Yamanakako 2

Yay, exciting conclusion to the trip. There are lots of pictures!!!

Our first stop the next morning was the Flower Park. It's in a very scenic location:





That's Shirai-san going after Toru, who is running away into the flowers. He proved to be very interested in poking any little streams or brooks or ponds that we found and it was really hard to keep him engaged in anything we were doing the entire day.

Upon entering the park, a lady made Toru a balloon sword, but he popped it pretty soon after on some foliage.

What's this?



Why an awesome Disney Cinderella rip-off bouncing palace, of course!





It was about two dollars (I think...I can't remember) to bounce for five minutes, but it didn't seem like the two fellows managing the cahs box were keeping track. Toru, for instance, took absolutely forever and refused to come out. It's not like you can go in after him...





Here is the view of the park from where we stood and waited for him to come back ;p



After that Shirai-san was pretty keen on getting some soft serve (sofuto kuriimu) so we were headed in that direction when...



Toru had to have a go at these little bumper cars. Pretty cute. Luckily when you put the money in they only run for a set time, so we didn't have to worry about him driving off into the sunset or anything.

Then we found a souvenir shop, so Toru got some bubbles:



If that looks funny, it's because he's blowing on a whistle. You attach the bubble making part to the end, dip it in a bottle of (Pokemon branded!!) the bubble fluid, and away you go. He was quite the trend setter, since at least one other kid was inspired to get the same set and start filling the park with bubbles.

During this time we sat on a bench and just hung out. It's weird, but in Japan everywhere you go has a soundtrack. I was thinking maybe it was sort of like in Disney World, since this place was essentially a flower shop theme park. There was soft sax music playing in the background here. But then at the hotel I noticed they often played classical music, and then at night when I got home on the train the other day they were playing music out of speakers on the main street. IS EVERYWHERE DISNEY WORLD IN TOKYO? I think this is something worth investigating.

That said, there is also a Disney World here, but I haven't gone. Shirai-san suggested it for Sunday, but I think we are going to Ikebukuro instead, which is probably better ;D

DIGRESSION ENDED!

We ate our ice cream! I had kyouhou (Japanese grape) and vanilla mix, which was really REALLY good.

--

This just reminded me, though-- since I was thinking of grapes and grape jelly-- about the breakfast rolls. They came with tiny little tubs of jelly and margarine connected. So instead of peeling off the top, you bend the twin tubs in half and a hole opens so you can squeeze it out! Super convenient :D

--

SECOND DIGRESSION ENDED!



Hey look, plants! No kidding! This is inside that hot house looking thing, but it wasn't really a hot house. They had a machine that would tell your fortune with flowers if you entered your birthday, but Toru was too obsessed with the touch screen to let us get a good reading.





Wow, two of me in a row! How boring! The second is in the Happy Tree. I should be happy now! Or something! :D Everyone was taking pictures inside it; that seemed to be the thing to do. Then we found a playground where we spent another thousand years!! I guess it's good for kids to play, but I wish I were a kid so I could play, too : /



Doesn't that look fun! All the kids were very good about taking turns.

After that we were pretty much done with the Flower park. There was this very short rocky cave, but it was pretty uninteresting. Toru liked it, though, because he loves to climb in dangerous places. Of course he wasn't allowed to, but on the playground he would always climb over the railings between platforms rather than just cross the bridge or something.

Unfortunately we went to Denny's for lunch. That said, about the only thing the same is the name. I had soba and tendon. WHICH, for the record, I totally though it was just soba and a little tempura, but then when they brought it it turned out to be a huge bowl of tempura with rice in the bottom plus soba. Go figure. Tasty, though.

In the afternoon we drove a bit to a touristy town called... ... Oshinohakkai, I think. Honestly, all we did there was feed some fish, get a drink, and have a really tasty hot (a new experience for me!) omanjuu filled with red bean paste. I do have this picture, though:



And the obligatory koi shot:



The best part of the day was definitely the ice cave!! It was very crowded. First, here is a map you see on your way in:



That big lake on the left is the one we could see from our hotel window. The mountain is obviously Fuji. Here's what we were in for:



Everyone is inching their way down...



