Sayonara, Japan!

Hello! I meant to put this post up right before I left Japan, but since I am a poor packer and was packing til the last minute, I forgot to do it! I’m already home, but here is the post!

homecoming! just before landing =)

This trip to Japan changed my life! I cannot believe that I initially did not want to come here. There were some personal reasons and there was also my inner perfectionist’s perpetual fear-mongering: what if I fail and I don’t do it right? What if that’s not what I’m supposed to do? The what if-ing was exhausting to sustain and would have paralyzed me for who knows how long. It was not the kind of life I wanted to have after graduation. Not a life driven by fear.

So I moved here! And when I decided to keep a blog, I thought of why I wanted to write. I didn’t know who was going to read it.

“Writing is…that oddest of anomalies:
an intimate letter to a stranger.” — Pico Iyer.

So whoever you are reading this, friends, family, strangers, thank you so much for reading! This trip has been such an adventure and I enjoyed writing and sharing pictures. In a way, I feel like I was writing to another stranger — an alienated part of myself. In my fearful habits, I kind of neglected spontaneity, joy, and bliss…all things I believe are in our true nature. To be kind of cheesy, I’m not a stranger to myself anymore! Each blog post served as a kind of a reminder to myself of what happens when I just LIVE. I don’t need a screen of fear to allow only certain parts of life to soak in, I can be open to ALL of it. And look at what happens when I do! (The following pics and explanations are things that could have easily been separate blog posts on their own, but here they are altogether =).

There were so many times where I was just in the right place at the right time.

like the time my friend was like, "Oh hey I have an extra ticket to an Eric Clapton concert, wanna come?" SURE! sold out at the budoukan.

And what are the chances of this: once on Japanese TV, they were having a special on how Uniqlo is taking over the world. I caught the part of the footage that showed one of my best friends from NY at her job in Uniqlo in NY! AHHHHHHH! Right place, right time!

and oh hey wanna go to an awesome digeridoo concert?...for the concert, we had to take off our shoes! i loved the ceiling...very beautiful listening experience. i got a cd!

digeridoos!

If I just trusted myself, I would end up where I wanted to be. Like the time my friends took me to their friend’s — Keiichi Baba–‘s art show. It was in an old gallery studio building in the backalleys of Ginza. We supported his friend and took part in the interactive parts of his art showing…we became a part of his art! It was so creative and I loved it. There were other artists with their own little exhibition rooms that we didn’t have time to see (we were headed to the digeridoo concert afterward) and I wanted to go back! There were lots of cool antique stores in the building too. I found my way back the following day ALL BY MYSELF. And I went back at night, when all my visual points of reference were kind of distorted. I was so proud of myself for finding it again, and had so much fun enjoying the other art works!

cool piece by keiichi baba

Living here I learned that you can live with joy every day. I finally realized that there are so many forces beyond my control, forces that are so vast and mysterious. I stopped trying to untie its knot of mystery and just LIVED in it to let life live through me. Previously, life would just kind of happen to me, and I’d take furious mental notes, judge, and analyze every perception or what I thought I perceived over and over again to create a narrative that would ultimately make myself miserable. Classic over-thinker. I just thought it was a characteristic of the human condition. I would classify events as good or bad, big or small, important or useless. But there is only life! Its moments are never too big or too small because life is constantly shifting and growing and changing.

organic farmer's market every saturday. i could walk to it in 7 minutes from my house! i loved meeting the farmers and i loved the cheap prices too lol. like this bunch of gorgeous vegetables were 500 yen...$5-$6...made delicious things

doesn't matter where you're going, but how present you are to enjoy the moment! like on journeys on the subway! unusually empty. usually it's PACKED! once it was so crowded i was standing up and my cheek was smashed against the back of this guy's business suit!

no special occasion, just getting tapas with host mama and friend!

I’ll admit it wasn’t all roses. Sometimes I felt like SUCH a hopeless. monolingual. American. Most human relationships consist of minds interacting with each other through words/language. But for relationships to truly thrive, I think there’s some deeper recognition that needs to go beyond just words. Like how when my parents first met they felt like they knew each other forever. Or how when I went to my best friend’s house for the first time, I was hit with an overwhelming sense of deja vu and comfort even though I had never seen it before. So even though my Japanese was fair at best, I am so grateful that people just liked me for who I was regardless. It was more of a feeling!

