Weekend in Tokyo, Daft Punk baby!

OK I am back after a stupid CRAZY fun weekend in Tokyo (that city is insane...)!

The weekend was super eventful even though some bad things happened.

I was planning to go alone, since my gf had work, and doesn't like Daft Punk, but at a welcome party I met a guy who said he would go, and he invited a friend of his, who has never heard of Daft Punk, but she wanted to come with.

We met up like 3 hours before the show, and I took em on a quick Harajuku tour and had to go find my hotel and check in. The map on their website was FUBARed so I got lost and spent almost 45 mins looking for the damn place, but eventually found it and met up with them at Tokyo station. At this time it was like 20 mins after the show started and we were 35 mins away by train.

We eventually get there and find out just some small time DJs were on (but still good! Ryukyudisco is a Japanese house group who combine traditional Japanese taiko drums and house. ALL Amazing! Also Boom Boom Satellites is a Jpop/Jrock band who went all house for the show! Live drums, guitars, all played to some house music to back it up.) and Daft Punk was going on at 7:10.

We all drank too much and just kept buying more and more drinks (each drink was 600 yen). We met a girl who thought we needed help, but I speak enough Japanese to get by, so we told her we were OK and she was off. 10 minutes later we meet her again, and find out she was there alone, so she rocked with us the rest of the night. When it was 10 minutes to DP, we did the last restroom break, got one more drink, and "gaijin"ed (Japanese people are too polite to stop people who move their ways forward through a crowd, and foreigners, gaijin, can take advantage of this. Hey, for DP what are you gonna do) our ways to the front.

The other girl's ears started ringing and my friend took her to the very back, while I stayed near the front with our new friend (her first DP show, and first house concert ever. Her first time gaijining to the front even though she was Japanese) and we listened to the last minutes of the small DJ. Unlike my first DP show last year, that had a good 20 minute delay between the last act and them, the small time DJ finished his last song, and before people could start clapping, the "First Encounter of the Third Kind" music started playing, and the DP pyramid was unveiled! People went crazy! This venue is a huge floor, surrounded on the sides by raised seating, like a concert hall. There were old people, kids as young as 4 or 5 years old, but the WHOLE place went NUTS!

If you don't know their current live set, go get Alive 2007 and you will know exactly what I hear, in the order I heard it. Even though it was my second time hearing them, it was better than the first time for a few reasons. I was with people who love Daft Punk, minus the girl who didn't know them, they did an encore after 5 minutes of people clapping and chanting, and the energy from the other people was way more hectic than last year's.

But 1 bad thing did happen during the show. When One More Time came on, EVERY PERSON IN THE PLACE, went crazy as hell! People started jumping AND pushing, and I wanted to take more video with my camera, and I reached for it, but it was GONE! Yes, 4 people from the front gate now, and the last time I used my camera, was about 40 feet behind me, and I have hundreds of people bouncing and jumping to One More Time, I will never see my camera again... After the show, the girl we met, Yuko, helped me ask some security (which I don't have enough Japanese to do) where I could find my camera, and they led us to the right place but my camera hadn't turned up, so we got a number to call and the next day my camera turned up as I was shopping to replace it with a newer smaller camera (hey it is Japan! Newer and smaller is a weekly thing!).

The next plan is to go to Tokyo and see Digitalism in February. I love this country!

Life recently...

Has been SUPER busy! Our first day back to Japan, Sayaka began a new job, that has her leaving at 9AM, and getting home around 11PM. We live together but hardly see each other.

My work schedule has been and continues to be super packed and busy! I miss the days I could go online and keep this blog updated like I wanted to originally!

I did a photo shoot with one of my student's bands, and will begin their website once they decide which pics they like.

Last weekend was definitely one of the most fun I have had in a while! Sayaka and I went to see Doralion, the new Cirque du Soleil show. It was AMAZING! Such great talent from EVERY member of this circus. Definitely an inspiration on other parts of life if I would say so, and also extremely entertaining if I don't say so! Before this though, we ate at a dessert all you can eat and got stuffed on various cakes, fondue, and pasta. We also went to Uniqlo (think, Japan's Old Navy) and bought some clothes to protect us this winter. I think I need to go buy more!

The next day was amazing...

