Stuff Overflowed – The Last Day

We had two free days after we were done with our schedule. We all were so released and excited. Everybody started to make a plan. Jessica and I also wanted to go some place cool.

We looked over the book and found some places. What we all wanted to do was SHOPPING!! I really wanted to buy some Japanese stuff. So, we went to the places very famous for shopping. While rook around here and there, we found the funniest T-shirts, awesome idea products, and cool shoes and bags. I bought a bag from Harajuku.

It was a bag of the Astro-Boy. I think it was very cute and unique. Not only clothes, from the nail polish to the hair spray, I bought lots of things. After all the shopping, I had such a hard time packing. HAHA. The stuff did not fit in my bag.

The Golden Pavilion – Kinkaku-ji

We had to take a bus most of the times in Kyoto. I was already exhausted because it was the third temple we were visiting on a day. I got sick of the temples a little. However, the Golden Pavilion was very nice. The view of heaven kind of helped me to get rid of tiredness of the day.

Literally, it was the Golden Pavilion – And seriously, the view of it reminds me the image of heaven. Of course there were so many people, including students. It seemed like the one group of students keep following our back because they all looked the same with their uniforms. HAHA. The Golden Pavilion made a great view when we went there – The garden of heaven was being inflating with the combination of the bright sunshine and green breeze from the trees.

Club – Womb

We had hard time founding the club womb. We got lost for about thirty minutes in Sibuya, but we could not give up. (We actually were waiting for the day about a week.) It was at the location that nobody would expect there would be a club. Around the club, it was so calm and quiet. Seriously, I could not believe until I was brought to the base ground.

It was like a magic – there was another world under the street. The music was loud and inside the club was so crowded because of so many people. It has five floors with different music playing each floor. Everybody looked so happy with the music, drink, and their pals. We had fun time, too.

After a while we all got drunk – I still do not know what made us so drunk. It probably would be the alcohol, but I think the music also contributed. HAHA. On the first floor, which was the most crowded floor, there were a bunch of people who looks like the tourists from other countries. We tried to talked to them, and in a few minutes, we all got so close each other. It was such a wonderful night experience beside all the learning experiences in Japan.  

The Magnanimous President – Q Ent.

It was the most impressive company visit I had during the whole study abroad. I personally learned so many things at Q Entertainment. The president of the company, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, graduated from the Wharton School, and had worked at the Sony for a while. He said he was involved in the process of creating and developing the PlayStation2 at Sony.

Q Entertainment was one of the companies that make game software. The software they are creating works not only for game consoles, but also for the mobile devices and online game site. One of famous games they created was Lumines, a video puzzle game based on sound and light patterns. I never tried the game before, but it sounds so cool. After his short presentation about the games that have been released from their company, we had a chance to ask some questions. The president advised us to keep our interest in the Telecommunication Business, as well as the school works.

He said it is really important to know the current flow of the business and circulation of trends. I do not know why and how, but amazingly, the advice that the president gave us just came in to my mind so clearly. Maybe it was because the way he talks. It seemed like he knows to respect the young generation and their opinions. He knew how to respect the other aspects. He recommended us to be ready for the globalization, and in addition to that, he said the Game Business is waiting for the people who have wide sight for the new technology.

It was such a helpful and meaningful time. I was so impressed about the fact that such gentleman spent his time with us talking about the Game Market even though we were just ignoramus about the real business field compared to him. I was thinking about a word “Humble” – I admired his modest attitude. I know I would never ever forget him.

Be Cool And Smart – iNis

We meet the game developers at iNis. They were actual creator of real games – One of their masterpieces was EBA, Elite Beat Agency. I once have tried the EBA with my Nintendo DS. I did not enjoy that much because I could not understand the manual, which was in Japanese.

iNis was such a cool company. When the director of iNis gave us the presentation about the structure of their company, he introduced some company members. They all were quite head quarters; there were a manager, a technician, and a programmer. They all were really young, and they all seemed so cool. While they present about their duties, they often made a joke and made us laugh. They had very easy and composed attitude, and that make them look even smarter. The director said there are about 30 employees total. Everybody had very meaningful time, especially the people who are in the field of game design.

