And no, I don't mean the book by Richard Castle. I actually enjoyed that. lol.
Anywho, it's warming up here in Japan and it's been predicted that this year, like last year, we're going to have a LONG summer. What does this mean? It means I'm going to drink a lot more liquids and hopefully sweat out more fat. GO ME! It also means that I'm going to sweat buckets in my business attire because I, unlike my teachers, have to wear business clothes while teaching. My teachers get to wear track suits. Honestly? I don't care about looking good so long as I don't have sweat all over my pretty clothes. Sadly, the company cares.
Along with the heat there are monsoons. I don't mind the rain itself, but I hate the intense humidity before it happens. I HATE my skin sticking to everything I touch simply because it's so darn humid. The women here have a small towel that they dab themselves with every couple of seconds because their skin is "beta beta", or sticky because of the humidity. Fun tidbit: The Pokemon Grimer and Muk in Japanese have names that derive from this onomatopoetic word.
At least when I get home I can strip to shorts and a tank and not care. Sometimes I wonder if it'd be better to wear leggings instead so that my skin stops sticking to itself when I sit at my desk.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
24 Cycles
Guess what? MONDAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY!!! :D I am now 24 years old. The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.
I've been busy ever since. lol. This week was Golden Week (a series of holidays at the beginning of May), so I had Tuesday through Thursday (today) off! :D This still means that I had to work on Monday, which sucked in the sense that having a holiday on my birthday would've been awesome, but it was AWESOME because I taught my first graders at one of my schools for the first time and they were SOOOO CUTE!!! I mean, seriously? I had at least 6 little girls run up to me during lunch time and tell me that they love me. B'awww.
After a long day at work because I had to be especially energetic for my little ones, I went home to change out of business clothes into comfy clothes and went out to the ramen shop near my house with my friend Eric. Aki, the owner of the ramen shop (who has also become a friend) gave me two slices of char siu on the house since it was my birthday. :3 Eric ate a bunch of gyoza because he didn't feel like having ramen while I porked out on, well, PORK. And ramen. :D
Kazupon, who I'd only met once but is really sweet and nice, came over a little later and gave me a present! She bought me a little Happy Birthday card that looks like a chocolate cake (IT LOOKS DELICIOUS!) as well as a cute beige scrunchy. So adorable! Eric gave me a Hawaiian Red Guava scented air freshener that I keep sniffing even now. It smells SO good, and you just know he got it for me because I'm from Hawaii. hahaha.
Eric left early because he was going to spend the night at his mom's place because of Mother's Day and I went out drinking with Aki, Gou, Kazupon and Hanawa, Kazupon's boyfriend. There was also the guy who lives in Chigasaki, but I forgot his name. D: If anything, I have the excuse that I'd already had two whole bottles of beer, and I mean Japanese bottles, not the smaller American ones. Haha. After a few drinks I totally knocked out because I 1) drank a lot, which made me sleepy and 2) it was late and I'd woken up early because of work. Luckily, I had Gou's shoulder to sleep on. I don't think he minded at all. He thinks I'm cute. XD
After I'd woken up from my catnap we bought more booze at the nearby 7-11 and went to Aki's place to chill. Aki started pushing pressure points on everyone's feet. Apparently, if you didn't feel it that was a sign you're healthy. If that's the case, Hanawa and I are NOT healthy. Why am I not surprised? Hahaha. Out of boredom I went around giving shoulder massages after Kazupon left early, and I guess out of mutual boredom Hanawa and I gave each other simultaneous foot massages. I apparently did a really good job because he could really feel the difference when he walked around afterward. Hahaha.
After all of 3 to 4 hours of sleep I woke up and got ready to go down to Odawara for the parade they have there. I brought my yukata and T helped me put it on. She's no pro, but I couldn't do it myself without a mirror so it really helped to have her help me. T wore hers and she also helped out friend Christina get into the one T gave her. We met up with some friends at the Odawara Castle to watch the parade. It was swarming with people, but because of the earthquake and the tsunami back in March, the parade was smaller. It was probably less than half the size it was last year. Sad, but still pretty. I took video, so hopefully I can upload that eventually. I'll probably forget though. lol.
We wandered around the festival stands and got food. I got rainbow shaved ice, which was AWESOME, along with a GIGANTIC burger. I can't believe I ate the entire thing. Haha. They had shop stalls as well. The girls were interested in buying kimono because they had used kimono for sale. I actually got a pink silk kimono, an obi and the under kimono for about $35! The woman was going to sell the kimono for $50 at first, but she saw that I was skeptical and said she'd lower the price to $30. SO awesome.
After swinging back to T's place and changing into normal clothes, we went out with Christina again to a party for a bunch of foreigners living in the Odawara area. It was fun. We had Yakiniku and the meat was, of course, good quality and therefore tasted ridiculously good. We went to a bar afterward where I was hit on by a VERY drunk Japanese guy who kept asking me to kiss him. Of course, I didn't. He moved on to another girl after my continuous refusal, only to return again once that girl had left. I was so mean. He said "Maybe I'll just go home." in Japanese and I replied "Yeah, maybe you should." Honestly, that's what you get for being 34 and hitting on a 24 year old that you KNOW is 24.
I spent the night dancing along with my friends and went back home to T's place covered in sweat from the heat of the bar as well all the dancing. T and I fell asleep almost right after we got home and woke up relatively early to have some coffee. Her friends came over to visit while I was getting ready to leave. They were so nice and gave me a lift to the train station so I wouldn't miss my train! :D
After dropping off my stuff at my place, I went back to the station and hopped on a train bound for Yokohama where I met Shimbo and some of her friends. We went to Karaoke and did Purikura before two of her friends had to leave. I had a Matcha Cafe au Lait with Shimbo and Kobayashi while talking about what had changed at one of my schools since Kobayashi had moved to another school.
We split ways after coffee and I dropped by Uni Qlo and Putumayo afterward and did a bit of shopping. I bought an ADORABLE outfit and skirt from Putumayo as well as two adorable Care Bears themed shirts from Uni Qlo. Something comfy to wear out with the new skirt I'd bought. :3 I also dropped by a jewelry shop in the same department store and bought some earrings.
While walking home from my station I noticed that Aki's shop was still open and dropped by, only to find that he was sitting having drinks with some friends. They invited me in and I got drunk on Shochu that was delicious.
And now it's Thursday. The week's gone by surprisingly fast and I've done so much only to spend today checking emails and fiddling around with my computer. I've got to say, after all the fun it feels really good to just sit and relax at home. Especially since my neck's hurting from some serious head banging when we were all dancing at that bar two nights ago. Ouch.
I've been busy ever since. lol. This week was Golden Week (a series of holidays at the beginning of May), so I had Tuesday through Thursday (today) off! :D This still means that I had to work on Monday, which sucked in the sense that having a holiday on my birthday would've been awesome, but it was AWESOME because I taught my first graders at one of my schools for the first time and they were SOOOO CUTE!!! I mean, seriously? I had at least 6 little girls run up to me during lunch time and tell me that they love me. B'awww.
After a long day at work because I had to be especially energetic for my little ones, I went home to change out of business clothes into comfy clothes and went out to the ramen shop near my house with my friend Eric. Aki, the owner of the ramen shop (who has also become a friend) gave me two slices of char siu on the house since it was my birthday. :3 Eric ate a bunch of gyoza because he didn't feel like having ramen while I porked out on, well, PORK. And ramen. :D
Kazupon, who I'd only met once but is really sweet and nice, came over a little later and gave me a present! She bought me a little Happy Birthday card that looks like a chocolate cake (IT LOOKS DELICIOUS!) as well as a cute beige scrunchy. So adorable! Eric gave me a Hawaiian Red Guava scented air freshener that I keep sniffing even now. It smells SO good, and you just know he got it for me because I'm from Hawaii. hahaha.
