HOME MADE 家族 CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, April 5

Yes, this post is about THE HOME MADE 家族 CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it's also about going the zoo again, as well as the horror story that is my life (more on that later)...

So, yeah, let's start with the zoo! We got up early and left around 9 to head to the zoo. I was slow getting ready and had to rush when it was time to leave. Therefore, I forgot important things like my sunglasses and house key (which I didn't realize I lost until later tonight... but that's coming later!). Thankfully I remembered sunscreen, so at least I didn't get burnt!

On the way to the zoo, I played my flower DS game. I'd started it last weekend and was surprised to find I could understand a lot of it. When customers come into the flower shop, they have all these criteria for the arrangement they want, and I was actually able to understand them all and make the perfect bouquet, haha! It made me really happy.

Then we got to the zoo! There were so many people there, so we had to drive around for a while before we found somewhere to park.
It was nice and sunny, but windy, so it stayed pretty cool all day.
We went all around to see all the animals, so Miya could do the stamp rally (it seems they have that at every zoo. And the prizes were the same as at Hanamatsu lol). Some animals I hadn't seen last weekend so that was cool!

This weekend, petals were falling from all the sakura trees, so it looked so beautiful!!

Walking to the zoo!

The entrance we came in. The ferris wheel carts are all animal shaped!

Aaahhhhh, kawaii!!!

Two penguins!

So many sakura petals in the water!

Fat seals, haha

The white one just looks like a ball

Kirin!!

Koalas again. We came in just as they were being given bamboo to eat, so there were hundreds of people in there taking pictures.

A carpet of sakura petals!

 

We ate lunch at picnic tables under the sakura. I got to choose what I wanted to eat. They had the bento I love with the sushi and inarizushi combo, so I picked that. I felt bad because it was the most expensive (700 yen), but I hadn't needed dinner last night, nor was I going to need it tonight, so I figured I could get a pricey lunch.

Everyone eating

I don't know if you can see it, but if you look closely against the tree trunk, I caught some of the petals in the air!

Petals raining down into the river

As we were leaving, we saw a show going on where this girl dressed all super cutesy was dancing around to cutesy music and making balloon animals. She made a balloon umbrella with a balloon frog on it for this little girl. But then she said she usually gives the balloons she makes to the child as a gift, but since this was a zoo, the animals might try to eat the balloon so it was too dangerous. So she didn't give the girl the balloon. I mean, really? Japan has too many rules.
Just wait till you see the rules at the concert tonight!

Then we saw these furry animal things you could ride if you paid 200 yen. So Ken gave Miya 200 yen and she rode around on it. She was scared but the thing moved really yukuri (slowly), so it was daijoubu. Miya looked so freaking adorable riding around on it. It played music as it moved too, haha!

Miya traded in her completed sticker sheet for koala origami paper and then we headed out.

Way back to the car

While we were walking back, we Yuko and Ken wanted to hop up onto a higher walkway so we could get a view of this park. Yuko couldn't lift herself up, so Ken picked her up and put her up on the walkway. Miya freaked out and was all like, "kimoi!!" (gross!), hahaha. It was funny!

Then, because none of us was really sure where the subway station was, and if I went back home with everyone, I'd leave too late to meet Yuri at Tsurumai Eki, everyone drove me to Sakae, so I could shop for the hour and a half I had to wait. It was so nice!

When they dropped me off, I waved to them and then went over to cross the street. We both were crossing the street, so they had to wait at the light too. Then when the light turned green, and we both crossed, they all waved at me again as they drove past. So cute!!

I decided to head to Book Off. On the way, I passed these three guys singing a little concert. There was a group of people around swaying to the music and taking movies. It was cool! There was even a booth selling their merchandise. I listened for a bit and then left. Later, when they were finished, I saw girls who were fans going up to talk to them.

I headed to Melsa, the mall Book Off is in. On the way up, I saw a store selling a bunch of things for 98 yen (105 yen with the new tax), so I headed in. I found a pack of 10 different colored pens (including pink) for 100 yen, which I've been wanting for taking notes in class. I grabbed them and then looked around some more. 

Seeing nothing else I wanted to buy, I headed up to Book Off. In Book Off, I realized I was still holding the pens!! I'd stolen them and hadn't even realized! Man. Japan needs to step up its security. Of course, I went back to pay for them, but it was really tempting to just walk away with free pens.

In Book Off, I looked through the 200 yen clothes and tried on a bunch, but I wasn't too happy with any of them, so I decided not to get anything. Plus I didn't want to have to carry it at the concert.

Here are some pretty awesome Engrish shirts I saw though:

So I guess if you're not straight, you're unbalanced? Actually, that literally does make some sense...

"STOIC is necessary to do doing only now" ... WTF?

