9:04pm セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Well so much for breaking the vicious cycle; I got up at 1 this afternoon. Well, I guess I’ts a step in the right direction; just finding it a bit hard to get to sleep early. Anyway, I got to do my laundry finally, and it got a few hours of sun before I had to bring it in. I had pancakes for breakfast/lunch, and even got some physical exercise in; I was happy about that. I talked with mum for a couple of hours, then went and had dinner (yakisoba). Onara hazukashikunai yo came on TV again (so funny), and then there was a show where contestants had to sing a song without the lyrics. After dinner, I read another 4 pages of Deltora Quest and now have 198 new vocab; it’s probably going to continue like this for a while. Hopefully once I start getting into the story it’ll get easier; the beginning’s a bit slow. As for tomorrow, I have to do grocery shopping; don’t have anything else planned. I aim to get up at 9, so we’ll see how that goes…
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Day 128 - 5th of January
9:33pm セミナーハウス
天気：曇り
Again, I didn’t get up until 3 this afternoon. But fear not, this vicious cycle will come to an end presently because Ryan’s left, and he won’t be returning until Sunday. Now I can get back to going to sleep at reasonable hours of the night. So what did I do today… Well, I had breakfast and lunch together (cereal and then avocado, tomato, and rice on toast), while watching art-related programs on TV. I spent the rest of the afternoon stuffing around on the computer, reading web comics and the like, until Ryan left. Then I made my first real attempt at reading Deltora Quest – the Forest of Silence in Japanese; デロトラ・クエスト‐沈黙の森. And by reading, I mean having to translate every second word. Seriously, in an hour I only got through four pages, and had to translate 96 words; thank you iPod touch! I’m not going to give up though; even if it takes me a year. I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to Japanese vocabulary, so this should help immensely.
After that, I went up to dinner, and felt lazy, so I just defrosted the stew; gosh it was packed with flavour. Aki and Kaoru returned from their home towns and the new RA, Hiroshi has moved in across from me. Watched TV for a little while, and then came back down here. Tomorrow I have to do laundry!!! I haven’t done it in weeks; I don’t know how I have so many clothes. I don’t know what else I want to do tomorrow; I guess I have to do grocery shopping. Classes start for the Japanese students tomorrow, and Carly told me she goes back to uni at the end of the week; so weird. I guess I have to remember it’s flipped in the northern hemisphere; they have their big break in the middle of the year; their summer. Anyway, early night tonight…
天気：曇り
Again, I didn’t get up until 3 this afternoon. But fear not, this vicious cycle will come to an end presently because Ryan’s left, and he won’t be returning until Sunday. Now I can get back to going to sleep at reasonable hours of the night. So what did I do today… Well, I had breakfast and lunch together (cereal and then avocado, tomato, and rice on toast), while watching art-related programs on TV. I spent the rest of the afternoon stuffing around on the computer, reading web comics and the like, until Ryan left. Then I made my first real attempt at reading Deltora Quest – the Forest of Silence in Japanese; デロトラ・クエスト‐沈黙の森. And by reading, I mean having to translate every second word. Seriously, in an hour I only got through four pages, and had to translate 96 words; thank you iPod touch! I’m not going to give up though; even if it takes me a year. I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to Japanese vocabulary, so this should help immensely.