Eric left early because he was going to spend the night at his mom's place because of Mother's Day and I went out drinking with Aki, Gou, Kazupon and Hanawa, Kazupon's boyfriend. There was also the guy who lives in Chigasaki, but I forgot his name. D: If anything, I have the excuse that I'd already had two whole bottles of beer, and I mean Japanese bottles, not the smaller American ones. Haha. After a few drinks I totally knocked out because I 1) drank a lot, which made me sleepy and 2) it was late and I'd woken up early because of work. Luckily, I had Gou's shoulder to sleep on. I don't think he minded at all. He thinks I'm cute. XD
After I'd woken up from my catnap we bought more booze at the nearby 7-11 and went to Aki's place to chill. Aki started pushing pressure points on everyone's feet. Apparently, if you didn't feel it that was a sign you're healthy. If that's the case, Hanawa and I are NOT healthy. Why am I not surprised? Hahaha. Out of boredom I went around giving shoulder massages after Kazupon left early, and I guess out of mutual boredom Hanawa and I gave each other simultaneous foot massages. I apparently did a really good job because he could really feel the difference when he walked around afterward. Hahaha.
After all of 3 to 4 hours of sleep I woke up and got ready to go down to Odawara for the parade they have there. I brought my yukata and T helped me put it on. She's no pro, but I couldn't do it myself without a mirror so it really helped to have her help me. T wore hers and she also helped out friend Christina get into the one T gave her. We met up with some friends at the Odawara Castle to watch the parade. It was swarming with people, but because of the earthquake and the tsunami back in March, the parade was smaller. It was probably less than half the size it was last year. Sad, but still pretty. I took video, so hopefully I can upload that eventually. I'll probably forget though. lol.
We wandered around the festival stands and got food. I got rainbow shaved ice, which was AWESOME, along with a GIGANTIC burger. I can't believe I ate the entire thing. Haha. They had shop stalls as well. The girls were interested in buying kimono because they had used kimono for sale. I actually got a pink silk kimono, an obi and the under kimono for about $35! The woman was going to sell the kimono for $50 at first, but she saw that I was skeptical and said she'd lower the price to $30. SO awesome.
After swinging back to T's place and changing into normal clothes, we went out with Christina again to a party for a bunch of foreigners living in the Odawara area. It was fun. We had Yakiniku and the meat was, of course, good quality and therefore tasted ridiculously good. We went to a bar afterward where I was hit on by a VERY drunk Japanese guy who kept asking me to kiss him. Of course, I didn't. He moved on to another girl after my continuous refusal, only to return again once that girl had left. I was so mean. He said "Maybe I'll just go home." in Japanese and I replied "Yeah, maybe you should." Honestly, that's what you get for being 34 and hitting on a 24 year old that you KNOW is 24.
I spent the night dancing along with my friends and went back home to T's place covered in sweat from the heat of the bar as well all the dancing. T and I fell asleep almost right after we got home and woke up relatively early to have some coffee. Her friends came over to visit while I was getting ready to leave. They were so nice and gave me a lift to the train station so I wouldn't miss my train! :D
After dropping off my stuff at my place, I went back to the station and hopped on a train bound for Yokohama where I met Shimbo and some of her friends. We went to Karaoke and did Purikura before two of her friends had to leave. I had a Matcha Cafe au Lait with Shimbo and Kobayashi while talking about what had changed at one of my schools since Kobayashi had moved to another school.
We split ways after coffee and I dropped by Uni Qlo and Putumayo afterward and did a bit of shopping. I bought an ADORABLE outfit and skirt from Putumayo as well as two adorable Care Bears themed shirts from Uni Qlo. Something comfy to wear out with the new skirt I'd bought. :3 I also dropped by a jewelry shop in the same department store and bought some earrings.
While walking home from my station I noticed that Aki's shop was still open and dropped by, only to find that he was sitting having drinks with some friends. They invited me in and I got drunk on Shochu that was delicious.
And now it's Thursday. The week's gone by surprisingly fast and I've done so much only to spend today checking emails and fiddling around with my computer. I've got to say, after all the fun it feels really good to just sit and relax at home. Especially since my neck's hurting from some serious head banging when we were all dancing at that bar two nights ago. Ouch.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Skype is Awesome
So today I spent 2 hours chatting with a Japanese friend of mine I met through my schools who's moved to Canada to become fluent in English. He emailed my cellphone asking me to "tell" him English. He later corrected himself while we Skyped that he wanted me to "teach" him English. Oh, the cuteness.
Anywho, all of a minute after I finished talking to my friend, guess who called? MY FAMILY! :D My parents have gone to my brother's house for a visit and they skyped me from the couch in his living room. Chucky was showing off his spiffy new Mac. I don't like Macs, but I have to admit that the sheer fact that it came ready with a mic and a webcam and therefore allowed us to Skype made it a lot more appealing. Not to mention that Macs are shiny, but I digress.
Skype is wonderful. Mom said that AT&T is probably crying from all the lost business. hahaha.
Anywho, I'm still alive and kicking. I'm probably the most active on Twitter (my screenname is Chiyokins) because I can easily update that from my phone. I'll try to be more active on my blog. I really will try. I mean it. I will. *shifty eyes*
Anywho, all of a minute after I finished talking to my friend, guess who called? MY FAMILY! :D My parents have gone to my brother's house for a visit and they skyped me from the couch in his living room. Chucky was showing off his spiffy new Mac. I don't like Macs, but I have to admit that the sheer fact that it came ready with a mic and a webcam and therefore allowed us to Skype made it a lot more appealing. Not to mention that Macs are shiny, but I digress.
Skype is wonderful. Mom said that AT&T is probably crying from all the lost business. hahaha.
Anywho, I'm still alive and kicking. I'm probably the most active on Twitter (my screenname is Chiyokins) because I can easily update that from my phone. I'll try to be more active on my blog. I really will try. I mean it. I will. *shifty eyes*
Friday, March 11, 2011
Earthquake
A lot's happened since I last posted, but I feel I should post the most important thing first and come back to everything else when it's not 4am.
Japan was hit by an 8.9M earthquake today, March 11th, 2011, off the coast of Sendai. There was a 13 foot tsunami that hit the northern side of Japan, which later also hit Hawaii but with much less force. Sendai is north east of where I live and, luckily, I was south enough where it was strong enough to shake the building, but didn't topple anything over. I came home to find a bag of bottle caps had fallen down and that's it.
There were fires up north in Chiba, which is next to Tokyo. There were also some fires in Sendai. Last I checked the death toll was at 40 people and rising because Japan has many underground parking lots and subways... and sadly not everyone got out of them alive.
I bet you're wondering what I'm still doing up at 4 in the morning. I stayed up until 10pm Japan time, 3am Hawaii time to keep an eye on the tsunami. It wasn't very strong and I fell asleep at my kotatsu waiting for more updates. I woke up around 1am to find that the tides in Hawaii were simply higher than normal and everyone seemed alright. Considering Grandma and Auntie Fay live on a mountain I figured they'd be fine either way. Still, having everyone running out to fill up their gas tanks and pumping the gas stations dry was disconcerting.
And for some reason I just haven't gotten back to sleep. I know once I lay down I'll crash, but for some reason I feel kind of restless. We had another little tremor just a little while ago. Larger than most of the itty bitty ones in the sense that I heard my windows rattle a bit and also still feel my apartment building, new as it is, still swaying a bit. I think I know what lying on one of those vibrating beds they have at motels feels like now. hahaha.
