A few weeks back, I got a flyer in my post box for a local matsuri called Bucchigiri Matsuri.

Actually, the flyer appeared on my refrigerator one day, but I assume it came through the post box :0 Either way, I decided to check it out seeing as it was only a 6 or 7 minute walk from the apartment. Hence the 'super local' title. :D





 The festival was held at Horikoshi Shrine, in the Tennoji district of Osaka. It's a really small local spot, just a block north of the Tennoji Station.

From what I read on the official website, they've got a pretty long history, dating back to the 6th century CE. I think it was established by Japan's first empress regent Empress Suiko at the same time as Shitennoji (temple) which is right across the street (but the article was a bit difficult to read, so I could have gotten some bits wrong D:).  You can read it here.

I don't think this festival is to commemorate any particular Japanese holiday. Just a nice summer gathering of people in the area, which is a nice break from all the huge summer festival going on everywhere.

There were a couple local artisans selling shirts and crafts, then this guy ←←. I don't think he's selling those blocks, just playing with them. I wanted to play too, but I felt weird asking :<



They also had some performance arts..! :) This guy did some sumi-e, while his son preformed some songs from a CD he released last year.

There was also a magic/acrobat show, but I missed most of that. D:







Previously mentioned son, singing his songs. :3












And dancing girls! A local Japanese dancing school (I guess) doing traditional Indian dances. The little girl was super cute. :D










The following day, I headed out to Takatsuki City (still in Osaka)to visit the Osaka Prefecture Short-term Animal Shelter (大阪府動物一時保護センター).

From here, you can adopt rabbits, ferrets, cats and dogs. You do have to make an appointment in order to see any of the animals though. And you have to take a bus from Takatuki Station for about 40 minutes into the mountains.
It is located next to an onsen though, so you could make a nice day trip out of it :)

We were in the market for adopting a nice cat to live with us and keep me company as I start looking for more work from home (and also because Shota really wanted a pet, but a rabbit was out of the question).

Unfortunately for Shota, he had a severe allergic reaction to the cats there. I mean super itchy, rashy, red-eyed reaction. We couldn't stay in the room for more than 30 minutes. And so I knew a cat from the shelter might be out of the question, though I don't think they were particularly dirty or anything. They weren't quite as friendly but it's very likely they've been a little traumatized. They were all kittens though, none older than 6 months I think.

So after a long and sad ride back to the station, I tried to make peace with the fact that I wouldn't have a furry little friend to take home :(

But we decided to inquire about cat allergies at one of the pet shops near the station, and what do ya know.




We walked out with this little guy. He's a type of short-haired cat (an Ocicat, a breed from America :3) so Shota has an almost minimal reaction to him.

I still wish I could've adopted one though, because usually if they don't get adopted, they get put down. But it does make me wonder what happens to the cats in pet shops since they always seem to be under 6 months old, and I can't imagine they sell that quickly. But perhaps they do.. I really hope they do. And I really hope the cats from the center don't get put down too. They were uber cute ;3; Kitteh...

So now we sit at home together, entertaining one another when we're not dying from heat, watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory or The Universe.

He so cute :DD

I actually have a few more things and photos I'd like to share, but I'll have to save that for another post. Also, we're almost upon mid-summer (or a little past it), and I still haven't seen a beach. I'm getting antsy :< *random admission*

I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!★





And I leave you with this video of Bingley jumping around to some Charlotte playing in the background~

I like to peg myself as an adventurer who enjoys a healthy leap into the unknown. And that was relatively true until I got a job and loss all sense of happy-fun-times in exchange for always sleepy-tired times. But since I've dropped that, I'm going back to being an explorer. Of sorts.

During the sleepy-times, Shota and I developed a pretty consistent schedule of visiting Namba on weekends until we knew it so well that.. well, we decided we knew it too well. We had a spot for Indian food, several karaoke sweet spots, a spot for desert buffet-ing, and ice cream spot, a spot for a little sports and rec, even a spot for ice skating (as rarely as we do that).

