Kakebuton! (aka Japan Part 1)
Yep, that's right, it's finally time for one of my updates about Japan ^.^
Ok, I'm going to start out this post with a happy rave ^__^ One of my main buying items for my Japan trip this year was a kakebuton: http://gojapan.about.com/cs/japanesefurniture/a/futon.htm Basically it's a futon for the top of your bed (e.g. a type of comforter). I had been wanting one for a while because they are a) very warm and b) a single piece of material (versus multiple comforters/quilts/sheets). However, looking online they are ridiculously priced (over $300 - http://www.jlifeinternational.com/houseitems/futon/kakefuton/KF002.html) for the places that do actually sell them. Thus I made it my goal to buy one when I was in Japan - I even set aside a carryon just for holding the kakebuton (these things are not small : P ) Mackey, after a bit of skepticism that I actually wanted one ^^; took me to a big department store in Japan (felt kind of bed, bath, and beyond-y) where I got my kakebuton for 7900 yen and the cover for 1500 yen Yay ^.^v Under $150 and just a wee bit over 100~ I finally got it out of my luggage yesterday and put it on my bed. It's gotten really cold here and I knew I would need it. It's..interesting putting on the cover (you tie each corner + the middle to the futon itself) but after about a half hour I had it all ready and on my bed. ^_^v That thing was definitely warm and so comfortable~ I am so glad I bought one, yay!
Anyway, on to other updates about Japan... Let's start at the beginning:
SFO~ It's been a while so I'll mention that I went FIRST CLASS for this flight ^.^ That meant a couple of things... First I took a taxi to the airport, which isn't anything special. However, I scheduled that taxi so that I would arrive at the airport 3 hours early~ I've done that before but this time I planned it. Once I got there I got them to open up the first class check-in (there was no one there since they weren't expecting anyone that early ^^; ) and got all checked in~ Thank goodness for the 70lbs limit for first or else my checked bag would have been rejected -_- No first security checkin (sadly) but there weren't many ppl there so my security line went quickly....
Now, to find the lounge (was my first thought). Amazingly, it was right next to my gate!! ^__^ The gates in the international terminal at SFO are all downstairs but the lounge was right next to the entrance to my gate. I went in, checked in (so that they know you're there) and went downstairs, where the lounge is~ Took lots of pictures + video which you should be able to see here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dguskin/Japan2009OldCamera?authkey=Gv1sRgCITm8P-01d3-6AE# (if that link doesn't work let me know) The lounge was great, definitely lived up to my expectations. It was also first class-only so even if I had managed to go via business class last year I wouldn't have been able to use it : p The lounge was almost empty when I got there (only 4 other people) and wasn't that much fuller when I left (around 12 people). They had a main sitting area, a computer/work area, a 'quiet area' (dark with the nicest chairs ^.^ ), a newspaper area, a TV area, and a food area~ The food spread wasn't bad either, grabbed some fruit, a mini croissant (love those!), hot cocoa, and kitsune ramen (apparently it comes in ramen form, not just udon). Plus I went back for more a few times~ Not chowing down (I knew there would be a lot of food on the flight) but sampling everything I wanted to sample~ Including adding kalua to hot cocoa (not a great mix >_< ).
I was in the lounge for about an hour and a half or so (maybe a bit longer?) and charged my iPhone in addition to grabbing grub and a newspaper. A very nice place~ If I go first class out of the SFO international terminal again I might get there even earlier to take more advantage of the lounge ^_~
After the lounge I went down to my gate and waited for boarding (only waited about 20 mins). I was almost the first passenger on the plane (a guy waiting on the red carpet beat me : P ). First was amazing~ I had a little amenity kit already there that included socks (nice ones too), toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs, an eye cover thingy (forget what they're called) + more and also slippers. I took plenty of pics so hopefully you can see the album ^^; Lots of great storage space - plenty of room above me (a whole bin to myself!) and a great cubby hole next to me to store my book, my gum, my water (which I didn't really need), and the videos I was going to watch~ The plane was older so they used cassettes for the videos. I didn't mind though - there were plenty of movies I wanted to watch and I grabbed a bunch (17 again, new in town, sunshine cleaning - those are the main ones I still remember). There was also a menu waiting for me with the meal options. Turns out there was only one main course I was willing to eat both ways : P
Anyway on the plane got greeted by a great flight attendant and had some apple juice to start (before takeoff). I took off my shoes and put on the socks and slippers - very comfy. Put in my first movie and away we went~ The food was ok... wasn't a huge fan of the appetizer (accidentally ate some crab ;_;), the soup was ok, I enjoyed the main course but for some reason I wasn't really hungry ^^; Desert was a sundae with some great ice cream + caramel, hot chocolate sauce, and whip cream~ Yum. Also had some tea with milk and sugar.
