We had a bit of a date.

Went to town with Keira yesterday. I wanted to take her out for lunch in honour of her up coming departure. It was nice~ We had a bit of a date.

I told her to pick where we went, so we went to a little cafe called Planet. It was about a 20 minute walk away from the station. We took the long way there and discovered a shortcut when we walked back to the station. We saw a really cute snowcat while we were walking, too! It was melting, but still cute!

Cute, eh?

Well, like I said, we ate at Planet. And we both got carbonara for lunch. We had such a hard time with the menu! It was all in katakana which should've been ok. However, it was all handwritten! And the handwriting was pretty cramped and messy! Oh no! So, we sat and puzzled over it for about 10 minutes before we decided on that. It just seemed the easiest route. My katakana is pretty good, but it's hard to read that menu! Oh well. The waitress asked us about 3 times if we were sure that we wanted that. And then asked it egg was ok in the dish. Well, we both said yes, because we thought it was egg IN the dish. Turns out, it was egg on TOP of the dish. Like, soft boiled, I think. It's pretty popular over here to put a raw/soft boiled egg on top of certain dishes. Well, we just kinda scooped it off and ate the pasta. And man, it was gooood! Yum yum! And the perfect portion size, too.

So, after lunch, we just kinda wandered. We did some awesome purikura. I love doing purikura. I bought a cute new pair of shoes from Honey's and we bought some groceries. We also bought a snack for the way home. I got curry pan (curry bread) and a coke. Yummm~ Curry pan is the best idea EVER!

We had a nice day. I'm really sad that Keira's leaving. She's like my best friend on the mountain. She reminds me a lot of David, but female. Maybe that's why we all get along so well. But still. I'm going to miss her!

But, in any case, we got back to the bus with plenty of time. I also noticed a funny poster in the station about smoking. They change these about once a season and they're always really good.

All the Japanese staff are studying hard for their TOEIC tests. Even the bus staff are taking it. So, Keira and I sat up with the bus driver while we waited for our guests and chatted with him. He's really sweet. He gave us some candy yesterday, actually. His English isn't as good as most of the other staff, but he's trying really hard! So, I hope he does well

I'm sure it was a full of sugar.

So, I'm now an official, card carrying fangirl. I joined the Arashi fanclub last month and my membership her been processed. I just got my first newsletter and my OFFICAL card! Yeah! Too bad it's all in Japanese, but that gives me more incentive to learn. And being in the fanclub means I have a chance of getting VS Arashi tickets. (It's a game show Arashi hosts.) It also gives me a better chance to get concert tickets, if they have a tour before I go home.

I'm sure I can trust you all to NOT go posting my member number around the internet. (Well, anymore than I'm doing.) And I already sent in my entry for VS Arashi tickets for March 27th. It's a lottery system. But, wish me luck!



I took a few pictures of the manor house recently, seeing as it's so pretty. Angel asked me to take a few photos for her, so I was there anyway. I guess I'm just used to it, but it really is a pretty place. There's so much detail and it can be really nice to just go in with a book and read upstairs in the hallway. I did that recently on a dead day and it was glorious.

And I really love the bathroom in the Queen's Room. It's perfect. I want MY bathroom to look like that when I get my own house.

So, Keira's leaving party was a few nights ago. I wasn't supposed to go, since I was supposed to close that night. But, Megumi had scheduled both Haruka and me to close, and since it was dead, I was allowed to go home early! Yay! It was an awesome night. We all went down to town and hung out in an izakaya (Japanese bar). The drinks were pretty good, apparently. I didn't drink, but I keep ordering this really fun green fizzy drink. It had sherbert in it and you were supposed to mix it together. Tasted kinda like the candy, Rockets. I'm sure it was a full of sugar. Lol. Angel, Brad, Holly, Aya David and I shared a table. Aya is so sweet! She's one of the chefs and she's so much fun! And she can make the tiniest paper cranes! The littlest one sat on my pinky finger! The food could've been better. We weren't served very much, but we did get a huge mound of edamame when we started (steamed soy beans with salt). I looove edamame! And then we all went out and did purikura! It was awesome!

Tokyo sooon! Angel and I are going on the 8th! So excited! And Zoe is coming back to BH! YAY! I'm super happy about that! I missed her!And I updated the layout. Not as SUPEROMG perky as the last, but I thought the colours looked good for winter. <3

Stuart had sent me a CD!

OMG.

So, recenrtly on the Vinyl Cafe facebook page they held a giveaway. I petiotioned Stuart to send me a letter, since I don't get much mail. I explained that I live in Japan and mail is always exciting. He said he'd see what he could do for me and asked for my address.