The Garden With Dears – The Temple Todai-ji

The temple with lots of dears was located in Nara, and it called Todai-ji. I looked over the Wikipedia for the name. According to the Wikipedia, it is a Buddhist temple complex which has the world largest wooden building, the Great Buddha Hall. (Daibutsuden)

On the way to the temple, (It was such a long way.) there were so many dears, and students with the same uniforms. Not dears, but students were so excited to see Caucasians; they all wanted to take pictures with them. After paid about five or more dollars, we all went into the huge temple. Inside the temple, there was a huge Buddha, which was hard to capture in the camera.

I bought some lucky charms there. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage site as “Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara,” together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places in the city of Nara. Sika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the ground freely.

Amazing Technology – Dolby

What we saw at Dolby, was the best future technology ever. Among the other companies that we have been earlier, Dolby was the one that actually inventing “FUTURE TECHNOLOGY”.

Boys could not stop saying WoW – I mean, for me, too. Even though I was not a big fan of some kind of 3D sounds by Dolby and other realistic LED TV, the product we saw at Dolby was something. It was WoW!!

I remember one of the employees there introduced us some kind of cell phone, which has the Dolby Sound System in it. With the super special headphone, the quality of sound was AMAZING! They also showed us the upcoming LED TV, by comparing with current LCD TV. The LED was totally different than current LCD. It was more vivid thus more realistic. And then, we were introduced to the room in which Dolby 7.1 Channel was already built in. Seriously, everything was just better than the normal movie theater.

Being Together – Friends

Jessica, Brandon, Jay, Kay Jay, and I – had so much fun together during the trip. We all got so close to each other like a family. We always hung around together, ate together, and took pictures together.

Well, despite of the fact that everybody hates us, we were so happy all the time when we were together. Especially, Kay Jay, was the funniest person I ever meat through the entire trip. (I cannot forget when he bought the WORLD STUPIDEST HAT from the Tokyu Hands!!)

I cannot imagine the whole Study Abroad Program without these people. We enjoyed the rustic simplicity (?) – Like a couple cans of bear in the hotel room, meaningless conversations… ETC 

There were so many nice memories. From the first day at Ninza, to the last day at Korean Food place with the cute guys, we shared all the good memorize together. One of the unforgettable memories was the wine bar at Osaka City, when we all felt so cozy and warm both inside and outside. I talk to Jay and Kay Jay everyday because we are all in Korea right now, but I did not have any chance to talk to Brandon and Jessica. I miss you so much –

Being Myself = The Self Shots

Through the entire trip, there were so many people who liked to criticize what I usually do.

It was all about self-camera shots. People were making fun of me taking pictures myself – What is wrong with that? Until they criticize me with it, I did not know such behavior was THAT STRANGE.

Anyways, I did it ANYWAYS, everyday. Sometimes I took pictures of myself with the cell phone, and sometimes I did it with my digital camera. Most of time, I satisfied myself much more than when somebody took my pictures.

After a while, people who criticized me started to take their picture by themselves. It was so funny that they do it after they said it looks so stupid. Well, they knew how it works, and how it works well. There was no reason to be criticized before. I think it slightly can be considered as conservative.

There are some people who cannot consider the side of different aspects, or behaviors. I believe it is wrong to criticize something or somebody just because it is not like yours. I did not damage people by taking pictures myself; it is just one of my enjoyments. Behave different does not mean that I am so stupid enough to be criticized.

Kyoto _ Kiyomiz-dera

When we stayed at Osaka, there were a couple days we went to Kyoto. Kyoto was very classic city. Lots of temples we visited seemed so classic and traditional. I got pretty boarding looking around the temples. (They all look the same, and I got sick of watching tons of Buddha!!)

There was one place that pulled my attention; Kiyomiz-dera. The huge temple was made of woods, and amazingly no nail was used. Many of you would remember if I said it was the temple with falling mineral water. (Or, the temple where the random lady lets Brandon to hold her baby!!)

It has its own story about the water; the older people are saying that Health, Success, and Love will be come true if you drink the water. The view was amazing – It looked pretty much like a balcony in the middle of the mountain.

In addition to the temple, there were so many shops on the way to the temple, and they all had adorable souvenirs. (I meat a boy on the way back, tried to take his picture, and he made some posture for me. J)