video added
Video was added to the Tokyo post. :)
posted by Living and Teaching in Tokushima @ 11:40 PM
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Living and Teaching in Tokushima
Living and Teaching in Tokushima
Since this was going to be a strange performance in Japanese and we would be lost for the meaning, we decided it's best to drink a little bit. But after wandering around for 30 minutes we realize that we only have an hour to find the venue. We hop on a train that will put us near the place (luckily we have a map of where the show is) and get off the train with 20 minutes to spare. We find a Lawsons, run in for some alcohol and directions, and make it to the show with 2 brief minutes to spare. Both of us are amazed that we managed to get there on time. For some odd reason, they don't charge us. I asked her how much it is, and although the signs said ¥3000 or so, she said nothing. So why argue... go inside.
The concert is odd to say the least. Surrealistically clad people are sprawling about the lobby and stage and seating area engaging in not only their personal business but also the business of people around them. Like an odd zoo. Some wear full costume, others wear a trashcan and a pair of underwear. They ran about, shouted at each other, trumpeted each others entrances and exits. There were drag queens singing the Sound of Music, aerialists in PVC miniskirts, sumo-wrestler kings, a number of buxom burlesque ladies, the trashcan-brief clad man took off all his clothes at various points of the night, a juggler. It was so strange and so random but mostly because we probably had no idea what was going on. Toward the end of the show there was a video of a bare butt pooping into some one's cupped hands. I personally found this tasteless and gimmicky, but then again I could have been missing some context. Tho still I think it would have been in poor taste. The show was called Hanakengo's Forbidden Zone. All in all it was a great show. I needed something this odd since I left the US. We grabbed a picture with one of the cast members after the show, and headed back to the train station. (First stopping by a random forklift along the way for some photos and Mos Burger for dinner).
Back on the underground and into Shinjuku. We were heading toward Shinjuku ni-chome and san-chomei. (The party areas) and settled in a bar in ni-chome. While enjoying a drink we were approached by two creepy men. One tall and white the other short and Japanese. "Excuse me" he said in a long drawn out creepy voice. "Do you know where would be a good place to see a drag show?" While the short Japanese one just stood there looking timid. No sorry. Later we see them at a dance club that we're at but we do not approach. We dance for hours at a place called Arty Farty and then finally begin to leave. It is after 11 and all the subways in the town close at midnight. Stupid stupid idea. Why would there be bars open until 5am but no subways or buses between like midnight and 6am? It's too late to find our way back to Liz's brother's apartment so we search for a hotel. When we arrived at Shinjuku station, long before even the concert, we stowed our bags in a coin locker bringing with us enough to use that night and stuff for emergencies. After an hour of wandering between full hotels on a holiday in the city (poor planning) we find one. With bathrobes! yay.
We wake up at 9 to be checked out by 10. I dried my pants of sweat from dancing the night before with a hair dryer (I know, lovely...) and put them back on. We grabbed breakfast and hopped on a train to Harajuku. Scary lovely Harajuku. Freaks abound in a slew of strange fashion. With the largest variety of strange shops to supply their lifestyles. Tokyo truly is the core of Japan's upcoming styles, both mainstream and underground. We went in a store that had the most extravagant costumes that would send Chara and Elton John blushing. We managed to snag a picture of us in shiny hats, but when I tried to take a picture of an outstanding dress I was scolded by the shop keeper. We went to many a many shops. I didn't buy very much (except a chain for my necklace so I could retire the ribbon) but Louise bought quite a lot of her Santa costume for her Christmas parties. We poke in a Thai food restaurant for dinner. And excited by the idea of bubble tea, I order a Thai coconut milk tea. To my horror the tapioca that I expected was tiny clear with a black crunchy inside and a fishy taste which brought to mind images of frogs eggs. I couldn't take more than a sip or two before I was completely repulsed. But the food was delicious.
Train into Shibuya and we begin to wander about. We found a restaurant that Louise had been to during orientation called the Lock Up. Here, in the sub-basement of a building you are greeted with a convulsing dummy in an electric chair behind prison bars. We almost nearly ran out at that point but decided to persevere. Wandering through the rock covered walls lit with black lights and creepy glowing paint, we arrive at a woman in a PVC dungeon mistress costume. She handcuffs me and takes Louise and I to a table. for larger parties there are small rooms surrounded by prison bars; we are put at a creepy table instead. I order a drink that comes in a graduated cylinder called "Electric Shock" and Louise orders something that looks like a bottle of pills. They bring it out. Louise's pill drink tastes like watered down cola, but my drink tastes like the most alcoholic thing in the world. It burns your eyes to drink it. After asking the woman what It was, she said it was a mixture of liquor and that it was 95% alcohol (that's what I heard I could have misunderstood but I wouldn't doubt it.) We decided to share and have a sip of mine, and chase the pain away with Louise's. We get two pizzas on top of that. When we finish the pizza we get dessert and are enjoying it when suddenly the lights go off. There is some announcement on the speakers and all of a sudden people down the hall are screaming. Then there is a parade of terrifying men/monsters roaming the hallways scaring you. The scariest of all is a bloody pig face man. After 10 minutes of monsters and mayhem the lights come back on and the PVC ladies haul the bad guys away. We pay and leave the restaurant after taking a picture of the Japanese couple next to us that we befriended out of fear. What a crazy time.
After dinner we wander out to the Sega store to play some arcade games. Louise broke the Mario Kart machine (just like she broke the bowling machine in Tokushima) and we had to call people over to help us reset the whole system. At this point we're worried because earlier I had called my host brother, Tomo, and he was going to be out of town until Sunday afternoon. Our plan was to meet up Saturday night and it was Saturday afternoon already. I started calling Ayako, my host sister, and finally got in touch with her. She was working until 10pm. Together we decided that its best to take our stuff to their house, and then go out for the night on our own and come back to sleep. One small problem, host mom was working too. So when we got off the train in Fuchu with all our luggage I staggered about for a little bit trying to recall from six years ago how to get to their house. Finally I give up and call a taxi. I DID remember their address after all these years which was amazing. It turns out the taxi ride was only two minutes long, and easy enough to remember. It all came back to me. And it was so nostalgic to be standing outside their door. We left our bags with a note and left for Shinjuku.
Wandering around Shinjuku without a plan we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere. We were so far removed that when asked about where subways are the people just scratched their heads and tried to think of the best way to break the news to us. We ended up taking a taxi back to the station and trying again. We find a shot bar. And while deciding to go to the Whisky section or the Bourbon section a man comes out and tells us there's a ¥500 cover. No thank you. Next bar. We really only have an hour and a half before our last train home so we start to get worried. But luckily there's a bar around the corner that's cheap and even has blue cheese pizza! With an hour to our names Louise and I resume the same attitude that we adopted at the Karaoke place a few weeks before. Keep the drinks coming and the mouths full. Get the most of the time. We hopped on the last train and took it back toward my host family's house.
