Monday, July 17, 2006
The web is so scary... There's this site in Japan that put my desktop image on its own site... hmmmm.
1:19 PM
Sunday, July 16, 2006
A Yukata Week
I have been wearing a "yukata", the Japanese summer kimono, for two Saturdays in a row!
Last week, I attended a summer yukata party in Fukuyama, Hiroshima. We danced "bon odori", a traditional Japanese summer dance, walked around in yukata around the nightly indoor sidewalk shopping areas, then went karaoke after.
walking around the nightly indoor sidestreet shops in fukuyama, hiroshima
Then, yesterday night, I went to another yukata party but this time, a farewell party for a fellow English teacher slash friend who actually just left Japan this morning to Malaysia, then to her native United States. I wore the same yukata since I only have one. I should get another one. It was fun. First, we went to get some "purikura" taken. It was interesting since most of us were "gaijins" (foreigners) taking purikura - there was about 20 of us! Ha ha.
this is a "purikura"
Then we went to a Thai restaurant. It was all-you-can-eat-and-drink... Wow! I can't believe I've been drinking every single day of the weekend (at times, even weekdays!) because of farewell, birthday parties, etc...
myself and J who just left japan this morning < _ > boohoo...
The rest of the gang headed to karaoke while I decided to catch my last train and guess what, I missed my train back to my "inaka" (countryside) town - I saw the train leaving so I was so upset! Perhaps if I didn't get a pack of cigarettes from the convenience store, I would've been able to catch that friggin' train. So, I was stuck in the city for the night. In Japan, the main means of transportation is by train and they run until around 1:00 AM. Because I live in the countryside, my last train is earlier, at 10:23 PM! Argh, I was so upset. So I walked around the city trying to figure out what I was suppose to do. I was thinking whether I should go to this bar I like and stay there for a couple of hours and then just sit around somewhere or hang out in an internet cafe and wait for my first train, or just rent a room in a hotel. A girl from the city offered me to stay over at her place earlier but she had guests and I wasn't really very close to her so I told her I was just going to catch my last train and go home. When I missed the train, another friend asked me to come to the karaoke but it was too late, I already decided to go to a hotel. I don't really like staying over at other people's house especially if he/she is not a friend. So, anyway, I went to this hotel but the cheap rooms were already gone!
The Capsule Hotel - One of Japan's Wonders
And so, I decided to stay in a "capsule hotel". I went to one and spent the night there. It wasn't too bad actually. It was my first time. You get to sleep in this tiny capsule, actually it was bigger than I thought it would be, and with strangers in their own capsules in one big room. I thought there would be glass doors but no, there was only a traditional Japanese drape made of bamboo sticks or something, and so I could hear people snoring and stuff. There was this one annoying cellphone that kept playing an old 70's disco song everytime it receives an email... argh! I couldn't sleep. I kept waking up while inside it. These capsules have a tiny built in TV inside it by the way so I found that quite cool. The hotel also had a public bath. So, all in all, these capsule hotels are not bad at all. For 3,000 yen (around 30 CAD), you can get a decent rest/sleep/bath, you name it, i.e. if you ever miss your last train, which apparently happens to many Japanese, especially when they're too drunk to get home after a back-to-back "enkais" (drinking parties). They're mostly for men though. It's hard to find capsule hotels for women. I don't even think they exist.
A Movie Day!
So I got home around 10 AM from the city. Cooked myself a Filipino "torta" (an omelette) and watched 3 DVDs in one day. I rented "Powder", "Scary Movie 2", and then "The Terminal". I cried watching Powder. Actually, it's one of my favourite movies and so I've watched it quite a lot of times but every time I watch it, I cry. I like stories like this. Another favourite of mine is "Edward Scissorhands". I didn't like Scary Movie 2 but I laughed a bit while watching it. I thought "The Terminal" was a suspense movie but it wasn't. It turned out to be a dramatic comedy... I guess it wasn't too bad. Tom Hanks was pretty good faking a Russian accent, or should I say "Krakhozian"(sp?)...
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Anyway, that's all for today... or perhaps "that's all for this month" would've been more appropriate... Man, I should really blog more often! >_<
I can't wait to go back home to Canada!!! I'm going home in less than a week! I am going to spend my summer vacation in Toronto until I go back to Japan and do one more year of fun English teaching O _ O hahaha....
11:42 PM
Saturday, July 01, 2006
argh... it's almost been a month since my last post!!! i have been very busy lately with work and going out ^ _ ^ let's see what's new... hmmm... too many i'll only mention a couple...
my last trip here in japan was in Tottori, in a beach party... it was lots of fun and a bit of drama but it was fun altogether so... i loved the sea... it was the first time for me to see the ever moody Sea of Japan... it made me want to live very close to the sea. here's a photo of me with the Sea of Japan behind me... lovin' it lovin' it...
my friend from toronto will be visiting me this sunday... i can't wait! it's weird because we're both in japan now... another friend from university will be here too in a few days... he will be visiting his sister who is a close friend of mine here... we're all from the same suburbia back home... and we all attended the same high school!! but i graduated long before they did. it was such a coincidence that we were placed so close here in japan -- she's just in the next city!!
it's been very hot and humid here where i am in japan... the temperature reaches 31 degrees C most of the time... and it's f!@@#n' humid!!!
i will be coming back to canada for a month last week of july, woohoo!!! i can't wait! i miss my family, friends, and canada so much!
12:17 AM
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