Tatoeba–For example. On the Saturday before I left, I had a going-away party. It was hosted by a beautiful lady who is like the queen of Japan (if Japan were ever to have a queen). She is so kind to me and pulled out all the stops for my going-away party. She held it at her house and hired the most famous sushi masters in Japan to make us sushi. WHAAAAAAAAAAAT. I didn’t know they were famous masters…my Japanese teachers, who were just as flabbergasted as I was at the whole event, had to point that out to me: these guys never do house calls. I sat at the head of the table and got served first. I was kind of tearing up and not just because of the divine deliciousness of the sushi.

we started off with this...ahh-maaaaazing.....salmon roe...ikura? i didn't even know what i was eating sometimes but it was ALL SO FRESH. fresh fresh fresh fresh fresh.

i took a bite of this, and was like, "WHOA. WHAT IS THIS? IT'S SO DELICIOUS" it was so melt in your mouth soft and creamy and subtle. and it was you know what? fish foie gras. i can't even. wow. so amazing. and fresh. did i say fresh?

he made everything fresh in front of us, including the wasabi!!! he ground/swirled the wasabi root thing, and the end product looked so freshly whipped! like cream! he had me taste some with my finger for my approval ahhhhh!

round one: can't name all of these but WOW. it was like eating fish gems.

wow wow wow wow. he could just put together the sushi with two light slaps of his hands. scoop out some rice and ~pack!pack!~ the sushi was made, perfectly shaped and balanced...not too much rice, not too much fish, not too much wasabi...AHHHH!

round two: there was some grilled eel i think? and grilled fish? so good. i tried with all my might to finish it all. and i succeeded. YUSSSSSSS.

I think they were saying something like, “Here’s how you could make this on your own at home!” Hahaha. Yes just like a master. I felt so grateful to the hostess and will always remember the experience. I always liked Maya Angelou’s quote, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” I saw it on a poster in the library when I was very young and really internalized it; it helped me cope with all my allergies and stuff. I still love that quote and would like to add that sometimes there really is nothing to change, like Buddha says, “How wonderful! How wonderful! All things are perfect, exactly as they are.” On that note, it’s so good to be back home with my other `ohana =). Thank you for reading and whether I continue with this blog or not, I hope you enjoyed it! Here are some last Japan OGFSssssss.

on one of my last days i met up with an old college friend! (wow that makes me sound old haha) we went to this hawaiian restaurant and it wasn't "authentic," but it was SO GOOD. kalua pig and rice with an egg on top in a bi bim bap style sizzling black bowl (so it can get all crispy and delicious at the bottom). so amazing.

and then we went out for ice cream! or sorbet in my case =). you could choose up to three flavors and they neatly scoop it for you into a cup. they give you bits of delicious kobu (seaweed) on the side to cleanse your palette...i loved this touch (so japanese!). it brought out so many richnesses of each flavor. guava BAM! orange BAM!

Love, meeee ❤

P.S. WHOA I just published this on WordPress and nowadays every time you publish on wordpress they congratulate you on your __# of posts, and give you a quote about writing to help you keep going…look at which one I got! “My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.” — Anais Nin — isn’t that crazy!!!! cool. yay. bye.

So College

Hi guys! In less than a month I’ll be leaving Japan and going home. Who knows where the time goes? College already seems like a lifetime ago, and now I am trying my best to enjoy the present instead of lamenting how Japan too will soon become just another memory!

shibuya at night. look at all the people in the dark waiting to cross the street! with all the neon to guide us.

This past week I met up with my old college professor for dinner. We met at Shibuya Station in front of the Hachiko dog statue, the meeting place for hoards of hip students. He could easily pass for a student so I worried I wouldn’t be able to find him. But we did! He’s everyone’s favorite Asian Studies/History professor who’s living in Japan right now (should be a no-brainer for all my college buddies hehe). I was so excited to see him because he wasn’t there last year, and now that I’m a grad, we could toast to ourselves with drinks! A geek to the core, that was very exciting to me. Kanpai! He took me to eat okonomiyaki in the back alleys of Shibuya, also very exciting. Lot of pachinko parlors and dubious little doors (and we went into one of them for dinner! so cool).

