Monday Feburary 15th:
A rather normal Monday with Eikawa at night, but I met up with Adam for dinner. It was nice to chat with him and we are going to attempt to have dinner every Monday when we can before my Eikawa Class. We already have another dinner planned with us and Reaven for Chinese in the following weeks. Eikawa class has also changed now that we have another student. She is pretty good at English and has A LOT of questions. So I end up spending most of my time explaining things, which I must admit helps the time move by faster. Also it was nice because one of my students who is GREAT at cooking (also the one who held the Christmas party at her house) brought tea and mango pudding for everyone. She is such a NICE lady!
Friday February 19th:
After work it was a quick hour or sprucing up moment before rushing off to the train station to catch the JR to Toyama. Once I arrived I met Tiffany at the Mall and looked around for ten minutes or so. We were the first to arrive in town and the first to get our seats at Gohei. Once in Gohei we waited around for the rest of the guests to arrive. It was a tatami sit down kind of food place and a lot of people ended up showing. Even unexpected persons which arrived before the star of the dinner himself. In fact he came perhaps and hour or so after everyone else had basically arrived. The table was set for ten people but at least fifteen showed. Nevertheless one of the CIRs that spoke at mid-year seminar showed up and I was about to introduce myself before he stopped me short and said he already knew me. When I asked him to explain he told me that the other Brazilian friends I had made a few weeks back had spoken of me as did Hilda, a close friend of his and now mine. It’s really interesting and slightly off putting when one keeps meeting people who already know you and you know nothing about them XD
Nevertheless the dinner moved on, and after trying horse meat and finishing my own meal it was go Karaoke time! Something I feel like I am going to overkill on in the near future haha . So a good chunk of us ( Salvador, Jarrad, Yunosuke and a friend he brought, Rachel and her boyfriend, Tiffany, Ousemon and Vannie… hope I didn’t leave out one hehe) went to Karaoke. We ended up belting out for three hours this round, and I sung quite a bit. Each time I gained more and more vibe and appreciation. I official will make the “I See You” song by Leonia Lewis a song I sing. It’s a hard song to sing and I think if I can master it, then my voice/vocal range will improve. I want to sing the best I can come time for the Charity Show. It was really fun and I got to hang out with those who I normally never hand with or don’t have a chance to. Jarrad, Ousemon, Salvador and I all made racist jokes with each other. I found it funny since we were the only brown people in the room, and we were the only ones not too nervous to joke and play around in such a fashion. Something I haven’t done much since leaving the US. Very cool cats indeed. Once I had thoroughly lost my voice for the night it was time to crash at Vannies place for the night!
Saturday February 20th:
I slept in while Vannie left out to run errands and such and woke around one in the afternoon. I got dressed and then called Alexis to see if we were still on, for working on the Tin-Man costume. Once she said it was a go I waited for her to drop by Vannies. When she arrived she dropped off her things and we headed out for food and supplies. However first I needed to drop by the ATM (and here is one of those “it happens only in Japan moments”!). I get in line put in my card, key code, how much money I want, and wait. I grab the receipt and my card and walk away…. WITHOUT my money! A women came up behind me telling me “Your money Your money” in Japanese and by the time I ran back to grab it the cash slot closed and the entire ATM on the ride side shut down. The lady behind me then proceeded to help me, by calling someone and telling them what happened. She told me to wait there while someone came to fix the problem. So Alexis and I waited for a good fifteen or so minutes when a man pulled up and went into the room behind the ATM machine. ( Mind you there is a line of Japanese ppl at the other side of the ATM trying to figure out WHY the machine wasn’t working and WHY were two gaijin standing there looking clueless) After he fooled around with things, he came around gave me my money and was super nice. I didn’t have to pay a dime for this service. It was very cool! And I have another only in Japan story!
After that moment of crazy we stopped in Mc Donald’s, had a late lunch and then trolled the two stories Hyakuen-shop for materials. I ended up buying materials for the costume and myself. It was a really nice store which I wish I had near me. After we walked back with all our materials we then proceeded to work on the costume. I think its going to turn out well! That and Alexis is a really fun person to work with and likes to get things done. Finally Vannie came back home with Will and Van proceeded to make spring rolls for dinner while Will met worked with Takuma on lyrics for the charity show songs. We all were doing work until Vannie finished dinner then we basically called it a night and ate!! It was also Taku’s bday so he busted out the champagne, I had a glass and so did Will and we toasted. Shortly there after Debbie showed, had some food and we all chilled for a while until Taku left, then Vannie, Debbie and I drew for a while until Vannie and Will wanted alone time. It was then I went with Debbie down to her apartment on the lower floors and chilled with her for some time. After being texted by Vannie that it was ok to return to her apartment I said good night to Debbie, went back to Vannies place, and curled up for bed.
Sunday February 21st:
Once again I slept in while Vannie and Will left around eight in the morning to get things prepared for Jet Fest. I slept until 10:300-11oclock and woke up, dressed, and made my way (slowly and unsurely) to the station to get to the JR and hop a train to Takaoka where Jet Fest was to be held. When I was waiting on the platform for the train to come I ran into Ousemon and we boarded the train together. By the time we reached Takaoka around ten of us Jets and friends of Jet had managed to be on the same train and we all walked together to Wing Wing where the festival was being held. Arriving at Wing Wing we all broke off and I circled the country/state booths and greeted and mingled with people. I was also on and off watching the cultural performances on stage. Everyone was watching when the Brazilian drum and base band came on and a rather attractive 15! year old half Brazilian half Japanese girl came on the stage wearing carnival clothes and shaking what the BRAZILLIAN side gave her! Hahaha! There was also a little girl perhaps the age of five dancing with her. It was cute. Then the band leader put down his drum and came into the audience and started dancing around. He then proceeded to drag me up on the stage as well as Sara to dance. It was embarrassing and nice, and he was really cute! UNFORTUNATELY I found out later that he was not only Sara’s student but he was seventeen. *sigh* I can’t win! XD! The rest of the festival was relative normal after this and once it was all over me and a group of people went along with Sara and Taku to by ingredients for Mexican dinner. It was fun to make the food and I got to hang with Jarrad and Salvador again and we fussed about being the workers in the kitchens! However by the time we had finished cooking and it was time to eat we had a rather FULL house of people there, and the food went FAST. I put mine to the side and continued to cook the tortillas so there would be enough for everyone. I also managed to have five small cups of margaritas which was nice XD! After dinner there was talking, a little dancing, and explaining motor boating to Japanese girls. Of course I was made an example of. This is just how it goes here ^^;; When it was time to go Taku drove the Niikawa people to the station and we all traded numbers and said our goodbyes! Another successfully fun and sleep heavy weekend! I am on a roll!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. YAY!! I caught up!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Valentines weekend ( Short Yay!)