The head trainer for the company I work for (he is in charge of everyone in the Chubu area) invited all of us to a game of football and a BBQ, at the river by our apartment. Sayaka went to get her haircut and we met everyone at a nearby station when she was done. We had 8 guys for football and Sayaka was a cheerleader for both teams. Eventually another girl came to join her in this job.

When we made teams, I was trying to go for team California, but some salt got thrown into the mix, and it was team California, and a Candadian! Oh well!

I voted myself as QB and damn did I have fun doing so!

Our team lost, but I had a couple TD passes, some successful series into the in zone, and 1 interception. Yeah I had a lot of turn overs when I couldn't get the ball to anyone, but hey, it was my first time QBing ever! Once I had to run because I got blitzed (the guy covering me is a good 5 inches taller and a lot heavier than me!) and I had to run it, I got stopped and tried to push the guy off so I could run more, but the whole team was on me pretty much, and they couldn't get me down! My own team mate took me by the legs so I could go down and gain a few more feet. Now I know next time I need to run it or go out and catch more balls. We were playing tackle, so people got hurt, but me, yeah, jammed my finger catching the ball during practice.

Yesterday and today, I have been in and continue to hurt pretty much everywhere. My jammed finger is swollen now, legs, stomach, and everywhere else hurts. But DAMN did I ever have fun!

This weekend...either a lazy Sunday, or dinner with friends and a student from work!

Life is good, just busy!

California Day Five!!!!!

I was the first awake, and the first to discover...IT WAS RAINING! We all know how bad luck that is in America! Mark was a bit panicked this morning. Probably the first I have ever seen him like this! We got our breakfast (and I got some for Sayaka too, and took it to her room), got dressed (while the photographer and videographer took pics and video of us preparing) then went downstairs to take pics.

All of the pictures were taken in the hotel lobby since it was drizzling and very overcast! After our pics, it was time to get ready and head down to the wedding location!

I went up and got Sayaka and by the time we were leaving the hotel, the rain had stopped! LUCKY! We made it to the place and the waves were crashing pretty hard, because of the weather, but it made a beautiful backdrop.

As the best man, it was ALSO my duty to escort women to their seats, so I showed Sayaka to hers, and helped a few other people with their seats before it was show time.

Mark was nervous...Haha! We were pretending to spot snipers on the roofs and quote one of the million video game related moments in our lives to laugh while the music played and we were lined up waiting for the bride. When she arrived, the first thing Mark said was "Looking at her is making ME nervous". The wedding went on, I didn't forget their rings (I wouldn't be here to type this if I did!) and the rain never showed again!

We took pics after the wedding with the photographer, and Phong and his gf Lynda took pics of Sayaka and I, and vice-versa. Now it was time to party!

We headed to the hotel to check out and get Mark's stuff. This took a good 45 minutes to organize and get together, then another 25 minute drive to the reception place. When we got there, the bride and her dad were dancing. Mark came up to us and asked what happened, because they did an introduction of everyone, and pretty much ALL of the guys were checking out and not present! Ooops!

The reception was moved inside, because of the rain, but the weather had improved, so we moved outside! The weather and view were great! The DJ at the party was def the corniest man on the planet and made us laugh at him, not with him. I gave my speech and made people laugh as I did a small trek through Mark and I's 20 year history. After me, more speeches were made, and it was time to party harder! Sayaka ordered a TALL Pina Colada, and Phong and I got tall Long Island Ice Teas! The music started and we had to go down and dance, which was funny, but I felt like I needed more alcohol! We all kinda formed a group and just stopped dancing after 3 songs. After the music, we watched the bride and groom cut the cake and smash it into each other's faces! Soon after, that was that!

The bride gave Sayaka and I all of the table decorations, which we gave to my mom (and she loved them!). After we gathered everything, we made plans to go out to eat that night. So Sayaka and I returned home to give her the decorations, change clothes, and headed to the RITZ CARLTON, where Mark and Ashley had a NICE ASS room, with an amazing view! We hung out a bit and headed to a restaurant called Sarducci's in Laguna Nigel (I think). A few people from the wedding party were there and we had a good time just winding down.

Everyone began to feel sleepy and we called it a night. We met with Mark and Ashley and they opened their present from us and thanked us. We did our tearless but heartfelt goodbye hugs (who knows when we will see each other again...hehe come see this blog in a week, OR after Christmas for an interesting surprise!) and Sayaka and I headed home.

