11:02:00 PM

The holiday so far has been really nice; on Christmas Eve our friend and buddy Shimpei had arranged a Christmas party at his place, so in the end we had Japanese hot-pot (nabe) for our Christmas dinner of 2011. Besides Christmas and a couple of days at the school library I spent most of the last week of 2011 in Kobe with Yuma and his family.

Christmas party @ Shimpei's place

On the 29th it was time for my 23rd birthday. It was quite a birthday out of the ordinary, because I spent the morning hours watching a show featuring myself on TV Osaka..! For those of you who have read my blog you might also have seen that I was one of the lucky girls elected to work as a shrine maiden in the Toka Ebisu-festival i Osaka 9-11th of January, and so the 29th was the day they had decided to air the TV-part of the election process. Hahaha, it was kind of embarrassing to watch it. I was so nervous I messed up parts of my self-appeal, and one could almost see me shaking. Anyway, I might post the video here on my blog if it ends up on youtube in the future.
Besides the whole TV-thing I had a pretty relaxed birthday, all in good company!

Birthday present and cake!

Pinkish chocolate cake

On the 31st of December Yuma and me went back to Kyoto to celebrate the New Years Eve with some of our friends there. We met up at Kamogawa, and went to one of our favorite bars in town: the British Pub called the Hub. What can I say.. it was pretty crowded, especially when the countdown started!

The Hub - Kyoto's British pub

A lot of people spent their last hours of 2011 in this pub..

Kampai!

A rather blurry picture showing all the people joining in the New Year countdown..

After having spent some hours here we decided it was time to move on to a new location. The only problem was that recently a lot of the clubs in town has been shut down, so there is not really a lot of places to go. Therefore we were quite happy when we discovered that the Zaza Pub actually has quite a big dance floor on the second floor! And it does not even cost anything to enter, as it would had at the clubs. Party, party all night:).

And so another year has gone by... Let's hope that the new year will be even better than the last one! So far I have to say that the new year has been pretty good, I better keep it up! From tomorrow I will however be spending most of my days in the library again, I've got a lot of assignments that needs to be done before I can have my spring holiday in February.

Happy New Year to all of you!

今年も宜しくね☆！

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Food

A Japanese Christmas

Anette 9:57:00 AM

Christmas is not really celebrated in the same way as we do in Western countries, which actually isn't that strange considering most Japanese either consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoists or both. However, a lot of Japanese people has adopted Christmas as a non-religious event, and made it into their own. For instance, a lot of Japanese think that Kentucky Fried Chicken is a typical Christmas dinner, and recent years it has become so popular that you might have to reserve in advance if you want to secure some KFC for Christmas.. Further, a lot of families also celebrate with a spongecake with whipped cream and decorated with strawberries. I really had a hard time understanding how a cake could be the main dish on a Japanese Christmas menu, but apparently the white cream and the red strawberries make the cake look christmassy to Japanese people..(?)

Another thing that is totally different, is that Christmas is regarded as a day to be spent with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Actually, I find the Japanese New Year to be a lot more similar to Western Christmas, since this day is more of a family day.
For instance, for Christmas last year me and my boyfriend went to a restaurant and had omurice (in simple terms an omelette with rice in it) before we went to see the film Norwegian Wood based on the book with the same name by Haruki Murakami. In other words, totally different from any of my previous Christmases I've ever had!

Purikura from my Christmas celebration 2010.

After the movie we also took purikura, which is Japanese photo stickers you can decorate after the pictures have been shot. The funny thing is that the photo booths also gives the pictures some extra effects, such as making your hair look lighter and your eyes look bigger. Even though it makes us look a bit strange I have to say that I really love this picture, it is just so funny..

And now it is time for my second Christmas in Japan. This time Christmas is on a Saturday, which means that unlike last year I don't have to go to school!! Lucky.. Normally you can't expect to get the day off when it's Christmas if you are a student (and especially not at Ritsumeikan!)

Also, it seems that I'll be having a Christmas date this year too:). And the best way to spend Christmas, is to spend it with somebody you care about. I'm sure this Christmas will be great too!
Of course I miss my family though. I hope all of you are having a delightful holiday!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

spa

Trip to Osaka: The German Christmas market

Anette 7:32:00 PM

We are getting close to Christmas, and at the same time it is also getting colder and colder these days.

Since I'm from Norway I guess I am supposed to be used to cold weather, but to be honest I have never really been a fan of low temperatures.

The truth is that even though it is not really not that cold when you are outside in Japan, the Japanese houses are a different case. My apartment, for instance, gets so cold I sometimes wear a jacket when I'm inside. But than again, I found the low temperatures being a good reason to invite some friends on a trip to Spa World, which is a huge sentou and pool-complex in Osaka I have written about it before on this page. I really do love Spa World, and spending the day here again was just as fun as ever. 100% relaxation! Probably my forth or fifth time visiting, and if they continue their 1000-yen campaign in January I will come back then.

For this time, however, I have decided to concentrate upon our activities in the evening; on our way home from Spa World we also did a detour visiting the German Christmas market. This market is held annually in Umeda at the Shin Umeda City Wonder square, which is partly situated underneath the Umeda Sky Building.

"Welcome to the Christmas market"!

The market is held every year in Osaka, and even though Japan is not a Christian country is certainly is popular not only among the tourists, but also among the Japanese people. The Japanese likes festivals and fun, and in addition to Christmas they also has adopted American traditions such as Valentines day and Halloween, at least to a certain extent. Parts of the Western Christmas tradition really seems appealing to the Japanese, and it came as no surprise to me that the place was totally crammed with people wanting to get a taste of a close-to-European Christmas.