Friday February 12th: I went to Jacks award party. Apparently he won some award for his puppet designs so some member of Colare and the Niikawa Jets went to Green Café for dinner and to celebrate. As nice as Green Cafe is the enkai food is never something I really enjoy or get full off of though sometimes they have really good dishes. Nevertheless we just sat and talked and ate and drank for around two hours despite the fact that I was driving. Then we all decided that we would go to MoMo bar afterwards. So around twelve of us made our way to the bar and sat and had drinks, played pool (horribly I might add) and had a good time. It was a good start to an overall fun and restful weekend.
Sunday February 14th: Saturday passed by at home and relaxing, something that alludes me on the weekends and most days of the week. Either way the beginning of the day was restful and I didn’t do much, but around 5:30 I left for the train station so I could meet Tiffany in Toyama for dinner. We ended up eating at Satoshi’s ( a really good Indian restaurant) and she brought her friend Yunosuke along. He was a really cool guy. A Japanese boy who had moved to London on working holiday and who loves England. He’s really into music and was truly a gentlemen. When it was time to pay for our check he covered both me and Tiffany. I was truly not expecting it. Then we decided to pound out an hour of Karaoke in which he liked my singing and gave me homework to learn a Janet Jackson song for his going away dinner/party the following Friday. I told him I’d try it and we all parted ways. He was a cool cat.
Sunday February 14th: Saturday passed by at home and relaxing, something that alludes me on the weekends and most days of the week. Either way the beginning of the day was restful and I didn’t do much, but around 5:30 I left for the train station so I could meet Tiffany in Toyama for dinner. We ended up eating at Satoshi’s ( a really good Indian restaurant) and she brought her friend Yunosuke along. He was a really cool guy. A Japanese boy who had moved to London on working holiday and who loves England. He’s really into music and was truly a gentlemen. When it was time to pay for our check he covered both me and Tiffany. I was truly not expecting it. Then we decided to pound out an hour of Karaoke in which he liked my singing and gave me homework to learn a Janet Jackson song for his going away dinner/party the following Friday. I told him I’d try it and we all parted ways. He was a cool cat.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Yuki Matsuri!
Sapporo Snow Festival February 5th-8th
Friday February 5th: SNOW as usual. Wet and miserable and grey was Toyama and it’s something we’ve gotten used to at this point. However our moaning about it has not ceased to stop. After grunting though the weather, meeting up with Will and Van, and grabbing a quick lunch we drove to the Airport about an hour before our flight. At first we were sure we booked different flights but it turned out that we were all on the same flight. A very wonderful surprise.
After the short plane ride we arrived in Hokkaido and hopped a rapid train to Sapporo station. There we split, checked in to our respective hotels, and met back up at the television tower. Tiffany and I were the first to arrive and though we managed to be late ourselves we waited for the rest of our crew for thirty minutes or so. It was freezing outside and yet I’d rather be cold then cold AND wet in Toyama. Once everyone had arrived we walked around Odori Park for a short while and decided that we were all too cold and too hungry to really deal with the harshness of the high winds. We did however manage to see a few sculptures and met some Osaka Jets who were also around to enjoy the festival. One of them who’s name was Matt would show up again later in our trip. Parting ways with the Osaka Jets we found ourselves in a Yakiniku spot and proceeded to devour food like we hadn’t eaten in weeks. It was pretty good but by far the best Yakiniku I have had was in Osaka during my silver week trip to visit Phage. Considering the night was still young we all decided to walk to the Karaoke place across the street and we rocked it out for two hours or so before we called it a night and passed out in our respective hotels and beds.
Saturday February 6th :
Woke up, got a bit fancy and met Will and Van near Tokyu hands for food. Around twenty minutes later we found a place who served Chinese food buffet style. We walked in and waited to be seated. However the host saw that we had cups from the coffee shop we had made a pit-stop at before we found the restaurant and yelled at us saying that we couldn’t bring in drinks. Will who made the best `I`m about to go Hulk on you` face ever kindly told him that he was very rude in Japanese and we all walked out deciding that he was too much of a dick to eat at his place. This bummed us out slightly because we were really looking forward to Chinese, but instead we ended up at a Korean food restaurant which turned out to be fabulous. We were quite pleased with the over all outcome and our bellies were quite full and content.
Shopping at Tokuyo hands was in order after grub and we shopped around for a short time while we were waiting to meet up with Wills friends. Once we met up with the two girls( who were so sweet and fun to be around) , and Matt who decided to tag along we headed over to the chocolate museum. Granted I didn’t get to eat as much chocolate as I would have guessed, but the museum itself was architecturally cool and it had some cool displays outside of the fact they made chocolate. There was half a floor dedicated to the toys the founder of the chocolate factory collected over the years, and I think the tradition has been continued by those who still run the business. There were Star Wars collectables, Pokemon collectables, Disney Toys, Astro boy posters and figurines and so on. It was pretty cool. After spending two hours or so there we treaded back to the station (so cold and snowy!) and went back towards the festival to meet up with someone else and to grab dinner.
When we returned to Sapporo city center we met up with the other friend of Wills (who was so freckin pretty) and she lead us to yet another Yakiniku place HOWEVER this place was super fancy and we got like six courses of food including the meat. It was a good time and Tiffany and I talked to the first two girls about our lives as Jets and our love for animation and such. We learned a good deal about them too, and I hope I get the chance to see them again while I’m in Japan. Once dinner was over the price for all of us was near sixty a person, and yet the girl who took us to the restaurant covered us a bit. I think she knocked off twenty bucks a person. It was SUPER nice of her to do that. After bowing to her a couple million times it was finally time to enjoy the snow festival. Since it was dark at this point all the sculptures were lit up and we spent a solid two or three hours walking around taking pictures of sculptures and being very cold. Needless to say we ended up going to Karaoke again (though Tiffany went to the game arcade) and after an hour or two we met back up with Tiffany and said goodbye to the girls. Joining Tiffany in the game arcade I played a few games (horribly I might add) but it was fun anyway. Once we left we gathered our wits, hit up the kombini for snacks, bought some cards, and played spades for a while in Vans hotel.
Sunday February 7th:
Since Tiffany was catching a flight a day earlier then Will, Van and I we woke up early to head over to the Sapporo Beer factory. There wasn’t much to see there so after a short time we went down to the base floor and got the three beers for 400\ deal and met a pretty cool guy from California who was there on business and on ski holiday. However by noon (possibly earlier) we were back at Sapporo station seeing Tiffany off. After the goodbyes, hugs, and be carefuls were handed out Will, Van, and I decided that we were truly to tired to do something strenuous. Thus we made our way to a museum (which was fairly boring) and then to an onsen where me and Van relaxed and talked together. We even fell asleep in the outdoor onsen while it was snowing. It was really nice and really relaxing and also the time where I found out I had lost thirteen pounds. Granted the scales could have just lied and I’m in a pleasant dream world but I’ll take it either way. When we got out of the onsen we dressed in yukata and met will in the lounge room where I dosed in and out of consciousness for an hour or two. This was a nice and rest day. Then we ate food at this Indian/Moroccan (not quite sure) place. I’m thinking Indian because they served lassi drinks. Either way the food was delicious!!!! Sapporo in general seems to be made for the good eatin. I was worried at first because the place was known for curry ramen, and in all truth it didn’t sound like something I wanted. I’m glad it turned out to be a true success. Then! You guessed it! The three of us went to Karaoke where we honestly just sung songs we never had before just to have something else to sing when we go out with other people. It was fun and I think we stayed three hours by ourselves. Since it was our final night I suppose we wanted to make the most out of it. I decided to skip out on my hotel and stay with Will and Van since they had an extra bed and since we were to take the same flight home the following afternoon.
