My First Cosplay

Last Sunday was the annual cosplay (costume play) festival in Nipponbashi. Perhaps some of you read my post about going for the first time last year and how awesome and exciting it was! After going last year, I decided I wanted to actually participate by dressing up this year instead of just going to look. So, I started preparing my costume slowly throughout the year.

Festival Advertisement.

My favorite anime is Death Note, and although I find Misa Amane to be a bit annoying as a character, I really love her look which is like cute-gothic. I figured it would look cool and be rather easy to pull off. I’m not at all knowledgeable enough or equipped to make my own costume from scratch, so I figured that gothic clothing could be easily bought.

Me is Misa Amane form.

Actually, I got my main items on Amazon: the Death Note notebook (¥1,040), the dress & socks (¥6,350), the wig (¥1,980), and the chocker (¥899). I included the fees and shipping in all the prices listed. The dress was originally ¥5,500, but it was shipped all the way from China. The gloves were from Daiso (¥200). Some of the accessories I bought at the mall (～¥2,000), but some I already had. My tights and boots were also things I already had. So all in all, I’d say I spent around ¥12,500 or $111. Not bad considering I bought these items over the course of a year! I know some people must have spent hundreds of dollars on their costumes. I plan on wearing my costume again this Halloween to get my use and money out of it.

Full costume.

So let me tell you about the day! I woke up at 7:30 in the morning to prepare. I did everything from trimming my eyebrows, to shaving, to painting my nails, etc. I met my boyfriend at 11:30 to head downtown. I stopped at my local bar on the way to the station, though, to show my friends who were there. They are all middle-aged and don’t go downtown, so for them it was exciting to see me all dressed up, and they took a picture with me haha!

I was pretty embarrassed to ride the train dressed like an anime character, but I’m used to getting stared at for being white anyway, so I just accepted it. We got downtown around 12:30, and the weather was perfect! I ran into my friend right away which was fortunate because there were so many people! We got to take a picture together and then went our separate ways.

After that, my boyfriend and I walked among the crowds looking at all the different cosplayers. I got pictures of and with some of my favorites. It was really exciting for me when I found other Death Note characters, especially, Ryuk, a god of death from Death Note because he looked so awesome! When I asked to take a picture with him, many other people got excited to see us standing together and started taking our picture.

Me and Ryuk!

Me with L, another Death Note character.

Last year I got super excited when I saw Inuyasha, the main character of my childhood favorite anime, but this time I got even more excited to see my favorite Inuyasha character and junior high school crush, Sesshomaru!

Sesshomaru!!!!!

There were a couple Inuyashas this year, too.

It was a really fun experience to do cosplay. It does take a lot of work and planning, so it’s not something I want to do every year, but I DO definitely want to do it again sometime. Going to see the festival and actually participating in it is a different experience. It feels really cool to take on a different persona and be someone else for a day. 

Attack on Titan.

Spirited Away.

Pokemon.

Zelda.

K-pop Club Night… on a Tuesday.

Here’s a pro tip to all the dudes looking to pick up chicks at a club: Go to K-pop night. Lol. A club in Minami called Onzieme (it’s on the top floor of the OPA building), is closing down soon. Actually it may already be closed. I’m not sure. In any case, I only had been there a couple times, but since it is/was closing, I decided to attend one of their last big events, K-pop night. My friend who also enjoys K-pop invited me. I have never been to a K-pop club event before, so I was pretty excited.

The event took place on a Tuesday…not exactly convenient, but whatever. YOLO right? ^^; Luckily it worked out that I had no class the next day, so I just took work off anyway. So basically it was like a weekend night for me. You would think that dance clubs are dead on Tuesdays…WRONG! Actually I have been to clubs on a Tuesday before, and they have been dead, but this time was different. Why? Because it was K-pop night!

