Life in Osaka....

So again, I am late at updating my blog. I have been trying to adjust to Osaka and everything around. I guess my adaptation system is slower than everyone else. I try to compile most of the activities I have done in the past few weeks in this blog, so hope its not too overwhelming!

Soooo, I have been in Osaka for about 2 weeks and a half. I stay in JICA, a complex building for international students. It is not so far to where I work and it usually takes me about 15-20 minute walk. They have everything here: dining hall, computer room, seminar rooms, the gym, pool table, KARAOKE ROOM (this is probably the place that I hang out the most lol). They even let you rent bikes whenever you need. So that is very cool!

So as I said, I walk to work every morning and it takes about 15 minutes. It is actually a good exercise for me since after getting in the lab, I seem to just stick myself in there with the cool air flowing around. My lab has about 20 people in total; all the graduate students are all in the wet lab, and all the postdocs and professors are in the next rooms doing mostly computer work. People in lab here usually work from 10-10 so that is kinda new! It is nice in a way that you know you are never alone when you decide to stay late in the lab. We usually have lab meetings on Monday and then everybody helps clean the lab after. I think that is a very good routine! Oh, another nice things about the lab is that we usually sit and have lunch and dinner together, so in a way, it feels like a family around here. Too bad they do not have LAB OLYMPICS though!

The university campus where I work is kind of far away from downtown Osaka so we only explore the town and other close-by areas in the weekends. In the first weekend in Osaka, I was able to see the downtown of Osaka… SO MANY PEOPLE! There are many means of transportations as well: subway, monorail, different types of train, shinkansen… Technology here is very advanced, and all the trains are very clean!!! And do you know that Osaka is the city of food? I feel like I chose the right place for myself lol! We had takoyaki (fried octopus), a traditional cuisine in Osaka. It was good but I expected spectacular!! Oh well, no worries, I have 2 months to eat all the food here! Here are a few pictures of us hanging out in Osaka for the first weekend

The second weekend in Osaka, I was able to go up to Kyoto for a short one-day-trip with some of my labmates. The city is so opposite to Osaka. Most of the houses in Kyoto are very traditional and the city is filled with temples. Seriously, there is temple every 2-3 blocks or so. We had a chance to visit two temples, Kiyomizu and Sanjusangen-do. It was peaceful and refreshing!!Here are a few shots of us at the temples

Then come this weekend, I was going to go with some JSPS fellows to Kyoto again, but I have thesis paper to write…. so I have been locking myself in the room looking at the beautiful sunshine outside (and some writing of course :)) for the last two days. Luckily, I was able to take a bike ride to a park closed to where I stay with Rami (one of my friends in the residence). The park was so beautiful and I had fun trying to practice some professional photography skills that I got off from YOUTUBE lol… they are useful sometime!

So we finished the bike ride around 7pm and to be honest, my legs are killing me right now! It was only about 7-8km in total but going up and down all the hills were so painful for me! After this experience, I have to appreciate all my labmates who bike to work everyday for at least half an hour.

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Oh, so I know that I have been talking about myself a lot in the blog, I figured that I will leave a few useful facts (tips) for us here by the end of each blog so in case anyone wants to visit Japan, they have an easier time fitting in. Of course you can buy the guide book and it works just fine as well!

** So I have three things so far that are kind of cool to know

1. People here do not eat or drink while walking on the street. Every street has vending machines for soft drinks and some snacks. People usually just stand here to finish their food or drinks and then continue their trip
2. There are vending machines for BEER AND CIGARETTES!!!But again, no smoking while walking on the street (at least in Osaka I think) or 1000Yen fine!
3. Beers are cheap, fruits are EXPENSIVE! A watermelon right now costs 25CAD!!!! (I am so angry at myself now for not stopping by the grocery store on the way biking back to take a picture of watermelon with the price but I was exhausted and hungry at that time and usually my stomach sits very high on my priority list)

Time passes by so quickly and there are only about 6 weeks left in Japan for me. It has been great so far but there are still a lot of things in Japan I want to explore. Of course I also miss Canada tons too and cant wait to go back to share all the stories with us in person. I will update more often when I finish writing my thesis (almost there)…

So I guess this is it for me for now

Until next time, Sewa o suru (take care in Japanese)!!