Monday February 8th:
Final day and a quick finish. The three of us visited Tokuyo hands, bought something’s, walked back to the station to try Sapporo ramen and then bought omiyage. Then we were homeward bound!
Friday February 5th: SNOW as usual. Wet and miserable and grey was Toyama and it’s something we’ve gotten used to at this point. However our moaning about it has not ceased to stop. After grunting though the weather, meeting up with Will and Van, and grabbing a quick lunch we drove to the Airport about an hour before our flight. At first we were sure we booked different flights but it turned out that we were all on the same flight. A very wonderful surprise.
After the short plane ride we arrived in Hokkaido and hopped a rapid train to Sapporo station. There we split, checked in to our respective hotels, and met back up at the television tower. Tiffany and I were the first to arrive and though we managed to be late ourselves we waited for the rest of our crew for thirty minutes or so. It was freezing outside and yet I’d rather be cold then cold AND wet in Toyama. Once everyone had arrived we walked around Odori Park for a short while and decided that we were all too cold and too hungry to really deal with the harshness of the high winds. We did however manage to see a few sculptures and met some Osaka Jets who were also around to enjoy the festival. One of them who’s name was Matt would show up again later in our trip. Parting ways with the Osaka Jets we found ourselves in a Yakiniku spot and proceeded to devour food like we hadn’t eaten in weeks. It was pretty good but by far the best Yakiniku I have had was in Osaka during my silver week trip to visit Phage. Considering the night was still young we all decided to walk to the Karaoke place across the street and we rocked it out for two hours or so before we called it a night and passed out in our respective hotels and beds.
Saturday February 6th :
Woke up, got a bit fancy and met Will and Van near Tokyu hands for food. Around twenty minutes later we found a place who served Chinese food buffet style. We walked in and waited to be seated. However the host saw that we had cups from the coffee shop we had made a pit-stop at before we found the restaurant and yelled at us saying that we couldn’t bring in drinks. Will who made the best `I`m about to go Hulk on you` face ever kindly told him that he was very rude in Japanese and we all walked out deciding that he was too much of a dick to eat at his place. This bummed us out slightly because we were really looking forward to Chinese, but instead we ended up at a Korean food restaurant which turned out to be fabulous. We were quite pleased with the over all outcome and our bellies were quite full and content.
Shopping at Tokuyo hands was in order after grub and we shopped around for a short time while we were waiting to meet up with Wills friends. Once we met up with the two girls( who were so sweet and fun to be around) , and Matt who decided to tag along we headed over to the chocolate museum. Granted I didn’t get to eat as much chocolate as I would have guessed, but the museum itself was architecturally cool and it had some cool displays outside of the fact they made chocolate. There was half a floor dedicated to the toys the founder of the chocolate factory collected over the years, and I think the tradition has been continued by those who still run the business. There were Star Wars collectables, Pokemon collectables, Disney Toys, Astro boy posters and figurines and so on. It was pretty cool. After spending two hours or so there we treaded back to the station (so cold and snowy!) and went back towards the festival to meet up with someone else and to grab dinner.
When we returned to Sapporo city center we met up with the other friend of Wills (who was so freckin pretty) and she lead us to yet another Yakiniku place HOWEVER this place was super fancy and we got like six courses of food including the meat. It was a good time and Tiffany and I talked to the first two girls about our lives as Jets and our love for animation and such. We learned a good deal about them too, and I hope I get the chance to see them again while I’m in Japan. Once dinner was over the price for all of us was near sixty a person, and yet the girl who took us to the restaurant covered us a bit. I think she knocked off twenty bucks a person. It was SUPER nice of her to do that. After bowing to her a couple million times it was finally time to enjoy the snow festival. Since it was dark at this point all the sculptures were lit up and we spent a solid two or three hours walking around taking pictures of sculptures and being very cold. Needless to say we ended up going to Karaoke again (though Tiffany went to the game arcade) and after an hour or two we met back up with Tiffany and said goodbye to the girls. Joining Tiffany in the game arcade I played a few games (horribly I might add) but it was fun anyway. Once we left we gathered our wits, hit up the kombini for snacks, bought some cards, and played spades for a while in Vans hotel.
Sunday February 7th:
Since Tiffany was catching a flight a day earlier then Will, Van and I we woke up early to head over to the Sapporo Beer factory. There wasn’t much to see there so after a short time we went down to the base floor and got the three beers for 400\ deal and met a pretty cool guy from California who was there on business and on ski holiday. However by noon (possibly earlier) we were back at Sapporo station seeing Tiffany off. After the goodbyes, hugs, and be carefuls were handed out Will, Van, and I decided that we were truly to tired to do something strenuous. Thus we made our way to a museum (which was fairly boring) and then to an onsen where me and Van relaxed and talked together. We even fell asleep in the outdoor onsen while it was snowing. It was really nice and really relaxing and also the time where I found out I had lost thirteen pounds. Granted the scales could have just lied and I’m in a pleasant dream world but I’ll take it either way. When we got out of the onsen we dressed in yukata and met will in the lounge room where I dosed in and out of consciousness for an hour or two. This was a nice and rest day. Then we ate food at this Indian/Moroccan (not quite sure) place. I’m thinking Indian because they served lassi drinks. Either way the food was delicious!!!! Sapporo in general seems to be made for the good eatin. I was worried at first because the place was known for curry ramen, and in all truth it didn’t sound like something I wanted. I’m glad it turned out to be a true success. Then! You guessed it! The three of us went to Karaoke where we honestly just sung songs we never had before just to have something else to sing when we go out with other people. It was fun and I think we stayed three hours by ourselves. Since it was our final night I suppose we wanted to make the most out of it. I decided to skip out on my hotel and stay with Will and Van since they had an extra bed and since we were to take the same flight home the following afternoon.
Monday February 8th:
Final day and a quick finish. The three of us visited Tokuyo hands, bought something’s, walked back to the station to try Sapporo ramen and then bought omiyage. Then we were homeward bound!
Monday, February 1, 2010
D&D and Onsen! Oh Yea!!