K-pop is super popular in Japan and is gaining popularity around the world. Before going to the club (the event started at 8pm), my friend and I got burritos and drinks. We didn’t want to get there too early. I think we ended up getting there around 9:30 or 10:00. I don’t remember exactly…it was after margaritas and long islands. BUT HOLY CRAP, it was PACKED when we got there! Like 1 am on a Saturday night! All the lockers where in use, so we had to hold our bags. As I said, K-pop is popular which contributed to the amount of people that were there. There’s that and also the fact that Onzieme is/was closing. Lastly women could enter completely free, and college students were on spring vacation. I believe these are the reasons it was so busy.

Freakin' delicious frozen margaritas!

Yayyy burrito!

The part that was the most shocking though, something I’ve never seen, was that it was about 80% women!! I’ve never seen so many women in a club before! That’s why I said that if you are a dude looking to pick up a girl at a club, they are all at K-pop night haha! It was a refreshing change! I didn’t feel nervous or uncomfortable like I usually do at clubs. I wasn’t afraid anyone was gona touch me. Instead, I just had an awesome time dancing with my friend, stopping to get a drink every now and then.

Yay for K-pop girl night!

The first half of the time we were there, they played a bunch of songs we didn’t know. My friend and I are pretty main stream when it comes to K-pop and like artists like Big Bang and CL. However, they played one song I thought was really cool, and now I can’t stop listening to. It’s called “Trespass,” by Monsta X.

Another cool thing about the event was the dancers. There were a few people there who knew all the dance moves to all the songs playing and would get up on stage and perform the whole dance! I wish I could dance like that. It was impressive.

Dancers Dancing to PSY.

The second half of the time they played a lot of songs we knew which really got us pumped up! It was so fun to just have girl time. I’ve been a hard club-goer since coming to Japan, but in the past several months or so, I feel like I’m starting to wind down. I used to just blow it off when guys grabbed me in clubs or hit on me, but now, it has really started to upset me. Also, since the time my wallet was stolen at a club, I have been more on edge when I go. So ya, it was nice to just have a fun, care-free time. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for another K-pop event!

Rockin' out to "Bang Bang Bang" by Big Bang.

Acupuncture?

So I’m not the most spiritual person out there, and I don’t like to believe in things that don’t have hard evidence or science behind it, so when my doctor suggested I try acupuncture, I blew him off at first.

The Wikipedia definition says, “Acupuncture is a form of alternate medicine and a key component of traditional Chinese medicine involving thin needles inserted into the body at acupuncture points.” The Chinese believe that acupuncture balances the flow of life energy in the body… It is said to have several benefits such as improving blood flow and relieving pain and stress. Western scientists seem to scoff at it.

In America, acupuncture is seen as like a spa treatment that rich and famous people do. However, in Japan, it is a common medical procedure that people think nothing special of, like taking an aspirin when you have a headache.

I’ve been going to a clinic once a week for several months now (Japanese healthcare makes it dirt cheap) for my chronic back and shoulder pain. I’ve had pain since high school or earlier. Now that I can finally afford it, I thought I might as well take advantage of the services here! My weekly routine involves electrical stimulation (which I’m very familiar with due to my experience working as a physical therapy technician for a little bit in America) and a massage from a licensed therapist. These are things I understand and trust. Not only has it helped with my back pain but with stress relief as well. I look forward to my massage (which lasts about 10 or 15 minutes) each week.

However, these things don’t completely relieve the pain. A week of strain on my back from work, exercise, and such, often brings be back to where I started. Not always, but often. There are good weeks and bad weeks. My treatments seem to just give me temporary relief. I didn’t think that acupuncture would help, but when I started to have trouble sleeping from anxiety and stress, my coworker and doctor suggested that I try acupuncture. My doctor had been saying from the start that I should try it for my back, but when my coworker recently said he thought it’d help relieve my stress so I can sleep, I figured, “What the heck, it’s worth a try, and it’s cheap enough.”

So this is what the treatment consisted of. First, the woman doctor made me take off my over shirt (I had a tank top on) so she had access to my back. First she felt around with her hand for the strained muscles. It’s amazing how she pinpointed them with her fingers. She would push on a small spot and say, “Wow, you’re really stiff here.” Damn, I could feel it when she pressed. After sanitizing my skin with alcohol wipes, she started to put in the needles on different spots on my neck and upper back. It didn’t hurt too much. It was actually more like an ache that a stabbing feeling. I wouldn’t consider the experience to be pleasant, though. It’s not like it felt good, and I didn’t feel particularly relaxed, but then again, maybe it’ll take me a few times to get used to and embrace the experience.

