May 20

Japan Study Tour Homestay Experience

For our Japan Study tour, a big part of the trip is our homestay with Keiai. So I’m here to talk about the things and how I think it went. 

Day One 

The homestay started at Keiai Middle School where are homestay came to pick us up. My homestay wasn’t my buddy and was a girl named Yuri. For homestay, she took in three students so I was with Tayne and Reise as well. We went to their cafeteria to eat lunch and waited until her mother came to pick her up. On the way to their home, we stopped at a cake shop. The shop was so quaint and cute and we got cakes to go. We finally arrived at their home and we got settled. We got changed and ready for the banquet and performance we were going to have. Before the performance, we went and visited the mall that was across Yuri’s home. We walked around and got ice cream before heading home. At the banquet, we performed our hula and changed into our formal wear. The banquet was a lot of fun and they had a lot of good food to eat. After the banquet, the day was pretty much over and once we got home we went to the 7-Eleven right next to her home and once we got back from that we got ready for bed.

Photo Credit: Haruka Ehira

Day Two

Day two was the full day and night with our homestay. We ended up spending the day with Ally and her homestay Haruka. The first thing we did was a go up this mountain with a train that went to the top. There they had the most amazing view and even had a thing call the Lovers Dome. There they had this place where you lock a locket and take photos there. Afterwards, we hit Yuri’s favorite mall. This mall was huge and we went around stopping at stores and even went to a Kpop pop up store. We also stopped at the Starbucks there and it was so much nicer than Hawaii’s. They had different drinks and each cup had a personal cute message. We stopped at the arcade and all of us took pictures at the photo booth and we all kept one. After the mall, we had to say goodbye to Ally and Haruka and headed home. We had some time to kill before dinner so we had a mini dance party at the house and it was a lot of fun. At dinner, we got to get even closer to Yuri’s family while eating some good food. When dinner was done and we got back settled in for the night we went to bed. 

Photo Credit: Yuri Kanamoto

 

Day Three

Day three was our final day with our homestay and in the morning we headed to Keiai Middle School. There we had the temple service where we exchanged gifts and performed our hula dance. After the service, it was time for lunch. We were going to cook lunch with our homestays. We were put into groups and funnily enough, our group was with Ally and Haruka as well. We made okonomiyaki and I think we did a good job. We didn’t get to do a lot after lunch though. We soon had to say goodbye and head on over to the bus. 

I had such an amazing time with Yuri and I really didn’t expect it to go as well as it did. Reise, Tayne, and I got along great with her and it was a lot of fun. Admittedly I was on the luckier side due to the fact that I can speak Japanese which makes things a lot easier with getting along but still as a whole we all did really well. We laughed and had a lot of fun with Yuri and Haruka and it made me sad when we had to say bye on the bus. I think my grade was able to become pretty close with the Keiai students and it’s something I’ll remember for quite some time. 

Phtot Credit: Yuri Kanamoto

Thank you for reading about my homestay experience!

-Mina ♥

Here is a link to a Facebook post about our trip to Keiai with more photos!

Here is another link to my schools Facebook where you can see all the posts that we posted about the trip!

April 30

Unpopular Opinions

Okay, so I wanted to make a post that is sorta different from all my other posts. In other words not fangirling.  So I decided to make a post of my unpopular opinions. As a quick disclaimer I don’t mean to hate on anyone or anything these are just my opinions and if you feel free please leave a comment down below. (Preferably not a mean comment)

Archive of Our Own vs Wattpad

Okay so maybe not completely off the whole fangirl area but this is something I wanted to talk about. Wattpad is probably the most popular fanfiction site but in my opinion. Archive of Our Own is so much better. Archive of Our Own has some of the most amazing stories I’ve read and I think they really blow the other sites out of the park.

Photos By Unsplash

Beyonce

Okay before anyone gets mad I’m not saying I hate her or anything. I’m just saying I never really listened to her music. I know a lot of people worship her but I just don’t and I never really found myself listening to her songs. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t think that she uses her influence to help other people.

Photos By Unsplash

Pineapple on Pizza

Pineapple on pizza is amazing. It is the perfect amount of sweet and savory. End of Story.