As a result of the monotony, we decided it was time to let go of Namba and branch out a bit. And by branching out I mean moving up 3 or 4 kilometers to Kita Osaka (Northern Osaka) or better known as Umeda. :)

It had never occurred to me that Umeda was the Osaka tourist hot spot until several visits and hearsays from friends and also the delayed realisation that all references to Osaka Station were actually references to the Umeda area (in my mind, Osaka station was Osaka-Uehonmachi station).

Oops.

Well actually no, not oops. I like my Osaka-Uehonmachi as my anchor point and until Umeda proves itself anchor point worthy in my high-and-mighty imagination, so things shall stay :P

But it's not bad either. :)

Umeda Sky Building(s)

For this visit, we started at a popular tourist spot for the Umeda area, the Umeda Sky Building. Actually, it's two buildings. Connected by those distant walkways (and another walkway closer to the ground). The buildings reach up to forty floors, and I hear they offer some of the best view in Osaka. You'll understand why I wrote "I hear" as opposed to "I think" or "I know that."

Despite what's pictured on the map on it's official website, the Umeda Sky Building is a bit of a walk from the JR, Hankyu and subway station. It took us about 15-20 minutes from the Higashi-Umeda Station, but that is probably the station farthest from the building :x
And we're sloooooow... So basically take our time with a grain of salt. ...:x

Tanabata

Located in one of  the walkways that leads you to the elevators that will take you to the observatory was a lovely display for Tanabata.

I did take photos of each one, but I won't bore you with them here. They'll all be uploaded to the We ♥ Kansai tumblr later on though..! :)

Elevator fare for the Observatory

Shota and I were fully prepared for the full-on awesome that would be the observatory until we saw this sign. →→

I really shouldn't be surprised about seeing signs like this. I mean, after all, if you want nice things (like snazzy observatories), you have to be willing to put down for it. Unfortunately (or fortunately? depending on how you see things), it wasn't in our budget for that day, so we just enjoyed our view from the third floor and headed back downstairs.

We're going to save all the gorgeousness for another empty Sunday (plenty to be had, I'm sure).

I am a little sad we didn't get to see the Tanabata decorations they had on the top floors. Ah well! :)

The smexy.

After the sky building, we decided to wander in search of a little cool-ness.

I think with a lot of Osakan people, Umeda has a very 'bouji' (click here for a definition if you're unfamiliar with the term ;) ) image so it's mostly devoid of the young and penniless (or the economically creative as I like to call them :D). It's definitely cleaner than Namba, with no hobo's to be found. But I figure even an uptight area like Umeda has it's own underground chill spots for the less monetarily endowed.

And I guess that's where Chayamachi is supposed to come in. According to Shota and what he's heard from other Osakan people, it's supposed to be Umeda's equivalent of Ame-mura.

Again, definitely not as dirty as it's southern counterpart, but I guess I could see it. It is close to where HEP5 is located, and that's a well-known youth hotspot, and also the location of Osaka's largest number of purikura machines in one game center. If that doesn't draw in the young folks, I don't know what will.

While I couldn't find any nice streetwear shops like the ones in Ame-mura, I DID find a ESP Custom Guitars shop. And across from that was a music shop selling that smexy Spider-Man guitar. I'd almost ninja gaiden someone for that guitar (I'd definitely ninja gaiden someone for a Batman guitar..).

NU Chayamachi shopping center

After a lot of circle walking, we eventually decided to enter NU Chayamachi, which is, as you have probably already guessed, a shopping center.

Nothing particularly new or exciting in here. HEP5 has a larger variety of shops and a gentler price range. And it can be seen that NU Chayamachi is for that OL/Salaryman group that isn't quite yet ready to retire to Daimaru's/Takashimaya's/Hankyu's/Kintetsu's.