As we approached the house my host-mother was taking out the garbage, and cautiously asked if it was me. It was instant nostalgia. Oh how I've missed them. She took us inside and called Ayako and my host father downstairs. They were gushing over how I've changed and I was filled with warm feelings about the past. We went to sleep and woke up the next day around noon. Tomo had come home while we were asleep and then left for lunch so my host mother had made us breakfast. Around 2:00 he came back and we were off in his vintage 1960-something Volkswagen out to meet his friends. All car nuts. We got there and no sooner did we step into one of his friends cars then a slew of paparazzi came with cameras taking pictures of us. Lord knows why... Then Tomo took his mom in his car and told Louise and I to go in his friends car and we went to Kichijoji. There was a Studio Ghibli museum there, but you need to reserve tickets weeks in advance to see it.
In Kichijoji we started wandering around various shops. After it got dark we started to head toward Inokashira Park. It was too dark for photos sadly but the park was beautiful. I indent to return in the spring because the whole thing is cherry blossom trees. My host mother took us to a restaurant there and we ordered a snack to hold us off till dinner. Then after a little while we decided that it was going to BE dinner, so we ordered more food. Louise got a beer from Thailand called "Phuket." The label said "Every day is a phuket day." How lovely. On our way back home, Tomo stops the car and we get out. Unsure of whats going on we look terribly confused. Then he explains that he's picking up Ayako and his father and is going to take them back here to meet us for dinner because they haven't eaten yet. Ok. Dinner Part Two. We go inside a Japanese style restaurant and order drinks, then food and more food. We're stuffed but they keep insisting we eat more. Oy. Afterwards we took a group shot with the help of a happy waiter and went home. I showed my host family the DVD of my dances. And we went to bed. The bus to the airport was at 6:40 the next morning so we needed to be up at 6 to get there. Tomo and Ayako drove us to the bus and we got on just in time. After saying goodbye, we headed for the airport. I miss them already.
At the airport I buy LOADS of Tokyo Banana (a cake gift set that everyone in Japan seems to LOVE) for my neighbors and my coworkers. We confuse the life out of a woman at the Yahoo cafe when we go and say we don't want to use the Internet, just get food. Apparently that never happens? Then some airport shopping before the hour plane ride back to Kobe. We had a 3 hour "layover" in Kobe; whatever would we do?!
We head straight toward the Chinese buffet upstairs. We figure its all you can eat, we can kill three hours leisurely in the buffet. But no. Louise decides that it is a contest. Each course must consist of three dishes. And our goal would be to reach 10 courses. As we photo documented each course, you can see our faces change from eager to bloated. I succeed in making it to the final 10th course, whereas Louise gives up at 9. (VIDEO)
Bloated as all hell, we get on the bus for home then the train for home. LONG traveling hours, but a FANTASTIC weekend. :-D
PICTURES!!!!
Tokyo in general
Hanakengo's Forbidden Zone (contains somewhat graphic images)
a clip from the show
Living and Teaching in Tokushima
Friday: Louise and I met at the station coming from opposite ends of the prefecture to meet, like is often the case, in Tokushima City. This time there was a plan! Fueled by an addiction to Purikura (those tiny decorate-able pictures in booths all around Japan) we keep thinking of new ways to take photos. You usually get a print out of 6-8 photos that can become stickers when all is said and done. That in mind. The theme that day was stripping. We had put on an appropriate number of layers far in advance and made it to the Purikura stations just before closing time. After taking some silly photos, trying to look sexy, we go outside to decorate them and print them out. It is then that we realize that in this particular Purikura there is a TV screen on the outside. We are not sure whether or not our images were being broadcast on that TV but judging from the face of the janitor sweeping up, we thought they might have been. We ran out of there immediately and met James for CoCoCurry.
Oh CoCoCurry. I love it so. After curry we decided we wanted to try something new. Already in a silly mood from the naughty picture taking, and a single beer at dinner, we decided that we would try one of those big Karaoke chains rather than going to the bars we usually went to. Shidax, a Karaoke chain, was decorated like a luxurious hotel. We request a karaoke room, and get bombarded with questions, which through struggling we manage to decipher. No we don't want a members card, Probably 2 hours, which all-you-can-drink option do we want? hmm
we want alcohol. we'll go for the $20 option. But after deciding all this we realize its $20 per person, and we only have 2 hours. So the marathon begins. Once we get into the booth we get on the phone and order beer while we decide what we want to drink. Then when our glasses were half empty we order another. Louise was a maniac, I was tailing behind, and James tailing behind me. We might have done more drinking than singing. At one point James went to the bathroom during Destiny's Child "Independent Women." and without warning Louise and I launched into a dramatic Opera during the slow part of the song. Then when we realized that it was possibly the strangest thing we've ever seen in our lives, we couldn't finish the rest of the song from laughing. Fortunately before we went Karaoke-all you can drink for $10 that includes soda. Nah. All you can drink for $15 soda and beer. Ahhing we took a BEFORE picture in the lobby with the character statues, because our AFTER photos showed exactly what kind of night that was turning out to be.
James went home because he had work the next morning but said he would leave his door open for us when we decided it was time to go back. We were on our way to Root Down for cheeseburgers when Louise spotted a sign for Turibilly Bops. A Rockabilly bar. She pushed me through the door and we stumbled upon this bar we had never been to filled with Pirates of the Caribbean and Nightmare before Christmas merchandise. There is even a Jack Sparrow version of pop-up-pirate that we decided to turn into a drinking game with the friendly Japanese people who welcomed us into the bar. When it was your turn someone had their head over the pirate and if it popped and hit them on their head when you put the sword in, they had to drink; and you put your head over when it was someone else's turn, etc. The bar owner was a riot and we promised him that we would return. Then off to Root Down for a burger, get some sass from Norman the owner about "why do you only come where at 2am for burgers..." I suppose rather than spending the whole night there drinking. So we are at present mad at him, and would rather not return. Back to James and wake up at noon on Saturday. There are two suspicious looking bumps on our necks in the same place. Kind of like an insect bite, except why would there be one on both Louise and I in the exact same place... hmmmmmmm.