Apparently, Shirai-san paraphrases, they used to drag blocks of ice to the shogun from this very spot. This prompted lots of speculation between the three of us on how it would be possible to get ice all the way from here to there without it melting, but I guess if they took a realllllly big block, maybe by the time they got it there it would be normal sized...



Ice caves are very cold and very damp!!

Low ceiling:



Lower ceiling:



Makes me wonder if there was a warning for claustrophobic people outside... Eventually it opened back up and there was ice!



That was pretty much the climax. There was a big climb out and by the time you got up to the top you were already hot again. We went souvenir shopping a bit at the gift store. This is where I got that held-out-for keychain :D



Tour got an egg, but you have to hatch it in water...



The ride home was a little while to begin with and then we got in a traffic jam because the whole world was on vacation over the three day weekend. I was pretty bored in the car, so I started taking pictures of everything (although some of these are from on the way...) First, though, here is our pit stop to take Fuji pix. Some of these might be from the car, too, actually, or elsewhere. You can see it from most of the areas, but I will just pick some interesting ones...







Toru's Fuji Photo Shoot







You can see the top!



Ok. So now some totally random stuff from the car in no particular order. There were some other signs I wanted to take pictures of like, "Jolly Pasta" and "Carrot Hotel" (with a little carrot logo XD) but since were moving it was tricky...

Foreshadowing:



Not sure what they're going for with this name. In Japanese it is "bii emu" so they really do just mean BM...



"momo" = peaches = yum!



One of my favorite pictures of Toru so far:



This picture was so hard to get, but "HARD OFF," seriously? I laughed a lot.



Rearview:



Fujikyu Highland (the website is kinda nifty) amusement park:



Cute stoplight:



Toru putzes with his phone:



Hee hee, for Dad:



Well, ok, I lied this isn't the end of the trip, but I'm sick of blogging and want to get out and have some fun while I still can! Well, not that work won't be fun, but it will be just making the long commute between the convention center and home and writing and looking at games, so I won't have time for, say Harajuku, which is where I want to go today. Maybe Tokyo Station if I have time. My blogs are getting all back ed up, but oh well. Too much to do to sit at home and upload pictures all day!!!

The Yamanakako Vacation

Our vacation began a little later than planned on Saturday. I guess we missed the train or something, so we took the bus after having lunch up on the 8th floor of the Keio dept store (if I'm not mistaken...) In fact, lunch was rather interesting. I ordered something like yakisoba. They asked if I wanted harder or softer noodles, and figuring they meant something like al dente, I went with harder. But they were crunchy! It was super tasty, though, not like eating uncooked ramen or something. Anyways, here's the bus ;p



I played some videogames and looked out the window. Nice scenery, very hilly. Some good views overlooking some towns and places, but it was hard to get any good pictures since we were moving.



Before heading over to the hotel we had some ice cream at this that we actually ended up returning to on the last day. It was really good and they had 40 flavors to choose form. I decided I should try something new, so I had sweet potato ice cream and let me tell you, I really hope I can find it in the states. Soooo good. The cone was less sweet than American cones, but still quite tasty.

The place we stayed at was a REAL LIVE RYOUKAN! So it's a more traditional style. Check out the lobby:



This is what you see as you walk in. Actually, in the entry way on your left there is a board that lists all the families staying there in really nice script. THEN you see these buddha bellies, so you rub them for good luck!



A UFO catcher and a couple games are on the back wall. Nothing terribly exciting. Lots of the lobby was also set up as a gift shop. Toru got a cute little Ninja keychain with body parts attached with stretchy string so he could flip him all around. I looked at some of the Mt. Fuji keychains they had, but I'm glad I waited because I found a really cool one later.



The other side of the room was set up with lots of souvenier food like little cakes and pastries with blueberries and things in them. Behind those mirrored doors is the dining room where we had breakfast and dinner.

I wish I wouldn't have forgotten to take a picture of the food. It was pretty amazing. Japanese portion sizes are small (sometimes) sure, but if they give you TEN (not exaggerating) plates-- plus rice-- then you're not really coming out ahead of the rest of us. They fed us beef, chicken karaage, fried fish, baked fish, okra salad (with maybe some fish...I think), uhm...fruits like apple, mango, melon, pudding, omanjuu (which is, I guess...sweeet rice (mochi) filled with whatever sort of thing...in this case mango custard), uhm what else...little biscuits or things with fish, so many things!!!

