Okyot = Tokyo Backwards: January 2006

Kyoto Pics POSTED!!!!

OK so I finally posted the pics from Kyoto. Enjoy :)

After 18 hours of train riding... finally.. we've arrived.. And I'm beat.

Ginkaku-ji and Kouta disrupting that little kid's picture.. ha ha ha

Ginkakuji
The entire outside of this temple is covered in REAL gold. The word "Gin" in it's name corresponds the Chinese character that means gold.

Ryouan-ji in Kyoto

Ginkaku-ji in Kyoto

5 level pagoda in Ryouan-ji in Kyoto

Ryouan-ji

Oni guarding Ryouan Shrine

Oni Statue guarding Ryouan Shrine.. 'Oni' = demon and these statues stand tall outside the entrance to the Ryouan Shrine

Gion

Kiyomizu Temple (The view behind us is of the city of Kyoto.) This temple is set into one of the mountains surrounding the city. Unfortunately we did not get there until the sun was already going down, so the pics didn't turn out that great. But the sunset was beautiful!

Kiyomizu Temple Lanterns

Gion - The old entertainment district of Kyoto... The buildings are all made of wood.. This is where the Geisha used to roam around and entertain back in the day. There are still those that dress up as Geisha and roam around, but today it was WAAY to cold, so they didn't come out.

Kiyomizu Temple Entrance

Kiyomizu Temple view

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! \(^^)/\(^^)/

Well, it's official. I am now 22. And I had a great time celebrating it!!!
I went out with all of my friends on Thursday night for my birthday. It was Kouta's DJ debut at Womb and we were all excited to go see him play there. First we went out for yakiniku (for those of you who have forgotten what that is... it is a place where they give you raw meat and you cook it on a grill in the middle of your table. It's soooo tasty!) Anyway, we went for yakiniku and then we went to Womb.

Well, in addition to all my friends that came for yakiniku, even MORE showed up to Womb and I had a fantastic time drinking and dancing with everyone.. (Though my toe hurt like hell...... Truth be told.. I wasn't feeling it too much that night... wink wink ;-) But I sure did hurt EVERYWHERE the next day... ha ha ha wink wink) I had about 10 different toasts to my birthday with 5 different groups of people and 10 different shots... the last being Tequila... Luckily it wasn't straight.. (~.~)

Anyway, I was a dancing machine... My friends all had a good time, and we all topped it off with some nice hot fresh hotcakes at McDonalds at 5:30 in the morning... ha ha ha

It was a birthday to go down in the books as one of the best. I had a fabulous time... and the next day was even better.. I had a lovely hangover as a birthday present! ha ha ha But I just lazed around at Kouta's house all day while he made me lunch and watched movies together... It was a nice bday present :) Then I went to work... But hey.. that was Friday.

For my REAL birthday (today), I didn't really do much. Since today is the start of the Chinese New Years celebration, we all decided to go to Chinatown to see the dragon dancing. Well unfortunately, we got there WAY to late to even get close enough to see anything! I saw a little, but the picture I TRIED to take is horrible. I ended up standing on a huge flower pot and crushing some petunias... oooops..... Anyway, we did end up going to a delicious delicous TASTY Chinese buffet afterwards... where I actually pulled out my Midwestern buffet big guns and ate more than could probably had fit in my body... Don't get me wrong.. there were a few breaks in there and I did use the bathroom once.. ha ha ha But still, I ate like 4 plates and it was delicious!

So for my birthday... that's pretty much what I did.
I miss my mom's Yellow Cake with chocolate frosting though.......
There's always next year I guess :)

Can we say "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" in unison? This was probably the best Chinese food I've ever eaten... and get this.. it was a BUFFET!! Or.. as the Japanese call it "A Viking!" Buffet = 'Viking' in Japanese... don't ask me why... he he he

Some guy with this weird cake hat on.. it has different cartoon figurines on it... And he was just riding around on his bike.. I have no idea what he was doing or why he was there.. ha ha

Chinese Temple where they were having the New Year's Celebration... It's right across the street from the buffet we ate at... he he

The Chinese Dragon dancing parade... as you can see.. its freaking PACKED and this is as close as we could get. You can kinda see the purple dragon in the background. From what I could see, it was really cool!

These are all my friends who came out to celebrate my turning 22.... :)

The Birthday flowers I got from Rina and Mako
And YES that is my Rockwell Automation "ViewAnyWare" vase.. I mean coffee mug :) he he he

My birthday is in 6 days...

What are YOU gonna do that day?
he he he

I broke my TOE!!! :'( (T.T)

Yeah.. for real.. how crappy is that. I broke my toe on metal stair in my apartment building. I didn't lift my feet up high enough and bam.. smacked my foot on the stair and cracked my second toe on my right foot... It HURTS!!! I can barely walk.

So I went to the doctor... he he he he... oh Japanese doctors crack me up... for real.. But of the three experiences I've had with Japanese doctors.. this one is the best.. It was this old guy.. he had the nurse (a mannish one as Austin Powers might say) take my X-Ray... Good.. it was only an incomplete fracture he says... AFTER my sigh of relief he says "But incomplete fractures are worse... They hurt more, take longer to heal, and sometimes heal improperly and end up hurting for the rest of your life." Thanks doc.....