Photos By Unsplash

Harry Potter

I probably mentioned this before but I don’t think that Harry Potter is a great as everybody says it is. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad series and I actually quite like it. But in my opinion, I wish that another series would be allowed to have the spotlight. Because it got so big often people would only read the one series claim it to be their favorite and never read another book again. Every time I go to the book store there is always this huge monument for the series right at the front and I think a newer series should be given a shot. There are so many unique series with amazing characters and in my opinion have a lot of things that Harry Potter never had.

Photos By Unsplash

The Disney Live Action Remakes Aren’t That Good

I love the look of Disney renaissance and I don’t really like the live action remakes that Disney has been making. The new remakes don’t have the same charm and I wished instead they would just make new movies instead of the remakes.

Photos By Unsplash

Showering at Night is Better

So apparently this is an unpopular opinion. From where I am this isn’t true everyone showers at night. But for everyone else showering at night is better. Who wants to go to bed still filled with the dirt and sweat from that day. Also, don’t you want to feel relaxed when you go to sleep?

So those are a few of my unpopular opinions and I hope you enjoyed reading them. If you agree or disagree with me please let me know in the comments.

Photos By Unsplash

Thanks for reading!

-Mina ♥

Want to know other peoples unpopular opinions.

Here is BuzzFeed’s page on their website about unpopular opinions.

Here is another page of unpopular opinions on PizzaBottle

 

 

 

 

 

April 30

Top MCU Movies You Need to Watch

Hey, so I decided to list the MCU movies that you need to watch. I would just like to say I’m not trying to say that the movies that I didn’t talk about here are bad these are just the top ones that in my opinion, you need to watch. I love all the M 

-Infinity War 

This was kinda the lead up to all the films (aside from endgame) This is the movie we finally saw all the heroes come together and I think it’s a movie you need to watch. There were so many emotional moments and the cinematography was amazing. 

-Captain America the Winter Solider

I already talked about this in another post but this film’s tone was so different and I think they used the characters really well in the movie.

-Iron Man

This is the movie that started it all and I got to say watching it makes me fall in love with it all over again. The CGI is really impressive and the characters are amazing. They did Iron Mans origin story justice. This movie always has a nostalgic feel to it and I think it’s a must watch.

-Galaxy of the Guardians 

This movie is pretty different from the MCU. The characters are outlaws and their not exactly well-developed people as well. Their kinda a broken family. But they grow together and it’s heartwarming to see. Aside from that, the action is fun and unique and the movie is hilarious.

-Thor Ragnorock 

This movie is a lot higher on the list compared to Thors other movies. But with a new director, this movie is amazing. The movie is fun and lighthearted but still, there is a heavier plot that still shows. The characters feel better and more alive than any of the old Thor movies. 

-Captain America Civil War

A lot of people have to admit that this is a good movie. It’s one of the darker movies of the MCU but you need to watch it. You know it’s a good movie when people today still debate who was right. Cap or Tony. There were so many amazing scenes that make you geek out and a lot of scenes where you can’t help but cry. They also introduced a couple new characters that will later play a big role in the franchise. 

-Black Panther

Everyone and their mother knows about this movie. This movie did really well and there is a reason why. This movie has great costumes and props and they have a really good villain. They introduced a place and it almost felt like a completely different world. The characters and technology in this movie are incredible and so is the soundtrack.

-Avengers

The first Avengers is a must watch. This is the first movie where the Avengers come together. I have to say that the first Avengers by far isn’t the best Marvel movie but it was a huge milestone and the first time that the characters meet and grow. The movie is fun if you haven’t watched it you sorta have to.
-Doctor Strange 

I admit this may be a bit biased but I do think that Doctor Strange is an important movie to watch. It’s the first time you actually introduced to the magic world and it’s beautiful. The CGI is incredible and Stephen Strange is a great main character. It’s fun to watch and Doctor Strange does play a big role in the later movies so I do believe you should watch it. The fight scenes are new and entertaining to watch and the element of magic is something you can’t help but be excited for. 