Breakfast was always a buffet with things like curry, omlette, salad, bread, dumplings, meatballs, mini hot dogs, miso soup, etc. All the food was good.

Of course, when you enter the room you have to take your shoes off:



I think to be totally correct they're supposed to be facing toward the door so you an step into them easily, but none of us managed to do this. I don't really feel like squishing the heels of my shoes, anyhow...
This is Toru playing my DS, but also the best picture of the room I have.



You can see the furniture anyhow-- a low table on the tatami mat floor with cushions and arm rests, but then by the window there's a higher table. There's also a fridge over there with cold drinks. I think Toru had like 4 Pocari Sweats (which is sort of like Gatorade...)

The view from our window was fantastic. Shirai-san asked specifically for one facing the lake:



Anyhow, so we went to dinner and had all this amazing food and what I knew but had sort of forgotten until that moment was that when you go down to eat at a ryoukan, they come up and get the room ready for sleeping in. So when we got back the table was on the side of the room and three futons were out with really fluffy comforters.

So fluffy, that we decided Toru decided we should play a bit:



Ok, more than a bit. We did some serious rough housing:



which, I rather enjoyed. I haven't really knocked around so much like that since I was a little kid. Basically Toru would hide in the blankets and then I would pick him up with all that padding and chuck him around the futon mats. Shirai-san kept saying how strong I am ;p We made a Toru fajita, too:



which also got thrown around. Lots of jumping and rushing and falling down. Very fun. One time he managed to bonk me really good with his head, though, so I have this barely visible (only when you're really looking for it) bruise on me cheek bone. Ouch @_@

Anyways, that tuckered us both out pretty well, so I guess that was the point.



The next morning looked like this!!!



But I think I'll save the next day for another post because I think (/hope) it's time for dinner soon...

Happy Photo

Well, I would just give you a link for the flickr page for the stuff I've already talked about, but the pix are always out of order when you upload them, so I'll post here. The trip was good. I'll blog about it at some point, if not this morning...



Man, I really hate the way blogger does the whole adding pictures thing... I wish I could just use a regular html tag... Anyways, these were the two big releases that Tuesday when Chris and I were in Akihabara: FFVII Crisis Core, and Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon something or other. I was waiting outside a Sofmap store:





Waylaid!!



This guy announced that the store wouldn't be opening for another hour-- until 11 o'clock:



So that's when I went elsewhere to buy my copy of Crisis Core.

Here are Chris and I in our net cafe cubicles:





Pix of Kyuushokutoban!!! :D

The menu is adorable. I had the "second grader" lunch set (#2) omuraisu.



While we waited for the food I took in some scenery, like this hand-drawn flier for nostalgic Swan Cider:





Here are the cooks dressed as kid serving lunch:



And finally, food!!



I think I talked about this already, but there is the really awesomely tasty salad, the first miso I had since I had arrived, and the omlette with ketchup rice inside. On top of that there is meat sauce (unexpected, but tasty!) and potato croquette stuck on the side. TONS of food. I couldn't eat all of it. Especially since we also ordered agepan = sweet fried bread:



YUM! I snapped a couple other shots on the way out. The handle to the bathroom was cute:



Rock art:



The front of the restaurant. "Brasserie," you'll note, is French:





We went back to Akihabara. OMIGOD SAVE US FROM THE MANIKINS!!!



That face on the right I actually am known to make on occasion, but those other two are just horrifying... They did such a good job grabbing our attention that we went upstairs to find:



An instant ramen restaurant. Now here is the question: Is it lazier to stay at home and make your own ramen toppings or to leave the house and have someone else do it for you? At this place you select your choice of instant noodles, and they will boil them and put a variety of things on top for a small fee.



I would've stuck some change in the tip jar for the pictures, but they don't tip in Japan, sooooooo...

Oh, and ok...here is the one picture I have from our zillion video game store shopping tour. The bag for Super Potato, a famous used game shop where I bought Napple Tale:



The mascot is a little creepy, but cute at the same time.