But not YET! We made a stop at a few stores to do last minute shopping, Blockbuster to buy some DVDs, and In-N-Out to get a LARGE Strawberry Shake! We got home late and exhausted, but I uploaded all of the pics from the day, set up the laptop to be charged and began packing!

In the morning my mom had made my fav food that she cooks (potato skins!), but I am really bad with time and airplanes and I was too nervous to eat, as I prepared, so Sayaka and my mom sat and ate together! I called my dad to say bye, and my aunt called and spoke to me a bit too! Called and left a message for my sis who said she would meet us at the airport, and we were officially heading out of my mom's apartment to head to LAX. We loaded up the car and took pics of it and Sayaka got to drive it in reverse for 5 feet! Haha! After that we hugged my mom and were off. Not even 1 minute later, Sayaka was crying because she missed my mom! Too cute, and sad...

We made it to the car rental place pretty quick, and the process to return it was smooth as silk. The bus to take us to the airport also arrived early so we were making good time! At LAX, we checked in rather quick, and some guy, Japanese American might I add, pulled Sayaka and I out of line to take our suitcases to get them checked. His coworkers were so mad at him, because they closed that line, but JUST Sayaka and I got our bags taken. We were a little worried if we would ever see them again, but happy we didn't have to wait in a loooong line!

We went to the food court, and I got us a chicken quesadilla and Dolce De Leche milkshake from Haggen Daaz! Sayaka was in love with the In-N-Out shake from the night before, but I swear, she was ready to have an affair with the Haggen one! We both loved it sooo much! I kept looking for my sis and ran down to see if I could see her, but couldn't at all! It was about time to board the plane so we got in line!

The line was ridiculously long and again, as fate may have it, we were ushered to the front by JAL staff so we could board our plane that was leaving shortly. We bought some omiyage for friends and my school, and boarded the plane.

As soon as we could, I ordered as much liquor as I could drink so I could sleep on the way back, and I definitely slept like a baby! It felt like we were in Tokyo in no time!

Honestly, it felt great to be back in Japan again. I loved being back home, but being in Narita airport, just made me happy to be HOME again!

We boarded the transfer train to Nagoya, and after a 50 minute flight, we were the closest to home we had been this week!

We took a train to Kanayama, where I fought drowsiness and fatigue, and when we arrived there, we got a cab to our apartment, which was great because we brought back about 5x as much stuff as we left with.

When we arrived we took 2 trips to get our luggage into the apartment and as soon as it was there, what did we do?

We went to yakiniku (Japanese BBQ. Not much different from Korean BBQ)! Yes! I had missed Japanese food soo much, that I didn't spend 5 minutes in my apartment, before I headed to the nearest yakiniku restaurant! We ate, unwound, and headed back home to sleep the last week, and our meal off!

What a trip!

California Day Four!!!

This day was super eventful!

Not because a LOT happened, but a few things happened in a short period of time!

Sayaka and I started the day out going shopping, to Olive Garden, then more shopping!

When we made it home, I had to get directions to the wedding practice and tux rental shop!

I raced (thanks Mustang!) to the tux rental place and made it there super quick. Unfortunately I was a bit surprised to find I had to pay for the tux (not that I am cheap or anything, just, historically the wedding party has covered tux rentals for everyone, coming from Japan I had a set budget on how much I had on me, and that had already taken a few unexpected bumps since arriving), but put it on my debit card and raced to the wedding practice place.

Sayaka and I got there and saw NO FAMILIAR cars or faces! So we hopped back in the car and headed back up the hill! Luckily I happened to catch a glance of the bride's bro and followed him around until he noticed me. We pulled aside and talked and I found out, EVERYONE was late and we were in the right place! All of that rushing for what??!!??!!

Everyone showed up and practice wasn't as smooth as the bride had planned. It was obvious in her actions...We got through it and everyone was ready to eat! We caravaned to one of the largest houses I had ever been to, and had a nice post practice dinner! Mexican food! The house had a fireplace in the backyard and we did s'mores!