It was so good to see him and catch up! Amidst our reminiscing about college and pouring drinks for each other, he asked me what I wanted to DO. WITH. MY. LIFE. I gave myself a long, dramatic, self-indulgent pause. Which, as my professor pointed out, was pretty much an answer in itself. Oh geez. All that fancy liberal arts education to arrive at the same uncertainty that’s characteristic of all life anyway. However, as I waved goodbye and became just another four-foot-something girl in the crushing crowdedness of Shibuya’s subway station, I felt kind of hopeful: I physically carve out my own little four-foot-something space for myself every day. What’s stopping me from finding my own niche in LIFE!? I may have been kind of bleary from Shibuya’s sprawling neon landscape and/or the sake as I scurried away into the night and squeezed myself into the subway, but THAT WAS MY THOUGHT. Hopefully once I find my niche, it will be the awesomest four-foot-something niche you have ever seen. (P.S. Prof, if you’re reading this, thanks again for dinner and next time I’ll treat cuz it’s gonna be a rich niche! Mata ne!!!).

earlier in the week it was pouring! and the raindrops made the neon look kind of mystical. i thought so anyway.. it translates as "PLEASE WAIT." good things come to those who wait!

And keeping up with the college theme of the week, a couple days after I met up with my professor, a friend took me to his alma mater’s annual Fall Festival. He went to Keio University, and he explained to me that most big universities in Japan hold a campus-wide fair every fall. Keio’s Mita Festival was just SO COLLEGE. How else can I put it…the exhilarating earnestness…the winking juxtaposition of lofty — towering buildings that communicate “higher learning”– and lurid — hallways papered with flyers promising who-knows-what at party XYZ. Different clubs were trying to raise money and different awarenesses were trying to be raised. It took me back!  And before I start sounding like too much of an old lady, here are some pictures =)

all these booths were selling food for different clubs. can you see the octopus one? i tried octopus balls (tako-yaki) for the first time! they were sooooo good and made fresh by the students.

i also had some pig sooop lol so cute. and the illustration is hilarious. it tasted so homemade like the kind my dad makes. japan has a pretty serious food culture and i guess that extends to the younger kids too.

this was pretty intense. my school did NOT have this at our college fairs/festivals. they have a thai boxing club, karate club, etc. and they put on a show for all these bloodthirsty co-eds lol. look at the ref patting the guy down for weapons! also note the sweeping trees and the building's collegiate-looking arches in the background. SO COLLEGE.

This next video is of the school’s “Latin Club.” Many of the clubs had their own classroom like this where they offered various entertainments and foods or drinks. This one called their room “Cafe Latina” and sold tea and guacamole, salsa and chips. And then there were other rooms like the Filmmakers Club, where they showed student films (duh ;)), Tarot Club, Psychology Club, where you could get yourself analyzed with an intense and revealing looking color-coded “Character Test,” get your caricature drawn…so much! SO COLLEGE.

and then they were like, "and this is a poncho!" but mostly i just thought that guy was kinda cute hehe.

It was raining so hard the day before (see traffic light pic) but the weather was beautiful for the college fair. Classic autumn day! And then on another classic autumn day later that week, I went back to Shibuya while the sun was out to see if the neon made me hallucinate anything that wasn’t actually there. I wandered around for the longest time and walked past a nondescript run-down building. Along the wall, a glass case advertised what was in the building’s various floors. Weirdly enough, there were a lot of vintage used clothing stores, and in a grand advertising ploy I guess, one vintage shop showcased a tiara perched on a Malcolm X sweatshirt (MALCOLM X written in huge bold down the front) in the building entryway’s glass case. I was sold. I had to see this shop no matter how sketchy the building looked.

When I went in, I felt suffocated by the floor-to-ceiling plaid, metallic and denim. Down one aisle was a hipster and a humungous slouched-over Big Bird costume looped over on a chair. And it looked like they were having a face-off, each trying to see who had more vintage irony encoded in their similar postures. I have no idea. It was weird. I got to the end of the shop, and had to step over this mini rack of Star Wars shirts. I don’t know why they were hanging on a rack that was two feet tall! And once I got out, I was in a completely new street full of TONS of vintage clothing shops. I went into one at random and freaked out. I am pretty sure I made a noise but the hipster clerk at the front ignored me in classic hipster fashion. But I’m glad she did because then I could take THIS PICTURE!

nestled amongst used pointy shoes and the obligatory faded disney character was a vassar sweater. oh. my. stars. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! and were our school colors ever green??? i couldn't believe i saw this!! it was right at the entrance of the store. like VASSAR epitomized its whole aesthetic.

