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Hello!

May was definitely a time to reminisce, relax, and get back to my every day routine. Though I miss my family, I have great friends around me, so I’m very grateful, blessed, to have my life here in Japan.


What are you grateful about today?  

In Tokushima Prefecture, there is an area called the Iya Valley that is known for its vine bridges. There are only 3 vine bridges remaining from the original 13 built. The bridges span the Iya River.

I visited the main and more popular bridge called Kazurabashi. It is 45 meters long and is considered an important cultural property by Japan. For a small fee, you can have your picture taken with your own camera or cell phone, and then cross the bridge to get back to the other side. As somebody who is a bit fearful of heights, I was a bit nervous. I took my time and crossed the bridge in about 4-5 minutes.

The view when crossing the bridge was quite a sight to behold. The vines are replaced every 3 years, and reinforced at various points with steel cables to provide more safety for the people who cross it. It was both scary and fun. I am glad I did it!
  

Bob Ross is a well-known American icon. He had a TV show for many years called The Joy of Painting. During the show, he would paint a picture while teaching the viewers how to do it themselves. He also talked about many other things while he painted. Lots of people enjoyed the relaxing pace of his show and his soothing voice.



Bob Ross is often caricatured in today's culture reference. He was famous for painting of course, but also for his large afro hairstyle. So if you see someone wearing a big afro hairstyle and holding a paintbrush and palette, they're probably paying homage to Bob Ross.

This is another show I never really watched as a child. Why? If I said the pace of the show was too slow to hold my interest, would you be surprised?  

I went to my local hair salon and got a haircut! My hair is thick so it takes a bit of time to cut. I spent a long time looking for photos of a new style, but I couldn't decide. The hairstylist looked in the photo books and recommended me a style. It's very short now! I should be scared, but I love it! I think I just really love getting haircuts. I never went so regularly in America. In Japan, I go every 3 or 4 months!

In the salon, I saw an older man with bright rainbow hair! He looked grumpy and was smoking while walking around. I think he could be the owner? I was fascinated by him. If I won a lot of money, I would grow my hair out and get it dyed rainbow too!  

Remember when I mentioned last week about discovering the Mitoyo mall? One of the last stores we visited before leaving, was Kaldi. I had heard about it before, I knew that they sold international foods there, but my day was completely made when I came across something I’ve been searching for since I arrived in Japan. Three things, actually!


The first and most precious was a jar of jalapeños. I have missed jalapeños, so so so much! I love spicy food, Especially Mexican cuisine. So you can imagine my surprise when I found taco seasoning and many varieties of Mexican-style hot sauce as well! Tony and I were so excited about finding these three cooking essentials that we’ve been going without since moving here. Don’t get me wrong, we love Japanese food but truthfully I don’t know how to cook it very well yet. We used to cook Mexican food two or three times a week for dinner, so it’s nice to have it back in our lives. Not to mention the nice shopping bags Kaldi wraps everything up in!


While we were checking out, a mother and daughter approached us. The daughter had studied abroad in Australia so she spoke to us in strong English, asking where we were from and how we liked Japan. It was another inspiring experience that helped us feel a little more at home here in Japan.   

Have you ever gone to a place and said "Yeah, I want to go there again". Well, when I went to 名古屋市科学館 (Nagoya Science Museum) with some friends it was an unforgettable adventure. We got to go into a chamber that simulates arctic winters, saw a beautiful show in the observatory (fyi... it's easy to fall asleep when it's dark lol) and overall a wonderful time geeking out on science stuff.



  

Hello everyone, Benson here. Welcome to the end of May! How is everyone doing? How are you all feeling? What has everyone done this month? Wherever you are, whatever you are doing or have done, I sincerely hope you are doing well right now, at this moment.

As we approach another month this year, please know this: You are enough. This is not some saccharine, trendy, positive pep talk that’s littered all over social media. There is no impeding the barrage of reality at times, but at the core of it all, you are enough. You won’t always remember this and you might not even believe it, but you are enough. By all means, continue to march towards whatever you want to be and whatever you want to do, but at this moment, you are enough. And being enough is good. See you all in June!


  

Located at the base of Konpirasan, Akaboshi Café is the perfect spot to grab a drink and a canelé before or after your pilgrimage to the shrine. This cozy café offers a welcoming atmosphere and exceptional pastries that make it a must-visit.

Akaboshi’s canelés are some of the best I have ever tasted. They have a perfect balance of a crunchy, caramelized exterior and a soft, custardy center. Paired with a freshly brewed coffee, an iced coffee, or a refreshing Setouchi lemon soda, these canelés provide an ideal treat to energize you before the climb or to help you relax after the journey.

Whether you’re preparing for the ascent up the 785 steps to Konpirasan or unwinding after your visit, Akaboshi Café offers a delightful and memorable experience. The combination of great drinks, outstanding canelés, and a tranquil setting makes it an essential stop on your pilgrimage.


  

When I was getting my MA in music scoring and composing, I had the opportunity to write in multiple different genres of music for my assignments. My favorite was in my Film Scoring class, when I got to compose music for a clip from a Horror film! The fun thing about the Horror genre is that the music doesn't have to sound pretty. I love being able to mix up different musical elements with sound effects to create music, especially when I get to make something that sounds really sinister! Composing for film or any visual element is different than composing for a live performance, because the timing of the music has to match what is happening on the screen. Music can vastly alter the tone of a scene, so it's important to strike the right balance when you write music for visual media. It's really fun to take a scene and see how you can change the vibe just by using different musical elements!  