Weekend: Jan 29th thru 31st:
So this weekend was yet another busy yet fulfilling weekend. After work on Friday I was retrieved by Brett and whisked over to David's house to start a new D&D campaign with Brett as our DM. I did managed to stress out a bit while creating my character since all the table top I've played in the past were based off the basics of D&D and not all the specifics and intricacies of the game. Nevertheless they helped me build my character and by the end of it I was a duel-wielding half Elven Ranger named Sanar. Once everyone's game sheets and such were in order we began the campaign. It was rather fun and even though Tiff's character is one you'd like to shoot in the face and my character managed to pick up 6+ nicknames; Sinabar and Singeicles being two of them, it was rather successful. This craziness lasted about a quarter till eleven and with that we all disbanded.
Saturday was onsen day. I woke up in the morning and talked to a few ppl including the Fam, and managed to have enough time to shower and grabs snacks to only show up half and hour after everyone else XD I didn't managed to sit down long before we were all changing into yuukata and walking down to the hot spring. I was a bit nervous at first, but thanks to the absolutely fantastic ladies I was with that worry soon passed me and was forgotten for the whole of the weekend. While in the hot spring we played Mafia (kind of an detective game) and talked bout random stuff and how the random Japanese women kept passing us saying “wow” and doing the curve hand movements. It was rather amusing/awkward/embarrassing all at the same time. After nearly two hours past and our heat tolerance was at it's max we all redressed in our yuukata and returned to the room for a little drinking and relaxing until it was time for dinner. Thankfully we only had to wait about an hour before they retrieved us for dinner. Unfortunately although we ordered the steak set menu we only managed four small cubes of steak while the rest was large quantities of assorted fish. Overall I managed to have an enjoyable dinner and an extra helping of fruit since one of the girls was allergic. After dinner we all retired back to our rooms and from there, there was much talk, gossip, and lounging to be had. It remained this way until nearly ten at night when we decided to take a night plunge in the hot spring. It was lovely. There was a full moon, snow covered mountains, good company and soothing water. Good night. Talking, pictures, massages, and more. Once all that was said and done, some of the girls played FLUX while I did Tina's makeup. It turned out pretty well and she seemed to like it ^^. By the time I was finished however most of the girls went to sleep, I chatted with Debbie for a spell then passed out myself.
The next day we were served breakfast (though I am not partial to breakfast let alone fish in the morning) I ate and we packed up and left the onsen hotel! The rest of the day consisted of my lounging around and then sleeping for the most of the day.
So this weekend was yet another busy yet fulfilling weekend. After work on Friday I was retrieved by Brett and whisked over to David's house to start a new D&D campaign with Brett as our DM. I did managed to stress out a bit while creating my character since all the table top I've played in the past were based off the basics of D&D and not all the specifics and intricacies of the game. Nevertheless they helped me build my character and by the end of it I was a duel-wielding half Elven Ranger named Sanar. Once everyone's game sheets and such were in order we began the campaign. It was rather fun and even though Tiff's character is one you'd like to shoot in the face and my character managed to pick up 6+ nicknames; Sinabar and Singeicles being two of them, it was rather successful. This craziness lasted about a quarter till eleven and with that we all disbanded.
Saturday was onsen day. I woke up in the morning and talked to a few ppl including the Fam, and managed to have enough time to shower and grabs snacks to only show up half and hour after everyone else XD I didn't managed to sit down long before we were all changing into yuukata and walking down to the hot spring. I was a bit nervous at first, but thanks to the absolutely fantastic ladies I was with that worry soon passed me and was forgotten for the whole of the weekend. While in the hot spring we played Mafia (kind of an detective game) and talked bout random stuff and how the random Japanese women kept passing us saying “wow” and doing the curve hand movements. It was rather amusing/awkward/embarrassing all at the same time. After nearly two hours past and our heat tolerance was at it's max we all redressed in our yuukata and returned to the room for a little drinking and relaxing until it was time for dinner. Thankfully we only had to wait about an hour before they retrieved us for dinner. Unfortunately although we ordered the steak set menu we only managed four small cubes of steak while the rest was large quantities of assorted fish. Overall I managed to have an enjoyable dinner and an extra helping of fruit since one of the girls was allergic. After dinner we all retired back to our rooms and from there, there was much talk, gossip, and lounging to be had. It remained this way until nearly ten at night when we decided to take a night plunge in the hot spring. It was lovely. There was a full moon, snow covered mountains, good company and soothing water. Good night. Talking, pictures, massages, and more. Once all that was said and done, some of the girls played FLUX while I did Tina's makeup. It turned out pretty well and she seemed to like it ^^. By the time I was finished however most of the girls went to sleep, I chatted with Debbie for a spell then passed out myself.
The next day we were served breakfast (though I am not partial to breakfast let alone fish in the morning) I ate and we packed up and left the onsen hotel! The rest of the day consisted of my lounging around and then sleeping for the most of the day.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thailand post Finally!
So: This post is going to be in explanation form. Lots of stuff has gone on so I’ll describe my pre, present, and post dealings of my Thailand Vacation.
December 18th: Ben’s Going Away Party/BOE end year Enkai: So although it was the first and down right miserable snow storm of the year we still had an Enkai. Yuko picked me and Ben up and we all headed to MoMo bar for the party. The selection of food was pretty good, but I didn’t eat much. I think the weather killed my appetite in all honesty. However the company was good, and after lots of food and drink I played a game of pool. Me and Jack ended up winning (though with little help from me) and I was super excited about it. I blame the alcohol XD! After that it was simply more mingling and I was showing a picture of my cirque du soilel makeup to some of the women at the party and my supervisor walked over. It was obvious he has enough drink on him because his comments were truly uncensored. He took a look at the camera and then looked at me very sincerely and asked if he could kiss my picture. I just burst out laughing while the other women tried to apologize on his behalf. Once the main party went down, a few of us trudged through the snow and found a karaoke place, and that’s where we stayed for another hour or two. A group of Japanese ppl were across with us, and we cheered each other on the whole night. On top of that I had to go and save a few songs for ppl cause it was songs that I suppose they thought they could sing and was wrong. That and the Japanese girl in my group was all over me. I blame alcohol XD When it was time to leave a guy from the other group said that he wanted me to sing Beyonce. Does this surprise me? Not at all!!!!! He complimented my voice and we all went out separate ways!!!!!
December 19th: Kathy’s Surprise Party!
Synopsis: I met up with a few friends and we all gathered the food and the White Chocolate Birthday Cake (which was beyond fantastic) and waited outside her home, while her husband went inside to throw her off. After that he cut all the power and we all came in singing happy birthday to her. She was half surprised (which I hear was a massive achievement) and we all laughed. After that we all merely sat around the dinner table and talked and joked for the remainder of the party. It all ended in many reciting of cheesy knock knock jokes and Chuck Norris quotes.