Acupuncture.

Another thing that often accompanies acupuncture is “moxibustion,” which is another Chinese technique where the doctor burns moxa (aka a dried herb called mugwort) on you. It smells kind of like incense, and the little cones of it that they put on you (in my case my lower back), get pretty hot…almost uncomfortably hot. From what I read briefly, it’s a type of heat therapy. It Japanese, moxibustion is “お灸 (okyuu).” The process of having both acupuncture and moxibustion done together is “鍼灸 (shinkyuu).”

Acupuncture and Moxibustion.

After the process, which took maybe about 20 minutes, I stood up and felt really dizzy and lightheaded which surprised me. I thought perhaps it was because I had my forehead resting on a somewhat stiff foam pillow which cut off circulation to my head or something… but when I asked if it was normal to feel this way, the doctor said yes. She also said I may experiences some hot flashes from increased blood flow, but that never happened.

So the real test was when I tried to sleep (mind you it had been a few days since I had a good night’s sleep). When I got into bed I fell asleep instantly. When I woke up the next morning, I was shocked. My back also felt great; however it usually does anyway after just the massage and electrical stimulation. Me being the skeptic I am, I attributed the good night sleep to just being exhausted from not sleeping much.

Now, I am writing this post more than two weeks after getting acupuncture done, and I am happy to say that I have slept very peacefully every single night since! Was it the acupuncture? Is it a placebo effect? I have no idea. My back is hurting a bit now, but I have to say that it felt great for an entire week and a half after the acupuncture, which is longer than usual. I’m still skeptical of it all but admittedly intrigued. If I start having trouble sleeping again or my back gets really bad, I plan on trying acupuncture again. If it works a second time, then perhaps I’ll become a believer. Until then, maybe give it a try!

It’s Valentine’s Day Again~ ^^

I still remember my boyfriend’s words one year ago after having a wonderful Valentine’s Day date together. He said, “I’m looking forward to next year’s Valentine’s Day with you.” We had been together for about 9 months at that point, so to hear him say those words meant a lot to me. Of course I was happy to hear him say this because we had a good time together, but more so I was happy because his words meant that he expected to be with me still after another year passing.While we waited to get into the restaurant, hand in hand, I mentioned this memory to him which brought a smile to his face.

Our Valentine’s Day date consisted of a few parts. First, dinner. We went to Kushiya Monogatari, a restaurant chain that has all-you-can-eat kushikatsu (my favorite Japanese food). You fry it at the table yourself. It’s really fun and interactive. It’s kind of a special place to us because it was the first place we went to on a date as a couple. We hadn’t been there since our first date! Recently a big shopping mall opened by my home (read about it here), so we went to the branch in there this time. It was really convenient because we could walk, we didn’t have to spend money on transportation, and there’s also a movie theater inside…which brings me to the next part of our date. We saw a movie!

Kushiya Monogatari.

However, we had time to kill between dinner and the movie, so we went to the arcade. We played the taiko game together. It was actually his first time, so that was entertaining lol! The most exciting part, though, was when he won me a big cat stuffed animal from a crane machine! It was like a scene out of a movie! I was jumping up and down, squealing with excitement! It wasn’t just any cat stuffed animal, it was a Neko Atsume stuffed animal! Neko Atsume is a game for your smart phone similar to like Pokemon in that try to collect all the cats. I’ve been obsessed with it lately which made the prize so much more exciting.

Soooo excited!!!

Misty!!

For the movie, we saw The Martian (the Japanese title is actually The Odyssey) with Matt Damon. It was a movie we both wanted to see. It ended up being really great! We really got into it together, and it was totally perfect!

Movie date.

Lastly, before making our way home together, we stopped by the local bar where we first met to have a couple drinks. We relaxed over beer and cocktails (him beer, me cocktails) and chatted with the bartender and our friend who is a regular there as well. It was very chill.