Flight was overall very nice. For some reason I needed to pee more than usual but maybe that's just because I could and the bathrooms weren't that bad (more spacious than the economy ones)~ Had lots of great food, lots to drink (stayed away from alcohol though). What else? I went into full recline (180 degree) to see what it was like. It was pretty cool but not good for watching movies (which is what I did pretty much the entire flight ^.^) Very comfy seats, great headsets, good video selection +++ I'm definitely spoiled now ^^;
Then I landed, got on a bus, and had an interesting time meeting up with Mackey's bf (she had to work and we got confused at the meeting point, luckily we found each other). We managed to get to their apartment (Mackey and her bf live together) just a bit before she got home from work. ^_^ Then we went to her bf's house for dinner. Had some karage and some asian pears (apple pears as some people call them). Overall not a bad first night (got in around 5pm ish).
Next day was the wedding~ I was going to the ceremony so Mackey and I split up around noonish while I did that. I made the mistake of wearing very painful shoes with my outfit. My feet bled :( Mackey helped me buy band-aids for my feet which helped a bit... Suffice it to say those shoes got thrown out that night -_- Anyway met up with Sayaka - Yoko's best friend - and went to the wedding ceremony location. Had a surprise meeting with Yoko and her groom outside the venue (what timing!). She looked cute in overalls and he looked... young ^^; Anyway then there was some waiting.
Next I went with Sayaka to put on her traditional kimono that she brought to the wedding. It was very different from the kimono I wore for my maiko transformation last year. Had a lot more steps to it *_* It took about 30 minutes for the person to help her into it (she had to hire someone [they had a service there] and it was $100 to do it, yipes). Anyway, it was very impressive. Made me glad I've never worn a full kimono though - but at the same time I want to try it sometime ^o^
After that we went upstairs for the ceremony and waited around a bit more. The ceremony was in a building that had a room shaped like a chapel (think very nice hotel'ish). Anyway we finally got to go in the 'chapel' and, amazingly, there was a white priest! Who spoke the ceremony partially in English no less ^^; Wow, the 'foreignness' was amazing Most disorienting thing was that not everyone repeated Amen after the priest (I'm used to people doing that). Anyway Yoko's dress was beautiful~ I have pictures of that in the album too (this was the first dress - her white wedding dress). Her groom wore white which matched and didn't look bad on him. ^_^
It was an interesting experience... They don't have bridesmaids or really a wedding party in Japan so instead there were two women that did everything in suits on the side (e.g. had the ring, helped Yoko with her train and veil, took the bouquet, etc [no bouquet throwing btw]). We weren't allowed to take photos in the 'chapel' (fine + confiscation) so I don't have pics of that. But I have pics of some people who were at the wedding and of course Yoko and her husband. ^_^
Next was the wedding reception - dinner. Yoko switched to a pink dress that I have partial pictures of (don't have a full body pic). It wasn't bad but I preferred her last dress the most~ Anyway dinner was ok - I had to skip a course since it was seafood -_- Luckily they got the point and gave me a meat dish in place of a seafood one later. It was a really formal deal *_* Full place settings with about 4 forks, 2 knives, 3 spoons, etc. I even looked up on Sayaka's phone what the order should be (and I'm still not sure : P ) Lots of little courses - were probably about 6 total (not including desert). There were some small speeches by the father of the bride, father of the groom, and another relative. Also by a co-worker. Lots of drinking had by all - but especially the groom ^^; The coworkers (of which there were 2) got him to drink a lot as well as he had to drink after each speech.
The coworkers started smoking (they were at my table) which wasn't cool. Sayaka (who is also a smoker) refrained for me and got them to stop (thank god...)