Japan has some really awesome pastries. This donut shopp looked so amazing that I decided to take a pic of their ad. It's in one of the subway stations...forget which...maybe Shibuya?



We didn't have any, but if allll you need is love and donuts, I might have to get on it.

Anyways, those are all the pix I have before our vacation to Yamanakako. I should have a different entry for that. Might do it later since it's already ten and I haven't showered yet. I want to try to see a park or a temple or something today before meeting up with the 1Up catz. Rest assured, there are a zillion pix from that, including lots of Toru, who is cute when he's not being a little monster ^_^

Toilets and trains

Hmm so before we leave I was going to talk about some random things like:

TOILETS

Yeah, they have the kinds you always hear about with the adorable little butt wash button, or the "hole in the floor" variety etc, but I had never heard of one with a faucet coming out of the top. Both of the ones in the house I'm staying at have this. When you flush, the faucet runs, too, so you can hit two birds with one stone. The flush trigger seems to have two different "strengths" according to the kanji, if I understood it right. You pull to do a small one, and push to get a bigger one. Maybe it's a way to save water???

TRAINS

SO CONFUSING. Just like you always heard. There are a bunch of different companies that run trains and they all have their own tickets, so you have to buy the right kind. Then the price isn't a flat rate, but depends on where you are going more like a normal train than what you would expect from a city metro.

I had a funny experience last night where I tried to buy a ticket with a 1000 yen note, but it was a little bent. The machine took it, but it must not have liked it because suddenly a fellow opened tiny door in the wall (which I hadn't even noticed, so it sort of surprised me) and handed me a new note, saying I should try again on a different machine.

Well, I guess we're watching cartoons before we go, so that's cool. The fridge is hopefully almost fixed. Honestly, I don't really want to bring the computer on the trip, so I may just blog 'n stuff when I get back. I mean, there may not be a wireless connection, anyhow.

EDIT: OH yeah, I forgot to talk about "yay."

United States - "YAY!"

Japan - "Yay."

But it means the same thing as far as I can tell. You say it when something cool happens or you're really happy, ne. Like "Whoo hoo!" In Japan, though, it's said in the most flat, uninterested way. Totally blah. It's actually a really hard nuance to master. Chris and I were attempting it yesterday, and he got pretty close. I still can't do it very well...

The quick and dirty list edition

SO what did we do today?

FIXING COMPUTER TIME - took about 2 and a half hours, as well as nearly 150 dollars. A guy came to get the connection working. It was very nice of Shirai-san to pay for him to do that. Rather frustrating, this laptop. I'm not sure what the ultimate root of all problems was, esp since it still doesn't shut down properly, but at least it's working. I hope I will be able to get connected at the show next week.

KOROKKE BURGER TIME - This is what Shirai-san kindly provided me with for lunch. It is a poteto croquette sandwiched with some sauce and greens. Very tasty, but rather starchy. It's one of those things like yakisobapan that I wonder why someone would come up with it. Of course, like I said, very tasty, so I guess that's why.

SHOWER TIME - That was boring, but I think I'm getting closer to having all the lyrics to Digimon's Butterfly theme song down. Karaoke will ensue, I'm sure, so I have to be prepared. Shingo Mama no Oha Rock is my back-up plan...

BUS TIME - I couldn't find the station, so I went to ask a girl in a bakery, but by the time I did that there were people lining up beside the sign (which I hadn't noticed earlier) she was giving me that LOOK, you know, like, "HELLO? It's kind of...over there? Uhm...yeah *points*" That look. Anyways, I got on the bus and went to...

NAKANO STATION TIME - The bulk of the afternoon was spent in Mandarake, which...at some point I will get fancy and add links to this (probably) but for right now, it being after 1am and all, I'm just going to get it down and sack out. Anyways, it's basically an Otaku's dream come true. Also sort of like seeing the Internet IRL. Great toys, games, figurines, antiques, and other things like coins and electronics. Lots of creepy porn, those poor anime girls and their paralyzingly huge boobs. Yeah, anything more than you have either already seen or have gone out of your way to avoid,k so it's probably best to not mention any of it here. I bought RUUSUSOKKUSU and some Stitch (of Lilo &) branded "Sock Touch" to keep them up. Maybe now I can wear that skirt and feel chou kawaii.

