Work. Party. & Pen Pals.

In between being bombarded with school work - writing reports, exams and such - I haven't been up to all that much. I have spent too many days hermitting in my room, I tend to get really overwhelmed when it comes to school work and it tuckers me right out. So when I wasn't writing a report (or stressing out about writing a report) I was sleeping. I get so flustered that my body just shuts down on me, and I need to nap in order to recharge frequently. So that's my sob story about the life of a university student, but life hasn't been all that bad. I've managed to complete most of my work; the way I (somehow) always do. I am currently just one essay away from complete freedom!! Therefore, I thought I'd take some time to write a new blog post.

Recently, I decided to head out with my friend Sophie to one of Japan's (many) quirky little restaurants. I don't think one can truly appreciate Japan without checking out some of its more - shall we say - unique restaurants. This one was train themed. We had been determined to get to this place for a while, the first trip we made was disappointing since it was closed. But this time, we made sure it was open! I really didn't know what to expect (you never can with some of these things). Outside was a vending machine like menu, where you prepay for a ticket to give to the chef. When we walked in, we were impressed with the train seats for chairs, and the train paraphernalia everywhere. The place was cluttered with pictures, tickets, toy train models, pretty much anything related to trains was somehow used to decorate this little place. There are only about five 'booths' in the whole restaurant, so it definitely had a cozy feel to it. Oh, and I suppose the main attraction might be the toy train that delivers your curry dish. Though I had seen it done before (i.e. the toy shinkansen train at Kappa), this model train was an old fashioned one and it was pretty cool. The curry was...subpar, but the experience was awesome! In general, I have to say that I think I'm a bigger fan of Indian curry than Japanese curry, but I was still quite happy to be in one of Japan's odd little restaurants. I would probably recommend this place for anyone visiting the area. On our way out the owner ran up and gave us a souvenir - a little train ticket stamped with the date, which will make for a great addition to my scrap book.

In other exciting news, I bought myself a Nikon D3000. After hanging out with three of my friends who all have the same camera, I couldn't help but notice how crappy and inadequate my little digital camera is. There I was, about to travel some of the most amazing parts of the world, with no appropriate camera to capture my experiences. No way jose. I went out to see what I could find... Sure enough, I scored a great deal (it happened to be on sale!) and I am really excited to put it to good use. My plans for when I am done this last week of school involve some 'street photography' in Japan. I'm not so skilled with a camera yet, but this one is really easy to use (it's actually idiot proof) so I expect I will be able to snap some good photos.

Since last week was a bit hellish (with two papers due on the Friday), I decided to go out and party a bit Saturday night. [You know, unwind... kill some brain cells while I'm at it.] I knew I wouldn't leave Tokyo without going to Japan's biggest and most talked about night club - Ageha. Previous plans to make it there fell through, so Saturday night was the night.
The club is out in the middle of nowhere, but thankfully there is a free shuttle from Shinjuku station for this reason. The party crew consisted of myself, 5 Aussies and 1 New Zealander; a rowdie bunch - just my type of people. I had a big role as the only Canadian representative - but I think I did my country proud. As the story goes, we drank...we danced...we had a great night. And the club, well...it's certainly huge. 3 Floors, each with a different Dj. I was glad to have made it out on a 'House' night - some of my favourite stuff to dance to. Outside there is a big swimming pool (for decoration, not for swimming) - but it's nice to look at, and creates a cool "pool party" atmosphere. The main bar on the first floor is equipped with four long poles on each corner - these are for the pole dancers that entertain throughout the night. I think I was more impressed than any guy in the room - those girls were talented! and the 'moves' were tasteful. I believe I have acquired a new appreciation for pole dancing (but don't worry Mom, it's not my thing). All in all, it turned out to be yet another successful night on the town (that ended at 8am).

So party time is over with and it's back to work for me - which is what I have been doing since. I resigned from Abercrombie in order to focus on my final reports, and later to dedicate my time to planning my travels (which I am still really looking forward to). The staff at A&F were nice, and it was great meeting new people - but I can't say I will miss the job itself. I did get used to it and it wasn't bad I guess - just probably something I would get bored of had I been there any longer; I will be working my last shift tomorrow. Then it's "Sayonara" !!

Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from a grade 6 student that I met when she was on a class trip in Kamakura. She was in a small group of kids and I gather part of their assignment was to try and meet foreigners to practice speaking English. They asked to have a picture with me, before asking me a few questions to get to know me a bit. I was flattered and pleasantly surprised to have received a copy of the picture along with sweetest letter. Basically...I now have a Japanese pen pal. Her name is Mika and she is just adorable.

Friends in my residence are packing up (I've started a little bit of packing myself). It's so hard to believe my stay in Japan is coming to an end; it feels like I only just arrived - but at the same time, I've adapted well and gotten pretty comfortable here (in some respects). Now that I've settled in, it's time to pick up and move on. Onward! now for a month long tour of Thailand, Cambodia,and Vietnam... then...I'm on my way back home.

There is so much I am going to miss about this place it is unreal! Some of the things making the top of the list include:
- Onigiri, Takoyaki & Daifuku (but all of the food in general!)
- The countless vending machines! (especially those with booze and warm coffee)
- the toilets (and there many functions - I'll probably be shy returning to the use of toilets that don't make flushing sounds)
- the pretty Japanese boys (with their perfect bone structure + edgy, fashion forward, and rather feminin style) AND their dancing.
- conbinis !!
- Purikuras!
- karaoke
- jelly drinks
- Matcha ice cream
- Broken English on various ads, labels and merchandise
- 7day second hand shops
- Basically...Japanese culture (respect)
- The Tokyo city life (so lively & fun)
- Izakayas (Japanese style 'pubs'); especially the all-you-can-drink ones
- The fashion (from 'Shibuya fashion' to 'Kawaii fashion' and 'Harajuku fashion' - I love it all.)
- the clubs and (long) nights out ['til 6am]
& SO much more!

I came, I saw, I fell in love. (with Japan)

xo