Trip Full of Reuniting After X'mas

2010

Happy New Year 2010, everyone!!!  Hope your new year has been great so far!!  Mine sure has been great!  Now I have time to update on what went on from Christmas day to the morning of January 6th.

12/25/2009
After booking my plane tickets to Sapporo for the upcoming Yuki Matsuri, Hisa, Nick, and I went to Costco to buy food (including a X'mas cake) for that night's party at Mindy's.

On the way back, there was hella heavier traffic, to the extent that I was able to go pee at a convini and hop right back into the car.  We were late to the party, and I missed a lot of the MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE 2009 that I was so excited to watch that night.  I ended up going to the party too, and I even got Kareem and Louise off of Mindy's TV from playing video games (soo sorry guys!) to watch MUSIC STATION, but everyone was talking and it was too loud to watch the remaining performances.  We were able to watch ARASHI and others, but I missed NEWS.  Oh well, it was a party and I feel bad for what I did.  I hope everyone forgave me and that Nao can burn it onto DVD for me.  Congrats to Lenny and Nao for getting engaged!  This photo was taken in the end before everyone else left:

After the party, I went home and got online to make sure I know exactly where I need to go to in Osaka/Umeda to ride the highway bus and etc., and I finished packing/preparing for the trip, so I ended up pulling an all-nighter!  No sleep before the trip!  >.<


12/26-27/2009

So hella early in the morning, I left my apt around past 5am to take trains to Osaka/Umeda and walked/ran to the bus area.  I ran and was sweating and freaking out a little, but made it to the bus stop and got on the bus.  I made it to Nagoya.  I haven't been there since September 2007, after JCHIP.  I put the luggage I don't need till later, into a locker (paid 500yen to put in and to take out the following day).  Luggage = stress.

Nagoya to...

Toyohashi to...

Ushikubo to...

the children's home I interned at in Summer 2007!

I happened to be there on a Saturday, so I participated in Shin-Kyokushin karate again and it was hella painful but good.  Heavy exercise and got kicked in the shin hella hard during kumite.

I got to see everyone about 2 years older...

Until we meet again... be good, kids!  :)  I miss you...again!

12/27

The next morning, I went back to Nagoya to hop on the highway bus to Yokohama.  The long journey continues, but it's only the beginning of my winter break.

Again, I haven't been in Yokohama for about 2 years.  From Yokohama to...

Miurakaigan, and my aunt and cousin-in-law picked me up from this station. 

I mostly stayed with my relatives at the house that my mother lived in before marriage.  Reuniting with them after around 2 years was also nice, even though it's not like it used to be when we were all younger.  Everyone's busy now with their own lives.  Change is inevitable, but reuniting is good.  That night, my uncle took us to Baamiyan for dinner.

12/28

I got my aunt to drive me back to the Miurakaigan station and I went all the way to Shibuya, Tokyo.  I met up with Hitomi (former UCD exchange student) to go to Club Asia to see Misako (another former UCD exchange student) perform dance with other university students.  It was nice reuniting, and seeing all those dancers reminded me of bboy club, but the stuffy, smokey club house wasn't a good atmosphere.  It was sooo long and having to sit on the club floor hurt my butt too.  My clothes stunk.  STILL ON FIRE - AWESOME Vol. 4.  Misako was in pampers, LOCK, and 4nen number.

Otsukare!

Then, Hitomi and I met up with Ayami (another former UCD exchange student) for dinner.  We had monja-yaki (it was my first time).  Cigarette smoke + grilled food = smells hella bad.

12/29

I just hung around my relatives' house in Miura... bored with nothing to do.  No internet either.  So I took some pics, did laundry, hung out with my grandma, watched TV etc.  That night, a few hours after dinner, my uncle took us to Sushirou kaiten-zushi (for night food though).

My relatives here produce daikon radishes in the winter.

 My grandma's flowers are beautiful.

12/30

My aunt took me to my dad's sister's house (my aunt and her family) in Kurihama, Yokosuka.  I went to spend New Year's with them.  Again, I hadn't been there since September 2007, but I saw one of my cousins who lives here, back in September 2009 in Tokyo during the JET Tokyo Orientation.

We did some shopping and visited other relatives.  It was nice reuniting with relatives from both sides (parents).

 My aunt also served us hella delicious MAGURO for dinner.

12/31 - New Year's Eve

This time's new year's was quite different.  For one thing, I wasn't with my immediate family in San Francisco this winter break.  In the morning, NHK was showing previews for Kouhaku, and they featured some people who watch Kouhaku abroad, outside of Japan.  Tears came out a little, because it really reminded me of my family and I watching it in SF.  I helped cut carrots into flower shapes after breakfast.

I forgot that I was going to go visit my mother's teachers (a couple) that day, and my cousin and I went to the Commodore Matthew Perry Memorial Park and Cainz Home.

After shopping, I helped cut turnips into chrysanthemum shapes.

We had toshi-koshi soba for dinner to pass the year.

We watched the 60th Kouhaku Utagassen!!  I voted for the first time on the remote controller, and for Shirogumi.  Arashi was on for the first time too.

After that, I watched the Johnny's Countdown with my cousin (she dealt with it and let me watch it).

To make it a little bit American, I bought Japanese apple cider when we went shopping before the new year, and we drank it after it turned 2010.