 Yeah, fun times. Then it was time to leave! I hopped on the chikatetsu and made it to Tsurumai Eki just before 5:30. I waited and waited, though, and didn't see Yuri! I was starting to freak out and wished for the millionth time I had 3G. But then Yuri came over to me from behind! She was like "Keito! Ah, yokkata!" She'd been worried too. It turned out she'd come to Tsurumai by the JR and had been waiting at the JR station. I had no idea Tsurumai had a JR line too! I'm so happy she thought to come look for me at the chikatetsu station.

We walked together to Nagoya Civic Auditorium, which was in Tsurumai Koen (where I did hanami with my new friends this past Wednesday). 

OMG it's happening!!

I was sooooo excited!! When we walked in we passed the stalls selling souveneirs and CDs. Neither of us wanted to buy anything, so we headed up to our seats. There was the pit right under the stage, and then there was a balcony above that and a second balcony above that! We were in the topmost balcony. I paid Yuri back for the tickets, but I thought she had texted me 5290 yen, instead of 5920. Stupid dyslexia. I didn't realize this till later though. 

When we got up, I decided I wanted to buy a towel as a souvenir because literally every other person there (all Japanese by the way) had a towel, so I figured it was the thing to buy. And plus the shirts were $30, while the towels were only $15. I was disappointed that everything being sold had English writing on them and no Japanese. The only time I saw "Home Made Kazoku" written with the "Kazoku" in kanji was on the back of a girl's shirt from their 2010 tour. I guess once they got big in America, they started making everything in English. Darn.

Let me give you a history of me and HMKU real quick:

When I was 13, I was obsessed with the anime Naruto. This was when the second (and better) part of it, Naruto Shippuden came out in Japan. And I thought the opening theme for the first few episodes of Naruto Shippuden was the bomb.com!! So of course I looked it up. It was called Nagareboshi and written by a Japanese hip hop/rock band called Home Made Kazoku. I immediately fell in love with the song and listened to it every night as I fell asleep. Soon I had the whole refrain memorized, but had no idea what I was saying whenever I sang it, haha. But I believed it was helping me learn Japanese. 

The next year, Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds came out in Japan. The theme song for the movie was HMKU's No Rain No Rainbow. I fell in love with that as well (although Nagareboshi was still my favorite) and listened to that all the time too.

In 2010, HMKU made their debut in the United States!! AHHHH!! I remember when I found out. It was summertime and they were playing in Boston at an anime convention called Otakon. I remember seriously considering driving down for the day, since Long Island isn't too far from Boston. I was even willing to miss a perfect beach day to go. But I didn't do it. :(

Then, HMKU did another theme song for Naruto! This time, an ending theme. It was called "Freedom." Boom. Another song added to my list of favorites.

And finally, last summer HMKU returned for their second concert in the U.S. Again, they were playing at Otakon in Boston. But this time the convention fee was almost double what it had been in 2010 and I was working away from home and thus was farther from Boston. :/ Super taihen.

Last semester, while researching Nanzan one day, I happened upon the list of famous graduates of Nanzan on Nanzan's Wikipedia page, and who do I see on the list? Yup, Home Made 家族!! 

(On another note, the famous singer Ryohei, who's featured in my favorite J-Pop song "Miss You" by M-flo, is also a graduate of Nanzan! I go to an awesome school ;D )

Apparently they all met at Nanzan and formed the band while they were students there! Holy crap! I walk the same halls they walked years ago. 

And in the fall of 2012, I think it was, they came to Nanzan for Nanzan's school festival and PERFORMED AT NANZAN!! Rawr!

Anyway, I immediately looked up if they were performing here and then found out they were and the rest is in my blog! :DDD

So yeah, while we were waiting in line, Yuri told me that HMKU is coming to the U.S. again this year as part of this 10th anniversary tour! And they're going to two places this time! Georgia and California!

This tour feature the "Best of Home Made Kazoku" and is celebrating 10 years of touring.

Here's the towel I bought! I wanted a pink one with a different design, but it was sold out. But I ended up liking the design on the blue one better!

The only Japanese is on the patch in the corner :(

And then the concert started!!

And let me rant real quick about Japanese rules. So we weren't allowed to take pictures or movies during the concert! Yuri told me if they saw you with a camera, they would kick you out. And the security guards roamed the aisles the entire time! Ugh. I was so not used to not being able to take pictures. At concerts in America, it's literally a sea of cameras!

And it was weird because I watched HMKU's concert at Otakon on YouTube, because someone posted the video they took, so I knew what they were like when they came to America.