December 21st: Yes, I got ill, went to this hospital, got medicines after some tests, went home, and I am fine. THE END P.S. No worries
December 22nd: Late Night Enkai before a day of travel! I arrived at the Unazuki Hotel where the Enkai was to be hell, but not without slight freak out. I had NO clue where this place was and thankfully GPS saved the day. It was really high up into the mountains but if I saw the place in the day I’m sure it would have looked beautiful. I sat next to toshi my JTE and we had dinner. It was nice. Everyone was nice and allowed me to see how the staff was like outside the work place. So now I can say I like the staff almost as much as I loved the students at Koshino. I was even invited to a new year’s party whenever that will be. I ended up winning some gloves and some shoes(that I couldn’t wear lol) and then said goodbye to everyone after only being there a little under 2 hours.
It was time to head down the mountain of death back to Kurobe and the train station. Thank God for GPS and the IPhone. I managed to get back in plenty of time, and took my time instead of speeding in such horribly snowy conditions. From this point me and Rosa hopped on the train and had over a full day of travelling on multiple types of transportation when we reached our final destination, Thailand!, the next evening.
December 23rd: Arrival
• Coconut products workshop: T’was a fairly long drive before arriving to the Floating market, and so we stopped for around fifteen minutes at this rest stop which sold mainly coconut products. While here I tasted sugar made from Coconuts and it was pretty good. One thing that I’ve learned on this trip starting with this stop is that when it comes to Thai’s coconut products, I find them pretty good. Otherwise I’m still adverse to coconut flavored things in general.
• Floating Market: So the floating market was really fun and really expensive. A bunch of vendors and shops are all on boats on the edges of a long canal way, and people ride along the canal in gondolas looking at the goods from the shops. If you see something you like, you point and they’ll pull you in and try to sell to you. I did my best to haggle along with my friend. We lowered prices but found out the next day we were spending waay more than we thought. It’s ok though, it was a fun experience and I ended up with some neat bags and omiyage for people.
• Lunch far into Thai mountains: We drove and drove and drove and then…. We made it to this restaurant looking over the river. I’m not sure what province of Thailand we were in but when you looked out into the distance it looked just like it would in the movies. A scene right out of Tomb Raider or Anaconda when the crew was drifting down the river with all the verge around them. In any case this is where we had our meal and this was the scenery offered while we ate. It was great ^^ .
• Elephant ride: After lunch they decided that it would be a good idea to go ride some elephants and so we did. A guy came over, was like hop on and me and Rosa got on after squealing like girls (which is soo unlike me) and feeling like we were going to fall the hell off. Either way we managed to get on we went trekking for about 20 minutes we were lead back to the starting point and got off the elephant. It was a nice experience and there were some really nice pictures taken of us. Next task is to ride a camel in Egypt! ( just give me a year damnit! I will pull this off)
• Dinner and Traditional Thai dancing: Time for dinner, and it was in a rather danke ass place. Very pretty and very traditional. While having a rather delicious meal and a very very strong long Island Ice Tea the performers came on and did several acts of Thai Traditional dance. It was very interesting to watch. They are very particular about hand position and fluidity. The costumes were rather dazzling as well.
• The BOY GIRL SHOW!: Soo to top of the evening we went to this cabaret lady boy show. If you have heard anything about Thailand they are pretty famous for lady/boy shows, and I found out why. Those men are ridiculously pretty, and some are damn right sexy. Like I’d do you, and I’d have to feel extra bad because you are a guy posing as a girl who I think is sexy as a girl ! O.o That is all kinds of messed up, but I digress, if you go to Thailand going to a LadyBoy should be on your check list to see.
December 24th: Day two: Bangkok
• Former Grand Palace: Sooo today was the lets go look at all the fantastically designed buildings with its bejeweled columns and roofs. We took a look at the entirety of the former grand palace. The former grand palace isn’t simply called that because the current king lives elsewhere, it’s also because the former king was either killed or committed suicide so the palace was no longer a place a king could rule from. The current grand palace do not allow tourist( which seems like a good idea) so we just looked at it from a far.
• Wat Po and Wat Arun: Wat Po is probably one if not the most famous attraction in Bangkok Thailand. The building with the large gold reclining Buddha. The reason for its reclining position means that the king of the time is dead. Wat Arun was built by another king and it represents the sun.
• Jewelry Presentation and Duty Free Shopping: Well considering I’m not a huge jewelry fan, or one who goes around shopping for such this was an interesting change. My friend I were shown a short presentation about how Thailand was famous for particular jewels namely sapphires and rubies. After that we were lead to a showcase room where you could purchase jewelry. The jewelry was quite lovely, but what impressed me more than anything was that everyone in that place could speak upwards to five languages. I just kept listening to people switch in between languages when focusing on different customers. Needless to say since I was there I did a “when in Thailand” gesture and bought a blue topaz ring which stones were in the shape of a flower. After that they shipped us to this huge mall filled with ever name brand shop one could think of. The perk was there was no tax on anything, hence called duty free shopping. Though it was interesting I found no need to shop there because all the stores were foreign name brands and items I could get elsewhere. I inquired about the people who shopped in this mall and was informed that about 80% of its shoppers were foreigners, basically telling me that the average or even a bit more well off Thai person could not afford this mall.
• Light up: Not as thrilling as I hoped it would be, but basically it was going around seeing all the palaces we saw that morning lit up at night. Would have been cooler if we could roam through but it was a look from the car window situation, so no pictures of that event was to be had.
December 26th: Phuket , A day at the Beach!
• Beach Times: Oh yes, so although I really hate wearing bathing suits it was worth it to go to the beach. One of the fun parts of the whole situation was that we took a speed boat to the island where we were to go swimming. I really REALLY wanted to go parasailing, but I didn’t have money nor did my company feel up to it. I look back at it now, and I sooo should have done it anyway XD. Oh well.. I’ll go to another awesome place and partake in such activities. After we got out we went and lounged on the beach and swam for the next few hours. Trully the clearest water I’ve ever seen. It was so beautiful. One of those moments where I wake up out of the haze that is Anita and realize that I am in a wonderful place. Another fantastic acquisition while in at the beach that day a girl I said hello too. We ended up talking a bit and I found out that she was from Hong Kong (her English being good cause she was raised in Canada). Here we switched info, and now I have a friend in Hong Kong. She told us that we should come and visit, and I’m all about China, and making international friends… hell just making friends!!
• R&R with the Discovery Channel, room-service and pastries!: There wasn’t much planned for the rest of the day once we arrived at the hotel around five. Instead of running around it was time to just relax. So after showers and getting our things packed up for the next days late night departure we watched some serious discovery channel. I don’t know about you but the discovery channel is hot shit, and it always has been. Since I don’t normally watch TV in the first place nor do I have a chance to watch American TV while in Japan it was a nice change. On top of that we purchased yummy pastries (one get one for free hotness! btw ), and ordered room-service. It was a really relaxing evening.
