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.

Prince of Persia and Japanese Movie Theaters

Sorry this is a little out of order. This happened the week before the Ramen Museum.

I went to go see Prince of Persia! It was really fun being the only person in the theater that didn't have to read the subtitles, which were totally stylized to have a slight persian/arabic curly script look. I looked down from time to time to try reading it because I noticed some things that couldn't really be translated into Japanese. haha.

So, Japanese movie theaters in comparison to American movie theaters. They're slightly smaller, and this one didn't have ridiculous sound like most American ones. You know the ones that vibrate the ground? Yeah, none of those. At least at this one.

Anywho, went with my friend Mariko, who works at my favorite school. The theater we went to was about a ten minute walk from the Yokohama train station, which was a really nice walk. The theater was above an arcade, where we wasted money trying to win stuff from the UFO Catchers while we waited for the show. I really wanted to win a doll, but those damn claws are SO WEAK! >_<

Oh, and another thing about the movie? Almost the entire theater stayed for the full credits. I knew there wasn't going to be anything after the credits (Prince of Persia isn't the type to have the set up at the end of the credits, not like the comic inspired movies), so I was all for leaving right then. Well, my friend wasn't moving. Honestly? I highly doubted any of the Japanese in that theater could read all the credits, especially as quickly as a native speaker could. So... why were they waiting? I figured I shouldn't be rude, so I just sat tight and twiddled my thumbs while I waited.

After the movie, we caught a boat, aptly named the Sea Bass, though when you write it in katakana it could quite as easily be read "Sea Bus", which is essentially what it is. lol. It was great seeing Yokohama from the water. Not only that, but the breeze felt great. We got off at Sakuragicho to find an African Festival of some kind. There were a bunch of black people walking around and it was totally not what I was expecting. It was really cool! Especially when you see these really cute black kids (it was really hard to tell if they were full or perhaps half) who were speaking 100% fluent Japanese. I mean, better Japanese than I can speak because it's got to be one of their first languages. Goodness.

Afterward, it was off to the Pokemon Center again. haha.

+++

Also, saw Iron Man 2 this past Friday with Tanyisha. It was a great movie and it was totally worth seeing in the theater because this theater, which was in Ebina (completely opposite direction from Yokohama), had GREAT sound. Like, really loud. Not to the point where I worry about my ear drums being damaged, but still totally awesome and totally appropriate for the movie. Tanyisha owed me money, so she bought me the Pokemon Set for Popcorn. I got a little container as well as a Zoroa/Zoroark screen wipey thingy for your cell phone. I haven't put it on yet. XD

Also went to Uni Qlo while we waited for the movie to start. I got a cute dress and five tops. I totally got compliments on one of the tops today at school too, which was awesome. :3

For the Love of Ramen

SO! It was brought to my attention that I hadn't actually updated my blog in a while. Since it's been over a month, I decided to update. Auntie Elaine? Please fax this to grandma. I got her letter, but I haven't had the chance to drop by the post office. @_@

Well, my friend Flo came to Japan with her friend Shawn (I'm not sure if that's how he spells his name) and happened to be in Tokyo for a week. Tokyo isn't that far away from Yokohama, so we decided to hang out. Our plan? Meet up at the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum and then go see the huge Ferris Wheel over by Queen's Square in Yokohama.

Flo and Shawn were an hour late because they had to come from Kamakura (they went to go see the huge Buddha there). I thought ahead and came early because I was using the Blue Subway Line for the first time. It wasn't a complete loss, because wandering around Shin Yokohama made me walk into Uni Qlo for the first time. Uni Qlo is the BEST store in Japan, aside from the Pokemon Center, of course. Pokemon Center is by far the best. Anyway, bought a pair of really cute Alice in Wonderland themed ankle-length leggings there as well as a comfy top to wear either at home or out. Eventually, Flo and Shawn got there and we went to the museum.

I cannot convey in words just how AWESOME the Ramen Museum is. I am DEFINITELY going back, as well as dragging my parents there when they eventually come to see me. :3 I highly recommend it, especially if you like ramen. And as my family and friends know, I LOVE ramen. We each had three ramen. Flo had all the minis while Shawn and I were awesome and had one normal sized ramen and two minis. We tried one of each flavor: shoyu, miso and tonkotsu. Each was delicious and I still can't figure out which one I liked the best. The three of us were painfully full after we'd finished our ramen. One of the places (the Sapporo one with the Miso ramen) was a 45 minute wait, which totally let us digest. And you know what? It was WORTH the wait. And being uncomfortable for the rest of the day because my stomach was fighting with all the delicious noodles and broth in my stomach? It was WORTH it. It was all for the love of Ramen. <3

I took a bunch of pictures. I'll have to post them... but I have to shrink the darn files because they're all 3 MB each and... I'm lazy. XD

ANYWAY. OMG. Uploading pictures (had to be selective) on my flickr, so YOU'LL SEE PICTURES ON MY SLIDESHOW. OMG.

MOVING ON.

The gift shop is insanely awesome in the museum as well. I bought two cell phone straps, but their kind of large. I'm still debating about where to put the more sensitive one, but I might put the other on my camera. :3 I also bought a notebook set that came with a kamoboko automatic pencil as well as a kamoboko eraser. Once again, my family knows how much I love kamoboko. I really couldn't resist. :3

After the museum, we caught the subway to Sakuragicho and I dragged my friends to the Pokemon Center. There was an event there, so there were TONS of kids and their parents. I really wanted to participate in the event, but they were closing it up when we got there. And besides, I'm twice as big as these kids. Heck, maybe even three times as big. I didn't want to embarrass myself and my friends. lol.

After purchasing a super cute wallet (which was really great since the clasp on my wallet broke off and I wasn't comfortable with the wallet being loose.), we walked across the way to go to the Shounen Jump store. I bought two pins for my bag and a surprisingly cheap D.Gray-man glass that looks SO awesome. I still haven't used it yet because I'm super scared about breaking it. It's SO pretty.

Then it was off to Cosmo World, which is this small amusement park like Santa Monica Peer. It has a TON of those UFO Catcher games, which are really dangerous and I've decided that I'm not going to go near them ever again. Those claws are WEAK SAUCE. Well, the reason we went to Cosmo World was to go see the MASSIVE ferris wheel there, which is the second largest ferris wheel in Japan. Apparently, the largest ferris wheel in Japan is in Tokyo and is only taller by a few feet. As far as I'm concerned, the one in Yokohama is just as good. Probably just as expensive. We went with the intention of riding it, but it's 700 yen (a little over $7) PER PERSON. I can understand if it was for a single car, but per person?! We sat on a bench beneath it and stared up at it while we tried to digest. Even if we WERE willing to spend that much to ride it, Flo wasn't feeling all that well because she was just THAT full.

We came, we saw, and we conquered the bench. We had a bunch of laughs while we sat on that bench. I did a lot of people watching, which included commentary. We saw a bunch of Japanese girls with their (obviously) white boyfriends. Flo and I were really shocked to see so many. Then again, Yokohama seems to attract quite a few foreigners.

We split at Yokohama station when I had to transfer to my line. It was a lot of fun, and all of us were exhausted from 1) the heat, 2) being super full and 3) all the walking we did to get to the dumb ferris wheel only to find out how expensive it was.