When we got home, I gave him the chocolate I made. Girls giving boys chocolate on Valentine’s Day is a Japanese tradition. We mix American and Japanese tradition by going on a Valentine’s Day date (American tradition), but instead of him getting me something or exchanging gifts, I give him homemade chocolate (Japanese tradition). In return, he’s supposed to give me chocolate on March 14^th, White Day. Last year he forgot because he was so busy working overtime every day, but this year I’m expecting my White Day chocolate!!! Lol! Not sure if I should be a catty woman and not say anything to see if he remembers on his own or if I should just tell him I want something for White Day. What do you think? My boyfriend is super kind and loving towards me, but he’s a typical guy in that he forgets that kind of stuff lol. Maybe I should tell him, so I’m not setting myself up for disappointment!

The chocolate I made :3

So yes, another perfect Valentine’s Day together! If you are interested in reading my post about our first Valentine’s Day together, click here. For all my readers in a relationship, I hope you had a romantic time on Valentine’s Day as well. And for all my single readers, stay fancy!

The Fun Doesn’t End – Happy Birthday, My Dear

I love the cold months in Japan. I love fall leaves, I love winter illuminations, and I love how all the fun, romantic events align. First, my birthday is December 5^th. Then, it’s Christmas and New Year’s. On January 11^th, is my boyfriend’s birthday, and about one month later is Valentine’s Day. I guess I’m kind of thankful that our anniversary isn’t until May otherwise we wouldn’t have anything to celebrate together in the middle of the year lol.

In this post, I want to tell you about how I celebrated Shinya’s birthday with him (maybe it will give you some ideas), but before I do that, I’d like to touch briefly (or not so briefly) on my mini New Year’s party with him.

This year was a first in that I couldn’t actually celebrate New Year’s properly; with friends, drinking, countdown, etc. This was because my flight back to Japan was at like 6 in the morning on New Year’s Day. That meant I had to get to the airport around 3 am. I wasn’t about to go to the airport drunk or hung-over to ride a plane feeling like sh*t for 14+ hours. Also, since my house is about an hour and a half away from the airport, to make it easier on my parents and I (otherwise we’d be getting up at like midnight to go), we always stay at a hotel nearby. We had a nice dinner together, but we all went to bed early on New Year’s Eve, so really, I had no celebration.

Therefore, Shinya thought it would be nice to have a little celebration, just the two of us, once I got back. He even prepared a nice bottle of champagne for us like he did on Christmas. I asked him what I should make for food, and he explained that the way Japanese celebrate New Year’s, is to make food in advance or buy stuff, so they don’t have to do any work on New Year’s Day. It’s like wrong to spend time cooking in the kitchen on a day where you should be relaxing with loved ones. He suggested we buy some premade food from the supermarket, so we ended up buying sushi, tsukemono (Japanese pickles), and chili shrimp along with some other alcoholic drinks for while we were eating. The champagne was for after dinner to be enjoyed with smoked cheese and raw ham (I ate the cheese, he ate the ham).

We had a fun just chatting while enjoying the dinner and drinks. We became full after, so we took a little nap on the couch before moving on to the champagne round haha! We are so alike in that way. Once we woke up, we decided it was champagne time, but we wanted to do something while drinking, so I set up my hookah for the first time in a while and got out a deck of cards. I taught him how to play Gin Rummy.

While smoking, eating, drinking, and playing cards, we were having so much fun that time seemed to stand still. I have no idea how long we had been playing before we decided it was time to run o the convenience store for more snacks. It was a drunken decision, and despite having eaten a lot, we both were hungry again. The champagne he bought was a huge bottle, and after we finished it, we moved on to straight rum (I had Captain Morgan and also some nice Jamaican rum my friend had bought me there). Literally hours passed, I believe, of playing cards, drinking, and laughing… Eventually we decided it was time to go to bed, but that’s where things get fuzzy haha! It was such a cheap party at home, but it was one of the most fun times I’ve had with him.

Now on to his birthday celebration.

