Barricade New Years -- MC LINA!

Ok so tonight I had another event as an MC. Today went WAAAAY better than the last time as I think I finally got the hang of being an MC. :) It was also Barricade's New Year's party.. so there were a lot more people there cheering me on. I was really happy that Sarah and Kyouko came. It gave me a big boost in confidence and I actually had the crowd going for a while! It was really fun :)

But yeah, everybody got sooo drunk. As for me.. this was my third all-nighter in a row and I didn't feel like drinking or doing anything.. I was getting to be sooo tired.. he he he And tomorrow we're driving all the way to Kumamoto! 13 hours in a car.. :'(

Anyway, we had a really great time. I did good as an MC. Now.. in less than a month, I'm going to debut as a DJ. I'm really excited and I've been practicing really hard. So get ready everyone.. DJ RINA is on the rise! he he he

Sarah, Me, and Kyouko

Group Shot!

DJ Yui

Cardz, and DJ KEiTA

MEGA-Bounenkai!

So ok, remember a few posts back about the Bounenkai? The "Forget-the-Year-Party"?? Well, being the party animal that I am (just kidding), I decided to get all my closer friends together and have one of our own. Boy was that a night to remember.. or actually.. I can't remember most of it... (Again, sorry mom sorry dad).. Yeah.. I was pretty inebriated that night.. he he he But I'll tell ya, it was probably one of THE funnest nights I've had in Tokyo. It was soooooo much fun because I was with my best friends here.. It was just.. awesome... I can't describe it.

We went bowling first and then we went to an izakaya for a drinking party(nomikai). It was perfect timing because it was winter break and none of us had school the next day. So we all loosened up, had a good time, and forgot the year... and everything else that happened that night.. ha ha ha...

After the drinking party we went to a club and a had a great time dancing to reggae and hip hop. Like I said, it was probably one of the funnest nights I've had since I've come to Japan. BUT, since I can't remember all of it... he he he.. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

P.S. Kouta and I leave for Kumamoto in two days... I'm soo nervous about meeting his parents... Wish me luck.

Here's to forgetting the Year.... KANPAI! ("Cheers!")

Mako and me

Me and Kenji... I'm already a little "high tension" ('high tension' is what they say in Japanese for hyper.. why? I have no idea)

Everybody Gathered to have a good time.. :)

Kouhei, Jina, and Ayumi

Kouhei, Me, and Sarah... Loving us some sukiyaki and booze.. he he he (Sorry Dad! ha ha)

Thug bowling

You can't handle this..

Kouhei, Me and Ayumi.. before the night got crazy.. ha ha ha

Boys will be boys...

Ayumi.. the Winner of our bowling fest

Two lovely ladies..

We're in trouble.. he he he Kouhei looks REALLY scary in this pic.. poor guy.. the Asian glow... ha ha ha

Nice face Kenji

Once again me and Kohei.. I don't know why I'm grabbing my chest... ha ha

Mako and Kenji

Me and Kouhei.. best drinking pals forever! ha ha ha

Keita and Kouhei

Yes.. that's my new baby on my lap.. ha ha ha

I have no idea what Keita is doing in this picture.. ha ha ha

Kouta's Fashion Party DJ Bonanza

So tonight, Kouta had another DJ event. I went to see it. he he he Sounding quite simple right?

Anyway, it was Yuuki's fashion school friend's birthday... and Kouta was invited to DJ at it. It was pretty fun, even though those fashion kids are crazy... Some day I'll be just like them. I'm sooo excited.. ha ha ha

Anyway, here are some random pics from the night. Nothing really that interesting to write about.

See ya~!

Me, Chika, and some weirdo guy from Yuuki's School he he (Yes that is Sequins on his shirt.. hey.. he goes to fashion school alright? he he)

DJ Kouta

Kouta, his friend, and Yuuki

Kouta and me <3

Christmas in Japan..... For real?

There is one known fact about Christmas in Japan: If you are single... it is probably the lonliest time of the year.. even moreso than Valentine's Day....

Luckily for me, I have Kouta :)
Christmas in Japan = The equivalent of Valentine's Day in December... Couples hit the streets shopping, eating, dancing together.. while singles walk around with a look of despite in their eyes of all the STUPID couples walking around together being all lovey dovey.. he he he.. I'm happy to say that I got to be part of the latter group.

One things for sure, I really did miss my family a lot this Christmas. I missed gathering around the tree at my Mom's and watching my nephews tear into their presents.. I missed my baby Tavia's 2nd Christmas.. I missed my Dad getting all crabby because there's a million people in his house.. even though I know he likes it when the family is together... he he he I missed Mom's baked ham.. and Sharon's whipped potatoes....