-Spider-Man Homecoming

Spiderman is said to be an important part of the MCU and he is. This movie is the first Spiderman movie in the MCU and Peter Parker is perfect in this movie. The story is full of growth and Tony and Peter have a great relationship. They get the teenage feel in the movie and it’s cool to really see what a superhero world would be like for a normal person. They have some great scenes and the villain is not one dimensional. 

So that’s pretty much my list. I have to admit there are more movies that you should watch but I think these ones are the movies that you should watch at least. If you disagree that’s fine because this is all opinion based. Tell me what you think in the comments below.

-Thanks for reading 

Mina ♥

This is a link to Marvel’s official page.

This is a link to Marvel’s official Twitter page.

Photos from Unsplash

April 30

Captain America: The Winter Solider

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has a different tone to a lot of the other films in Marvel. But the Russo’s did an excellent job on the film. I’m going to have a lot of spoilers in this rant so if you haven’t watched you should go watch it and come back when you’re done.

This film in a way a lot more like a spy/thriller movie compared to the rest. A lot of it is based on people or enhanced human beings and it’s based on Captain America that is working outside of the law against a corrupt government organization. This movie is my favorite Cap movie. In Avengers one he was sorta reduced to a guy who wasn’t used to the world at all. Admittedly he wasn’t the most interesting in the movie. Cap in the First Avengers was a good guy and was very charming. He was just a good guy through and through and in his eye’s the world is pretty black and white. But Winter Soldier is completely different from those two movies.

In this movie, it’s been some time since Cap came out of the ice and he had some time to adjust to the world around him. He really has the full extent of his powers in this movie and he knows what he’s doing. He’s not clueless like before and he actually a lot more easy going. He’s still Cap no doubt about it but he’s smarter and he also feels a lot more like a person. But then again he’s a lot stronger than the past movies and it finally seems like he’s just not a glorified human but an enhanced super soldier.

The movie from the start introduces a new character. Sam Wilson. I instantly liked this character. Sam and Steve immediately hit it off and connect through both of them have been part of the military. I don’t know how but they made Sam(The Falcon) incredibly entertaining and they made me love the dynamic between him and Steve. They work well together and in fights, they prove to be really efficient. Steve and Natasha’s relationship improve a lot in the movie and I got to say that it made me like Natasha a lot more. I always thought Black Widow was a cool and a great character but in the other movies you never really see any emotional part of her. In the Winter Soldier, we finally get to know her and I really liked her in the movie. Her and Cao become closer and they make as really good friends. Also, Black Widow finally gets to use her skills in the movie and I got to say she is one powerful character. Of course lastly, we have to talk about Bucky. I haven’t really read the comic books so the reveal actually was a surprise for me. But it made sense on why it affected Steve so much throughout the movie and the way it ended with Steve not fighting Bucky. In the movie, their story isn’t over but we see that Bucky might just be able to be more than the Winter Soldier.

This movie has so many amazing things to it and I have to say that the directors did an amazing job. The. fight scenes and choreography were amazing in this film and they applied it really well with their characters. There were so many amazing moments and this movie is by far one of my favorite MCU movies. I hope you enjoyed me gushing about Captain America: The Winer soldier.

Thanks for reading!

-Mina

This is a link to the fandom page for the movie.

This is a link to Marvels official page for the movie.

Photos from Unsplash

April 29

Thor Ragnorock

Avengers Endgame came out only a few days ago but then I thought that that might end up spoiling the movie for my classmates so I decided to instead talk about some of my favorite movies from the Infinity Saga. So I wanted to talk about Thor Ragnorock. Also if it isn’t obvious there are spoilers for Thor Ragnorock.

If I’m being completely honest I have to say I didn’t really like Thor all that much until this movie. Don’t get me wrong I liked him but he was never a favorite. Also Thor the Dark World wasn’t the best MCU movie either. But when Thor Ragnorock came it changed a lot. They got a new director for the movie and everything changed. In all the movies beforehand Thor had this whole medieval thing with the way he speaks and he was always so serious and seemed so far away compared to the other heroes in the MCU. The movies were usually kinda dark and had very rare moments of lightheartedness.