I went into a few more vintage shops and college sweaters seemed to be pretty popular, but they were all West Coast or Midwest schools that sounded vaguely made-up. Like San Diego Scarsdale. But anyway! I think no matter what I end up doing, it will be okay because everything is so connected. Like this week’s overriding theme: college. The connections are everywhere as long as I trust myself enough to let the connections run through me.

Whether I end up back in school: (mainly I made this video to prove to Mom and Dad that I am actually studying. Sometimes.)

Or, as I’m secretly hoping, I will discover a hidden talent like this guy at the Ramen Museum who was juggling crystal balls. It was so mesmerizing.

But in the meantime, I’m just happy to stuff my face. Here are OGFSs!! (obligatory gratuitous food shots 😉

my friend was like, "Here. Raw meat. You will try." and i did! totally thought it was gonna be gnarly. totally wasn't. it was so. good. so good! it tasted way more subtle and savory than cooked meat has ever tasted. i didn't take pictures of the other raw meat i ate like cow liver and some amalgamation (college word sup) of random raw meats. because those looked way more gnarly than this pretty pink chicken. sorry vegetarian friends.

the raw meat was so good, i thought "why would anyone want to COOK their meat and destroy it like that?" and then i ate these yakitori (individually skewered and grilled over charcoal meat sticks) and thought, "oh yeah. these are pretty good too." hehe. YUM!

Love from ME!

Kimonos and Carousels Part 2

Hello again! So today was the actual day of Shichi-Go-San. I went to Asakusa where there’s another cool temple. Since today was a weekday, there’s work and school during the day ==> not as many people celebrating as this past Sunday. However, I think the Asakusa Shichi-Go-San festivities stretch into the evening because the temple area was completely set up carnival-style with tons of little food booths! Luckily, they were already up and running for lunch. Yum! Which reminds me, the last post didn’t have OGFSs! This one will though. It all works out! This post will be mostly pictures; pictures from today and also more pictures from my Sunday trip to Meiji Jingu that I wanted to include in the last post but couldn’t flow in properly with my whole nostalgia spiel.

to the left and right are tons of food booths!

leading up to the temple, there were these booths where you can get your fortune. the little girl looks so cute and excited to get hers! (sorry my camera is old and it cannot handle certain brightnesses)

"WHETHER IN GOOD OR BAD FORTUNE, YOU SHOULD TENACIOUSLY DO YOUR BEST. YOU CAN CARVE OUT YOUR OWN FORTUNE."

there's the silver box you shake in the background. i got "fortune but finally." you might not get married, might get diseased, thwarted wanting, etc. BUT I CARVE OUT MY OWN FORTUNE! 😉

at one of the booths, there were these beautiful lollipops! i was so intrigued...they were sitting on ice and looked so juicy

and then i figured out why the lollipops were on ice! the outer shell is SOO sticky and sweet it would probably catch flies. but the inside fruit was tart (especially mine, i got ume--kind of like a sour plum!) for a nice combination!

bye bye asakusa! time to hop on my don draper carousel into the past....back to meiji jingu!

look familiar? hint: balloons =)

there was a shinto wedding going on at the same time! so beautiful! and solemn. rites of passage aboundingggg

this little girl was so cute she was watching the wedding procession go by with such rapt attention...almost reverential

you can write your wish and hang it amongst thousands of others from all around the world on these wooden blocks

hahaha reminded me of college; phrases like "the aesthetic of lostness"

bye bye meiji jingu!

And now OGFSs!!

when i was sick, my neighbor friend made me this!! chicken noodle soup japanese style hehehe

Solid Gold

Hi everybody! I’m basically going to be bragging a lot in this post. My cousin is a major figure skating superstar and she was in Japan for a while to compete! She has been figure skating for pretty much all her life and this amazing figure skater from Japan needed a partner and he sought her out to be his partner for pair figure skating. And together they are on their way to World Championships to represent Japan! What can I say, fierceness runs in the family ;). I missed out on all the kinesthetic genes though hehe. Once when I visited her and her family in Boston, I went to train with her at MIT. I thought, ‘Hey I go to the gym, I can do it, it’ll be fun!’ But her training regimen absolutely killed me! On every single one of the weight machines, her trainer had to decrease my weight load by more than half of what my cousin was lifting…and I kind of couldn’t walk the next day.

and figure skating is so graceful like a butterfly!!!! stay tuned for a video!