But luckily for me, I had Kouta to distract me from my homesickness.. he he he.. First, he took me to a fancy Thai food restaurant and we ordered like 10 different dishes... He was trying to substitute for the usual family feast that I have... or at least, those were his words. Then we went for a walk through Shibuya.. as we always do.. but this time the place was filled with couples doing the same thing. And there were different light displays down the streets. So it was really nice and romantic. <3

After that, we rented some movies and got some Hot Chocolate and went to his house. There he FINALLY gave me my present.... he he he.. I say FINALLY even though technically it was only Christmas Eve.. but I just couldn't wait anymore! And there it was... with its soft leather... Pretty wine red color... my very first.. COACH purse!!!!! He really did it this time.. I swear! I was speechless.. not only was it Coach.. but it was CUTE too!!! he he he My boyfriend had picked out a CUTE purse for me. Now I know guys with this ability come few and far between and I was sooo excited that I had found one. :) So as I sat there watching Meet Joe Black and drinking hot cocoa and clutching my brand new baby... I spent the my first Christmas away from my family.. with someone who is becoming more special to me every day... (Sorry for the mushiness guys.)

Thanks Kouta for a wonderful Christmas away from home. Even though I was sooo homesick, you made it a good one. :)

My new COACH purse :-D

Happy Birthday Emperor Heisei!

So today we went to the Imperial Castle for the Emperor's birthday. They only allow people INSIDE the interior gates on two days out of the year: the Emperor's birthday AND the 2nd day of the year. I was really excited to get an opportunity to see where the emperor actually lives. Although we didn't get a chance to see inside his actual chambers or anything like that (I know I wouldn't want some 20 odd thousand people trapsing through my room on my birthday), we did get to SEE the Emperor!! That was pretty awesome. Although my picture didn't turn out all that well, I can say that he is a really cute old man and he gave this really cute speech about how he was worried about his people. He wanted them to be careful of catching a cold, and he worried for the people that are dealing with the huge amounts of snow. (Which by the way, almost 100 people have been killed so far by snowfalls up to 8 meters high!) It's insane! I think that the snow and the cold weather followed me here from Wisconsin. :'(

So anyway we got to take a nice long walk along the castle grounds. I took lots of pictures for you all to see :) The castle grounds are beautifully kept... and all I can say is that the Emperor is damn lucky to have such a wide open space to walk around in.. in the middle of one of the biggest metropolises in the world... he he he

When the Emperor first came out, everyone was screaming and waving around their Japan flags that we were given at the entrance to the castle. It was nuts how loud it was. Everyone screaming "Banzai" and "Heika!" -> ('Heika' means "Your highness") It was pretty interesting.

Afterwards, there was some old Japanese guy wearing an American flag and cursing at any poor foreigner who crossed his path. Most of the people there were just tourists and couldn't understand Japanese, but it was interesting to see the expressions on their faces when some dirty, crazy old veteren comes up wearing the American flag and is babbling about waiving his finger at them... What was even funnier was that some of the foreigners were European.. as they would talk about him in French, Italian, German... it was kinda funny, so we all sat and watched. I didn't dare take a picture because I didn't want him to freak out on me... especially in the Imperial Castle... Especially on the Emperor's birthday!

he he he

So afterwards, we all went to Ayumi's part of town and ate some Indian food. Let me tell ya... Japanese version of Indian food is the bomb! (Excuse my oh-so-90s expression.. he he) I had a piece of Nan that was so big I could wrap it around my waist and wear it as a belt. It was... in a word... AWESOME!

After we ate to our hearts delight... I went to go see Kouta in Shibuya. We did our usual stroll around the Shib.. and then ate dinner and went home.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I FINALLY get my Christmas present from Kouta. I know it's going to be a purse.. and he's been keeping me in suspense about what kind, what color.. etc.... I'm so excited.

I'll explain more about Christmas in Japan in my next entry.
For now, just enjoy the pics!

Yumi and Me

Everybody Screaming Bonzai and waving their Japan flags :)

Another interior gate

Random View

One of the interior gates of the castle

Me in front of a random view of the Castle... (See the skyscrapers in back? he he he)

Random View of the Caslte

Yumi, Sarah and Ayumi

Interior Moat

The castle Moat... and the skyscrapers around it... What a great mix of old and new... he he he

It's the Emperor of Japan!!! You can't see him THAT well but, he is the second from the left. His wife is standing on his right... I don't know who the other people are though.. He gave a very concerned speech about the people of Japan and how he wishes them to be careful not to catch cold. :)

Shinto Shrine near Ayumi's house (I love the mix of old and modern in Japan.. it's one of my favorite things about this city.. you'll notice the skyscraper behind the 100 year old shrine.)

