Tuesday 22 July 2014

The Grand Opening, Tananbata and animals galore!

Hello all!

So sorry - it's been an absolute age since I last posted and I imagine you are all just DYING to know what I've been up to.

Well I suppose the biggest news, is that I finally took the Pottermore quiz online and have been sorted into one of the four houses at Hogwarts. However, I was not placed into Slytherin as I so eagerly wished, but Ravenclaw. To be honest though, given that the Sorting Hat takes your thoughts into consideration...I doubt the test is 100% definitive and I remain green in my heart.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, (hereafter referred to as WWHP) is now officially open and I thoroughly recommend you all take a trip to Japan to see it! The "big day" began with a 4am start for myself and also marked my debut on Japanese television. Oh yeah, I've made it.
Here I am - just behind a Beauxbaton!

It's been absolutely boiling here the last couple of days and the local cicadas have woken up all round Tempozan, serenading my ride to work everyday. I also had the pleasure of having one of the for mentioned beauties fly into my face, mid performance last week. Hilarious for all involved but me.

I've been trying to get out and see some more of Osaka and the surrounding areas in my days off. I really had no idea just how vast Osaka actually is! We took a trip up Monkey Mountain in Kyoto and saw some very friendly (and greedy) macaques. We also checked our a bamboo forest which was very serene and incredibly beautiful, but yeah - only so much bamboo a person can see in a day. There's so much to see and do in Kyoto, I'll need at least another couple of trips there again!

On July 7th we took a trip to a local temple to celebrate the Tanabata Festival. From what I could gather, this is a Chinese festival that crossed over some centuries ago. The story goes; that in a town there was a very efficient seamstress who never had any fun and was very lonely. Her father, seeing this arranged for her to be married to a local shepherd. Once the seamstress and the shepherd met, they fell immediately in love and their work suffered for it. In punishment for her shoddy work, the father decreed that the seamstress should never see her husband except for the 7th day of the 7th month once a year. It is said that if it rains on that particular day, they must wait another year to see each other. Yep, not quite sure how I'd feel about that with my lovely boyfriend...
Tanabata Festival at Shitenoji Temple

The festival is traditionally celebrated by the writing of wishes onto slips of paper and tying them to bamboo trees. At midnight, these wishes are then burnt and sent up to the heavens. The temple looked gorgeous and there were lots of families and children out to celebrate. I'd definitely check this out if you're around Osaka in July of 2015!

Yesterday, I took a trip to a local petting zoo inside the Tempozan Mall. Yes, you read that correctly. A petting zoo. In a mall. Best 300 yen I ever spent. There were giant rabbits, cats, puppies, kangaroos, lizards, owls and even an alpaca for you to stroke and feed. Morally I don't feel great about this as I'm sure that no animal wants to be in captivity and they all seemed very sleepy. Despite this, they all look extremely well fed and were handled with care by all the staff. Also, I was getting really tired of having to chase after the local cats by the pier when I needed some animal time. So all in all, it's worth a look!
Selfie with a dog. Standard.

So again, apologies it's been such a long time since my last post! I'm really going to try and keep on top of it for the next one and get some exciting adventures to write about. In the meantime, here are three things I've discovered about Japan since my last post:

  • The Japanese are SO FRIENDLY

Ok, so I kind of already knew this...but it's the scenario that makes it blog-worthy. I attended a couple of dance classes last night at a local studio. Just a ballet and jazz lesson but I've never felt so welcomed into a space. There was no; "oh, you're new...so stand at the back" atmosphere and the language barrier was almost no existent. Dance really is a universal language and it felt great to be back in a class again, surrounded by such supportive people.



  • The Japanese are the masters of suspense
We have started a Horror Movie Night and want to get through all the original classics. We kicked off  the first evening with the Grudge, or Ju-on (The Curse). Barely any special affects, no cheap scares. Just a scary, scary idea and a freaky looking boy who I seem to be seeing everywhere??

  • Cucumber and sesame sauce
Just try it. Mind. Blown.

Mata aimasyou! (See you later).



















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