All posts by Chris Valdez

Starting with video games, Chris' interests have led him to write game reviews, study Japanese and move to Japan to continue his studies. Of course, he has other interests, like cooking and baking, travel, and occasionally updating his blog.

Went on a day trip to Hakone

I went on a trip to Hakone

On Friday, March 1, everyone from my school (I think there were about 300 of us) went on a field trip to 箱根 (はこね, Hakone), Kanagawa-ken, Japan. It was about 1.5 – 2 hours by bus from Shibuya. So why did we go there? I mean, just what is Hakone known for?

Well, it’s probably most known for its 温泉 (おんせん, onsen), or hot springs. We didn’t actually go to any though, which is probably for the best. I didn’t really want to see my male classmates in the buff. However, 混浴 would be OK! ^_~

Hakone is also known for its 黒卵 (くろたまご, kurotamago), or hard-boiled black eggs. The story goes that if you eat one, you’ll have 7 years added to your life. I ate two. Continue reading Went on a day trip to Hakone

Two months, huh? Seems like a good time to post

The Colonel dressed as Goku from Dragonball Z. Part of a promotion for an upcoming DBZ movie.

School is an interesting thing. I get to see classmates and some friends, learn some things, and have an opportunity to get out of my home. Of course, there is always homework to do if I attend class, as well as taking one or two tests every week. All in all though, it’s a good time.

After my first quarter (the year is split into quarters), I thought I would have become accustomed to the workload, which would leave me with a bit more free time right about now. Haha, silly me! If anything, class and homework is more intense. At least I don’t have to worry about having nothing to do and becoming absurdly bored like I was during winter break. Continue reading Two months, huh? Seems like a good time to post

End of a session, Christmas has passed

My “semester,” or first session of class, has come to an end. I’m proud to say I passed and am moving on to level 3. Basically, that means more vocab, kanji and grammar to learn. Woo!

From Oct. 9 – Dec. 14, I learned about 1,000 words. I learned approximately 200 kanji. In class we went over something like 20 chapters from our textbook. Each with at least two important grammar points to remember. Oh, and I learned some inappropriate Chinese words from some Chinese classmates. =)

Our finals were about 3 days of various tests. That was probably the most stressed I’ve ever been about testing in my entire life. You see, for better or worse, I’ve never been one to worry about tests. I would see friends pull all-nighters, become so stressed they couldn’t eat, sleep… basically unable function.

It’s not that I never cared about tests–I did. But I think I never cared as much as I do now.

At one point in this session, maybe three weeks ago, I felt so stressed and emotionally overwhelmed about things I silently started crying in class. It was strange–I was sitting there listening to the lecture, smiling and laughing a bit… and there were some tears.

The past three months have probably been the most fun I’ve ever had in school. And for that, I say thank you to everyone supporting me: my family, my friends, my teachers and some of the greatest classmates I could ever ask for.

ありがとうございました。

Earthquaaaake

Friday morning I was awoken around 5:30 to a slight shaking of my bed. This is nothing new, as I’ve felt small earthquakes in the middle of the night before. I went back to sleep.

During the second half of class we learned about procedures and what to do during an earthquake. Cover your head, immediately open a door so that the frame doesn’t become warped leaving the door stuck closed, where our school’s evacuation center is, etc.

Then around 5:30 p.m. after class, there was a real earthquake, and definitely the strongest I’ve felt since being here. I was on the third floor having dinner with someone from my class, and I immediately felt it. A second later everyone else there did, looked around, became quiet, and immediately began checking their phones. What was a bit worrisome about this one was the strength of it and the duration. It honestly felt like 45 seconds to a minute of swaying.

Turns out it was near Miyagi-ken. Last I heard, there were some injuries in that area. Here in Tokyo and Yokohama, everyone is fine, the last time I checked.

Just a quick update to let everyone know I’m OK.

Also, finals this week! Listening, reading, writing, speaking, pronunciation and I hear an essay will be required. Oh, and a speech. Sooo, probably won’t post for a week or so!

I hiked a mountain in class; what did you do today?

Most people know that I’m not really an outdoors type of person. The only camping I’ve done was in Rainman’s backyard back in middle school one night… and later on we ended up going back inside. So, it’s a bit of a surprise both to myself and maybe others that I voted to go on a field trip to Japan’s Takaosan (高尾山).

This was my first time seeing Mt. Fuji in person. I’m glad we climbed 高尾山 and not Fuji.

Located about an hour away from Shibuya Station, on a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji from this mountain. And that’s just what we did. A selection of pictures follows, but for ALL of the pictures, visit my smugmug. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the white balance set correctly on my camera, so I had to correct in post. And I was lazy, so a lot of it still looks way too blue. Continue reading I hiked a mountain in class; what did you do today?

Promised update about the YouTube party

Here’s the promised video, along with some pics, from the 2012 Tokyo YouTube meet-up in Shibuya, Nov. 3, 2012. There were two “rooms.” One was what you see in the video above, then there was another room where various acts (many musical) performed on stage. Sadly, I didn’t get any footage of that. =(

I was on the fence about going up until I walked out the door, mostly because of the cost of going, but it was well worth it.

Continue reading Promised update about the YouTube party