Overall it was a nice dinner - the place setting and amount of courses surprised me. ^_^ There was also a present there for most people as well (a picture frame + some food). I finally broke down and opened it after desert (with the urging of Yoko's sister and the chastising of Sayaka @_@) Very cool~
Anyway think this post is long enough ^^; Next update - the wedding after-party (and the dress I loved!) + at least two more days of Japan (yes, I've only gotten through a day and a half so far : P )
Ok, I'm going to start out this post with a happy rave ^__^ One of my main buying items for my Japan trip this year was a kakebuton: http://gojapan.about.com/cs/japanesefurniture/a/futon.htm Basically it's a futon for the top of your bed (e.g. a type of comforter). I had been wanting one for a while because they are a) very warm and b) a single piece of material (versus multiple comforters/quilts/sheets). However, looking online they are ridiculously priced (over $300 - http://www.jlifeinternational.com/houseitems/futon/kakefuton/KF002.html) for the places that do actually sell them. Thus I made it my goal to buy one when I was in Japan - I even set aside a carryon just for holding the kakebuton (these things are not small : P ) Mackey, after a bit of skepticism that I actually wanted one ^^; took me to a big department store in Japan (felt kind of bed, bath, and beyond-y) where I got my kakebuton for 7900 yen and the cover for 1500 yen Yay ^.^v Under $150 and just a wee bit over 100~ I finally got it out of my luggage yesterday and put it on my bed. It's gotten really cold here and I knew I would need it. It's..interesting putting on the cover (you tie each corner + the middle to the futon itself) but after about a half hour I had it all ready and on my bed. ^_^v That thing was definitely warm and so comfortable~ I am so glad I bought one, yay!
Anyway, on to other updates about Japan... Let's start at the beginning:
SFO~ It's been a while so I'll mention that I went FIRST CLASS for this flight ^.^ That meant a couple of things... First I took a taxi to the airport, which isn't anything special. However, I scheduled that taxi so that I would arrive at the airport 3 hours early~ I've done that before but this time I planned it. Once I got there I got them to open up the first class check-in (there was no one there since they weren't expecting anyone that early ^^; ) and got all checked in~ Thank goodness for the 70lbs limit for first or else my checked bag would have been rejected -_- No first security checkin (sadly) but there weren't many ppl there so my security line went quickly....
Now, to find the lounge (was my first thought). Amazingly, it was right next to my gate!! ^__^ The gates in the international terminal at SFO are all downstairs but the lounge was right next to the entrance to my gate. I went in, checked in (so that they know you're there) and went downstairs, where the lounge is~ Took lots of pictures + video which you should be able to see here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dguskin/Japan2009OldCamera?authkey=Gv1sRgCITm8P-01d3-6AE# (if that link doesn't work let me know) The lounge was great, definitely lived up to my expectations. It was also first class-only so even if I had managed to go via business class last year I wouldn't have been able to use it : p The lounge was almost empty when I got there (only 4 other people) and wasn't that much fuller when I left (around 12 people). They had a main sitting area, a computer/work area, a 'quiet area' (dark with the nicest chairs ^.^ ), a newspaper area, a TV area, and a food area~ The food spread wasn't bad either, grabbed some fruit, a mini croissant (love those!), hot cocoa, and kitsune ramen (apparently it comes in ramen form, not just udon). Plus I went back for more a few times~ Not chowing down (I knew there would be a lot of food on the flight) but sampling everything I wanted to sample~ Including adding kalua to hot cocoa (not a great mix >_< ).
I was in the lounge for about an hour and a half or so (maybe a bit longer?) and charged my iPhone in addition to grabbing grub and a newspaper. A very nice place~ If I go first class out of the SFO international terminal again I might get there even earlier to take more advantage of the lounge ^_~
After the lounge I went down to my gate and waited for boarding (only waited about 20 mins). I was almost the first passenger on the plane (a guy waiting on the red carpet beat me : P ). First was amazing~ I had a little amenity kit already there that included socks (nice ones too), toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs, an eye cover thingy (forget what they're called) + more and also slippers. I took plenty of pics so hopefully you can see the album ^^; Lots of great storage space - plenty of room above me (a whole bin to myself!) and a great cubby hole next to me to store my book, my gum, my water (which I didn't really need), and the videos I was going to watch~ The plane was older so they used cassettes for the videos. I didn't mind though - there were plenty of movies I wanted to watch and I grabbed a bunch (17 again, new in town, sunshine cleaning - those are the main ones I still remember). There was also a menu waiting for me with the meal options. Turns out there was only one main course I was willing to eat both ways : P
Anyway on the plane got greeted by a great flight attendant and had some apple juice to start (before takeoff). I took off my shoes and put on the socks and slippers - very comfy. Put in my first movie and away we went~ The food was ok... wasn't a huge fan of the appetizer (accidentally ate some crab ;_;), the soup was ok, I enjoyed the main course but for some reason I wasn't really hungry ^^; Desert was a sundae with some great ice cream + caramel, hot chocolate sauce, and whip cream~ Yum. Also had some tea with milk and sugar.
