7.28.2009
sushi party
Just got home from sanamiya… it’s the main town on the island. Wow. What an interesting night. After a long day at the office coloring shoes (from 7;30-7;00) dropped my bag off at the hotel had 5 minutes to run upstairs brush teeth grab my purse and catch the bus into town. This was an adventure, hop on the bus which is nice the city bus is like one of those nice tourist buses you see usually with Asians at south coast plaza or Disneyland, its clean but really really really hot lets just say it looked like I peed when I got off the bus. Any how grab an aisle seat on the bus then suddenly a guy stops and pulls out this weird tiny extra seat that sits in the aisle… then all these men start talking to me in Japanese then they start touching me and asking where I am from they thought I was Italian and the entire bus ride 5 of them are talking to me and touching me… gross! All my guys were at the back of the bus so they could not save me. Went to the most amazing authentic fresh sushi place. Had the greatest sushi I have ever tasted. Tried lots of things I have never eaten before. Since I am the newbie I had to eat a live shrimp yup u heard it right it was alive wiggling and all. The whole room was cheering me on! I ate the little guy and he was yummy and huge! The guys were pretty impressed I ate him alive with his tail flopping against my chin. Then I had to eat a shrimp head the size of two fingers… a big guy. The first bit wasn’t to bad a little salty really crunchy with lots of long long legs then the second bite was disgusting suddleny an expolsion of juice is in my mouth totally disgusting tasting… come to find out it was his brain. Had a really fun time with the coworkers. Headed to an authentic karaoke bar had a blast! Came one second away from killing a pedestrian in our speeding taxi on the way home. Had a splendidly fun night out on the town. Really like the city!
7.27.2009
monday
All this work is begining to give me nightmares! Dreamed about me being a workaholic and tim and I getting in a fight... Thankfully the days go by fast with all the work. Just wish I could shop more!
Really starting to crave American food ( dont think this has ever happened to me before) I love food so usually I will eat or try anything. Went to the market at lunch bought some yummy Japanese food; fresh sushi, edamame, watermellon, and tempura shrimp n veggies. The grocery stores here have lots of fresh food! By the time dinner rolled around I really just wanted pizza so I ordered room service; pizza and chocolate ice cream.
Finally I have been sleeping through the night!!!! And now I finally have an apettite. Took till about Sunday to get adjusted to the eating and sleeping schedule.
Missing timmy alot and my little thor baby was sick over the weekend, so that mad me sad.
Well it's Tuesday morning so I am off to work.
Really starting to crave American food ( dont think this has ever happened to me before) I love food so usually I will eat or try anything. Went to the market at lunch bought some yummy Japanese food; fresh sushi, edamame, watermellon, and tempura shrimp n veggies. The grocery stores here have lots of fresh food! By the time dinner rolled around I really just wanted pizza so I ordered room service; pizza and chocolate ice cream.
Finally I have been sleeping through the night!!!! And now I finally have an apettite. Took till about Sunday to get adjusted to the eating and sleeping schedule.
Missing timmy alot and my little thor baby was sick over the weekend, so that mad me sad.
Well it's Tuesday morning so I am off to work.
7.26.2009
sunday
Another long day... started the day at 3:45 am this 16 hour time difference is insane! Ate breakfast on the 30th floor breakfast buffet for a team meeting before heading to the office. The view is incredible. I found out the island is man made. Can you believe that? Its all so interesting. Basically every view from the hotel looks at water (you can see in the pics). Worked 9-6ish. Took a lunch break and walked to Isumato this amazing store its like walmart/target/fred meyer and I love it! I will for sure be heading back there! I got lots of treats to bring home to bu and the family. They Japanese are very into animation so the store was super cool, in the veggie section they had these charactors and the 31 flavors even had charactors. I discovered some really cute stuff on the way out... didnt get a chance to look though since I was with the big boss man and I only had 15 minutes to shop and like I said it's like walmart so there were people everywhere! The line took forever! I did get to enjoy chocolate mint ice cream from 31 flavors and a chiken terikayi kabob.