Even though I trained with her, I had never actually seen her skate. Until now! We had a lot of fun hanging out in Tokyo and then I met up with her in Kyoto for the competition. I was so excited to see her skate for the first time. When I left my apartment, as I was closing up the sliding door, I saw a beautiful butterfly on the balcony sill. I took it as a good sign for my cousin and the trip in general. It didn’t even fly away and let me take its picture and lingered for a long while afterward.

And speaking of butterflies and delicate graceful things, don’t let the gracefulness of figure skating or the sparkly outfits fool you: you need to be super strong to do it. These guys are SERIOUS athletes. Just think of how hard it is to balance on one foot (it’s hard for me anyway). And add doing it on a sharp blade. On ice. While you’re gliding backwards. And spinning. And doing crazy lifts and positions with your partner and keeping it all in sync and graceful. Doyouknowhatimsayinnn! It’s tough stuff! This upcoming video is not even of their official number (I got busted for using my camera after this one wahh and didn’t want to risk sneaking more video and getting kicked out forever). It is just their practice for the judges – all sitting in front of their computers where they input their scores so it can flash up on the screen – before their official dance number. Before the dance numbers, each pair has the to run through the same practice routine for the judges (cuz, correct me if I’m wrong on any of this ok!).

They look so awesome together and my cousin is especially graceful! Their skating moves kind of defy all those physics laws of momentum etc in a way that makes it border on magical to watch. But it also borders on scary. Before the doubles competition, I watched the singles competition. Singles figure skating revolves around those crazy jump spins in the air. The whole audience just cringed when the skater would mess up a landing and take a pounding on the ice. They spin in the air and if they spun just half an angle too far to the left or right, they’d take a nasty fall. I always worried about them ending up on that sharp blade. Or breaking their neck/ankles; every muscle and nerve and fiber of your being (!) has to be in harmony with each other for a safe landing. I had cranberries with me (thank you Grandma!!), and started gnawing on them like crazy in anticipation of my cousin going on. I was so nervous for her. But she’s a pro, I should have had nothing to worry about.

waiting to go on last minute talk with the coach...the mist adds nicely to the drama of the moment--ANTICIPATION! ganbatte!

back in the hotel room! i got her a flower that they have in hawai`i! protea...love it! and i also love my fake leather jacket. forever 21 baby very cheap. ugh i gotta stop with the fake cheap leather jackets. before they all add up to cost as much as a real one!

The “short dance” competition meant that all the pairs had to use the same type of music in the same style: Latin. Their routine was so sensual and beautiful! I woohoo-ed excessively and cheered her name and got a lot of weird looks. I was my cousin’s one-person entourage ok! I needed to compensate somehow. Don’t hate! Most of the competitors had supporters in droves all dressed in huge down jackets and thermoses of soup for the day of competition. There was one part where they did a very difficult but effortless-looking move and came out through a mist on the ice and it looked SO romantic and dreamy. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. We ate a lot of delicious rice and food to reward ourselves afterward. Reward for my cousin for skating her heart out and being amazing (they didn’t even come close to falling!). And reward for myself for um, I don’t know…not chewing my nails out from (unnecessary) nervousness?

And then the next day, it was the free dance competition, which meant they could dance any style with any type of music. We got to the Aquarena very early so my cousin and her partner could warm up and she could do her hair and makeup. I wasn’t as nervous to watch her but just as excited. They danced a combination of tango and waltz. Those are very complicated dances with very exacting step sequences and they nailed it! Every single back and forth and head toss and classy stomp! And they totally upped their lift game and special effects game (my skating terminology must be very off)…with the help of wikipedia, I think what I saw them do was “death spirals”? And those are as awesome as they sound. A lot of moves where they look like they are balancing on each other and dragging each other at the same time?! And flying?! The little boy sitting next to me was vocal about how impressed he was. With every amazing move they pulled off, he gasped, “Sugoi! Wa, SuGOI!!!” Which translates as “Awesome! Whoa! So AWESOME!” So that made me feel better about being the lone whoo-hoo-er. The people to the other side of me threw their bags to the seats behind me with a dramatic thud to show me they were going to move…away from me who was making too much noise, apparently. Why so uptight, mate? Hehehe. And it wasn’t like cheering was against the rules or something…it was fine when people cheered in large groups. But solo-cheering? Not so much. Interesting. Anyways, I made sure to restrict my cheering to the opening and ending. I have good manners after all, like a good Japanese citizen (re: previous post)!