Before the concert started

I noticed a lot of elements that I wouldn't have gotten to experience had I only seen HMKU in America, so I'm happy I got to see them perform in their hometown. Also, in America they speak in English at the concerts (since DJ U-Ichi and I think Kuro maybe, can speak English). But I think for that reason, they don't talk as much because they're nervous about messing up or whatever. So I was happy I got to hear them speak in only Japanese and boy did they talk a lot in between songs. It was really cool and fun!
When they first came out, all wearing sparkly red suits haha, they shouted "Tadaima!" and we all shouted back "Okaeri!" It was cute!
They sang two songs to get us excited and then took a quick break to talk about the sakura, haha.
They told us it was their 10th anniversary and we all clapped. Then they said how excited they were to be back in Nagoya, their hometown.
I kind of wished I'd been with someone who was bilingual,who could have translated everything they said for me. Because although I understood some of it, there was a lot I didn't get.
But they also made up little raps they made us sing with them like "Aichi-ken, Mie-ken, Shizuoka-ken" and "Migi te, Hidari te" and then whatever "clap your hands" is in Japanese. It was fun!

After they finished talking, boom,third song, they sang my absolute favorite, Nagareboshi!!!! AHHHHH!!! It was so, so amazing!
All the times I'd watched the music video to Nagareboshi and thought HMKU was SO far away, all the way across the planet. But now they were live, right in front of me!! It was spectacular. And now, I know all the words to the song and sang along to the whole thing! :)
They also added in this dramatic pause after the second of the only two English lines, "I wanna shine." It was great!

They sang some more songs I didn't know and then they sang No Rain No Rainbow!
After that, they paused for a long comedy bit, haha. When it first started, DJ-Uichi was saying "suwate, suwate!" but no one was sitting and he was all, "minna suwaranai!" (everyone isn't sitting!) Haha. But we all finally sat.
I had no idea what they were saying most of the time, but the audience was howling with laughter and Yuri kept chuckling after everything they said.
They were all really energetic, dancing and shouting and jumping all around the stage.
When there were moments of silence, Japanese girls would squeal "kyaaa" and shout their names in super high pitched voices, haha.

After the comedy bit, they sang more! For the last few songs, little kids came out with HMKU shirts and danced as back up dancers, haha.
Oh, and another thing. A lot of the songs had dance moves too! Micro, Kuro, and DJ U-Ichi taught us the moves while they were singing and we followed along. It was fun.
They also added in things between the lyrics of their songs, lol. I remember when I went to the Kelly Clarkson concert in Houston, after she said the lyric "the place I belong," she added in "Texas!" because Texas is her hometown. And I thought that was totally awesome.
Well, HMKU kept shouting "Nagoya" and "Aichi" in between the lyrics of their song "Home Sweet Home"! :)

Oh, and best part? At one point, Kuro was standing on one of the little table things on the front of the stage, and as they were starting one of their songs, and DJ U-Ichi was about to drop the bass, Kuro jumped down and shouted "Drop that shit!" (in English) I laughed out loud and looked around me grinning, but everyone else was staring ahead unfazed, completely unaware he'd just sworn. Lol!

Close to the end, they sang Freedom and I totally rocked out. During it, confetti fell from the ceiling! Then they sang one I didn't know and finally ended with Home Sweet Home. During Home Sweet Home, we all waved our towels in the air and swung them around. After that, they threw their towels they had been using into the crowd and shot off some shirts with a cannon. Gosh, they sang for so long! But it was totally awesome!!

After they left, the Japanese people all started softly singing some chant. I had no idea what they were saying, but whatever it was, it meant they wanted an encore. I was laughing because everyone always does that after concerts, but it never works.
But then the concert hall lights weren't coming back on!
And I was like, are they actually going to come back out??

And they did!!!! They had changed into the shirts that the little kids dancing had worn. They all joked around with us and called out certain people they'd noticed in the audience, like a lady who held her kid the entire time, and a man and his son who'd done potty squats the whole time, haha.
Then they sang another song!
After that song, they told us we could take out our cameras and they posed in their trademark "walking" pose that's on all their album covers.

The pose!

Finally, the last song they sang was another of my favorites, "Arigatou" to thank us all for supporting them. It was really cool, during the song whenever they said "Arigatou," we would all bow! Another thing that wouldn't happen at their American concert.

And then it was over.

Gosh, it was beautiful. I really had a great time! And I'm so happy Yuri came with me.

I had spent all my money on my towel and only had 300 yen left, not enough to pay Yuri back. So we're going to find some time in the future when I can pay her back the rest of the money. I felt so terrible!

They bowed really long and deeply at the end of the show and then kept bowing over and over as they walked out! Then after they'd gone backstage, a montage of pictures of them played. I saw one where they held up a sign that said "Sakuru" (school club, in Japanese), and I think it was from when they were at Nanzan!