1/1/2010 - from the morning

For breakfast, we had delicious ozouni and osechi ryouri.

My first time going to do HATSUMOUDE (first praying/worshipping/visit to the shrine/temple of the new year).

My cousin and I went from the Kurihama Shrine in Yokosuka to...

the Higashi-Minobu Honkakuji temple in Kamakura to...

the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura.

We bought a lot of lucky charms and stuff at each place after each visit/praying.

We had hayashi rice for lunch and I bought my first FUKUBUKURO at a Studio Ghibli store for 3000yen that I regretted buying because I had more stuff to bring back to Osaka.

We took a train back to Yokosuka to go to Kurihama, and from Kurihama, I went to...

Misakiguchi to go see my mother's teachers (a couple).  I was supposed to go the day before, but I forgot to, so I had my visit postponed for this day.

They're so nice and funny, and I haven't seen them for years.  Their daughters' families were visiting as well, and it was so fun.  From there, I returned to Kurihama and had dinner with my relatives again.  Afterwards, my aunt (my dad's sister) took me back to Miura.

I had my other cousin (pictured above) and her mom wait for me there, but my aunt who dropped me off, took the wrong road and we were late.  But I got to see this cousin on my mom's side at least.  I saw her in Tokyo in September 2009 along with the cousin on my dad's side who took me to hatsumoude.

1/2

This day, in the afternoon, my aunt (my mom's sister), my uncle, and another cousin (the above-pictured cousin's youngest brother...he's so different now) came to visit again.  My aunt, grandma, and I went to visit my grandpa.  I hadn't seen him since September 2007 either.  He got much older and changed more.  He first said he doesn't know who I am, but later said he does, so I really don't know if he remembers me or not.  He has altzheimers but he's only 75.  This time, I didn't cry.

Then, we went back home.  We had some time before dinner, so I ran to my hatoko (half-cousin?)'s house in the neighborhood.  I saw her and her grandparents.

I returned and we had dinner.  Sashimi rocked.

That night, I went to go stay with my aunt's family, and there I saw another cousin and his (girl)friend.  My aunt showed me many of her photo albums/scrapbooks.

1/3

The next morning, my aunt and uncle and I went to go see part of the 86th Annual HAKONE EKIDEN marathon at Yokohama's Harajuku.  About a dozen university teams participated, and Toyo University, the lead, won.

Then, we had lunch at Gusto, and they kindly took me all the way to Hakone!!!

We had black-shelled eggs at Oowakudani.

We also went to the Hakone Shrine.  We saw many people still hatsumoude-ing, but there were too many people so we didn't do it.

We went all the way down to this shrine, and then down to the torii gate.

Due to heavy traffic, the car ride was long, and we had dinner at Yumean past Enoshima.  Then, they took me back to Miura.

1/4 - (Happy 23rd Birthday, Misao-chan!)

This day, I was bored again but did laundry, watched TV, and played with this cute 7-year-old girl from the neighborhood.  Her father was classmates with my mom back in elem/jr. high schools.  This girl loves dogs and always comes to play with my relatives' dogs (thanks to her, they were quiet.  With me around, they keep barking!).

1/5 - Final day in Kanagawa-ken

I think I did laundry again and was bored, but this girl and her sister and friend came over, and gave us these cute chocolates they made.

I watched TV and packed even more.  Ate more delicious food, etc.  Eventually, it became close to 7:30pm, and I said bye and gave thanks to my uncle and grandma.  My aunt and cousin-in-law took me to the Misakiguchi station with my luggage, and thanked them as well.  I didn't get to say bye to my cousins there.  I didn't even get to spend much time with them.  I took the train to Yokohama, and met up with Kotaro (fellow UCD alum) and Rie (a former UCD exchange student.

They took me to El Torito, which is a Mexican restaurant (probablamente no esta real but close enough) in the station (Yokohama Sky building).  I already had dinner so I didn't eat much, but it was good seeing them.  Thanks, guys!!!  :)  They went with me to the bus stop too.  Kotaro helped me carry my stuff.  We parted there, and I waited for the bus to come.  It was freezing cold.  Soon it was past 11pm and I rode the night bus all the way back to Osaka's Tennouji.

1/6 - Back in Osaka

Silly me, taking pics of myself on the bus when no one was looking.  I slept for the most part, but it wasn't completely comfortable.  I was so tired.  I took trains back to Kishiwada from Tennoji.  I arrived back in Kishiwada at around 8am in the morning.

And so, my winter break trip full of reuniting with relatives and friends in Kanto (eastern Japan) (Kanagawa and Tokyo) ended.  I had a lot of time to think about my life and other people.  Things are not the same anymore, but as I continue to grow older, I notice more things and truly appreciate what we have in life.  Life is interesting.  This was my first visit to Kanto since I moved to Osaka.  I was able to celebrate New Year's in a very different, yet similar, and special way.  Usually, back home in SF, my dad would cook everything, but we didn't have complete Oshougatsu meals.  We had everything but a complete osechi-ryouri.  And I heard that KTSF didn't even air Kouhaku this year.  This Oshougatsu was different too, because I was away from my immediate family for the first time.  For Christmas too.  I made a big commitment to stay in Japan for at least a year and experience all 4 seasons.  It's been a great experience, and I had a good long break.  Happy New Year, and may 2010 be another great year for all of us.