Tuesday, August 27, 2013

All the girls I met were lovely.

Alright~ So, here's the thing. I have a massive update prepared for the Tokyo blog. Or rather, it'll just be a long post with lots of fun pictures. At the moment, however, I'm going to write up a post for the past week, then I'll post the Tokyo blog sometime later this week. That being said~ Let's get going.

So, after our return from Tokyo, we dropped our bags in the (horrifically hot) apartment and made a beeline for karaoke. We were tired, but the apartment was ghastly and we just wanted to have a fun way to end our vacation~ We ended up singing a mix of Disney, English and Japanese songs. I discovered the Takarazuka section has some versions of their songs that have you singing along with the troupe, which was pretty fun~ We also found a few anime songs that we haven't sung or seen in yeeears and did them for giggles. It was a fun time~
Last week was a little on the boring side~ It was back to work for both David and I, so we were a bit busy with that. I had an ok week. The kids were a little crankier than usual, but I guess that's to be expected after being away from school for 2 weeks. David spent some time in Sega World and he won the world's biggest gummy candy. True story. Look at that candy! It's huge!
I actually didn't have plans until late Friday afternoon! I found out from my co-workers that there was going to be a big matsuri in Izumi on Saturday, so I asked around to see if any of my friends wanted to go. My friend Kazue came with me! She had originally made plans with some other people to go clubbing later than night, so she wore normal clothes. Halfway to meeting me they cancelled, so that's why she wasn't wearing a yukata! She was kinda sad about that, but there's always next time! It was soooo crowded! I had been told that Izumi has a really good turnout, but I wasn't sure what to expect~ I had fun, though! Kazue grabbed herself some shaved ice and I settled down with some yakisoba and we just waited for the fireworks to start. ...All while being eaten alive by mosquitoes! Thank god Kazue found her bug repellant!
Around 7ish when it was just starting to get dark, we noticed that there were lanterns being floated on the water! It was so pretty! I think kids from the local school or neighbourhood decorated them~ They were cute!
I shot some videos of the fireworks~ They were really nice! And were were sitting beside a group of guys that would cheer everytime even a semi-impressive display shot off. It was kinda funny~ They used random English, too, which was kinda hilarious. I added some perky music to the videos, since there wasn't much to them except people going 'Ooooh! Yay! Awwww!'

After the fireworks were over, Kazue and I decided to grab dinner at Saizeriya. It's cheap and tasty~ And we got drink bar, so I fueled up on spaghetti and CC Lemon. Yum~~~
On Sunday, I went to my first real Japanese lolita event. Kazue had invited me to go with her and a co-worker of hers the day before and I was kinda nervous~ I'd never really gone to a real event like this and I wanted to make a nice impression. I don't know why I worried so much~ All the girls I met were lovely. So friendly and sweet. I got a lot of compliments on my hair~ It's interested to see how much the community in Japan differs from the communities across the pond. I feel like, in Sendai at least, the 'rules' to wearing the fashion are a little more lax. Girls aren't as scared to take risks or 'bend the rules' a bit with their outfits. Which, is kinda refreshing.
The girl in the long white dress was hilarious~ And the girl in the pink dress with the bunny ears is known in the area as Usagi-san. (Ms. Bunny) Her dream in life is to be a rabbit. Seriously. She's so cute~ Very sweet, too. She always wear this really cute bunny backpack from Angelic Pretty and she let me hold it. I want one. Sooo cute.
So, the event was basically a market where girls could meet up and buy some accessories from indie stores. I picked up a couple cute things for cheap~ A rose hair pin for an dress I'm wearing to the big tea party next month and a sweet little crocheted brooch to wear with the white dress I had on during that event. It seemed the standard fair to give candy or a little treat bag with your purchase, which I thought was sweet.
Oh~ There was a Butler Cafe at the event, too! The butler serving us, reD, was new and nervous and didn't speak any English, but he spoke to me with Kazue translating for us both. Most successful flirting by a butler to date! He asked where I was from and when he heard I was from Canada he proceeded to tell me how much he loves Canada~ He thinks of it as a very cool and nice place to live and that everyone seems to love it. Playing to my love of my home country is always a great way for a butler to flirt. Awesome~

After the event, we popped to the Hampstead Tea Room for a bite. I hadn't eaten that day, so I was starving for something filling and heavy. All they had was cake. And I reeeeally didn't want anything sweet. So, I just bought myself a cup of Lady Grey and waited to meet David so we could grab dinner. And I might add~ The Tea Room was nice, but about as expensive as British Hills. And the tea I was given was hot, but reeeeally weak. I was kinda sad.
Which leads us to this morning~ On my way to work I spotted some Animal Crossing candies in the grocery store! So, naturally, I picked some up.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Yep~ Free cotton candy!

Ahhh~ Summer vacation! Woo hoo! Work was crazy busy last week with it being the last week before vacation, but now I'm all happy and well rested. So, time to blog.