I had been planning the details for a couple months. I decided where I wanted to take him to eat, where I wanted to drink after, and what present I was gona buy him. I wanted to do something a little special because basically I did the exact same style birthday for him the year before. I also did cake for him at home last year, but I decided that this year, since we are on a champagne kick, along with cake, I would prepare a bottle of champagne as well and go all out with decorating my apartment.

The day of his celebration (actually the day before his birthday), I got up early and went to buy cake. I got two nice gourmet slices, one fruit and one chocolate, instead of a whole cake because I knew we’d be full from eating and drinking. I put the champagne in the fridge and proceeded to decorate my apartment by hanging balloons for the ceiling and putting together streamer things to hang around the room. After that, I got all done up and met him at the train station. He had no idea where we were going.

I surprised him by taking him to a very nice Italian restaurant that specializes in homemade pastas and brick-oven pizzas. I had been there once for a work party, so I knew it was good. For an appetizer, he got raw ham and I got a cheese plate, just like on New Year’s haha! We also got bruschetta to share. He started off with an Italian bottled beer and I with a glass of chardonnay.

For the pizza round, I switched to an Italian red and he to draft. The pizza was to die for. I let him choose which one he wanted, and he chose one with anchovies which was very delicious. For the last round (after taking a 15 minute break), we ordered an arrabbiata penne pasta. Our last drinks were another draft for him and a limoncello cocktail. We were stuffed…obviously.

Cheese plate.

Raw ham.

Bruschetta. 

Yay beer face!

Pizza,

Pasta.

After dinner, I took him to a nearby bar I had researched. Neither of us had been to it, but I thought it looked cool and fancy online. That it was. It was a whiskey specialty bar. Neither of us drink whiskey, but you could order other drinks, and I didn’t want that to stop us from experiencing a cool place. I would describe the inside of the bar as kingly. The place is called Bar Alive, by the way. The master gave us free cheesecake because I said it was Shinya’s birthday. We both hate cheese cake lol, but I ate it politely anyway and thanked him. Because it was a very pricey place, I wanted to stay there for only one drink, which we did.

Bar Alive.

Cheesecake. ^^;

We were feeling so stuffed that instead of going to the next bar I had planned that was only about 10 minutes away, we decided to head back to our town and drink there to give our bellies more time to settle down. We wanted to go to a bar called ANG that we both like but rarely get to go to, but it was completely full. Instead, we went to a different bar down the road that Shinya had been to a couple times but I had never been to. It’s called Soul Kitchen. Shinya has actually invited me there a few times and told me it was really nice and tasty (it’s a food bar, so they serve drinks and a variety of nice food), but we never ended up going. To my surprise, it was much better than I thought! The atmosphere was really cozy and romantic. They had an extensive drink menu. We ordered and had deep conversation together. At midnight, when it turned his actual birthday, I made sure to tell him happy birthday and give him a big hug. I get really excited about stuff like that. I was bouncing in my chair saying “It’s your birthday! It’s your birthday!”

Happy Birthday!

Later our acquaintances walked in and treated us to pizza without warning lol. We were still pretty full and had already had pizza once during the night, but it was very small sized pizza and over two drinks each, we finished it slowly. This bar is actually one train station away from where we live, so it is a pretty far walk, but luckily, when it was time to go home, our acquaintances offered to drive us which was very nice of them (it was pretty cold outside). The wife hadn’t been drinking, so she was fine to drive.

Once we got home and stepped into the entrance, I led Shinya to my bedroom and told him to wait patiently there. I had the doors to the kitchen and living room shut so he could see any of the decorations. I turned on mood lighting, got music playing, brought out the cake and champagne, and arranged it on the table. When I told him to come in to the living room, the first thing he looked at was me at the table with the cake and champagne. I told him to look up, and that’s when he noticed all the balloons and streamer above him. He let out a gasp and was amazed. I don’t think anyone has ever taken the time to do something like that for him, so he hugged me and thanked me with tears in his eyes. …YES! I DID A GOOD JOB!

Decorations.

Decorations.

Decorations.