MAID CAFE TIME - Since Mandarake is so otaku-like, a maid cafe appeared nearby. We were not allowed to take pictures, but basically its' just an adorable girl serving drinks and chatting with customers. Super polite, super expensive, super cute. Chris paid about five dollars for a glass of tea, while I had something pleasantly reminiscent of chocolate milk.

TAI YAKI TIME - I passed up takoyaki for the time being because my appetite was not such that I felt like that much of a meal, however we did grab dessert. I had chestnut cream filling in mine, and it was really really good.

FUNNY CAT TIME - I played with Chris's friend's cat while we waited to go out for dinner with Kenichi Nishi of Chibi Robo and his new company Route 24. Met his friend and we all chatted a bit.

NIHONRYOURI TIME - We were going to go to this awesome Mexican restuarant called Junkadelic, but there was a party reservation. Instead we had some super awesome Japanese food. Chicken, sashimi, cooked fish as well...things called "Strawberry tomatos" that tasted sweet like fruit. Little and yellow. I enjoyed every bite and also the company. Nishi brought a friend, too, so there were four of us talking in mostly Japanese, but some English. I feel bad because everyone (i.e. all of Chris's friends) tell me (us) that my pronunciation is better than his : / Anyways, tons of food. Nishi also presented both Chris and I with a copy of his company's new game, Arukime DS, for multiplayers only. If nothing else I'll blog about it at some point, but I hope I can find somewhere to talk about it. OH and we also tried various types of shouchuu: potato, wheat, brown sugar. Alcohol is not entirely my style, though, sO I couldn't drink much. The food was so great, though.

GETTING LOST TIME - Nishi's friend drew me a great map of the way back to Numabukurou, but it was hard to find the Seibu-Shinjuku line after getting out of the Shinjuku Line. I may rant about the train system later, but right now I'm falling asleep not because I'm still jetlagged or something silly like that (since I seem to have escaped most of that wrath) but because it's nearly 2 and I wake up at 7 for breakfast ;D

Anways, once on the train I was also nearly falling asleep not this bad, though. Made it back ok and talked with Shirai-san about a variety of things like games, actors and actresses, etc.

I'm too tired, so if blog makes no sense that is totally fine. Trip tomorrow! I will be back on monday, unless there is mysteriously wireless there.

Also, I might get to observe elementary school on WEdnesday ;D

SLEEPING TIME ------

CORRUPTION and fun things

So I left off yesterday morning, huh? I did end up walking. I went out in one direction for about a half hour or a little more and found a store sort of like Barnes and Noble called Tsutaya. They sell books, movies, and music (like B&N). Looked around but didn`t buy anything. Then went back home for a break.

It`s easy to get lost because of the narrow streets. You`re also never sure if they will connect through to where you want to go. Shirai-san (host mom) drew me a map, though, which is very helpful. Shows how to get to the train station, which was useful today...

but I`m getting ahead of myself. I haven`t taken pix of the neighborhood yet, but then I can`t upload them yet anyhow, since I`m using Shirai-san`s computer. Mine doesn`t work yet, but I will try to explain the problem tomorrow to someone who will come to fix it...maybe haha Explaining computer problems is hard enough in English @_@

I took another walk in a different direction, too (and ate bentou that Shirai-san bought for me :D) There are lots of interesting things around even though it`s a residentail neighborhood. Little shops like for used bicycles, furniture, bakery items. There are also vending machines every block or so...probably more than that, actually. There are seriously a lot of vending machines. I already knew you could buy beer and cigarettes etc from them, but I didn`t realize that you are never more than a few yards from a cold (or sometimes hot!) drink at any time.

Toru got home and mostly just watched cartoons. The babysitter is an older lady named Komaki-san. She is nice, but sort of intimidating because my Japanese is not so great. She explained to me the four different trash cans, though. (If you didn`t know Japan has a very strict system of separating and bagging trash...) Later Toru and I played more Gamma Bros. but then he had to do his homework. He reads stories just like any kid you`ve seen a movie do it, very theatrical...well modulated.