Thor Ragnorock is a comedy and the movie has everything you want in a superhero movie. The characters were amazing in these movies. Even characters you’ve already known from other movies had a new sense of vibrancy to them especially Thor. The action is so fun and choreographed in a very interesting way. They used each character well in the way they fought and had new and interesting ways that they fought. The props and set were made really well and while looking at the screen there was so much detail and color. This movie is hilarious and yet it had its moments where it really pulled at your heartstrings.

Now let’s talk about what happened in the movie. Right off the bat the movie kinda takes everything away from the old movies and I got to say no ones really complaining. It was kind hinted at in the second movie that the whole Loki pretending to be Odin was going to be the main plot in the net movie but in the movie that was immediately resolving that. They take away his hammer. Then they take away his hair. (Which in my opinion looks better that way) And they end up doing a lot more but we’re not there yet. The fight scene in the arena between Thor and Hulk was really fun to watch. It was both funny and entertaining. Thor using his power without his hammer and getting a taste for how much power he has made me really excited for the rest of the movie. Hulk kinda being a bit more intelligent was a little unsettling at first but in a way it made sense and it was fun to watch too. Valkaryie is a fun addition and I really want to know more about her past. Loki and Thor’s scenes were the best by far. Every scene was pure gold and it really was accurate with how siblings actually act with each other. The scene where Thor finally unlocks his full potential and uses his power is a sight to behold. The music playing in the background and him crashing down towards the fighters on the rainbow bridge was amazing.

There are so many things that I want to talk about but this post is getting a bit long so I think I’m going to end it here. This movie is a really amazing addition the MCU and it made me love Thor so much. There was a lot of heart to it and it’s a fun twist to a classic superhero movie. I hoped you enjoyed reading my rant about this movie!

Thanks for reading!

-Mina ♥

If you want to know where you can watch it it’s available on Netflix.
If you want to just know more here’s a link to marvels official page for the movie.

Photos by Unsplash

March 31

Cliches

Generally I talk about fandoms on my blog but I sorta wanted to talk about Cliches. Cliches are all around in the entertainment business. Books, movies, and shows especially. Cliches do happen in real life but I’m not going to talk about that today. So if you want to hear my take on this topic here goes.

The cliche I want to talk about is one that comes up a lot in romance books. They also come out a lot in fanfiction.  I used to love them and I would read them a lot. (Disclaimer: I’m not trying to call anyone out or say they’re bad books.) But something that I would see a lot of is this. There is an untochable bad boy that loves no one with his own little group that are super popular. The new innocent girl comes to school and they boy instantly likes her. The girl doesn’t like the boy and tells him to back off. There is a typical jealous mean girl in there somewhere. The boy invades the girls person space. The girl eventually likes the boy. Some sorta drama happens. The story goes on like that.

There are also other cliches in these types of stories. The girl is often innocent and unnoticed and she always calls herself as nothing special. But she always ends up as this sassy person and apparently beautiful later on in the story. The bad boy is often terrible to the girl at times and yet the girl always forgives them. Also side note it seems like they never have homework.  Another thing is that other then the main boy and girl the characters around them often don’t have a lot to them. The best friends to each of the boy and girl don’t do a lot aside from support their friend and make some quips but that’s about it.

I have to admit that at first these stories seem really interesting but the more I looked at them at a different perspective and grew up a bit I don’t see them as appealing. From time to time they are fun to read but I have ended up liking stories that break cliches a bit more. I see some comments on people saying they wish they had these stories happen to them but in my opinion I don’t agree. If I came across a boy like that I would probably end up hating them.

Thanks for reading and tell me in the comments if you agree or not!

-Mina ♥

-Unsplash

 

March 31

Carmen Sandiego

So recently Netflix has come out with a new show called Carmen Sandiego. I instantly started to love this show. The animation, the story, and the characters. The story is action packed and it is so fun to watch. admittedly Carmen Sandiego is a kids show. However I think a lot of people would like it. If you haven’t watched the show you really should and come back and read this post afterwards. As for the people that have keep on reading.