After the bride and groom thanked us, we headed to the hotel to get Sayaka checked in. I was to stay with the groom on the night before his wedding, so she got her own room to herself. When I arrived to Mark's room, Josh was sleeping, and Mark was laying down watching TV. I got them awake though. We tried on our tuxedos to make sure all was well (after lying and saying we did before this last moment) and took a lot of stupid pictures! We couldn't sleep so we went downstairs and talked with the bride's sister and 2 of her friends until about 1:30AM. When we arrived to the room we all slept pretty quick.

Me being a bit jet lagged still, woke up first. This is the day of the wedding!

California Day Three!!!

Bachelor Party Day!!!

But not the kind of party you see in those teen comedies, or other TV dramas! Now this one has MUCH more testosterone!

It all started out with Mark meeting up with me at my mom's apartment so we could car pool and I could be designated driver (so he could liquor it up, WHICH HE DID!). We hopped into the Mustang and took advantage of the convertible top and I was finally able to open her up on the road (Sayaka would get sick when I would drive fast...). In no time we were at the exit to Mark's brother-in-laws house. When we were almost there, I recognized a familiar face! Phong (of the Tokyo 3, read the archives about the first trip to Japan...) was a car behind us and to our left! His reaction was priceless, as he didn't recognize me due to weight loss and not having seen me for over a year, plus I was waving to him belligerently from the top of the Mustang! When he realized who it was he gave a "What's Up?" nod. Since he drives a nice black 350Z, we had to have a little fun on the rest of the trip to Courtney's house!

When we arrived, we found Mark's brother had arrived just before us, and we found our way to Courtney's Apt. When we arrived, we met with Courtney and Derek (the bride's brothers),we began to throw the meat on the grill, open up the liquor and watch "I love New York season 2"! A while later, after getting lost, Josh showed up, and it was officially a party! All of us drank quite a bit, and ate some great chicken (THANKS Courtney!), and the drivers sobered up for the drive ahead of us. Phong and Mark rode with me, while Courtney and Josh rolled with David (Mark's bro!)

We cruised down to the place we would spend the next 6 hours at, blasting some Kanye West, Justin Timberlake (yeah we are all fans, WHAT?!?), and various other music to get us pumped for what was next.

What was next was not s strip club or Vegas, but we were about to experience 6 straight hours of paintballing! Courtney found out the price of the place and when it was our turn to pay they tried to get more money out of us! This didn't make Courtney happy and he calmly complained and raised hell, while the probably still drunk Mark, got it a little escalated! At the end of things, we got the price we saw on the internet, and were off to go shoot fools!

The gun I got back in High School that I used to play with, didn't want to play nice with the co2 tanks they had, and the guy there kinda broke my gun trying to make them play nice! The result, he didn't charge me for air or a rental gun! We went to go practice a bit, then it was off to the first combat area!

The sun was out and we had full visibility in this game, and damn I wish we had it all day! This round, like every other one after this (besides the 3 vs 3 games) we always got on the same team. Courtney was down and out within the first 2 minutes, and you could hear his cry of pain after being shot for the first time (this was Courtney, David and Phong's first time playing!)! The rest of eventually got out, with me being last being shot in the man-hood! I threw my hands up and walked off QUICKLY after that perfectly places hit!

We tried to do some 3 on 3, where the teams were Courtney, Phong and I, versus, Mark, Josh, and David. We kept winning a game and losing it, and when the tie breaker came, my team was victorious! Usually we play 2 games and move on, but the guy let us get a final game in before the other team moved on. This time it was 2 on 2! Courtney and I, went up agaist Mark and Phong. I was nervous as I saw Phong was super fast and taking people out when he was on our team, and Mark had probably the most and most recent experience after everyone, but C and I took them out pretty quick!

We did the rest of the night in the huge battle arenas and had some interesting games, never winning, but we did draw quite a bit (each team has about 15 - 20 people on it!). The last game was probably the most fun because when the guy shouted 2 more minutes, we all said screw it and went Rambo on fools! Unfortunately for the bulk of us, so did some 50 something year old black dude with a fast trigger finger or fully auto, who took 3 of us out in 4 seconds. In that spurt, I got hit on the knee, upper thigh, finger, shoulder, back of the head twice, and right elbow. That is not including the multiple shots on my partners! Perfect end to an awesome night!

