Doo Doo Doo

So....it's 1130 pm Friday night...I've got a flight tomorrow at 2pm, but I gotta stop by the Apple store in the morning to turn in my laptop to get my speakers replaced. Turns out, the volume is low compared to other similar models...which was found out on a fluke, cuz i THOUGHT that the left speaker was busted...but of course, I bring it in to the store, and play music, and ta-da...half my computer that wasn't working before, miraculously sounds beautiful and brand new. and i look like an idiot in a language i can't speak. o dear. anyway...they said, since my 3-year warranty expires Sunday (woah, I've had this laptop for 3 years!)...they'll change the speakers anyway, for free. but there are no guarantees that anything will be improved. but hey, new speakers are always better than 3 year old speakers, right? especially if it's free!

so, well anyway....with a stop at the Apple store...I gotta be at the train station by 11am...and...anyway...blah..specifics that aren't important to you. MY POINT IS, it's 1130pm, and I haven't even taken my backpack outta the closet...I haven't started packing. ah! And I gotta be out the house at 10 am...but I still have to clean my apartment too cuz people are coming over while I'm away...to HOPEFULLY (big cross of the fingers) acknowledge that yea, my apartment is a piece of dilapidated shit, and it needs some renovation.

well...poooooooint is point is point is....it's late. and i'm tired. and of course, i haven't started packing. but I ALWAYS do this. it's never been any different. so i've decided to just be dumb, and head off to bed. and wake up early to pack.

and then of course forget something "really" "important".

I don't even know how to pack tho! Weather report says 90 degrees with on and off storm showers. YUCK! Does that mean....bring shorts? Jeans, just in case? Bring my puffy waterproof green jacket? Or a light sweater? I swear, you do this 50 times, and it never gets easy or more sensical. 

I can't even remember what 90 degree weather is like though. Can you wear jeans without wanting to shoot yourself??

oy.

well...that's my attempt at an update. =P

I'll try to write something while I'm in the Philippines!!

<3, j9

Thanks for the comments guys! Always love em!

Sarah --> what's Ayameno? I haven't heard anything of it til now. Is it an elementary school or JHS? haha...well...if that IS where I'm going, then I'm glad it has a good reputation! =D

Tracy --> Yea, I'm almost finished with Dead Until Dark and I don't like it. The show is WAY better! Who knew! Maybe I don't like the book cuz I know what's gonna happen, cuz the show ACTUALLY follows the book WORD for WORD for DETAIL for DETAIL ALLLLL the way THROUGH! HOLY COW, right!??

So maybe, book 2 will be more fun to read. if i can just geeet through and finish the first one. Can't wait for season 2!! :)

(But yea, I feel embarassed to admit it, but so far, I think I enjoyed Twilight as a read, better than Dead Until Dark. Come on Sookie!! Shape up!!) =P

Nancy --> Sookie Stackhouse is the character from True Blood (which is based on a series of books written by Charlaine Harris). And yes, finish Dexter!! Season 3 is amazing! Can't waaaait for Season 4!!!!!!!!

o yea and Tracy, I wanna hear about the table reads!! There's already new scripts fully written!?? That's wild!!! What's it about? (of course, I'll keep the secrecy under lock and key, all the way here across the pacific ocean).

ok, well, Night guys!!

O yea...And I'm totally obsessed with True Blood.

and sad there's only one season.

Have you guys watched it!? You need to.

It's SO addicting. if you can get past the first awful pilot episode, it's well worth your time.

and ive caught up with Dexter -- though i know you guys probably did that ages ago. What'd you guys think!? I liked the third season much better than the second.

heehee.

ok just had to add that in.

o and I just ordered the Sookie Stackhouse book set - am I a geek???!!!!

But it fits into my awesome new year's resolution of managing to read and finish a new book about every 2 weeks - i'm so happy and proud of myself!!

Just had to give myself a little gloat pat on the back too. ;)

ok night for reeeals!

<3

The slowest quickest longest update to date. maybe?

haha, tracy, you're right, that last title was incredibly misleading and random...so it's been changed! ;)

___

nearly 2 months since my last post!

ahh, how embarassing! the 3 of you ;) need to hassle me every so often to keep me motivated and active with this thing!

ok, quick recap...and i swear i'll come back later in the week and put in some filler.

went to south korea last week. it was AWESOME. not what i expected. but pretty fun. ok, it wasn't "AWESOME" but it was fun. food was good. but I'll still choose Chinese and Japanese over Korean any day. But, I DID enjoy that sweet cold noodle stuff EVERY meal (**tracy!**) - and boy it was deeliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicious!!!! =D (and cheap! Seoul is really cheap!)

and, the nightlife is AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING. and that, i mean in caps. by nightlife i mean...clubs and bars and live music and karaoke, and beer halls, and street food and atmosphere and lights and activity and music and alcohol and the people! all of it! amazing! seoul's nightlife is unparalleled to any other i've ever seen in the world. And, I've been to a fair amount of places. :) By the end of this month, my "country count" will bet at 20 :) yay!. and that's ... "i've actually stepped out of the airport, hiked the local trails, eaten the local food, taken public transportation" country count. not like..."o my plane landed here so i'm gonna count it".