I really thought their free dance performance was something special. The choreography just flowed and every move was so so breathtaking in its athleticism and elegance. Apparently, the little boy and I weren’t the only ones who were impressed with what we saw. When the results came up, drumroll please! My cousin and her partner came in first place! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

next stop nationals! then after that who knows?! look at her partner's gold medal glistening! YES

looking at their detailed score sheet with their coach...always room for improvement and perfection with these guys!

So they’re going to Nationals in December in Japan and hopefully after that Worlds and/or Olympics to represent Japan! Is Worlds the Olympics? Hello, language barrier! We shall see! Her Japanese coach was asking her, “So your great-grandmother came from Japan?” And I could see the wheels turning in his head to find a loophole for her to compete for Japan despite her American citizenship. But in any case, I am so proud of my amazing cousin and so happy that we saw each other in Japan. ❤ And that I got to finally see her sugoi skating talent! In Japan of all places. So cool. Now OGFSss.

cranberry soymilk donut! made with real cranberry! see the cranberry bits?! you can also see the little nibble i took in the dainty pretense that i wouldn't eat the whole thing. GUESS HOW THAT WORKED OUT!??! (it didn't. whole thing gone. one sitting). WHOO HOO!!!!! =)

Love from me!

Just Say No!

Hi guys! I went to Harajuku on Halloween. You all know Harajuku, right? Japan doesn’t really do the dressing-up-on-Halloween thing (but their Halloween decorations are so cute! See my Halloween post). But I thought if anywhere would give me a taste of how Halloween’s done back in the US, it’d be Harajuku.

Once I got there, though, everyone was dressed normal! I went into some amazing costume stores where I was tempted by some sparkly Vegas outfits, but no one was actually wearing a costume. However, I tore myself away from the costume stores and bought some other “normal” clothes. I was so thrilled with them that I had to make a video revolving around my purchases! You can interrogate my level of taste later. But reserve your harshest comments for never ok! 😉

I’m such a liar! “I might come back for it…” And yeah, buy it with money I don’t have! Don’t say America never taught me anything! Hehe. But in all fairness, my Japanese language teacher did tell us that when expressing negative sentiments or declining in Japanese, you do it in the most roundabout way possible. There’s this young guy from France in my class and he just cracks me up. He just doesn’t get it (but I’m right there with him most of the time!). He asked the teacher in his gloriously thick French accent, “But if I’m at the store, how do I say, ‘I don’t like both of these! Take them away I don’t want them! I’m going to the other store!'”

The teacher looked taken aback and said, “…Ahhh, hmm. Well in that case you would say, ‘Sumimasen…dochira mo…chotto…'” Which translates as, “I’m sooo sorry…both of them are just….too….just…” while you make your voice trail away in a farewell sigh of regret. So yes, trying on expensive stuff in the store is a big deal. You can’t just say NO when they help zip you up into the jacket that’s too tiny for you anyway, and you can’t just say NO after they’ve watched you admire yourself in the jacket you will not be able to afford until you win the lottery. In general I’ve always had to work on being better at saying NO! But in Japan it’s hard to say NO because of the roundabout language thing, AND when I take into consideration the fact that the biggest ad campaign in the subway system revolves around not safety, but politeness. Sorry for the glare on these pictures but I will type out their message.

"Please be aware that applying make-up on the train may be bothersome to others."

"Please be careful not to lean against the person sitting next to you should you fall asleep."

"Please be considerate of passengers around you when using your mobile phone."

And note how they convey their message not with some overbearing authority figure, but benign cute little animals. Every time I hop on or off the subway I am greeted by the kitty, the parakeets, or the guinea pig. They all want you to have good manners! But even that message was expressed in the most roundabout/polite way possible — cute animals to blunt the bossiness! Something I took away from all this emphasis on manners was (among other things, but Imma focus on the positive here) that asserting oneself need not be a strident declaration; it can be a delicate persuasion. If only I knew Japanese better.