We sat down at the table; I popped the bottle and poured the bubbly lol. Then I lit the candles on the cakes and sang him happy birthday. After blowing out the candles, we toasted for like the 5^th time that night haha and enjoyed our drinks. I was so full I could only take a few bites of cake and have 1 ½ glasses of champagne. Shinya took the liberty of finishing my cake and drinking all the champagne. I was so impressed haha! He was like, “It’s my birthday champagne, I’m gona drink it all,” before he proceeded to down his last glass in two gulps haha! I was sober by now, but I think he was drunk.

Champagne time!

So cute. :)

Before we finished the champagne, however, I gave him his birthday present. Before giving it to him, he told me that he had already received enough from me with the dinner, drinks, decorations, cake, and champagne. But what’s a birthday without opening a present?! So he opened it up to find a nice, new, leather wallet made from Italian deerskin. I had bought it at Sac’s Bar, which is a nice purse and wallet store. I thought the wallet was so pretty and would suit him well. His old wallet was a $20 falling apart piece of poo that he had been using for years haha! I was so happy I could get him a new one.

So that’s how we spent his birthday. From the next day on, he kept telling me how perfect it was. I had a blast as well. Happy Birthday, my dear!

Surprise Trip Home!

My Christmas was rather exciting this year. Most of you know I had been dealing with a pretty bad bout of homesickness. Well, my father did something for me that shocked me and helped me so much… he bought me a plane ticket home for Christmas! Something no one has ever done for me before. Not only was it for my benefit, but for the benefit of my family as well. My mother and sister had been messaging me about how much they missed me. On Thanksgiving Day, my dad asked how I’d feel about coming home for Christmas and keeping it a secret from everyone. Luckily, I had absolutely zero plans or things to do during my winter break (except celebrate with Shinya, which I ended up doing a few days before (see my previous post)). I was extremely excited by this idea and couldn’t help but jump up and down when he told me he bought me a ticket.

Thanks to this guy :)

Usually I save money for months before taking a trip home so I can buy things and go out to eat and whatnot. This time, because it was so short notice, I hardly brought any spending money home, but it was ok for two reasons. First, I had just been home in May and didn’t really need to buy much. Second, in order to get the cheapest ticket, my dad bought me one where I would fly back to Japan on New Year’s Day. This meant it would be the shortest trip I’ve ever taken home, about 9 days. Therefore, I didn’t really have much time to go shopping or out with friends anyway. It worked out perfect with money.

Not having money to spend actually kind of made my trip home more relaxed… and one more thing. Since I turned 26, I no longer have health insurance in America. It’s kind of bittersweet. The sweet part is that usually when I go home, I have to go to like 3 or more doctor’s appointments, but this time, since I couldn’t, I just spent my time relaxing and visiting people. It was definitely my most chill trip home which is exactly what I needed.

Honestly, I didn’t do anything that interesting while I was home. People were in and out of my house to see me, and I went to their houses, too. A lot of my friends have moved out of my hometown, and since I was on a short schedule, I didn’t make time to go visit them like I usually do. Ya, it sucks that I couldn’t see all of my friends, but in a way, it also helped me to feel more relaxed, less things to do and all.

I spent time cuddling with all my pets. I enjoyed spending time with my parents, sister, her boyfriend, and friends at home. I got to play Cards Against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, Warioware Smooth Moves, Cooking Mama, MarioKart, and Rockband. I got to enjoy snow and cold weather. I tried curling for the first time which was interesting (fell on my ass)…And of course, who could forget…THE FOOD!!! Dear sweet Taco Bell and deep dish pizza. I basically felt disgusting the whole time I was home from eating so much…but it was worth it.

Mouser.

Mouser in ball form.

Mia!

Evie enjoying the snow.

I enjoyed the snow too while I was home.

Tried curling.

YASSSSS!

Wish I could've eaten Taco Bell like
5 more times while I was home.

Oh, I’m forgetting the most interesting part, the surprise! Unfortunately, my mom found out  about the surprise 3 hours before I got home because my dad’s iPhone is synced with his iPad, and when my mom heard the iPad at home dinging from the messages my dad was sending about picking me up from the airport, she read them and figured it out. She was in super shock, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it. Apparently she called our neighbor crying, unable to speak and finally got out the words, “He’s bringing my baby home!!!”