The concert ended at 8:45!! They'd sang for two and a half hours (they were about 15 minutes late starting)! SUGOI!!! 

Then this came up at the end:

I got in trouble for taking this picture, haha

It was raining when we left. But Yuri and I walked through the park to see the sakura at night (what I've been wanting to do!) and then she went back to the JR station. Also, while we were walking, this drunk guy waved at us and slurred"hi!" to me lol.

Me with my towel!

Sakura at night

 

I should have gone home, but I decided to look at the sakura some more. There were so many people out drinking and doing hanami with friends. I saw "Little Chicken", the sakuru from Nanzan, was back again!

I was taking this picture of one of the lanterns, when this old drunk dude approached me. He asked where I was from in English and then invited me to sit on one of the tarps and drink and do hanami with him. Haha, no.

He was fun to talk to for a bit, though.

Sakura lantern

I like how pink this looks!

I decided to go across the street to Lawson's and buy onigiri, orange juice, and a melon pan since I hadn't had dinner yet. On the overpass, that allowed you to walk across the highway, some drunk people were dropping beer bottles and they were shattering all over the stairs. Abunai, yo!

Then I walked back to the park to drunk people watch and sat on a bench that looked fairly dry and ate my onigiri and drank my OJ. But then I was too full for my pan.  

For some reason, all the lanterns turned off at 9:30. Most people left then, but a lot of people stayed to do more drinking in the dark, haha.
On my way out, I saw the students from "Little Chicken" again. This girl was shouting the Japanese equivalent of "chug, chug, chug!" while a guy chugged a Bombay Sapphire, haha. Just like America, guys.

Finally, I made my way home. Since I hadn't ridden my bike that morning, I had to walk home in the cold rain from the station. It had been warm the past week, but it was in the low forties tonight. :/
Therefore, I only got to the house around 11.
While I was walking, I realized I'd forgotten my key. I had my purse today, but my key was still in my backpack. I'd been so rushed this morning, I'd completely forgotten about it! Usually, I remember because I have to use the other key on the chain to unlock my bike, but I hadn't ridden my bike.
Shit! I figured, though, since the back door is always open, I could just hop the back fence and enter that way. Or if everyone was awake, I could just knock on the back window. So that calmed me down.

But when I got home, all the lights were off and the car was in the driveway. Everyone was home and already asleep. So I hopped the fence and went to open the back door. But it was locked...
Now I was really freaking out. I hopped back over the fence and went around the front. I couldn't get into the apartment complex, so I rang the bell for the intercom of our apartment, but no one answered. I hopped the back fence twice more, and tried different things like knocking on the doors and windows. I even crept around the front to my window and tried to open it, but I'd left it locked. Fuuuuckkkk.

So I hopped back over the fence. I was freaking out now. I debated walking back to the station and catching a train to Nagoya to use the WiFi to get a hold of my friends and maybe crash at someone's place, but it was already after 11 and trains stopped running at 12 and I definitely didn't want to be stranded somewhere else. I thought about walking to the church and sleeping there, but there was no guarantee it would be open.
So I crossed the street to Seiyu, which is open 24 hours. I saw a pay phone out front, so I used my only 10 yen coin to call Yuko. (By the way, I literally only had 66 yen on me after I bought dinner). She didn't answer. I tried to use my 50 yen coin, but the phone wouldn't take it.
I went in to Seiyu and stood in line to ask for change. But when I finally got up to the counter, the lady told me they don't make change there. Bitch.

I'd lost hope at this point. So I went outside and crouched on the ground and started crying, hoping some Japanese person would take pity on me and help me out. But no one did. One guy even walked right past me and didn't stop to ask what was wrong.

So finally, I figured I had to go up to someone myself. I saw a guy who'd just bought groceries going over to his bike. I figured he was in a rush and didn't want to bother him, but he stopped over by the bikes to take a smoke. This was my chance!

I went over and asked if I could use his phone. He said he was having problems with it right now, but he would try. But his phone seemed to be frozen. After we waited for a while and it still wasn't working, I just asked him if he could make change for a 50 yen coin, and he did! He gave me five 10 yen coins. So I went back over to the pay phone.

I called the home this time and no one answered. The guy came over then, saying his phone was working now. So he let me call Yuko again and then he tried her. She didn't answer either time. So I asked him to try the home phone, but no one answered that either.

He asked where I was trying to go and I pointed to the apartment complex and told him what had happened. It had gotten really cold now and I was shivering like crazy.
He kept saying "what can you do?" over and over in Japanese, trying to think of a way to help me. But neither of us could think of anything. Finally, he asked if I wanted to come to his house to get warm and then try Yuko again from there. I was soaked and shivering so I agreed. He only lived about a 10 minute walk away, so he walked his bike alongside me.

