I'm back!!!

Woooow, so a little after a year of leaving Japan I am back again for a (way too short) two week vacation. I figured bring this blog back alive for the two weeks to log what i've been up to was appropriate. So here goes!


Tuesday 7/26 - Wednesday 7/27
I only slept just over 3 hours before getting up to go to the airport. I had to get there excessively early, and then there were no lines anywhere in the whole international terminal. It was really weird, complete 180 from the southwest terminal.　I ate a quick breakfast then went to my gate and went to sleep. The plane ride was uneventful. I slept, ate, slept summore. Then I couldn't sleep, so I watched three movies (Battle LA, Paul, Limitless), all surprisingly good. Once I landed in Japan I was on my own for the first time to get myself to Tokyo. For a good hour after I got on the train I was worried that I was on the wrong one, even though I knew I was on the right one, lol. At the Ikebukuro station I met Asuka. Asuka was the first friend I made in Japan, and we have stayed close all this time. She brought me to her home where I was reunited with her mother and little brother. After a nice dinner and a quick shower, it was off to sleep for me. I had been sleeping a lot... but when you are on a plane for 11 hours and a train for another 2, and when you left one place on a Tuesday morning and arrive in another on a Wednesday afternoon, you tend to be pretty jet-lagged.

Thursday 7/28
Asuka and her mother had to work, so it was me and little brother Daichi for the day! Daichi studies English, but is really shy, so we only conversed in Japanese. Apparently I haven't forgotten as much as I thought I had. The studying before I came here def helped. Daichi and I had gyudon (grilled beef over rice) for lunch Its simple, but a staple, and a fav of mine that I have really missed. Then we went and saw the latest Miyazaki movie. Considering his last one hasn't even come to America yet, I was really excited to see it! I loved it, it was super cute, and I was able to understand what was going on with minimal difficulty. Between lunch and the movie, Daichi and I had a lot of time to kill, so we wandered around a small book shop. Small talk is awkward with a shy boy who only speaks a language you are studying. And did I mention he is a 16 year old High School student whose mom made him take me to the movie? Haha, poor kid!

After the movie, I left Daichi and went to shinjuku to meet up with Haga and the rest of the Kioi circle (Sophia's GSA) that I was a part of last year. It was great to get to see everyone again! There English was better, and my Japanese is apparently better, so communicating was a LOT easier. We ate dinner at Sweets Paradise, an all you can eat pasta and dessert bar. Delicious! Then we went out for drinks. I missed those guys, it was great fun!

Friday 7/29
Asuka and I went to Sophia because she had a paper to turn in. I was really nice to see my old school once again. I was nostalgia-ing all over the place! We also had lunch at my favorite Indian place, Mumbia. I used to go there almost weekly. It tasted even better than I remembered. We pretty much ate ourselves silly, haha. After that we headed to Harajuku for a little window shopping. After that we went to Meiji temple. I had always seen the entrance for it, but had never gone. It was beautiful! They planted a forest in the middle of the city, and the further you go in, the harder it is to remember that you are even in a city at all. After harajuku we headed over to Tokyo Tower. We went all the way to the top and the view was amazing! Pictures will come later (after I get back to LA). We then headed to Shin Okubo which is Korea Town. I wanted to find a poster of the boy band MBLAQ, but everywhere was sold out of them! I tried like.... 7 places. Wth? Eventually Yumi (asuka's mom) and Daichi joined us and we all had Korean BBQ for dinner. Once we get back home, I meet Hiroki, asuka's dad who had just returned from a business trip in southern Japan.

Saturday 7/30
We all wake up super early and load into the family van. Then we go and pick up grandma and grandpa, then the Sunouchi family (plus one) are off to Mt. Fuji!Us kids pretty much slept the entire way there. When we were close, we stopped for lunch at a popular local resteraunt and had some sort of hot pot dish... it was delicious, whatever it was. No longer in Tokyo, my presence everywhere garnered a lot of attention. Gotta get used to that again... After  lunch we drove up onto the mountain and went as high as cars are allowed to go. There was a pretty shrine that was supposed to have an amazing view, but since the weekend was annoyingly rainy, it was too cloudy to see very far. We were, however, high enough to be above the rain cloud line. So as we looked down the mountain we could only see so far before it all turned a light gray. I commented that it looked like the edge of the world, and Yumi agreed. Asuka and I then began our hike up the mountain. Unfortunately an incoming storm made us turn back after a while, so that we could return to the car before getting rained on. We then all went to the hotel. It wasnt that late, but it was raining super heard so we stayed in for the evening. We played a little ping pong, tried out the bath house, and played cards as a family while watching TV. Dinner was also in there somewhere...

Sunday 7/31
Yesterday we woke up early for a nice breakfast, then packed our bags and headed out. We went to the Kawaguchi Musical Garden. It was at the base of the mountain, and gorgeous! The garden/museum thing featured a lot of self playing music boxes ranging from one that was the size of the entire room to one that was 500 years old, to one that had actual violins hooked up to it, to the small normal ones in the gift shop. It was surprisingly fun. And Hiro-kun is such a goof-ball, he can make any situation pretty funny. Apparently the city at the base of Mt. Fuji where we were is famous for peaches, so we stopped at a peach stand by the side of the road and had some. They were HUGE and pretty darn good. After that we all slept as we made the long drive back to Tokyo. We had Okonomiyaki for lunch and then Yumi and I bought a few desserts for the family. Back at grandma and grandpa's place we ate more peaches with dessert and coffee/tea. Then it was back home finally.

That brings us to today where for the 5th day in a row I am awake around 7am. I swear as soon as I am  on a normal sleep schedule, I am going to have to leave! The plan for today is to go visit my old home in Nishi Kwaguchi, and possibly some Karaoke with Diachi.

Ja, matta ne!