Well I have managed to be here in Japan nearly one year now. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already. When it all started time was going so slowly, and then I decided to get into EVERYTHING and now I never have time. Heh, that's how things go I guess. However lately despite the good times the world has been kicking me pretty hard. I want to say the ball started rolling towards then end of March when my Iphone was stolen till now when I am unsure I will be able to get a Jap License based on a rather stupid stipulation. I think I've just hit my limit of bad things to the point where I can't hide my weary anymore. On top with the longest (I would like a significant other) stint in my twenty-four years of life, things can get a bit complicated. It's pretty crazy. I cry at every movie that has a touching ending. Not balling or anything but misty eyed. I get pissed at Japans attempts to make me feel bad for being black even when these "attempts" aren't direct.
From the sound of it, it makes it seem like my year was rather sour which couldn't be further from the truth. I've had a hell of a year and my experiences have been fantastic. Hence why I’ve probably waited till now to actually whine/dwell about the bad things that’ve happened. However I feel that I should lay out a Positives/Achievements vs. Negatives/Failures list to see what I've done.
Positives/Achievements
Lead Role as Yamamba for the Charity Shows 20th performance the “Idol of Oz”
Created the Tickets for the Charity Show
Helped with Costume Design for the Charity Show
Advanced my make-up ability being the Lead Make-up artist for the Charity Show and for Van’s Fashion Show, MASQUED.
Traveled to three countries outside of Japan; Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong China
ENJOYED teaching my students, especially my Chuo and Koshino kids.
Made good friends
Attempted relationships
Gained a measure of Fame with the JET and Japanese communities
Improved my Art skills and maintained moderate frequency in creating it.
Had NO drama with JETS.
Maintained most of Lent
Went to other parts of Japan; Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo.
Watched a SUMO tournament
Went to the (biggest) Yuki Matsuri (snow festival) in Japan.
Learned to eat food I thought I’d never eat. Ex: Squid, Quail Eggs, Seaweed etc…
Started sewing ( bought a machine.. need to actually use it! Heh)
If there are more please help me list them. I’d like to make a note of it to myself.
Negatives/Failures
Didn’t loose any weight really. Maybe a few pounds here or there
Had my Iphone Stolen in Vietnam
Had bronchitis during Silver Week
Back went out for about two weeks
Vietnam Visa flop
Jap License dilemma (on going)
Didn’t save at least 5k this year.
Didn’t learn much Japanese
Did not climb Mt. Tateyama
Lost my house key (on going dilemma)
Haven’t been devoted enough
Accepted that in Japan I’m always going to be the “best-friend” and never the Girlfriend.
I should be writing more but I am at work and actually pretty sleepy T_T Laterz!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Movie Night & MASQUED!
*This post will be a summary of my last two weekends since I simply don’t feel like writing them in separate posts. *
June 11th-13th
Friday June 11th was a normal Friday but Adam, Lawrence, Christine and I were to eat at Pizza Jam before we went to play poker at Bryans place. Unfortunately Pizza Jam was closed (which is horribly odd for a Friday) and we resorted to eating at Gustos where Saiyuri meet up with us. After that Christine decided to go home and Saiyuri and I headed over to Bryans. Zack and Diku ended up making an appearance and so it was an eight player group for poker. Of course this eliminated quite a few games we could play since most games require that you have no more than seven players. Nevertheless it was a night of poker and on the TV FIFA world cup was playing. I have never been one for soccer but since I am in a country where soccer is pretty important and I have quite a few European friends the world cup is serious business. The game is interesting enough during world cup time so it was an overall “guys” Friday night. Poker lasted till around one in the morning and with that I drove home and hit the hay.
The following morning (12th) I woke up and made my way to Toyama to practice at the venue with my group. We needed to practice the skit they were to perform for the show. It was a pretty quick practice. It lasted no longer than an hour and then we were off our separated ways. This was good because I needed to go home and prepare my dish for Movie Night that started at Christine’s place at six. I ended up preparing fried potatoes as my dish since I recently just learned or (attempted is more the right word) to make them like my mom, and I have to say I did a darn good job. After I drove to Uozu I managed to get fairly lost trying to find her house on foot. I was this close to turning around and going home but finally I found it (thirty minutes later) and went in. Thankfully everyone adhered to the “not everyone brink desserts” rule and ended up with one or two desserts but several dishes of food to eat. Everything was good and people really liked the potatoes so I was glad. We had basically eaten before we started watching movies. It was decided that we would watch Kick Ass, which was a pretty decent movie. It was far more raw than I thought it would be and the amount of gore was impressive considering that Kick Ass is somewhat a Super Hero Parody. I would also like to say that no little girl should be able to do that. O.o After that movie we kinda just chilled out, a few of us went over to Ally’s to chat and then back to Christine’s. It wasn’t long after that, when I decided to drive home. It was an all together good weekend.
July 18th-20th
This Friday I want to say that I did something be in all honesty if I did, what I did escapes me ^^; All I know is I prepared my make-up, clothes and sketches to leave early the following morning to Toyama for the Fashion Show preparation that day. I ended up not landing much sleep because of an impromptu conversation with Trevor till 3am in the morning. I managed to make it to Toyama and after a while of waiting and two missed tram opportunities to the venue I was picked up and taken to Mau Fine Arts where the fashion show was to be held. Once I arrived I helped to set up a bit but most of my work really didn’t kick in until we started doing skit and run way walks. We got the models in their corsets and vests after practicing that morning and had a full run. Vannie was there to watch the first run and I took it upon myself to do a second run of the show because there was some fine tuning to be done with the skits and such. Once the second run was over most everyone went and acquired some kind of dinner and or lunch or simply just left for a while. I didn’t have much of an appetite and even when I was hungry I was too busy to really eat. So I just sat around and did nothing when I could.
Finally about two and a half hours before the show we began putting makeup on the models, fixing hair and dressing them in their corsets and vests. It was truly and hectic few hours and there were several break downs. Thankfully everyone got it together, I didn’t go crazy and everything that needed to be done was done (for the models anyway) Vannie and I hurried to get dressed in something decent (I looked a hot mess in my opinion) and waited for the show to start. Thankfully the show went well and the crowd seemed to like it. Once the last skit was over Vannie and I ran out waving crazy at the camera. The runway walk through the two bottom floors went well to as we followed the models waving and thanking the audience. When it was ALL OVER the models posed on the stage and then mingled with the crowd. I did as well and was trying not to die from heat. It was a job well done, but I was tired, and really tense for some reason. A few Japanese woman came up to me and told me how nice they thought the make-up was and then made the “oh wait Ive seen you before” face and asked if I was in the Play. I told them I was Yamamba and they freaked out and were really excited. They asked to take another picture with me as the Make Up designer of the Fashion Show. They wanted to have pictures of that as well as the pictures they took with me at the Play. It was really sweet of them. Made me happy that they thought I did a good job. As the party went on things were ok till around 11:30 or so when there was some serious rifts between the owner and some models. He cursed one of them out for one reason or another and it just started a snow ball effect of tense conversations and us ultimately having to leave the venue three plus hours early. As a result to this debacle people were extremely upset, sad, pissed, and tired. It was a little more than crazy. Sara moved the party to Ajito where I went later after packing things up. I spent another two plus hours there dancing and such, but in truth I was just exhausted the whole time. I was just spent for that day. I was happy to then drive home in Lawrence’s car because he had drank. Either way it got me home to be in my bed, in my apartment in peace and quiet. My head hit the pillow at five am Sunday morning and I didn’t leave my bed again till five pm that evening.