There was a nice music shop with a decent price range for it's instruments, but nothing really outstanding (and really, it's hard to live up to a Spider-man guitar). There was also a Tower Records shop, but finding CDs isn't really a hard thing to do in Japan.

A sweater in summer!? Cray~

I wouldn't be in a rush to bring my friends out to this particular center, but I think Chayamachi still has more to offer.
I shall be back, in a better pair of walking/exploring shoes than ←← those.

I ain't done with you yet Chayamachi!! >:D

I was going to share another shopping center (actually outlet mall) that we checked out, but apparently I couldn't be bothered to photograph anything but the ferris wheel because that was all I found on my camera from that day. OOPS.

If anyone ever asks you to go to RINKU Premium Outlets, just say NO. Unless you really need some sportswear and are certain that they can't be purchased anywhere else for a similar price (and mostly likely, they can). Save yourself the trip and train fare..! Though I would recommend it for Non-Japanese girls who want some nicely fitting jeans for a good price :D

Anyway, hopefully the next post will be salutations from some place with lots of sand and sun..! ;] Take care♥

★Peaces★

Whenever this commercial comes on, I stop whatever meaningless thing I may be doing, and just enjoy the Matsuda Shota.

Why is he wearing what seems to be some poor Nordic man's mane in the midst of a desert?? These are probably question best not asked, seeing as they won't be answered. He should just take it off. And by it, I mean everything Q_Q

And his two white man-servants?????

Oh and the poor camel, why is he mean-mugging the camel!?

I'm just going to play this again~

This does remind to go out an buy some of this.. water deodorant that's being pushed on us consumers these days. Apparently, you put it on after you've already begun to sweat :|

I'm just going to play this again.

★Peaces★

P.S. A mosquito just bit me on the hand. NOOOOO ;w;

And when I'm not busy on the computer, and Shota's not busy saving old people, we have more time (and energy) to visit new places. Like these ladies adult costume shop. Hint: it's not called adult because the costumes come in grown-women sizes, though I'm sure that's part of it.

We both felt the awkwardness and left soon after.














My niece, who is now 3..!! Holy crap I remember seeing her after she was fresh from the box. I feel old..ಠ_ಠ

She loves laughing at me/with me (not sure which). Anyway, we're 'nakayoshi' and I will turn her into my English speaking prodigy :3

Here's to our 4-hour car trip coming in August!! :D Lots of giggles to be had.




On a recent outing, I did do a tiny bit of shopping, the most expensive thing being that Addidas tank top (that I thought I would need but now turns out I won't. Rage) :/ I feel like I should go running or something to make up for it but.. I hate running. (loove Yoga though :3)

The leopard print top (like I need more leopard print things!?) I thought would be great for summer since it's super light-weight  and lets a lot of air through. And it's smexy.










My new babies!! I love these shoes so hard ;w; They're pretty comfortable (even moreso if you don't have wide feet like meeeee). I plan on wearing these all throughout summer and as far into winter as I can.


AND THEN. Some outfits from the past few weeks :)

This I wore when hanging out with my nice. It was still pretty cool outside at that point, so I kept the long-sleeve button up handy. Then I realized it made me look a lot like Garth from Wayne's World D: (minus the blond locks).

But that's not really a bad thing :D

Party time! Excellent!!

Cover photo by Jason Arney

Good day all!
I don't know if you've heard the good news or not, but the June issue of Tsuki is out and about.

Tsuki is a literary and art digital magazine featuring work by expatriates living in Japan. Awesome concept, eh??

This is the second issue and it's coming along beautfiully..! Check out that cover..! D: Gorgeousness↑↑

This issue features some prose, poetry, illustration and photography PLUS an interview with an upcoming Malaysian musician making his debut in the music scene in Japan.

