俺の冬休みだ - Let's ring in the New Year J-Style~!!!

Ok, it's time for another list blog...thingy~!!! List-like blogs are so much easier~!!!

Christmas Eve 08:
Totally did NOT work on Christmas Eve, you crazy~!!?

Christmas Day 08:
MERRY CHRISTMAS~!!! There's DEFINITELY no way I'd work on Christmas Day, either.

26 Dec 08:
Left Kyoto @ midnight. F**kin WORST midnight bus experience~!!! This dumb young dude with orange hair kept leaning on my back on the damn bus. No matter how many times I pushed his ass away, he'd end up sleeping ON me somehow - I FELT him BREATHING on me~!!! Not to mention that ALL the seats of the upper deck were filled with sleeping bodies and the windows were blocked by thick-as-hell curtains which TRAPPED the heat from the heater and the body heat of the slumbering, smelly people in the oven I mean the bus~!!! Did I sleep? I wish~!!! Thankfully the bus stopped every 2 hours. Btw, rest stops in Japan are SUPER clean...and like small shopping centers.

Made it to 新宿 (Shinjuku) at around 8:00am-ish. Met up with Yoli and Saiki at the station and messed around Tokyu Hands. Oh, check this dude out; I think he's a Keebler Elf.

Where yo COOKies at FOO~!!?
YEAH he's wearin' that sweater~!!!

Tricia called, finally. We then headed to 原宿 (Harajuku) together to mess around. Had lunch at Shakey's Pizza. Hadn't eaten pizza in a LONG ass time! It was delicious for what it was.


Bellies full, we walked around the area before heading out to 渋谷 (Shibuya) to bum around. Ah, the night life and city folk.

Finally headed to the hotel (it was in 蒲田 [Kamata]). Btw, this specific train station had SCARY ass station music~!!! It reminded me of murderous doll music - if you don't make it onto the train by the time the station music finishes, you'll get killed by Chucky.

27 Dec 08:
Day trip to 横浜 (Yokohama). Went to 横浜中華街 (Yokohama Chūkagai - Yokohama Chinatown). It was nice. Bigger than the one in 神戸. Did Chinese 食べ放題 (tabehōdai - buffet style). It was pretty tasty-times.

After just shootin' the breeze, we headed to みなとみらい21 (Minato Mirai 21 - Harbor Future 21). It was a pretty metropolitan area, though small. Went to a mini amusement park called Cosmo World. There, Yoli, Saiki, and I rode the Cosmo Clock 21, a ferris wheel. The view was sweet, as well as the ride. Crossed the street to a mall for dinner (Mexican food...not great) and for some snacky-poo-poos.

Of Course - Need to get my Taiko on~!!!

Before heading back to the hotel, we saw this weird sculpture (called the Mokumoku Wakuwaku Yokohama Yo Yo) and some crazy-light stairs. Took pictures there. I even forced Yoli and Saiki to race up and down the stairs; caused a small crowd of onlookers. It was a nice day in Yokohama.

I'm a STUD, man~!!! Get it, get it~!!!

28 Dec 08:
Headed to 秋葉原電気街 (Akihabara Denki Gai - Akihabara Electric Town). It was cool, but I didn't buy anything surprisingly. Anime and electronics filled streets, not ONE thing was purchased (aside from food).

Later on, we went to 浅草 (Asakusa). I initially wanted to buy taiko goods, but the stores were closed because of the upcoming New Year's celebration...DAMN IT~!!! Oh well. Decided to just meander around 浅草寺 (Sensō-ji) where the famous 雷門 (Kaminarimon) is. Totally went omiyage shopping.

Yeah...LAMB Raisin...the hell...

For dinner we went to, of all places, Yoshinoya. I guess we were all too hungry to give a crap where we were eating. Toward the end of our meal, we felt someone staring at us from the door - IT WAS ANDREW (a good friend of ours from the L.A./Tokyo Orientation). He said he noticed a thick-bearded guy sitting next to a black girl; figured it was me and Yoli. AHAHA~!!! He was with some of his boys from the U.S., so we ended up going back to 渋谷 for some sexy 飲み放題 (nomihōdai - all you can drink) times and karaoke. What a crazy night, that was.


29 Dec 08:
Checked out; headed to Tricia's place in 群馬県 (Gunma-ken). Mid-trip, though, we stopped off in 熊谷 (Kumagaya) to meet a friend of Tricia's who invited us to his restaurant. "The Master," as he was called, was this big-bear of a man that owned a noodle shop. It was SO bomb~!!! His wife and daughter were working at the time, too. Had hand-made 餃子 (gyōza), 油そば (abura soba), and つけ麺 (tsukemen). SO filling, and COMPLETELY free~!!! I need to send The Master a thank you letter, seriously.

Made it to 渋川 (Shibukawa) by dusk, and we all just wanted to unwind the rest of the night.

