We Put Our Feet Just Where They Had To Go

Song lyrics seem to be a recurring theme for me, don't they? Goodness.

The word I was looking for last week was "gazebo," if anyone is curious. Thanks for letting me know, Mom.


Hey, all. What's happening? Hope it's going swell.

Things are still going pretty fantastically for me, gotta say. I've been busy and ridiculously tired, but it's fine. I'll survive.

So, the week recap.

I can't say I recall much concerning Thursday, and Friday was lack-lustre at best.
Well, not all of it.

During my long break in-between classes on Friday, a friend of mine with the same break and I have started going out and doing things. Time before last, it was mundane things like hunting for his trinkets in convenient stores, and this time, it was more mundane things because I needed to go to the grocery store like nobody's business before I starved myself.
I finally remembered to buy a knife, and it cuts the best bread that I have ever seen. For a roughly $6 knife, it's really sharp and does its job quite well.
I bought a lot more than I had initially intended to, but it was good, because I bought stuff with which I could make dinners and begin saving myself money, which discussing the techniques of was exactly the purpose of this blog, wasn't it? Sure, it cost a lot more initially than it does to go to a restaurant, but it lasts a lot longer, and so it makes it worthwhile.
It just really hurts initially.

Nothing else really happened on Friday, I kind of spent the time by myself and accomplished pretty much nothing, as far as I can recall.

Saturday, I went back to Yokohama, but with a different group of people. We did a lot of the same things, but we also did plenty of new things.

Like walk this little piece of interesting architecture. One of the ports in Yokohama.

Fun Fact: "Yokohama" translates roughly into "flat place beside the ocean."

Although a lot of people will tell you means nothing.

Now you know they're lying.

First, we walked to the ocean [obviously, I suppose?], and that was lovely. Cold and windy, but lovely.

Not pictured: all of our hair being made an absolute mess of by that wind.

Then we went to the port, which is the first picture.
Lunch happened at some point with all of this, too. I'm having trouble with chronological order today, it seems.
We also went to the amusement park, where several of us went on a roller coaster. I was going to try it, but then I saw that it cost 700 yen, and I wanted to ride the ferris wheel, which was another 700. So I decided to wait for the ferris wheel.

So much temptation. I wanted to go right then, but my friends pointed out that it would be a lot better to go at night and look at the city lights. 

After that, we went back to Chinatown, where I showed a few of them the k-pop store. The others went and got some food, which they shared with us once we were done. Oh gosh, the vendor food is so good.

As well as some of the best strawberry/vanilla soft serve ice cream I've ever had. And it was pretty, too!

We went inside of the temple this time.

A little blurry, but you can tell what's going on, at least. 

Look at all of the detail!

I threw a 10 yen into the wish box and made a wish. Every time I pass one now, I've started to do that. It may not be the most frugal thing, but it's a lot of fun.

After Chinatown, we went back to the amusement park, but it still wasn't dark enough for the ferris wheel, so we went up and took some parikura of ourselves, which is like a photobooth for the silly giggles. It airbrushes automatically, so my skin tone for the first time in the history of my skin tone ever was even. It was incredible and the photos actually looked pretty decent. I'd show you all, but tee hee I like my internet anonymity.

And last, after that, it was finally time for the ferris wheel, and it was four to a pod, so we split our group in half and took up two pods and proceeded taking more silly pictures of each other.

But we also got photos of some of the most beautiful views ever.

It's a boat! Pretty neat, huh?

On the way back from the fun.

It was getting late after the ferris wheel ride, so we decided to come home. There was a party, but I was far too tired, so I just skipped out and went to bed.

Sunday morning and afternoon I spent lounging about in my pj's and getting ready for a dinner party we were having at a friend's host family's house.
However, my lounging was cut short after a friend came to get me a lot earlier than I had expected. He had told me not to rush, but I couldn't help but doing so, and once I threw myself all together, found out that we had about an hour and a half of wait time due to a miscommunication.
Oh well.
Dinner was magnificent, though. The host mother fed us sukiyaki, and oh my gosh. It was my first time having such a meal, and my goodness. It was so good. The residence is amazing, too! There was the main house and the guest house, and though I only got to see the guest house, the detail was incredible! It was like a French colonial-style and looked like a life-sized dollhouse! We ate, then talked, and at around eleven or so, it was time to go home. Her host mom drove us all back to the dorms, and we retired for the night.

I had a three-day weekend, so on Monday I lounged around and talked to friends online, as well as did my homework. I also managed to finally get a little more laundry detergent from my friend, which I had been badly needing. A friend also came by to visit and give me tickets that she had ordered for me, which I paid her back for, of course.

So much yes. I'll be seeing you in May, my sweet Miyavi~

Tuesday was class. So much class, and when I got home, I had to go to the store, make dinner, do some more homework, wash clothes, and then wash the dishes that I'd gotten dirty. I was so tired by the time it was over.
This morning, there was a 5.2 earthquake that woke me up, but nothing was damaged and everything's all right. The dormitory is a sturdy building, so we just swayed for a moment [which is incredibly disorienting at five-thirty in the morning], and then I fell back asleep.

Today was full of money-saving.
I washed up my laundry and hung it out to dry, which saved me about 5oo+Y, since the dryers only go for 3o minutes for every 100Y. I also ate leftover curry, which stretched that food out longer and kept me from having to go eat out.
And, I made my lunches for the next two days.

Tuna and mayo onigiri.

I did the math, and for those four riceballs, it is only roughly 70Y a piece, if that much, versus 110Y for each one store-bought.
So, for those four rice balls, I would only be able to allllmost buy three at the store.
Pretty great, isn't it?

I think that's all I really have for now, though. I'm becoming quite sleepy and I can't exactly remember anything else that I had wanted to say.

So, goodnight [or good morning] to all of you, and we'll meet again next week!

-RD