Lesson #10: Forgetful
The following is based on what I remember and what I've read on other people's blogs. There's probably alot of stuff I forgot to mention. Rather than split this up into separate posts, I'll just make one huge post.
Tokyo Millenario. Saw an ad for this while riding the Yamanote line. According to it and websites I browsed, it was supposed to be a rather grand illumination. Also, this was the last year since that area will be under construction till 2011. Went w/the Aoyama quasi-lesbians and Drew and his girl. I actually showed up rather early. Rather than wait for two hours at the closest station exit to Tokyo Millenario, Nanako suggested we just take the opposite exit and walk around. We just cut in line. The display itself wasn't as grand as I expected it to be. Rather short walk too. Including stopping to take pictures, it took about 5 minutes. I feel sorry for the people who actually waited in line for 2 hours to see it.
None of us were really in the clubbing mood for New Year's so we were pretty much playing by ear. First, I went to meet up w/Tina, Shelley, Andrew, and Amy at Ueno for dinner. After finding out that the chanko (Sumo food) place was closed, we settled on Friday's. Food was pretty good but I think the burger needed to be cooked longer. I notice at restaurants in Japan, alot of the meat is undercooked. After dinner, we went to Ueno to look for the Mario Kart arcade game. Sadly, none was found. We walked back to a watami in Ueno. Pretty much only me and Andrew drank. We didn't even countdown. It was only cause of the party next to us we knew. Shelley was in the bathroom when it became 2006. We paid our bill and headed for a shrine in Asakusa. Hella crowded. No chance of cutting in line. Went around looking for food at the stands surrounding the shrine. Too expensive for my tastes so we left for Jonathan's, a 24/7 family restaurant. Waited a while since we had a decent sized group. Isaia and Nikki came about the same time we got seated. They had a rather rough night. Again, Japanese (restaurant) people need to thoroughly cook meat. Tina's chicken was still kinda pink in the middle. It's not like chicken takes long to cook. After eating, we went our separate ways at Ueno station. Took a picture of a pigeon inside the station. Tina and I rode w/Isaia and Nikki till Akihabara, where we transfered to the Sobu line to go home.
The following Wednesday, the Aoyama girls and I went to watch Kong. I hate the movie seats here. Hella cramped. Haven't been to a theatre here that can compare to the Alderwood Mall one. The movie itself was entertaining. We were the only ones in the theatre laughing. On the 20th, Drew organized a 飲み放題･食べ放題(all you can drink/eat) for his birthday at Shinjuku Friend Park. Only 3000 yen for no time limit. Really fun party. We were told there was pool and bowling also but in actuality, it was an amalgamation of the two. A bit disappointed. I got pretty drunk and took some good pics/videos of people. Was doing the whole drunk/sober hand swipe thingie.
"I wouldn't puke all over her, I'd cum all over her"
Quote of the night- drunk girl who shall remain anonymous Tina
The next Wednesday, I went snowboarding w/ Isaia and Nikki. We left the base at around 2am. The place we went to was in Nagano. Yes, the same one the Olympics were held. It was my first time, so I of course fell quite a bit. Took some pretty nasty spills. My boots weren't even properly tied. So after lunch (and tying my boots correctly), I did a lot better. Didn't really fall that much after figuring it out. I can board both ways. I forgot to close my jacket pocket and my lift ticket fell out when I took a bad spill. After climbing a bit up trying to look for it, I said "fuck it," strapped on my board and ripped down the mountain. As luck would have it I found it on the way down. We left the place at 3ish. The bus stopped somewhere in between Tokyo and Nagano for a dinner break. Had some pretty good katsudon. On the bus, Nikki asked me to call her phone since she apparently lost her phone. She was sure she didn't leave it anywhere. After searching for it in her belongings for a while, she gave up. Two minutes later she found it in between the seats. What a loser!
Friday, I met up w/Tina to do some Kyoto planning. We went to eat sushi in Harajuku. Came up w/a rough estimate of the travel budget. Apparently I made her pretty mad since she called me a twat and stepped on my foot w/her heel. She even asked me "Do your girl friends in the states get mad at you often?" I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no. IMHO, I'm a rather likeable guy.