After that, I went up to dinner, and felt lazy, so I just defrosted the stew; gosh it was packed with flavour. Aki and Kaoru returned from their home towns and the new RA, Hiroshi has moved in across from me. Watched TV for a little while, and then came back down here. Tomorrow I have to do laundry!!! I haven’t done it in weeks; I don’t know how I have so many clothes. I don’t know what else I want to do tomorrow; I guess I have to do grocery shopping. Classes start for the Japanese students tomorrow, and Carly told me she goes back to uni at the end of the week; so weird. I guess I have to remember it’s flipped in the northern hemisphere; they have their big break in the middle of the year; their summer. Anyway, early night tonight…
Monday, 4 January 2010
Day 127 - 4th of January
3:47pm 準急
天気：晴れ
On the sub-express to Kuzuha; going to do some shopping. I didn’t get up till 2:40, because I was up till 4 talking to Alex. Wouldn’t you know it; the first night in a while my roommate's away and I still get to sleep really late; oh well. I’m here…
5:21pm 準急
And back to Makino I go. I’m disappointed that I didn’t buy any clothes; there just wasn’t anything I really liked. But I did get a Studio Ghibli CD, and dye for my hair; it’s so unbelievably cheap here! I’m going to colour it tonight. Here…
10:36pm セミナーハウス
It’s pouring down with rain; I can hear the thunder and see the lightning through my closed windows. This is the first real storm I’ve had since I’ve been here; I wonder if we’ll have a black out. I seriously didn’t know what I was hearing at first, but then I finally realised it was indeed a storm. Glad I’m not out in it; Ryan is though. He left while I was having dinner; I don’t know where he is. I finally got home, after stopping at the Keihan shop and Shimamura, picking up everything I could think of I would need to dye my hair. I got everything set up (even stole a chair from the computer room), and got stuck into it. And yes, it’s red again. There really isn’t that much change. I’m really happy with my effort though; I covered up the roots really well. I’m going to put some highlights into it soon; that should be fun.
It was after 8 by the time I had dinner; rice and chicken. Mosters Inc. was on TV so I enjoyed watching that; it was in English and I was surprised there were no subtitles. A girl said she could actually change it to Japanese on the TV and I wondered how that was possible; the end credits were in Japanese though, so that made me think. I tried the daidai orange after dinner, and wow, it was bitter!!! When I got back to the room, Ryan was gone, so I busied myself sorting out my laundry, while listening to my new Ghibli CD; it’s got some really good remixes on it. I really hope it’s not still raining tomorrow; my laundry is way overdue. I don’t have any plans for tomorrow; I don’t know whether or not I went to go out yet. I think the storms moving away; I haven’t heard thunder in a while. It’s still raining hard though. Time for bed… I think.
天気：晴れ
On the sub-express to Kuzuha; going to do some shopping. I didn’t get up till 2:40, because I was up till 4 talking to Alex. Wouldn’t you know it; the first night in a while my roommate's away and I still get to sleep really late; oh well. I’m here…
5:21pm 準急
And back to Makino I go. I’m disappointed that I didn’t buy any clothes; there just wasn’t anything I really liked. But I did get a Studio Ghibli CD, and dye for my hair; it’s so unbelievably cheap here! I’m going to colour it tonight. Here…
10:36pm セミナーハウス
It’s pouring down with rain; I can hear the thunder and see the lightning through my closed windows. This is the first real storm I’ve had since I’ve been here; I wonder if we’ll have a black out. I seriously didn’t know what I was hearing at first, but then I finally realised it was indeed a storm. Glad I’m not out in it; Ryan is though. He left while I was having dinner; I don’t know where he is. I finally got home, after stopping at the Keihan shop and Shimamura, picking up everything I could think of I would need to dye my hair. I got everything set up (even stole a chair from the computer room), and got stuck into it. And yes, it’s red again. There really isn’t that much change. I’m really happy with my effort though; I covered up the roots really well. I’m going to put some highlights into it soon; that should be fun.
It was after 8 by the time I had dinner; rice and chicken. Mosters Inc. was on TV so I enjoyed watching that; it was in English and I was surprised there were no subtitles. A girl said she could actually change it to Japanese on the TV and I wondered how that was possible; the end credits were in Japanese though, so that made me think. I tried the daidai orange after dinner, and wow, it was bitter!!! When I got back to the room, Ryan was gone, so I busied myself sorting out my laundry, while listening to my new Ghibli CD; it’s got some really good remixes on it. I really hope it’s not still raining tomorrow; my laundry is way overdue. I don’t have any plans for tomorrow; I don’t know whether or not I went to go out yet. I think the storms moving away; I haven’t heard thunder in a while. It’s still raining hard though. Time for bed… I think.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Day 126 - 3rd of January
6:57am First Kitchen – 梅田
天気：曇り
I’m in First Kitchen with Tamblyn; just had some breakfast. Wow, last night was really great… I finally found the hotel in 道頓堀 (Dotonbori), after walking the streets for a while upon exiting Namba station. It was about 3, and they were all waiting out the front. It was so cool to see Peyton and Laine again; they’ve grown so much.