So definitely check it out! I'm in there too, but I won't tell you what part, you have to guess :P

EDIT
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! (sorry, In Living Color joke was totally necessary)
If you enter this code, you can get this issue for only $.99! That's pretty cool :)


The magazine can be purchased here: http://jesto.co.jp/tsukimagazine/currentissue/
The discount code is: thanku62
(highlight it)


Now go, and enjoy! :)
New post on another (YES, ANOTHER) shopping center. You can never have too many. Really.

★Peaces★

This sign is located 1/3 of the way up the mountain.

Now, I know what you're thinking. What's this air temple? Did the Japanese formerly worship the air or something??
..No.. this is just my fandom slowly try to creep it's out from my imagination... but I can't help it. It's Saturday, and new episode of The Legend of Korra  should be released. And since Game of Thrones is already over.. I NEED this. (I don't, but I'll keep saying I do).

But all silliness aside, I'm loving this new Avatar series against my will, and this adventure out on Mt. Ikoma in Nara Prefecture only increased my enthusiasm for.. air. :x

See that in the background? That's Ikoma. Now climb it.

A trip out to Mt. Ikoma is also a great retreat for the less monetarily inclined i.e. me, and costs nothing to climb and explore

 It's really close to Osaka City (about 17 minutes from Osaka Uehonmachi Sta.), and awesome for those times when you want to get away from the noise, pollution and random stabbings (though we did go here before the stabbing occurred).
Osaka is still totally safe, but sometimes, you just gotta wonder and then get out for a few hours.


Access:
Ikoma Station is located on the Kintetsu railway system and the Osaka Municipal subway system via the Nara Line (Kintetsu) and the Chuo Line (subway). After exiting the train station, the cable car for riding up the mountain is immediately visible and pretty easy to get to as it's also connected to the train station. Or, if you're hardcore, you'll just walk your way to the top.

We were feeling frisky, and in need of exercise, so we decided to walk to the top. We didn't really research how to get there, so we just started walking in the general direction of the mountain and taking whatever roads lead in that direction.

For the most part, it is easy to follow, but there's no direct root from the station to the mountain. You have to follow roads with tiny sidewalks and hair-pin turns. So be careful and look both ways. Twice.
This shot is probably about.. a quarter of the way, almost a third. By this point, we were drenched in sweat, but we were also grossly overdressed for hiking, so I guess that was our bad.

The view was lovely though.




After making it to the 'Welcome to Ikoma' sign, you'll encounter your first collection of shops. It was pretty quiet though, even for a Sunday, so we didn't try anything out.

 Unfortunately, this path leads no where near the more historical Ikoma Shrine that dates back to the 5th Century. I would have totally loved to visit that, but that must be saved for a different train stop and trip. :<



 Here is, opposed to Ikoma Shrine, the lovely entrance to Houzan Temple (Houzanji) which would roughly translate to 'treasured mountain' I guess.

Fun fact: they produce a rather famous brand of incense here that I used to sell at my old part-time job back in D.C. What a small world. Sort of. :D



This temple is pretty huge, and extends far into the forests of the mountain. We probably spent a good hour or so, just checking out all the smaller temples and paths. Tons of fun, and awesome refuge from the sun.

I really wanted to find a path to that Buddha in the mountain. There's a small temple next to it, so it seems reachable. Maybe it's one of those things that's for monks only, but I really want to ask when we visit again :x

If I were an airbender, I could just air bend my way to the temple D':




I've been to quite a few temples throughout Western and Eastern Japan, and I have to admit, this is one of my faves. The architecture is what really drew me in the most. And what can I say, it was my first time seeing a Buddha carved into a mountain (or at least placed into one) in person.

Also, I just read that this tmeple used to be a training place for monks. Completely validated my Western Air Temple theory. All it needs is a few flying bison or winged lemurs :3 *end of fandom. maybe*

And to top it all off, there's an amusement park located on the top of the mountain. How quaint :D. Aang would love that~

It's only a children's amusement park, but the restaurants do serve beer, which would make for an awesome-yet-counter-productive celebratory beverage after hiking up a mountain all afternoon.