Anyway, considering it's so late I'm going to curl up in bed. Stay safe everyone!
Japan was hit by an 8.9M earthquake today, March 11th, 2011, off the coast of Sendai. There was a 13 foot tsunami that hit the northern side of Japan, which later also hit Hawaii but with much less force. Sendai is north east of where I live and, luckily, I was south enough where it was strong enough to shake the building, but didn't topple anything over. I came home to find a bag of bottle caps had fallen down and that's it.
There were fires up north in Chiba, which is next to Tokyo. There were also some fires in Sendai. Last I checked the death toll was at 40 people and rising because Japan has many underground parking lots and subways... and sadly not everyone got out of them alive.
I bet you're wondering what I'm still doing up at 4 in the morning. I stayed up until 10pm Japan time, 3am Hawaii time to keep an eye on the tsunami. It wasn't very strong and I fell asleep at my kotatsu waiting for more updates. I woke up around 1am to find that the tides in Hawaii were simply higher than normal and everyone seemed alright. Considering Grandma and Auntie Fay live on a mountain I figured they'd be fine either way. Still, having everyone running out to fill up their gas tanks and pumping the gas stations dry was disconcerting.
And for some reason I just haven't gotten back to sleep. I know once I lay down I'll crash, but for some reason I feel kind of restless. We had another little tremor just a little while ago. Larger than most of the itty bitty ones in the sense that I heard my windows rattle a bit and also still feel my apartment building, new as it is, still swaying a bit. I think I know what lying on one of those vibrating beds they have at motels feels like now. hahaha.
Anyway, considering it's so late I'm going to curl up in bed. Stay safe everyone!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Michiko's Takoyaki Stand
Hey, guys. Turns out I caught another cold, but I like looking on the bright side of life: at least I didn't catch the flu. The flu's being going around all my schools, but they've been doing a really good job at making sure that kids with the flu GO HOME and DON'T SPREAD IT TO EVERYONE ELSE. Still, the cold weather and my bad habit of staying up late finally caught up with me. At least I had a whole month of not having a cold. lol.
Anywho, Friday, in the midst of my cold and after having six whole classes that day, I decided to treat myself and have Takoyaki. Not only is it warm, but it's also delicious. So I walked on up and chatted with Michiko, the lady who works the stand, when two fifth grade boys come up on their bicycles calling Michiko "Oba-san", which means auntie. We talked for a bit. I kept chatting with Michiko and all the while one of the boys kept staring at me. It wasn't one of those creepy stares or the 'I don't know you, but I don't like you' stare. It was full of curiosity, and I actually saw him tilt his head as he looked at me. Very adorable. I think he was mostly curious because 1) I was a foreigner (Michiko told them how I was an English teacher), 2) I speak Japanese pretty darn well for a foreigner and 3) I was wearing a mask because I didn't want to get anyone else sick. I think the mask really did it because I think he was really curious as to how I looked, because his main focus was my face.
I just found it really curious. I mean, here's this cute little kid looking up at me from his bicycle with these large eyes just kind of analyzing me. lol. Makes you wonder if he'll become a scientist or something when he grows up.
Oooh. Also, both boys really liked skulls and crossbones, as do I. We got on the topic of Dokuro, the Japanese word for skull and crossbones, because Michiko was wearing a black knit beanie with hot pink skulls and crossbones on it. Very cute. I showed her my Dokuro watch and my Dokuro backpack. The cute curious boy showed us his wallet, which had a really gorgeously drawn skull on it with (I think it was) flowers framing it. He bought it with his own money. DANG. These kids were wearing some nice stuff too, and apparently it wasn't all bought by just their parents so they must get a sweet allowance. Considering they go to Jyuku, cram school, until nine pm, I can see why. Geez.
Anywho, Friday, in the midst of my cold and after having six whole classes that day, I decided to treat myself and have Takoyaki. Not only is it warm, but it's also delicious. So I walked on up and chatted with Michiko, the lady who works the stand, when two fifth grade boys come up on their bicycles calling Michiko "Oba-san", which means auntie. We talked for a bit. I kept chatting with Michiko and all the while one of the boys kept staring at me. It wasn't one of those creepy stares or the 'I don't know you, but I don't like you' stare. It was full of curiosity, and I actually saw him tilt his head as he looked at me. Very adorable. I think he was mostly curious because 1) I was a foreigner (Michiko told them how I was an English teacher), 2) I speak Japanese pretty darn well for a foreigner and 3) I was wearing a mask because I didn't want to get anyone else sick. I think the mask really did it because I think he was really curious as to how I looked, because his main focus was my face.
I just found it really curious. I mean, here's this cute little kid looking up at me from his bicycle with these large eyes just kind of analyzing me. lol. Makes you wonder if he'll become a scientist or something when he grows up.
Oooh. Also, both boys really liked skulls and crossbones, as do I. We got on the topic of Dokuro, the Japanese word for skull and crossbones, because Michiko was wearing a black knit beanie with hot pink skulls and crossbones on it. Very cute. I showed her my Dokuro watch and my Dokuro backpack. The cute curious boy showed us his wallet, which had a really gorgeously drawn skull on it with (I think it was) flowers framing it. He bought it with his own money. DANG. These kids were wearing some nice stuff too, and apparently it wasn't all bought by just their parents so they must get a sweet allowance. Considering they go to Jyuku, cram school, until nine pm, I can see why. Geez.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
告白
告白 means "confession".
Last night I confessed to my crush that I liked him and he confessed that he likes me too! I don't know if this means we're dating, but either way I'm just so darn happy I've been on Cloud Nine ALL DAY. I had to teach six classes today instead of my normal four or five and even though I'm tired I'm still so gosh darn giddy it's almost creepy. lol!
I know I said in my last post that I was going to go shower and go to bed, but I think I'll text him first and maybe draw a lovey-dovey doodle because I feel like it. XD
Last night I confessed to my crush that I liked him and he confessed that he likes me too! I don't know if this means we're dating, but either way I'm just so darn happy I've been on Cloud Nine ALL DAY. I had to teach six classes today instead of my normal four or five and even though I'm tired I'm still so gosh darn giddy it's almost creepy. lol!
I know I said in my last post that I was going to go shower and go to bed, but I think I'll text him first and maybe draw a lovey-dovey doodle because I feel like it. XD
枕のブロッグエントリ
The title of today's entry is 枕のブロッグエントリ, or "The Pillow Blog Entry". This is a dumb little play on words from 枕草子, or "The Pillow Book", written by Sei Shounagon. Silly little Japanese major thing.
MOVING ON.
It never ceases to amaze me just how nice the people in Japan can be.
I swung by the futon shop near my house because I've been thinking about buying a new pillow for some time now. Well, I picked up a cheap pillow that I thought after some beatings might do me some good, but the man at the counter stopped me when I gave it to him to make a purchase. He started off by saying, "Isn't this pillow a bit tall?" I agreed, and he started telling me how the pillow is usually used for when you go on trips or for guests to use when they stay the night. The pillow itself is so darn tall that continually using it causes neck and shoulder pains.
I don't know how many of you have actually felt my shoulders, but the muscles are always in knots and I sometimes complain about how much they hurt. Well, even if you didn't already know that, I bet you're realizing just how much I started doubting about whether or not I should buy the cheap-o pillow.