30 Dec 08:
We still were pretty bushed from the previous days. We decided to just chill out for a day.


New Year's Eve 08:
Headed to 東京ドーム (Tokyo Dome) to have lunch at CPK - yeah, pizza again - and to shop around. Tricia and her friends wanted to get attend this New Year's concert hosted by some effeminate J-pop boy-band, so Yoli, Saiki and I parted from them.

LUSH: WE ARE "NOT" VIRGIN

Made our way to お台場 (Odaiba), an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. Didn't spend too much time there; went to Decks Tokyo Beach and hit up Joypolis. Took some pretty nice pictures of Rainbow Bridge and...the Statue of Liberty? The hell? Oh well, it was still beautiful.


Took the 首都高速道路 (Shuto Kōsoku Dōro - Shuto Expressway) toward Tokyo Tower.


Then headed to 増上寺 (Zōjō Temple) to prepare to ring in the New Year. Mitzi (also a good friend from the L.A./Tokyo Orientation) and her younger brother, Jun, met up with us at the temple. Ate food/drank sake from the vendors, bought charms, and chilled till around 8:30 when we cued in line to get our wishing paper (pentagon shaped).


Around 10pm, we fell in line again, this time for balloons to tie our wishing paper to. It was cool. To be more eco-friendly, the balloons weren't plastic, rather, they were made of rice~!!! How dope's that~!!!

Ok, hold on a minute...
"Balloon exchange for the
wishes of tickets is required"
Riiiiight...

Still 2008!

After assembling our wishing paper to our rice balloons, Tricia met up with us (no concert for her I guess). We walked toward the mochi making area to eat our mochi before New Year's. T'was DE-LE-JUSS things.

Noticed people making it toward the center of the temple grounds. COUNTDOWN SUCKAS~!!! SO f**ckin' packed, and some jerks kept pushing hard, vying for a position closer to the countdown clock near the giant temple bell. Ended up getting split up. Seriously, it was SO crowded that I literally relaxed my entire body but didn't fall because I was being supported by everyone around me. It was SO hot, SO tight, I couldn't breathe, almost lost my balance a couple of times, thought I was going to die - IT WAS SO MUCH FUN~!!!

My main concern in the midst of the mosh pit was to be able to get away from a tree we were stuck under so I could properly release my rice balloon. Luckily, with all the shoving, we made it away from the furthest reaching branch. Then...3, 2, 1...

New Year's Day 09:
HAPPY NEW YEAR~!!! FLY BALLOON, FLY~!!! Man was it a sight to behold~!!! All these rice balloons filled the night sky! Rockin'!

乾杯！あけおめ！

After the crowds started to thin out, we were able to leave. Yoli, Saiki, Tricia and I crashed with Mitzi and Jun at their hotel (man, was THAT cramped, but luckily we had a place to sleep). THANKS AGAIN MITZI & JUN~!!!

For lunch, went back to Shakey's in 原宿. Walked around until Mitzi, Jun, and Tricia had to go. Yoli, Saiki, and I went to 新宿, and we parted ways with Yoli who was catching a bus from somewhere else. Saiki and I were leaving from the same area, so we just chilled until it was time for us to leave. It was strange cuz we saw the Keio Plaza - to think we were just there in July of last year...crazy.

Saiki left before I did. My bus came maybe half an hour after hers. Thankfully, I bought a ticket for a more spacious bus! I had 2 seats to myself at the front of the bus - and yes, I was able to sleep. I was so traveled out by the time I got home. I didn't want to do anything when I finally got home. Just slept.

THANK GOD IT'S OVER~!!! I had fun though. Good food, good friends, good times. Done.

Yoli & Me: When Brown People Unite

YES~!!! No school today - thank you Mr. Emperor for making your birthday a national holiday. Thankfully, I'm taking 3 days off, too.

Anyway, last Saturday (the day after my birthday), Yoli midnighted to my place. She wanted to hang out in my area and do some Christmas stuff before our trip to Tokyo (which is in 2 days, btw). When she got to my place, she decided to take a nap before we headed out to 大阪 (Osaka) to meet up with my friend, Yuko.

Around lunch time, we met up with Yuko near 難波駅 (Namba Station) and walked to a place called WIRED Care. Yoli and I ordered Loco Moco, but it was TOTALLY different than the actual Hawaiian-style version. Instead of gravy, they used this demi-glace burger sauce. It was weird. Oh, and there was this f-ed up lookin' ketchup bottle...looked frozen, but it wasn't. Why was that? I don't know.


We took the train and made our way to USJ (Universal Studios Japan). We had to walk through Universal Citywalk to get there, so we did some side-shopping along the way. And, yes, we had to stop at the Takoyaki Museum, of course~!!!


The main reason why we went to USJ was to see the Christmas show. Yoli and I wanted to feel the Christmas spirit full-blast since it's known to be really commercial here in Japan. We rode the roller coaster, the 3D Spiderman ride, even watched a Peter Pan show. Churros? Had to eat some. We even ventured into the souvenir shops that were more packed than early morning commuter trains.

Dang, we DARK...jk.

Yoli & Yuko

Christmas Tree Hat?

