Here I am. Alone in my room. My mind is flying away through the time to
the days when I was in Japan. It’s been more than two weeks but I’m still missing the city and my friends
there. I want to repeat all of the memories , but I realize that those memories
are worthy to keep because it can’t be repeated.
Now, my mind is in the
first day I arrived in Kyoto. Ryo, Tanabe, Nozomi, and Charlotte were at bus station to welcome
me. We introduced ourselves each other so I knew that Tanabe was my host family
and Nozomi was Charlotte’s host family. Charlotte, the participant from
Australia arrived in Kyoto about an hour before me. That day, after we kept our
baggages in
the apartment, Nozomi and Tanabe brought us to do sightseeing in Kinkaku-ji .
It was amazing! The temple had a golden wall as its name, Kinkaku-ji, that means Golden
Temple. Then in the evening, we had a dinner in sushi shop near Tanabe’s
apartment. Eating sushi
in the country where it’s originally from was a great experience. I didn’t know
before, that sushi is usually accompanied by macha (green tea). We ended the day by visiting sento (public bath house). I hesitated when I knew that everyone
should be naked. Even in front of the same sex, it’s unusual for me. Because of
my curiousity, I finally decided to try it. It was really relaxing. That night,
Nozomi and Charlotte slept in Tanabe’s apartment with me.
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| Ticket of Kinkaku-Ji |
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| The Golden Pavillion |
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| Nozomi, Charlotte, Tanabe, and Me |
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| Beautiful Pavillion |
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| We were waiting |
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| My first sushi dinner |
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| Accompanied by macha |
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| We were full |
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| A lot of delicious sushi |
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| Symbol of sento |
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| The red one for women and the blue for men |
My mind moves to
the first day of Kyoto Study Tour, the day when I met many nice Japanese
friends. There were so many Japanese participants joining this event. They came
from many cities around Kyoto and they were really welcome. The event was
opened by a short speech from the chief, Yuki, then we played ice breaking game
that made us closer each other. We enjoyed Japanese culture together. In my
first turn, I made mangekyou
(caleidoscope), Japanese traditional toy. It was beautiful. After that, I made
a calligraphy on the Japanese traditional fan. Miho helped me to write kanji for my name. She taught me three
kanji: (i) that means shooting
archer, (ryu) that means flow, and (man) that means boy. I was really glad
for the kanji. I really love it. Then, we took a picture together before we had
free time. Kodai and Wagahai accompanied me to find some souvenir at Teramachi
Street and we ate kakigoori (Japanese
shaved ice dessert) at Shinkyougoku Street. Everyone came to Ninja Kyoto
restaurant at 6 p.m. to have dinner together. We also entered the ninja
labyrinth and enjoyed the game. Actually, the dinner closed the study tour that
day. However, we decided to go to Kamogawa river and play hanabi (firework) there. The weather was warm that night and we
played until late.
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| Rakku bus. Official Kyoto Public Transportation |
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| We were making mangekyou |
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Mizuki and Miho with their mangekyou
|
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| Kanji for i-ryu-man |
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| Everyone has their own words on the fan |
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| Kyoto ST first day's participants |
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| Kodai and I with our kakigoori |
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| Wagahai a.k.a Crazy Hiro |
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| Teramachi Street! good place for shopping |
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| Ninja Style - in front of Kyoto Ninja Restaurant |
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| Wagahai and Asai were playing hanabi |
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| I enjoyed playing hanabi |
My mind has
arrived at Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was the first destination in the second day
of Kyoto ST. The committee gave us mission game to be done. There were so many Tori (Japanese gate) and long stairs in
the shrine. It was like we climbed a hill using stairs. After walking for about
an half hour, I reached the place that was high enough to see Kyoto City. It
was a beautiful spot to see Kyoto from the distance. In that trip, I met Yuka,
Japanese student who had lived in Indonesia. She spent six months in Salatiga
for a student exchange program. We then went back to Kyoto City to have a
lunch. The next destination was yatsuhashi
factory. Yatsuhashi is Japanese
traditional sweet that is as popular as souvenir from Kyoto. In the factory, we
made our own yatsuhashi. We could choose
the filling of the yatsuhashi. The
people of the factory were very generous. Everyone got a postcard with our
picture and box to keep our handmade yatsuhashi.
The last destination was Kyoto Station. It was a big and busy station. We had a
free time to do sightseeing there or just visiting cafe. My favorite spot in
Kyoto Station is the long stair that can change into big screen. It’s amazing
and really entertaining. We ended the day in the evening after taking pictures
on the stair.
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| Took a picture with foreigner to complete the mission game |
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| My group's member |
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| Place to pray |
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| Long stair with tori |
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| Me and Yuka |
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| The Shrine's Guard |
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| Tanabe lead the participants |
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| There were so many participants in the second day |
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| Itadakimasu! Had a lunch with Misaki |
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| Me and Asai |
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| Ready to make yatsuhashi |
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| Took a photo after we finished with yatsuhashi |
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| Kenta told me how to make a good macha |
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| Kyoto ST second day's participants |
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| This is Kyoto station stair from the distance |
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| Sugooooi~ |
A photo of
giraffe brings my mind back to Kyoto Zoo. I was there in the third day of Kyoto
ST. Actually, zoo was the second destination. The first was Heian Jingu,
another beatiful and old shrine in Kyoto. We did mission game in the zoo. There
were so many missions and questions to be done. It was exhausting yet fun.