He told me how more expensive things are usually more expensive for a reason. I've always been suspicious of expensive items because, well, sometimes they're just expensive because they have a brand name attached to them. The man also told me that in the past he would've sold me that pillow no questions asked, a sale is a sale. But nowadays, if you buy that cheap pillow that will give you neck and shoulder pains rather than the one that doctors researched to get a better shaped and all-around better designed pillow that'll give you a great night's sleep, there's no real satisfaction. He doesn't like making that kind of sale. I know that some of you may think "he's just trying to milk you for money", but I can't help but agree with him. If I invest the extra money and get the better pillow, then I'll sleep better and hopefully not have such crappy shoulders. Rather than sticking with crappy pillows you'll want to get rid of within a year, it's better to get the pillow that you'll keep until it breaks.
He showed me a few pillows, even had me try them out. I eventually bought one that's filled with small plastic pipes that you can remove to adjust the height of the pillow. It's WONDERFUL. I chose it over the more expensive pillow because the more expensive pillow, having three pouches instead of the single one that the one I bought has, was stiffer. Because it has three pouches, the pipe pellets can't shift along with your head when you turn to sleep on your side. Especially with how cold it's been lately I've been sleeping in the fetal position more and more. It's amazing how much heat you can surround yourself in when you cocoon yourself under the blankets. :D
Off to shower and get to bed early so I can get lots of sleep with my new pillow! Good night, world!
MOVING ON.
It never ceases to amaze me just how nice the people in Japan can be.
I swung by the futon shop near my house because I've been thinking about buying a new pillow for some time now. Well, I picked up a cheap pillow that I thought after some beatings might do me some good, but the man at the counter stopped me when I gave it to him to make a purchase. He started off by saying, "Isn't this pillow a bit tall?" I agreed, and he started telling me how the pillow is usually used for when you go on trips or for guests to use when they stay the night. The pillow itself is so darn tall that continually using it causes neck and shoulder pains.
I don't know how many of you have actually felt my shoulders, but the muscles are always in knots and I sometimes complain about how much they hurt. Well, even if you didn't already know that, I bet you're realizing just how much I started doubting about whether or not I should buy the cheap-o pillow.
He told me how more expensive things are usually more expensive for a reason. I've always been suspicious of expensive items because, well, sometimes they're just expensive because they have a brand name attached to them. The man also told me that in the past he would've sold me that pillow no questions asked, a sale is a sale. But nowadays, if you buy that cheap pillow that will give you neck and shoulder pains rather than the one that doctors researched to get a better shaped and all-around better designed pillow that'll give you a great night's sleep, there's no real satisfaction. He doesn't like making that kind of sale. I know that some of you may think "he's just trying to milk you for money", but I can't help but agree with him. If I invest the extra money and get the better pillow, then I'll sleep better and hopefully not have such crappy shoulders. Rather than sticking with crappy pillows you'll want to get rid of within a year, it's better to get the pillow that you'll keep until it breaks.
He showed me a few pillows, even had me try them out. I eventually bought one that's filled with small plastic pipes that you can remove to adjust the height of the pillow. It's WONDERFUL. I chose it over the more expensive pillow because the more expensive pillow, having three pouches instead of the single one that the one I bought has, was stiffer. Because it has three pouches, the pipe pellets can't shift along with your head when you turn to sleep on your side. Especially with how cold it's been lately I've been sleeping in the fetal position more and more. It's amazing how much heat you can surround yourself in when you cocoon yourself under the blankets. :D
Off to shower and get to bed early so I can get lots of sleep with my new pillow! Good night, world!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Takoyaki Days
Alrighty! So, today I had a difficult time with my sixth graders at my smallest school. Two of them would NOT stop cracking up and I wasn't even saying anything remotely funny so it was rather annoying. Afterward I talked to one of my teachers, who lives in the same area as me, about ramen shops. I had a hungering for ramen, but then again when do I NOT have a hungering for ramen? lol. The ones we talk about are far away, so I decide that I'll swing by the 7-11, pick up a bento and a salad, and if the dinky little ramen shop near me that I've been dying to try out is open I'll just save the bento and salad for tomorrow's dinner.
Well, the shop was open! The shop's called "三十一番", which means "Number 31". The owner was really nice. He asked me where I was from and when I said Hawaii he said he LOVED Hawaii and that he'd been there, like, 24 times. He goes there to cook and to ride his motorcycle. He seems to really love motorcycles because he has a FINE looking bike parked outside! HAHAHA!
I had Sanmahmen, which the owner told me was a type of ramen that is rather rare and can sometimes be found in Chinatown off of Kannai. I'm glad I chose it because it had veggies, pork, tons of noodles and a good broth. It was slightly thick, probably from all the juices. I shouldn't have ordered gyoza to go with it because now I'm filled to burst.
Afterward, on the way home, I picked up Takoyaki from the little vendor on the road home. She remembered me from the first time I bought her Takoyaki, which was at least a month ago! Maybe it's because I'm one of the few foreigners in the area. OR MAYBE IT'S JUST BECAUSE I'M SO GOSH-DARN CUTE! HAHAHAHA! Anywho, we chatted for a bit while she put the dressings on my order. Her name is Michiko. I don't want to forget! She's so sweet. She actually had no fear and asked me in English where I came from and how long I'd been in Japan. TOTALLY AWESOME! She's open every Monday and Friday, though I don't think having Takoyaki every Monday and Friday is such a good idea. LOL.
I saw that the dry cleaning lady next door was downstairs at the counter (she sometimes stays upstairs, probably to keep warm), so I stepped inside to say hi. Whenever I go in there, half an hour to an hour of my life is lost because she totally chats my ear off, and though I don't understand everything I nod and make the appropriate comments at the appropriate times. She talks to me about cooking and her family and places she goes. She almost always gives me snacks when she sees me too, so I went in there with the intention of giving her one of my Takoyaki. Luckily, Michiko gave me two skewers. :3 Well, the dry cleaning lady gave me little new years envelopes, that are SO cute, and that I'm pretty sure are supposed to be filled with money and given to kids. lol. No money in these, but they're darn cute! She filled one with honey covered peanuts. I can't wait to try them!
After school I had to run to catch the bus and while sitting on the bus catching my breath I couldn't help but feel completely happy with myself. Each slowly taken deep breath made me feel so alive. Maybe it's because I was also thinking about my crush, who knows? I just felt wonderful and still do. Even though I'm sitting alone in my cold apartment at my kotatsu, I can't help but smile as I think about how I felt riding that bus, how I felt walking home with the excitement of possibly trying that new ramen shop. I'm so glad to be alive. :D
Well, the shop was open! The shop's called "三十一番", which means "Number 31". The owner was really nice. He asked me where I was from and when I said Hawaii he said he LOVED Hawaii and that he'd been there, like, 24 times. He goes there to cook and to ride his motorcycle. He seems to really love motorcycles because he has a FINE looking bike parked outside! HAHAHA!
I had Sanmahmen, which the owner told me was a type of ramen that is rather rare and can sometimes be found in Chinatown off of Kannai. I'm glad I chose it because it had veggies, pork, tons of noodles and a good broth. It was slightly thick, probably from all the juices. I shouldn't have ordered gyoza to go with it because now I'm filled to burst.
Afterward, on the way home, I picked up Takoyaki from the little vendor on the road home. She remembered me from the first time I bought her Takoyaki, which was at least a month ago! Maybe it's because I'm one of the few foreigners in the area. OR MAYBE IT'S JUST BECAUSE I'M SO GOSH-DARN CUTE! HAHAHAHA! Anywho, we chatted for a bit while she put the dressings on my order. Her name is Michiko. I don't want to forget! She's so sweet. She actually had no fear and asked me in English where I came from and how long I'd been in Japan. TOTALLY AWESOME! She's open every Monday and Friday, though I don't think having Takoyaki every Monday and Friday is such a good idea. LOL.