We headed back to C's place after that for more drinking and light food and we caught the TV version of "Next Friday", which was great with all of the censoring they did (horrid job!).

When the movie finished, everyone headed home and I drove Mark back to my place. It was around 1:30AM and Sayaka was sleeping until I walked in. I showered, changed clothes, then asked if she wanted to go shopping. She thought I was crazy, but seeing that I wasn't laughing, she threw on her clothes and we were off to Walmart!

I was relieved to find the Walmart we drove to was open and we began shopping! I replaced all of my underclothes to match the weightloss, bought a shirt for my friend who always buys me gifts when he travels (it is a Japanese thing), and we bought a ton of food and junk for friends and family back home!

After our shopping we made it back home around 5:30AM, where we found Mark STILL sleeping in his car! Poor guy, he only has to be at his mom's house, an hour and a half away, to practice the reception dance they have to do, in 2 more hours! Ganbatte!

Day three is picture light. Guess you just had to be there to see what went on!

California Day Two!!

Wednesday morning... Probably the busiest day of our week as far as time being tight, and the amount of things we did.

The day started early, around 6AM, which is when we headed down to IHOP to grab some food! Plans were for some pancakes or french toast, but I found a good BBQ bacon cheeseburger and Sayaka got a Double BLT! More proof of my appetite change was when I finished my burger and felt pregnant/sick again! Sayaka ate one half of hers before she threw in her towel! We did begin this with a cup of their awesome hot cocoa! After breakfast we headed to the beach!

Now this beach has always been my favorite because not too many people go there, and the view is beautiful! Today was no different! It isn't exactly a BEACH-beach area, but this place is called Balboa Peninsula. There are lots of nice houses near the small bay, and then a few minute walk to the edge of Newport Beach!

We get there and it is another beautiful day! No clouds, clear sky, warm-hot, and a little windy. After not being here for so long, I was shocked to see what the tide has done to the beach area! It created a sort of small cliff (3 feet or so), where it used to be a slow decline into the ocean. After 2 trips to beaches in Japan this year, I was reminded why California beaches are so famous. The beach was clean, yellowish-white sand, and massive! We changed to our flip flops and walked along the beach for a bit. 3 boys came up and did a little wake boarding and I caught a few pics of them. Later on, we saw a dog running towards us! Luckily he was just chasing some birds along the beach, until his owner called out to him. It was around this time when Sayaka whispered "I want to live in California...". The seed has been planted...

After an hour or so we headed to my old job, to surprise them and use their restroom! Everyone was definitely surprised and happy to meet Sayaka and see the weight I lost. We chatted a bit before they rushed us out to go enjoy Disneyland! We would see them later tonight anyway! By the way, my old job, is a 2 minute drive from Disneyland!

We get to Disneyland and I was shocked at the amount of cars going to park there! This is the beginning of October, on a Wednesday, Earth's most random day of the week! We had to wait about 5 minutes to pay for parking! After we parked we headed down to the trams to get to the entrance. Due to the sheer amount of people waiting just HERE, we had to wait for the third tram to arrive! When it finally did, we were off to Disneyland's entrance! I thought I saw a lot of people just waiting to park, and waiting for the tram, but damnit, this place was packed! This seriously felt like a weekend at the beginning of summer! We had to wait about 20 mins to get our Park-hopper tickets for So Cal residents (saved 5 dollars each, and she just checked my ID! We don't even live here! Tommy and Sayaka - 1, the system - 0).

We first entered California Adventure, and went straight for the sundae place! I love this place's sundaes so we got one and some drinks to go with it. I was reminded about something that I love about America, and wish Japan did more of when we bought our sundae. The guy who helped us, Andrew, was physically disabled. When I see that big companies hire people of any background, sex, physical or mental condition, it makes me feel good to be human! While we waited for our food, I struck up a friendly conversation with him, because I was happy to , we ate it so quick and were off to our first ride, Soarin over California!

