Nostalgia mixed with the crack can be dangerous. Also, hilarious.

[flange5]

Is it just me, or are we all still riding the high of a new concert, new single, new TV shows, and the Arashi 65 hour marathon on NTV? I like to think that in some small way, fandom is being compensated for the lack of Shukudai. Or something like that, anyway. ^^;

Speaking of things past, it was lockability's birthday this week, and what better way to

Comments

[lottiechan]

oh god those costumes. I regret to say I am, indeed, getting used to them, which is not a good thing. I`ll end up buying sparkly colourfull stuff myself.

But oh seriously, those outfits.

And have a nice weekend!!! ^^ I still have studying, homework, and several other things to do..........which is ofcourse why I`m here commenting XD

*is still considering to buy a concert dvd, if only it weren`t for the fact that they`re expensive beyond belief.* over 5500 yen for a concert? I can buy almost 3 pairs of trousers for that money at the uniqlo T_T . Which I will do at one point XD Soon.....

[flange5]

I know--you do get used to the sparkly, and it does invade one's wardrobe. I bought shoes last summer with sequins--covering every bit of them, and in bright blue ^^; I wore them yesterday. And I tried to order a dress that had rhinestones on it *___* Sadly, the dress got canceled. But I know that there is not a chance I would have bought either if this lamentable accustoming to eye-smarting and sparkly clothes hadn't happened.

But seriously, the more you look at these, the more insane and ridiculous they are, and yet . . . they're not unattractive **;; Even Jun's which I think is by far the most egregious . . . looks good on him, once you give up on taste.

And of course you're commenting when busy--I whouldn't even be near LJ right now--I have grading, prep, cleaning and paper writing for a conference to do >_< Therefore, I am posting ^^; and lord knows how long it will be before I get a chance to again--which probably means I'll be here again in under a week because I shouldn't be

[lottiechan]

A while ago I saw these caps covered in sparkly-things and in different colours, and i was just debating getting one when my friends saw them and went "omg look at these, they`re horrible, why would anyone wear them" and I just....silently shuffled away XD

[flange5]

*glees*

I believe I am going to do terrible things to my savings in Japan, I swear to you ^^; And I can't even find it in myself to feel bad about it. But yes, Japanese media prices seem to be a little high compared to others.

And really, one's taste is hijacked. I have found myself contemplating rainbow umbrellas (I am so buying it today), ladybug plates and backpacks, dresses with rhinestones (I actually ordered it and then the dealer ran out >_<), shoes with sequins (bought), and all manner of ridiculosity. I'm mostly ok with it though I have to remember that the rest of the world, including campus, has not been similarly indoctrinated . . . just today, I was contemplating a rainbow belt buckle and I have not entirely vetoed it in my brain

[lottiechan]

My savings are almost gone, and I`ve been here for barely a month (....3 weeks and 1 day to be exact). But then, I bought a laptop XD And had to pay 3 months worth of very-expensive-rent in one go. And i don`t even have a denshi jisho yet or booked the hostels for this summer ;_

[flange5]

My savings are almost gone, and I`ve been here for barely a month (....3 weeks and 1 day to be exact).

EEEK!

Is there any chance or are there any plans of picking up work if possible? But those are pretty huge purchases, so it seems to make sense. Other than the financial aspect, how are you liking your trip so far? Any advice for us, as we're leaving in about 6 weeks? Places/foods/ etc. you'd recommend?

Oh dear! I need to remember to get a hostel membership before we go ^^; That just reminded me.

Japanese media is really expensive, but you're right-it's a way of supporting the whole structure. It was a huge relief to have an adult salary and be able to pick everything up for real after all of the DLing.

Silver jeans! *__* They sound fabulous, though I would probably not look great in them ^^; Though it would be hilarious to walk into class in them. My students are polite enough that they'd all likely pretend to have been stricken blind and not notice

[lottiechan]

Yep, bought a denshi jisho today, which should be booked off of my bank account sometime this or next week, together with my laptop, but I`ll also have gotten more money by then, so it should be fine, I think

[flange5]

Oh, that's right--I'd heard the job process was kind of a pain. Wel good luck then with the finances!

We're at a pretty loose planning stage right now, but Kyoto is definitely in the plan. Than k you for the recs! You know I'm cracking up over Arashiyama, right? I'm currently imagining the face the Boy will make if I say we should go there ^^;

And thank you for the food recs! I've had melon ramune, and am intrigued by other versions.

We're spending time in Kyoto and Tokyo, and mostly wandering around with our 3 week rail passes, but the serious planning won't be able to start for another 2 weeks, when the semester ends and we aren't in finals hell. We'd like to hit the countryside as well as the cities and the Boy has a hankering to go to Hokkaido, so we'll see. We will be total tourists, I'm afraid.