June 11th-13th
Friday June 11th was a normal Friday but Adam, Lawrence, Christine and I were to eat at Pizza Jam before we went to play poker at Bryans place. Unfortunately Pizza Jam was closed (which is horribly odd for a Friday) and we resorted to eating at Gustos where Saiyuri meet up with us. After that Christine decided to go home and Saiyuri and I headed over to Bryans. Zack and Diku ended up making an appearance and so it was an eight player group for poker. Of course this eliminated quite a few games we could play since most games require that you have no more than seven players. Nevertheless it was a night of poker and on the TV FIFA world cup was playing. I have never been one for soccer but since I am in a country where soccer is pretty important and I have quite a few European friends the world cup is serious business. The game is interesting enough during world cup time so it was an overall “guys” Friday night. Poker lasted till around one in the morning and with that I drove home and hit the hay.
The following morning (12th) I woke up and made my way to Toyama to practice at the venue with my group. We needed to practice the skit they were to perform for the show. It was a pretty quick practice. It lasted no longer than an hour and then we were off our separated ways. This was good because I needed to go home and prepare my dish for Movie Night that started at Christine’s place at six. I ended up preparing fried potatoes as my dish since I recently just learned or (attempted is more the right word) to make them like my mom, and I have to say I did a darn good job. After I drove to Uozu I managed to get fairly lost trying to find her house on foot. I was this close to turning around and going home but finally I found it (thirty minutes later) and went in. Thankfully everyone adhered to the “not everyone brink desserts” rule and ended up with one or two desserts but several dishes of food to eat. Everything was good and people really liked the potatoes so I was glad. We had basically eaten before we started watching movies. It was decided that we would watch Kick Ass, which was a pretty decent movie. It was far more raw than I thought it would be and the amount of gore was impressive considering that Kick Ass is somewhat a Super Hero Parody. I would also like to say that no little girl should be able to do that. O.o After that movie we kinda just chilled out, a few of us went over to Ally’s to chat and then back to Christine’s. It wasn’t long after that, when I decided to drive home. It was an all together good weekend.
July 18th-20th
This Friday I want to say that I did something be in all honesty if I did, what I did escapes me ^^; All I know is I prepared my make-up, clothes and sketches to leave early the following morning to Toyama for the Fashion Show preparation that day. I ended up not landing much sleep because of an impromptu conversation with Trevor till 3am in the morning. I managed to make it to Toyama and after a while of waiting and two missed tram opportunities to the venue I was picked up and taken to Mau Fine Arts where the fashion show was to be held. Once I arrived I helped to set up a bit but most of my work really didn’t kick in until we started doing skit and run way walks. We got the models in their corsets and vests after practicing that morning and had a full run. Vannie was there to watch the first run and I took it upon myself to do a second run of the show because there was some fine tuning to be done with the skits and such. Once the second run was over most everyone went and acquired some kind of dinner and or lunch or simply just left for a while. I didn’t have much of an appetite and even when I was hungry I was too busy to really eat. So I just sat around and did nothing when I could.
Finally about two and a half hours before the show we began putting makeup on the models, fixing hair and dressing them in their corsets and vests. It was truly and hectic few hours and there were several break downs. Thankfully everyone got it together, I didn’t go crazy and everything that needed to be done was done (for the models anyway) Vannie and I hurried to get dressed in something decent (I looked a hot mess in my opinion) and waited for the show to start. Thankfully the show went well and the crowd seemed to like it. Once the last skit was over Vannie and I ran out waving crazy at the camera. The runway walk through the two bottom floors went well to as we followed the models waving and thanking the audience. When it was ALL OVER the models posed on the stage and then mingled with the crowd. I did as well and was trying not to die from heat. It was a job well done, but I was tired, and really tense for some reason. A few Japanese woman came up to me and told me how nice they thought the make-up was and then made the “oh wait Ive seen you before” face and asked if I was in the Play. I told them I was Yamamba and they freaked out and were really excited. They asked to take another picture with me as the Make Up designer of the Fashion Show. They wanted to have pictures of that as well as the pictures they took with me at the Play. It was really sweet of them. Made me happy that they thought I did a good job. As the party went on things were ok till around 11:30 or so when there was some serious rifts between the owner and some models. He cursed one of them out for one reason or another and it just started a snow ball effect of tense conversations and us ultimately having to leave the venue three plus hours early. As a result to this debacle people were extremely upset, sad, pissed, and tired. It was a little more than crazy. Sara moved the party to Ajito where I went later after packing things up. I spent another two plus hours there dancing and such, but in truth I was just exhausted the whole time. I was just spent for that day. I was happy to then drive home in Lawrence’s car because he had drank. Either way it got me home to be in my bed, in my apartment in peace and quiet. My head hit the pillow at five am Sunday morning and I didn’t leave my bed again till five pm that evening.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Closing Night!
Considering I’m writing this two/three weeks after it happened the details of the week are pretty sketchy. However it all ended up leading to that Fridays (4th of June) trip to Takaoka to prepare for Saturdays final shows. The ride up was enjoyable mainly because Niikawa members of the play were all on the same train. The one bad point about this is that I left my sketch book on the train because I was talking with people. As far as I know there wasn’t anything of much note in the sketch book except a Soul Eater drawing I had finished just before leaving work that day. Nevertheless I got there and had a tech run that night in costume. At the end of the night ( I was tired as balls) went to the Brazilian restaurant to eat. It was delicious as always and I am always happy to eat real cow when I have the chance. ^^ After that I camped out at Nicole and Ryan’s place for the night.
Saturday June 5th: The following morning I woke up early to catch the tram to the venue at eight in the morning. I met a few friends at the station and proceeded to tell them about a dream I had that involved most if not all the charity show (play) members. The got a real kick out of it, and it carried all the way to the dressing room where I informed everyone about their roles played in my dream. It was a running joke for the rest of the day. ^^ As usual the dress rehearsals were long but needed and we all ate our fill of Mc Donalds. The sheer amount of cast members that bought food there is quite hilarious. Fast food is truly the best when your stressed out and over-worked and want something quick, salty and greasy! When it was time for the first show we were a bit nervous but it all worked out. I said all my lines perfectly and sung my song. However the second performance at night who had more ppl I messed up one of my lines again, but once again no one noticed. I must be really good at hiding my f’ups hehe. However when it was time to go out and greet the audience as they were leaving the venue, I couldn’t have received more compliments whether it be on makeup or my singing voice or my costume (which the lovely Van made). A lot of people also mentioned that the felt I didn’t have enough time in the play and that they wanted to see more of my character. It was really flattering. I was also asked about next year’s play (which I haven’t even thought about joining really) and if told to pursue acting as a career O.o It was crazy hehe.
After the show we cleared out and I went to have dinner at Gustos before getting ready and heading to Clover Hall where the after party was being held. The after party was indeed and interesting venture. I danced a lot, people called me gorgeous because I decided to curl my hair a little. In fact people straight up didn’t recognize me which was weird in and of itself. It was a good time and people got pretty wasted. I had maybe two drinks and didn’t have anything even resembling a buzz. That was ok though. It’s interesting however to note that I think I might just drink less there then I did when I had parties in the states. I don’t know how that happened. O.o
Nevertheless the party didn’t end till 4am in the morning and Ryan, Nicole and I walked zombified back to their place where we crashed HARD.