3D Glasses x 3 (+ a random woman)

The Spiderman Ride Car

Christmas Churros

The Christmas show itself was amazing. There was a normal looking series of buildings on the lot. That night for the show, really colorful and winter-ish images were projected on the surfaces of the buildings. There were dancers and singers, people dressed up as angels., and a fireworks finale. It was hard to get good pictures because all these old people kept pushing their way through the crowd to get a better view of the events as they unfolded. And it was dark. And some tall-ass Japanese people were there.

All the songs they sang were traditional English songs, so I started to feel REALLY homesick. After all, it was my first time being away from family for Christmas. Finally getting our fill of "home," we parted with Yuko, and went back to my apartment.


The next day, Yoli and I went to 京都市 (Kyoto City) to do some shopping for our trip to Tokyo.We took a leisurely pace until we met up with Yuko for dinner. We had DE-LE-JUSS Japanese food and weird, but tasty-times drinks.


Monday rolled along, and I had to go to work. It was closing ceremony. After I got back home, Yoli and I headed down toward 宇治 (Uji) to get my haircut, but I didn't realize that all barber shops closed on Mondays. So instead, we just walked around the city; even got some 宇治抹茶ソフトクリーム (Uji Matcha Soft Cream). We went back to my apartment because I had to get ready for a school social in the city with the school staff. Yoli spent time solo in the city during that time.


Tuesday was Yoli's last day before heading back home. We pretty much spent the rest of the day up until Yoli left to soak in the scenery at 伏見稲荷大社 (Fushimi Inari Shrine). It was fun being able to explore the unbeaten paths that were hidden behind the obvious ones. We ended up going through a bamboo forest that suddenly became what looked like a pine forest (seriously looked like the California mountains at a point). We passed some vegetable farms and ended up in an area that NO tourist would normally end up (possibly a residential area behind the hill).



We even cut through a forested area and ended up on the other side of the viewing area f the lake. It was cool exploring the area with a good friend. Finally it was time for Yoli to head out. The both of us had fun during the long weekend. Down cuz we're brown~!!!


This is what goes down when brown people unite. WE OUT, SUCKAFISH~!!!

I'm 26 years old...great.

It's list time~!!!

3 Dec 08 - 4 Dec 08:
Had my mid-year conference! Didn't have to go to school on Wednesday and Thursday, thank God. I went with one of my JTEs. She's awesome.

8 Dec 08:
Started feeling sick. It got progressively worse. I had a super headache, a fever, a bad cough, and a horribly sore throat.

9 Dec 08:
Went to the hospital (trip number 2...DAMN IT) after school. Ended up getting strapped to an I.V. for an hour because I apparently had f**kin' acute tonsillitis. Yeah for prescribed drugs.

10 Dec 08 - 11 Dec 09:
Sick days are a treasure.

13 Dec 08:
It's Marathon Day (マラソン大会) for the kids, and yet I still had work on Monday. Why was that? Whatever.

15 Dec 08:
Kimi's 25th Birthday~!!!

Today:
Had class today, but only one 1st grade class. I turned 26 today. Great. At least Yoli's midnighting into town. It should be a fun weekend this weekend.

Transmission Over

NINJAS in 神戸~!!!

Just to let you know, my father's birthday was yesterday (1 Dec. 08). I STILL don't know how old he is. Whatever. Age is just a number, right? It's all mental~!!! Well, I talked him for like HOURS last night~!!! I really miss my dad.

Anyway, last Saturday (29 Nov. 08), Mitch (a.k.a. Lil' Ninja) and his friend Michelle stayed for a short weekend. Yeah, I've been busy, huh? It was only one weekend before when the EC Crew was over...I'M CRAZY~!!!

We decided to meet in 神戸 (Kobe). It was a pretty chill day. We went shopping and spent some time walking around the Kobe Port Tower and the Port of Kobe (had to take a picture next to Frank O. Gehry's sculpture at the Fish Dance restaurant).


We also wandered around 南京町 (Nankinmachi - Kobe Chinatown), which was interesting. There were a bunch of Chinese folk yelling at you to enter their establishments...in Japanese~!!! The street food was good (my favorite was the shrimp ball that looked like a cocoon or something). We also took a picture with Bruce Lee~!!!


We even went up 摩耶山 (Maya-san). The view from Maya-san was SO amazing, but it was SO f-ing cold, and it was too dark to take proper pictures.


For dinner, we went to a place (forgot the name) for REAL Kobe beef~!!! Yeah, I dished out the money for the SEVEN COURSE MEAL that included red wine~!!! Man, that was BOMB-ass beef. Michelle even started crying because it was THAT good (and cuz she was laughing a lot).

THE MENU

BEEF SALAD

BRISKET OF BEEF

BEEF CHEEK

STEAK #1 w/ WHITE ASPARAGUS

STEAK #2 on BAGUETTES

BEEF SUKIYAKI

FRUIT SORBET & MATCHA ICE CREAM

It was a great ninja day in 神戸.