But in any case, I’m glad I told MYSELF “No” on spending $2000 on a leather jacket that would be too small on me one and a half pounds later. Nothing but real talk with me (this can be read two ways I think; one of them is like me talking to myself GET IT!?). I did however spend $15 on delicious special udon; food is something that’s always worth the money in my opinion. Here are the OGFSss!

the nabeyaki udon was served boiling hot in this stone pot! i couldn't even get a proper picture at first the lens steamed up! SO worth burning my tongue for.

now this is when it cooled off and i messed it around. SO. GOOD.

I love you YES I do for reading this! x Oh, and P.S. When I got back from Harajuku, I went to the gym. And on my way back from the gym, I saw all these men dressed up as cavemen and they were running a marathon led by a man dressed up as a referee. Or maybe he was a referee? And he was training them? And then these salary-men guffawed at them while they exchanged Laffy Taffys. Halloween in Japan. Somehow that seems about right.

Me and my Mansion

Hey guys! So I wanted to do a post just on where I am living because it is awesome and I want to remember it forever. And what better way to preserve memories than video! I made one and hope you don’t get seasick because my webcam skills are heta (unskillful in Japanese).

Wow what a spaz. I also took pictures so you can get a better idea of it.

relatively neat. good thing i didn't show the closet (i.e. a pack-rat's best friend)

do you see the blue futon? i roll it out every night and sleep on the floor! like a boss! it's actually really comfortable. i just don't like having to put it away every morning. but such is the life in a MANSION!! lololol

So that’s it! Hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of CRIBS. Be sure to come back next week for an exclusive look at the homes of Pee Wee Herman and Nicki Minaj! Hahahahaha, ok I’m getting really silly. I imagine their homes would have overlapping similarities though. Maybe. Mmmm, deep thoughts. Here’s the OGFSsss. I am posting this as I eat as to mitigate the intense food lust.

went out with friends to get tapas and the place had the best paella ever. even better than the ones i had in barcelona #bragging #shutup

i had a clearer shot of this blurry picture but i feel like the blurriness better conveys the swooning nature of the enjoyment. we were at this little little hole in the wall that was PACKED with the pau hana crowd (after work crowd). the kitchen was tiny but the food was EXQUISITE!!! don't know how the one chef was doing it. like a mini factory of culinary genius.

Love from ME thanks for reading =)

Cute is a girl’s best friend

Japan knows how to do cute. But my post title does not refer to Hello Kitty. Or Totoro. Or Snoopy*. Though those are all so very cute, in this post I’m going to talk about adorable children! If you don’t like kids, or have them and can’t manage to match my enthusiasm, thank you for coming anyway, and feel free to skip ahead to the OGFSs. (*so much love for Totoro and Snoopy/Peanuts…more on this later stay tunedddd!*)

Today, Monday, is a national holiday in Japan. Sports Day or Taiiku no Hi, comes every second Monday of October to commemorate the time in 1964 when Japan hosted the Olympics. Many schools and companies celebrate it by bonding through good old- fashioned perspiration and participate in their own organized mini Olympics to promote active lifestyles.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go to a pre-school/kindergarten’s celebration of Sports Day. I went out to Ibaraki Prefecture with friends who were the guests of honor at the school and did not know what to expect. I only hoped and prayed that I wouldn’t personally have to sweat. Once we got there, I almost died of a cuteness overdose. I was struck by an urge to have a billion children all at the same time by any means necessary. It was weird.

humongous empty field. it will soon be filled with the cutest kids you have ever seen.

In the school’s huge playground, we were greeted by a rows upon rows of kids in lines arranged by year and color-coded hats. All the two year olds wore orange hats, and the oldest ones, five years old wore blue I think? And the years in between wore different colors. They were all so proud to be there and begin their program.

performance after performance after performance! from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm. they all either stood up or ran around or performed. even the two year olds! such endurance and good spirits.

One of the first items on the program was English exercise. It’s about mental health too! Their English is already better than my Japanese. Look at their identical shoes and adorable hats!

Next, they all stood in rows and went from standing by themselves and doing a solo exercise:

i was jealous of their coordination at some points. yes i said it. here's the leader in blue at the front.

To gathering into threes to show what they could do as a group:

look they're barefoot too!

Then what they could do as six:

it's a good thing they're all skinny and little. and fit apparently.

