Journey over, jet lag overcome, english....still not so good.

On my second last day in Japan i met up with some girlfriends in Ginza at this really ritzy cake shop and had the best cake of my life, no jokes. Then we did a little brand shopping- aka walking into Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Tiffany's and drooling a little bit but not actually buying anything.. Gave Chris a call at the hotel and he met us in Ginza where Me, Chris, Shuku, Satoko, Ikuho, and later TonTon went to Monja streeet and had monja and okonomiyaki. Monja was a mix of veggies and meat and goo that, when put on a grill, turns into a very tasty mess. The hot teppanyaki grills surrounding us did nothing to ease the stifling heat, however. We looked like old ladies as we constantly fanned ourselves.

We then went andbought some more cake and hung out in the hotel room that Chris and I shared, waiting for Yusuke to show up. He brought some beer so we chilled in the hotel and cried a little and expressed pain and disappointment that we were all separating. I have never had to say so many good-byes in such a short amount of time, something that continues to make me *sad face*

Friday we awoke bright and early, finished our packing and checked out and then I dragged the fam out to the supreme tourist spot known as Asakusa, where there are more foreigner than Japanese and every tacky, wonderful souvenir known to man is sold. Dad and Chris enjoyed ramen for their last lunch and mom and I had okonomiyaki at the same place i went to with koji, ayako, and ping about two months ago. Then it was back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, onto the Narita Express train, and then onto the plane.

It was an interesting beginning as the flight attendant was waiting by my seat to explain to me that my aisle seatmate was blind and if i could help her out. She was a nice woman, in Japan studying accupuncture and oriental medicine, but I don't really like to make small talks on planes, so I spent about half an hour talking to her before putting on the iPod and attempting to sleep.

However, it was one of those times that no matter how tired you are, or how desperate you are to sleep, you can't. I sat through Shrek 3 about twice before I turned around and bugged mom for the valium-esque pills she takes before each flight, hoping it would knock me out. Alas! they didn't really work so i was awake for all 12 hours of the flight while people around me slept soundly. Of course, once i got on our connecting flight from Dallas I was out like a light, but what is one hour of sleep compared to the 12 i could have had?

What followed was several days of jetlag and an inability to speak in english. The first restaurant i went to i began in japanese and then, feeling like a fool, switched to english. I bought enough scrapbooking materials to rival mt fuji and have begun chronicling my japanese adventure in a way i find extremely satisfying.

On the docket is my new tattoo next tuesday, finishing my scrapbook, and enjoying the 2 1/2 weeks of vacation I have before heading back up to Canada and starting 3rd year at U of T. Where the hell has time gone?