I saw that the dry cleaning lady next door was downstairs at the counter (she sometimes stays upstairs, probably to keep warm), so I stepped inside to say hi. Whenever I go in there, half an hour to an hour of my life is lost because she totally chats my ear off, and though I don't understand everything I nod and make the appropriate comments at the appropriate times. She talks to me about cooking and her family and places she goes. She almost always gives me snacks when she sees me too, so I went in there with the intention of giving her one of my Takoyaki. Luckily, Michiko gave me two skewers. :3 Well, the dry cleaning lady gave me little new years envelopes, that are SO cute, and that I'm pretty sure are supposed to be filled with money and given to kids. lol. No money in these, but they're darn cute! She filled one with honey covered peanuts. I can't wait to try them!
After school I had to run to catch the bus and while sitting on the bus catching my breath I couldn't help but feel completely happy with myself. Each slowly taken deep breath made me feel so alive. Maybe it's because I was also thinking about my crush, who knows? I just felt wonderful and still do. Even though I'm sitting alone in my cold apartment at my kotatsu, I can't help but smile as I think about how I felt riding that bus, how I felt walking home with the excitement of possibly trying that new ramen shop. I'm so glad to be alive. :D
Friday, January 14, 2011
お久しぶり
I know, I know. It's been too long. One of my new year's resolutions should be post on my blog more. Let's sum up what happened. This probably won't be in order:
School was and still is going well. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
I went on a date with a guy who, though Japanese, wanted me to call him Tony. Didn't work out and not heartbroken about it.
I got in a fight with my friend Mariko and didn't know how to resolve it. D:
Spent a month combating a cold before finally going to a doctor and getting some real medicine. Unlike in the States, you can't get good medicine off the shelf like Nyquil. Gawd, I miss Nyquil. D: I followed the advice of one of my teachers (who lives really close to me!) and went to her doctor, who explained all the instructions in a mix of English and Japanese. He is AWESOME.
I fell in love with the Japanese rock back NICO Touches the Walls.
I got back in contact with my friend Eric from UCSB. He'd moved back to Japan and I happened upon him on Skype. Turns out we don't live that far away from each other. haha.
One month later, I take the first step and apologize to Mariko for our fight. She apologizes back and we make up. YAY!
I was invited by two of my schools to the year end party, which happened to be on the same day. I went to one and had drinks with three of the faculty from the other school afterward.
I spent Christmas alone, but made up for it by Skype calling my family Christmas day in the States.
I went on a date with Yuuichi. <3 *blush*
Happy New Year!
I went to Osaka with Breana for 4 days and to Nara for 1 day.
The new single, Diver, by NICO Touches the Walls came out and I BOUGHT IT. OMG AND IT'S FIRST EDITION BECAUSE I BOUGHT IT THE DAY AFTER IT CAME OUT!!! *dances*
That pretty much sums up the past 2 1/2 months. lol. Looking at it now, it looks like I really did a lot. In actuality, I don't feel I did enough. I spent a lot of time at home farting around on the computer because it's gotten so cold outside that I don't want to leave the house. In all honesty, I really should go out more because 1) walking around helps warm me up and 2) they BLAST the heat in stores around here so it's warmer in the stores than it is in my apartment. D: The only down side? If I'm in a store, I kind of feel like I need to buy something while I'm there, or after all that browsing I found something that's kind of spiffy and decide to buy it. Seriously, though? Staying at home made sure I actually cleaned up my apartment before New Years as well as kept me from spending money so I had money to spend in Osaka! :D
Real quick: My date with Yuuichi. We met up at 7pm in Yokohama and walked around a bit, trying to figure out what to eat. We had ramen at a shop that has a branch in Ueno, where he lives. Apparently, the ramen at my branch wasn't as good. hahaha! It might be because you sit in stalls rather than at a real table. Afterward, we played Taiko no Tatsujin, a game where you beat on a Taiko drum along to the rhythm of a song. It's a lot of fun! We thought about going Bowling, but the wait was 1 hour and a half long, so we decided to go to karaoke instead. He really wanted to hear me sing in English. After 1 hour of karaoke we went to McDonald's and drank coffee while chatting. We didn't part ways until 11pm. He's SO nice! <3
Ah, I should probably go through what we did in Osaka. Here goes. New Year's evening I caught a Night Bus with Breana from Shinjuku all the way to Osaka. They make stops periodically every 2 to 3 hours because they don't have bathrooms on the bus. The seats are like an airplane and recline and once you're on the road they turn off the lights in the bus so you can sleep.
After multiple naps on the bus we get to Osaka in the morning before most things are open. I think Clarissa again and again for making me more practical after living with her because Breana, though adventurous, didn't have the balls to just go into this hotel we needed to go to to ask about the 2 day passes we wanted to get for the trains. There was a sign outside the hotel in kanji that Breana said had something to do with being closed, but I saw that there were guests with luggage inside. After coaxing her into the hotel I ask the man behind the counter who energetically tells us the price like it's totally common practice. We bought two for each of us, because the plan was to be in Osaka for two days, take a day trip to Nara, and then wander around Osaka for another two days. We saved SO much getting those passes. I am SO awesome. lulz.
We walked around the area until we were hungry and went to McDonald's for breakfast. There, a British guy who lives in the area overheard us making plans and suggested the area around Tsutenkaku Tower. Breana got a bit creeped out that he was listening in on us, but considering he was sitting right there and everyone needs help when in a new area, I thought it was really nice. I actually chatted him up a bit, since it only seemed polite. Nice guy. He said he was going on a snowboarding trip. Hopefully, he didn't break anything.
That day we did a bunch of things, most notably going to Osaka Castle. It's gorgeous, but I heard later from one of my friends that it really isn't all that great because it's too small. lol. I don't mind. It was really pretty to look at, and the museum tour inside it was free because of the 2 day pass. :D I had fried squid there and it was SO delicious, even though watching the guy tear the squid apart to get all the good bits was kind of gross. haha.
We tried going to Shintennoji Temple, but the things we wanted to do there were already closed. Spoot. Sure was a pretty place though! :D I got my Omikuji (fortune) there. It wasn't Dai-kichi, which is the best fortune you can get, but it wasn't a bad fortune so I was happy. :3
Afterward, we went to a mall and rode this huge red ferris wheel that's built into the mall. I'd actually seen it on a show on KIKU back in Hawaii when I was in high school, so I was totally stoked to actually BE there and RIDE it. I had used up all the space on my memory card (I had a spare, but it was in my luggage at the hotel), so I took shots of it with my phone. The way the lights reflected off the red paint was kind of sinister, and looking down it made it look like looking into the pits of hell. SO cool. hahaha.
Day 2: We went to the Kaiyukan, a big aquarium in Osaka. Their mascot is the whale shark, of which they have two in their big tank, which is apparently the biggest tank in all of Japan (maybe even the world?). It was cool seeing all the animals, but they were SO busy and some people were really rude about getting close to the tank enough to actually see anything, so it made the experience less enjoyable. I imagine going in the middle of the work week is the best thing to do, but we went during Winter break. lol. I bought a turtle doll and a whale shark doll. I couldn't resist. :3
We rode on the Santa Maria, which is this big old-fashioned ship in the bay right beside the Kaiyukan. It was free, which was REALLY awesome because it was, like, 16 dollars. lol. Breana didn't find the ride all that great because apparently the mascots were supposed to come and be our guides, but instead we were told stuff in Japanese and, surprisingly, partly in English. AWESOME. We spent the trip going through different names to give my turtle doll. We finally settled on Dexter, though I keep mistakenly calling him Derrick or Dominick. I can't help it if I like those names! But they're too cool for my turtle doll. His smile is kind of dorky looking, so Dexter fits him better. XD
After that, we watched a juggler in the courtyard outside the aquarium. He was quite good and actually set stuff on fire and juggled it! AWESOME. He encouraged everyone to cheer him on, because that would give him the energy/ability to do his tricks.