And of course, seeing Tamblyn, Peter and Naomi was great. The kids instantly attached themselves to me, and I spent the majority of the day holding their hands, helping them up stairs (carrying Laine at times), and looking out for them; it was a lot of fun. Our first stop was Osaka castle; we went up to Umeda, and then across to Osakajokoen via the loop line. It was already pretty late when we got there, and by the time we got to the castle, it was only 20 minutes until closing time. Peter decided he’d go in anyway; the rest of us sat outside waiting.
He emerged well after 5. The sun had already set, and the castle was all lit up. It was very beautiful, and since I’d never seen it close up at night before, I was really appreciative of coming. Tamblyn found one for his favourite drinks in a nearby vending machine, and decided he’d buy some for himself and his friends; meaning 8. It’s called Fanta furufuru; jelly and soft drink in a can. Since I had a bag, I was stuck carrying them around for the rest of the night. After the castle, we went to Shinsaibashi, and Peter and Tamblyn took Peyton to go and buy shoes, while Naomi, Laine and I went to design them! We went to the Nike shop, where you can create your own personalised shoes, and had fun choosing colours, styles and materials for what would be Tamblyn’s new shoes. Laine fell asleep on the stairs (so cute), and we had to drag him up when it came to finalizing the purchase. Since they wouldn’t ship the shoes overseas, Naomi needed a Japanese address, and that’s where I came in. It was all sorted out fine; I’ll be expecting shoes in a month.
Coming out of the shop, Laine was tired and said his feet were hurting a lot. Naomi and I took turns carrying him for a while, trying to track down Peter. Laine started to really complain, and we figured out that his shoes were causing the problem; they were new, and cutting into the top
of his feet. We tried at first, to loosen them, but that did no good, so we took them off entirely and then went on a quest for slippers; getting many stares from the natives. After going to two shoe stores, a Disney merchandise store, and a convenience store, we finally found some in a pharmacy. They were too big, but Laine complied and did his best; such a battler. Still unsure of where Peter was, we continued down the street until we reached Dotonbori, before Laine insisted he go to the toilet, so I took him to Makkas. By luck, when we came out, Peter was there with Naomi.
Peter, Tamblyn and Peyton went on to the restaurant, and we made a quick stop at a specialty store to see if we could find the green tea air fresher that was used in their hotel. There were so many imported goods; they even had timtams!!! Unsuccessful (but still laden with goodies) we made our way to the restaurant; an okonomiyaki place. After a short wait, we were seated. The food was spectacular; best okonomiyaki I’ve ever had. Very satisfied, we went back to the hotel, and it was 11 before long. Tamblyn was supposed to return to his host family, but we sorted it out so he could come out to karaoke with me. We were in Umeda, and after a bit of searching we found a reasonably cheap place (the one with the huge dragon head coming out of it), considering it is New Years. We went from just after 12 till 6; another all-nighter. It was a lot of fun, but I’m so tired now; gonna get home soon and sleep…
9:55pm セミナーハウス
Feeling tired still, even though I slept most of the day… I left Tambyln (I let hime know I was going), to sleep in First Kitchen at about 7:30, and made my way back home. I was tired the whole way back, and in the walk back from Makino, I was in a daze. Finally at home, I had a shower, and then crashed; Ryan wasn’t there. I woke at 1, and decided it would be a good idea to have some lunch. Almost immediately after, I went back to sleep again. Waking at 6, I went up and made dinner (chicken parmigiana with garlic bread), and watched TV for a while. These two Japanese guys were travelling the world and participating in unusual sports. They were in Estonia doing a sport involving flinging yourself around a swing standing, before going to Indonesia for the water oxen festival, where bulls are raced, chariot-like, across shallow water; both sports looked really challenging. Ryan’s still not back, so I guess I’m going to have a pretty early night; maybe go to Kuzaha hall tomorrow for the last day of sales.