Saturday. Louise and I do some shopping around James' place. Then headed off to the center of town to find James. His school had work on Saturday because it was a Tanuki Festival. So by "working" at it, he just essentially had to be there, walking around. So we walked around with him. Ate some fair-food hugged a person dressed in a Tanuki costume etc. On the way back we see Matt and Maya in Mr. Donuts. They inform me that there are no buses running into Tokyo on the weekend we wanted to go. Brief Panic. Then leave for James' house. Thrilling Pants story follows!!:
James was doing Laundry and had hung a duvet cover over his balcony to dry. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of boxer shorts had stowed away, hidden in the folds of the duvet cover only to escape at the most inconvenient time. And that they did. As the duvet hung over the balcony, his boxer shorts descended. Not to the ground floor (he lives on the fourth floor) but directly onto the balcony of the person directly below him on the second floor. Laying there on display for the owner of the apartment to walk out and see. James had given up hope, but Louise and I WERE going to get them back.
First Attempt: Dump water on them. The weight of the water will knock them down to the ground floor, as they were precariously perched anyway.
FAILURE.
It only made the boxer shorts and everything around them extremely wet.
Second Attempt:
A: Affix a safety pin to a piece of string and fish them up.
failure
could not see the safety pin past one floor down in the darkness
B: Attach a glow-in-the-dark witch to the safety pin and attempt to fish again.
failure
glow-in-the-dark witch vanished. no idea where she is to this day.
C: Attach a deflated ball to the safety pin. Fish.
near miss
pants were too heavy, possibly from the water in attempt 1, so we hooked for a second, and then lost them. At this point we're concerned that the owner of the house is confused
watching either a glow-in-the-dark witch or a deflated ball hovering around their window at
night.
Final Result of Fishing: FAILURE
Third Attempt: Operation Jab like a Maniac. Louise grabs a mop and goes to the ground floor. Jumping and swinging she cant reach the pants. I go down and we find a bucket. Standing on the bucket, even jumping from the top of the bucket in a do-not-attempt-this-at-home kind of way, we still cant reach. Louise gets on my shoulders with a mop, but freaks out when shes an inch of the ground and we cant complete this mission. James refuses to go on my shoulders.
FAILURE
Final Attempt: I wander the streets looking for a long stick. Tucked behind a soda machine at a local Karaoke place is a discarded curtain rod or something. It is extendable and just might work. We get back to find the owner of the house wandering around in the dim tv-screen lit room. I stand under his balcony with my wand in hand and Louise keeps a lookout for when his back is turned. GO! I soundlessly shoot my stick up and with the speed of a mongoose, I snatch the pants and they fall to the ground.
SUCCESS!! Pants are soaking wet.
All this before we've had anything to drink. We head out Bowling after that. Shoe size? shit. These shoes are in vending machines. You have to know your size. Luckily James' shoes have the size written on them in centimeters, so we get a good feel for how to size ourselves. I get shoes that are maybe one size or half a size too big for me so I decide to see if I can manage to exchange them in limited Japanese. Expecting to see the shoe room on the other side, I instead see this massive bank-vault type room, closed off to the shoe section. Rather than disrupt the sanctity of this glorious room, I decide to deal with my shoes as they were. Bowling is going great. None of us knows how to play and we get as many gutter balls as we do strikes or spares. Louise breaks the machine at one point by bowling her ball right into the pin-set-up machine. Sorry, can you please come over here.. the white people have destroyed your property... thanks. What had actually happened was we had gotten so excited about our ballet bowling that she didn't see it wasn't ready for her. Since we had a friendly group of Japanese boys in the lane next to ours we decided to challenge them to a ballet bowl. The first challenge was walk up to the line, turn once, and bowl. Some did well some didn't. Two turns-similar results. Chaînés were next (consecutive turns in one direction until you stop at the line) I did alright, most were horrible. Finally there were Piqué turns (with one leg up to the knee). They were real sports about it. :) But I'm sure we looked like freaks to those around us. After Bowling was retake of stripper Purikura. For some reason we thought we should do it again this time without a monitor. James didn't want to be in it so he pushed the camera button. After that, James had work Sunday and went home and Louise and I grabbed a taxi to Cassanova's. We only went there because we didn't want to go to Turibilly Bops without having something to drink first because we didn't quite remember what kind of place it was. Eventually we made our way over to Turibilly's and were welcomed with the same boisterousness from the barman as we had been the night before. This time we had a treat for him. Since he was so nice the day before we bought him a Nightmare Before Christmas towel. He loved it, and thanked us with a special kind of alcohol. This was something similar to Japanese Sake, but it had an actual poisonous snake coiled in a tight coil and floating in the bottle. The East Asian Pit Viper to be exact. The name of the drink was Habuzake. Or Habe (pit viper) Sake (alcohol). He said it would make us strong. It certainly tasted strong. More pop up pirate, this time with a Japanese woman who was quite proud to declare herself Japan's Number-One Wanker. Then finally back to James' place. Wake up late late Sunday and take the train home. Weekend #1 comes to a finish.
The next Saturday. We were invited out by Maya and Matt to a fancy-dress bar outing. The
theme is Gyaruo>. Boys with dyed hair, the latest J-fashion, makeup, and pointy pointy boots. I had used the wig that Louise got with her Colonel Sanders costume. Knew that would come in handy! Some trendy jeans I had bought earlier, a plaid button down shirt, open with a black A-tee under it, and chains hanging from the back of my pants. Louise had a short skirt with lacy stockings that ended just below her skirt. We were met with either confused looks or laughter where we walked. No taxi would pick us up. But eventually we made it to the train station to meet Rich from Takamatsu who was coming out with use that night. We met Matt and Maya at Casanovas. The bar owner didn't recognize me until I took my wig off. After having quite a bit to drink there, we went to Root Down (against our wishes) because Rich was hungry. We actually Drank there which I suppose made Norm happy. We're still not going back. Then after that we took James and Rich to Turibilly Bops. He remembered us and let the two other guys partake of his snake alcohol. We had God knows how much to drink there and then off to Ingrid's Karaoke Bar. James decided to head home. At Ingrid's we drank and sang until closing time. Then Ingrid took us out to a hip-hop club afterwards. We did not get home until 6 in the morning. That has never happened to me before. Sunday morning we were a wreck and stayed in bed until 1, stayed in the house until 4. Finally when we were able to move, we got our separate trains back home.
Ugh.
PICTURES!!!!!