Well, I got my letter yesterday! I coloured out most of my address so people can't stalk me. XD

I was so excited to see it! Kyoko called me when it came in and Angel picked it up for me, since I was working. I opened it right away and took everything out. Stuart had sent me a CD! It has "I Remember Wayne" and "History of Canada" on it. I'm listening to it right now. I think he may have chosen this CD for me, since I'm far away from Canada right now. But still! It was really sweet. Stuart didn't send me a letter, personally, but Louise from the show sent me a card. It was all very sweet.

In other news, please look forward to a banner change in the coming week or two. I've got some art that I'll be using on the new header. Might change the colour scheme, too. we'll see. <3

We missed our transfer, because we had to use the bathroom!

So, the candle festival in Aizu was amazing. We all went on a bus together~ Mori-san, Kanda-san, Maki-san, Lucy, Gayner, David, Angel and I. It's only about an hour away from BH. So, the trip was not bad. And the castle was amazing. I borrowed some photos from Angel and it's all gorgeous.

Kanda-san has a friend who works at the castle, so we were able to get in for free. It's been turned into a museum on the inside and it was neat! There was a kimono we could try on, too! It was heavy! And the colours were so vibrant and nice. 

They had arranged candles outside in the shape of daruma dolls. We climbed to the top of the castle and took a few photos.

And then outside there was a display setup of tin candle things. Students from the local high school designed and made them. They were really pretty!

Earlier in the day we had gone out with our friend Reika-san. She's such a sweetheart. She's an English teacher in Shirakawa and we get together for lunch every once in a while. We went out to Zen and the lunch was gorgeous! It was so much food, though! I couldn't finish. I got the tempura bowl. And yummmmm~ They gave us free sakura ice cream, too. And it was yummy. Lightly cherry flavoured and sweet! And they gave us free homemade melon soda, too. It was so sweet!

So, I went to Sendai with Gayner after Aizu. We took the local train and it was a looong trip! We were supposed to get to Sendai at like 4:30, but we had horrible luck! And we didn't get there until like 6:30. Lol. It was horrible. At first, we had to change trains in Koriyama. On the way there it got really windy. The train stopped for about 10 minutes and then traveled at a snails pace for the rest of the way. So, we missed our first transfer. And then because we missed our first transfer we missed our second! It was so bad!

So, when we finally got to Sendai, we had another disaster. We couldn't find our hotel. There's 4 Toyoko Inns in Sendai. And we went to 3 in search for our hotel. The third one was correct, but it was such a pain to find it! But, we managed. Our room was pretty nice. And the Toyoko Inn is always a good deal.

So, our main goal of going to Sendai was the POKEMON CENTER! It was amazing. So much Pokemon stuff! I wish I had more money to spend. As it was, I indulged in a box of chocolate Pikachus, I bought a cell phone charm set for Angel and I (Pikachu tails! They're so soooft!) and a hand cloth for David. The print on it is limited to the Tohoku region. Every region has a different print.

So, after our shopping and exploring we had a quiet night. We were both really tired from the travel and just fell right to sleep. In the morning after checking out we grabbed breakfast. The Toyoko Inn does a free breakfast, so I helped myself to a cafe au lait and curry! Yummmmmm!

We had a little bit of time left before we had to catch our train back, so we went back to the Pokemon Center so Gayner could pick up something for a friend. And then I wanted to take a few pictures. I have my traditional Arashi billboard photo, of course.

And then we grabbed a drink from the Bux. And it was GLORIOUS. I haven't had a Caramel Macchiatto in sooo long! And they made it perfectly. I just wish I asked for nonfat. Oh well. It was amazing!

After all that we hopped on our train and set back for Shin-Shirakawa. You'd think with only 1 transfer we'd be ok, right? WRONG. We missed our transfer, because we had to use the bathroom! So, we were stuck for another hour. We grabbed lunch from Le Vie de France which is a cute bakery chain. I got a ham and cheese grilled sammich, melon pan and another sandwich for later.

We made it back in one piece. And then it was off to Utsunomiya avec David! That's right. I got back from Sendai and went straight to Utsunomiya. Lol. We took Shinkansen this time, so it was fast and no transfers. We had a lovely time. Ate curry and gyoza for dinner from a vending machine restaurant. You buy your food tickets outside from the machine, then give them to the waiter. Your food comes out and its already paid for!

We just vegged and did some shopping. It was nice for us to just get away. And we came back on the 14th, so there was Valentine's chocolate waiting for me when we got home! Angel gave me some really pretty chocolate and Lucy made me an awesome card and some shortbread cookies.

I made chocolate for David. And he got all excited. In Japan, it's customary for girls to give chocolate to their lovers or crushes on Valentines day. Boy's don't give anything until the 14th of March (White Day). But, he was all excited with the chocolate I have him. Angel and I made it a few days prior while watching Indian Jones and the Last Crusade.

Wow. This was a huge entry. Ahahaha. I promise not to wait so long until my next post!