December 27th: Ayutthaya and homeward bound:
• Cruise: Okies, so instead of taking a car we ended getting up early and taking a cruise boat down the river. It took three hours to get to Ayutthaya, but in that time we were fed fantastically. Just the food was awesome. And tea as well. Along with the fact we got to see a lot of sites from the boat and video/pictures were taken. On top of this we became cool with a group of Japanese tourists one of whom could speak pretty good English. We found out they were teachers like us in another prefecture and that they hand an ALT at their high school as well. They were really nice, and would be the group we travelled with for the remainder of the day’s activities.
• Summer Palace: A resting palace for the kings of Thailand to go during the summer months. It was a rather beautiful place, but rarely used in these days. The architecture here was the closest thing I saw to resembling western architecture and yet it was still very Asian. It reminded me a little of France and the gardens around Versailles. We walked around and looked at all the major points of the grounds however this day was the hottest day and I was semi miserable from the heat. I didn’t let it dampen my spirits, it was just made having fun a bit harder to accomplish (though it was thoroughly accomplished ^^ )
• Historical Heritage sites: For the remainder of the day our group visited an historical Japanese settlement and a lot of the first Thai palace ruins. It was fun to look at but it was so hot. XD Nevertheless I had a good full day of this until it was time to head back to the airport and board the plane back to Japan.
December 28th: Start of food poisoning !!!!..... wait >.>
December 18th: Ben’s Going Away Party/BOE end year Enkai: So although it was the first and down right miserable snow storm of the year we still had an Enkai. Yuko picked me and Ben up and we all headed to MoMo bar for the party. The selection of food was pretty good, but I didn’t eat much. I think the weather killed my appetite in all honesty. However the company was good, and after lots of food and drink I played a game of pool. Me and Jack ended up winning (though with little help from me) and I was super excited about it. I blame the alcohol XD! After that it was simply more mingling and I was showing a picture of my cirque du soilel makeup to some of the women at the party and my supervisor walked over. It was obvious he has enough drink on him because his comments were truly uncensored. He took a look at the camera and then looked at me very sincerely and asked if he could kiss my picture. I just burst out laughing while the other women tried to apologize on his behalf. Once the main party went down, a few of us trudged through the snow and found a karaoke place, and that’s where we stayed for another hour or two. A group of Japanese ppl were across with us, and we cheered each other on the whole night. On top of that I had to go and save a few songs for ppl cause it was songs that I suppose they thought they could sing and was wrong. That and the Japanese girl in my group was all over me. I blame alcohol XD When it was time to leave a guy from the other group said that he wanted me to sing Beyonce. Does this surprise me? Not at all!!!!! He complimented my voice and we all went out separate ways!!!!!
December 19th: Kathy’s Surprise Party!
Synopsis: I met up with a few friends and we all gathered the food and the White Chocolate Birthday Cake (which was beyond fantastic) and waited outside her home, while her husband went inside to throw her off. After that he cut all the power and we all came in singing happy birthday to her. She was half surprised (which I hear was a massive achievement) and we all laughed. After that we all merely sat around the dinner table and talked and joked for the remainder of the party. It all ended in many reciting of cheesy knock knock jokes and Chuck Norris quotes.
December 21st: Yes, I got ill, went to this hospital, got medicines after some tests, went home, and I am fine. THE END P.S. No worries
December 22nd: Late Night Enkai before a day of travel! I arrived at the Unazuki Hotel where the Enkai was to be hell, but not without slight freak out. I had NO clue where this place was and thankfully GPS saved the day. It was really high up into the mountains but if I saw the place in the day I’m sure it would have looked beautiful. I sat next to toshi my JTE and we had dinner. It was nice. Everyone was nice and allowed me to see how the staff was like outside the work place. So now I can say I like the staff almost as much as I loved the students at Koshino. I was even invited to a new year’s party whenever that will be. I ended up winning some gloves and some shoes(that I couldn’t wear lol) and then said goodbye to everyone after only being there a little under 2 hours.
It was time to head down the mountain of death back to Kurobe and the train station. Thank God for GPS and the IPhone. I managed to get back in plenty of time, and took my time instead of speeding in such horribly snowy conditions. From this point me and Rosa hopped on the train and had over a full day of travelling on multiple types of transportation when we reached our final destination, Thailand!, the next evening.
December 23rd: Arrival
• Coconut products workshop: T’was a fairly long drive before arriving to the Floating market, and so we stopped for around fifteen minutes at this rest stop which sold mainly coconut products. While here I tasted sugar made from Coconuts and it was pretty good. One thing that I’ve learned on this trip starting with this stop is that when it comes to Thai’s coconut products, I find them pretty good. Otherwise I’m still adverse to coconut flavored things in general.
• Floating Market: So the floating market was really fun and really expensive. A bunch of vendors and shops are all on boats on the edges of a long canal way, and people ride along the canal in gondolas looking at the goods from the shops. If you see something you like, you point and they’ll pull you in and try to sell to you. I did my best to haggle along with my friend. We lowered prices but found out the next day we were spending waay more than we thought. It’s ok though, it was a fun experience and I ended up with some neat bags and omiyage for people.
• Lunch far into Thai mountains: We drove and drove and drove and then…. We made it to this restaurant looking over the river. I’m not sure what province of Thailand we were in but when you looked out into the distance it looked just like it would in the movies. A scene right out of Tomb Raider or Anaconda when the crew was drifting down the river with all the verge around them. In any case this is where we had our meal and this was the scenery offered while we ate. It was great ^^ .
• Elephant ride: After lunch they decided that it would be a good idea to go ride some elephants and so we did. A guy came over, was like hop on and me and Rosa got on after squealing like girls (which is soo unlike me) and feeling like we were going to fall the hell off. Either way we managed to get on we went trekking for about 20 minutes we were lead back to the starting point and got off the elephant. It was a nice experience and there were some really nice pictures taken of us. Next task is to ride a camel in Egypt! ( just give me a year damnit! I will pull this off)
• Dinner and Traditional Thai dancing: Time for dinner, and it was in a rather danke ass place. Very pretty and very traditional. While having a rather delicious meal and a very very strong long Island Ice Tea the performers came on and did several acts of Thai Traditional dance. It was very interesting to watch. They are very particular about hand position and fluidity. The costumes were rather dazzling as well.
• The BOY GIRL SHOW!: Soo to top of the evening we went to this cabaret lady boy show. If you have heard anything about Thailand they are pretty famous for lady/boy shows, and I found out why. Those men are ridiculously pretty, and some are damn right sexy. Like I’d do you, and I’d have to feel extra bad because you are a guy posing as a girl who I think is sexy as a girl ! O.o That is all kinds of messed up, but I digress, if you go to Thailand going to a LadyBoy should be on your check list to see.
December 24th: Day two: Bangkok
• Former Grand Palace: Sooo today was the lets go look at all the fantastically designed buildings with its bejeweled columns and roofs. We took a look at the entirety of the former grand palace. The former grand palace isn’t simply called that because the current king lives elsewhere, it’s also because the former king was either killed or committed suicide so the palace was no longer a place a king could rule from. The current grand palace do not allow tourist( which seems like a good idea) so we just looked at it from a far.