Living and Teaching in Tokushima
I arrived at Louise's at 9pm. Friday night was pre-Halloween video game playing with Brian and Julie. I was the first one there. When I arrived Julie had called to say she didn't feel well and wasn't coming. We had been trying to get in touch with Brian for a while because we wanted to go run out and get a pizza, but with no sign of Brian, we thought perhaps we'd try and order the pizza. I called, started to say what we wanted but the man on the phone interrupted me with something I didn't understand. I sat there stupidly for a while, both of us "uhhhhhh"-ing at each other because I didn't understand and he probably thought I was an idiot. After I couldn't take it any more, I hung up the phone without saying anything. Failure. I returned to play Wario on Gamecube for a little while. FINALLY Brian calls us back, but the pizza shop is closed. We meet him at the convenience store instead and pick up some junky treats. We all get back to Louise's where a rousing game of Mario Party begins. Brian is sick and doesn't want to drink. So much for our pre-party. Louise and I have vodka and strawberry milk regardless (a strange combination, but it looked interesting at the store...)
Brian understands Mario Party, neither of us do. It seems that one of the characters in the game, Toady, is making up the rules as he goes along. We affectionately name these characters this, not knowing their real names--there's stupid Toady, Chicken Nugget in a Hat, and Special Needs Ghost. Needless to say, Brian wins.
We wake up bright and early to top off our Halloween costumes the following morning. Brian had returned home, so we would meet back up with him around 4pm for the drive out to the party. We started the trip in search of feathers for Louise's KFC Chicken Bucket. Oh. I hadn't told you. Louise was going dressed as Colonel Sanders, Julie was going as Sophia from Golden Girls, Brian as a Card Captors character, and I as a spokes-"person" for Mr. Donuts (a donut chain in Japan) Pon-de-Lion. Hes a lion with a mane made of a donut that he and his friends eat. When it is no more, his tail magically turns into another one and he puts it on his head!
No feathers were found in the surrounding area. We did however manage to find a set of fuzzy genitalia for my lion costume. Strangely when I asked the woman if they had feathers, she directed me to these things... We'd hit up so many discount shops and dollar stores our heads span, but no feathers. When we returned home, we cut open a pillow, emptied some feathers, and sewed it back up. Then time to start dressing.
Brian and Julie picked us up and off we started driving to Takamatsu. The cassette of E-Rotic Louise had made was pumping in the car. Amusing many Japanese people along the way by either sticking our oddly dressed heads out the window as we passed, or getting a gasoline request from pon-de-lion and colonel sanders... Because of all the balloons around my head, I could barely move in the car, so I was stuck with basically only directly-ahead vision. Before Takamatsu we made a pit stop at a Sega game center. There we took Purikura of us in our costumes, with stares and shock from the Japanese people around. In Toys-r-us, our next stop, despite being DIRECTLY next to the Halloween aisle, we were met with looks of confusion and sometimes disgust. It all became better when we went to Freshness Burger for a quick dinner. The two woman keeping house were in riots, and the one behind the counter nearly peed herself as I tried to pay with my lion-mittens on. THEY had the spirit of Halloween at least.
Back in the car, because by now we were very late for picking up Ashley. First tho, we needed to make a stop at KFC so Louise could pose by the Colonel statue. We walked into the plaza which had KFC, and two other restaurants (more upscale) and hurried next to the statue. People from windows of all the restaurants were staring at us. The KFC customers were especially confused to see the Colonel had come to life. After a few snapshots, one of the Maitre-D's from the fancy restaurant next door approached me. (He and a gaggle of waitresses had gathered at the door watching us) He goes behind me and tugs on my tail, which was a pon-de-lion shaped circle at the end of a yellow long balloon (for stretch and bounce). He gives it a firm tug, and then giggles and runs back to the waitresses. After saying something in Japanese, probably "It's a balloon!" The gaggle of them run to me, rubbing my balloons in my mane and pulling my tail all the while in hysterics. After the brief molestation, we run back to the car and head toward Ashley.
Once in Takamatsu, we park the car and take off. We met Ashley (dressed as Hello Kitty) at Starbucks, where Brian went in, and I audibly poo-pooed the donuts, claiming that they were not as delicious as Mr. Donuts. People were trying to be sneaky taking pictures with their cellphones but we knew it, and embarrassed them by calling them over or chasing after them when we noticed. The party itself was easy enough to find and we soon were there.
We knew almost no one at the party. It was mostly JETs from the other prefecture and their Japanese friends. None the less, Tequila shots were $3 and drinks $5. I was met with "are you a flower" by most of the foreigners, and "AAH!! Pon-de-lion!!!" by most of the Japanese people. Louise and I were obviously the best dressed ones there. She had a routine where she secretly grabbed a handful of feathers, and brought her had to her mouth to cough, as feathers flew. We entered the costume contest, but to no avail as it was cheer based, and no one knew our names. Instead a quite good Wolverine won the contest. But to be fair, his costume was great. Next was the dance contest, which I entered, and was a runner up. They asked me my name but again, it was applauds based and no one knew me. (That's just the excuse I tell myself :P)
The party soon became a blur after drinking a bit too much. I met many new people and exchanged facebook information. Saw some old friends that we had met from the Castle Party a while back. And had a general good time, despite being slightly uncomfortable in a dance belt and a yellow unitard for 10 hours. At 1am, Brian (who hadn't been drinking because he was sick) drags us off to the car. We say goodbye to everyone and leave. The trip back is very sleepy despite E-Rotic's best attempts to bring up the mood. Brian takes Louise and I to Louise's house and then Ashley and Julie home.
The next morning we wake up, and start playing video games. Get a snack at the convenience store, call up Julie, and play some more video games. When Julie gets there, we play Mario Party, this time on Chicken Nugget in a Hat's level. (He seemed a bit more there, but still a rotten cheater). The day had disappeared and Julie was going home. We all go to the grocery store together and get some microwave pizza. Then Louise and I go back to her house to eat pizza and watch the Simpsons movie she downloaded. At 8pm, after having stopped at electronics stores to buy Louise more video games and me a CD player to play music in my car, I head home, getting back around 10:30. What a LONG weekend. I was exhausted!
PICTURES!!!!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tokyo at last!