i want to eventually be at a point where i've been to as many countries as how old i am. my original goal a few years ago was to just travel to a new country at least once a year. but that's too slow for this new goal. ;)

anyway, i'm getting off track. so granted, i'm sure nightlife in beliz or... (insert some crazy european beach city) MIGHT beat out seoul - but....it was a shock and an adrenaline rush if anything, probably because of the complete lack of nightlife here in Sapporo - or at least a complete lack of it for people our age.

but, there are also a SHITload of foreigners in Seoul. I dont know how keen i'm on that one.

haha

i'm silly that way.

so anyway...

also, we took a tour of the DMZ. AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING! got me some north korean goods. got to DANCE on official north korean soil while a north korean army man was eyeing me through binoculars - only 100 feet away.

you know, cuz they've gotta make sure that the "cookie party" logo on my sweatshirt isn't really actually just propagandic flair giving the north an excuse to siege the south. those north koreans know how to stay on their toes and one step ahead!

we got to walk through a tunnel built by the north to try and invade the south. there are 4 found (each along the lines of like 50-80 km long if i recall correctly ??? ). but the south believe at least 17 exist. so this tunnel....you just go deep deep deep down underground. HUNDREDS of feet down. and then you're in the actual tunnel. and it's only 5 feet tall, cuz apparently north koreans are short. and it's only 2 people wide.  and its painted black so that the north could claim they were mining for coal when the area clearly contains nothing of the sort. and you just go deeper and deeper and...a family was running past us cuz their children were having panic attacks inside - the tunnel isn't for the faint of heart, and its VERY easy to get claustophobic inside. its crazy cool.

but literally, this area - this fortified border....it's just MILES upon MILES upon MORE miles of brown WASTELAND. surrounding by a wall of barbed wire and then another wall of barbed wire and then...o wait...6 more walls of barbed wire. and then an outpost every other 200 feet or so.

it's absurd. and tense. and amazingly aweeee-some. :)

i'll post a pic or two on here, and then more on facebook this weekend.

annnnnd....

next weekend, i'll be heading off to the Philippines for 2 weeks. I'm excited! Never would have considered traveling to the Philippines, but the flights are super cheap here and we get so much paid vacation - i had to go SOMEWHERE. there's a 5 day official holiday weekend, so my friends and i are able to take off work for 2 whole weeks, and only use 6 paid holidays. sweeeeet.

annnnnnnd, finally, here are some AWESOME photos of the kit kat bars that i'm obsessed with here. and some other random stuff.

i'm always taking pictures around town on my phone - cuz it's easy to email to myself and then post later. but i just never get around to actually posting it. but i am always thinking of you guys! and the blog!

i'm happy and lucky that you guys care. :)

To my lovely left: Here we have Matcha Tea Tiramisu Kit kat bar. This is my #1 favorite flavor thus far...but i only found this one tiny one at a 7-Eleven one lonely night, and i haven't been able to find it again ever since. I've searched far and wide....convenient stores and grocery markets all around the city. nothing. 

That's the thing with these flavors...there are SO many random ones...its rare to find the good ones more than once.

Above: here's my friend Chris -- he looks like Edward Norton. See! (that's a screen shot, behind him, of Edward Norton from the Hulk. haha.) Chris says he used to be stopped back home, because people would ask him if he was Edward Norton. Instead of a test tube, Chris improvised with our rented copy of "ToppuGan" (Top Gun, heehee). We rented the movie cuz I've never seen it before! Yet i IDOLIZE Tom Cruise's inspirational Thumbs Up, nearly everyday!! But the weekend we watched it, i got really sick and so I fell asleep half way through. :( so, i've technically still never seen the movie. sigh.

Sorry, this is sideways - but here's another kit kat flavor -- Chrysanthum Tea. It really tasted like flowers and tea! I don't know how they do it!!!! BLOWS MY MIND!

i've been spoiled with kit kats by the way now too. the sight of a plain kit kat bar disgusts me. i'll never be able to go back. it's silly, but true.

haha

Annnnd lastly, if you take a look to your left --- When I first saw this at a convenient store, i thought it was the weirdest grossest thing ever. I still think its weird and gross...but apparently it's a quite common "home-made leftover" recipe with...well at least one of the New Zealanders here. 

it's just sticking spagetti or soba noodles inside a soft roll. $1.

I'll never try it. that is WAY too many textures to even ponder getting involved with. ew-yuck.

just the sight of this photo makes me slightly gag. haha. but, a popular snack/mini-meal here in Japan, nonetheless.

:)

K, it's 3am, and I've got to be up in....5 hours for a dentist appointment. So i must bid adieu, but ...hopefully I get a chance to come back here before i leave for the philippines. 

=D, j9