After I finally got to go shopping!!! Went to Santamia across the water. I LOVED it! I only had 3 hours to shop which was not enough (hope I can go back here this week) cause did not get to enjoy all the shops. This place was super cool with rides: ferris wheel, roller coaster, carosal, a huge indoor mall, an outdoor mall on the water, and lots of restuarants. Bought some cute stuff and some gifts for the fam but I really need to go back because so many of the cute stores closed on us. Saw some half naked vegas type dancers dancing in the mall! Serisously can you believe it? This would not happen in the O.C. Grabbed a bit to eat at the Japanese version of In n Out. The food was okay, the people watching was great, and the view was amazing right on the water.
They drive on the opposite side of the road and it totally freaks me out. I get confused when crossing the street and being in the taxi was even worse! Even the escolators at the mall are opposite it is so strange.
Well I am exhausted so I'm off to bed.
Pictures to come when I have time to download all of them, I am a total tourist taking many pics whenever I get a chance to be outside.
After I finally got to go shopping!!! Went to Santamia across the water. I LOVED it! I only had 3 hours to shop which was not enough (hope I can go back here this week) cause did not get to enjoy all the shops. This place was super cool with rides: ferris wheel, roller coaster, carosal, a huge indoor mall, an outdoor mall on the water, and lots of restuarants. Bought some cute stuff and some gifts for the fam but I really need to go back because so many of the cute stores closed on us. Saw some half naked vegas type dancers dancing in the mall! Serisously can you believe it? This would not happen in the O.C. Grabbed a bit to eat at the Japanese version of In n Out. The food was okay, the people watching was great, and the view was amazing right on the water.
They drive on the opposite side of the road and it totally freaks me out. I get confused when crossing the street and being in the taxi was even worse! Even the escolators at the mall are opposite it is so strange.
Well I am exhausted so I'm off to bed.
Pictures to come when I have time to download all of them, I am a total tourist taking many pics whenever I get a chance to be outside.
saturday
I was exhausted yesterday so I didnt get a chance to post. Had a very long workday... 8:30 am - 8:30 pm. Thankfully it goes by fast since I am so busy. Basically a large group of peeps sit around talking about the shoes we finalize for Fall 2010. There are so many details that go into developing and desiging one shoe in one color that it takes a very long to review our entire collection... so that is why I work such long hours.
Any how I ate lunch at 7-11! They have an entire aisle of noodles (timmy would be in heaven) they also have sushi, udon, soba, and shrimp fried rice. I ate shrimp fried rice with some yummy olive oil chips. On the way to 7-11 I had the chance of almost stepping on a Cicada. I will upload pics and video so you can really get the vibe of these annoyingly loud insects and they are large... like a big beetle coch roach mix. Not many people ever see the Cicada since they are either underground or way up high in the tree tops, for some reason this large guy was flopping around on the floor and I had the fortune of almost stepping on him.
Pictures to come soon...
Any how I ate lunch at 7-11! They have an entire aisle of noodles (timmy would be in heaven) they also have sushi, udon, soba, and shrimp fried rice. I ate shrimp fried rice with some yummy olive oil chips. On the way to 7-11 I had the chance of almost stepping on a Cicada. I will upload pics and video so you can really get the vibe of these annoyingly loud insects and they are large... like a big beetle coch roach mix. Not many people ever see the Cicada since they are either underground or way up high in the tree tops, for some reason this large guy was flopping around on the floor and I had the fortune of almost stepping on him.
Pictures to come soon...
7.24.2009
work
Spent all day at the Asics Japan office working from 9am till 8pm. It took us 3 hours to work on one shoe... that should give you some idea of why we work such long hours. People we are finalizing a whole season worth of shoes! I am exhausted but trying to stay awake for as long as I can since last night I awoke at every hour... ugh. The hotel is a short walk away from the office. On the walk over this morning I got experience the Cidaca's. They are these insanly loud insects in the trees. I will attempt to get a video so u can hear what I am talking about.