Liz and I arrive in the city late Thursday night. James meets us for some lovely curry dinner and Karaoke at Casanovas; singing Christmas songs and the standard fare. Shortly after it is to Turibilly Bops, then home. It is a short night because we have an early morning bus into Kobe to catch. We meet Louise at a cafe at 8 in the morning and hop on the train toward Kobe Airport (2 hours by bus). At Kobe airport we have 2 hours to wait. I had thought that the bus would drop us off in a shopping friendly area so I reserved some time to poke around, but Kobe airport is on an island with nothing but airport to do, so we wait. And after I buy a cheesecake for my host family, we hop on board a plane to Tokyo. The plane starts off pointing at Tokyo (as we can see from the handy flight path TV) but then curves sharply and heads toward China. Keeps heading there, gets halfway over Japan until it finally turns around. No doubt adding 20-30 minutes to the trip which would be much shorter if it didn't have to turn around so much, but who knows how planes work.... Either way it takes an hour to get to Tokyo. We land and take to the underground. Liz having some idea of where she's going back to her brothers house, and Louise and I with no clue. We say farewell at her brothers station and head toward where we think our concert is. Shinjuku.Since this was going to be a strange performance in Japanese and we would be lost for the meaning, we decided it's best to drink a little bit. But after wandering around for 30 minutes we realize that we only have an hour to find the venue. We hop on a train that will put us near the place (luckily we have a map of where the show is) and get off the train with 20 minutes to spare. We find a Lawsons, run in for some alcohol and directions, and make it to the show with 2 brief minutes to spare. Both of us are amazed that we managed to get there on time. For some odd reason, they don't charge us. I asked her how much it is, and although the signs said ¥3000 or so, she said nothing. So why argue... go inside.
The concert is odd to say the least. Surrealistically clad people are sprawling about the lobby and stage and seating area engaging in not only their personal business but also the business of people around them. Like an odd zoo. Some wear full costume, others wear a trashcan and a pair of underwear. They ran about, shouted at each other, trumpeted each others entrances and exits. There were drag queens singing the Sound of Music, aerialists in PVC miniskirts, sumo-wrestler kings, a number of buxom burlesque ladies, the trashcan-brief clad man took off all his clothes at various points of the night, a juggler. It was so strange and so random but mostly because we probably had no idea what was going on. Toward the end of the show there was a video of a bare butt pooping into some one's cupped hands. I personally found this tasteless and gimmicky, but then again I could have been missing some context. Tho still I think it would have been in poor taste. The show was called Hanakengo's Forbidden Zone. All in all it was a great show. I needed something this odd since I left the US. We grabbed a picture with one of the cast members after the show, and headed back to the train station. (First stopping by a random forklift along the way for some photos and Mos Burger for dinner).
Back on the underground and into Shinjuku. We were heading toward Shinjuku ni-chome and san-chomei. (The party areas) and settled in a bar in ni-chome. While enjoying a drink we were approached by two creepy men. One tall and white the other short and Japanese. "Excuse me" he said in a long drawn out creepy voice. "Do you know where would be a good place to see a drag show?" While the short Japanese one just stood there looking timid. No sorry. Later we see them at a dance club that we're at but we do not approach. We dance for hours at a place called Arty Farty and then finally begin to leave. It is after 11 and all the subways in the town close at midnight. Stupid stupid idea. Why would there be bars open until 5am but no subways or buses between like midnight and 6am? It's too late to find our way back to Liz's brother's apartment so we search for a hotel. When we arrived at Shinjuku station, long before even the concert, we stowed our bags in a coin locker bringing with us enough to use that night and stuff for emergencies. After an hour of wandering between full hotels on a holiday in the city (poor planning) we find one. With bathrobes! yay.
We wake up at 9 to be checked out by 10. I dried my pants of sweat from dancing the night before with a hair dryer (I know, lovely...) and put them back on. We grabbed breakfast and hopped on a train to Harajuku. Scary lovely Harajuku. Freaks abound in a slew of strange fashion. With the largest variety of strange shops to supply their lifestyles. Tokyo truly is the core of Japan's upcoming styles, both mainstream and underground. We went in a store that had the most extravagant costumes that would send Chara and Elton John blushing. We managed to snag a picture of us in shiny hats, but when I tried to take a picture of an outstanding dress I was scolded by the shop keeper. We went to many a many shops. I didn't buy very much (except a chain for my necklace so I could retire the ribbon) but Louise bought quite a lot of her Santa costume for her Christmas parties. We poke in a Thai food restaurant for dinner. And excited by the idea of bubble tea, I order a Thai coconut milk tea. To my horror the tapioca that I expected was tiny clear with a black crunchy inside and a fishy taste which brought to mind images of frogs eggs. I couldn't take more than a sip or two before I was completely repulsed. But the food was delicious.
Train into Shibuya and we begin to wander about. We found a restaurant that Louise had been to during orientation called the Lock Up. Here, in the sub-basement of a building you are greeted with a convulsing dummy in an electric chair behind prison bars. We almost nearly ran out at that point but decided to persevere. Wandering through the rock covered walls lit with black lights and creepy glowing paint, we arrive at a woman in a PVC dungeon mistress costume. She handcuffs me and takes Louise and I to a table. for larger parties there are small rooms surrounded by prison bars; we are put at a creepy table instead. I order a drink that comes in a graduated cylinder called "Electric Shock" and Louise orders something that looks like a bottle of pills. They bring it out. Louise's pill drink tastes like watered down cola, but my drink tastes like the most alcoholic thing in the world. It burns your eyes to drink it. After asking the woman what It was, she said it was a mixture of liquor and that it was 95% alcohol (that's what I heard I could have misunderstood but I wouldn't doubt it.) We decided to share and have a sip of mine, and chase the pain away with Louise's. We get two pizzas on top of that. When we finish the pizza we get dessert and are enjoying it when suddenly the lights go off. There is some announcement on the speakers and all of a sudden people down the hall are screaming. Then there is a parade of terrifying men/monsters roaming the hallways scaring you. The scariest of all is a bloody pig face man. After 10 minutes of monsters and mayhem the lights come back on and the PVC ladies haul the bad guys away. We pay and leave the restaurant after taking a picture of the Japanese couple next to us that we befriended out of fear. What a crazy time.
After dinner we wander out to the Sega store to play some arcade games. Louise broke the Mario Kart machine (just like she broke the bowling machine in Tokushima) and we had to call people over to help us reset the whole system. At this point we're worried because earlier I had called my host brother, Tomo, and he was going to be out of town until Sunday afternoon. Our plan was to meet up Saturday night and it was Saturday afternoon already. I started calling Ayako, my host sister, and finally got in touch with her. She was working until 10pm. Together we decided that its best to take our stuff to their house, and then go out for the night on our own and come back to sleep. One small problem, host mom was working too. So when we got off the train in Fuchu with all our luggage I staggered about for a little bit trying to recall from six years ago how to get to their house. Finally I give up and call a taxi. I DID remember their address after all these years which was amazing. It turns out the taxi ride was only two minutes long, and easy enough to remember. It all came back to me. And it was so nostalgic to be standing outside their door. We left our bags with a note and left for Shinjuku.