Sunday I met up w/Isaia and Nikki at Ebisu to go to Roppongi. We had heard a Coldstone had opened up near Roppongi Hills. We were men on a mission. Was pretty easy to find the place. The problem lay in the long line. Isaia waited in line while Nikki and I grabbed some Wendy's. Took us 40 minutes to place our orders. The sizes are smaller here too. The Gotta Have It size here is equivalent to the Love It in the states. They still sing when they get tips. The Cheescake Fantasy was also still delicious. Tina met up w/us after we had started to eat our ice cream. Shel came a bit later. After some ice cream, we decided to go to T.G.I.Friday's for some good 'ol American cuisine.
Monday, Tina and I took a day trip to Nikko, a rather famous spot for tourists. We took the train that left Asakusa at 7:10 in the morning. We didn't know that the tracks split at one of the stops. So we took the train a few stops down the line before realizing that we were on the wrong train. We waited at that station for bout 40 minutes. Took the train headed towards Asakusa and got off at the right stop to switch to the train that actually went to Nikko. We got there and noticed that there was quite a bit of ice. Not a good sign. It wasn't that cold though, which was good. First on the agenda was to find the tourist information center to buy a pass that would allow us to see most of the attractions for a cheaper price. The pass wasn't actually sold there. The man did point us in the right direction. Along the way, we stopped at a quaint little restaurant recommended in a guide book. There were a lot of things posted on the wall by foreign travelers, from sweaters to money. The food was good and a decent price. Got some yakitori, rice, and yakisoba for 800 yen. Found the place that sells the passes. We hit up all the places we could enter except one, which was closed off for some reason. Weak. The Three Monkeys: iwazaru, mizaru, and kikazaru weren't statues but rather a piece of a building. We needed a third person to do the whole thing. Tina covered her mouth, while I covered my ears. I think it should've been reversed since she does have selective hearing. On the way to the last temple, we saw what I thought was an unfinished lantern or stone structure on the ground. Tina, on the other hand, had something else in mind. So we took alot of pics w/us posing w/the stone construct. Tina was saying "This is so wrong" the whole time while caressing the rock.
O_o
C'mon
No need to be shy.
See, that wasn't so hard.
The next day, Tina and I went to Yokosuka since she wanted to buy some American goods for her Japanese tutors. Met up w/Nikki, Robyn, and Andrew (?) for dinner at a yakiniku joint near the Yokosuka-chuo station. Wasn't very filling. After we got back to the apartment, we made some sandwiches. We watched 50 First Dates and Mask of Zorro, then went to bed. Woke up around 9ish when Nikki went to the gym. Fell back asleep. Woke up again at 11 when she came back. Cooked some eggs and made sandwiches for brunch. While Nikki went to work, we just bummed around again watching Sweet Home Alabama and Walking Tall. After Walking Tall, we headed to the exchange to grab the goods. Apparently Tina can't get in w/o either Isaia or Nikki so we went to Nikki's work to wait for her. Luckily, she works right next to the commissary. We came at a good time since she just got off work. All three of us went to the exchange. I bought 10 Things I Hate About You. Good movie. Watched that while Nikki made spaghetti (you're the best Nikki!). There was an earthquake around 8ish. Being on the 8th floor, we felt it. We took the train to Shinagawa. Due to the earthquake the station was hella crowded. Some JR Lines stopped for a while. Luckily, the Yamanote line was working fine. Just finished classes for the semester today... err... yesterday. Pulled an all-nighter writing papers for Japanese class. One of them being why I was absent so much. Well, it is almost 5 and I need to go to sleep. Before I go, I'll leave you w/some quotes I forgot to put in the Christmas post. Not said by me. Guess.
Did he say he's about to come?
No, he did not. In regards to a line in Hitch. Sounds nothing like what Will Smith actually said.
That looks like a vibrator.
Concerning the Magic Mike.