Russian tea is really neat!

It's been an exciting couple of weeks. Good times all around. And I finally got my camera wire to work, so I could upload my photos. Hurray!

So, to start off, Azusa moved away. Azusa was the barista at my local Starbucks who would chat with me most often. She's from Niigata I think? But, she's a sweetie. She drew on my cup one last time before saying goodbye. I brought her a little gift and she cried! I didn't mean to make her cry, but she was really happy.

Also, the Star Trek movie finally came lout over here in late August. I'm a total fan. But then again, I just adore Benedict Cumberbatch, so I suppose everyone saw that coming. You don't wanna know how many times we've gone to see that movie. The theatre we go to got a bit of a face lift in their lobby area. It's not got a nifty Studio Ghibli mural along the wall!

Work has been going well~ One of my students lives on a farm and his mum is always bringing in goodies for us. They brought us in another watermelon recently! Chiga brought me over a plate and said every slice on it was for me! I was so happy~~~ And it was really tasty, too! The same family also went to Disney Land recently and brought us back some cute omiyage. Mickey crackers! Yum yum~

In preschool recently, we had a rainy day and couldn't go to the park. So, some of the kids were cutting up old book club pamphlets and taping them to paper. Kinda like a collage~ One of the girls asked if I wanted one, so I asked her to cut out the Harry Potter set for me. Then she proceeded to tell me to stick it on my forehead. She was so amused that by clean up time, I had one on each cheek and on both sides of my neck. Hahaha.

In my kindergarten class, the kids recently decided to show off their artistic abilities on our whiteboard. One of the girls thought it would be cute to draw Canadian flags. I totally agreed. And another one of the girls made me a zoo with stickers. I thought it was so sweet~

 I also had a bought of nostalgia at school recently~ Angel used to have a backpack of William, the blue Egyptian hippo. And William walked into class one afternoon! One of my students got him as a gift from his mum, I think.

I've taken to cross stitching at work on my breaks. I finally finished one of my samplers and now I'm starting another~ I'll post pictures of the new one when I finish.

Mika and I met up recently in Sendai for an afternoon of frilling about. We ended up meeting some girls at the station who wore lolita, too. We all grabbed lunch and hung out together. It was just a fun afternoon~

On the subject of frilling out, I went to my first real lolita tea party last Saturday. Oh man~ It was so much fun! I got to sit with Mika, thank god. There were about 30 people I think. We all had to fill out profile cards to give to each other. And then Hikari asked us to give introductions. Oh. No. Actually, mine went pretty well. I was able to say what I wanted in Japanese and Mika helped me to make sure it was all correct before they gave me the mic. No one laughed and everyone politely applauded, so I guess I didn't screw up. I was shaking like a frigging leaf, though! I ordered Russian tea with strawberry jam and the chocolate waffles. Russian tea is really neat! You take a bit on jam and put it on your tongue, then let the tea wash over it. Nifty! I won an apron in BINGO. Lucky~~~!! It was a really fun afternoon! Oh, and before anyone asks, I know that my makeup wasn't done! I had a clinic appointment before the party and when I packed up my stuff to change in Sendai, I forgot to pack my makeup kit! T___T

Oh, Kazue and I also went to the Build a Bear shop recently. They were closing. Kazue wanted to go to say goodbye, so I went along with her. They were having a massive sale, so I made a dragon for David. Named Glorthlok. He was pretty happy. Hahaha. They had the Bunny mascot out and about, so we got a picture with her~ She shook my hand and gave me a hug. Awwww. <3

Last Sunday my work had an event in the morning. It was a massive Hide and Go Seek event type thing. The teachers were all assigned a colour and 5~6 kids and our job was to help the kids hide from the Hunters who would come and catch them. Naturally, I had the pink team. My team was AWESOME! We didn't win, but we did pretty well! Two people caught, but we had a get out of jail free pinecone, so only one person stayed in jail. I had a pair of siblings on my team. They are hilarious. The younger one got caught, and big brother made a big dramatic display over it. As little brother was being led away he shouted, "Nooooo!" and sank to his knees all dramatically, then landed face first on the ground. It was hilarious. Hahaha. It was a full hour of running and hiding and constant movement around the park. Good times~~~