Wandering around Shinjuku without a plan we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere. We were so far removed that when asked about where subways are the people just scratched their heads and tried to think of the best way to break the news to us. We ended up taking a taxi back to the station and trying again. We find a shot bar. And while deciding to go to the Whisky section or the Bourbon section a man comes out and tells us there's a ¥500 cover. No thank you. Next bar. We really only have an hour and a half before our last train home so we start to get worried. But luckily there's a bar around the corner that's cheap and even has blue cheese pizza! With an hour to our names Louise and I resume the same attitude that we adopted at the Karaoke place a few weeks before. Keep the drinks coming and the mouths full. Get the most of the time. We hopped on the last train and took it back toward my host family's house.
As we approached the house my host-mother was taking out the garbage, and cautiously asked if it was me. It was instant nostalgia. Oh how I've missed them. She took us inside and called Ayako and my host father downstairs. They were gushing over how I've changed and I was filled with warm feelings about the past. We went to sleep and woke up the next day around noon. Tomo had come home while we were asleep and then left for lunch so my host mother had made us breakfast. Around 2:00 he came back and we were off in his vintage 1960-something Volkswagen out to meet his friends. All car nuts. We got there and no sooner did we step into one of his friends cars then a slew of paparazzi came with cameras taking pictures of us. Lord knows why... Then Tomo took his mom in his car and told Louise and I to go in his friends car and we went to Kichijoji. There was a Studio Ghibli museum there, but you need to reserve tickets weeks in advance to see it.
In Kichijoji we started wandering around various shops. After it got dark we started to head toward Inokashira Park. It was too dark for photos sadly but the park was beautiful. I indent to return in the spring because the whole thing is cherry blossom trees. My host mother took us to a restaurant there and we ordered a snack to hold us off till dinner. Then after a little while we decided that it was going to BE dinner, so we ordered more food. Louise got a beer from Thailand called "Phuket." The label said "Every day is a phuket day." How lovely. On our way back home, Tomo stops the car and we get out. Unsure of whats going on we look terribly confused. Then he explains that he's picking up Ayako and his father and is going to take them back here to meet us for dinner because they haven't eaten yet. Ok. Dinner Part Two. We go inside a Japanese style restaurant and order drinks, then food and more food. We're stuffed but they keep insisting we eat more. Oy. Afterwards we took a group shot with the help of a happy waiter and went home. I showed my host family the DVD of my dances. And we went to bed. The bus to the airport was at 6:40 the next morning so we needed to be up at 6 to get there. Tomo and Ayako drove us to the bus and we got on just in time. After saying goodbye, we headed for the airport. I miss them already.
At the airport I buy LOADS of Tokyo Banana (a cake gift set that everyone in Japan seems to LOVE) for my neighbors and my coworkers. We confuse the life out of a woman at the Yahoo cafe when we go and say we don't want to use the Internet, just get food. Apparently that never happens? Then some airport shopping before the hour plane ride back to Kobe. We had a 3 hour "layover" in Kobe; whatever would we do?!
We head straight toward the Chinese buffet upstairs. We figure its all you can eat, we can kill three hours leisurely in the buffet. But no. Louise decides that it is a contest. Each course must consist of three dishes. And our goal would be to reach 10 courses. As we photo documented each course, you can see our faces change from eager to bloated. I succeed in making it to the final 10th course, whereas Louise gives up at 9. (VIDEO)
Bloated as all hell, we get on the bus for home then the train for home. LONG traveling hours, but a FANTASTIC weekend. :-D
PICTURES!!!!
Tokyo in general
Hanakengo's Forbidden Zone (contains somewhat graphic images)
a clip from the show
posted by Living and Teaching in Tokushima @ 1:20 PM
Comments: 2
Friday, November 16, 2007
Two weekends in Tokushima City.
Nothing of merit, or of note, just a talk about the fun/odd/strange things I did for the last two weekends. (Nov 2-4 & 9-11) (It's a long one but its filled with nonsense that isn't really important)Friday: Louise and I met at the station coming from opposite ends of the prefecture to meet, like is often the case, in Tokushima City. This time there was a plan! Fueled by an addiction to Purikura (those tiny decorate-able pictures in booths all around Japan) we keep thinking of new ways to take photos. You usually get a print out of 6-8 photos that can become stickers when all is said and done. That in mind. The theme that day was stripping. We had put on an appropriate number of layers far in advance and made it to the Purikura stations just before closing time. After taking some silly photos, trying to look sexy, we go outside to decorate them and print them out. It is then that we realize that in this particular Purikura there is a TV screen on the outside. We are not sure whether or not our images were being broadcast on that TV but judging from the face of the janitor sweeping up, we thought they might have been. We ran out of there immediately and met James for CoCoCurry.
Oh CoCoCurry. I love it so. After curry we decided we wanted to try something new. Already in a silly mood from the naughty picture taking, and a single beer at dinner, we decided that we would try one of those big Karaoke chains rather than going to the bars we usually went to. Shidax, a Karaoke chain, was decorated like a luxurious hotel. We request a karaoke room, and get bombarded with questions, which through struggling we manage to decipher. No we don't want a members card, Probably 2 hours, which all-you-can-drink option do we want? hmm
we want alcohol. we'll go for the $20 option. But after deciding all this we realize its $20 per person, and we only have 2 hours. So the marathon begins. Once we get into the booth we get on the phone and order beer while we decide what we want to drink. Then when our glasses were half empty we order another. Louise was a maniac, I was tailing behind, and James tailing behind me. We might have done more drinking than singing. At one point James went to the bathroom during Destiny's Child "Independent Women." and without warning Louise and I launched into a dramatic Opera during the slow part of the song. Then when we realized that it was possibly the strangest thing we've ever seen in our lives, we couldn't finish the rest of the song from laughing. Fortunately before we went Karaoke-all you can drink for $10 that includes soda. Nah. All you can drink for $15 soda and beer. Ahhing we took a BEFORE picture in the lobby with the character statues, because our AFTER photos showed exactly what kind of night that was turning out to be.
James went home because he had work the next morning but said he would leave his door open for us when we decided it was time to go back. We were on our way to Root Down for cheeseburgers when Louise spotted a sign for Turibilly Bops. A Rockabilly bar. She pushed me through the door and we stumbled upon this bar we had never been to filled with Pirates of the Caribbean and Nightmare before Christmas merchandise. There is even a Jack Sparrow version of pop-up-pirate that we decided to turn into a drinking game with the friendly Japanese people who welcomed us into the bar. When it was your turn someone had their head over the pirate and if it popped and hit them on their head when you put the sword in, they had to drink; and you put your head over when it was someone else's turn, etc. The bar owner was a riot and we promised him that we would return. Then off to Root Down for a burger, get some sass from Norman the owner about "why do you only come where at 2am for burgers..." I suppose rather than spending the whole night there drinking. So we are at present mad at him, and would rather not return. Back to James and wake up at noon on Saturday. There are two suspicious looking bumps on our necks in the same place. Kind of like an insect bite, except why would there be one on both Louise and I in the exact same place... hmmmmmmm.
