CS meeting Tokyo, Japan

Monday was my last day of work and after work my co-workers and I went to a pakuchi (cilantro) restaurant.  I had pho, but the main thing I really wanted to try at the restaurant was the cilantro cheesecake.  After the meal we all ordered the cilantro cheesecake, but it was sold out.  I HAD to try it, so last night I went back to the restaurant JUST to try the cake.  It was delicious.  It didn't have a strong cilantro taste, but just the perfect amount. It was probably one of the most unique dessert flavors I have ever tried.  Afterwards I went to Shibuya for the CS meeting.  It was nice seeing some familiar faces and a lot of new ones.  This upcoming week is going to be crazy for me with traveling.  Tomorrow I am flying to Rome for a 20 hour layover, Sunday back to the Czech Republic and on Wednesday I'll be flying to California for Christmas!  I'm ready!!

cilantro cheesecake!

group pic

Netherlands

USA

Hungary

Australia

Brazil  9230

New Zealand

Scotland

Taiko! Tokyo, Japan

One of my co-wokers has been doing Taiko for several years.  Another co-worker asked her if she would be able to teach us.  Thanks to the curiosity of the co-worker, an event was created.  My mom messaged me and told me that on TV she saw that in Ueno there were sakura trees in bloom.  Since I needed to go to Asakusa for the Taiko lesson, I decided to go to Ueno first to hunt down the sakura.  My mom didn't tell me the location of the sakura and I didn't have much time before the lesson.  Luckily I was able to spot 2 sakura trees in bloom.  After I took photos of the tree I walked to Asakusa.  On the way to Taiko, I saw a soba and tempura place I wanted to try after the Taiko.  The Taiko lesson was a lot of fun.  It was a bit difficult but it was really interesting to learn the beat and technique.  It was a great opportunity to practice on a real taiko drum instead of just playing the taiko arcade game. After 2 hours of taiko most of us went to dinner to the soba and tempura place I had spotted before.  It was delicious and the owners were super nice!  It was a fun day!

Ueno Pond

sakura in December!!

let`s do this!

starting the lesson

trying it out

waiting to change turns

first time for her but it seemed like she was a pro!

crazy

Japan

Japan

USA

happy and posing

in action

Taiko!!!!

delicious soba and tempura

Japan

Japan  9225

cartoon of the two owners

Creative Thinking Event Tokyo, Japan

Last Friday I finished work early, so I wanted to do something new.  I came across an event for creative thinking.  I wasn`t exactly sure what the event entailed but it seemed interesting.  Two ladies from China are doing research about domestic violence in different countries.  They wanted to think of a creative way to obtain information from people who are suffering from domestic violence.  They decided that the best way would be to design a box that enabled people to write their situations and put it in the box.  We split into two groups and had to think of a design that would be appealing and encourage people to write their stories.  It was a good chance to be creative and meet new people.  I hope the ladies are successful in obtaining some information.  Best of luck!!

brainstorming

China  9215

Serbia

China

Kenya

Japan

box my group made

Pakistan   9220

Mt. Mitake "hike" Japan

At the dinner I went to on Thursday night, one girl asked us if we wanted to join her and her friends on a hike at Mitake.  I looked on the map and saw that it would take me almost 2 hours just to get there.  I was a bit hesitant because of how far it was.  Then I remembered that my mother`s friend told me that she went to Mitake last weekend and the autumn foliage was really beautiful.  I didn`t have plans for the day and it was a national holiday, so I decided to join.  We arrived to Mitake station at noon and I expected to hike right away.  Instead we went for lunch. We took some pictures and then we walked on a suspension bridge to get to the cable car station.  The cable car took some time and was a bit steep, but definitely not as steep as the cable car at Mt. Takao.  We walked around and the views were really beautiful.  It was a bit cold though. Definitely the coldest I have felt in Japan this time around.  When it was time to leave (it was a bit dark at this point) myself and one other girl decided that since we didn`t do any hiking that day that we would run down the hill and meet the others at the cable car station. We decided to run down the hill because it would take us much longer than the girls taking the cable car.  It was quite an experience to run down the mountain.  I think we probably scared the person who was in front of us because when we got close he started to run for dear life.  We got to the cable car station and didn`t see the girls.  My friend called them and they were still in line at the top of the mountain!  We had to wait 15 minutes for them to arrive.  The girl who ran down the mountain with me decided she wanted to run/walk back to the train station.  I decided to join her while the others took a bus back.  We even did standing yoga on the suspension bridge.  We met the girls at a place where the town lit up the autumn foliage under lights.  It was quite nice.  Then we went to a small local izakaya (Japanese pub).  The food was good and the main chef was really nice.  We had a great time and it was a good way to end a great day.

the group minus 1

nice red leaves with the river below

Japan

on the suspension bridge

waiting for the cable car

nice views

Canada

mythical duck creature

not sure what the giant stone slabs were

hiding in one of the steps

nice foliage

red maple leaves

the main shrine

such nice leaves

more leaves

good view point

loved the different colored leaves

giant bell

Japan

stone wolves standing guard of the shrine

nice painting of a wolf at an art exhibition

nice views

going back

lovely ladies at the last café at the top of Mt. Mitake

trees lit up at night

the river was lit up too

yellow, yellow, yellow

inside the izakaya

old school pay phone

Japan   9214

last selfie for the day!