Last night ended with the three of us watching Cellular in Japanese. I was surprised it was something she would want to watch with Toru, but I guess he survived ok. They had Tivo`d it with their PSX, I guess. That`s a big white box that combines the power of a PS2 with a digital video recorder. I liked the movie. Of course, I couldn`t understand everything, but you can cheat by watching the pictures, ne ;D

This morning another huge breakfast. The same soup with tonkatsu sandwiche again, but we had lemon yogurt and fruit on the side. Oh, and corn on the cob. And tea, of course. Toru was a handful going to school today, so Shirai-san ended up taking him on her bike. I guess he didn`t want to go because the food has been making him sick, which Shirai-san attributes to his stress. Today he was ok, though, he said.

When they left I decided I would leave too. I was supposed to meet Chris bright and early (well, around 8:30 or 9) in Akihabara, but I was late. Mostly because I had no idea how the trains worked, as I had never ridden them before. I had heard how complicated it was, though, so at least I was somewhat prepared. What i really should`ve been studying before I came, though, was place names, because I can`t read most of that kanji at all. After wasting time through indecision and plenty of dropped phone calls, I finally got on the right track (hurr)

Akihabara was pretty freaking sweet. We really made the rounds off some of the awesomest game stores around. First I bought my copy of Crisis Core. That was easy. I took some pictures outside a Sofmap, so I`ll be talking more about that later on my game blog. Anyways, while waiting for Chris to come back from his CC experience (he stood in line at Yodobashi Camera for a limited edition new-type PSP and the game in a boxed set) I went to this cute spot called Moco Cafe. Right on the main drag, but really no one in it while I was there. They were advertising this drink called a koori cafe outside, so I decided that was good enough to lure me in to use their bathroom. Koori cafe is essentially sweetened milk plus flavored ice. I got green tea ice in mine, and when Chris showed up he ordered a chocolate one. Pretty tasty, but it`s sort of just like a troublesome shake. It`s a perfect sit and wait drink because the flavor is locked in the ice until it melts. If you try to eat just the ice itself (impatiently) it doesn`t taste as good. Maybe this is a good lesson...

After that we went to the net cafe up on...I think the 8th floor of some building. That was when I e-mailed some people with TOTAL SPOILERS for this blog ;D Chris and I got boothes next to each other with a window between so we could hang out while we internetted. It was fun, but sort of expensive. Had to be done! Then we realized after that buying the computer time also gave us access to a drink bar, but we were already leaving : /

For our awesome kyuushoku adventure! I had looked up the address at the cafe so we thought we were all set but it was really hard to find. It`s actually a lot further from the train station than it looks on the map on the website, so we nearly gave up and ate elsewhere. Luckily at the last minute, we found it. I have plenty of pix to come for this one. I had omuraisu for the first time, which is basically ketchup rice inside an omlette. They put meat sauce on top and added a (potato) croquette on the side. Plus miso and a really great salad. Altogether too much food but then we HAD to get agepan (fried [sweet] bread) so there was no way in hell I could eat it all. Chris had curry, but since I had that homemade (brilliantly) the night before I went with the omuraisu. Uhmmmmmmmm DISORGANIZED! Anyways, that place is really great and there is no excuse to not go there if you are near Akihabara. The staff is all dressed up as kids at school serving lunch (which the kids do in elementary school, if you didn`t know) and you eat out of metal bows and trays the same sort of thing the kids might eat. Delicious and awesome. I got kinako (sweet...soy powder?) on my agepan like Kayo suggested before I left. It was my first time having kinako, but I liked it pretty well.

After we both ate too much we walked all the way back to Akihabara where we went shopping like crazy. I actually broke down and bought Napple Tale (since I`ve wanted to play it since high school) so I`m pretty excited to try that out when I get back. Yoko Kanno did the soundtrack and it`s supposedly a pretty sweet play. Chris ended up buying the weird turn-your-ds-into-a-mouse-and-pretend-to-be-a-magnet game as well as some other things he was hoping for, so it was considered an all-around success. After that (and it was a lot of that) we actually ended up going back to Moco Cafe to relax a bit before heading out. I had some iced apple tea, which was interesting for tasting like candy apple but not...sweet. CONFUSING.