Saturday. Louise and I do some shopping around James' place. Then headed off to the center of town to find James. His school had work on Saturday because it was a Tanuki Festival. So by "working" at it, he just essentially had to be there, walking around. So we walked around with him. Ate some fair-food hugged a person dressed in a Tanuki costume etc. On the way back we see Matt and Maya in Mr. Donuts. They inform me that there are no buses running into Tokyo on the weekend we wanted to go. Brief Panic. Then leave for James' house. Thrilling Pants story follows!!:
James was doing Laundry and had hung a duvet cover over his balcony to dry. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of boxer shorts had stowed away, hidden in the folds of the duvet cover only to escape at the most inconvenient time. And that they did. As the duvet hung over the balcony, his boxer shorts descended. Not to the ground floor (he lives on the fourth floor) but directly onto the balcony of the person directly below him on the second floor. Laying there on display for the owner of the apartment to walk out and see. James had given up hope, but Louise and I WERE going to get them back.
First Attempt: Dump water on them. The weight of the water will knock them down to the ground floor, as they were precariously perched anyway.
FAILURE.
It only made the boxer shorts and everything around them extremely wet.
Second Attempt:
A: Affix a safety pin to a piece of string and fish them up.
failure
could not see the safety pin past one floor down in the darkness
B: Attach a glow-in-the-dark witch to the safety pin and attempt to fish again.
failure
glow-in-the-dark witch vanished. no idea where she is to this day.
C: Attach a deflated ball to the safety pin. Fish.
near miss
pants were too heavy, possibly from the water in attempt 1, so we hooked for a second, and then lost them. At this point we're concerned that the owner of the house is confused
watching either a glow-in-the-dark witch or a deflated ball hovering around their window at
night.
Final Result of Fishing: FAILURE
Third Attempt: Operation Jab like a Maniac. Louise grabs a mop and goes to the ground floor. Jumping and swinging she cant reach the pants. I go down and we find a bucket. Standing on the bucket, even jumping from the top of the bucket in a do-not-attempt-this-at-home kind of way, we still cant reach. Louise gets on my shoulders with a mop, but freaks out when shes an inch of the ground and we cant complete this mission. James refuses to go on my shoulders.
FAILURE
Final Attempt: I wander the streets looking for a long stick. Tucked behind a soda machine at a local Karaoke place is a discarded curtain rod or something. It is extendable and just might work. We get back to find the owner of the house wandering around in the dim tv-screen lit room. I stand under his balcony with my wand in hand and Louise keeps a lookout for when his back is turned. GO! I soundlessly shoot my stick up and with the speed of a mongoose, I snatch the pants and they fall to the ground.
SUCCESS!! Pants are soaking wet.
All this before we've had anything to drink. We head out Bowling after that. Shoe size? shit. These shoes are in vending machines. You have to know your size. Luckily James' shoes have the size written on them in centimeters, so we get a good feel for how to size ourselves. I get shoes that are maybe one size or half a size too big for me so I decide to see if I can manage to exchange them in limited Japanese. Expecting to see the shoe room on the other side, I instead see this massive bank-vault type room, closed off to the shoe section. Rather than disrupt the sanctity of this glorious room, I decide to deal with my shoes as they were. Bowling is going great. None of us knows how to play and we get as many gutter balls as we do strikes or spares. Louise breaks the machine at one point by bowling her ball right into the pin-set-up machine. Sorry, can you please come over here.. the white people have destroyed your property... thanks. What had actually happened was we had gotten so excited about our ballet bowling that she didn't see it wasn't ready for her. Since we had a friendly group of Japanese boys in the lane next to ours we decided to challenge them to a ballet bowl. The first challenge was walk up to the line, turn once, and bowl. Some did well some didn't. Two turns-similar results. Chaînés were next (consecutive turns in one direction until you stop at the line) I did alright, most were horrible. Finally there were Piqué turns (with one leg up to the knee). They were real sports about it. :) But I'm sure we looked like freaks to those around us. After Bowling was retake of stripper Purikura. For some reason we thought we should do it again this time without a monitor. James didn't want to be in it so he pushed the camera button. After that, James had work Sunday and went home and Louise and I grabbed a taxi to Cassanova's. We only went there because we didn't want to go to Turibilly Bops without having something to drink first because we didn't quite remember what kind of place it was. Eventually we made our way over to Turibilly's and were welcomed with the same boisterousness from the barman as we had been the night before. This time we had a treat for him. Since he was so nice the day before we bought him a Nightmare Before Christmas towel. He loved it, and thanked us with a special kind of alcohol. This was something similar to Japanese Sake, but it had an actual poisonous snake coiled in a tight coil and floating in the bottle. The East Asian Pit Viper to be exact. The name of the drink was Habuzake. Or Habe (pit viper) Sake (alcohol). He said it would make us strong. It certainly tasted strong. More pop up pirate, this time with a Japanese woman who was quite proud to declare herself Japan's Number-One Wanker. Then finally back to James' place. Wake up late late Sunday and take the train home. Weekend #1 comes to a finish.
The next Saturday. We were invited out by Maya and Matt to a fancy-dress bar outing. The
theme is Gyaruo>. Boys with dyed hair, the latest J-fashion, makeup, and pointy pointy boots. I had used the wig that Louise got with her Colonel Sanders costume. Knew that would come in handy! Some trendy jeans I had bought earlier, a plaid button down shirt, open with a black A-tee under it, and chains hanging from the back of my pants. Louise had a short skirt with lacy stockings that ended just below her skirt. We were met with either confused looks or laughter where we walked. No taxi would pick us up. But eventually we made it to the train station to meet Rich from Takamatsu who was coming out with use that night. We met Matt and Maya at Casanovas. The bar owner didn't recognize me until I took my wig off. After having quite a bit to drink there, we went to Root Down (against our wishes) because Rich was hungry. We actually Drank there which I suppose made Norm happy. We're still not going back. Then after that we took James and Rich to Turibilly Bops. He remembered us and let the two other guys partake of his snake alcohol. We had God knows how much to drink there and then off to Ingrid's Karaoke Bar. James decided to head home. At Ingrid's we drank and sang until closing time. Then Ingrid took us out to a hip-hop club afterwards. We did not get home until 6 in the morning. That has never happened to me before. Sunday morning we were a wreck and stayed in bed until 1, stayed in the house until 4. Finally when we were able to move, we got our separate trains back home.Ugh.