Apparently, this curry haven has captured the hearts (and stomachs) of locals and tourists alike, serving up customizable bowls of deliciousness since 1978. The concept was simple yet brilliant: give customers the power to choose their own curry adventure. I think what sets CoCo Ichi apart is its unparalleled customization.

Recently, our adventure has led us to the steps of the Kanonji CoCo Curry House and it delivered an amazing experience, defying expectations of spiciness. If you've had spicy food in Japan before, you know it's usually pretty mild and tame compared to what you might be used to from elsewhere. With that in mind, when you buy curry at the CoCo Curry haven, you can first order your curry on a level of spiciness of one through ten - if you've survived ten you can then go up to fifteen and then twenty, if you dare.

When you go to get your curry, you start by choosing your preferred curry sauce, ranging from mild, regular, hot, extra hot or... EXTRA, EXTRA HOT as I mentioned. Then, you select your main topping (anything from pork cutlet to fried shrimp to vegetables) and you can even customize the portion size of your rice. I had these delicious crab croquettes and eggs with my curry - I want more as I type this post, but it will have to wait until next time. CoCo Ichi offers a vast array of additional toppings, ranging from cheese and eggs to pickled vegetables and corn. They also generously provided a pitcher of ice water, which we emptied due to the spiciness we chose of our curry.

Whether you're a seasoned curry enthusiast or a curious newcomer, CoCo Ichi has a bowl waiting just for you. It was a delicious, unforgettable experience with many menu options to explore. Lets grab some delicious curry together sometime!
  

I made another visit to Isaniwa Shrine, this time though I wanted to capture this nice view. There's usually a nice picture to take once you make it to the top of a stairway. Whenever I see how many stairs I need to climb I get a little excited because it's like a mini journey. I also like the leg workout I gotta do.  

During golden week, I was able to visit the Monet Garden in Kitagawa. It was stunning! I'm a big flower fan, so I was blown away by the beauty of the gardens. They were made to look like paintings of Monet's, so there was a beautiful lily pond and also a bordighera garden that had more of a desert vibe. It was picture perfect- if you're ever in Kochi, you should swing by!  

I had some omurice the other day from a restaurant in Sakaide that looked great but didn’t really deliver in terms of taste. The fluffiness of the egg was on point. However, the rice could’ve used a lot more flavor. Look how beautiful it is though!  

Recently, I received an update on my family’s puppy back in America! He was was small when I came to Japan and he’s gotten so big! It’s been making me want to visit a pet cafe so I can get some animal love! I’ve been doing some research into good ones nearby!


  

Hello!

I went to go watch, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” Let me tell you, the last three movies were a masterpiece, so I had high expectations for the new movie. Sadly, it was just ok. I believe it was just an introduction of who the new main character is apart from the last main character.


Have you seen, “The Planet of the Apes,” movies?   

All around Kyoto there are many tourist shops with a variety of souvenirs. I was walking to visit a well-known temple, and saw an interesting shop that sold handmade chopsticks. The craftmanship looked quite skilled and intricate, so I decided to buy a pair of them. The store owner told me he made all the chopsticks himself, and he even engraved them for the tourists!

So, I bought a nice pair of the utensil and had my name put on it. I used them all the time now. I am glad that I was fortunate to find the shop by chance, and to buy the chopsticks. I absolutely love them!
  

Here's another TV show that was pretty popular in America. When I was a kid, there were some really wonderful books to help children learn about science topics. They were the Magic School Bus series. In the books, the children in one class have a really strange teacher. She takes them on field trips in her old school bus. But the school bus is really a magic bus, and so the children have many wacky adventures where they learn about different science topics. When I got a little older, they made the books into a TV show! It was really fun to watch, and taught us a lot about science.



I feel like most people in America have at least heard of this show. Have you ever heard of it?  

The Japanese version of American foods can be weird, funny, good, and interesting. I'm trying not to complain about such things, and embrace the weird versions. However, I found myself baffled by the foods under the "HOTDOG" sign at my grocery store. This is a hamburg steak and egg salad on a hotdog bun with a chili shrimp on top. Where is the hotdog? Did the cook think that if you put it on a hotdog bun, then it is a kind of hot dog? Interesting.  

As promised, I want to share some pictures and experiences from early May as we celebrated Tony’s birthday. Tony and I love character goods, so we gathered an interesting mix of Dragon Quest and Pokémon goods to decorate. As I hinted in a previous post, I used a UV black light to illuminate our decorations after the sun went down. The stars and slimes looked so cool!

Our first experience at Baskin-Robbins 31 also went well. It’s located in the mall, so we got to experience the Mitoyo Mall where we tried beef and pork gyudon for the first time before picking up the cake. Yum!


I went for the four-flavored Pokémon ice cream cake. Everything was so delicious, but I think the chocolate slice of the ice cream cake was the very best. It was a wonderful birthday celebration and golden week, despite being so busy with coursework and cleaning. With each passing week, Japan feels more and more like home.  

I had the pleasure of viewing some cherry blossoms with some of the lovely ladies at GEM. It was a sight to be hold and I couldn't have asked for better company.