天気：曇り
I’m in First Kitchen with Tamblyn; just had some breakfast. Wow, last night was really great… I finally found the hotel in 道頓堀 (Dotonbori), after walking the streets for a while upon exiting Namba station. It was about 3, and they were all waiting out the front. It was so cool to see Peyton and Laine again; they’ve grown so much.
And of course, seeing Tamblyn, Peter and Naomi was great. The kids instantly attached themselves to me, and I spent the majority of the day holding their hands, helping them up stairs (carrying Laine at times), and looking out for them; it was a lot of fun. Our first stop was Osaka castle; we went up to Umeda, and then across to Osakajokoen via the loop line. It was already pretty late when we got there, and by the time we got to the castle, it was only 20 minutes until closing time. Peter decided he’d go in anyway; the rest of us sat outside waiting.
He emerged well after 5. The sun had already set, and the castle was all lit up. It was very beautiful, and since I’d never seen it close up at night before, I was really appreciative of coming. Tamblyn found one for his favourite drinks in a nearby vending machine, and decided he’d buy some for himself and his friends; meaning 8. It’s called Fanta furufuru; jelly and soft drink in a can. Since I had a bag, I was stuck carrying them around for the rest of the night. After the castle, we went to Shinsaibashi, and Peter and Tamblyn took Peyton to go and buy shoes, while Naomi, Laine and I went to design them! We went to the Nike shop, where you can create your own personalised shoes, and had fun choosing colours, styles and materials for what would be Tamblyn’s new shoes. Laine fell asleep on the stairs (so cute), and we had to drag him up when it came to finalizing the purchase. Since they wouldn’t ship the shoes overseas, Naomi needed a Japanese address, and that’s where I came in. It was all sorted out fine; I’ll be expecting shoes in a month.Coming out of the shop, Laine was tired and said his feet were hurting a lot. Naomi and I took turns carrying him for a while, trying to track down Peter. Laine started to really complain, and we figured out that his shoes were causing the problem; they were new, and cutting into the top
of his feet. We tried at first, to loosen them, but that did no good, so we took them off entirely and then went on a quest for slippers; getting many stares from the natives. After going to two shoe stores, a Disney merchandise store, and a convenience store, we finally found some in a pharmacy. They were too big, but Laine complied and did his best; such a battler. Still unsure of where Peter was, we continued down the street until we reached Dotonbori, before Laine insisted he go to the toilet, so I took him to Makkas. By luck, when we came out, Peter was there with Naomi.Peter, Tamblyn and Peyton went on to the restaurant, and we made a quick stop at a specialty store to see if we could find the green tea air fresher that was used in their hotel. There were so many imported goods; they even had timtams!!! Unsuccessful (but still laden with goodies) we made our way to the restaurant; an okonomiyaki place. After a short wait, we were seated. The food was spectacular; best okonomiyaki I’ve ever had. Very satisfied, we went back to the hotel, and it was 11 before long. Tamblyn was supposed to return to his host family, but we sorted it out so he could come out to karaoke with me. We were in Umeda, and after a bit of searching we found a reasonably cheap place (the one with the huge dragon head coming out of it), considering it is New Years. We went from just after 12 till 6; another all-nighter. It was a lot of fun, but I’m so tired now; gonna get home soon and sleep…
9:55pm セミナーハウス
Feeling tired still, even though I slept most of the day… I left Tambyln (I let hime know I was going), to sleep in First Kitchen at about 7:30, and made my way back home. I was tired the whole way back, and in the walk back from Makino, I was in a daze. Finally at home, I had a shower, and then crashed; Ryan wasn’t there. I woke at 1, and decided it would be a good idea to have some lunch. Almost immediately after, I went back to sleep again. Waking at 6, I went up and made dinner (chicken parmigiana with garlic bread), and watched TV for a while. These two Japanese guys were travelling the world and participating in unusual sports. They were in Estonia doing a sport involving flinging yourself around a swing standing, before going to Indonesia for the water oxen festival, where bulls are raced, chariot-like, across shallow water; both sports looked really challenging. Ryan’s still not back, so I guess I’m going to have a pretty early night; maybe go to Kuzaha hall tomorrow for the last day of sales.
