Why not just miss the airplane?

Awoke at the sound of Tatsuya’s alarm and rushed to the train after his hair-make was complete. Tatsuya’s sister bought our tickets to Yokohama and presented me with a beautiful fan that was my salvation against sheer heat later in Seattle. While riding the train Tatsuya and I shared Nami-chan’s present (delicious sakura filled bread for breakfast!) then fell asleep while the train became congested with people who glared at us for taking a whole bench. We met Sayaka and Atsune at Tokyo station and talked about video games and manga because Atsune works at an internet cafe during the day.At the airport we searched for a crepe store in vain. Finally I relented at some random dessert shop where Tatsuya bought me a strawberry cheesecake crepe even though I had planned to pay for everyone. Why!?! He also gave me a cute Studio Ghibli music box. Afterward we talked alot and goodbyes took forever but I still got on the airplane with two minutes to spare!

Odaiba PuriKura!

After watching Tatsuya pose all the time I finally decided to invent my own. The gun pose became my trademark and you'll see it in alot of the photos. I think it turned out well ... don't you? But the guys can't pull it off so good haha!








This was edited in Photoshop where I added Musketeer hats because I ran out of time on the actual photo booth editor system. Yes, you're timed.










Yep! I love Tatsuya, Chinopan, and Sayaka very much <3!!!











Chinopan and I hung out earlier and talked about my friend Jenny, who absolutely refuses to dance even if it means global calamity (which Jenny would actually approve of). When forced, Jenny will raise her fingers and move them left to right. In this picture Chinopan and I are doing the "Jenny Dance".

<-- He looks like a model doesn't he? -_- Actually they all do.

Makiko chan!

MAKIKO is an adorable girl who could always make me laugh! When Tatsuya deflected our imaginary bullets, Makiko and I proceeded to aim rocket launchers at him instead. Makiko became so determined that she stumbled back on her high heels while mounting a second imaginary rocket launcher on her shoulder. It was really cute! Before I left for Canada Makiko gave me a beautiful star necklace. Thanks Makiko *-*! Love you!

I did Puri Kura with Makiko and Mio-chan once too! Check it out, we are the Japan Angelz~

Sayonara Party!

Tatsuya did beautiful Hair-make before rushing me to Atami Station. We spent a great amount of time and money getting to Odiba where we ate and did Pura Kura with Chinopan and Sayaka. While waiting for a zombie slaying game to end, Chinopan did an awesome TERMINATOR impression. He's my hero.



Then at night everyone played badminton together (except Tatsuya because his hair would get ruined). For dinner we met Makiko at Johnsons. Makiko was excited to see me again and bought fondue (which everyone ate while I wasn’t looking) and a cute double star necklace for me.
And somehow, after spending less than a week in Yokohama, I had fallen completely in love with these people. It was impossible to say goodbye and I couldn’t hold the tears back for anyone. Tatsuya managed to pry Makiko and I apart eventually. At Yokohama station I said farewell to Atsune, Chinopan, and Nami-chan ... which was even harder after spending two nights together. Tatsuya managed to pry me away before we could miss the last train to Atami.

Karaoke Night!

Today I met Tatsuya, Mio, Sayaka and her sister Miyuki at Yokohama Station. We ate lunch then spent 3 hours at Karaoke. Everyone had beautiful voices ... in fact Sayaka and Miyuki sung better than KAT-TUN (the original band)! Later we met Dennis at this weird crypt-themed restraunt and ate viking/buffet style. Tatsuya left early to get my luggage so we could return to his house in Atami shortly. We arrived at his house freezing cold and unable to find the house key, which was later spotted hanging inside the inner porch. Embarrassed but hardly showing it, Tatsuya rung the doorbell and waited for his mother to save us. We went into the family room and met Tatsuya’s father (who scared me at first) and his sister (super sweet). Within minutes I felt comfortable and welcome. I explained Tatsuya’s mistake and called him “Kawaii baka = cute idiot”. Both parents found this hilarious so it couldn't be far from the truth I suppose! (I like this picture cause I'm not in it and I looked terrible that day.)

Sayaka & Miyuki!

SAYAKA is a girl of many talents! Not only can she sing better than KAT-TUN, but she's prettier than Jennifer Lopez and her English skill is amazing! She's also studying video games ... which is super cool! Hopefully we can work together someday ^_^.

And thanks for fighting your cold and taking me to the airport instead!