So then he starts jerking my toe around asking if it hurts as I'm screaming in pain about to pass out. Kouta was there with me.. thank God... I don't think I could have gotten through the visit as fast as I did without him there. Then the doctor tries to explain to me how to tape my toes together... He didn't prescribe and pain killers and didn't use a splint. Maybe that's all you can do for a toe but... when he taped my toe up, it was so loose there might as well have not been tape on it! Then he starts talking to Kouta as if I don't understand Japanese telling him to explain to me how to tape my toe later...

It was an interesting experience to say the least.

I hope my toe gets better soon... I'm already depressed that I won't get to go out dancing for my birthday. :'(

Moving.......o.o.O.O.0.0.O.O.o.o......

So today I moved from Kawasaki to Sangenjaya... BIG difference.. My room is bigger, my bathroom is bigger, the location is waaay better, and the walk to the station is not as bad on my troublesome knee... Thank God! I love it here.. It's great..
I'll put up pics of my new place later.... maybe... he he he

Lina's DJ Debut

So I had my DJ Debut today.. It went pretty well.. I made a few rookie mistakes but overall I feel like I did pretty well!!! It was kinda crazy though cause I had only brought like an hour and a half worth of music with me.. and I ended up DJing for like 3 hours instead of the 1 I thought. One of the other DJs didn't show up and another one didn't DJ that much. I wasn't mad though. It was fun and I got to get more experience DJing in an actual club instead of just in Kouta's room.

Hopefully this will lead to many more shows to come because I had a blast and according to the people there... I wasn't half bad.. he he he

Kyoto!!!

So after our lovely trip to Kumamoto.. we took the train.... for 18 hours to Kyoto... what a trip.. it took forever to get there.. In the process I caught a cold.. I guess it's true when you're running on no sleep and you have a really hard and arduous trip, you catch a cold easily!

So anyway, we finally got to Kyoto at about midnight after waking up at 6:30 a.m. and leaving Kumamoto at 7 a.m., and stayed in a love hotel because they're cheaper than regular hotels and you don't need a reservation... We tried to find the least sketchy one we could but come on.. its a LOVE hotel.. he he he We found a nice one though... and crashed.. immediately...

We woke up @ about 10 a.m. the next day and set out for our "Power-Sightseeing.." We only had a few hours in Kyoto and we wanted to see as much as we could. We didn't care how cold it was, or how sick we were.. we were in Kyoto dammit and we were gonna see the sights!

That was our downfall for the next few weeks to come as we caught.. well I should say I caught probably the worst cold I've ever had.. that lasted for three weeks.

Anyway, power-sightseeing.. Yeah so we went to about 3 shrines and shopping and ate dinner and went to Gion which is the old entertainment district in Kyoto in about.... 7 hours.. it was uneblievable. Not to mention the fact that it was New Years season (which in Japan lasts from the 31st to about the 5th).. so it was sooooo crowded with tourists and stuff.. it was insane. It was so rough.. and it was soooooooo COLD!!!! I literally felt like I was gonna die... but hey.. at least I would die knowing that I saw Kyoto in all its winter glory.. he he he

Anyway, Blogger won't let me post anymore photos today because I've posted almost a hundred already today trying to update this blog. So I'll post the Kyoto pics later.

The thing I'm looking forward to now after our vacation is over, is my DJ debut coming up on the 12th.. I'm soooo nervous!

KUMAMOTO!!!!!

So the drive to Kumamoto took like 12 and half hours... it was long.. but well worth the trip. Since I have about a million pictures and all of them each have a little explanation about the trip, I'm not going to write a really long spiel here or anything..

I'll just sum up..

I had a great time in Kumamoto. I got to meet Kouta's AWESOME family and friends. They fed me well, and I slept well on a nice warm futon. We went to a few different places around Kumamoto.. the castle, Amakusa, and I even got to wear a kimono. It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had. I was really happy I got to go!!!!!

Take a look at the pics and enjoy!

Trying on Kouta's mama's kimono...

Kouta's mama dn Kimono Lina :)

Kimono Lina and Kouta's Papa

Me posing in front of a Shrine nearby Kouta's parents house.. and when I say nearby.. I mean nextdoor.. he he he

Don't mess with me.. I'll go old school on you! :) (What's funny is he actually is reeling back.. he he he)

Me posing in Kouta's mama's kimono

Kimono Lina and Kouta

Kimono Lina

Kouta's papa enjoying a nice nama beer and some raw fish.. too bad we didn't catch any :'(

Kouta's mama is tearing up this custardy egg pudding thing that came with our meal.. I didn't really like it so Kouta ate mine.. but his mama sure does!

Like father like son... squid fishing off of one of the piers in Amakusa Bay

Well, we didn't catch any squit that day, but that didn't stop me from having shrimp, squid, and fish for dinner!!! We ate at this delicious restaurant in Amakusa.. and.. my hair is a mess.. I don't know why... hmmmmm :-/

On the pier as the boat is leaving.. he he he

Two of the 8 hawks that chased our boat along with the 50 seagulls while we throwing breadcrumbs off the backend.. ha ha a

Beautiful sunset while squid fishing..

Another view from the boat in Amakusa (I think this is a really pretty shot..)

Amakusa couple.. <3

awww.. this doggies name is "Love" and that is her house behind me

Kouta is really proud of the aesthetics in this picture since he took it.. he he he

View from the boat (I love the clouds in this one!)

On the boat in Amakusa

View from one of Amakusa's 5 famous bridges (Back in the day, the town didnt have the 5 bridges.. So instead they had ferries... Amakusa was famous for its ferries back in the day I guess... though I'm not too clear on details..)