So, during my last week at work we said a fond farewell to July and welcomed in August. I miss July's month tag already~ Which means, we have new songs. This months song selection makes me giggle something fierce. Shark Attack! I also was asked to attempt to draw sea creatures in an attempt to get attention for our art project that day. THAT went well. (PS. The 2 humans are my students Haruki and Yuan who informed me that they do indeed live under the sea.)
I went through a major Disney fan mood last week. I ended up doing some shopping at the Disney Store and finally joined their point club thing. Ended up with a new water bottle for work, face towel and a nice beach towel. Among other random stuff like tea and whatnots. Can't wait for Disney next week!
We took photos at work last week for a postcard they send out during the summer. It's a 'Have a nice vacation' type postcard thing and this year they wanted us to all wear a Monsters Inc. helmet and pose. Needless to say, I volunteered to go first~
Last weekend I was quite busy! I had a playdate with Mika on Saturday and then on Sunday I hung out with the girls. There was a matsuri in Natori on Saturday, and we originally planned to go, so I dressed up in yukata. We met in Sendai and went to Glass Forest first, though~ I had some lolita things that I don't use anymore that I wanted to sell, so off we went. The lady who runs that store is so sweet. After that, we decided to grab some lunch, so off to Saizeria we went! I got spaghetti and made sure to not get any on my yukata!

We decided that for dessert we wanted to go to the fancy tart place. I finally got to try the Yamanashi-ken plum tart! And it was amazing~ *____* Sooo yummy!
I also interviewed Mika about her moving cat ears~

As we passed back through the station, I saw the big Disney display in one of the travel agencies. And I couldn't help myself~ I wanted a picture. Hahaha.

It was Mika's birthday that day, so we went back to Natori with the intention of doing fireworks, but we ended up just going out for dinner. Hahaha. We met up with Melissa, Bobby and Kazue at the station to decide on a plan. We decided just to walk over to Big Boy and have dinner and chill~ Which was nice. I got the karaage basket and some mozza sticks. Both of which were pretty lack luster, but I got drink bar and shared my food, so it's all good. I just filled myself up with melon soda instead.
The next day, we all met up again in Sendai with the intention of going to the fancy tart place to celebrate Mika's birthday. But, slight problem. There was a pretty intense earthquake that afternoon right before meeting time. I was actually waiting for my train at the station when it hit and it was pretty freaky. The platform is about 3 stories up and it's an open platform, if that helps give a mental image. The whole building swayed and the lights above were jittering and it was just intense. There was me and this older guy up there and he was just checking his phone and holding onto the rail all calm like. And there I was, clinging onto the signpost for dear life. I don't usually get scared by earthquakes, but that was pretty freaky. Oh well~ No damage and no one was hurt. I texted David right after and he said that he was ok, but 2 of his Gundams fell down. Oh dear.

So, trains were running late because of this. When I got to the station, Bobby and Kazue were there, but Melissa and Mika were going to be late. So, to pass the time we wandered over to BiVi for free cotton candy. Yep~ Free cotton candy! I was pretty excited, can't lie. XD
Good times~ We wandered about munch our treat and then we got a text saying Mika and Melissa were on their way. So, we all met up at the stained glass window and off we went for cake! I ended up getting the same tart again, but it's so yummy! And only available for the summer, so better appreciate it while I can! The patio area is really nice at this place~ There's a sweet little pond and it's nicely shaded and lovely.
After that, we wandered over to Animate so I could pick up the first volume of the Sherlock manga. Oh yeah~ BBC Sherlock got a manga adaptation. It's amazing. *___* So, we got there and asked one of the shop staff to help us find it. I was pretty stoked when I was able to open it and look at the art. Can't wait to learn more Japanese so I can read it.
We all wandered off home at that point, so I picked up a snack from the bakery at Aeon on my way. It's a star shaped pastry for Tanabata! I might add, Sendai celebrates Tanabata 1 month later than the rest of Japan.
On Tuesday I had a date with Belinda! Eeeeeee! I hadn't seen her since our last visit to British Hills, so I was really happy to see her! She was here on a business trip, but we got together Tuesday morning before she had to head back to the mountain. Tanabata started that morning, so we went for a wander around the arcade to look at all the decorations. Sendai hosts one of the biggest celebrations in Japan, so they really go all out!

And wanna know something interesting? ALL of those decorations are made by hand. Can you imagine how long it would take to make just one of them? Holy hell. o___o Anywho~ Belinda and I grabbed lunch and just chatted for like 3 hours. It was really nice just to sit and catch up!
And finally yesterday, I went out with my friend Beckie. She hadn't seen the Tanabata stuff yet, so we wandered through and then grabbed a snack. I ended up with a caramel chocolate frappe thing and a peach chocolate croissant. Yummmmm~ After wandering about, we hopped to Maruzen so she could pick up some stationary. I wandered over to the magazines and promptly made a shopping list of all the issues I need to pick up. Benedict Cumberbatch sure is popular over here right now~