• Wat Po and Wat Arun: Wat Po is probably one if not the most famous attraction in Bangkok Thailand. The building with the large gold reclining Buddha. The reason for its reclining position means that the king of the time is dead. Wat Arun was built by another king and it represents the sun.
• Jewelry Presentation and Duty Free Shopping: Well considering I’m not a huge jewelry fan, or one who goes around shopping for such this was an interesting change. My friend I were shown a short presentation about how Thailand was famous for particular jewels namely sapphires and rubies. After that we were lead to a showcase room where you could purchase jewelry. The jewelry was quite lovely, but what impressed me more than anything was that everyone in that place could speak upwards to five languages. I just kept listening to people switch in between languages when focusing on different customers. Needless to say since I was there I did a “when in Thailand” gesture and bought a blue topaz ring which stones were in the shape of a flower. After that they shipped us to this huge mall filled with ever name brand shop one could think of. The perk was there was no tax on anything, hence called duty free shopping. Though it was interesting I found no need to shop there because all the stores were foreign name brands and items I could get elsewhere. I inquired about the people who shopped in this mall and was informed that about 80% of its shoppers were foreigners, basically telling me that the average or even a bit more well off Thai person could not afford this mall.
• Light up: Not as thrilling as I hoped it would be, but basically it was going around seeing all the palaces we saw that morning lit up at night. Would have been cooler if we could roam through but it was a look from the car window situation, so no pictures of that event was to be had.
December 26th: Phuket , A day at the Beach!
• Beach Times: Oh yes, so although I really hate wearing bathing suits it was worth it to go to the beach. One of the fun parts of the whole situation was that we took a speed boat to the island where we were to go swimming. I really REALLY wanted to go parasailing, but I didn’t have money nor did my company feel up to it. I look back at it now, and I sooo should have done it anyway XD. Oh well.. I’ll go to another awesome place and partake in such activities. After we got out we went and lounged on the beach and swam for the next few hours. Trully the clearest water I’ve ever seen. It was so beautiful. One of those moments where I wake up out of the haze that is Anita and realize that I am in a wonderful place. Another fantastic acquisition while in at the beach that day a girl I said hello too. We ended up talking a bit and I found out that she was from Hong Kong (her English being good cause she was raised in Canada). Here we switched info, and now I have a friend in Hong Kong. She told us that we should come and visit, and I’m all about China, and making international friends… hell just making friends!!
• R&R with the Discovery Channel, room-service and pastries!: There wasn’t much planned for the rest of the day once we arrived at the hotel around five. Instead of running around it was time to just relax. So after showers and getting our things packed up for the next days late night departure we watched some serious discovery channel. I don’t know about you but the discovery channel is hot shit, and it always has been. Since I don’t normally watch TV in the first place nor do I have a chance to watch American TV while in Japan it was a nice change. On top of that we purchased yummy pastries (one get one for free hotness! btw ), and ordered room-service. It was a really relaxing evening.
December 27th: Ayutthaya and homeward bound:
• Cruise: Okies, so instead of taking a car we ended getting up early and taking a cruise boat down the river. It took three hours to get to Ayutthaya, but in that time we were fed fantastically. Just the food was awesome. And tea as well. Along with the fact we got to see a lot of sites from the boat and video/pictures were taken. On top of this we became cool with a group of Japanese tourists one of whom could speak pretty good English. We found out they were teachers like us in another prefecture and that they hand an ALT at their high school as well. They were really nice, and would be the group we travelled with for the remainder of the day’s activities.
• Summer Palace: A resting palace for the kings of Thailand to go during the summer months. It was a rather beautiful place, but rarely used in these days. The architecture here was the closest thing I saw to resembling western architecture and yet it was still very Asian. It reminded me a little of France and the gardens around Versailles. We walked around and looked at all the major points of the grounds however this day was the hottest day and I was semi miserable from the heat. I didn’t let it dampen my spirits, it was just made having fun a bit harder to accomplish (though it was thoroughly accomplished ^^ )
• Historical Heritage sites: For the remainder of the day our group visited an historical Japanese settlement and a lot of the first Thai palace ruins. It was fun to look at but it was so hot. XD Nevertheless I had a good full day of this until it was time to head back to the airport and board the plane back to Japan.
December 28th: Start of food poisoning !!!!..... wait >.>
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Weekend of the Phage
Sooo it was finally tine for Phage( a.k.a Aaron Quade) to come visit my neck of the woods and so on January 9th in the early part of the afternoon I picked him up from Kurobe train station and immediately went for lunch. I took him to a place not too far from my house known as きときとすし(KitoKito Sushi). Though I am use to the sushi here in Kurobe, I bragged to him that we had some of the best. Once he tired the sushi he nodded in confirmation and continued eating. After talking, catching up and expressing how tired we both were Phage had ten empty sushi plates piled in front of him and a full stomach. After lunch we went back to my place and chilled for about an hour or so. It wasn't long before it was time to drive to Uozu (the town over) and meet up with people at Indira for dinner. To my surprise and delight pretty much everyone showed up for this get together and in all there were about fourteen of us there. It was good times indeed, talking about random things and introducing Phage to my friends. Also things tend to go well when you have delicious Indian food in your stomach as well. After successfully filling up most continued on with the night and made their way over to SunPlaza and to the karaoke place. Karaoke as always was entertaining, and it lasted about three hours. I even tried out or attempted to try songs I never sing before. Simply so I wont be singing he same thing every time I end up going to Karaoke! So that was our night. Gotta home around 12:30 and after some random foods and talkins we hit the bed.
January 10th
So this was a sloooow day. Got up alittle before noon, and stayed in the bed chatting with friends on AIM from the the states while Phage studied for his kanji final. Nevertheless this held our attention until Mabe hopped on skype and then for the next two or so hours we spoke with him and the others that happened to be at his house(for movie night) or stop in ( Steve, Renaldo, Andrea, and Vincent). Needless to say we didn't actually get out of bed till roughly 6pm and that was mostly because the need of food was dire. Originally we were going to get more sushi ( because Phage could not get enough) but the line was nearly out the door. So instead of doing that we went to Pizza Jamboree and had pizza there. One we ate I took him to the local game store and we wandered the place for nearly two hours, thirty-five minutes were devoted for looking through the porn sections. Truth be told the art in that section was fantastic. Then again bad draw hentai just seems like a bad idea, least for selling purposes anyway. After a few things were purchased ( and no, no hentail was bought) we hit up the convience store grabbed a few things and headed back home. Once home it was a combination of playing video games (Heavenly Sword and Folklore) and chatting it up with Mabe until nearly 6am in the morning. I was then were we figured sleep should happen so we could get up and get Phage to the train station to return to Osaka.