The German Christmas market has among other attractions a big merry-go-round.

Kids riding the merry-go-round

A huge Christmas tree underneath the Umeda Sky Building

They do have a lot of Christmassy attractions: A big merry-go-round, a small train for the kids to ride, artists singing Christmas songs and a stable where you can see baby Jesus in his crib surrounded by the Wise Men. And not to mention all the stuff you can buy, most of it being terribly overpriced. A piece of gingerbread cookie costs for instance 600 yen, and if you want a small cup of the German glühwein (a type of mulled wine) it would cost you 900 yen.

You can get your hands on German Glühwein at the Christmas market. It is however not particularly cheap..

In one of the small houses you can see the staff making gingerbread cookies!

A cute Christmas house

The cookies are adorable, but their prices are not.. One cookie costs 600 yen..

One of the Christmas cookie shops

Many of the people selling candies and other Christmas items are Westerners. However, even though it is supposed to be a German Christmas market that does not mean that the vendors are German. My friends Stephan, who is German, said to one of the staff selling German food that they had a really nice shop in German, but he was totally ignored my the vendor. Oh well, I guess it might be hard to come by enough authentic Germans who wants to work at the Christmas market in Japan..?

A guy selling German beer

Kids ready for a trip with the Spanish train "El paso" in the German Christmas market..

The Christmas tree is situated directly under the Umeda Sky Building

Baby Jesus in his crib

In Japan it is usual to leave money at the shrines; it is supposed to bring luck. I suppose that is why they have thrown money at baby Jesus?! Haha..

Neon-light Christmas

Small houses being sold at the Christmas market

Some more Christmas souvenirs that probably will make great gifts

Group picture time!

This is probably more or less the closest thing you can come to a European Christmas setting while in Japan, and personally I do think the market was very pretty. However, beware that it is somehow over commercialized, and that you might prefer actually making your own gingerbread cookie rather than buying it here. Anyway, the Christmas market is open every day until the 25^th of December, so you still do have the chance to go there and hopefully feel a little bit of the Christmas spirit.!

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Osaka

The Norwegian Embassy writing about Fuku Musume

Anette 3:06:00 PM

5 of the girls chosen as Fuku Musume 2011

I just got a message from the Norwegian Embassy informing me that they have written an article about the Fuku Musume-election on their web-page. Unfortunately it is only available in Japanese, but for those who still are interested you can find the article here.

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Monday, December 12, 2011

Temple

SKP Day Trip to Hieizan

Anette 12:31:00 AM

Though I'm not in Ritsumeikan's Study in Kyoto Program any longer I still am lucky enough to get invitations to some of the events they are holding for the exchange students! This weekend it was time for a trip to the top of one of the mountains surrounding Kyoto; Mt. Hiei (比叡山). My home town in Norway, Bergen, is well-known for being surrounded by its seven mountains, and it is quite normal that people from time to time climbs them too. But since I came to Kyoto, however, I never had climbed to the top of a single mountain (though I did some trekking in Bolivia).. In other words, it was about time for some mountain-climbing!..

Chris points the route of the day

Saturday morning I met up with the other participating SKP-studients and -buddies, and we went together to the east side of Kyoto by bus. After a short pause by the Philosopher's Road where Chris explained to us the route of the day we left the paved roads and started climbing up the mountain. We were really lucky with the weather; it had been raining for a couple of days but fortunately the Saturday morning sky was clear and blue.

On the way up to Hieizan you pass a couple of smaller shrines

Genki!

A sign that has almost been consumed by a tree

A torii in the middle of the forest

A Japanese guy enjoying the view of Kyoto

There were also quite a lot of Japanese people walking in the mountains, and it seems like a popular route also for joggers..!
It did not take us more than two-three hours or so to reach the top of Hieizan. And it was not really that hard a climb either, but that might be because my last mountain trip was a 3-day long trekking trip through the mountains in Bolivia.. Anyway, only a few parts of the path are steep; most of it is relatively flat.

Group picture more or less at the top of the mountain.

Some previous Japanese visitors had left wooden plates with messages in one of the trees.

At the top of Hieizan there used to be a ski resort. Now the once so nice resort is quite dilapidated, since no one has used the buildings for years.

Snowy trees at the top of Hieizan

Nice view!

Japanese stone sculptures

Hieizan also has a temple area called Enryaku-ji (延暦寺), which dates back to the earlier years of the Heian period. There are a lot of temples in this area, but we only stopped by a couple of them on the way to the funicular going down from on the other side of the mountain. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I snapped on the way:

The ordination hall, called Kaidan-in (戒壇院)

Close-up of the entrance to the ordination hall.

The Amida Hall (阿弥陀堂)

A small dragon fountain in the temple area

A map of the Enryaku-ji temple area. As you can see there are quite a lot of interesting buildings here.

We walked through the temple area to the other side of Hieizan, where Japans longest funicular line takes you down from Enryaku-ji to the base of the Shiga side of the mountain. This funicular is known as the Sakamoto (坂本) Cable, or as the Hieizan Railway Line (比叡山鉄道線). The ride down costs 840 yen, and once you are down you can either walk for about 20 minutes or take a bus to get to the nearest JR station (Hiei Sakamoto Station). From there it is both quite fast and easy to get to Kyoto Station; it costs 320 yen and takes about 15 minutes.

In other words; wether you want to climb up the mountain or not, you still have the chance to take the trip up to take a look at the temple area of Enryaku-ji without getting sweaty, and either way I'm sure it will make a nice day trip.