Hearty congratulations on reaching Level 60 @Rakkikun san 
Thanks for sharing your wonderful personal story 
Good luck on your future endeavors 
If you don’t mind me asking, what were some of your favorite locations and dishes on your visit to Japan?
Oh wow to get motivated all you have to do is book a flight to Japan? How did I not think about this before? Thank you so much
I mean Kanji and spoken are two different things. So while you may be able to read some Kanji if people are speaking to you, you won’t necessarily understand them.
Thank you! Hope it can be useful for you!
Hmm let’s see… my favorite location has to be the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter in Okayama. It’s a somewhat secluded building complex with a classic Japanese architecture and a beautiful canal (that you can navigate by riding a boat, by the way) in the middle. I said secluded because I had to walk quite a bit to reach there and the route wasn’t exactly straightforward. But of course, it’s definitely worth it. When I finally reached there, it wasn’t too crowded either so it was just perfect for me. And so, everything I mentioned gave off this serene, calming atmosphere and I absolutely loved it. In and around the complex, there are lots of interesting souvenir shops too so if you want something memorable to take home you’re all covered.
The bar I visited is among my favorite locations, too. It’s a small underground bar in Kobe called Otohatoba. I didn’t plan going to Kobe at all so I went there simply on a whim. From what I can gather, it often hosts indie EDM music show. I really, really like lesser-known Japanese EDM sub-genres so the music was crazy fun for me. Also, the small size (I think it can only accommodate about 30 people at most) allows anyone to just blend in and socialize without being too overwhelming.
My third and final favorite location is a more popular one, the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto. I didn’t like it at first since it was way too crowded. However, once I passed through the main course (the bamboo forest) the crowd dispersed due to the area opening up to more buildings and gardens. At this point, the feeling is not too dissimilar from Kurashiki, serene and calming. My favorite spot here is the lake at the edge of the area (I didn’t remember where exactly, but it’s there). The lake has this greenish, almost teal, water with a nicely paved walkway for me to walk alongside it. While there were main roads nearby, the lake still has a calming rural atmosphere with lush vegetations, animals, and people riding traditional boats.
As for dishes, well… I didn’t try much, unfortunately. I’m sure everyone is already familiar with rice bowls and onigiri and those are what I mostly ate. They are delicious sure but do I really have to tell you to try when you most likely will?
But let me think… my more unique favorite dishes are probably kibi dango and miso soup. I’m not sure what kibi dango is but I think it’s similar to mochi, a chewy, small, sweet cake with various flavors inside. It’s an Okayama specialty so there are plenty in Kurashiki. As for miso soup, it’s simply delicious with its rich umami flavor, tofu, and seaweed. It’s so good that I almost cried the first time I ate it. Now that I’m back in my own country, I still eat miso soup from time to time. Thank god there are plenty of Japanese restaurants here.
Well, that’s all. Sorry if it’s a bit lengthy but yeah I hope it could serve as a useful reference for you!
You’re welcome! I originally intended my trip to Japan just to give me the initial push I need to finally start learning Japanese. It ended up giving me much more motivations than I could ask for.
I think I might have given the wrong impressions there so thanks for clearing this up! I guess you’re right. Knowing kanji and words may help to some extent, but being able to comprehend spoken words is another matter. If you don’t mind, I will chose this as a ‘solution’. Thanks again!
If you go to Japan, or speak to a Japanese person this is something that they will say to you XD
It’s so common ahaha. Even if you say something very simple or basic they will say it to you!
Thanks for taking time to provide us with a wonderful answer Rakki san 
I appreciate it
I was being snarky lmao
I’ve dreamed of leaving my country - or maybe just my state even - for years but I have no money nor independence.
I’ve also been struggling with a lack of motivation these past months and can’t bring myself to doing lessons or reviews.
When I read “how I got motivation” I was like damn this thread might give me some life fuel ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ but no 
lol
still I’m happy you got to leave your country and travel and learn and reach level 60. congratulations 
Wkwkwk nihongo wa uede! 
Banyak selamat, semoga tetep lancar perjalanan belajar bahasa Jepangnya ya
I hope I can visit Japan someday like you did! It seems you had a wonderful experience that was elevated by even your basic understanding of Japanese back then. I’d like to put the WK knowledge to use when reading the street signs throughout Japan someday, although right now I’m still practicing by reading the labels on food packages 
If that’s the case then I’m sorry if it came off as insensitive. I guess my post is indeed more of personal story than actual advice and it totally doesn’t apply to your current circumstances. I can only hope for the best for you. Good luck out there, man.
Also thanks!
Wow terima kasih banyak ya
Never thought I’d come across another Indonesian here… or is it Malaysian? Doesn’t matter, it’s still basically the same language and similar culture.
Oh street signs are… difficult. Most of them are written in kanji but I’m sure you’ll do just fine. You are already two thirds of the way there, afterall. Hmm that’s interesting, sometimes I also practice by reading food labels or anything else that I come across. Keep on practicing and good luck on your journey also! Salam hangat!
Thanks Rakkikun, I enjoyed your post and all of the comments and found them interesting and helpful. I became a paid member in June of 2020 and am waiting on 3 more Kanji to reach level 32. I’m trying to find the shortest possible time to move up a level. I am now on day 6 of this level and increased one kanji all day yesterday and one all day today, after about 200 vocab and other kanji each day. I guess they don’t want you to finish too quickly. I think by fastest completion so far was nine days, on the last two units. Are you on the lifetime membership, or are you finished with payments, or possibly going to continue with the monthly payments? I wanted to upgrade at the end of last year but wasn’t able to do so. Not sure what would be the best route to take. I’ve also completed one run through all of the Rocket Japanese courses as have done a lot at Duolingo and am watching some Japanese movies and reading some stories. Thanks again. I also haven’t spent much time in this community, though I always wanted to and planned to do so. The time just runs by so quickly it seems.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Indeed, going too fast could cost your retention. For me, every time I tried to go fast, my accuracy would drop by a landslide and I would have a hard time recalling the items. My accuracy was around 95% up until level 40 and it went downhill from there because I tried to go fast on some levels. This was made worse by the more complicated kanji and nonsensical mnemonics. Even now, I can see that my accuracy is still dropping. I guess I learned it the hard way. I should have slowed down on some levels.
With that being said, I think you’re already on the right track. It’s best to just go with the pace you’re most comfortable with. If you could finish a level in 9 days without sacrificing your accuracy then that’s great. But remember to slow down once you feel like your accuracy is not satisfactory or if reviews starts to get overwhelming.
I was on monthly subscription from October to November of 2019 before I finally decided to upgrade to lifetime in December of 2019. My decision was based off a rough estimate on how long it would take for me to reach level 60. I estimated 2 years if I could really maintain a constant pace but I wasn’t sure so I paid for the lifetime membership as an insurance in case I exceed my 2 years target. As you can see, I managed to reach level 60 in just under 2 years and I could have paid less if I had the annual subscription instead. Though, I think I will stick around for a while. Perhaps until I have guru’d every items in level 60.
I think your pace and mine are quite similar and seeing that you’re already halfway there, I think it’s best if you just get another annual subscription. That is unless you plan to burn everything and if that’s the case, you might want to consider the lifetime membership instead.
Hope this helps! Good luck and have a nice journey!
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