Sometime we had to imitate the pose of the animal or take a picture with the
animal. After that, we had a lunch and took a rest for a while. Then, we
continued our trip to Kyoto Cultural Museum. The museum gave us so much
informations about the city and its history. I met a volunteer that knew
Soekarno at the museum. She explained me a collection in the museum and asked
several questions about Indonesia. The committee announced the winner of the
mission game and my group was the runner up. Each member got a pack of candy as
a gift. Tour was ended after that. Knowing that I love manga, Asami asked me to go to manga
shop. I went there with Tanabe, Mocha, Oji-san, and Tomoyuki. I bought the
latest episode of Naruto comic there. After that, Asami brought me to karaoke
cafe and we sang many anime theme songs. I was sad when Asami said good bye
because she couldn’t join the last day of Kyoto ST. In our way home, Tanabe
asked me if I wanted something for dinner. I chose ramen and then we went to
the nearest ramen shop to have a dinner. That night, Mocha, Tomoyuki, and
Oji-san slept at Tanabe’s apartment and we played Nintendo Wii together. Mocha
dominated both racing and fighting game. He was a good player.
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| At Heian Jingu Shrine |
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| Me with transparent umbrella |
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| Kawaii~ |
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| I did the wrong pose. We should imitated flamingo |
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| In the snake aquarium |
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| We were the runner up group! |
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| Me with Kyoto Museum's Mascot |
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| Third day's participants |
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| Asami, Tanabe, and Oji-san |
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| "We all live in a yellow submariiiine~" |
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| Tanabe were singing |
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| Asami said good bye to me. So sad. |
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| Ramen! Totemo Oishii |
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| Tomoyuki, Me, Oji-san, Mocha, and Tanabe had a dinner at ramen shop |
My mind meets
the ‘farewell’ now. Reminding me to the forth day, the last day of Kyoto ST. We
gathered that morning in cloudy day. That day we cooked another Japanese
popular food, takoyaki. In this day, we also had mission game. It was an
interesting game. Each group got 400 Yen to buy some snacks and the one which had
the expenditure closest to that number would win the game. The losers had to
play russian roulette game. Every member of the group ought to take takoyaki
that maybe contained mustard sauce. The group who lost the game was my group
and when we played the russian roulette, I was the one who got the ‘bomb’.
However, I didn’t think it was spicy. I think it was because I usually eat
spicy food, so the mustard sauce was not that spicy. They were shocked because
I didn’t even need water after eating the takoyaki that contained mustard
sauce. Temakizushi was our lunch that
day. It is hand rolled sushi. We used nori to wrap the rice and the filling of
sushi. The filling were ham, salmon egg, tuna, salmon, scrambled egg, and many
more. Its taste was really good. My favorite filling are salmon egg, salmon,
and tuna. Beside temakizushi, there
were also hot takoyaki to eat. We made it in different room. Everyone could try
to make their own takoyaki. I also made onigiri
from nori and rice. My stomach
was really full that time. We left the place in the evening to the bar. I was
chatting with many Japanese participants on my way to the bar. I talked about
Japanese marriage with Marisa. In the bar, everyone could order any drink they
want. Some of us ordered beer and the others just some juices. We shared a lot
of laugh each other. No more language or culture boundaries. Laugh is an
universal language. In the end of the day, we hugged each other and promised
that we would meet again. It was farewell, but I remember that not so many of
us was crying. We were happy and enjoyed the stoudy tour a lot.
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| Toji Temple |
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| The mission game was started |
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| Took a rest after shopping for mission game |
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| Made our own temakizushi |
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| It was delicious |
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| Wagahai taught me to eat the temakizushi using hand |
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| I chose scramble egg, tuna, and crab as the filling |
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| Takoyaki Russian Roulette |
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| The boys were making the takoyaki |
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| Mizuki as a chef |
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| Taking care the takoyaki |
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| This was how we served our takoyaki |
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| Hayato, me, and Marisa with her onigiri |
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| Last day's participants |
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| Kyoto Tower in the night |
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| Acted as if I was a samurai |
It was Kyoto
Station again. Charlotte, Mab, Mary Ann, and I brought our baggages to leave.
Our host family were with us to accompany us until ISC 59 committee picked us
up. Misaki gave me a fan, photo, and a pack of KitKat Greentea. Yuki, the chief
of Kyoto ST, also gave me an album consisting of photos and messages from Kyoto
ST participants. Even before I left the station, I have already missed everyone
from Kyoto ST. Kenta and Tomoyuki who always tried to explain many things
during the tour. Mocha who beated me in every game that we played in Tanabe’s
apartment. Oji-san who always told me jokes and smile. Asami who brought me to manga shop. Mizuki who taught me
Japanese slang word “Majika”. Shuta who told some stories during mission game
in Kyoto Zoo. Asai who always asked if I was tired. And many other participants
who were really kind and always helped me during the Kyoto ST.
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| Kyoto ST foreign participants - Tanabe, Ilman, Mary Ann, Nozomi, Mab, Charlotte, and Yuki |
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| Before we separated |
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| Oji-san with a fake samurai lol |
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| Me and Misaki |
My mind has come
back. In my room alone, I miss every moments we had in Kyoto. I remember two
person that I miss the most. Tanabe and Nozomi. They worked so hard for me and
Charlotte. Every morning Tanabe always cooked me the breakfast. (You are a good
chef, Tanabe! I love salad, curry, and miso-soup that you made.) The taste was
always delicious. Oishii. Tanabe even
lent me his sword club uniform and katana
so I could take a picture as if I was a samurai. If you read this, I hope
you keep the batik shirt I gave you in
the last night so you can always remember me and our memories. I also miss
Nozomi and her beautiful smile. It because she always smiled at me everytime we
met in the end of the tour. I regret that I didn’t take a lot of picture with
her in Kyoto.
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| Me with my host family, Masaki Tanabe |
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| Me with Nozomi, a Japanese girl who has a beautiful smile :) |
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