The following morning though I was tired as balls I work up around twelve to gather my stuff to meet at Café skew for the Fashion show meeting.. The meeting lasted quite a while but we managed to get buffet lunch at the Brazilian restaurant, and having good food like that makes having long meetings far more bearable. It wasn’t till around six o’clock, a trip to the fabric store, and picking up my things did I get a ride with Everson back to Toyama along with Vannie. From there Vannie waited with me for my train and we managed to have some time together when we weren’t talking about something that was business related. It was nice and we both acknowledge how good it was. FINALLY I made it home that weekend and honestly once I did I have no clue what I did the rest of the night. LOL
Saturday June 5th: The following morning I woke up early to catch the tram to the venue at eight in the morning. I met a few friends at the station and proceeded to tell them about a dream I had that involved most if not all the charity show (play) members. The got a real kick out of it, and it carried all the way to the dressing room where I informed everyone about their roles played in my dream. It was a running joke for the rest of the day. ^^ As usual the dress rehearsals were long but needed and we all ate our fill of Mc Donalds. The sheer amount of cast members that bought food there is quite hilarious. Fast food is truly the best when your stressed out and over-worked and want something quick, salty and greasy! When it was time for the first show we were a bit nervous but it all worked out. I said all my lines perfectly and sung my song. However the second performance at night who had more ppl I messed up one of my lines again, but once again no one noticed. I must be really good at hiding my f’ups hehe. However when it was time to go out and greet the audience as they were leaving the venue, I couldn’t have received more compliments whether it be on makeup or my singing voice or my costume (which the lovely Van made). A lot of people also mentioned that the felt I didn’t have enough time in the play and that they wanted to see more of my character. It was really flattering. I was also asked about next year’s play (which I haven’t even thought about joining really) and if told to pursue acting as a career O.o It was crazy hehe.
After the show we cleared out and I went to have dinner at Gustos before getting ready and heading to Clover Hall where the after party was being held. The after party was indeed and interesting venture. I danced a lot, people called me gorgeous because I decided to curl my hair a little. In fact people straight up didn’t recognize me which was weird in and of itself. It was a good time and people got pretty wasted. I had maybe two drinks and didn’t have anything even resembling a buzz. That was ok though. It’s interesting however to note that I think I might just drink less there then I did when I had parties in the states. I don’t know how that happened. O.o
Nevertheless the party didn’t end till 4am in the morning and Ryan, Nicole and I walked zombified back to their place where we crashed HARD.
The following morning though I was tired as balls I work up around twelve to gather my stuff to meet at Café skew for the Fashion show meeting.. The meeting lasted quite a while but we managed to get buffet lunch at the Brazilian restaurant, and having good food like that makes having long meetings far more bearable. It wasn’t till around six o’clock, a trip to the fabric store, and picking up my things did I get a ride with Everson back to Toyama along with Vannie. From there Vannie waited with me for my train and we managed to have some time together when we weren’t talking about something that was business related. It was nice and we both acknowledge how good it was. FINALLY I made it home that weekend and honestly once I did I have no clue what I did the rest of the night. LOL
Hong Kong Trip: Part 2
Day 5: Lantau Island: Waking up early the three of us took the tram to central and took the ferry ride to Lantau Island. It was a nice ride though I was half conscious during most of it. When we arrived and got off the ferry we took in the sights. It was quite a pretty little island. It was also hot as all balls as well. So we leisurely walked down to the beach area and took refuge at a table under a tree on the beach. At first Hilda and I sat and chatted an just enjoyed relaxing while Debbie went off and played on the beach. It was amusing to watch her. Hilda and I both commented on the about of genki that girl had and that I could not remember a time where I was just super genki for no reason. After an hour she came back to the table where we were sitting and asked if we wanted to go play with her. Since I was younger Hilda said it was my job to go. Laughing, I rolled up my pants legs and took a stroll down the beach with Debbie. We came to a place at the end where there was a pretty rock mass and both her and I took several pictures there. My pants got soaked all the way to the upper thigh but it was cool so it was nice. After that we returned to Hilda and Debbie took a rest while I took pics of Hilda on the beach. We attempted jump pictures as well and they turned out “interesting” lol.
Once we had enough of the beach we decided to take the bus to the Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha) site. Before we left however we had lunch overlooking the ocean. It was truly pleasant and the food was good as well. The bus ride to the Buddha site took much longer than I expected, but the view was absolutely beautiful. When we reached the site we had a good number of stairs to climb before we reached the top of the hill where the monument was. The Tian Tan Buddha was the largest bronze Buddha erected until recently weighing in at 250 metric tons. Us visitors also had the privilege of climbing 268 steps to get to the base. I felt every one of those steps. God I’m out of shape lol It was worth it though. If I were to have a rocky moment that moment would have been it haha.
The view was really nice from the top of the hill and many pictures were taken. Unfortunately there might not be any evidence of these events because Hilda’s camera (the one person who had a camera on this tour really) SD card got messed up. So in the end she might not be able to retrieve her photos. *crosses fingers in hopes she does* While up there I ended up purchasing a jade flower necklace from inside the shop at the base of the Buddha. In truth I think we stayed up there as long as we did simply because it took so much effort to get up there el oh el. When we finally did leave we went over to this gold(or at least it looked like gold) palace where entered, looked around for a short time in then just sat in the court yard talking and enjoying the shade. It was pretty late in the day by this point and being high up we managed a decent breeze. At one point I would have even deemed it chilly. The turning back point was the sun beginning to set. So we started the journey back to Hong Kong Island for the night.
Macau: Well today was an exciting day, not only because we were going to another island, but also because traveling to Macau requires you to have a passport, THUS getting another passport stamp. For some reason, the three of us are very anxious and excited to get a passport stamp. In reality after this Christmas I might need a new passport. Customs don’t go about stamping your passports neatly so there are things all over the place, and thus there was no effort in saving space. That and the stupid Vietnam visa that didn’t work *grumble* ANYWAY out to central and another ferry for the trip to Macau. Macau is known for its Pilipino influence as well as its reputation of being mini-Vegas. After we passed into Macau we were bombarded with people trying to get us to go to their hotels.
We decided that we would try the MGM hotel first since it looked like it had some interesting things to see. Once inside I knew why they called Macau the mini-Vegas. Before entering other hotels later it was the most elegant and filthy rich hotel I had EVER been in. I could just feel my wallet crying just for standing in the lobby. We ended up taking a bunch of pictures with the zodiac replicas they made out of flowers that filled the inner mall at the MGM. We also watched the fountain display in front of the Wynn hotel before we went back to the MGM lobby to watch the dragon dancers. At first it didn’t seem like it was going to be much of a show, but when the two dancers who wore the dragon costume came on it was pure awesomeness. It was completely worth every minute I spent watching it, and besides being cool to watch it was also FREE yatta! After this we decided to head toward St. Peters (I think) arch ruins. It was a long and tasty walk. Once we got around the general area there were tons of street venders selling sweets and procured/multi-seasoned meats. We grabbed a few samples on the way to the ruins. There, we sat and chatted a while. There wasn’t much too see. It was a huge arch, but nothing compared to the architectural genius I’ve seen in France and Rome. Once we decided to head back we were on the look out to find another heritage site. A Historical Church that I can’t quite recall the name of. The fun part was stopping and tasting nearly every available sample as we walked down the street of venders and shops. It was quite yummy and both Hilda and Debbie ended up buying something. The church was also not that impressive, or at least not anymore impressive than my own church in the states, but because of it’s history it was worth a look. After that it was relax time in the square. The three of us sat on the fountain in the middle of the courtyard of the main streets. There we simply talked and goofed off for a few hours, enjoying the breeze and each other. When it became a bit dark we decided to walk back to the hotels and there we did much of the same, sitting outside talking and enjoying the night. It was so cool to see all the casinos light up and people watch. I quite liked Macau .