Good luck with your studies!

[lottiechan]

ugh finances, I`ve decided that just not thinking about it might be the best way to go about it, I`ll just have to find more jobs back in holland ><

oh I cracked up about as well...especially when I saw signs there with "<-- kameyama kouen - arashiyama"

when we walked past those you just saw me taking pictures while giggling all the time XD kame and arashi in one go, epic fangirl moment XD

I`ll try to think of more food recs, probably as soon as I actually found more XDD Well, okonomiyaki is pretty much a safe bet anyway. We`re doing a yakiniku-tabehoudai (all you can eat yakiniku! HELL YEAH) sunday, will let you know what it`s like =D (bonus point: women get almost everything cheaper. Tabehoudai, nomihoudai, cinema, parties, almost everything is way cheaper for women.)
I also had...yube, I think it was called, which I personally thought was kind of gross, but that might very well be just me.

The other standard things like kurokke and katsudon also all kinds of own, I really suggest them <333

[flange5]

I would totally do the same thing, trust me. And I might ^_^

I'd love any food recs you might have! I' a veggie, but I've actually decided to eat at least some fish and seafood while I'm there because I think it will be a ton easier. But the Boy will eat almost anything ^_^

Hokkaido is pretty expensive to get to, but I think our rail pass also works for one of the ferries, so that wouldn't be too bad. I need to check.

If I think of anything, I will ask, definitely! I fear I might not even have good questions until I get there, sadly ^^;

[lottiechan]

Veggies have it beyond difficult in Japan, which I know since I have several veggie friends. Hell, the girl I came here with is a really strict veggie. It`s possible, but difficult.

At the Mos Burger they have a veggie-friendly burger though, with the `bread` made of rice, and veggies and sauce and stuff on it, haven`t had it myself but apparantly it`s really good. Also, CoCo Curry House has a couple of veggie-friendly dishes and it`s really cheap, extra bonus.

If you`re willing to eat seafood, there`s this....thing...called `ika`, which is squid or something, not sure, which I personally find not that nice, but a lot of people seem to love it *shrug*. I`m a meat lover, can`t help it XDD katsudon, karaage, nom nom <333

[flange5]

I was under the impression that it was hard to maintain strict veggie-dom, so I've been trying to get used to small quantities of fishlike substance ^^; But the burger sounds good, and I love curry. And the Boy loves all types of meat.

Croquettes can be veggie, depending on the flavor, I think. The corn ones vegetable ones and curry ones tend to be, though there are ones with beef or crab, etc in them. I keep the curry ones on hand at home, because I love them&hearts

Vegetarian okonomiyaki sounds divine&hearts I can't realy think about eating pork, so I had thought I was out of luck with okonomiyaki. MISSION!

and I love onigiri, though I usually make umeboshi onigiri . . . I haven't tried the wakame ones.

How was Osaka?

[lottiechan]

it is hard, I just discussed it today with my veggie!friend, and she was like "veggies still have it way more easy back in Holland, it`s more difficult and more expensive here", though that may also be us not knowing exactly yet where to find everything, since we`re just starting to get the hang of things now.

I haven`t had much croquettes yet, even though I quite like them, so this is me going "there`s different flavours?!?!?!" XDD. somehow we never managed to really come across or have time for croquettes, not sure why.

i haven`t had umeboshi yet either, which is kind of epic fail XDD

OSAKA WAS AWESOME, I really kind of love it. The city seems to radiate general happiness and insaneness. There`s not much of the old, filled-with-temples!japan, it is very much an industrial city with all the rusty, old buildings and sky scrapers that come with it, but i still kind of like it. Also, takoyaki <33333

[flange5]

I'm lucky, having lived in towns with pretty decent Japanese groceries for the last 10 years or so, so croquettes are standard, though not now, while I'm trying to lose weight ^^; mmmmm fried potatoes&hearts Most groceries would likely carry lots of them, so you should totally do that sometime and try lots of flavors. I like mine with the tonkatsu sauce, but I really like sweet foods, so it may not be to your taste.

I get the impression that vegetarianism, even in some temples in Japan, is . . . more relaxed than here.

Osaka sounds pretty interesting. I think the Boy would like it. Happiness and insanity sound pretty awesome, so it should be fun ^_^ And he loves takoyaki. We sometimes talk about getting a takoyaki pan, but haven't really committed to it yet ^^;

Have fun there again today!

[lottiechan]

EDIT: the stuff i personally didn`t like is called Yuba, this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu_skin

it`s kind of like goo with a bit of a weird taste, but again, that can very likely be just me XD

[flange5]

I am actually kind of curious about this, but I'm pretty good with both tofu and most textures. We'll see though--a weird taste might do me in ^^;