Ate lunch a little cafe between the office and the hotel. Ordered a seafood pasta, it was pretty tasty but I was not too hungary. My body is totally out of wac due to the major time difference. It is so funny at the office everyone eats lunch at the same time, all 600+ employees. A lunch bell rings just like when you were in elementary school and everyone rushes to the cafeteria. It is funny! Oh ya the toilet seats are heated. How crazy is that?
After work walked straight back to the hotel to shower. I was one gross smelly sweaty mess after sitting in the office all day with no a/c. Can you believe that 85 degrees with mass humidity and no a/c. Ate sushi all alone at this little sushi bar at the hotel. Tried lots of seafood I had never even heard of! The waitress was very friendly and attempted to speak english with me, she said she really wanted to talk but didnt know very many words. She came to America 3 years ago for the 1st time for a vacation. Then I met this really cute family in the elevator before I was already even in the elevator they were asking me a ton of questions. The daughter studied in San Fran, at the end of the elevator ride they were all hugging and kissing me. It is so strange to be a minority over here. The only non asians are the people I am with. When I go walking around alone everyone stares at me. It feels very strange.
Pretty much an uneventful day. The highlight of my day was hearing Tim's voice on the other end of the line. I called him on my lunch break! I miss him tremendously and my little Thor baby too.
Tomorow they do fireworks in the city so I might go check that out. But first I need to learn how to use public transportation. I know you are thinking after using every form of transportation yesterday I should know how to do it! Well, hardly anyone here speaks english and all the signs are in Japanese.
Ate lunch a little cafe between the office and the hotel. Ordered a seafood pasta, it was pretty tasty but I was not too hungary. My body is totally out of wac due to the major time difference. It is so funny at the office everyone eats lunch at the same time, all 600+ employees. A lunch bell rings just like when you were in elementary school and everyone rushes to the cafeteria. It is funny! Oh ya the toilet seats are heated. How crazy is that?
After work walked straight back to the hotel to shower. I was one gross smelly sweaty mess after sitting in the office all day with no a/c. Can you believe that 85 degrees with mass humidity and no a/c. Ate sushi all alone at this little sushi bar at the hotel. Tried lots of seafood I had never even heard of! The waitress was very friendly and attempted to speak english with me, she said she really wanted to talk but didnt know very many words. She came to America 3 years ago for the 1st time for a vacation. Then I met this really cute family in the elevator before I was already even in the elevator they were asking me a ton of questions. The daughter studied in San Fran, at the end of the elevator ride they were all hugging and kissing me. It is so strange to be a minority over here. The only non asians are the people I am with. When I go walking around alone everyone stares at me. It feels very strange.
Pretty much an uneventful day. The highlight of my day was hearing Tim's voice on the other end of the line. I called him on my lunch break! I miss him tremendously and my little Thor baby too.
Tomorow they do fireworks in the city so I might go check that out. But first I need to learn how to use public transportation. I know you are thinking after using every form of transportation yesterday I should know how to do it! Well, hardly anyone here speaks english and all the signs are in Japanese.
7.23.2009
asia
view from monorail
looking out my hotel room window
room. look how tiny the beds are.
sign in Big Boy
he looks a little different than i recall him looking
room. look how tiny the beds are.
sign in Big Boy
he looks a little different than i recall him looking
I have arrived! After a very long journey and two days later (since there is a 16 hour time difference) I am in Japan.
I will update as often as possible since I am unable to use my cell you can all stay up to date via the blog.
