White Day

March 14 is called White Day in Japan. While on Valentine's Day girls give boys chocolates and heartfelt messages, on White Day boys are supposed to return the favor. As I am lacking in the boys and heartfelt messages departments (but not the chocolate department, oh ho ho), I decided to take myself out on a date... at the arcade.

This is becoming a dangerous addiction, but I seem to have figured out how to win at the crane games, at least at the cheap arcade. I won six stuffed animals at the cheap arcade, although I only managed one win at an expensive one that I went to with my friends later; the key to winning there, apparently, is having a staff member take pity on you and rig the game so you win. Erm.

Anyway, here is me and one of my beloved wins:

I KNOW I NEED TO STOP BUT IT'S TOO MUCH FUN.
Also, I got my bangs cut, woohoo! I take myself on the best dates.

Here are my friends and I after a dinner at the Hawaiian burger place in Namba Parks:



They're going home in a month, tear.

Bringing Back the Boogie

I was given the day off today due to scheduling conflicts with necessary workshops next week, so my body figured it was a great time to get sick. Hence my random day off has been spent in bed, taking a lazy trip out to the convenience store before curling back up under my covers. I figured I'd take the opportunity to use the sudden downtime to update.

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March 6

Kishiwada Station.
"Be Careful of Pigeon Crap from Above Your Head"

Good advice.

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March 7

The giant insect over Denden Town.

(Side note: People become very uncomfortable when you enthusiastically try to take photographs of the Insect. I can't imagine why.)

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March 8

Namba OCAT. I tried to take awesome pictures of the eight thousand break dancers who seem to live at the OCAT, but none of them came out. To be honest, this is the only photograph that DID come out, which is why you're getting my ugly mug. Ewww.

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March 9

Fried udon, tofu, and vegetables.
It tasted a lot better than it looked.

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March 10

Postcard I sent to my favorite student after she had to cancel our lessons together.
I was really proud of my creative sticker usage.
The "astrology" stickers are wearing t-shirts that declare their blood type. Blood type is a huge deal here; while in the US, we tend to use zodiac signs as our astrological instrument of choice, Japan is all about the blood type. I seem to remember being told that I have type A blood, which means that I should be clean and fastidious.
I think blood type is a load of crock.
(Mom, please tell me if I'm wrong about my blood.)

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March 11

HAS A HAPPIER PLACE EVER EXISTED?

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March 12

I won these guys out of a crane game in Abeno.
I've become rather good at the crane games, which is fortunate, as arcades are my favorite places to take myself on dates.
The lady on the left is Korilakkuma, my become Rilakkuma's friend. The lovely on the right is Hello Kitty in a panda suit.
What a good day yesterday was.

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March 13

"EXACTLY LIKE A BANANA BREAD."
Like I could resist. Come on.

Guess Who's Back -- Back Again?

Boogie's back -- tell a friend.

I have no excuses. I could give you all my reasons, but they are insufficient to explain or excuse my long blogging hiatus. I really am going to try harder to find the energy to update more recently. That said, I still have taken pictures every single day, so here's my collection from the past nine days or so.

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Feb 24

Three things I love -- Boss Caramel Latte (advertised by Keita Tachibana), crappy peanut something but it sure ain't butter bread, and a valentine from my best friend.

And my obscenely warm comforter.

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Feb 25

This is my trash can.

I have a bit of a long history with this trash can. I actually saw a laundry bag with this statement on it back in December. December was a pretty rotten month for me, and the sight of this question -- whose answer is always (and always should be, in my opinion) a stern NO -- infuriated me. I almost broke down in tears at LOFT, staring at the mocking household good as if it were a very cruel therapist.

Anyway, long story short, things got better, and I decided to exact my revenge on this company by giving it money and, now, free advertising. That will show them.

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Feb 26

I just wanted to show off how obnoxiously cute my desk is.
The pink thing to the right is a cell phone holder. Because I really needed one, you see.

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Feb 27

Okay, man, so this is absolutely awesome and don't you be hatin'.

I went to the convenience store to look for stickers, and ended up finding this instead. It was a box claiming that there was a random Star Fleet ship inside of it. It wouldn't tell me which one. It didn't tell me much of anything, to be honest, which is why I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO HAVE IT.

And being amazing, I was able to get the best ship from the best Star Trek show on my first time. And a piece of (rock hard, or, dare I say, Klingon hard?) gum to boot.

Set your phasers to Jealous, fools.

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Feb 28

What the hell is this thing?

Oh -- think twice.
It's another day for you and me
 in paradise.

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March 1

I went to Nagai Park. I'd wanted to go for a while.
The sight of all the trees and people leisurely enjoying a day outdoors almost made me cry.
I felt very strongly as if I'd stumbled (or, rather, pedaled) my way onto Osaka's true pulse.
Here there was life!
Here there was peace!
Here there was breathable air!
Praise be to Nagai!

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March 2

...I NEEDED A TISSUE BOX COVER, OKAY?!

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March 3

This photo was taken swiftly outside a store in Denden Town before the shopkeepers could come and ask me to stop.

I don't even know where to begin.

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March 4

Now Hiroshi's a Japanese businessman
Who never has time for his wife
And he's talking with Hiroki
Who's on his way to karaoke
Where he spends most of his life.

And the waitress is practicing English
As the businessmen laze towards their homes
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call DO MY BEST (^O^)
But it's better than DOING MY BEST (^O^) all alone.

Sing us a song, you're the keyboard man.
Sing us a song, tonight.
Not a soul's in the mood for a melody
but I could go for curry and ric...

...oh, forget it.

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March 5

Let there be no doubt that I am an awesome teacher.