I got the train home and found my way back with no trouble. Much smoother than the morning. Toru was watching TV while Komaki-san cooked. I lamneted the lack of internet and then studied a bit of kanji. Introduced Toru to my DS. He`s become kind of a handful at times for reasons which are entirely my fault.............. I mean, other times he can be cranky, but the games bring out his worst when it`s time to quit.

Dinner was tons of food again. I managed to eat everything, but I was sooooo full. I like having so many vegetables, though.

Well, I think I mentioned everything except some picture stuff, which will have to come later. Now my neck is very sore from sitting here. And my arms. And everything haha cuz my feet still hurt from trekking all over electric town. Word!

one...more...second....

It's been tough to get online here. Currently piggybacking on the spectacularly awesome 0% signal from the neighbor's house cuz my family's device won't let me in even with the password.

Anyways, wow, Tokyo rocks. It's not like we didn't expect that, but I love it. Trying to figure out why I don't live here. I really should, probably.

The airplane ride was really long...basically. I don't have a very good attn span so I read Otaku USA issue 2, Sherlock Holmes, tried to watch a couple different movies, failed to sleep much, ate a bunch of plane food (not bad, though!) and forgot to play Pokemon. Unfortunately, I was seated next to one of the very few American people on the flight, but I guess they were nice at least. I was hoping it would've been one of the cute little Japanese girls, though.

Chris met me at the airport and helped me get my crud together which is great. I have a cell phone and we rode the bus down to Shinjuku where I met my host mom. Before that, though, we had tons of time to kill so we went shopping a bit, played a couple rounds of Taiko no Tatsujin, had tea this awesome Starbucks rip-off joint, and people-watched. Heard some good street music, too. Way better than the sax guy on the way home from Live-Action club.

My host family is awesome. I thought the dad would be home but in fact he was here last night and went back to Shanghai this morning. Yukiko, my host mom, is really nice. She bought Chris and I dinner before getting a taxi to take me back to the house. Toru is adorable and ever since I showed him Gamma Bros. on my computer he has warmed up a lot. We speak Japanese. I might ask if I can go to school with him one day next week, just to see what it's like. I've always been interested in Japanese schools.

Had a super Japanese breakfast. Veggie soup with hot dog like sausages in them (the correct term is totally "wiener" but seriously, how can I say that in English?), tonkatsu sandwich, left over chinese food, pickles, and tea. Tons of food, just like last night at dinner. I can never eat it all @_@ but it's so tasty.

The plan for today is to get some work done this morning for as my connection will hold out and then explore the neighborhood this afternoon. Toru gets home from school at 5 and I definitely want to be here to play with him. Then we will have home-made curry for dinner. So excited! I think there is a trip planned for this weekend, too. Anyways, I'm gonna go have a shower now, I think. Hum hum. I'm also going to try not to blog tooooo much. Probably just a bit in the morning after everyone leaves the house before I go out. I want to makesure I'm out doing stuff more often than at home writing about it ;D

For realz this time

This blog will never end! Not till I'm dead! I'm going to the Tokyo Game Show a week and a half early for a total two glorious weeks in Japan. Homestaying it with a mom and her six year old son. This is going to ROCK, so of course I have to resurrect my most awesome overseas blog. I mean, I can't just blog on my other NORMAL blog, cuz that would be stupid ;p

Of course, all videogame-related things that I somehow find time to write in between assignments will appear in their rightful place.

LOOK FORWARD TO IT!

Or is it?

CHERS AMIS,

I'm off to Tokyo Sept 12, so look for this blog to be revived 'round about that time. Same girl, different puddle!

XD

EDIT: Nevermind : /

fin

well i think it's safe to say that the blog is over. i'm back in WISCONSIN even now and altho my life is as fascinating as always (if it ever was ;p) the framing has changed. there is always the possibility of another blog i suppose, but for the moment i'm just gonna close this happy little window onto my life. If you're still interested you'll just have to knock on the front door ^_~

*checks which side of the ocean she's on*

yeah...i'm back lol

so my last night i ended up on the seine with the picnic-ers and also a swing dance club. in fact there were some really good dancers down there. one of them looked like jim carrey's little brother. i swear!!

but no so the sun was setting and THERE was Notre Dame and THERE was the fontaine st michel and the river and THERE was i in the midst of the dinner spreads and tourists and couples and dansers....dancing couples even.