I arrived at OC airport at 6am (pacific time) on Wed. After a long sit on the run way I finally got to San Fran. With the delayed flight I only had an hour layover... so I got a quick bit to eat at a mexican restaurant in the international terminal. The flight to Osaka (kix) left at noon (pacific time) and arrived in Osaka at 3 pm (japan time) on Thursday... so basically I lost two days since it was spent traveling. The flight went much better than I had anticipated and was only 10 hours (for some reason I thought it was 13) I sat next to J who is an American in the Air Force seving here in Japan. A young guy 25 and he told me all about his family, showed me pics of his dog and siblings, told me about his wacko wife who cheated on him, and how he is moving to Ogden Utah. Can you believe it??? Utah and he is not even Mormon! The time flew bye since I chatted, slept, read an entire book, watched two movies, and day dreamed. After landing in Osaka I took a bus from the international airport to the water ferry which then took me to the domestic airport where I then took another bus to get to the port liner which is the monorail (just like disneyland except it actually is usefull and takes you into the city) then from there I walked to my hotel.
Did I mention its bloody hot here! Imagine all that traveling with a backpack that is way too heavy, my large handbag and my suitcase in the hot hot humidity. GROSS.
Staying at the Portopia Hotel. It is pretty nice. Walked to the store to grab water and some yummy japanese treats with some coworkers. The highlight of the night was dinner. Take it back to 1985... Bob's Big Boy! Can you believe it? Of course we had to eat there! I am exhausted its 5:16 am (pacific time) 9:22 pm (japan time) let's just hope I can sleep thru most of the night so I am ready for the long work day ahead of me.
I will post pics when I get to upload them it's a bit tricky since my pc is all in japanese... I do not understand how that happened.
I really miss Bu and Thor. The image of the two of them standing in front of the fj is still fresh in my mind. I was sad when I had to walk into the airport with out my boys. They are both so adorable and I love that when Tim went to hug me Thor also put is paw up on my arm. They just melt my heart. I love them and wish they could be here exploring Japan with me. Life is not the same with out them around.
xooxo
nic
I will update as often as possible since I am unable to use my cell you can all stay up to date via the blog.
I arrived at OC airport at 6am (pacific time) on Wed. After a long sit on the run way I finally got to San Fran. With the delayed flight I only had an hour layover... so I got a quick bit to eat at a mexican restaurant in the international terminal. The flight to Osaka (kix) left at noon (pacific time) and arrived in Osaka at 3 pm (japan time) on Thursday... so basically I lost two days since it was spent traveling. The flight went much better than I had anticipated and was only 10 hours (for some reason I thought it was 13) I sat next to J who is an American in the Air Force seving here in Japan. A young guy 25 and he told me all about his family, showed me pics of his dog and siblings, told me about his wacko wife who cheated on him, and how he is moving to Ogden Utah. Can you believe it??? Utah and he is not even Mormon! The time flew bye since I chatted, slept, read an entire book, watched two movies, and day dreamed. After landing in Osaka I took a bus from the international airport to the water ferry which then took me to the domestic airport where I then took another bus to get to the port liner which is the monorail (just like disneyland except it actually is usefull and takes you into the city) then from there I walked to my hotel.
Did I mention its bloody hot here! Imagine all that traveling with a backpack that is way too heavy, my large handbag and my suitcase in the hot hot humidity. GROSS.
Staying at the Portopia Hotel. It is pretty nice. Walked to the store to grab water and some yummy japanese treats with some coworkers. The highlight of the night was dinner. Take it back to 1985... Bob's Big Boy! Can you believe it? Of course we had to eat there! I am exhausted its 5:16 am (pacific time) 9:22 pm (japan time) let's just hope I can sleep thru most of the night so I am ready for the long work day ahead of me.
I will post pics when I get to upload them it's a bit tricky since my pc is all in japanese... I do not understand how that happened.
I really miss Bu and Thor. The image of the two of them standing in front of the fj is still fresh in my mind. I was sad when I had to walk into the airport with out my boys. They are both so adorable and I love that when Tim went to hug me Thor also put is paw up on my arm. They just melt my heart. I love them and wish they could be here exploring Japan with me. Life is not the same with out them around.
xooxo
nic
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