Then what they could do in whole lines:

human dominoes...after this their shirts were all still impecabbly white. don't ask me how.

Then what they could do ALL TOGETHER!

they created a human border around the whole playground and made a super high pyramid in the center. spoiler alert: none of these kids in all 7 hours that they were out in the sun, doing various strenous activities, got hurt. yoku dekimashita!

I never saw anything like it. Every single kid knew exactly what they were supposed to do at every given moment. Sure, they were shuttled along by their chaperones and teachers, and that guy with the starter’s gun who really enjoyed his job (haha). But they were eerily disciplined and well-behaved while also seeming to have a lot of fun.

There go the little two year olds in their orange hats! The chaperone teachers kept on trying to get them to throw their hands up in the air once they got to the finish line. The chaperones/teachers were so crucial to the choreography. The lines to mark the kids’ places were constantly being drawn and redrawn again by the grownups. A METAPHOR PERHAPS…!?

brooms to erase the marks that thousands of little feet in identical shoes could not

i really wanted that chalk-line-drawer-guy's job. doesn't it look like so much fun to push that thing around and make such satisfyingly chunky lines?

Then the older kids did the relay races.

awwww so cute. look at the boy lifting the blue baton. such good posture!

the older kids were really good at crossing finish lines with the appropriate amount of self-congratulation. but adorable self-congratulation! hands up in the airrr

Then! (Are you tired yet? This is not even half of all their activities…I felt like such a lazy ass just watching them) Their parents got involved. It was so good to see both moms AND dads involved.

in two teams, one pushing a red ball, the other a blue one (can't really see it here), the parent and child have to push the ball all around the whole playground. some parents helped a lot, others let their kid do it all.

and this game where the kid rides on the parents' back and they all run around while the kids try to take each others' hats. so cute!

even though they all were competitive and tried to steal each others' hats, they were all friends in the end. i'm so glad i got this shot of this kid reaching out for his friend's hand. CUE THE AWWWWWing!

By now, I was ready to go home and call it a day. I felt so exhausted just watching all of this! Even the cuteness was starting to overwhelm me with their smiley vibes and cherubic cheer. BUT THEN. At the two o’clock hour. When the cherubic dances started to wilt, and you could start to see the sweat behind the smiles, they pulled out all the stops. Have you ever seen a marching band made up of five year olds?

Everyone was on point and they sounded so good. WHAT HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN? Don’t even get me started on the cuteness.

crisp white uniforms again

i think i counted five different instruments? at least? the flags should count too.

perfect formation

here's a supportive sibling in the crowd. her shirt's saying might sound familiar. (hint: i stole it for my title)

Ok, this is getting very long, thank you for staying with me! In short, what really stood out to me was: 1) the order and discipline 2) the parents’ involvement 3) the cuteness (duh). Somehow all three of those things made me think about the Japanese proverb: The nail that sticks out gets pounded. The social implications of this saying are vast in range, good, bad and everything in between. You are free to apply and interpret it as you wish. But from my standpoint, after watching that whole day of activity, I interpret the saying to mean that to stand out is suicide because one’s well-being depends on her allegiance to and acknowledgment of the whole. With all the emphasis on organization in groups — remember those pics earlier on of the three kids –> six kids –> human domino –> human pyramid? — the whole completely overshadowed the individual.

Especially with the People magazine I read on the plane (don’t judge, “literature” has flexible meaning, I READ WHAT I WANT OK), I really think that individualism can actually deepen the trap of one’s alienation to society/the whole.

FYI, amurrrica: this is NOT CUTE

Note: lone child on cover; the nature of Toddler/Tiara competitions: me, me, ME, me and my SPRAY TAN, dammit! Does that make sense? You can interpret that how you want too. I’m too tired and overwhelmed by this re-hashing of cuteness to carry on. Without further adue, here are the OGFSss.

there's this japanese snack called kakimochi. it's a rice cracker that can be prepared in many different ways. here is one prepared in one of my personal favorite styles: DEEP FRIED

I couldn’t resist and had to have a fresh hot batch.

have you ever wondered what a cross between a french fry and a buttery pastry would taste like? it would taste like this. and it was killahhhh.

Ok, thanks for reading! And a special thank you to the friends who took me to the amazing event. I don’t know if I will ever again in my lifetime experience such cuteness and general amazingness. Ja ne!