it was all just very parisian i guess ;p

and i can't type on american keyboards very well...

lol

so wow tho thursday was just killer...it kills me i mean...so this is a negative

the morning i got up to finish the last bit of cleaning (after spending the rest of the day before's evening with the micefa crew) and then i ran to the bakery for dann and i. our rooms were checked and i love how we had to sweep up the duplex again. dann helped tho! thanks dann!

see cuz the duplex wasn't mine. dann's room (mine) was fine lol

ah yeah...

but no those rooms really do collect dust like NOBODY's business

they charged me five euros for the mail key

that emily lost

emily my supposed roommate

she'll be hearing from me lol

ALSO i KNEW it would happen but they owed me money in the end and i TOLD them i wanted to add ALL of my deposit TO the rent because i would be specifically UNable to pick it up at the CROUS (cuz "they don't mail things" as i was later told) but nooooo so there are nineteen euros sitting in paris with my name on them...and i want them!!! but i'm not so sure how to get them...must talk to micefa or something...i doubt anything can be done tho

so then what...this whole fiasco with the rent made me a bit late so i scrambled to make my van time...and then the van was late. then they dropped me off at F instead of C but to be fair none of us knew where i was supposed to go so their guess was as good as mine...

but i had to walk to c with that HUGE duffel bag...and stuff...luckily wheely carts are free and efficient in paris (unlike newark as i later found...paying THREE DOLLARS for the priviledge of a cart that stops on a dime if you don't put your whole weight on the handle bar...sheeeeeesh)

so then boarding was just ridiculous. we had to get on this silly bus sort of thing...which took forever cuz they had to make trips and ferry us out to the plane. then so we were already quite late but since we had missed our time we had to wait for a new time...another HOUR away from the already late time we were at. so we sat on the plane...

and then of course...sat on the plane lol

food was good tho i can say that...never disappointed by airfrance's food

and the entertainment was very cool. altho i was disappointed that the station claiming to be playing japanese music was in fact doing nothing of the sort.

we each got our own screen. which is really hardcore cuz we all got choices of movies to watch. i for my part didn't watch anything in it's entirety...is that spelled right? but i would like to see the other half of constantine i think...

i was just not really in the mood for a plane ride.

i guess lol

and oh there was an all girl german soccer club on the plane.

german is nice.

i sat next to a french swiss boy

who tried to order beer and was shot down lol

but yes lots of waiting in lines

too much

but it was nice to come through customs on the other end

for the record my first thoughts in the airport were, "hey america smells kinda funny"

and then, "wow look american commericals, american billboards"

"everything is in english"

and i have to get used to the fact that english conversation does not automatically mean "stupid american tourist"

my dad's apt is really hardcore. all the more so for being in the bronx's little italy.

gonna be a hardcore week.

he has poison dart frogs and that is sweet cuz i remember looking at pictures in books of them when i was little and him explaining about them and now i can watch them eat flys :D but not really cuz their tongues are too fast.

i'm still awake are you proud?

it's almost midnight

pretty tired tho

been a day and a half hahaha

no literally...lol

we had dinner at an italian restaurant called emilia's. i had chicken stuffed with shrimp, spinach, and sundried tomatos...that is some crubazuby ne? what is better is that the left overs are IN THE FRIDGE WHERE THEY BELONG!!! YES!!! THANK YOU TAKE OUT CULTURE!!! THANK YOU FOR THE MAGICAL BOX-UP!!!

"because i take my culture to go..."

lol

uhm...

i decided i am really looking forward to the fact that i will be able to bike to my g-ma's house in o-town and swim pretty much any day of the week. until i go to mke that is...i will have to work something out.

i will be back to wi on the 9th soooo bizarre....

oh oh oh and the issue with this blog is this. i could keep writing it but that may demand some sort of metaphysical puddle or metaphorical maybe...a metaphysical metaphor of a puddle to be beyond...a metaphorical puddle to be metaphysically beyond...maybe it's that...we need something like that. i mean...cuz THE puddle sadly...is back where it started...to the east!!

eek!!!

anyhow reader comments appreciated...i could just keep writing forever you know..

that was a threat ne? ;p

silly american keyboard