9 Crazy Nights with Brian and Steph :-)
All in all, we had a wonderful time keeping each other company. :-) It felt like I was back in cozy Santa Barbara in the old apartment. Just the three of us. And that was the best feeling I had in a while. It was a little stressful for me trying to to navigate our way through the big city, I won't lie to you about that. But it was still a lot of fun! I just wish they both had a lot more time to stay here with me. That was the only downfall to the trip. Because we felt like we were constantly in the train. Hahaha.
But it was really nice to have them around for Christmas. I felt so LOVED :-) Brian got me this wonderful thing for my DS called Cyclo DS Evolution. Now I can even listen to music and read books on my DS!!! I even downloaded a bunch of Prince of Tennis games for my DS now. Hehehehe, AND I got the new new Vitamin X Evolution game. Now I definitely cannot get anything done around here. Hahahaha. Steph was so nice and she brought me all the Goldfish crackers I so desired. :-) I'm eating them now as I type this entry. And she got me a warm and cozy bathrobe!!! And I also love the teacher calendar she got me. :-) Thanks Steph!!!
I think the best part about their visit was when we stopped by my apartment in Wakayama for two days. we were away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities just relaxing together under the warm and comfy kotatsu table. I think a lot of times I was trying too hard to take them everywhere, so we barely had enough time to really SEE each other, so the two days we spent just relaxing and watching Arrested Development in my apartment was the best part of our trip. :-) The big city was great and all, but in the end I love just relaxing with my boyfriend and my roomie. :-) I'm so thankful for them.
Highlights of our trip:
1.) The hotel that we stayed in Tokyo was SO NICE~!!!! I wish I took some pictures of that room we had. It was really sweet! I was surprised since it was a pretty cheap room.
2.) We saw snow~!!!!! On our way from Kyoto to Gifu, we saw a lot of snow from the train. That was really nice. I was hoping for some snow in Kyoto, especially when we at the Golden Pavillion, but ah well, at least we got to see some snow. :-)
3.) Random laugh-attacks I got at night when we were about ready to go to bed. It was just so fun! It was like a big slumber party. And I loved how we were able to go out in the middle of the night to go buy snacks at the nearby combinis whenever we wanted. It so felt like I was back in IV. Hahaha
4.) Robyn's apartment was so awesome~!!!! We were really shocked when we saw all the snacks Robyn bought for us. OMG Robyn why are you such a nice person???? we love you so much!!!
5.) Brian eating Japanese food!!! I was so happy to see him trying all the foods that he would usually not eat. :-) He was even using chopsticks as much as possible too. He got some comliments about his skills at the local Yakitori shop. Hehehehe.
Tokyo was just a big blur for me. Things were just happening one after the other. I was there in Tokyo before Brian and Steph, and stayed at my friend's apartment. I was just so nervous the whole time because I didn't know if I was going to be able to navigate through Tokyo by myself and play a good tour guide for them. But in the end, everything worked out just fine. :-) we were getting really good at taking those tokyo trains. The half-day Hato Bus Tours was pretty good. I wish we were able to do it for the whole day, the tour guide we had was pretty interesting. I learned quite a bit about Japan. LOL. The elevator in the Tokyo Tower was hilarious. It was pretty cool because we were there the day before the Tower's 50th anniversary. We were also briefly at the Imperial Palace, the day before the Emperor's Birthday. Hahaha. and then we were off to Asakusa. The fried mochi that they were selling at Asakusa was DELICIOUS!
After a few days in Tokyo, we stopped by at my town...the good ol' Nachi. As usual, I took Brian and Steph to the Nachi Shrine. The walk up the Daimon Hill and the millions of stairs to the actual shrine was a killer as always. But I think we got a great workout. :-) The waterfall was a lot bigger than in the summer. More water yipee~ LOL. The big painting they had at the shrine of the Ox, the Chinese zodiac for the year 2009 (yay!) was a little...bit...strange... it had both teets and balls. Hmm....maybe because he's a holy ox...he can have both? Most of the time in my town, we just hung out in my cold cold apartment under the nice warm kotatsu table, and watched Arrested Development and ate and ate and ate. We went to Shingu one of the nights and went to the sushi place Nishiki that I love going to. :-) Me and Steph had fun in one of the stores there in Shingu that sold ridiculous hats with bad English.
After being in my town for a few days, and having some wonderful Christmas cake, we were off to the wondeful city of Kyoto. :-) We stayed at lovely K's Hostel for the first night. We went over to Yasaka Shrine at night. The lanterns there were pretty. The next day we were off to the lovely Golden Pavillion. I was hoping to see some snow there that day, but didn't happen. Still leaves "see the Golden Pavillion in snow" on my list of things to do while in Japan. Hahaha. But seeing the Golden Pavillion for the first time in my life was pretty amazing. I loved how it would reflect in the pond underneath it. Then off to the Kitano Tenmangu, what are the chances that Steph, who loves cows got to go to that shrine where they worship the cow. :-) we had a whole lot of fun that night at the local arcade--Brian won two family pack sized Koala no March cookie boxes out of the UFO Catcher there.