January 11th
Early morning for a late night. Slowly we headed out at noon to try sushi AGAIN. Luckily for Phage they were able to take us and sat us at the bar. The men behind the bar were quite fun to talk to and were very pleased with us American gaijin for some reason. I'm glad it happened since was the last bit of Toyama Phage was going to see. Once we finished I drove him to the train station, wished him good luck on finals and his travels, and farewell. Hope you had a good time Phage!!!
January 10th
So this was a sloooow day. Got up alittle before noon, and stayed in the bed chatting with friends on AIM from the the states while Phage studied for his kanji final. Nevertheless this held our attention until Mabe hopped on skype and then for the next two or so hours we spoke with him and the others that happened to be at his house(for movie night) or stop in ( Steve, Renaldo, Andrea, and Vincent). Needless to say we didn't actually get out of bed till roughly 6pm and that was mostly because the need of food was dire. Originally we were going to get more sushi ( because Phage could not get enough) but the line was nearly out the door. So instead of doing that we went to Pizza Jamboree and had pizza there. One we ate I took him to the local game store and we wandered the place for nearly two hours, thirty-five minutes were devoted for looking through the porn sections. Truth be told the art in that section was fantastic. Then again bad draw hentai just seems like a bad idea, least for selling purposes anyway. After a few things were purchased ( and no, no hentail was bought) we hit up the convience store grabbed a few things and headed back home. Once home it was a combination of playing video games (Heavenly Sword and Folklore) and chatting it up with Mabe until nearly 6am in the morning. I was then were we figured sleep should happen so we could get up and get Phage to the train station to return to Osaka.
January 11th
Early morning for a late night. Slowly we headed out at noon to try sushi AGAIN. Luckily for Phage they were able to take us and sat us at the bar. The men behind the bar were quite fun to talk to and were very pleased with us American gaijin for some reason. I'm glad it happened since was the last bit of Toyama Phage was going to see. Once we finished I drove him to the train station, wished him good luck on finals and his travels, and farewell. Hope you had a good time Phage!!!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
New Years! Welcome 2010!
December 31st-January 1st:
So since I’m back at work (bleh!), and this is just opening ceremony day I have one class at the end of the day to teach. With this free time I feel it’s the opportune time to punch out the New Years entry before I get lazier than I’ve already become. I decided to head to Takaoka for Nicole and Ryan’s New Years Eve party and crash at their place. At this point I was still on the not so good side when it came to my recently acquired food poisoning. Nevertheless after being in the house for two days growing mushrooms I made myself get dressed and go. I got there and was one of the first to arrive but that didn’t last long before several more people poured in with snacks and things to drink. Seeing as I was sick I stayed on the safe side and simply quenched my thirst with soda (a poor replacement for alcohol I know) and ate the snacks (in which I chipped my filling on >.< ) After a while of hanging about we walked to the shrine to give a new years prayer. It was funny because there was supposed to be fireworks. What happened was two minutes before midnight a few fireworks went off and people started bowing and talking to each other. We all starred at each other like deer in headlights until Nicole finally broke the silence and said “ I guess this is when we hug??”, we all laughed and wished each other an happy new year. Though anti-climatic we gave our offering and prayer then headed back to the apartment to drink and chill for the rest of the night. There was also a paper came we played that was quite amusing. Everyone gets a piece a paper and writes a sentence of anything they choose on the paper. Then they pass it clockwise to the next person who has to then draw the sentence. When he/she is done drawing the picture, they fold down the sentence part and pass it again. This person then tries to write a sentence based on the picture alone, and so on and so forth for how ever many turns there are people. When you finally get your paper back you unfold it and look at what it has become. You get quite hilarious results and it’s a fun game. Around 3am everyone was tired and thus crashed. Though I had a good time Japanese New Year has nothing on a good ol’ American New Years party.
January 1st – January 3rd:
I spent 4 days crashing at Nicole and Ryans place. First day being I was tired and there was a small blizzard outside. The second day because Mat and Kelly came over and we all had a little bit too much fun being terrible at Mario for the Wii. Went out for yummy food and the simple fact that train run early and thus after a point there is no way to get home. On the final day (Sunday) we went to the mall and that’s when I got to see the movie AVATAR. It was a great movie, and the graphics were stunning. I would love to see it again. The only problem is it cost me 17bucks to see it once, and it wasn’t even 3D because that is an extra 3 bucks just to get the 3D glasses. I will see about going again, but the price to see any movie really makes me cry inside. XD
So in short! (for once) that’s how I brought in the new year!
So since I’m back at work (bleh!), and this is just opening ceremony day I have one class at the end of the day to teach. With this free time I feel it’s the opportune time to punch out the New Years entry before I get lazier than I’ve already become. I decided to head to Takaoka for Nicole and Ryan’s New Years Eve party and crash at their place. At this point I was still on the not so good side when it came to my recently acquired food poisoning. Nevertheless after being in the house for two days growing mushrooms I made myself get dressed and go. I got there and was one of the first to arrive but that didn’t last long before several more people poured in with snacks and things to drink. Seeing as I was sick I stayed on the safe side and simply quenched my thirst with soda (a poor replacement for alcohol I know) and ate the snacks (in which I chipped my filling on >.< ) After a while of hanging about we walked to the shrine to give a new years prayer. It was funny because there was supposed to be fireworks. What happened was two minutes before midnight a few fireworks went off and people started bowing and talking to each other. We all starred at each other like deer in headlights until Nicole finally broke the silence and said “ I guess this is when we hug??”, we all laughed and wished each other an happy new year. Though anti-climatic we gave our offering and prayer then headed back to the apartment to drink and chill for the rest of the night. There was also a paper came we played that was quite amusing. Everyone gets a piece a paper and writes a sentence of anything they choose on the paper. Then they pass it clockwise to the next person who has to then draw the sentence. When he/she is done drawing the picture, they fold down the sentence part and pass it again. This person then tries to write a sentence based on the picture alone, and so on and so forth for how ever many turns there are people. When you finally get your paper back you unfold it and look at what it has become. You get quite hilarious results and it’s a fun game. Around 3am everyone was tired and thus crashed. Though I had a good time Japanese New Year has nothing on a good ol’ American New Years party.
January 1st – January 3rd:
I spent 4 days crashing at Nicole and Ryans place. First day being I was tired and there was a small blizzard outside. The second day because Mat and Kelly came over and we all had a little bit too much fun being terrible at Mario for the Wii. Went out for yummy food and the simple fact that train run early and thus after a point there is no way to get home. On the final day (Sunday) we went to the mall and that’s when I got to see the movie AVATAR. It was a great movie, and the graphics were stunning. I would love to see it again. The only problem is it cost me 17bucks to see it once, and it wasn’t even 3D because that is an extra 3 bucks just to get the 3D glasses. I will see about going again, but the price to see any movie really makes me cry inside. XD
So in short! (for once) that’s how I brought in the new year!
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