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Published: October 2nd 2012
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Koishikawa KorakuenOops, been awhile since I posted anything here!
There has been some fun things happening. I've been working a lot, but since I finally got paid, my attitude towards life has improved considerably, haha. The weather has been cooling down a lot (note: mid-70's) and it's FINALLY nice enough at night that I don't have to use my A/C at all. This is really going to cut down on my bills, haha. Plus, the cool air at night feels like GREAT running weather, so a week or so ago I ran 7k just because I was so happy about the temperature. Felt awesome!! I really explore a lot when I'm running here.
I pulled some overtime last week. It's not my favorite thing ever, but I suppose the extra padding to my paycheck in November (ugh) will be worth it. Teaching the kids has finally gotten easier, so I feel like I'm expending a lot less energy on these things - that helps a LOT with getting through weeks without so much exhaustion. However, I was pretty wiped after that overtime. It's an awful lot of constant talking. Some things happening at work that are good, so maybe those
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Koishikawa Korakuen updates will come soon. 😊
But I've also been seeing some friends! This made me very happy. I got to see Mec when I met her in Tokyo on the 24th, and we got lost trying to find Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens, a famous walking garden in the city. We finally found it, and it was totally worth it - the path we took around the grounds was 1.3 km, and it was really beautiful, even if it was still pretty hot (random hot days - why?!). Then we explored a bit at Tokyo Dome City and had some great lunch. After that, we went to Jimbocho, a famous section of Tokyo that is known for having over 160 bookshops!
I was totally at home and in my element, haha. We found the cutest little shop with papers and postcards and gorgeous fans (I will be going back before Christmas!), and the owner was the one working and she had a conversation with us while we were buying things. People are always so surprised that I live here, haha. Like GASP, YOU ARE NOT JAPANESE. But she was very nice. ^___^ Will be supporting her business in the future.
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Koishikawa Korakuen I also got a tiny version of the Very Hungry Caterpillar in Japanese, it's so cute!
This last Sunday, we had our first typhoon since I got here. We had one the week before, but all it did was make it thunder and storm, but THIS one hit us dead on. We all knew it was coming, and Jamie and Kimmy were flying in the day it hit. I was supposed to meet them at the station in Tokyo, but since the stations ended up closing down due to the winds, it was a no-go. It was a BIT scary listening to 60 mph winds hit the side of my apartment, haha. They plastic zip-tied the apartment doors shut and everything. At least it was nice the next day (though hot again).
On Monday, I met up with Jamie and Kimmy in Tokyo and we did some sight-seeing. I was happy to do it, since I hadn't done much on my own yet, and some of these things I hadn't seen since 2009 or ever at all! We went to Zojo-ji temple, the NTV building (a favorite of ours), Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, and Akihabara. It was a
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Koishikawa Korakuen great day, though my feet were REALLY tired by the end of it. I got lots of pictures - times like these, I remember I am in Japan, haha. Sometimes I forget when I just go to work every day!
Today, we went to Yokohama for sight-seeing instead. We went to Sweets Paradise, an all-you-can-eat cake buffet - no, seriously! For about $15, you get 90 minutes. And 70% of the buffet is cakes, puddings, and sweets! They also had some pasta, salad, and curry. EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS. Particularly the curry, so I obviously missed the point, but I had TONS of cake and tried as much as I could, so it was well worth it. Stuffed, but so happy.
I took them down through the meandering walking path towards Yokohama's bay area, and it was really nice. It was a great day for it. When we got there, we accidentally ran into the Octoberfest celebration happening at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse - so obviously, we had to go. The prices were RIDICULOUS, but it's Japan, and they don't really do beer here. I was just happy to get to drink a REAL BEER instead of the watered
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Koishikawa Korakuen down conbini beers. There were some guys in cosplay as Mario and Luigi, so that was a highlight. Then we explored the bay area - it was the closest I'd gotten to Tokyo Bay. Exciting! And very nice. 😊
This week is some more day shifts, meeting J&K on Monday when they get back from Osaka, and then a 6-day work week next week (yuck), but next Wednesday I am going to Disneyland after work to meet up with Wes and Chandra. That'll be great, it's all done up for Halloween! :D/
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