The whole time in line, Sayaka was nervous because of my description of the ride! When we were seated, I could feel her heart beating fast, as she grasped my hand so hard. When the ride started and we were lifted around 75 feet in the air, she was the only person who screamed. Every time the ride moved, she would scream, and the older couple next to her would laugh at her. By the end of the ride, she was glad she got on it, and it definitely woke her up, if she wasn't awake by then! After we went on what I always call "The water ride". Sayaka didn't want to go on it, but I "silent-something"-ed her into getting on it. Before we got on though, we watched people for about 5 minutes. There is a part where a geyser shoots up and depending on your timing, you may or may not get VERY wet, as the water comes back down on top of you. When our time was up, we were about 3 seconds from the spot, and no geyser! But wait, this is our lucky day! A second before our raft goes over the geyser spot, it shoots up and we get drenched! When we pass the geyser, which was under us, it shoots up and comes down on us AGAIN VERY hard! We seriously looked like we hopped in the shower for a minute with our clothes on! Sayaka looked like a wet dog and she was sooo sad, but interestingly enough, she became super genki (energetic) after we got off, and just kept jumping and singing like a kid!

After that, we did some walking around, window shopping and such until we decided to leave and do more walking around Downtown Disney. There we got Jamba Juice (oh how I missed thee) and boarded the monorail to Disneyland!

We had plans to do dinner with my coworkers in an hour and a half and knew time was limited. I wanted to do the new Finding Nemo ride, but the line was like 110 minutes, so I asked Sayaka what she wanted to do and that resulted in her behind the wheel of Autotopia! The line went by pretty quick, so we made a trip to Toon Town since she has never been to the one in Japan! We made our way to Mickey's house and took our pic with him then it was time to head out! We stopped by Wetzel's Pretzels to get a Wetzel Cheese Dog and then headed to Chilis for our dinner!

When we got there, my friend Mark, the man getting married, arrived around the same time! We waited and chatted a bit while waiting for people to arrive. As soon as we got half of the people, we were seated! Food, drinks, and laughter ensued!

It was a crazy fun night, followed by sad "See you someday in the future"s and promises to email each other more. Sayaka and I were exhausted so we headed home and got to go sleep probably the earliest of any night that week!

Tomorrow, Mark's bachelor party!

Until then, enjoy pics of day two!

California Day One!

So it's about that time to get to talking about my California trip last week! I will break this down into days, just like I did my photo albums, because it will be much easier to remember everything this way.

Months ago I was invited to be my best friend's best man for his wedding. Not so much invited or asked, but destined, and confirmed to be (we have known each other for 20 years now). He lives in Colorado now (moved there a few months after I moved to Japan) and I thought the wedding would be in Colorado. I had visions of visiting my sister who has lived there for a few years, and getting my first taste of the state. Then, 2 months ago I found out it was in Cali, and was excited to be able to see my mom, friends, and family again, AND go to Mark's wedding. Fast forward a bit, and I get the whole week off, paid, Sayaka and I pay for our plane tickets, and I buy a new suitcase for the trip, it is time to go to California baby!

The morning of our flight, I wake up SICK! I dunno why, maybe being out in the cold, while dressed decently for the weather, for my old assistant manager's wedding party, but the sick-gods descended on me in my sleep! Sayaka and I packed the night before, and all we had to do was wake up, shower, eat and head to the airport!

We headed down the steps with our mildly heavy luggage and got the train to Kanayama around 9. There we purchased our reserved seats to Chubu Centrair, so we could get there in 35 minutes, and sleep a bit on the train.

When we arrived, it was a rather quick and painless process to get checked in, and our luggage xrayed! I was spoiled after my fiasco (LUPE!) at LAX when I first came to Nagoya (check the archives). We went around and looked for some food and things to buy before our flight. I got a bagel chicken teriyaki sandwich and Sayaka got some good looking curry! I also got a bagel with apple pie cream cheese on it, which was damn good! We bought a bag of chocolate covered potato chips (better than expected!) and boarded our plane to Narita! We purchased our tickets in a way, that we had a row of three seats to ourselves, so this flight, and the flight from Narita to LAX was rather comfy!

50 minutes later we arrive at Narita, wait 45 minutes, and board a larger plane for LAX! The weather in Narita was way different than Nagoya! It was much colder and looks like it had rained! This was to be a big contrast to the weather in California! On the plane, we were given 2 meals, and able to drink as much as we wanted, with the press of the button, alcohol included (we flew JAL!)! After 2 strong screwdrivers, I was ready to sleep! I woke up before our second meal, 2 hours before landing. While eating I was shocked to see how clear it was below, and see the mountains and landscapes of Central California, a sight most appreciated from an airplane! The closer we got to LA, I realized, that I had not seen a cloud in the sky for quite a while! We made a clean, smooth, descent and landing at LAX, and I felt like, wow, I am home again!