Oh, and the view is pretty damn cool.


This view. This is the one. My favorite one really. I'm sure I just sat there and stared for a good 15 minutes. That and checked my phone for messages, but all part of the relaxation process.

Osaka is there, off somewhere in the distance. Probably where the large gathering of skyscrapers is. It makes you realize how small you really are, until you remember how small Japan is, and then how insignificant the Earth amongst the billions of trillions of stars and systems.Still love this view though :D

Anyway, it was a great little trip. I loved being outdoors, not near some sort of shopping center. I'm sure Nara is full of hundreds more ancient temples, and I probably won't get to them. But at least I can say I've been to Hozanji, that means treasured mountain which obviously means it's the best one in Japan. Yup.

Check it out sometime! :3

★Peaces★

Whooaaa..throwback to early last year ;D I totally dropped the ball on these..

But not because I didn't want to do them, promise..! It's just getting harder and harder to think of things to teach. Kansai-ben is pervasive, it's everywhere and noticeable, but also so subtle. It's even hard for me to stop to speak normal Japanese D:

Anyway, I've saved up a couple from the past few months. Hopefully some things you haven't heard of before :)

言わんといて・言わないでおいて I(u)wantoite/I(u)wanaideoite - kansai-ben for 言わないでちょうだい(or くださいkudasai) Iwanaidechoudai. This phrase means 'don't say it.' Unfortunately, it's something I use a lot with Shota because he likes to just say things without thinking (I used to have the same problem..). But it's also used a lot in things like manzai (a comedy act consisting of two people). A small mention on pronounciation, it's said yuu-wan-toite instead of i-wan-toite, but I think that applies all round for this word, right? It kind of reminds me of funiki and fuinki :P

Usage Example:
№1
A: Hey Alyse, have you gained weight?? 「おいありちゃん、ちょっと太ってきたんちゃう？」
B: Shota, don't say such things..!! 「もうしょうちゃんそんな言わんといて！！」


Usage Examples:
№1
A: I told you not to eat my cookies!! 「なぁうちのクッキーを食べなっちゅうてたやろ！」
B: Ah sorry, I forgot... 「あ。。ごめん。忘れちゃった。。」

こっち来い・こっちきい Kocchi koi/kocchi kii - kansai-ben for ここに来てくださいkoko ni kite kudasai. A pretty easy phrase, no word. The words used are 'here' and the verb 'to come' so when put together, it means come here. And from this, you would also be able to infer than こっちkocchi is kansai-ben for ここkoko which means 'here.' How bout that, a two for one :)

Usage Example:
№1
A: Hey, come here for a sec. 「おい、ちょっとこっち来いや」

～せん(でいい)sen(de ii) is kansai-ben for ～しない(くてもいい)shinai (kutemo ii) which is used when you want to tell someone not to do something, or that they need not do something. せんsen is often used in kansai-ben in replace of しないshinai both of which mean 'not do.' I think this is one instance where an intermediate level of Japanese would be necessary to really understand how to use it, but hopefully the examples will help too :)

Usage Example:
№1
A: Should I move this over there?? 「これをあっちにおいたらいいの？」
B: No no, (you) don't (need to). 「いやいや、せんでいいや。」

№2　(past tense)
A: Hey, did you open my juice?? 「おい、うちのジュース開けたん？？」
B: Nope, I didn't. 「いや、せへんかったよ」。

As always, when speaking dialects, you have to keep in mind that certain ways of speaking are not accepted in certain situations, and while it is still possible to speak kansai-ben while observing this, it's very subtle and I haven't done much to highlight the difference. Basically, what I'm saying (typing) is leave your practice of kansai-ben for people you know already, don't walk up to strangers screaming, "OI OBAHAN" because that's rude. I would not want someone rolling up on me like "'EY YO HOMIE WUT UP" though it has happened a couple times in Japan :/

Take care!♪