The last full day in Hong Kong we decided to look around at museums. We went to the art museum and the science and space museum. They were both interesting though museums at large don’t do too much for entertainment. However I do like museums depending on what type of art I’m looking at and if I just learned about what I am seeing. This was the focus of the day until the evening when I was supposed to meet up with my friend Lydia( whom I was trying to hook up with all week). Unfortunately we got the museums mixed up and I ended up missing her. It was really sad cause I don’t know the next time I’ll be in Hong Kong or when she will visit Japan. After some serious frustration and brooding on my part I watched the Symphony of lights with the others ( it was alright, but nothing of what I expected it to be) and then made our way back to the night markets on the other side of the island to do some last minute shopping. We had some money to burn because we opted out of going to HK Disneyland. That and the exchange rate back to yen would have hurt us more than just keeping the HKD. After a few more hours at the night markets we decided to call it a night on our HK trip. The following morning we packed up, at Popeyes at the airport, bought omiyage (of course) and headed back home for Japan!
Once we had enough of the beach we decided to take the bus to the Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha) site. Before we left however we had lunch overlooking the ocean. It was truly pleasant and the food was good as well. The bus ride to the Buddha site took much longer than I expected, but the view was absolutely beautiful. When we reached the site we had a good number of stairs to climb before we reached the top of the hill where the monument was. The Tian Tan Buddha was the largest bronze Buddha erected until recently weighing in at 250 metric tons. Us visitors also had the privilege of climbing 268 steps to get to the base. I felt every one of those steps. God I’m out of shape lol It was worth it though. If I were to have a rocky moment that moment would have been it haha.
The view was really nice from the top of the hill and many pictures were taken. Unfortunately there might not be any evidence of these events because Hilda’s camera (the one person who had a camera on this tour really) SD card got messed up. So in the end she might not be able to retrieve her photos. *crosses fingers in hopes she does* While up there I ended up purchasing a jade flower necklace from inside the shop at the base of the Buddha. In truth I think we stayed up there as long as we did simply because it took so much effort to get up there el oh el. When we finally did leave we went over to this gold(or at least it looked like gold) palace where entered, looked around for a short time in then just sat in the court yard talking and enjoying the shade. It was pretty late in the day by this point and being high up we managed a decent breeze. At one point I would have even deemed it chilly. The turning back point was the sun beginning to set. So we started the journey back to Hong Kong Island for the night.
Macau: Well today was an exciting day, not only because we were going to another island, but also because traveling to Macau requires you to have a passport, THUS getting another passport stamp. For some reason, the three of us are very anxious and excited to get a passport stamp. In reality after this Christmas I might need a new passport. Customs don’t go about stamping your passports neatly so there are things all over the place, and thus there was no effort in saving space. That and the stupid Vietnam visa that didn’t work *grumble* ANYWAY out to central and another ferry for the trip to Macau. Macau is known for its Pilipino influence as well as its reputation of being mini-Vegas. After we passed into Macau we were bombarded with people trying to get us to go to their hotels.
We decided that we would try the MGM hotel first since it looked like it had some interesting things to see. Once inside I knew why they called Macau the mini-Vegas. Before entering other hotels later it was the most elegant and filthy rich hotel I had EVER been in. I could just feel my wallet crying just for standing in the lobby. We ended up taking a bunch of pictures with the zodiac replicas they made out of flowers that filled the inner mall at the MGM. We also watched the fountain display in front of the Wynn hotel before we went back to the MGM lobby to watch the dragon dancers. At first it didn’t seem like it was going to be much of a show, but when the two dancers who wore the dragon costume came on it was pure awesomeness. It was completely worth every minute I spent watching it, and besides being cool to watch it was also FREE yatta! After this we decided to head toward St. Peters (I think) arch ruins. It was a long and tasty walk. Once we got around the general area there were tons of street venders selling sweets and procured/multi-seasoned meats. We grabbed a few samples on the way to the ruins. There, we sat and chatted a while. There wasn’t much too see. It was a huge arch, but nothing compared to the architectural genius I’ve seen in France and Rome. Once we decided to head back we were on the look out to find another heritage site. A Historical Church that I can’t quite recall the name of. The fun part was stopping and tasting nearly every available sample as we walked down the street of venders and shops. It was quite yummy and both Hilda and Debbie ended up buying something. The church was also not that impressive, or at least not anymore impressive than my own church in the states, but because of it’s history it was worth a look. After that it was relax time in the square. The three of us sat on the fountain in the middle of the courtyard of the main streets. There we simply talked and goofed off for a few hours, enjoying the breeze and each other. When it became a bit dark we decided to walk back to the hotels and there we did much of the same, sitting outside talking and enjoying the night. It was so cool to see all the casinos light up and people watch. I quite liked Macau .
The last full day in Hong Kong we decided to look around at museums. We went to the art museum and the science and space museum. They were both interesting though museums at large don’t do too much for entertainment. However I do like museums depending on what type of art I’m looking at and if I just learned about what I am seeing. This was the focus of the day until the evening when I was supposed to meet up with my friend Lydia( whom I was trying to hook up with all week). Unfortunately we got the museums mixed up and I ended up missing her. It was really sad cause I don’t know the next time I’ll be in Hong Kong or when she will visit Japan. After some serious frustration and brooding on my part I watched the Symphony of lights with the others ( it was alright, but nothing of what I expected it to be) and then made our way back to the night markets on the other side of the island to do some last minute shopping. We had some money to burn because we opted out of going to HK Disneyland. That and the exchange rate back to yen would have hurt us more than just keeping the HKD. After a few more hours at the night markets we decided to call it a night on our HK trip. The following morning we packed up, at Popeyes at the airport, bought omiyage (of course) and headed back home for Japan!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Golden Week: Hong Kong Adventures part 1
Sooo reports on the international vacations at last. I’ll go into the Hong Kong excursion first since it’s a bit more fresh in my memory, and Vietnam just had A LOT of things that happened which I can’t remember in sequence or day to save my life at the moment. Perhaps looking at pictures will help me remember! ANYWAY *pics to come*
Departure & Arrival in HK: Hilda, Debbie and I left Toyama via night bus Wednesday night on the 28th of April. As usual it didn’t land us in Osaka till the following morning. Then we took the train to Kansai airport and off we went (after some much deserved Starbucks and Subway) on our flight to HK. After the WORST FLIGHT KNOW TO MAN( so much turbulence on entry that we had to circle back four times towards the ocean in hopes for LESS turbulence to land in) we arrived to a rain sodden HK. This didn’t lift our spirits seeing that the forecast predicted rain for the entirety of our stay. Nevertheless we made it to our hostel in Fortress Hill and then went to a local restaurant to eat. The first meal choice was not supreme and because of the rain and my LACK of umbrella I managed to catch a cold the first night I was there. After dinner we made a night of it, and hit the sack early.