It turned out he lived in an apartment by himself. He seemed about 40-ish and was a typical salaryman. He spoke absolutely no English, so I had to practice my Japanese. When we got in, I took my shoes off and he hung my raincoat up for me. Then he turned on his hot carpet and let me sit down. He made me matcha and asked if I'd eaten dinner already! So nice! I said I had, no worries.
My hands were frozen solid. The tea cup was so nice and warm. He asked if my hands were "tsumetai" (cold) and then felt them, maybe because he wasn't sure I understood what "tsumetai" meant. And he was surprised by how cold they were.
I saw he had a collection of manga and video games. He put his phone in a charger and then made himself coffee and we sat and watched TV. He told me his name was "Atsushi."

I was thinking maybe he would let me crash here if I ended up not being able to get back home. And it was looking more and more like that would end up being the case. It was after midnight now and still no one had called back.

And then his phone buzzed! He picked it up and answered and then said "just a second, here's Keito," and it was Yuko!!! She sounded really tired and I felt terrible, but I told her what had happened. She asked where I was and when I told her, she was like, so what should we do? I suggested she leave the back door open and then I could hop the fence and go in and she said that sounded good. So I said I'd be home in about ten minutes.

When I hung up, I told Atsushi what she had said. But he just kept sitting there, watching tv, not moving. So I sat for a bit more and watched. Then he asked how old I was and when I said "hatachi" told me I was "wakai" (young). Yeah...
I kind of wanted to go home because I was really tired, but he had my coat in the other room. His phone beeped again, but he didn't look at it. What if it was Yuko calling back?

Then he felt the back of my hands again. The backs were still cold, so he grabbed them and put them between his hands to warm them up. I thought he'd let go of my hand, but he didn't!!
Wtf?
So I was like, I should be getting home now. And I stood up. Thankfully he stood up too. But then he put his arm around me!
I was so scared he was going to hold me there and not let me leave. But then he came in for a kiss!
WTF DUDE??? Thankfully, I saw his intentions a few seconds before he acted on them, so I used my ninja skills to duck and avoid him.
But I was like, I've gotta get the fuck outta here!!
He got the hint then and went and got my jacket for me. I grabbed my things and put my shoes on and headed out. He told me how to get back, and I got out of there. I'd been planning on taking him back and giving him a gift for helping me out, but now all thoughts of presents were gone. What a pervy old man! I looked back once I was about two blocks away and saw him still watching me.
Once I was out of sight, I ran. It warmed me up too, because I was still cold and my Sperry's were soaked through.

When I got home, the back gate was cracked, so I didn't have to hop the fence. And the back door was unlocked and the kitchen and living room lights were on. Yuko said "tadaima" when I walked in. I told her everything that had happened and thanked her SOOOO much for calling! If she hadn't, I probably could have been raped!
She was really worried and kind of freaked. I thanked her over and over again and apologized over and over and then she told me I should take a shower and get warm and she headed to bed.

I felt really bad because I heard her coughing for the next hour as I got ready for bed. I'd stolen a lot of precious sleep from her, all because I was stupid and forgot my key!
I finally got in to bed around 1:20 am. Ugh and I had to get up early the next day!
As I was lying in bed, I felt a rumble and the house shook like when we're in Handaa and the train passes by right outside Obaa san's house. In my delirious state, I was like, "ah, another train passing by," and then I came to my senses and was like, "wait, there aren't any trains near the apartment!"
And then I was like, "Holy shit, was that an earthquake? No way!!"
So I got on my phone real quick and checked the earthquake radar for Nagoya. It had no news of quakes, but then again it had only happened like two minutes ago. But I figured maybe it wasn't and just went to sleep.

It turned out IT WAS AN EARTHQUAKE!!!! I FELT MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE TODAY, GUYS!!!! WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man today was an adventure. I saw Home Made Kazoku perform live, I was this close to being molested by a Japanese guy, and I felt my first earthquake! Why has my life become so eventful recently?

Also, pic from HMKU's Instagram (they liked the picture I posted of them btw). I can see myself way up on the third floor!

Friday festivals with taiyaki!!

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh I'M GOING TO THE HOME MADE KAZOKU CONCERT AND I'M GONNA SEE THEM PERFORM LIVE AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

So last Friday at the nomihoudai I asked Yuri if she knew Home Made 家族 and she said she did and she liked them! I told her about the concert in April and said I wanted to go and she did too, so I was like let's go together! And she said okay.

But then we didn't say anything much else about it, so a few days later. I texted her about it and she said she'd buy the tickets since the website was all in Japanese lol, and then last night she told me she'd just bought them! Ahhhhh!!! I can't wait! I'm so excited she's going with me and I'm so excited I'm gonna see HMK perform live in their hometown!!!!!