We arrived at the landing terminal, which was under construction and looked horrible, causing Sayaka to repeat "Wow, what a beautiful terminal!" several times! After going through customs/immigration, our luggage took no time to arrive, and we were up and out of the airport in NO time! We found where we needed to go to get our shuttle to the car rental place. They said they came every 5 minutes, we waited 20 or so. When we arrived to the place, the line wasn't too long, and I got to watch my first news in English in 1 year and 3 months, plus see my first ghetto verbal argument in the same time! Good ole LA! The process to pick up the car was smooth and quick thanks to my online reservation, and in minutes, I had the keys to a convertible, red, 2007 Standard Mustang convertible! It took us a bit to get the top down, and realize how we would get our luggage in the car, but after a while, we were good, and on our way out to my sister's apartment!

We cruised on the freeway for a short time and I was shocked to see how close my sister lived to LAX! It felt good to be behind the wheel of a fast car again after being the "driver" of a bicycle for so long (or passenger in my friends Skyline or AMG Benz...) and I let the car breathe a bit with the pedal to the floor. Driving in a car like that, with the top down was such a great experience this day! CLEAR beautiful skies, warm-hot weather, and fresh off our flight from cold Japan!

We arrived at my sister's house and she ran out to hug Sayaka first, then me! We went in to wait for her to get ready, then headed to Pink's, a famous hot dog stand in Hollywood! The smell of their food used to make me hungry, but after all of the light food in Japan, it made myself, and Sayaka sick to our stomachs! Sayaka had to go sit down, as she was jet lagged and feeling sick (My sister made a comment saying "Uh oh, are you guys going to have to make a Knocked Up 2?") and I had to move from the wind of the food! When our food arrived, we ate it pretty quick, without feeling sick! Sayaka got a chili cheese dog, I got a Polish Pastrami dog (hot dog with pastrami, mustard and swiss cheese), and my sister got 2 of the same as me, plus onion rings! I forgot how much I used to eat when I lived here, because it seemed like she ordered so much, and then I remember how I used to eat more than her!

After our meal we headed back to my sisters house to get a cable to connect my ipod to the car stereo, since hey, we were headed to Hollywood in a convertible, we need some good tunes! As we approached a corner, we noticed a familiar face in the car next to us. After pulling up to his window, we noticed it was Danny Trejo! At first he was mad when my sister called out to him, but we realized he was listening to Barry White and was too focused! We chatted a bit until the light turned green, and he was SUPER nice to us until then. We made it to my sister's place and grabbed what we needed and were off to Hollywood and Highland (the plan was the Beverly Center, but my sis said there was construction and it was a mess there!).

We arrived to see the normal busy Hollywood streets, filled with weird people, tourists, and the trendy. I guess this time I was the tourist! I had my camera out like I had never been there, and was snapping away! We did our rounds, got good pics, looked around, and eventually realized, Sayaka was too sick to be out right now! So we took my sis home, and got a call from my dad that he was waiting with my other sis at my mom's place! WHAT?!?! That is an hour away no traffic! So my sis says she will meet us there later (to kill the suspense, she didn't make it) and we head out to Orange County, to return home, but there was a LOT of traffic!

An hour later we arrived in Anaheim, and I showed Sayaka the original Disneyland off the side of the freeway and we had to make a detour to my old college for a restroom break before making it home! Our jet lag was kicking in so we picked up some energy drinks near my mom's place to liven up before we see my family. When we arrived at the apartments, we saw my sis waiting outside for us! How long had she been waiting! We get all of our luggage out and head upstairs to the apartment. We open the door and my dad is standing nearby talking to my mom. His reaction to me was shock, since I have lost so much weight! He asked if I left the other half of me in Japan (I heard this same phrase many times last week). My mom was equally shocked!