Day 125 - 2nd of January
1:46pm 普通
天気：曇り
I have no idea what I’m doing! I’m just getting on the train at Makino, to get to 難波 (Namba), to hopefully meet with Tamblyn and his family; who are staying in a hotel there. I was just talking to him on Skype when he invited me, totally out of the blue and I thought, sure, why not. I figure if worse comes to worst, and I don’t meet him, I’m still going to have some fun in Osaka; New Year sales!!! I managed to get out of bed by 8 this morning; I was very happy about that. Too bad I hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night, so when I ended up talking with my family, I was a bit grumpy and got frustrated…
1:53pm 枚方市駅
Just waiting for the limited express at Hirakata. So yeah, Mum was like, go take a walk. So I took her advice and found out how notoriously easy it is to get lost in Japanese suburbia; so many dead ends and loops. It was a bit of fun exploring though; I got back feeling a bit better. I had leftovers with rice for lunch, while watching a Korean drama on TV for a while, and then went back down and chatted for a bit longer, before setting off on this crazy adventure; I’m hoping it all turns out okay.
2:19pm 長堀鶴見緑地線
Now I’m in the subway at Kyobashi, going to Shinsaibashi and then onto Namba, where I’ll be meeting Tamblyn…
天気：曇り
I have no idea what I’m doing! I’m just getting on the train at Makino, to get to 難波 (Namba), to hopefully meet with Tamblyn and his family; who are staying in a hotel there. I was just talking to him on Skype when he invited me, totally out of the blue and I thought, sure, why not. I figure if worse comes to worst, and I don’t meet him, I’m still going to have some fun in Osaka; New Year sales!!! I managed to get out of bed by 8 this morning; I was very happy about that. Too bad I hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night, so when I ended up talking with my family, I was a bit grumpy and got frustrated…
1:53pm 枚方市駅
Just waiting for the limited express at Hirakata. So yeah, Mum was like, go take a walk. So I took her advice and found out how notoriously easy it is to get lost in Japanese suburbia; so many dead ends and loops. It was a bit of fun exploring though; I got back feeling a bit better. I had leftovers with rice for lunch, while watching a Korean drama on TV for a while, and then went back down and chatted for a bit longer, before setting off on this crazy adventure; I’m hoping it all turns out okay.