On our way to Gifu from Kyoto, we saw all this snow!!! It was so beautiful. :-)
Just in 9 days, we were in Tokyo, then Wakayama, then Kyoto, then Gifu/Nagoya~!!!!
But it was really nice to have them around for Christmas. I felt so LOVED :-) Brian got me this wonderful thing for my DS called Cyclo DS Evolution. Now I can even listen to music and read books on my DS!!! I even downloaded a bunch of Prince of Tennis games for my DS now. Hehehehe, AND I got the new new Vitamin X Evolution game. Now I definitely cannot get anything done around here. Hahahaha. Steph was so nice and she brought me all the Goldfish crackers I so desired. :-) I'm eating them now as I type this entry. And she got me a warm and cozy bathrobe!!! And I also love the teacher calendar she got me. :-) Thanks Steph!!!
I think the best part about their visit was when we stopped by my apartment in Wakayama for two days. we were away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities just relaxing together under the warm and comfy kotatsu table. I think a lot of times I was trying too hard to take them everywhere, so we barely had enough time to really SEE each other, so the two days we spent just relaxing and watching Arrested Development in my apartment was the best part of our trip. :-) The big city was great and all, but in the end I love just relaxing with my boyfriend and my roomie. :-) I'm so thankful for them.
Highlights of our trip:
1.) The hotel that we stayed in Tokyo was SO NICE~!!!! I wish I took some pictures of that room we had. It was really sweet! I was surprised since it was a pretty cheap room.
2.) We saw snow~!!!!! On our way from Kyoto to Gifu, we saw a lot of snow from the train. That was really nice. I was hoping for some snow in Kyoto, especially when we at the Golden Pavillion, but ah well, at least we got to see some snow. :-)
3.) Random laugh-attacks I got at night when we were about ready to go to bed. It was just so fun! It was like a big slumber party. And I loved how we were able to go out in the middle of the night to go buy snacks at the nearby combinis whenever we wanted. It so felt like I was back in IV. Hahaha
4.) Robyn's apartment was so awesome~!!!! We were really shocked when we saw all the snacks Robyn bought for us. OMG Robyn why are you such a nice person???? we love you so much!!!
5.) Brian eating Japanese food!!! I was so happy to see him trying all the foods that he would usually not eat. :-) He was even using chopsticks as much as possible too. He got some comliments about his skills at the local Yakitori shop. Hehehehe.
Tokyo was just a big blur for me. Things were just happening one after the other. I was there in Tokyo before Brian and Steph, and stayed at my friend's apartment. I was just so nervous the whole time because I didn't know if I was going to be able to navigate through Tokyo by myself and play a good tour guide for them. But in the end, everything worked out just fine. :-) we were getting really good at taking those tokyo trains. The half-day Hato Bus Tours was pretty good. I wish we were able to do it for the whole day, the tour guide we had was pretty interesting. I learned quite a bit about Japan. LOL. The elevator in the Tokyo Tower was hilarious. It was pretty cool because we were there the day before the Tower's 50th anniversary. We were also briefly at the Imperial Palace, the day before the Emperor's Birthday. Hahaha. and then we were off to Asakusa. The fried mochi that they were selling at Asakusa was DELICIOUS!
After a few days in Tokyo, we stopped by at my town...the good ol' Nachi. As usual, I took Brian and Steph to the Nachi Shrine. The walk up the Daimon Hill and the millions of stairs to the actual shrine was a killer as always. But I think we got a great workout. :-) The waterfall was a lot bigger than in the summer. More water yipee~ LOL. The big painting they had at the shrine of the Ox, the Chinese zodiac for the year 2009 (yay!) was a little...bit...strange... it had both teets and balls. Hmm....maybe because he's a holy ox...he can have both? Most of the time in my town, we just hung out in my cold cold apartment under the nice warm kotatsu table, and watched Arrested Development and ate and ate and ate. We went to Shingu one of the nights and went to the sushi place Nishiki that I love going to. :-) Me and Steph had fun in one of the stores there in Shingu that sold ridiculous hats with bad English.
After being in my town for a few days, and having some wonderful Christmas cake, we were off to the wondeful city of Kyoto. :-) We stayed at lovely K's Hostel for the first night. We went over to Yasaka Shrine at night. The lanterns there were pretty. The next day we were off to the lovely Golden Pavillion. I was hoping to see some snow there that day, but didn't happen. Still leaves "see the Golden Pavillion in snow" on my list of things to do while in Japan. Hahaha. But seeing the Golden Pavillion for the first time in my life was pretty amazing. I loved how it would reflect in the pond underneath it. Then off to the Kitano Tenmangu, what are the chances that Steph, who loves cows got to go to that shrine where they worship the cow. :-) we had a whole lot of fun that night at the local arcade--Brian won two family pack sized Koala no March cookie boxes out of the UFO Catcher there.
On our way to Gifu from Kyoto, we saw all this snow!!! It was so beautiful. :-)
Just in 9 days, we were in Tokyo, then Wakayama, then Kyoto, then Gifu/Nagoya~!!!!