Day two: Ocean Park: So to our delight the day brought sun to our doorstep and with this we decided that today would be the best day for the amusement park. Ocean tends to be recommended over HK Disney. I don’t know why since we didn’t manage the opportunity to go to HK Disney. Nevertheless we arrived there and the park was situated with a wonderful ocean view true to its name. First things first we grabbed some lunch (which was surprisingly very tasty), then Hilda and Debbie to a ride on the rollercoaster. After that we grabbed some snacks and played a few games but unfortunately we all came up empty handed. Close by there was a small aquarium that we moseyed through while we were waiting for the dolphin show to start. When we went to the stage area for the show a mariachi band played before the performance, and one of the guys was eyeing my friend Hilda. It was quite amusing to watch them play eye tag back and forth during their performance. The dolphin show itself was cute. A show worth seeing but nothing overly spectacular, though the seals stole the show somewhat. The trainers would gave them high-fives and the “wink and finger” pose whenever they did a good job. Needless to say this action stuck with me and Hilda for the rest of our HK trip ^^. After the dolphin show it was onwards to watch the bird show (ok performance, but the birds were pretty!) and then to see the PANDAS! They were so cute ^^. The red pandas were adorable and spunky as well. The two Giant Pandas were busy eating their bamboo leaves. One even tried to take some from the others pile and that panda promptly got up took his food back and continued eating. It was too hilarious. The panda gift show was soo tempting but I managed to keep my hands in my pockets while I was there. Things were simply too expensive there and only being on day two of my trip I wasn’t willing to spend all my money in one place. Before leaving the park around six that evening we stopped to take pictures with some of the life size dragon models in the “How to train a Dragon” section of the park. I know a few people who would have quite enjoyed that part of the park. I was thinking of you guys when I was there ^^. By the end of my time there I was ready to head out. T’was a long and fun day and after I returned to our hostel area we grabbed food and everything else was of no particular importance. We hit the hay and it was onward to day three!
Day 3:The Night Market: Today was a slow start, which was good for me because I was sick, and getting a bit more sleep on my otherwise sleep deprivation antics on vacations. We decided to go to the other side of the island and look around. Before we took the short ferry ride to the other side we stopped and watched a Pilipino fashion show for a few minutes. When we got to the other side we hung around the cultural center to see if there were any free shows going on that day. There turned out to be nothing of note going on so we kind of just past the time talking and sitting around the building out of the beaming hot sun. I think this day was probably one of the hottest days of the entire trip. Finally we set off towards the night markets. They were quite far from the pier area and we passed tons of shopping areas. I completely understand why china is the number one consumer of name brand goods after being on the strip. Before the night markets we took a stop in this electronic store when I ended up getting talked into buying this James Bond pen. It writes and is also a 4gig memory stick that takes photos and video. I haven’t till this day fully figured it out but it was an interesting purchase, one I wouldn’t make again if I were to turn back time, but one I don’t mind all at the same time. When we finally reached the night market we decided to grab some food before we went shopping. Though once we were satiated it was time to bargain. I quite enjoyed the aspect of bargaining with the vendors, and I managed to get a few souvenir like items for my trouble. Most of the stalls sold some of the same things so it made it easier to still get what you wanted even if a certain vendor wouldn’t lower their goods down to an acceptable prize. All in all the experience was quite fun and there were so many people and foreigners there. It was crazy how well most people we met in HK could speak English. They must all have had GREAT ALT’s lol. They put the Japanese to shame as far as English speaking is concerned. When the three of us finally decided to call it a night my feet were on fire. We had shopped for seven long but fun hours.
Day 4:The Peak: Day four and my feet were still a bit bleh. Granted the next two days are a bit of a blur. I’m not sure if they happened on that said day or vice versa. So just saying the event should suffice. On this day we decided to check out the Botanical Park. I had no idea what kind of adventure I was in store for. It was hot as it always is in HK and the amount of stairs and hills I had to climb to reach this garden was insane. It doesn’t help that I am out of shape. However I think if it just wasn’t 90 degrees outside I might have faired a bit better. All the same we finally made it there and walked around in the park, Hilda and I still hot as all get out. There were a lot of animals in the park and I was particular entertained by the lemurs. I have no doubt that the love for them came mostly from the Madagascar movies. In fact when Hilda and I saw the Lemurs we (most appropriately I might add) began to sing the ‘I like to move it move it!” song. An for a few quick amazingly quick moments a few of the lemurs seemed to like it. It was a nice park but zoo like atmospheres can only keep me entertained for so long. So after an hour or so we made our way back down the hill taking mind to stop at the near by Starbucks for a well deserved frappuccino. Then it was back to the grind to find our way to the Peak lifts. When we got there the line was out of the building and up the street. I was sure we were going to be there for the rest of the day or perhaps not even make it to the lifts. We got inline anyway and thankfully the line moved fairly fast. However the whole time there were a bunch of Indian guys in front of us that was Starring at Hilda the WHOLE time. Its like damn she’s got some big boobs (and yes they are indeed great, but only for friends like moi! lol) By the time we made it to the lifts we managed to loose them on the way up to the peak.
The view on the lift to the Peak area was quite nice, and the incline up the mountain was nearly 90degrees. When we reached the top the lift let us out directly into the souvenir shop. I happened to buy a mirror in there and then met the others. The giant and quite cool building inside was basically and modern and quite high-end mall. Since we had no money for that or did we want to spend money on that we found a way to look outside at the view and take a few pictures. Then we went to the level area outside, sat and ate bagels we had picked up on the way down from the Botanical Gardens and just chilled out. It was nice to stop moving/standing and since night had fallen by this point it was no longer hot. We stayed up there for quite a while when we decided that it was time to find some real food. The ride back down took a quarter of the time and we made our way to this steak place called Ruth’s back at central. It was a really nice place and the waitresses English was impeccable. Once we looked at the menu we knew exactly why. The prizes for a hardy meal for one could have very well killed a day or twos spending money. Just to order a side of vegetable is was 75 HGD (Hong Kong dollars) which is roughly $10 American dollars just for a side of vegetables. In the end we decided we couldn’t afford to eat their so we left (oh my pride >.<;;). Instead we found a party of central that we had yet to see before. The streets were lined with restaurants and clubs/bars. We chose to eat at this Middle Eastern restaurant and the food there was quite scrumptious. Even though I did have my heart on steak I’m glad we had a chance to eat at that restaurant.
Departure & Arrival in HK: Hilda, Debbie and I left Toyama via night bus Wednesday night on the 28th of April. As usual it didn’t land us in Osaka till the following morning. Then we took the train to Kansai airport and off we went (after some much deserved Starbucks and Subway) on our flight to HK. After the WORST FLIGHT KNOW TO MAN( so much turbulence on entry that we had to circle back four times towards the ocean in hopes for LESS turbulence to land in) we arrived to a rain sodden HK. This didn’t lift our spirits seeing that the forecast predicted rain for the entirety of our stay. Nevertheless we made it to our hostel in Fortress Hill and then went to a local restaurant to eat. The first meal choice was not supreme and because of the rain and my LACK of umbrella I managed to catch a cold the first night I was there. After dinner we made a night of it, and hit the sack early.
