Oh god, I'm ALONE!

So I forgot to mention, a couple days ago, I got to try a new food in the staff kitchen. CURRY UDONNNN~ GAH. It was delicious! Curry and udon together? Bliss. Crazy messy though. I wasn't smart like Mike and I left my coat on while eating. It splattered everywhere. But it was so delicious that I was ok with it. Seriously, it was yummy.

So today on desk I got voluntold to go help in the office for a bit because it was so boring downstairs. When I got there I had the super fun amazing job of...folding pamphlets. That's it. Just folding. For an hour. At least we had a break though. And Mori-san brought cookies from his secret cookie stash for us. They were really nice. It was like 2 thin oatmeal cookies with chocolate in the center holding them together and then dipped in chocolate as well. Yumyum.

After that I went back to the desk, and Michie went to the shop. When she came back, she had a cute box with her. I guess it's a new item we're selling there. It's a book shaped box with shortbread cookies inside. There's 6 of them. 3 cranberry and 3 plain. She opened it and gave us all a cookie. They're like the size of a coaster. They're HUGE. Got a picture of the box, it's pretty cute. It looks like a storybook when closed.

 So when I got back from my dinner break, Megumi and Michie-san both left. I thought Megumi was just going on lunch. No. She went home. I had an "OHGODI'MALONE!" moment around 7:40 this evening, 1 1/2 hours after she left. Yeah, it took me an hour and a half to figure that out. Ahaha. Close went well though. I think it did anyway. I feel pretty confident. I have to work early tomorrow morning though. Bleh.

Trip planning.

So over the last few days I've done some trip planning. I've got two planned so far, one of which is paid for. I'm so excited!

Next Month - June 26 - 30
Tokyo!
Staying at the Sakura Hostel Asakusa - Get this, it's only 1,500yen a night. That's $15! And yes, it's a reputable place. I've done my research. They have english speaking staff on 24/7 which is a plus as well. I'm psyched!

Visiting:

Puroland

An all indoor theme park dedicated to Sanrio! It's like Disneyland for Hello Kitty! And since it's my birthday month that I'm visiting in, I get a few perks while I'm there as well! OMG, can't wait!

Shibuya 109 Building (aka Gal Mall)

Oh yes. This place is going to bleed my wallet dry. Known as the "gal mall" this mall is like, 6 floors high or something and it's ALL women's clothes/accessories/shoes. Specifically women about my age. It's known for it's trendy, in style clothing, and the fact that there are usually no men in it because of the shops.

Harajuku Daiso

One of the biggest Daiso shops, they even sell clothes and stuff in here!

Harajuku LaForet

Consisting of 6 floors, this mall is a hub of style. It houses such shops as Angelic Pretty, Moi Meme Moitie, Baby, the stars Shine Bright, Metamorphose and others.

Also, I intend to visit all the local attractions in Asakusa. Megumi says it's her favourite part of Tokyo, so I want to see it! There's an amusement park behind the hostel, as well as a temple to visit. The whole area looks lovely. Can't wait!

August 6 -7

WORLD COSPLAY SUMMIT!

EEEEE~ I've wanted to go to this for forever! And now, not only am I GOING, I get to participate in a few of the smaller events! Zoe and I are going together. We're both cosplaying as well. We will be participating in the Cosplay Parade on the first day, and we have admission to all the events as well. We also get to take home some swag because we bought the special advance tickets. Actually, we got a stupidly good deal on our tickets. They include accomodations for the one night we're there, and admission to everything in the Summit. It was only 8,900yen. That's really cheap! So exciteddd!

Distraction.

So I went to town with Gwen today. I think we both needed some time away from the mountain. We were both pretty shaken about Helen leaving.

Dharmesh was on the bus with us when we were going down, so we all went for breakfast together. There's a really cute house right by the train station that apparently is a coffee house as well. It's creatively named "Coffee Tea House" ahaha. I guess Dharmesh is a regular there, so he ordered for us. We all had honey toast. SO YUMMY~ It's just buttered toast with honey and a scoop of ice cream on it, but it was lovely. The bread was perfect and so soft! And it was really thick too! Huge slices. I actually had to use a fork and knife with my toast. Ahaha.

After lunch, Gwen and I went to Jusco (Aeon) today and we spent so much time there! I bought some more cheap clothes from Honey's. Seriously, the shoes were 1,490 yen and the bag was 980 yen. SO CHEAP~

They're all a dusty pink colour. The light in my room is really bad. Ahaha.
After Honey's, we went upstairs and went to Patty's. Seriously, that store is like...made for me! Purses, hair accessories and all manners of cute things are in that store. I want to live there. I restrained myself however, and only bought an umbrella for my purse. It was only 525 yen, so it was a good buy.

We walked around upstairs for a bit, and we did Purikura together. There was a Rilakkuma one that we did, and we did some weird one that made our eyes look huge and our faces look flawless. They're stickers as well, I think I might put them all over my laptop.