International Seminar..... REUNION!!!

So remember how I said earlier that Japanese people LOVE to find an excuse to have a drinking party??? Well, welcome to the season of the Bounenkai. 'Bounenkai' literally translated means "Forget the Year Gathering". If your computer supports Japanese characters, the kanji characters are: 忘年会;　忘 = forget;　年: year;　会: gathering.. Anyway, my first bounenkai was with the folks from the International Seminar that I went to a few weeks ago. It was a bounenkai/reunion. To be quite honest, I didn't really have that great of a time... for the first time..... I wasn't feeling very well, and all the people that I knew from the seminar weren't going to be there except for Sarah... so it wasn't all that fun... :( Plus, since I wasn't feeling well I didn't feel like drinking.. which is fine for me.. I'm not one of those 'I need to drink to have fun' people... Except that when I'm not feeling well and everyone else around me is sooo drunk.. it's really annoying... I just wanted to go home as fast as possible... but since I had already signed up and I was paying 3000 yen.. I didn't want it to be for nothing.. so I had all you can eat soft drinks and ate as much of the food as possible before my stomach hurt.

Lackluster night.... I hope I feel better by tomorrow... because tomorrow is the Emperor's birthday and we're going to his house for his bday party. Literally.. ha ha ha....

The two boys that Sarah and I say look like brothers but aren't.... The kid on the right is really really drunk as you can see by his Red as a stoplight face... They're so young!! 19!!!!!!!! Yeesh.. I feel old.. but I'm not.. ha ha ha

About half of us @ the Miura International Seminar/Retreat "Bounenkai" Reuinion Party... wow.. long title

Sarah and Take (pronounced Tah-kay, NOT like the word take... he he he)

Random... Tokyo Tower

Ok so one of the things I love about living in a world famous, humongous city is that you can do random things like go visit huge tourist attractions to that city on a whim.

Tokyo tower... I see it every day. It's Japan's wannabe Eiffel Tower... I even hear Japan has a Statue of Liberty... somewhere.. I'd love to see that one. Anyway, today I met Kouta at Tsutaya (Blockbuster Video of Japan.. except you a lot huger and you can rent CDs and stuff) as per our usual... We were just gonna bum around Shibuya.. as per usual.. he he he.. but today, he was with his cousin Tomoya. Tomoya is going to drive us to Kumamoto on the 29th when we go there to visit Kouta's parents for the New Year. Tomoya asked if we wanted to go on a "doraibu"... which in plain English means Drive... he he he Since riding around in a car comes few and far between for me in Tokyo, I took him up on his offer. When he asked where we wanted to go.. we decided... randomly.. let's go to Tokyo Tower. Awesome.

To drive from Shibuya to Tokyo Tower which is near my school in Mita, it takes about 40 minutes... when by train it probably takes 15. he he he But ANYWAY, it was nice to see parts of the city I probably would never see because it just takes too damn long to walk everywhere... he he he

When we got to Tokyo tower, I was amazed at how huge it actually was. Since I see it everyday when I go to school, it just kept looking smaller and smaller... It's amazing.. the bottom part of the tower is a huge department store with all kinds of Tokyo souvenirs and Tokyo tower souvenir stores.. and there is another floor with a food court with, naturally, a McDonalds, Pizza La, and Baskin Robbins! he he he There were some other Japanese food vendors.. but who could care for Japanese food when you have greasy hamburgers and ice cream. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here but anyway, I did partake in the greasy hamburgers and ice cream AFTER we had visited the top of the tower.

We took an elevator to the top... we were about 150 meters up... and the special observatory deck is 250 meters.. but you have to pay more money and wait in a long line.,. so we didn't go that far this time. We took a bunch of pics of the view, though you couldn't see much because it was dark out. I realized that everytime we walk past the street in which we can see Tokyo tower and we say to ourselves "Oh it looks like it's that close only because it's really huge..." Well, we're wrong, because it IS that close. Although I can't see my school from the top because there are some apartment buildings blocking it.. I can clearly see the street where we cross everyday we go to school. So that's cool.

So anyway, we took pics.. and that's pretty much it. Took pics, ate greasy, fatty food, and went home... he he he Next to the tower there were some light displays of Santa Claus and stuff for you to see from the top.. That was cute.

There were also these parts in the Tower with glass floors that you could stand on and pee your pants in fear like I did because you feel like you're going to fall through.. he he he Kouta and Tomoya made fun of me so bad... he he he..

Anyway, enjoy the pics everyone :)

The Santa light display (It's upside down though.. can you tell?)

Another cool.. but blurry shot of the Tokyo Tower

The view from the Tower

Kouta and I @ the Tower....

Scary Floor

Cool artsy shot of me and the tower....