Day two: Ocean Park: So to our delight the day brought sun to our doorstep and with this we decided that today would be the best day for the amusement park. Ocean tends to be recommended over HK Disney. I don’t know why since we didn’t manage the opportunity to go to HK Disney. Nevertheless we arrived there and the park was situated with a wonderful ocean view true to its name. First things first we grabbed some lunch (which was surprisingly very tasty), then Hilda and Debbie to a ride on the rollercoaster. After that we grabbed some snacks and played a few games but unfortunately we all came up empty handed. Close by there was a small aquarium that we moseyed through while we were waiting for the dolphin show to start. When we went to the stage area for the show a mariachi band played before the performance, and one of the guys was eyeing my friend Hilda. It was quite amusing to watch them play eye tag back and forth during their performance. The dolphin show itself was cute. A show worth seeing but nothing overly spectacular, though the seals stole the show somewhat. The trainers would gave them high-fives and the “wink and finger” pose whenever they did a good job. Needless to say this action stuck with me and Hilda for the rest of our HK trip ^^. After the dolphin show it was onwards to watch the bird show (ok performance, but the birds were pretty!) and then to see the PANDAS! They were so cute ^^. The red pandas were adorable and spunky as well. The two Giant Pandas were busy eating their bamboo leaves. One even tried to take some from the others pile and that panda promptly got up took his food back and continued eating. It was too hilarious. The panda gift show was soo tempting but I managed to keep my hands in my pockets while I was there. Things were simply too expensive there and only being on day two of my trip I wasn’t willing to spend all my money in one place. Before leaving the park around six that evening we stopped to take pictures with some of the life size dragon models in the “How to train a Dragon” section of the park. I know a few people who would have quite enjoyed that part of the park. I was thinking of you guys when I was there ^^. By the end of my time there I was ready to head out. T’was a long and fun day and after I returned to our hostel area we grabbed food and everything else was of no particular importance. We hit the hay and it was onward to day three!
Day 3:The Night Market: Today was a slow start, which was good for me because I was sick, and getting a bit more sleep on my otherwise sleep deprivation antics on vacations. We decided to go to the other side of the island and look around. Before we took the short ferry ride to the other side we stopped and watched a Pilipino fashion show for a few minutes. When we got to the other side we hung around the cultural center to see if there were any free shows going on that day. There turned out to be nothing of note going on so we kind of just past the time talking and sitting around the building out of the beaming hot sun. I think this day was probably one of the hottest days of the entire trip. Finally we set off towards the night markets. They were quite far from the pier area and we passed tons of shopping areas. I completely understand why china is the number one consumer of name brand goods after being on the strip. Before the night markets we took a stop in this electronic store when I ended up getting talked into buying this James Bond pen. It writes and is also a 4gig memory stick that takes photos and video. I haven’t till this day fully figured it out but it was an interesting purchase, one I wouldn’t make again if I were to turn back time, but one I don’t mind all at the same time. When we finally reached the night market we decided to grab some food before we went shopping. Though once we were satiated it was time to bargain. I quite enjoyed the aspect of bargaining with the vendors, and I managed to get a few souvenir like items for my trouble. Most of the stalls sold some of the same things so it made it easier to still get what you wanted even if a certain vendor wouldn’t lower their goods down to an acceptable prize. All in all the experience was quite fun and there were so many people and foreigners there. It was crazy how well most people we met in HK could speak English. They must all have had GREAT ALT’s lol. They put the Japanese to shame as far as English speaking is concerned. When the three of us finally decided to call it a night my feet were on fire. We had shopped for seven long but fun hours.
Day 4:The Peak: Day four and my feet were still a bit bleh. Granted the next two days are a bit of a blur. I’m not sure if they happened on that said day or vice versa. So just saying the event should suffice. On this day we decided to check out the Botanical Park. I had no idea what kind of adventure I was in store for. It was hot as it always is in HK and the amount of stairs and hills I had to climb to reach this garden was insane. It doesn’t help that I am out of shape. However I think if it just wasn’t 90 degrees outside I might have faired a bit better. All the same we finally made it there and walked around in the park, Hilda and I still hot as all get out. There were a lot of animals in the park and I was particular entertained by the lemurs. I have no doubt that the love for them came mostly from the Madagascar movies. In fact when Hilda and I saw the Lemurs we (most appropriately I might add) began to sing the ‘I like to move it move it!” song. An for a few quick amazingly quick moments a few of the lemurs seemed to like it. It was a nice park but zoo like atmospheres can only keep me entertained for so long. So after an hour or so we made our way back down the hill taking mind to stop at the near by Starbucks for a well deserved frappuccino. Then it was back to the grind to find our way to the Peak lifts. When we got there the line was out of the building and up the street. I was sure we were going to be there for the rest of the day or perhaps not even make it to the lifts. We got inline anyway and thankfully the line moved fairly fast. However the whole time there were a bunch of Indian guys in front of us that was Starring at Hilda the WHOLE time. Its like damn she’s got some big boobs (and yes they are indeed great, but only for friends like moi! lol) By the time we made it to the lifts we managed to loose them on the way up to the peak.
The view on the lift to the Peak area was quite nice, and the incline up the mountain was nearly 90degrees. When we reached the top the lift let us out directly into the souvenir shop. I happened to buy a mirror in there and then met the others. The giant and quite cool building inside was basically and modern and quite high-end mall. Since we had no money for that or did we want to spend money on that we found a way to look outside at the view and take a few pictures. Then we went to the level area outside, sat and ate bagels we had picked up on the way down from the Botanical Gardens and just chilled out. It was nice to stop moving/standing and since night had fallen by this point it was no longer hot. We stayed up there for quite a while when we decided that it was time to find some real food. The ride back down took a quarter of the time and we made our way to this steak place called Ruth’s back at central. It was a really nice place and the waitresses English was impeccable. Once we looked at the menu we knew exactly why. The prizes for a hardy meal for one could have very well killed a day or twos spending money. Just to order a side of vegetable is was 75 HGD (Hong Kong dollars) which is roughly $10 American dollars just for a side of vegetables. In the end we decided we couldn’t afford to eat their so we left (oh my pride >.<;;). Instead we found a party of central that we had yet to see before. The streets were lined with restaurants and clubs/bars. We chose to eat at this Middle Eastern restaurant and the food there was quite scrumptious. Even though I did have my heart on steak I’m glad we had a chance to eat at that restaurant.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Injuries and Opening Night!
Last weekend was a very long and extensive rehearsal for the charity show, and it was also the day I realized that there was something seriously wrong with my back. By the end of the night on my way home I could barely walk. This kind of pain has happened once before and it only lasted two days or so. To my continuing misfortunate that has not been the case. Sunday the 16th of May through the 20th I stayed home and didn’t go to work. I was taken to the hospital by one of my fellow Board of Education employees. I didn’t find out much except that I should lose 80kilos. If you are wondering, 80kilos is 176 pounds. So if I lost that much weight I’d be the size of a vanilla wafer. This experience has only strengthened my belief that Japanese closed mindedness to anything that isn’t Japanese and their medicine is quite useless if you are foreign. They simply just don’t know what to do or say to you. So I paid about 2man that visit and have a bunch of medicines that might as well be sugar pills for all they help. The two pluses about this week of none work and little to no movement is one; the fact that I don’t have to go into work and two; I managed to get a lot of art related projects done. I totally beefed up my DeviantArt page and am in the process of doing more art work soon.
On the 20th I did make it to our first dress rehearsal practice at the venue. I went down with Dee since he decided to drive. It saved me the hassle of getting there myself, money and the company was nice. Once there we all got dressed and didn’t manage to do anything but sit there in out costumes while we did a tech run. The most we had to do was stand in out respective spots during each scene then move when the next scene was ready to be plotted out. Since I am only in one scene for a decent length of time I didn’t have to do much standing which was nice. However I was far from being comfortable. Having a bad back and in a semi-corset and dress for four hours is not what I call fun. After the tech rehearsal a group of us went to a small Isakaiya and had dinner. It was yummy and it’s always nice to hang out with Toyama-ites. Finally when it was time to go home I managed to mess up my foot because there was a dip in the pavement and I tripped over it. Unlucky for me I had flip-flops on so there was nothing to block the impact of my foot from the pavement. There was a lot of blood. I tended it when I reached Alexis house (where I was to crash for the night) and then laid down. We talked for a good bit, and it was nice because I got to get to know her better and then we both passed the hell out.