Let me tell you a little bit about the story. The main character is Carmen Sandiego but what makes her so interesting is her backstory. Carmen Sandiego is an orphan found by somebody  and she was brought to an island. This island is where she grew up and the only thing there was VILE academy. VILE Academy was a school for thieves and the staff and people there were the people that she grew up with. The people that took care of her. She was too young to apply for the school and she never was able to leave the island. So she never saw the outside world and all she knew came  from thieves. She eventually made contact of the outside world through a cell phone that she got a hold of. The person she came contact to became her best friend. When she was a bit older she applied for the academy and she got in. But once she got there she realized that not everything is as it seems. She realized that stealing was bad at that the people she grew up with hurt people. She found out what really VILE stood for. Villians Internation League of Evil. She decided to escape from VILE and with her took a harddrive of all the information of VILE’s little projects. That’s when our story begings.

Carmen sets out to stop VILE and all the terrible things they do. The person she came in contact to is called Player and he’s a white hat hacker. We see her adventures in stopping VILE and it’s such a fun story. Something I love about this show is the aesthetic of it. VILE always seems to take on the color red and Carmen in turn when she left VILE she herself took up the theme of the color red. She has the iconic red hat and coat. All her tools are red as well. The animation is stunning and the characters are extremly likeable.

Carmen Sandiego is a great show and I think it’s going to keep on getting better. The twist in the season finale sets up for a great story line ahead and I’m really excited. Something that is also great about the show is that it teaches the viewers along the episodes. I can’t wait to see season two and how this story is gonna go.

Thanks for reading!

-Mina ♥

(Photos from Unsplash)

 

 

March 31

The Old Gods Are Back

The world screwed up.

When aliens first came to our solar system we were overjoyed. Admittedly some were a bit weary but we still welcomed them with open arms. I for one was terrified but I have to admit I was curious. 

But when they came it didn’t got nearly as well as we hoped. They took one look of us and thought that we were unfit to be in control in our planet. They said we must give up control of Earth. 

We didn’t 

Us humans are terrible on so many levels and even if we didn’t deserve the planet we weren’t willing to give it up .

The world leaders came together and planned a huge assault on the main ship hoping to decimate them. As far as the world knows it didn’t work. The bombs were somehow deactivated, the bullets didn’t seem to affect them too much, and the soldiers names are well honored today. 

The war began and we are losing terribly. But we’re not done. Humans are a little too stubborn to give up on hope. But the countries fell. Now people are split up in rebellion groups. Doing what we can to help each other and stop the enemies as much as possible. 

Attacks kept coming and groups were disappearing left and right and the attacks were getting more and more ruthless. 

Then the stories started coming.

They first just seemed odd but nothing to think too much big. But still…large tsunamis that hit the aliens costal bases but never seemed to come close to the rebellion groups that were set there. Volcanoes erupting even doormat ones and lava only affecting areas where the aliens weapons were held. A freak storm that wiped out an army that was advancing on a large rebellion group. 

But things got weirder. Rumors spread of armies of aliens dead on the ground with flowers growing out of them. A man with shadows and a woman with flowers always seemed close by. They didn’t shut up about a woman so beautiful she stopped a running army right in it’s tracks but her pleasant face soon turned dangerous and with a word the aliens turned and killed each other.

Things kept happening. Their were aliens that had trees growing through them. People claimed to see monsters in the ocean taking out enemy ships. The aliens somehow gone insane when faced with a man with purple eyes. They talked of glowing chariots that charged towards armies with fury unmatched. 

But it can’t be true. 

I only believed it when I saw it with my own eyes. I was on a supply run when I got trapped in the forest and in the clearing faced the largest army I’ve seen so far. A feeling of dread spread through me. I hung the supplies in a tree in hope that the group would find it. 

As I walked out to the clearing the army slowly advanced. But before I could do anything two being stepped out of the forest. Twins. They glowed impossibly bright like the sun and moon. 

The man and woman looked young but their eyes told a different story. There were eyes that seen a lot of things and held a lot of age and I instantly knew who they were. They had arrows in their hands and the woman had wolves closely following her. Then the man started to sing. It was eery and beautiful and he sung of a prophecy. While he sung the twins cocked their arrows and they attacked. Every arrow hit. The wolves attacked and the mans singing made the aliens collapse and start sobbing, some of them dropped dead. 

