I'm back! I'm back! Promise.

FOUR months!!! wow.
but I'm back. And I'm gonna be good about keeping a blog again. I'm so thankful you guys pushed me last year, cuz I look back at my entries, and I really cherish them.
So...well, I'll get down to business.
Today is the first day the snow is finally sticking. 2 days ago we had a CRAZY hurricane of winds and rain that kept me bottled up inside my apartment for most of the day. which has been fine (a recurring happenance for the past few weekends). Sleep and TV is keeping me relaxed, pleasant, and grounded. I started Mad Men a few weeks ago and I'm just about caught up with all of Season 3. AMAZING show. subtle. and you can't quite place why it's so good. but it is. Other shows I'm obsessed with at the moment...Glee. Of course. OMG. Glee is like television magic at the height of orgasm for 46 minutes a week. O my.
Hm...TV and weather, that's boring.

Last week I was in Tokyo for the second time. Went to Tokyo for Halloween and that was pretty wild and fun. Stayed up til 7am, drunk off my arse....politely yelled at a security guard in a convenient store asking why there was no more alcohol left (all with a giggle and a smile of course)...he wasn't having it though you could tell he was slightly amused...to which I proceeded to rip into a bag of kit kats with my teeth. Maggie was a good enough gal to step in and offer to pay for the damaged merchandise while the others hauled me outside. That was fun. We ended the night/morning with a 4 hour stay in a "love hotel" on Love Hotel Hill in Shibuya. We wore our costumes all day. That was super fun. Jesse almost got arrested. That was super hilarious. I'll get a picture of Jesse's costume up here...cuz it was pure epic. Also made a visit to Disney Sea -- what's Disney Sea you ask? Is it an aquarium? Nope...though this confused me for several several months, during the beginning of my stay in Japan. Disney Sea is an equivalent to California Adventures I'd say. It's a newer park (built near the sea, hence the origin of its name), and while some areas are cute and some rides are fun, they're new and not nostalgic and in the end you just kind of feel cheated of a disney experience because you didnt get pirates or its a small world or space mountain. Though you do get "journey into the center of the earth"...
Although visiting Disneyland in another country (especially, in this case, duh, Japan) was super exciting just to experience and observe the culture differences that can transcend an internationally recognized commodity that stays quite linear all across borders. Hm...does that make sense? Anyway, the most obvious and most interesting observations while there was the complete absence of food in the park. In America, where full faith lies in capitalism and trying to make as much money where opportunity seems fit...it's an incredibly different case in Japan. In america, if there's a line for a ride to be had, then there's 6 food carts, 4 souvenier shops and 3 McD stands within a 15 foot radius. But in japan...I'd say...there are a total of 8 food carts in the whole park (that includes anything from popcorn or a meat bun)...and the lines for food is actually longer than the line for a ride! People will wait an hour in line for a hot dog, whereas 10 feet away, the line for Ariel's adventure is only 30 minutes. Crazy. And of course, where are all the restaurants located (the few that exist?) -- America Town. haha. If you ever make it to Tokyo Sea, I definitely recommend "Teddy Roosevelt's Bar" on the Queen Mary-esque ship at the end of America Town. well good times. Except I was underdressed....so i got a bit grumpy as the day progressed, cuz it was far colder than I anticipated - but still many joys were had.
Ok, so anyway...moving on...so yea, then I went back to Tokyo for 8 days this past week, cuz Dan came to visit. =)
It was wonderful and happy and blissfully amazing.
Got a chance to go to the fish market - WOW! so cool. blood and golf cart things and tuna the size of a conference table. We had a $35 8-piece set sushi meal at 8am as well...and...I can understand now why people would pay $300 for a sushi meal in LA. I mean...this is the stuff. Melt in your mouth decadence. Yuuuummm. Everything but that darn squid. Even $100 squid isn't good in my opinion. I had to grip Dan's arm to prevent from gagging for the whole 5 minutes it took me to swallow that darn thing.
We saw a kabuki show (only an hour of the original 6 hour show) -- really cool. and really long and really nothing happening at all. but just to see the costumes and the precise structure and cermony to EVERYTHING was really amazing.
We walked around a lot, which was really nice. We met some cool japanese waiters. Peacoats and chocolate macaroons and little girls in kimonos and vending machines. =)
a trip always to be remembered.

So, already, of course, I'm onto planning the next trip. And it's....Thailand! Again...
...
=/
Normally I dont have (much, if any) qualms about visiting a country twice. but over the past few years, I feel i've become South-east Asiaed out (I'm very fortunate to be able to say that, I know). So I'm hesitant about this next xmas/new years vacation...but I know once I'm there, and while I'm in it, it's gonna be a wild fun time. We're also stopping in Cambodia for a week. So at least I get that.
No, I'm excited. Really...I am.
This trip will be different than the last...Kristine is planning a lot of jungle adventure trekking stuff - which will include a zip line at some point --> really cool!
And we'll be on the beach for New years -- it's between (the world famous?) Moon Party or a beach party in Phuket. Basically...a frat spring break party where everyone is high on drugs and drinks beer from a bucket (hmm...) or a slightly milder version of that in Phuket. I'm opting for the second choice...as...contrary to my initial excitement over an experience of "cancun-like spring break" proportians, my better more practical self has been telling me that being raped while on E cuz it was slipped in my sand-coated beer wouldn't be the most enjoyable of experiences to remember in the morning.
Why am I going to Thailand again? Cuz over the years I've learned that traveling is only enjoyable when you can share it with people you care about and have fun with...doesn't matter if you're looking at some temple 5000 years old, or some clear blue sea only seen in exotic movies...it's no fun if you can't enjoy it in the company of good friends. Jesse wants to go to Thailand, so I shall follow. Seeing as how Ryan went home and is now in Chicago (congratulations again!!! Still can't believe it! and can't wait to visit you!)...that voids the option of going to china again. And...other friends are going home for the holidays. or thailand.
ha, so thailand it is.

and uh...well...I'd say this is a hefty enough update for now.
I'm gonna try to do this every few days again. Seeing as how typing on the computer (not on my iphone - which is getting old and tiring) while staring out the window at the beautiful snow, makes these long (sometimes) unbearable days at school much easier.

despite the happenings going on around me...the good and the bad...I can say I'm quite happy. Because I've still got good people in my life.
=)
<3
-j9