And MIYUKI also amazed me with her beautiful singing voice! She wrote me a goodbye letter, which I pasted into my Scrapbook because it was so cute! We share many interests so I'm sure we'll become awesome friends in the future! Even her favorite Final Fantasy 7 character was Aeris (just like me)!

Genie rocks your socks!

This morning I did Nami’s make up and gave her a becoming pink necklace. She looked gorgeous (like a model!) and returned the favor by lending me her cute yellow shirt and jean jacket. Thanks Nami-chan! I love you!


Then ... With my wallet screaming for mercy I headed for DisneySea alone (<-- everyone was busy dealing with work or school). This time my Disney adventure began correctly with the purchase of cheesy Minnie Mouse ears. The highlight of my day was sitting on Genie (best Disney character ever!) and eating tiramisu icecream.

@}--;--;--------

(The later picture was taken after consuming Tiramisu icecream. Beware! May cause drunkeness and other abnormal side effects ... like making you look like Avril Lavinge ...)

Studio Ghibli

Yesterday ...

I missed the last train and took a taxi for $15 to Asakusa’s youth hostel, so I awoke slightly grouchy and deterred. Getting ready took me longer than planned and I arrived at Shinjuku late, but Atsune and Tatsuya spotted me immediately and within seconds were packed inside a Taxi driving for Studio Ghibli before our ticket entrance expired (fortunately Totoro didn't seem to care).







We ate at legendary Straw Hat Cafe and I paid because Tatsuya had already covered the taxis, while Atsune wouldn’t accept money for my Ghibli ticket. The sandwiches were so delicious that I punched the air after saying “Gotchisosama DESHITA!” Atsune laughed at my uncustomary strangeness!







These pictures were taken on the roof where I discovered this wonderful device with a shiny handle that I couldn't help but turn. A blast of water shot from the hole and rained down on Atsune, who valiantly attempted to stop it as Tatsuya was already running for cover. In the picture Tatsuya is posing (his specialty) and Atsune is drowning I think. Only Tatsuya can pose while drinking from unstable fountains I think.











We split up at Yokohama Station where I met Nami-chan and Kim, who kindly carried my luggage all the way up the evil hillside to Chinopan’s house. Nami put make up on Chinopan and Kim, then I gave them lollypops from Studio Ghibli. Nami and Kim were exhausted but Chino and I managed to play Ninja Turtles for a few hours. He likes Leo best.

Team Badminton

Today I woke up from the most lousy and cramped sleep ever but was pumped after watching the magical vending machine eject my cup and fill it with hot cocoa one last time. I dragged my luggage down one floor to Denny’s to use the toilet and eat pancakes that I swear looked bigger on the menu. After checking in at Asakusa’s youth hostel I emailed Chinopan and made arrangements to meet at Yokohama station that evening. We played badminton with Nami and friends!!!

This picture doesn't really do ATSUNE justice. He has these big gorgeous eyes and is totally the sweetest person ever. I love him! Atsune always wears purple and pink but (unlike American dudes) he looks awesome.

He works at an internet cafe and loves manga and anime. Cool guy!







DENNIS (at least that's what his shirt said) is absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately I can't remember his real name. Whenever we played badminton or ate food Dennis was there. That guy knows where to be. His poses also rock (obviously)! Miss ya!

CHINONATOR

Grrr...! Forced to stay at Asakusa youth hostel again because cantankerous owner refused to change dates. I took the $5 train to Yokohama and met Chinopan.

We ate at MacDonaldo then played Mario Kart at a Game Center. We got icecream at Baskin 31 Robbins and talked about how small Japanese food portions are – especially icecream ...

Chinopan glared at a nearby pigeon and said “Tabeti = I want to eat! This is pigeon’s spoon”!! so I told him about the Venice tour guides who carry umbrellas instead of sign posts to avoid becoming a toilet when the millions of pigeons take to the sky. Chinopan found this hilarious and wanted to experience being a pigeon’s toilet, while I laughed and said Tatsuya would run for cover. Chinopan white, Tatsuya black. Now Chinopan'’ goal is to eat pigeon flavored icecream at Coldstone and experience being a pigeon's’toilet in Venice.

Star Trek Vending Machine Thingy!

I spent 10 hours on a JR Bus but met a beautiful girl named Kana! We ate at MacDonaldo together and took pictures at our sunset bus stop. After I totally took the wrong train from Tokyo to Asasaka when I should have gone to Akasuka. Lost my ticket too but it was so late that the guards let me through anyway. I got to the Youth Hostel (with much difficulty and baggage) only to find that I had booked for tomorrow night. So at 1:30 AM two kind staff members guided me to the nearby internet cafe. Cool experience but a definite pain in the neck. I drank lots of hot coco from the free vending machine to get my $15 money’s worth. Boo yah!