Nothing even touched me. I heard the song but it wasn’t meant for me. It never spoke it’s truth to me. But the aliens felt all of it and you can see it affecting them. But still the power vibrated in the air and I felt myself fall to the ground and close my eyes.

But the music stopped abruptly and I opened my eyes. The bodies of the aliens laid dead right where they stood moments before. There were arrows in every alien all struck the same place exactly. Not a millimeter off.  

The twins stood in the middle of it glowing brightly compared to the bodies. I shakily stood up and wiped the blood off my ear. The twins gently smiled and spoke in unison “Did you really thing we left forever?” Two chariots descended and I watched as they were carried away to fight the next battle. 

When I went to get the supplies I found a bow and arrow set attached to it that faintly glowed. 

Yes monsters came to our world and the tricks up our sleeve didn’t quite work. But a couple of old ones came back. 

Yes the gods are real and it turns out they never quite left.

So now as I fight I fight with the gods. 

 

 

(Hey everyone I saw this story prompt on Tumblr and made this. I know it’s not very good but I decided to put it on here cause I sorta ran out of ideas on what to write about. But hey I hope you enjoyed!)

Thanks for reading!

-Mina ♥

 

(Photos from Unsplash)

February 28

How To Train Your Dragon 3

I went to watch HTTYD 3 the day it came out. Let me tell you it was amazing.

This trilogy has been part of my childhood and I think all three movies are amazing. The animation and story was beautiful. All the characters were the characters we know and loved. Toothless was still cute and powerful and Hiccup was still wanted to help all dragons and had the same hope and wonder as always.

(Spoilers) It was interesting to see Hiccup as chief and Toothless as the alpha of all dragons. We were introduced to a bunch of new dragons and you can see that all the character grown. The way they do things are experienced and through the changes from the last movie you can see that the characters have settled into their places. Now the villain. I think that villain is an interesting one. The villain is the exact opposite of Hiccup. When he caught a Nightfury he killed it and became a hero in his town. Hiccup had the same opportunity many years back but unlike the villain he didn’t. The light fury was very pretty and I think that she was an interesting dragon. Her and Toothless were extremely cute together and I’m glad to see Toothless happy.

Now the ending. (MAJOR SPOILER)I was so upset when Toothless had to leave. It hurt seeing Toothless and Hiccup separate and I never thought that it would happen. They always seem inseparable and I always imagined that they would always be together through adult hood. I knew why it had to happen and I am glad that they eventually saw each other again. Also the ending voice over was beautiful and I was crying all through the ending.This movie is amazing and I think if you haven’t watched it you really should.

Thanks for reading!

-Mina ♥

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February 28

Spiderman Into The Spiderverse

Okay can we just talk about his movie. This movie is amazing. The animation, music, character, and story. I absolutely loved this movie.

So I went to watch this movie and honestly it blew me away. I instantly like Miles and all the spider people. I related to Miles because he really did teenage things and acted like one. Peter is hilarious and even though he doesn’t act it at first he really does care for Miles and you can see he’s a good guy. What’s not like about Gwen? She was graceful and hilarious and also her animation was beautiful. Peni and her robot was really cute and really hit the futuristic element. Spiderman Noir is hilarious and I think the way he fights is cool. Peter Porker is also a great fighter and the random cartooness is hilarious.

The scenes in this movie are really beautiful. The Leap of Faith scene as a whole was beautiful and I was so happy for Miles. The last fight scene with all the spider people is really cool and graceful. I loved how the movie really felt like a comic book. All the colors and the little word box things were amazing. Kingpin was a good villain and so was Doc Oct. The last scene between Miles and Kingpin is amazing. How Miles was knocked down over and over and he kept getting up and the whole shoulder tap thing.

This movie is amazing and a packaged deal. It is a must see. it was fun and hilarious while also making you tear up and swell up with pride. It’s animation is amazing and they put so much effort in it. If you haven’t you need to go watch it.

Thanks for reading!

-Mina ♥

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