After hugs and introductions to Sayaka, we got our luggage laid out, and began eating. Our plans were to go out and eat, but since it was too late for my dad and sis, we ate the food my mom cooked. It was good to eat enchiladas, rice, and beans, that were home cooked by my mother again. We talked, laughed and caught up for 2 hours, then it was time for my dad and sis to leave, and take my grandma back to the IE (Inland Empire, an area of Southern California, not too popular, but where I was born!).My grandma was cute as usual and asked me as she exited the apartment "Where are you about to move to?". I don't think she knows I live in Japan still (come on now, she is 94 years old!And healthy!).

As my dad and everyone left, Sayaka and I hopped in the car to the nearby mall to grab cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory! I can't remember the name of mine, but Sayaka got the Vanilla Bean one. We both agreed mine was better, but again, our Japan meal sized stomachs couldn't do their usual damage. I finished mine, Sayaka finished half of hers. I felt sick after just one cheesecake and knew my big American appetite was GONE! We headed home and rested our heads for our next big day! Tomorrow we have, IHOP, the beach, Disneyland, California Adventure, then dinner with my old coworkers (aka extended family)!

Gyah! Unfortunately, Bloggers image uploader wants to NOT work, so here is a link to day one on Flickr!

Updates from California soon...

Once I can battle this jet lag!

Everyday I come home, I HAVE to go to sleep ASAP. It is really bad right now!

But I promise PICS, videos, and stories from the action packed 6 days in California!

Until then, relax, and grab a drink!

I'm going to Disneyland!

Well here we are! The morning of our flight to California! Sayaka is still sleeping beside me, but she was up late due to anticipation, which is why I am up early! Who will have the harder time sleeping on the plane?

I will TRY to update while I am in Cali, but don't expect anything! When I return to Japan, expect pics and stories galore! Quote me!

See you in a week and wish us luck on our flight!

Weekend update!

So this weekend was rather eventful!

We made plans to go to a mountain, and go climb it for good luck, but because of the rain in Nara, we had to cancel! So we made plans to go meet Sayaka's friend for lunch and her parents for dinner.

We arrived to Toyota station right on time and went to Saizeriya (a local restaurant) to meet her friend. Rieko arrived shortly after we did and we ordered a drink bar for all of us, and each got a dessert! I found out that Rieko used to teach for Aeon, so we got to talk in English about that and many other things! Rieko showed us some pics of her trip to San Francisco, which were amazing. Maybe my spoiled SoCal beliefs were changed after seeing them, and MAYBE I want to go now... Rieko is studying this color therapy thing, where we have to chose a bottle with different color oil in it. We chose 4 of them, and depending on the color and order we picked them in, she can read about our personalities. Sayaka was surprised to see hers was accurate, and it was in her native language, so when I had mine done and had it translated to English I was extra shocked! This was so representative of my life in the past, and now, and where I want to go. I was definitely surprised!

After our lunch date, we went to Daiso to look for something green, since both of us were told we needed the color green in our lives, but unfortunately we found nothing. We didn't have much time left before meeting her parents, so we headed down to the bus stop area where her parents awaited. We went to a yaki niku place not too far from where we were. We ordered a rather big course set, 2 HUGE beers for her dad and I, one regular glass for her, and her mom drank Oolong-cha! We began to eat and drink sooo much! By the end of the night I had one more huge beer, and a regular sized one, plus enough meat to feed a family! We joked around with her mom and dad about many things, and just like the first time I met them, I felt like I really was accepted by them. Again, they paid for our whole dinner, PLUS gave us money to go to Disneyland in California next week! We are both kinda short of money for the trip and told our sad story to them, and without hesitation, received money for Disneyland. They even gave us money for our ride back to our apartment!

Okaasan to Otoosan, honti ni arigatou ne!

Yesterday, we were pretty lazy and started our day late. We went to go eat a late breakfast at McDonalds, then went bowling, where both of our scores were pathetic because we had to use heavier balls, because they were the only balls that our fingers could fit, but we only paid 500 yen, so who cares! After we went to the nearby Daiso again to find some green stuff, but no luck. We went grocery shopping together and bought some rice, milk, and eggs for the apartment, then came home and played Wii. Sayaka was still sleepy so I worked on a newsletter and party poster I needed to finish for work.

Now it is Tuesday morning, a week before we will be heading to the airport to go to California! super excited! This Sunday, we will go to the aquarium, and Monday, a wedding party for my old assistant manager, then Tuesday is departure day! Just have to get through this week of work!

Until this weekend!