Right after the event, I had to boot it to Sendai Station. I had a ticket to see the Sailor Moon musical that evening, so I had to catch a shinkansen to Tokyo. I barely made it to my train, but I managed to get to the theatre with plenty of time to spare. The musical was AMAZING. It totally made my life. And my favourite Sailor Moon character made her musical debut in this one~ Queen Serenity. Sailor Moon's mum. I adore her. She was flawless in the musical, too, I might add. So perfect. I cried when I saw her. Amazing. Oh, and Gackt sent flowers to the musical cast. I thought it was kinda sweet~

I ended up staying with my friend Sara while I was down. I went straight to her place after the musical and we got pizza and watched Cupcake Wars. Good times. It was nice just to chillax and chat. I miss her so much~

 The next day, we got together with her friend Andrea, and we went off to Harajuku. Sara had actually never been down Takeshita Dori, so I took her. We did some window shopping and just ventured around. At one point, we popped into La Foret and I got to try on a Triple Fortune bonnet! Oh. My. God. They are so pretty! Like, ridiculously good quality and gorgeous. But, reeeeeeeally expensive. But still~ The shop lady let me try one on and it looked so pretty~! Maybe someday~~~ I saw a reallt cute Duffy bear, too. Someone had it dressed up like Aiba Masaki from Arashi! Too cute! Oh, and check out my amazing photo skillz. I totally snapped a photo of us on camera walking into Takeshita Dori. I totally didn't even notice till just now!

After that, we just kinda wandered around. We ended up at Shibuya park. It's a reeeeally nice park! And it was a really nice day, so everyone was out and about. I think mum would probably really like it. There were so many people out for runs. I really kinda wanted to join them, but it's be difficult to run in wedge heels and a long skirt. Maybe next time~

After that, we just went back to Sara's place to have lunch and watch a movie. We ended up watching Resident Evil. Oh boy~ But, anywho, after that it was time for me to boogie off and meet Mika and Melissa for our bus. We took a highway bus back to Sendai and it was a surprisingly quick trip! We got in about 20minutes early, even! Good times. I watched Sherlock on the trip home. It was pretty awesome.

And that about sums up the last little while~ I've been off this week, so I got back to work on Monday. Woo~~

It tasted like home.

So, moving right along~ The next day was Disney avec Gayner day! Wooo! It was a billion degrees out again and I had forgotten my parasol! So, I was resigned to frying that day. We made plans to meet at Maihama station at 10ish. David and I caught the 9:30 shuttle bus from the hotel and got to Disney with some time to spare. We opted to take the monorail to meet Gayner. That was a mistake! It was fun, but Gayner literally just missed the train! The doors the closed as she came up the stairs! Awww. It's ok~ We met up at the next stop and proceeded into Disney!

Because of the 30th anniversary thing going on there park was decorated with cute Mickey balloon decor and whatnots~ I liked it. We passed through World Bazaar and made a beeline to get fastpasses for Space Mountain.

The fast passes were for 12:30~1:30, so we had some time to kill. We ended up heading towards Toon Town. I love Toon Town~ It's too cute. We got in line for Gadget's Coaster and just chatted while the line moved. God, I think that's my favourite part of Tokyo Disney. The GADGET Coaster! Like, Rescue Rangers Gadget! Ahhh~ Nostalgia. It's a short ride, but still.

I grabbed a cute bottle of water after the ride and we dithered about what ride to do next. We ended up going on It's a Small World~ It's a tradition after all. And it's air conditioned. We managed to catch the Parade of Nations or whatever the clock chime show thing is. Yay for Mounties! There was this really cute kid who kept making a break for it. His family was in line behind us and he kept darting out to get further in the line, but his parents always called him back. We thought it was hilarious and at one point we arranged ourselves so that he couldn't get through us and away from his parents. So what did the kid do? He pushed his arms between Gayner and I and wedged himself through! It was so cute! His parents were embarrassed, but we just said it was ok and we didn't mind. Hahaha.

We grabbed a quick snack after this (I got apple sherbet. It was really yummy!) and decided to hop on the Mark Twain steamship. It's relaxing and nice and there's lots of ducks to see. And people attempting to canoe. God, it must be the Canadian in me, but everytime I watch people at Disney attempt to paddle it makes me cringe. The poor cast members are paddling with all their strength and everyone else is just kinda half hearting it. It's sickening I tells ya! >[ But anywho~ The steamboat. It's nice~ We saw a few trains pass, too.