Despite her knowing, her reaction was still pretty hilarious when she saw me. My dad blindfolded my mom and sister and had them sit on the couch while he brought me in. He said, “Merry Christmas Jenny (my mother). Merry Christmas Brittney (my sister). Merry Christmas Stephanie,” to which my mother ripped off her blindfold and started jumping and screaming “I knew it! I knew it!” I think she even peed a little HAHAHA! My sister was just in shock, mouth open with tears streaming down her face. She eventually yelled, “What the hell?!” and hugged me.

My sister and I.

I got to repeat the process of surprising people the whole first half of the time I was home. My grandpa’s reaction was so cute. He just stood silently and dumbfounded like why are you here until I got up and hugged him and he managed to say “Gee willigers.” I could see he was fighting back tears a little. My friend, Kaitlyn’s, reaction was great, too. She just looked like someone slapped her in the face when she saw me, and then she screamed, “Oh my God!!!” and we hugged a lot. Hehe! For one of my grandmas, I answered the phone when she called my mom and asked her if she knew who she was speaking to. She said, “Stephanie??” When I said yes, she said, “I’ll call you right back!” Apparently she wanted to check to see if I’d really pick up the phone again. When I answered the phone again, she demanded, “WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?!” I said, “In my home in America,” to which she replied, “You’ve got to be kidding me?!” It  was so funny! My other family members mostly just yelled and jumped up and down. It was so much fun surprising everyone.

Mother and friend.

Friends <3

Unlike the last time, this trip home really made me feel refreshed. Not sure how that works exactly. In May, I was so depressed about going back to Japan. I felt extremely homesick and depressed after that trip home. This time I felt good and ready to carry on my life here. I still feel good. I guess going home again was exactly what I needed, and I’m so grateful my dad did that for me. It will definitely be one of my most memorable Christmases! 

A Merry Little Christmas

Since I spent Christmas in America this year (interesting blog post to follow), Shinya and I decided to have our celebration together the weekend before, on December 19^th. Our party together this year was similar to last year in that I cooked at home and we ordered cake and exchanged presents, but this year was a little more “level up” in my opinion.

I made sure to have my house spotless and well decorated for Christmas with lights, presents under the tree, and a pine scented candle. I also made a Christmas playlist on iTunes to play while we enjoyed dinner and opening gifts. I picked up the pre-ordered Christmas cake and went grocery shopping in the afternoon. Afterwards, I showered and got all cute (painted my nails and everything lol). I started cooking and setting the table an hour before Shinya was supposed to come.

On the menu was salad, garlic toast with slow-cooked garlic cloves that became so soft you could spread them like butter on the bread, clams in a wine/butter/lemon sauce (I felt kind of bad because the clams were live when I cooked them), and spaghetti in a vodka sauce with shrimp, scallops, spinach, and mushrooms. The food turned out pretty dang delicious if I do say so myself lol.

Shinya came over at about 7:45, and I had dinner on the table by 8. We toasted with wine and beer, and wished each other a merry Christmas. After dinner, it was time to exchange presents. I was so excited lol! I was bouncing up and down shouting, “PRESENTS! PRESENTS!” Haha! Shinya got me a really cute and fashionable makeup bag with a Mickey Mouse pattern on it because he knows I like Disney. The pattern is really cool. I got him sweater, scarf, and hookah pen set. I don’t know if I was more excited to give or receive!

After relaxing and letting our bellies settle a little, we got out the cake and champagne. Shinya searched for and bought us a really nice (and rather large) bottle for our party together. After toasting again and blowing out our Christmas candles, we put in the Christmas move Shinya rented for us. He rented “The Santa Clause” with Tim Allen at my request. It was his first time to see it, and I hadn’t seen it in years, so it was really fun. Shinya ate his whole half of the cake while watching haha, and we took turns pouring each other the champagne until it was all gone. Needless to say, after the movie finished, we passed out on the couch together, sleepy from the champagne. I woke up a little after, tidied up, and woke Shinya up so we could brush our teeth and get into bed. It was a cozy, fun little Christmas together.

Poppin' champagne.