Totally random, but OMG IT'S 34 DEGREES HERE RIGHT NOW! D: I heard it won't actually snow until February. Wahh.
After the juggler we went and had Okonomiyaki, which was really good. They actually make it in front of you! I had pork and kim chi flavored okonomiyaki. SO good. But... spoot. Now I'm getting hungry again. hahaha! There was a middle-eastern ice cream shop in the mall where we ate. The ice cream wasn't your ordinary kind of ice cream. It stuck together, almost like chewing gum. I got mango flavored and the server, maybe because I was cute or maybe because he liked my reaction to the little stunts he did with the ice cream while serving it, gave me a scoop of chocolate in the middle of my mango even though I hadn't ordered it. :D
By now it was late, so we went to a really tall building, probably the tallest in Osaka, and looked around the city. It would've been better during the day because the bay area made one side look completely black. I thought I was staring into a void for a bit. Kind of cool, but it would've been nice to see the water.
There was still a bit of time, so we came home and went to Spa World across the street. I gotta' say: I LOVE ONSEN. Seriously, I can't imagine people in America ever being comfortable with soaking in baths 100% naked with other people of their gender, but it's seriously REALLY awesome. It might be that the Japanese don't stare, which makes even slightly overweight me comfortable being in the baths. Breana said that Chinese people stare though. I don't think I could do that. D:
Day 3: We woke up early (or at least tried to) and went to Nara. On the way to Todaiji Temple, we fed deer shika-sembei (deer crackers). They tried to eat my coat and I got bumped in the butt a couple times because they wanted sembei. Oh, and one of them actually stood up against me with his hooves on my chest. CRAZY. I wish Breana had caught a picture of that. It would've made for a great Facebook picture. LOL!
On the way to Todaiji we were offered carriage rides, the ones drawn by a single guy. There's a fee, of course, and I wanted to do it, but Breana said she didn't want to put a guy, especially a hot guy (some of them were really pretty!) through the trouble of dragging our fat butts around in a carriage. At the temple we took lots of pictures of the giant Buddha there. He's so huge you almost hurt your neck looking up at him. I bought omamori, protective charms, for my family (Now all I have to do is, y'know, SEND it to them. lol.) as well as for myself. I got another Omikuji because it was in English. It was alright, but there were some things foretold on it that I wasn't too thrilled about, so I tied it up with all the other fortunes people didn't want in their lives.
While looking for a place to eat we were stopped by a guy advertising an Okonomiyaki place. Breana looked like she either wasn't interested or was intimidated, so I spoke in English in an attempt to deter the man from pursuing us and moving on to another target... BUT HE SPOKE ENGLISH. Not fluently, but he definitely knew enough to tell us it was delicious and how we should try it and I didn't have the heart to say no. We were looking for a place to eat anyway, so why not, right?
Day 4: We went to the Osaka Science Museum, which was really fun because they have all these little things you can do. It's the perfect place to take your kids because they can get so worked up on these little experiments that require them to expend so much energy that I imagine a lot of them need a nap afterward. We went to the planetarium show in the museum. It had two parts: one talking about common stars in the night sky above Osaka and one from an American museum. Breana and I totally perked up when we heard that it was from the States because we figured it'd be in English with Japanese subtitles, but NOOOO. It was dubbed in Japanese and the guy's voice totally put the both of us to sleep. We woke up during the end credits and were sad to find that the original version was narrated by Tom Hanks. Seriously? We totally wanted to hear the Tom Hanks version! >_<
Next, we went to a flower conservatory. It was gorgeous! One of the tour guides told us how this one orchid smells like chocolate, AND IT REALLY DOES! Awesome! We took lots of pictures of flowers and I totally got all kinds of giddy when I found out they had a separate green house for Hibiscuses. AWESOME! They actually had a display of one of the quilts grandma makes upstairs because they feature flower patterns. I was SO excited. I tried to tell Breana about how grandma makes them and how they're SO awesome and she totally wasn't interested. D:
After that, we finally got around to going to Tsutenkaku Tower. In Osaka, they have a god called Billiken, who is "The God of things as they ought to be". His statues aren't very cute, but the small keychain I got of him is REALLY cute, and glows in the dark. hahaha. If you put in a donation and rub his feet, Billiken will help you with what you ask of him. :3
While walking and looking around for a place to eat, we were stopped by two men advertising a katsu shop. I don't mean katsu like chicken-katsu, I mean katsu as in deep fried meat and vegetables on skewers. I pretended I couldn't speak Japanese because Breana, once again, had this look on her face like she wasn't interest or that she was intimidated by these men talking to us, so I figured she didn't want to go to the restaurant. However, once again one of the guys was able to speak a little bit of English and I didn't have the heart to say no, especially since they were having a sale. XD People in Osaka must be strong drinkers because I only had 2 sours and a high ball and I was getting drunk. I was drunk enough to ask the cute waiter if I could take a picture of him and the restaurant. In my befuddled state, I figured he wouldn't care because we were obviously tourists. lol.
Day 5: We went to Tennoji Zoo, which was about a five minute walk from the hotel we were staying at. We took a bunch of pictures of the animals and I bought a small bean-bag doll of a giraffe that's a ball, so it has no neck. lol. While eating, a young boy (he looked to be in 6th grade) with his two little sisters and his grandpa were eating beside us. The boy must've heard Breana and me talking in English because he asked his grandpa in English "Can you do speak English?" The grandpa was hilarious. He said in Japanese "No, but I know that that sentence isn't right." I asked Breana if we should correct him, and after another minute or two of the boy trying to remember how to say it, she corrected him in Japanese. I started talking with the grandpa and the boy a bit after that. The boy called me "Dai-sensei", which is actually kind of close to my name (Diana is spelled "daiana" in Japanese characters). lol. Cute kids. The girls picked on their brother a bit. It's amazing that he didn't get annoyed with them, but really really really adorable to see them interact. I hope my kids are like that.
After the zoo, we walked back toward Tsutenkaku Tower to check out the shops nearby. At the station, we bumped into that same family again. The boy actually remembered me and said "Dai-sensei!" So cute! <3 We were actually headed the same direction, so we rode on the train with the family, chatting a bit as we went. It was really nice. :3 I told the grandpa we were going to an Ukiyo-e (Japanese wood block print) museum and he said that was wonderful. Lots of Japanese are surprised when they hear I studied Ukiyo-e back in college. lol. My teachers like to say I'm more Japanese than most Japanese because I studied so much stuff back in school. HAHAHA.
The museum was small, but they had a print featuring the store of Oiwa and Iemon. Oiwa is the inspiration for the girl from the Ring. I learned about her back in school. Her story is really scary! I didn't want to be alone after I'd finished watching the animated version. HAHAHA. I got really excited being in the museum, but Breana said she's not really the museum type. She also didn't seem to think much of Ukiyo-e. >_< I'd broken my glasses case during the trip (it's been breaking for a while now), so I bought a really pretty red with yellow flower patterned glasses case at the museum. :3
After that, we went looking for the Johnny's store. Johnny's is a company that creates boy band groups. My favorite Johnny's group is Arashi, and knowing about them always gets me kudos with my kids. I bought a few pictures of my favorite member Ninomiya (who portrays the main character in Letters From Iwojima). <3 He's so cute.