Saturday the 22nd and the Big Day! Alexis and I woke up and what seemed like the crack of dawn, scrambled over to the konbini to grab some food and taxied over to the venue. This day was a LONG day. In costumes by nine-thirty and three runs of the play. Let’s say for the most part ALL the actors while in the dressing rooms had a wonderful time. We were all pissed when we were around sets. There was just too much tension going on. Our producer and Set leader were basically ready to slit each others throats so the Actors got the backlash from it. T’was not cool.
However before the show the cast sang a medley of Disney songs together and we were all much happier for it. Alexis who is allergic to a lot of things ended up having a small asthma attack because I sprayed a bit of perfume on myself. I had no idea it would make her react. Thankfully we had about twenty minutes before the show for her to breathe in some fresh air outside. She managed to compose herself and beasted in her parts during the play. I was back stage watching it and we were all so excited for each other. We all did a magnificent job. When it was my scene I was bit nervous and I think I might have even messed up one of my lines slightly. Thankfully though I pulled out my song and received the most applause for their song/scene than any other actor. It was incredible and I am truly honored to have been thought in such high standings. When the play ended we took our bows and we were all so happy. Dee and I were asked to hold donation buckets outside as the crowd was leaving. The other actors came out to greet the crowd as well. We managed some donations as well and we were asked to take pictures by the audience and other ALTs that came to see the show.
Around 9:00 I returned to the dressing room and changed back into street clothes. I had had my costume on for around twelve hours. A group of us went to grab some tasty milkshakes at Esqe-Café and then Dee and I made our way over to Banana Pop. There was supposed to be a gathering for people who all had a birthday recently. The main person was Michael our Charity Show advertisement leader. There were tons of people in the bar and I was there for two hours or so just mingling with people. Bryan and Rie were there as well to my surprise and I was happy to see them. I don’t see them too often these days but hopefully that will change in the near future. At least it was time to leave. I hopped into Dee’s car and off we went back to Kurobe. It was a overall good day but I was truly ready to go home.
On the 20th I did make it to our first dress rehearsal practice at the venue. I went down with Dee since he decided to drive. It saved me the hassle of getting there myself, money and the company was nice. Once there we all got dressed and didn’t manage to do anything but sit there in out costumes while we did a tech run. The most we had to do was stand in out respective spots during each scene then move when the next scene was ready to be plotted out. Since I am only in one scene for a decent length of time I didn’t have to do much standing which was nice. However I was far from being comfortable. Having a bad back and in a semi-corset and dress for four hours is not what I call fun. After the tech rehearsal a group of us went to a small Isakaiya and had dinner. It was yummy and it’s always nice to hang out with Toyama-ites. Finally when it was time to go home I managed to mess up my foot because there was a dip in the pavement and I tripped over it. Unlucky for me I had flip-flops on so there was nothing to block the impact of my foot from the pavement. There was a lot of blood. I tended it when I reached Alexis house (where I was to crash for the night) and then laid down. We talked for a good bit, and it was nice because I got to get to know her better and then we both passed the hell out.
Saturday the 22nd and the Big Day! Alexis and I woke up and what seemed like the crack of dawn, scrambled over to the konbini to grab some food and taxied over to the venue. This day was a LONG day. In costumes by nine-thirty and three runs of the play. Let’s say for the most part ALL the actors while in the dressing rooms had a wonderful time. We were all pissed when we were around sets. There was just too much tension going on. Our producer and Set leader were basically ready to slit each others throats so the Actors got the backlash from it. T’was not cool.
However before the show the cast sang a medley of Disney songs together and we were all much happier for it. Alexis who is allergic to a lot of things ended up having a small asthma attack because I sprayed a bit of perfume on myself. I had no idea it would make her react. Thankfully we had about twenty minutes before the show for her to breathe in some fresh air outside. She managed to compose herself and beasted in her parts during the play. I was back stage watching it and we were all so excited for each other. We all did a magnificent job. When it was my scene I was bit nervous and I think I might have even messed up one of my lines slightly. Thankfully though I pulled out my song and received the most applause for their song/scene than any other actor. It was incredible and I am truly honored to have been thought in such high standings. When the play ended we took our bows and we were all so happy. Dee and I were asked to hold donation buckets outside as the crowd was leaving. The other actors came out to greet the crowd as well. We managed some donations as well and we were asked to take pictures by the audience and other ALTs that came to see the show. Around 9:00 I returned to the dressing room and changed back into street clothes. I had had my costume on for around twelve hours. A group of us went to grab some tasty milkshakes at Esqe-Café and then Dee and I made our way over to Banana Pop. There was supposed to be a gathering for people who all had a birthday recently. The main person was Michael our Charity Show advertisement leader. There were tons of people in the bar and I was there for two hours or so just mingling with people. Bryan and Rie were there as well to my surprise and I was happy to see them. I don’t see them too often these days but hopefully that will change in the near future. At least it was time to leave. I hopped into Dee’s car and off we went back to Kurobe. It was a overall good day but I was truly ready to go home.
MY XXIV BIRTHDAY BASH!
This has been a whirlwind of a last few weeks, and finally I make it to my long awaited birthday. I had just returned from Hong Kong the day before and spent most of the night and that following morning adjusting/making my costume and fashioning a play list to dance to at the party that night. Surprisingly I was woken up by a ring of my doorbell at 9:30 am. I ignored it the first three rings thinking it was some kind of advertising guy trying to sell me a new internet plan or sell me the newspaper. I was surprised when I finally (grumbling) got out of bed and answered the door Enrique was standing there. I asked him what he was doing at my house at this time of the morning, and he told me “Happy Birthday” and presented me with a present. I told him he didn’t have to go through any trouble especially since I don’t know him all that well. He responded saying that he enjoys celebrating people’s birthdays, and with that he left. Instead of opening the gift right away I put it on the table and went back to sleep for an hour or two.
When I finally woke up again the first thing I did after regaining most of my vision and answering the calls to nature I opened the present. To my total surprise I was starting at a new Pen and Touch Comic Wacom tablet. I looked up the retail value of these tablets and it was somewhere around two hundred dollars. I literally sat there and starred at it for five minutes. It was such an amazing and personal gift that I’m not sure how he pulled it off, and to this day I have yet to take it out the box. I just say its so pretty and place it back in its wrapping.
After that I spent the entirety of the rest of my day making the final changes on my costume, packing to get ready for the following days’ dress/makeup rehearsal for the play. I managed to get in some talking time with friends on Skype while doing this. Around six in the evening I had my shower done and I was dressed and finishing up my playlist when my MP3 player decided it was time to die. Of course this couldn’t have come at any worse time, so I rushed upstairs and borrowed Dee’s IPod. I managed to get as many songs as I could on there in the time frame I had and then rushed out of my apartment in a panic. I had missed my train so my only other option was to drive there. So pedal to the metal I went down route 8 towards Toyama all the while managing to put make up on my face in the process. Of course the end result wasn’t my best work but it would do considering my restricted time frame. SO! I made it to Toyama ( driving for the first time which could have been a disaster since I had no phone to contact anyone if I got lost) parked at Vannies and had will take me to Ajito (the place where my party was being held) and drive my car back to the Apartment since he still had time before he’d himself join the party. So amazingly even though I managed to get to my own party fifteen minutes late I was still the first person there (of those I invited) and was able to set up the music and other materials for the reminder of the night. So the rest of the night is mostly history.