PICTURES!!!!!
posted by Living and Teaching in Tokushima @ 12:06 PM
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Halloween
In the car, back out west.I arrived at Louise's at 9pm. Friday night was pre-Halloween video game playing with Brian and Julie. I was the first one there. When I arrived Julie had called to say she didn't feel well and wasn't coming. We had been trying to get in touch with Brian for a while because we wanted to go run out and get a pizza, but with no sign of Brian, we thought perhaps we'd try and order the pizza. I called, started to say what we wanted but the man on the phone interrupted me with something I didn't understand. I sat there stupidly for a while, both of us "uhhhhhh"-ing at each other because I didn't understand and he probably thought I was an idiot. After I couldn't take it any more, I hung up the phone without saying anything. Failure. I returned to play Wario on Gamecube for a little while. FINALLY Brian calls us back, but the pizza shop is closed. We meet him at the convenience store instead and pick up some junky treats. We all get back to Louise's where a rousing game of Mario Party begins. Brian is sick and doesn't want to drink. So much for our pre-party. Louise and I have vodka and strawberry milk regardless (a strange combination, but it looked interesting at the store...)
Brian understands Mario Party, neither of us do. It seems that one of the characters in the game, Toady, is making up the rules as he goes along. We affectionately name these characters this, not knowing their real names--there's stupid Toady, Chicken Nugget in a Hat, and Special Needs Ghost. Needless to say, Brian wins.
We wake up bright and early to top off our Halloween costumes the following morning. Brian had returned home, so we would meet back up with him around 4pm for the drive out to the party. We started the trip in search of feathers for Louise's KFC Chicken Bucket. Oh. I hadn't told you. Louise was going dressed as Colonel Sanders, Julie was going as Sophia from Golden Girls, Brian as a Card Captors character, and I as a spokes-"person" for Mr. Donuts (a donut chain in Japan) Pon-de-Lion. Hes a lion with a mane made of a donut that he and his friends eat. When it is no more, his tail magically turns into another one and he puts it on his head!
No feathers were found in the surrounding area. We did however manage to find a set of fuzzy genitalia for my lion costume. Strangely when I asked the woman if they had feathers, she directed me to these things... We'd hit up so many discount shops and dollar stores our heads span, but no feathers. When we returned home, we cut open a pillow, emptied some feathers, and sewed it back up. Then time to start dressing.
Brian and Julie picked us up and off we started driving to Takamatsu. The cassette of E-Rotic Louise had made was pumping in the car. Amusing many Japanese people along the way by either sticking our oddly dressed heads out the window as we passed, or getting a gasoline request from pon-de-lion and colonel sanders... Because of all the balloons around my head, I could barely move in the car, so I was stuck with basically only directly-ahead vision. Before Takamatsu we made a pit stop at a Sega game center. There we took Purikura of us in our costumes, with stares and shock from the Japanese people around. In Toys-r-us, our next stop, despite being DIRECTLY next to the Halloween aisle, we were met with looks of confusion and sometimes disgust. It all became better when we went to Freshness Burger for a quick dinner. The two woman keeping house were in riots, and the one behind the counter nearly peed herself as I tried to pay with my lion-mittens on. THEY had the spirit of Halloween at least.
Back in the car, because by now we were very late for picking up Ashley. First tho, we needed to make a stop at KFC so Louise could pose by the Colonel statue. We walked into the plaza which had KFC, and two other restaurants (more upscale) and hurried next to the statue. People from windows of all the restaurants were staring at us. The KFC customers were especially confused to see the Colonel had come to life. After a few snapshots, one of the Maitre-D's from the fancy restaurant next door approached me. (He and a gaggle of waitresses had gathered at the door watching us) He goes behind me and tugs on my tail, which was a pon-de-lion shaped circle at the end of a yellow long balloon (for stretch and bounce). He gives it a firm tug, and then giggles and runs back to the waitresses. After saying something in Japanese, probably "It's a balloon!" The gaggle of them run to me, rubbing my balloons in my mane and pulling my tail all the while in hysterics. After the brief molestation, we run back to the car and head toward Ashley.
Once in Takamatsu, we park the car and take off. We met Ashley (dressed as Hello Kitty) at Starbucks, where Brian went in, and I audibly poo-pooed the donuts, claiming that they were not as delicious as Mr. Donuts. People were trying to be sneaky taking pictures with their cellphones but we knew it, and embarrassed them by calling them over or chasing after them when we noticed. The party itself was easy enough to find and we soon were there.
We knew almost no one at the party. It was mostly JETs from the other prefecture and their Japanese friends. None the less, Tequila shots were $3 and drinks $5. I was met with "are you a flower" by most of the foreigners, and "AAH!! Pon-de-lion!!!" by most of the Japanese people. Louise and I were obviously the best dressed ones there. She had a routine where she secretly grabbed a handful of feathers, and brought her had to her mouth to cough, as feathers flew. We entered the costume contest, but to no avail as it was cheer based, and no one knew our names. Instead a quite good Wolverine won the contest. But to be fair, his costume was great. Next was the dance contest, which I entered, and was a runner up. They asked me my name but again, it was applauds based and no one knew me. (That's just the excuse I tell myself :P)
The party soon became a blur after drinking a bit too much. I met many new people and exchanged facebook information. Saw some old friends that we had met from the Castle Party a while back. And had a general good time, despite being slightly uncomfortable in a dance belt and a yellow unitard for 10 hours. At 1am, Brian (who hadn't been drinking because he was sick) drags us off to the car. We say goodbye to everyone and leave. The trip back is very sleepy despite E-Rotic's best attempts to bring up the mood. Brian takes Louise and I to Louise's house and then Ashley and Julie home.
The next morning we wake up, and start playing video games. Get a snack at the convenience store, call up Julie, and play some more video games. When Julie gets there, we play Mario Party, this time on Chicken Nugget in a Hat's level. (He seemed a bit more there, but still a rotten cheater). The day had disappeared and Julie was going home. We all go to the grocery store together and get some microwave pizza. Then Louise and I go back to her house to eat pizza and watch the Simpsons movie she downloaded. At 8pm, after having stopped at electronics stores to buy Louise more video games and me a CD player to play music in my car, I head home, getting back around 10:30. What a LONG weekend. I was exhausted!
PICTURES!!!!
posted by Living and Teaching in Tokushima @ 8:31 AM
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