By that time it was starting to get late. We got something to eat, picked up our bags and found our bus stop. The both of us bought a magazine called "An An" at the convenience store across the street from the bus stop because it featured gorgeous shots of Tomohisa Yamashita, a Japanese singer and actor. He's so pretty!
The ride back to Tokyo was cramped because we were in the very last row with three other girls, and right in front of the heater. I didn't sleep well at all, especially since the girl next to me put her feet up by where I was supposed to put my feet up. I scooted her feet away because she had THE WHOLE AISLE to spread her legs out in! >_<
But anyway. Now that I'm done writing my novel of a post and it's 5am, I'm going to bed. XD
School was and still is going well. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
I went on a date with a guy who, though Japanese, wanted me to call him Tony. Didn't work out and not heartbroken about it.
I got in a fight with my friend Mariko and didn't know how to resolve it. D:
Spent a month combating a cold before finally going to a doctor and getting some real medicine. Unlike in the States, you can't get good medicine off the shelf like Nyquil. Gawd, I miss Nyquil. D: I followed the advice of one of my teachers (who lives really close to me!) and went to her doctor, who explained all the instructions in a mix of English and Japanese. He is AWESOME.
I fell in love with the Japanese rock back NICO Touches the Walls.
I got back in contact with my friend Eric from UCSB. He'd moved back to Japan and I happened upon him on Skype. Turns out we don't live that far away from each other. haha.
One month later, I take the first step and apologize to Mariko for our fight. She apologizes back and we make up. YAY!
I was invited by two of my schools to the year end party, which happened to be on the same day. I went to one and had drinks with three of the faculty from the other school afterward.
I spent Christmas alone, but made up for it by Skype calling my family Christmas day in the States.
I went on a date with Yuuichi. <3 *blush*
Happy New Year!
I went to Osaka with Breana for 4 days and to Nara for 1 day.
The new single, Diver, by NICO Touches the Walls came out and I BOUGHT IT. OMG AND IT'S FIRST EDITION BECAUSE I BOUGHT IT THE DAY AFTER IT CAME OUT!!! *dances*
That pretty much sums up the past 2 1/2 months. lol. Looking at it now, it looks like I really did a lot. In actuality, I don't feel I did enough. I spent a lot of time at home farting around on the computer because it's gotten so cold outside that I don't want to leave the house. In all honesty, I really should go out more because 1) walking around helps warm me up and 2) they BLAST the heat in stores around here so it's warmer in the stores than it is in my apartment. D: The only down side? If I'm in a store, I kind of feel like I need to buy something while I'm there, or after all that browsing I found something that's kind of spiffy and decide to buy it. Seriously, though? Staying at home made sure I actually cleaned up my apartment before New Years as well as kept me from spending money so I had money to spend in Osaka! :D
Real quick: My date with Yuuichi. We met up at 7pm in Yokohama and walked around a bit, trying to figure out what to eat. We had ramen at a shop that has a branch in Ueno, where he lives. Apparently, the ramen at my branch wasn't as good. hahaha! It might be because you sit in stalls rather than at a real table. Afterward, we played Taiko no Tatsujin, a game where you beat on a Taiko drum along to the rhythm of a song. It's a lot of fun! We thought about going Bowling, but the wait was 1 hour and a half long, so we decided to go to karaoke instead. He really wanted to hear me sing in English. After 1 hour of karaoke we went to McDonald's and drank coffee while chatting. We didn't part ways until 11pm. He's SO nice! <3
Ah, I should probably go through what we did in Osaka. Here goes. New Year's evening I caught a Night Bus with Breana from Shinjuku all the way to Osaka. They make stops periodically every 2 to 3 hours because they don't have bathrooms on the bus. The seats are like an airplane and recline and once you're on the road they turn off the lights in the bus so you can sleep.
After multiple naps on the bus we get to Osaka in the morning before most things are open. I think Clarissa again and again for making me more practical after living with her because Breana, though adventurous, didn't have the balls to just go into this hotel we needed to go to to ask about the 2 day passes we wanted to get for the trains. There was a sign outside the hotel in kanji that Breana said had something to do with being closed, but I saw that there were guests with luggage inside. After coaxing her into the hotel I ask the man behind the counter who energetically tells us the price like it's totally common practice. We bought two for each of us, because the plan was to be in Osaka for two days, take a day trip to Nara, and then wander around Osaka for another two days. We saved SO much getting those passes. I am SO awesome. lulz.
We walked around the area until we were hungry and went to McDonald's for breakfast. There, a British guy who lives in the area overheard us making plans and suggested the area around Tsutenkaku Tower. Breana got a bit creeped out that he was listening in on us, but considering he was sitting right there and everyone needs help when in a new area, I thought it was really nice. I actually chatted him up a bit, since it only seemed polite. Nice guy. He said he was going on a snowboarding trip. Hopefully, he didn't break anything.
That day we did a bunch of things, most notably going to Osaka Castle. It's gorgeous, but I heard later from one of my friends that it really isn't all that great because it's too small. lol. I don't mind. It was really pretty to look at, and the museum tour inside it was free because of the 2 day pass. :D I had fried squid there and it was SO delicious, even though watching the guy tear the squid apart to get all the good bits was kind of gross. haha.
We tried going to Shintennoji Temple, but the things we wanted to do there were already closed. Spoot. Sure was a pretty place though! :D I got my Omikuji (fortune) there. It wasn't Dai-kichi, which is the best fortune you can get, but it wasn't a bad fortune so I was happy. :3
Afterward, we went to a mall and rode this huge red ferris wheel that's built into the mall. I'd actually seen it on a show on KIKU back in Hawaii when I was in high school, so I was totally stoked to actually BE there and RIDE it. I had used up all the space on my memory card (I had a spare, but it was in my luggage at the hotel), so I took shots of it with my phone. The way the lights reflected off the red paint was kind of sinister, and looking down it made it look like looking into the pits of hell. SO cool. hahaha.
Day 2: We went to the Kaiyukan, a big aquarium in Osaka. Their mascot is the whale shark, of which they have two in their big tank, which is apparently the biggest tank in all of Japan (maybe even the world?). It was cool seeing all the animals, but they were SO busy and some people were really rude about getting close to the tank enough to actually see anything, so it made the experience less enjoyable. I imagine going in the middle of the work week is the best thing to do, but we went during Winter break. lol. I bought a turtle doll and a whale shark doll. I couldn't resist. :3
We rode on the Santa Maria, which is this big old-fashioned ship in the bay right beside the Kaiyukan. It was free, which was REALLY awesome because it was, like, 16 dollars. lol. Breana didn't find the ride all that great because apparently the mascots were supposed to come and be our guides, but instead we were told stuff in Japanese and, surprisingly, partly in English. AWESOME. We spent the trip going through different names to give my turtle doll. We finally settled on Dexter, though I keep mistakenly calling him Derrick or Dominick. I can't help it if I like those names! But they're too cool for my turtle doll. His smile is kind of dorky looking, so Dexter fits him better. XD
After that, we watched a juggler in the courtyard outside the aquarium. He was quite good and actually set stuff on fire and juggled it! AWESOME. He encouraged everyone to cheer him on, because that would give him the energy/ability to do his tricks.
Totally random, but OMG IT'S 34 DEGREES HERE RIGHT NOW! D: I heard it won't actually snow until February. Wahh.