 After pictures, we went to Baskin Robins (yes, they have that here) and we got drinks. We both got "Poppin Soda" it was a blue soda that tasted like cream soda, with a scoop of pop rocks ice cream over it. There were little star shaped jellies in the glass as well! It was yummy and cute at the same time.

 Because we bought something there we got a present as well! They were giving away Snoopy pens to customers that bought ice cream or drinks from them. They gave Gwen and I both one, I thought that was sweet considering only one of us paid.

After ice cream we walked around upstairs a bit more and we passed a kimono rental shop. I don't think I was supposed to take a picture, but no one saw me, so it's ok!

So prettyyyyy~
After that we decided to head to 7-11 and Off House. I stocked up on drinks for my new fridge (oh, that's right. I have a fridge now incidentally!) and we went to Off House. It was my lucky day there! I found a lovely kimono, a matching obi and a fantastic set of kanzashi that had bira bira (the little metal strips that chime when you walk) and everything! Those are hard to find! It's sickening. I only spent 1,575 yen on the kimono, obi and kanzashi set together.

Aren't they fabulous? Yeah, I know. Orange Angel, really? But in person it all looks fantastic together! And seriously, all that for 1,575 yen. Yeah, $16. That's crazy!

It's never easy.

So last night was the big reception party. All I can eat and all I can drink! I pigged out on the buffet and I made good use of the all I can drink. A good time was had by all. However, I went downstairs after the dinner because Helen and I were the only gaijin working, so all the conversation was in Japanese. We still had a good time though. I hope they do another party soon. I ended up going downstairs and hanging out at the bar with Keira, Gwen, Rachel and Zoe. (Wendy was bartending) We had a great time! I learned a new drinking game. Gah, that was interesting. Poor Zoe was awful at it, her cards were always so bad! After pub closed we all scurried back to the common room and we sat around singing and just carrying on until late. I apparently passed out on the couch where Wendy found me shivering violently in the wee hours of the morning. She got me a blanket and left me down there for a bit, then decided to get me to my room. I guess I sleep like the dead (a family trait maybe? I was as bad as Jake so I:m told!) so they had trouble waking me up. Eventually they had to sit down heavily on the couch right by my head to wake me. I didn’t get carried up the stairs this time though! I was good, I wobbled all the way to my room, and Wendy got me a glass of water again, and I said how *she always takes care of me, what a good friend!*. I felt like crap when I wore up though. I guess I really do get hangovers; they just take over 9 drinks to get to. The hangover vanished after I took a nap though, so all’s well with the world...or is it?

While bored on the desk today, Yukichi-san from the shop brought me a can of apple juice as a present. He always brings me drinks, it's so nice!

 

I got to go on the roof today as well! Sam and Chris were going up there and when I said I didn't even know we COULD go on the roof, they said to come with. So I went to the roof, and WOW, the view is beautiful! I took some pictures. Really, it was so pretty!

 So two of our staff are leaving the mountain and Japan tonight. Helen and Martin are going home. It’s so sad. I’ve come close to crying about 5 times today. It was so sudden! I woke up this morning and *poof* they’re packing their stuff. Helen gave me my birthday present and I almost cried right there. I made them a little goody bag for on the plane. They leave tonight at 11:30. Until then they will be in the pub for farewells. The thought of losing both of them just makes me feel hollow. Martin and Helen were the first two people that I met on the mountain. Helen through email and Martin when I was at the train station, lost and alone. They’ve both stuck by my side through everything that’s happened to us. Helen was my savior when my heart got broken, and Martin was possibly one of the best people I've ever worked with. And now, I've barely known them a month and they’re leaving. I feel empty. It’s heartbreaking and never easy saying goodbye to someone you’ve formed such a close attachment with. Nothing will be the same.

Have a safe flight home, Martin and Helen! We love you very much!

 Helen's birthday gifts to me. A big box of Chai tea, a bottle of "hair fragrance" (it's perfume for your hair o-O), a bubble bottle shaped like a popsicle, a pen with rhinestones on it, a Hello Kitty keychain, the Keep Calm poster and a Maxicam button. I was really touched. <3

Manor House Tour.

So yesterday I did my first "tour". Kinda. We had a new Pan Nations teacher arrive and he's never been here before, so I showed him around. After that, I got the idea that I should take some pictures for you all and give you a "tour". And then I thought "hey, I'll take some pictures, AND give a tour." So that's what I did.

Enjoy.

Yeah, I had to do it in parts. Guests kept walking by, and I had to look respectable and whatnot. Also, I didn't have my camera at the time, so I had to use my iPod. So that's why the quality's crap. I took pictures in each room as well so you can look at all the details.

Yeah, I seriously had time to do all that this morning. It's been pretty dead. The highlight of my morning other than this was when I got to go to sports and...wait for it....FOLD TOWELS OMG. SO EXCITING.

It was sweet though, when Megumi and I were both sitting at the desk with nothing to do, Yukichi came in and brought is each a can of lemon iced tea as a present. It was quite tasty. Like our iced tea at home, but not as sweet.