Slowly but surely people began to show up. Trevor and his axe of awesome came and truly represented his Ares God of War motif. Then again Trevor is a rather talented guy. Tina showed with her boyfriend Hercules and was dressed herself as Persephone. Then not too far after that Jarred, Salvador, Nicole and Ryan, Mallory and others showed. There were several people dressed as normal roman citizens (aka a simple white Toga) and others went all out. My love Tiffany came as the dreaded Medusa, while my friend Shawn came as Apollo (which was sooo convenient since I went as Artemis) so we claimed family ties of awesomeness for the remainder of the night. So dancing commenced and fun times ensued.
Around ten or so it was time to cut the cake, and OMG what a cake. Tiffany surpassed my wildest expectations. I had only ever seen her cake decorating skills once before for her own birthday when she made a Mario cake. So I had no idea what she was going to do with my Roman themed cake. SO with that everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and then Tiff gave a small speech about me. She didn’t have to do that but it was really nice of her. She said I was one of the coolest people that has come to Toyama so it meant a lot to me. Applause ensued and cake cutting commenced and cake eating followed suit, and damn if it wasn’t a delicious cake. It is so rare when a cake looks awesome and tastes just as good.
Once everyone was full with cake (I got two slices!) it was time for the Roman Quiz I had prepared earlier that day. Nicole, Rachel, Trevor, Shawn and Will participated in the quiz while others watched and some relaxed and talked amongst themselves. It was quite amusing since Ryan was taking score and providing commentary and while the contestants either cursed themselves for not knowing an answer or fist pumped because they did. The quiz was a total of twenty-three questions and the winner turned out to be Nicole followed by Will and last but not least Trevor. However I was impressed with Shawn’s knowledge on the subject which in turn just makes him even more of an awesome dude lawl. When the quiz was over and the prizes were handed out the music came back on. For the rest of the night there was dancing, and from what I could tell people were having a good time. Lots of pictures were taken though I haven’t seen much evidence of the night. I was a bit disappointed because some ppl who I just knew were going to be there didn’t show, but for everyone that did was truly grateful and happy about it. Even Nobuki, Asano, Wagner, and Marianna came and it was so nice to see them. I do really enjoy hanging out with them. I consider Nobuki and Asano part of my Brazilian friend group even thought they are clearly Japanese! I wish Evelyn could have come but she is partying it up in Brazil as we speak. I’m going to have to visit her sooner than later! The party didn’t officially end till I walked out of the place around 1:30am. A group of us went to the konbini since we were thirsty and a koban kuruma ( police car) came by stopped and starred at us until we dispersed. I’m sure it looked interesting. Having a group of about ten foreigners (some Japanese) people drinking soda dressed in Roman Regalia looked a bit out of place! But we didn’t care. I just waved at them and went on my merry now 24 way.
When I finally woke up again the first thing I did after regaining most of my vision and answering the calls to nature I opened the present. To my total surprise I was starting at a new Pen and Touch Comic Wacom tablet. I looked up the retail value of these tablets and it was somewhere around two hundred dollars. I literally sat there and starred at it for five minutes. It was such an amazing and personal gift that I’m not sure how he pulled it off, and to this day I have yet to take it out the box. I just say its so pretty and place it back in its wrapping.
After that I spent the entirety of the rest of my day making the final changes on my costume, packing to get ready for the following days’ dress/makeup rehearsal for the play. I managed to get in some talking time with friends on Skype while doing this. Around six in the evening I had my shower done and I was dressed and finishing up my playlist when my MP3 player decided it was time to die. Of course this couldn’t have come at any worse time, so I rushed upstairs and borrowed Dee’s IPod. I managed to get as many songs as I could on there in the time frame I had and then rushed out of my apartment in a panic. I had missed my train so my only other option was to drive there. So pedal to the metal I went down route 8 towards Toyama all the while managing to put make up on my face in the process. Of course the end result wasn’t my best work but it would do considering my restricted time frame. SO! I made it to Toyama ( driving for the first time which could have been a disaster since I had no phone to contact anyone if I got lost) parked at Vannies and had will take me to Ajito (the place where my party was being held) and drive my car back to the Apartment since he still had time before he’d himself join the party. So amazingly even though I managed to get to my own party fifteen minutes late I was still the first person there (of those I invited) and was able to set up the music and other materials for the reminder of the night. So the rest of the night is mostly history.
Slowly but surely people began to show up. Trevor and his axe of awesome came and truly represented his Ares God of War motif. Then again Trevor is a rather talented guy. Tina showed with her boyfriend Hercules and was dressed herself as Persephone. Then not too far after that Jarred, Salvador, Nicole and Ryan, Mallory and others showed. There were several people dressed as normal roman citizens (aka a simple white Toga) and others went all out. My love Tiffany came as the dreaded Medusa, while my friend Shawn came as Apollo (which was sooo convenient since I went as Artemis) so we claimed family ties of awesomeness for the remainder of the night. So dancing commenced and fun times ensued.
Around ten or so it was time to cut the cake, and OMG what a cake. Tiffany surpassed my wildest expectations. I had only ever seen her cake decorating skills once before for her own birthday when she made a Mario cake. So I had no idea what she was going to do with my Roman themed cake. SO with that everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and then Tiff gave a small speech about me. She didn’t have to do that but it was really nice of her. She said I was one of the coolest people that has come to Toyama so it meant a lot to me. Applause ensued and cake cutting commenced and cake eating followed suit, and damn if it wasn’t a delicious cake. It is so rare when a cake looks awesome and tastes just as good. Once everyone was full with cake (I got two slices!) it was time for the Roman Quiz I had prepared earlier that day. Nicole, Rachel, Trevor, Shawn and Will participated in the quiz while others watched and some relaxed and talked amongst themselves. It was quite amusing since Ryan was taking score and providing commentary and while the contestants either cursed themselves for not knowing an answer or fist pumped because they did. The quiz was a total of twenty-three questions and the winner turned out to be Nicole followed by Will and last but not least Trevor. However I was impressed with Shawn’s knowledge on the subject which in turn just makes him even more of an awesome dude lawl. When the quiz was over and the prizes were handed out the music came back on. For the rest of the night there was dancing, and from what I could tell people were having a good time. Lots of pictures were taken though I haven’t seen much evidence of the night. I was a bit disappointed because some ppl who I just knew were going to be there didn’t show, but for everyone that did was truly grateful and happy about it. Even Nobuki, Asano, Wagner, and Marianna came and it was so nice to see them. I do really enjoy hanging out with them. I consider Nobuki and Asano part of my Brazilian friend group even thought they are clearly Japanese! I wish Evelyn could have come but she is partying it up in Brazil as we speak. I’m going to have to visit her sooner than later! The party didn’t officially end till I walked out of the place around 1:30am. A group of us went to the konbini since we were thirsty and a koban kuruma ( police car) came by stopped and starred at us until we dispersed. I’m sure it looked interesting. Having a group of about ten foreigners (some Japanese) people drinking soda dressed in Roman Regalia looked a bit out of place! But we didn’t care. I just waved at them and went on my merry now 24 way.
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