Flight was overall very nice. For some reason I needed to pee more than usual but maybe that's just because I could and the bathrooms weren't that bad (more spacious than the economy ones)~ Had lots of great food, lots to drink (stayed away from alcohol though). What else? I went into full recline (180 degree) to see what it was like. It was pretty cool but not good for watching movies (which is what I did pretty much the entire flight ^.^) Very comfy seats, great headsets, good video selection +++ I'm definitely spoiled now ^^;
Then I landed, got on a bus, and had an interesting time meeting up with Mackey's bf (she had to work and we got confused at the meeting point, luckily we found each other). We managed to get to their apartment (Mackey and her bf live together) just a bit before she got home from work. ^_^ Then we went to her bf's house for dinner. Had some karage and some asian pears (apple pears as some people call them). Overall not a bad first night (got in around 5pm ish).
Next day was the wedding~ I was going to the ceremony so Mackey and I split up around noonish while I did that. I made the mistake of wearing very painful shoes with my outfit. My feet bled :( Mackey helped me buy band-aids for my feet which helped a bit... Suffice it to say those shoes got thrown out that night -_- Anyway met up with Sayaka - Yoko's best friend - and went to the wedding ceremony location. Had a surprise meeting with Yoko and her groom outside the venue (what timing!). She looked cute in overalls and he looked... young ^^; Anyway then there was some waiting.
Next I went with Sayaka to put on her traditional kimono that she brought to the wedding. It was very different from the kimono I wore for my maiko transformation last year. Had a lot more steps to it *_* It took about 30 minutes for the person to help her into it (she had to hire someone [they had a service there] and it was $100 to do it, yipes). Anyway, it was very impressive. Made me glad I've never worn a full kimono though - but at the same time I want to try it sometime ^o^
After that we went upstairs for the ceremony and waited around a bit more. The ceremony was in a building that had a room shaped like a chapel (think very nice hotel'ish). Anyway we finally got to go in the 'chapel' and, amazingly, there was a white priest! Who spoke the ceremony partially in English no less ^^; Wow, the 'foreignness' was amazing Most disorienting thing was that not everyone repeated Amen after the priest (I'm used to people doing that). Anyway Yoko's dress was beautiful~ I have pictures of that in the album too (this was the first dress - her white wedding dress). Her groom wore white which matched and didn't look bad on him. ^_^
It was an interesting experience... They don't have bridesmaids or really a wedding party in Japan so instead there were two women that did everything in suits on the side (e.g. had the ring, helped Yoko with her train and veil, took the bouquet, etc [no bouquet throwing btw]). We weren't allowed to take photos in the 'chapel' (fine + confiscation) so I don't have pics of that. But I have pics of some people who were at the wedding and of course Yoko and her husband. ^_^
Next was the wedding reception - dinner. Yoko switched to a pink dress that I have partial pictures of (don't have a full body pic). It wasn't bad but I preferred her last dress the most~ Anyway dinner was ok - I had to skip a course since it was seafood -_- Luckily they got the point and gave me a meat dish in place of a seafood one later. It was a really formal deal *_* Full place settings with about 4 forks, 2 knives, 3 spoons, etc. I even looked up on Sayaka's phone what the order should be (and I'm still not sure : P ) Lots of little courses - were probably about 6 total (not including desert). There were some small speeches by the father of the bride, father of the groom, and another relative. Also by a co-worker. Lots of drinking had by all - but especially the groom ^^; The coworkers (of which there were 2) got him to drink a lot as well as he had to drink after each speech.
The coworkers started smoking (they were at my table) which wasn't cool. Sayaka (who is also a smoker) refrained for me and got them to stop (thank god...)
Overall it was a nice dinner - the place setting and amount of courses surprised me. ^_^ There was also a present there for most people as well (a picture frame + some food). I finally broke down and opened it after desert (with the urging of Yoko's sister and the chastising of Sayaka @_@) Very cool~
Anyway think this post is long enough ^^; Next update - the wedding after-party (and the dress I loved!) + at least two more days of Japan (yes, I've only gotten through a day and a half so far : P )