Spring has finally come to Nagoya! This morning I couldn't believe my eyes when my phone said it was going to get up to 63 today and then at breakfast, while I was eating my onigiri, Yuko was all like "kyou wa atatakai" yeaaaahhhh!!! And then I went to my room to put on my kitty tights and a skirt and not freeze to death for once and I opened my window and it was sunny and warm with a nice breeze blowing in and ahhhhh!! This is my favorite time of year! And it just makes Japan that much more beautiful! ;)

After breakfast, Ken Skyped on the new iPad so Miya could talk to him. I said ohayou gozaimasu. It was weird because he was driving while talking on it. I guess Japan doesn't have laws about that? I mean with all the TVs up in the front next to the steering wheels (btw there was one in Rana's dad's car when he picked us up last Friday and it was weird seeing it up there. I feel like I'd be so distracted by it while driving), I guess Skype is an okay thing to have as well.

(Pic because I <3 them!)

The bike ride to the station was sooo nice! I decided not to wear my coat today and it was the perfect decision, although I did worry my friends wouldn't recognize me without my usual massive amounts of pink... But every Japanese person I passed was all layered up in coats and hats and gloves and I just kept thinking y'all cray! 

At Yagoto Nisseki, I saw Esteban, Emma, and two other CJS girls all get off the train I'd just exited. So we all walked to school together. One of the girls had this bag of okashi and she didn't want the whole thing, so she gave us each two. They turned out to be these rice cracker things with a strong flavor I immediately recognized as ginger. They were actual pretty good!

She also had this adorable stuffed Rilakkuma head keychain on her backpack that held her train pass. I asked her where she got it and she told me at this store with stationary and cute things in Sakae next to a coffee shop called Hoshino Coffee. Ahh I really wanted it!

Nothing exciting happened in Japanese class today, but in project work I amazed sensei with my fast typing skills and the fact that I've typed in Japanese before. She had me do this typing practice packet first where I typed various words in hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Then I typed out my whole report and she was shocked at how quickly I finished it. She had me read it to her, so I did and then I was done 5 minutes early, so she let me out early! :D

I went downstairs and talked to Rana about Tokyo because we'd been planning to go to a host club and perhaps maid cafe together. She said she'll probably be going Sunday through Tuesday, so we're going to hang out together then.

I was eating lunch with Rafa and Esteban, but I didn't see them in all the time I was talking to Rana, so after talking to Pearl for a bit, I headed to the cafeteria alone (Pearl had already eaten and was going to workout).

I got misokatsudon (ooooh big surprise!) and a few minutes later Rafa and Esteban showed up and came over to eat with me. Rafa got a huge ass dish because he ordered the ooki (big) version of the katsucurry. Look how big it was!!

When we'd finished, I decided to get on the secret wifi to look up Hoshino, the coffee shop that girl had been talking about so I could look at the store next door. I moved closer to Lawson's to get a stronger signal. It typed "Hoshino coffee Sakae" into Google and was only getting people talking about it, no maps. So I put the kanji of it in Google and got the Japanese page. Then I clicked on location and got a lists of every Hoshino coffee in all the prefectures of Japan haha.

I saw the kanji for love, "ai" and therefore knew that section was Aichi prefecture. But I couldn't remember the kanji for Sakae. So I went into Lawson's and asked the old dude working in there. He told me it was the first one on the list. So I clicked on that and finally got a map! And it was right across from Sunshine Sakae, awesome!

So I went back over to Rafa and Esteban and we left. First we stopped by YKK (one of the dorms) so Rafa could drop off his bag because he was going to go back there later to go drinking with some of the dorm kids. I was shocked there were so many dorm kids sitting inside playing video games on such a beautiful day!

I talked to this girl I'd never talked to before because she started telling me about how her host mom kicked her out because she'd lived there last semester but her host dad was coming home from a trip and they needed the room she was in now, so she had to move to the dorms. When we were finished talking, I was all like, I don't know your name lol. So she told me her name's Nikki. She was really nice!

It was cool seeing YKK and everything (I liked it better than NKK), but I was itching to go shopping, so I told Rafa and Esteban I was ready to leave. Rafa said he'd go too, but Esteban stayed to play a board game, that Rafa said was a pretty nerdy game. Haha I want to know what it was. But yeah I was ready to go back outside and walk around.

So Rafa and I took the subway to Sakae. We switched to the Higashiyama line because it was faster that way (I don't know why I didn't think of going that way all the other times I went!) we exited at the exit that goes into Sunshine Sakae and then went across the street to look for Hoshino Coffee.