<-- That's Iku. She nearly cried when I couldn't stay at the Youth Hostel. Iku helped me find the cafe, bought me hot tea, carried my bags, and gave me a cell phone bear. She was so cute!

Puri Kura!

First time at Puri Kura, in Kyoto! Japanese photo booth is amazing and a gabagillion times better than American photo booth. You have to go! Best advice is make the funniest face or pose you can. Clockwise starting with me is Nami-chan, Tatsuya, Degashi, Chinopan, and Mari-chan!

What beautiful friends I have ^^!






@}-;---------

5 Man Omelette!

Sunday was a Crazy Day! Tatsuya, Chinopan, and Nami-chan invited me to join them in exploring Kyoto. Two of their friends, Mari and Yuichi (Degashi), joined us at Pura Kura where they splurged and bought four sets of photos. We went for lunch and Mari's super awesome English skills helped translate the menu while Chinopan recommended the delicious beef omelet. Tatsuya got this massive 5 man omelette that could cast an entire planet in shadows, but couldn’t finish so everyone helped. Don't believe me? Have a look for yourself:





Afterward we went to Kyoto Tower (hardly exciting for the $6 we paid) but the wacky mirror on floor 5 made up for it. Chinopan and I danced as midgets while Tatsuya frantically attempted to fix his already perfect hair. After eating dessert parfaits together everyone had to leave for Yokohama. I almost cried ...





Yuichi (DEGASHI) was the serious cool guy who could pull off some awesome poses in Puri Kura photo booth. He was also an awesome badminton teacher! Thanks Degashi!!!










And Mari was such a cutie! It's a shame Mari-chan lived near Kyoto because I only saw her once, but let's talk on MSN okay?

Super God!

God was really pulling some strings on Saturday morning. Instead of travelling straight to Tokyo I stopped in Kyoto due to a sudden bought of exhaustion. Earlier LIV (this crazy cool Lebanese hippy guy – See photo) had mentioned an excellent place to stay in Kyoto: Backpackers K. So there I headed with my abundance of baggage. I arrived at approximately 1:00 PM, booked a room, tossed my baggage under the table and collapsed on the bed until 7:00 PM; which is when I leapt from bed and hurried into town for a bite to eat before all the restaurants closed.

When I returned to bed at 11:00 PM my French neighbours had the TV cranked up unkindly, so I groggily stumbled into the common room still wearing my pajamas and fed the computer money. A pretty girl named Melissa attempted to sit across from me but the chair collapsed beneath her. Melissa and I had so much in common (loved the Japanese boonies, teaching English, friends getting married in the summer) and began to talk, not realizing how fast time was passing because there were still three Japanese people sitting on the couch nearby.

Suspiciously, these Japanese people had turned the couch so they could watch Melissa and I. (Okay admittedlty we were watching them too. Earlier I saw Chinopan sitting at a desk and thought "That guy had good vibes ... I wanna talk!" but then Tatsuya entered and totally shocked me with his glitteryness.) Melissa said they probably wanted to talk but suddenly the Japanese girl hurried to bed before I could say goodnight! I felt kinda bad so when both Japanese guys rushed by a few minutes later I quickly shouted “Oyasumi nasai”! They kinda stumbled and started talking and running really fast. Soon there was tons of racket upstairs and a few minutes later all three Japanese returned to the common room looking slightly nervous. After I instigated conversation (now feeling slightly aware of my fluffy pink pajamas) Yuki Chino, Nami Kayama, and Tatsuya Maezawa introduced themselves. They invited me to hang out together the following day and I accepted, though Melissa had already planned Geisha dancing. Wah!

Meet CHINOPAN! Somehow he understood all my half English, half Japanese stories. Chinopan is hilariously amazing and always surprised me with his impersonations of termintor and more. He had the cutest smile ever and a radiant soul. I can't explain it. I love you Chinopan!











I'll never forget NAMI because she was amazingly cute, sweet, and STRONG too! Once Nami took me for a ride on the back of her bicycle. She even brought me deliciousness from her bread store and dressed me up for Disneyland. I love Nami-chan so much! We're sisters forever!