2:19pm 長堀鶴見緑地線
Now I’m in the subway at Kyobashi, going to Shinsaibashi and then onto Namba, where I’ll be meeting Tamblyn…
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Day 124 - 1st of January
12:59am 祇園
天気：雪
Happy New Year!!! We’re in the line (more like the mass), waiting to get into the Yasaka shrine; only one way to enter. Chionin was amazing. We were at the bell for New Years; we got to hear it ring about 30 times. Apart from
the yelling of the security guards, beckoning us to advance, it was a truly magical event. At New Years, a lot of foreigners cheered, but I was against that; it’s not the right thing to do at a temple. We got to spend about half an hour at the bell, which was more than ample, before we were swept away by the tide of people. I gave the girls hugs and congratulations, and watched in awe as it snowed lightly; I was so happy that, although I didn’t get a white Christmas, I got a white New Years. We walked down into 円山公園 (Maruyama Koen – Maruyama Park), and the girls bought some 甘酒 (amazake – sweet sake). I got a sip from Katie’s cup; it was… interesting. Nadezhda brought mocha, and we shared that, and my coconut sable. We thought we could get into the shrine through the park, but we ended up having to walk all the way around and back onto Gion, the main street…
1:26am 祇園
Still waiting…
2:26am 祇園
Almost there… We’ve been occupying ourselves with songs, riddles, and jokes. It’s snowing pretty heavily now…
3:34am 普通
We’ve just gotten on the local train back to Makino. Yasaka shrine was really beautiful, so I guess it was worth the wait; wow, I can say I’ve done hatsumode!!! I bought a burger which looked really nice, and it was huge, but it was also stone cold. I think the girls made a better choice getting takoyaki; oh well. We gave our offerings, made our New Years wishes, and then made our way out, and back around to the station. Jo’s going to go shrine hopping until 4pm, when she can check-in to her hostel in Osaka. I was game to join her at first, but now I just want sleep…
11:41pm
After getting back from Kyoto, I found Ryan to be awake still, but managed to get to sleep just fine. I didn’t wake up again until 2:30. I made pancakes, something I haven’t done in a while, and watched some traditional performances on TV. At one point I was watching a traditional instrument ensemble consisting of three koto players and a shamisen player. They were all elderly women, dressed in the formal 黒留袖 (kurotomesode) kimono; it was a very enchanting performance. After that I talked with Carly for a while before watching Labyrinth with Alex, India and Nadezhda; it was so funny watching that movie again. We took a break, so I could go make some dinner (shepherd’s pie), before sitting down for Watchmen; we were joined by Jeremy. I can’t say it was one of the better movies I’ve ever seen, but it was certainly different. And that was my New Years. I was really glad I got to participate in hatsumode; certainly a unique-to-Japan experience. Walking back from Makino station this morning, I realised there was a solar eclipse. I looked it up online to find that it was only a partial lunar eclipse but still very rare. That and the fact that it coincided with a blue moon last night makes 2010 seem a very auspicious year to me; I certainly welcome it…
天気：雪
Happy New Year!!! We’re in the line (more like the mass), waiting to get into the Yasaka shrine; only one way to enter. Chionin was amazing. We were at the bell for New Years; we got to hear it ring about 30 times. Apart from
the yelling of the security guards, beckoning us to advance, it was a truly magical event. At New Years, a lot of foreigners cheered, but I was against that; it’s not the right thing to do at a temple. We got to spend about half an hour at the bell, which was more than ample, before we were swept away by the tide of people. I gave the girls hugs and congratulations, and watched in awe as it snowed lightly; I was so happy that, although I didn’t get a white Christmas, I got a white New Years. We walked down into 円山公園 (Maruyama Koen – Maruyama Park), and the girls bought some 甘酒 (amazake – sweet sake). I got a sip from Katie’s cup; it was… interesting. Nadezhda brought mocha, and we shared that, and my coconut sable. We thought we could get into the shrine through the park, but we ended up having to walk all the way around and back onto Gion, the main street…1:26am 祇園
Still waiting…
2:26am 祇園
Almost there… We’ve been occupying ourselves with songs, riddles, and jokes. It’s snowing pretty heavily now…
3:34am 普通
We’ve just gotten on the local train back to Makino. Yasaka shrine was really beautiful, so I guess it was worth the wait; wow, I can say I’ve done hatsumode!!! I bought a burger which looked really nice, and it was huge, but it was also stone cold. I think the girls made a better choice getting takoyaki; oh well. We gave our offerings, made our New Years wishes, and then made our way out, and back around to the station. Jo’s going to go shrine hopping until 4pm, when she can check-in to her hostel in Osaka. I was game to join her at first, but now I just want sleep…