Except we went to exactly where the map said it should be and it wasn't there. We were super confused. After looking at the map on my phone for a while, we noticed the place marker for it was in the middle of a street! Whaaat?

Then Rafa was like "Ohh, it's underground!"

Damn I'm glad he was there or I would have just figured the map was out of date and left. But no, we went down to the underground mall that I always forget is there.

It was like the freaking Houston underground down there in that it stretched for miles and miles, but shopwise, it was 10 thousand times better than Houston! We walked the wrong direction first but then Rafa asked this girl in one of the stores where Hoshino coffee was and she was all "tonari no tonari no tonari" haha. So we went down a few shops and then found it. And next door was heaven!

Like holy crap. So the place was called Olympia and it was like a shrine to everything cute! I pretty much died when I saw it. Rafa wouldn't go any closer than five feet of it and was all like "I'll be looking around over here..."

So I saw the train pass holders right away because there was an entire wall dedicated to them. They had both Rilakkumas, the brown and the white. The brown came with a red heart and the white a pink (yay!). I couldn't decide between the two of these card holders:

(Arghhhh look at them!)

So when Rafa came over because I was taking so long, I made him help me. He said the seal one seemed bulky. That was true and it was more expensive and the Rilakkuma one doubled as a pouch, so I picked the Rilakkuma one! Gosh, it was such a hard decision though!

Other cute pouches:

(Kitties!!)

(Rilakkuma in 2D form)

(More of the 3D pouches. The one of the guy above the seal is this guy Crayon man or something from this weird cartoon Miya and I watch)

And the phone cases were cute too:

(Pika!)

I wanted to stay and look at the stationary too, but Rafa wanted to get to Osu and I did too, so I'll go back another time. I paid way too much for the Rilakkuma pouch and then used it to cute-ify my backpack. Now it's so much easier to get out my train pass! I don't even have to open my backpack or my wallet!

(Before I put my card in)

(After I put my card in)

So Rafa and I headed back out of the mall and walked over to Osu. I knew the way, so I led us.

When we got to the covered mall, we walked through it trying to find the cowboy/Texan (I'd seen it before so I knew what he was talking about) store where Rafa wanted to try on some boots. We walked three blocks before we found it. On the way, we ran into a fellow foreign student from CJS who told us he'd just gotten his haircut haha.

Then we found the store! Rafa went in and I went over to a clothing store we'd passed that was nearby. 

And they had the kitty tights with the cheeks!!!! Ahhhh!!

Then Rafa came and found me and told me that he hadn't been able to try on the boots. I asked him what he was gonna do next because I was just gonna stay here and shop for the next couple hours haha...

So he ended up heading back to Sakae for a bit. I continued looking in the store with the tights out front. They were having a crazy sale! I almost bought this adorable girly wallet exactly like the one I have, except cute. It was only 500 yen! And I was also really close to buying this cute lacy purse because it was only 500 yen as well! But I didn't like how short the strap was. :(

Ugh I also wanted this adorable backpack, but it was over $20 even with 30% off. :(

(And I would have liked it better if it hadn't said "Lovely")

Ah well. So I walked back through the covered mall looking in every clothing store. I figured if I really wanted the wallet and purse I'd go back, but I ended up not missing them after I left the store. I was coming out of one clothing store when I saw this really tall girl. Like, I never see girls taller than me in Japan, and she was way taller than me! She had grayish hair too, that looked like a wig. Anyway, we did that awkward dance where you're both in each other's way, you know, and you both try to move out of the way, but you move in the same direction? Yeah, that. So I was like "sumimasen!"

And she said "gomen" except it was in this really deep, throaty man voice. So I expect she was really a he. My first encounter with a cross dresser in Japan, guys! Yay! I'm surprised it's taken this long, actually haha.

I ended up passing him a few times after that too. Super awks!

In one store, I was reading this shirt with a huge paragraph of English on it and the girl that worked there laughed at the fact that I was reading it and said something in Japanese to me, but all I caught was "mitte" which means "to see" so I just nodded and laughed along with her lol.

Then, in another store, the shop keeper started talking to me right away. She looked around my age, a little older. She asked (in English) if I was good at Japanese, and I said "sukoshi." And then told her I'm studying at Nanzan and that her English was really good! Later when I was leaving, she pointed at my hair and said words I didn't know, but I was pretty sure I knew what she was trying to say. I asked if she wanted to know if my hair color was natural and she said "yes! Natural?"

I told her it was and she told me it was really pretty! :) I told her her nails were cute. And I think we're pretty much BFFs now. She told me to take care when I left! :)

Weird store name:

Engrish on clothes:

("Future is exciting")

("Think rich look poor" why???)

("Except when they smile" wtf??)

(Not Engrish, but this was adorable. If you looked inside the mitten pockets, there were pictures of cats!)