TATSUYA is a Japanese Prince, who kinda scared me at first because he looks like a model or someone you're not supposed to talk to. But in reality Tatsuya is a sweetheart. It took Tatsuya about five seconds to fill my agenda with plans that included all his friends (he's obviously a people magnet and the ultimate poser ...) I could never pull the camera out fast enough to get a normal shot. Anata wa ichiban, Tatsuya-san ~_^!

Never grow up!

Friday was freaking cold! I bought this lame Osaka city pass and used three of the twenty tickets to visit the Sky Garden Tower and eat banana chocolate cake for breakfast with a side-order of cocoa. The damned cocoa was more expensive than the cake! I explored the Mariene museum in about 20 minutes and took the Santa Maria harbor cruise which was slightly disapointing because the sail wasn’t out. Finally I arrived at Universal Studios and took pictures with my spiffy friend Hiro before the premier of Peter Pan began. After we played an awesome slay zombies with machine guns game and died alot ... as predicted.

In HIRO's younger days he starred as Goofy and Capt Hook in Japan's very own Disneyland. How amazing and cool is that! Hiro is living proof that you never have to grow up. Hope I can see ya again in America someday!

Tasmanian Dudes!

Thursday was the last day I could use my crappy Kansai pass so I went to Nara and ate sesami icecream (obviously the highlight). When I went to the tourist office the awesome people gave me a free kimono patterned paddle that many Japanese people pointed at. Some random old man guided me to Todaji Temple and onward. Nearly died of dehydration so I bought a soft drink fearing it would have chunks in it. Luckily there was no unpleasant chunky-doom surprise hidden inside the can.

I returned to Universal Studios, planning to buy crepes for dinner but ended up talking to Hiro instead. He was very funny and good at impersonating characters because he played Goofy and Captain Hook in Disneyland. After talking about movie stars, old cartoons, and constantly dying in Tomb Raider I asked if I could buy a ticket to see the premier of Peter Pan, but it wasn’t possible. However, because Hiro worked at Disneysea he was able to get a discount the following evening if I could come. Ka koi!

By then too cold for eating icecream crepes so I headed for the train and met two cool Austrailian dudes from Tasmania! (Why didn't I get photos?!) BEN was glad for the English company while his brother GERARD was glad not to be lost on the train system. They were kind enough to buy me a tall green tea drink at Starbucks while we decided what to do next. With less than two hours to spare we decided to try Dotonburi but never made it because I had already missed my curfew by then. Plus the Para Para at Osaka Station distracted us for five invaluable minutes. Ben and Gerard walked me back to the youth hostel just in case I actually got locked out - which I totally did. Ben planned to let me borrow his JR Rail Pass and ride the trains all night long. A brilliant plan! But ... Luckily a police man let me in so Ben didn’t have to lend me his JR Rail Pass for the night!

Kobe! (And Himeji ...)

On Wednesday I said bye to Jang and met JANE - this hilarious Austrailian woman who was staying in a bunk nearby but got separated because a huge group of Ghana Buddists arrived that night. (It was kinda scary because they were really happy and kept trying to convert me. Anyway ...)













(Everyone loves Himeji!!! Except me.)

I hurried to Himeji before its major attractions could close at the ridiculous hour of 4 PM. I highly recommend visiting Himeji Castle if you find examining seven floors of the same wall enthralling. I personally fled from Himeji Castle and nullified my disappointment at having wasted $6 on entrance fees by eating icecream crepes at Baskin 31 Robbins. With time to spare and a stomache to fill I headed for Kobe, a romantic stop for lovers. It’s home to a beautiful shopping plaza and funky futuristic archetecture. (And a Studio Ghibli store where I met a cool girl!) I ate cold meat skewers in China Town, which is possible to access after crossing a maze of different sky bridges. Good luck! Cause you'll need it ... hehehe.














(Go Kobe!!! Cause it's better.)

Japanese Style

Jang and Makiko were talking in the cafeteria when I returned to Shin-Osaka’s youth hostel. It was Jang’s last night so we took some authentic Japanese photos together (the ones where you don’t smile) but only MAKIKO could pull it off. That girl is absolutely gorgeous! In fact Makiko could be a model but she'd rather improve her already awesome English and visit foreign countries. Jang is pretty cute too. Love ya guys ^^





Even phones can be friends ^ Japanese people have to wear business suits all the time so they express their individualism via phone straps and colored cases. I spent the night cursing my crappy 4 day Kansai Pass because it only worked on transfer trains, meaning I’d have to walk alot over the next few days.