After the juggler we went and had Okonomiyaki, which was really good. They actually make it in front of you! I had pork and kim chi flavored okonomiyaki. SO good. But... spoot. Now I'm getting hungry again. hahaha! There was a middle-eastern ice cream shop in the mall where we ate. The ice cream wasn't your ordinary kind of ice cream. It stuck together, almost like chewing gum. I got mango flavored and the server, maybe because I was cute or maybe because he liked my reaction to the little stunts he did with the ice cream while serving it, gave me a scoop of chocolate in the middle of my mango even though I hadn't ordered it. :D
By now it was late, so we went to a really tall building, probably the tallest in Osaka, and looked around the city. It would've been better during the day because the bay area made one side look completely black. I thought I was staring into a void for a bit. Kind of cool, but it would've been nice to see the water.
There was still a bit of time, so we came home and went to Spa World across the street. I gotta' say: I LOVE ONSEN. Seriously, I can't imagine people in America ever being comfortable with soaking in baths 100% naked with other people of their gender, but it's seriously REALLY awesome. It might be that the Japanese don't stare, which makes even slightly overweight me comfortable being in the baths. Breana said that Chinese people stare though. I don't think I could do that. D:
Day 3: We woke up early (or at least tried to) and went to Nara. On the way to Todaiji Temple, we fed deer shika-sembei (deer crackers). They tried to eat my coat and I got bumped in the butt a couple times because they wanted sembei. Oh, and one of them actually stood up against me with his hooves on my chest. CRAZY. I wish Breana had caught a picture of that. It would've made for a great Facebook picture. LOL!
On the way to Todaiji we were offered carriage rides, the ones drawn by a single guy. There's a fee, of course, and I wanted to do it, but Breana said she didn't want to put a guy, especially a hot guy (some of them were really pretty!) through the trouble of dragging our fat butts around in a carriage. At the temple we took lots of pictures of the giant Buddha there. He's so huge you almost hurt your neck looking up at him. I bought omamori, protective charms, for my family (Now all I have to do is, y'know, SEND it to them. lol.) as well as for myself. I got another Omikuji because it was in English. It was alright, but there were some things foretold on it that I wasn't too thrilled about, so I tied it up with all the other fortunes people didn't want in their lives.
While looking for a place to eat we were stopped by a guy advertising an Okonomiyaki place. Breana looked like she either wasn't interested or was intimidated, so I spoke in English in an attempt to deter the man from pursuing us and moving on to another target... BUT HE SPOKE ENGLISH. Not fluently, but he definitely knew enough to tell us it was delicious and how we should try it and I didn't have the heart to say no. We were looking for a place to eat anyway, so why not, right?
Day 4: We went to the Osaka Science Museum, which was really fun because they have all these little things you can do. It's the perfect place to take your kids because they can get so worked up on these little experiments that require them to expend so much energy that I imagine a lot of them need a nap afterward. We went to the planetarium show in the museum. It had two parts: one talking about common stars in the night sky above Osaka and one from an American museum. Breana and I totally perked up when we heard that it was from the States because we figured it'd be in English with Japanese subtitles, but NOOOO. It was dubbed in Japanese and the guy's voice totally put the both of us to sleep. We woke up during the end credits and were sad to find that the original version was narrated by Tom Hanks. Seriously? We totally wanted to hear the Tom Hanks version! >_<
Next, we went to a flower conservatory. It was gorgeous! One of the tour guides told us how this one orchid smells like chocolate, AND IT REALLY DOES! Awesome! We took lots of pictures of flowers and I totally got all kinds of giddy when I found out they had a separate green house for Hibiscuses. AWESOME! They actually had a display of one of the quilts grandma makes upstairs because they feature flower patterns. I was SO excited. I tried to tell Breana about how grandma makes them and how they're SO awesome and she totally wasn't interested. D:
After that, we finally got around to going to Tsutenkaku Tower. In Osaka, they have a god called Billiken, who is "The God of things as they ought to be". His statues aren't very cute, but the small keychain I got of him is REALLY cute, and glows in the dark. hahaha. If you put in a donation and rub his feet, Billiken will help you with what you ask of him. :3
While walking and looking around for a place to eat, we were stopped by two men advertising a katsu shop. I don't mean katsu like chicken-katsu, I mean katsu as in deep fried meat and vegetables on skewers. I pretended I couldn't speak Japanese because Breana, once again, had this look on her face like she wasn't interest or that she was intimidated by these men talking to us, so I figured she didn't want to go to the restaurant. However, once again one of the guys was able to speak a little bit of English and I didn't have the heart to say no, especially since they were having a sale. XD People in Osaka must be strong drinkers because I only had 2 sours and a high ball and I was getting drunk. I was drunk enough to ask the cute waiter if I could take a picture of him and the restaurant. In my befuddled state, I figured he wouldn't care because we were obviously tourists. lol.
Day 5: We went to Tennoji Zoo, which was about a five minute walk from the hotel we were staying at. We took a bunch of pictures of the animals and I bought a small bean-bag doll of a giraffe that's a ball, so it has no neck. lol. While eating, a young boy (he looked to be in 6th grade) with his two little sisters and his grandpa were eating beside us. The boy must've heard Breana and me talking in English because he asked his grandpa in English "Can you do speak English?" The grandpa was hilarious. He said in Japanese "No, but I know that that sentence isn't right." I asked Breana if we should correct him, and after another minute or two of the boy trying to remember how to say it, she corrected him in Japanese. I started talking with the grandpa and the boy a bit after that. The boy called me "Dai-sensei", which is actually kind of close to my name (Diana is spelled "daiana" in Japanese characters). lol. Cute kids. The girls picked on their brother a bit. It's amazing that he didn't get annoyed with them, but really really really adorable to see them interact. I hope my kids are like that.
After the zoo, we walked back toward Tsutenkaku Tower to check out the shops nearby. At the station, we bumped into that same family again. The boy actually remembered me and said "Dai-sensei!" So cute! <3 We were actually headed the same direction, so we rode on the train with the family, chatting a bit as we went. It was really nice. :3 I told the grandpa we were going to an Ukiyo-e (Japanese wood block print) museum and he said that was wonderful. Lots of Japanese are surprised when they hear I studied Ukiyo-e back in college. lol. My teachers like to say I'm more Japanese than most Japanese because I studied so much stuff back in school. HAHAHA.
The museum was small, but they had a print featuring the store of Oiwa and Iemon. Oiwa is the inspiration for the girl from the Ring. I learned about her back in school. Her story is really scary! I didn't want to be alone after I'd finished watching the animated version. HAHAHA. I got really excited being in the museum, but Breana said she's not really the museum type. She also didn't seem to think much of Ukiyo-e. >_< I'd broken my glasses case during the trip (it's been breaking for a while now), so I bought a really pretty red with yellow flower patterned glasses case at the museum. :3
After that, we went looking for the Johnny's store. Johnny's is a company that creates boy band groups. My favorite Johnny's group is Arashi, and knowing about them always gets me kudos with my kids. I bought a few pictures of my favorite member Ninomiya (who portrays the main character in Letters From Iwojima). <3 He's so cute.
By that time it was starting to get late. We got something to eat, picked up our bags and found our bus stop. The both of us bought a magazine called "An An" at the convenience store across the street from the bus stop because it featured gorgeous shots of Tomohisa Yamashita, a Japanese singer and actor. He's so pretty!
The ride back to Tokyo was cramped because we were in the very last row with three other girls, and right in front of the heater. I didn't sleep well at all, especially since the girl next to me put her feet up by where I was supposed to put my feet up. I scooted her feet away because she had THE WHOLE AISLE to spread her legs out in! >_<
But anyway. Now that I'm done writing my novel of a post and it's 5am, I'm going to bed. XD
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