And Engrish on a building:

After that, I decided I'd head back to Sakae and maybe check out the cute shop again.

On the way, I passed a whole buch of food stalls. It looked friendly and lively, so I headed for them.

Again and again stall workers would shout out to me using the few English phrases they knew, such as "how are you?" and "nice to meet you!" haha. I must have ventured down an area where not many foreigners go. One of them was giving out free samples and gave me a roasted chestnut! Mmmmm!

Every time someone would call out to me like this, I'd walk over and speak to them in Japanese for a little bit, telling them where I was from and what I was doing. They were all really nice!

 

(So many stalls!)

(Cute omelette and yakisoba stall. See all the little chicks?)

(I freaked out when I saw this stall! See it, Bridget? It's tons of different kinds of konpeito!! And the sign has the sootballs from Spirited Away, and Totoro!)

As I continued walking through the road lines with food stalls, I came upon a shrine.

(These cute harumatsuri decorations were everywhere, lining the street!)

So I headed into the shrine.

It was so awesome! All the old people were standing around the incense bowl because it was warm (even though it wasn't cool out at all).

As I headed back out, I stopped at a taiyaki stand because I still had yet to eat real taiyaki in Japan. I'd just had it in America and only the taiyaki parfait in Japan. And the taiyaki were only 100 yen, so I got one.

Ahhh it was delicious, with red bean inside! 

(Inside)

And it really added to the atmosphere, eating a taiyaki while walking past food stands. It made me feel like I was at a real festival in Japan.

Then I took my taiyaki around the corner, where I found another shrine.

I watched as this old lady bought three sheets of this super thin paper, each with a red mark in the center. She stuck the papers on top of a bunch of the same papers that were wet and stuck to a statue. Then she poured water from the little pool next to the statue, all over the papers she'd just stuck on the statue.

It was really interesting. I'd never seen this ritual before in manga or real life or text books or anything, and I'm really curious as to what it means!

More shots of the shrine:

And then I headed back to Sakae for real this time. No more detours, because I was running out of time!

(Cool house maybe I saw on the way)

I passed Ippudo, where Rafa, Esteban, and I ate ramen that time. Esteban really wants to go back. Then I passed the planetarium and the KFC man, so I knew about where I was and where I thought the Sunshine Sakae should be, but I just couldn't seem to find it.

My gut told me to keep going, but I doubted myself, so I asked a guy handing out magazines. He had no idea. 

So I just kept walking straight and the next block over was the Book Off! So I went in to look at the 200 yen clothes. I didn't see anything good so I went over to the games and DVDs. I was about to leave because it was 5:30, but decided I could look quickly at the 500 yen DVDs. And what did I find?

LoveCom!! The live action movie of a manga I never finished but my sister did. She and I always used to watch this movie in Japanese with English subs, and we loved it! And it has Teppei Koikei in it!! So yeah, of course I bought it, haha.

 

My feet hurt soooo badly at this point and all I wanted to do was go home and go to sleep. Good thing we weren't doing karaoke tonight after all!

It was already 5:45 and I still had to walk a block over to the station. I was worried I'd be late for dinner, but then I had a breakthrough. I could just take the Higashiyama line two stops to Nagoya Eki and then Nagoya to Ichinomiya! Wow. I got home twenty minutes quicker by doing that! And it was the same price!

At home, I played with Miya a bit and then it was dinner time. We had salad and rice with vegetables and octopus tentacles in sauce on top. It was good!

Ken came home just as I was finishing up.

Then Miya and I watched the end of a Doraemon episode and then a Crayon man (or whatever he's called) episode. Then it was dessert time! We had pink mochi like things that I forgot the name of. They were really good, though! And tea. And Miya had heart shaped marshmallows!

(Dessert)

Then Yuko told Miya to help her and handed her and me dish towels. Then we had to help her dry the dishes. I didn't mind because I always feel bad that she does the dishes all herself, but I asked if I should do them one time and she said not to worry about it, and all my friends say that they asked their host parents and their host parents told them no, it's fine, so they don't help around the house either.

Miya dropped the first dish she started drying. It didn't break, but she started crying and so didn't have to finish. So I dried the rest myself until Yuko finished washing and helped with the last few.

Yuko asked if I often help my mom and I said I did and she asked what kind of things I help her with, and I said unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, vacuuming, and cleaning the toilets. Ugh that doesn't make me miss home. 

And she also asked if I help clean by cleaning my room and I lied and said yes, haha.

After that, everyone took baths/showers while I wrote this and then it was my turn. I'm sooo exhausted, I'm going to sleep well tonight! It's supposed to rain tomorrow, too, so I'm glad I went out and  was active today. :) 

Today was a really, really awesome day! :D