Oh, we also noticed the ship makes a stop at Hannibal. I was a little concerned about that~ Someone help Will Graham! (There. I said it. Hahaha.)

We grabbed lunch after the boat~ There were no seats ANYWHERE! We got a quick bite from the TomorrowLand Launch Pad restaurant. I got the scrambled eggs and chicken over rice thing again. What can I say~ It's tasty! We ended up settling on a patch of the floor near the water fountain. I made the clever observation that at least we managed to find the water source. Hahaha. It was crazy, though! There were people just passed out on the floor in some spots. A siesta would have been a fabulous idea, if we were at a Disney park. Anywho~

We ran over to Space Mountain to use our Fast Passes... but... They weren't for Space Mountain! We had Star Tours fast passes! We went to the wrong spot for Space Mountain in the morning! So, we scrambled over to the proper place and got passes for 6:30ish. And then we hopped onto Star Tours. It was awesome! David was bouncing around like a 5year old he was so excited to do it. Hahaha. It was cute~~

After the ride, we wandered out to see the castle and the decorations in the main square area. It was pretty cool~ The theme for the summer was Summer Matsuri, so it was decorated as such.

We popped into the Penny Arcade too, and won a puffy Mickey thing. It was cute~

The rest of the day passed nicely~ We did the steam train which was nice. we also did the Jungle Cruise. It's still enjoyable, even if it's in Japanese and I can't understand half the jokes. I do miss the English version, though~ I'll never forget that Smiley the crocodile has a girlfriend named Ginger and to watch out because she snaps!

I made sure to hydrate as much as possible thing time. I really did. But, I still managed to get a wicked headache by the end of the day. I think it may be due to my eyes taking in too much sunlight, if that makes sense. I need to wear shades next time to put my theory to the test~ Still, it was an enjoyable day. Gayner went home at around 7ish. David and I stayed and wandered for a bit longer. We caught part of the summer show. It had water cannons that sprayed the crowd throughout the show. That was fun. I wanted to watch the Electrical parade, but at this point we were both pretty zonked. That and David hates the music. Haha. So, we bought our omiyage and headed back. I also would like to point out that David insisted on carrying my Shellie Mae wristbag all day. He strapped her into his backpack~ Might have to get him a Duffy to match my Shellie Mae.

Thursday was WICKED day! Man~ I was sooooo excited to go see it! It was all in Japanese, but I've seen the English version via youtube. I know the story. I had splurged and made sure to get us the best tickets available at the time of purchase. We were in row 12. And it was PERFECT. I could see everything! The costumes were stunning. Does anyone know how to sew? And will you make me Glinda's bubble gown? I've been dreaming of wearing it. Anywho~ When the music started up at the beginning I actually got teary eyed. I was just so happy.

And then it was Friday~ We had a shinkansen at 8pm, so we popped out luggage into a locker at Tokyo station and drifted. We ended up in Harajuku because I wanted to check out Closet Child~ Which, sadly, had NOTHING I was interested in buying. I was so sad. But, I ended up finding that white dress I wore to that lolita thing a few posts back in Innocent World's shop, so it all worked out. Yay~

After that, we drifted back to Tokyo station. I wanted to check out the Maruzen bookstore and they had some dinosaur stuff on the main floor, so David wanted to check that out. I loooove that bookstore. They have a massive English book section. There was a book about Mary Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, but it was 4,000yen! It looked super interesting, too! Oh well. Maybe I'll find it at home in Canada this December... I picked up a magazine and we popped to a restaurant across from the dinosaur stuff for dinner. I got the chicken with potatoes and bacon. HOLY CRAP. It was freaking amazing. It tasted like home. Honestly, it did. Real bacon, potatoes like how mum makes them and yummy chicken. I was so happy.

PS. The magazine came with an awesome calendar. It's on the shelf behind me so if we skype you can see it. :D

We caught our shinkansen home and managed to get back to Natori in one piece. When we got back, though, our apartment was the temperature of Mount Vesuvius on a bad day. So, we dropped our bags off and went to karaoke for an hour while the air conditioning kicked in. Hahaha. It was awesome.

And that was our Tokyo adventure~ It was amazing and I can't wait to do it again!