11:41pm
After getting back from Kyoto, I found Ryan to be awake still, but managed to get to sleep just fine. I didn’t wake up again until 2:30. I made pancakes, something I haven’t done in a while, and watched some traditional performances on TV. At one point I was watching a traditional instrument ensemble consisting of three koto players and a shamisen player. They were all elderly women, dressed in the formal 黒留袖 (kurotomesode) kimono; it was a very enchanting performance. After that I talked with Carly for a while before watching Labyrinth with Alex, India and Nadezhda; it was so funny watching that movie again. We took a break, so I could go make some dinner (shepherd’s pie), before sitting down for Watchmen; we were joined by Jeremy. I can’t say it was one of the better movies I’ve ever seen, but it was certainly different. And that was my New Years. I was really glad I got to participate in hatsumode; certainly a unique-to-Japan experience. Walking back from Makino station this morning, I realised there was a solar eclipse. I looked it up online to find that it was only a partial lunar eclipse but still very rare. That and the fact that it coincided with a blue moon last night makes 2010 seem a very auspicious year to me; I certainly welcome it…
Friday, 1 January 2010
Day 123 - 31st of December
10:05pm 牧野駅
天気：寒い、風が吹いて
We’re in Makino station in the waiting room…
10:16pm 特急
I’m with Katie, Jo, and Nadezhda and now we’re on a limited express to Gion Shijo; switched over at Kuzuha. We’re going to the Chionin temple first, and then Yasaka shrine. Today was lazy… I got up at about 10:30, had breakfast and caught up with Ash and Katie; they had just arrived back from Tokyo via night bus. I was able to see the pictures of their trip on Ash’s camera; she then explained to me she wouldn’t be coming tonight because she felt under the weather. I made a quick trip to Sanko to pick up some meat and milk; since basically everything is closed on New Years. I got back and watched Ghostbusters on TV with Jo, Nadezhda, and Alex, and planned our night. I had a late lunch (very late) at about 4, and watched a bit of Lost with Vince on his laptop. I talked with my family on Skype for a while, before chatting with Alex and Carly.
At about 8, I went and had dinner (leftover yakisoba), and talked with Katie and Ash while watching a New Years singing competition; I saw Angela Aki in the ensemble performance! Susan Boyle was also on as a guest singer, and sung I Dreamed a Dream; how predictable. Since Jo was a guest, and she wanted to watch the program, she set up a chair in the corridor just outside the dining room door, and got me to prepare her cup noodles; it was rather funny. She ended up going back down to the lounge to eat however, and it was then I discovered there wasn’t much time left before we had to leave. So I rushed to get ready, and we made it out just past 9:30. The walk to Makino was freezing, and it was windy. Hopefully we’ll be more sheltered in Kyoto…
天気：寒い、風が吹いて
We’re in Makino station in the waiting room…
10:16pm 特急
I’m with Katie, Jo, and Nadezhda and now we’re on a limited express to Gion Shijo; switched over at Kuzuha. We’re going to the Chionin temple first, and then Yasaka shrine. Today was lazy… I got up at about 10:30, had breakfast and caught up with Ash and Katie; they had just arrived back from Tokyo via night bus. I was able to see the pictures of their trip on Ash’s camera; she then explained to me she wouldn’t be coming tonight because she felt under the weather. I made a quick trip to Sanko to pick up some meat and milk; since basically everything is closed on New Years. I got back and watched Ghostbusters on TV with Jo, Nadezhda, and Alex, and planned our night. I had a late lunch (very late) at about 4, and watched a bit of Lost with Vince on his laptop. I talked with my family on Skype for a while, before chatting with Alex and Carly.
At about 8, I went and had dinner (leftover yakisoba), and talked with Katie and Ash while watching a New Years singing competition; I saw Angela Aki in the ensemble performance! Susan Boyle was also on as a guest singer, and sung I Dreamed a Dream; how predictable. Since Jo was a guest, and she wanted to watch the program, she set up a chair in the corridor just outside the dining room door, and got me to prepare her cup noodles; it was rather funny. She ended up going back down to the lounge to eat however, and it was then I discovered there wasn’t much time left before we had to leave. So I rushed to get ready, and we made it out just past 9:30. The walk to Makino was freezing, and it was windy. Hopefully we’ll be more sheltered in Kyoto…
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