Monday, December 24, 2012

Intermission

So, not a full entry tonight. I have pictures for a new entry, but it's about 2am here right now and I figure I'll wait until after Christmas to post. So, in the mean time~

Merry Christmas 
Everyone!
 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Oh hey there rice~ What are you doing all over the floor?

So, I've been trying to remember to post a blog update for the past 3 days. Oops. My bad. Well, to start, David and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on December 4th. Wooo! I made us a really nice dinner of pasta, caesar salad and I bought some shortcake as a treat. It was lovely~ I wish David didn't have to work on our anniversary, though!
I bought David a new Gundam model for our anniversary. And he bought me some clothes. Including my new favourite sweater, ever. Say hello to the Oswald sweater~ Soooo comfy. (Oswald is an old Walt Disney character that Disney only just got the rights on. Walt created Oswald, but lost the rights because he didn't read the fine print in his contract with a company he worked for before he founded his own.)
So, aside from our anniversary, another big thing happened. There was a 7.3 earthquake near Sendai. And know what's funny? We didn't feel it. True story. We were out for a 'date'. We're getting into the habit of meeting up in Sendai after David's done work on Fridays and just going out. We went for dinner at an organic cafe and got tomato and mozzarella spaghetti. It was quite tasty. I made a point to make myself all pretty, since it was a date~
After dinner, we went for a walk to the Pageant of Starlight, which started that night. Sendai has done this for 26years, apparently. They put lights on the trees in Jozenji-dori street and it looks magical. Kinda reminded me of Lothlorien, in a non-Peter Jackson way. It was very pretty, but super duper crowded! Everyone was out and about to see the lights. As we walked, I saw a group of people from the Tohoku University singing the Twelve Days of Christmas, with hand actions, in English. It was great~ And there were some pretty shop displays in the arcade, too. The first 2 pictures are form the arcade, not the Pageant.
After we walked for a bit, we decided to go home. David was tired from work and I was feeling pretty zonked, too. We stopped in the Disney store to look around (and I didn't buy anything!) and then we popped into Lotteria for a quick pick me up. And wow. They had some amazing signage in there!
 Yes. Redneck bikers munching sliders look to the past for better riders. Rock then roll for big check paydays mountain rangers ten lane freeways. And other such classics~ It was ridiculous. And mildly hilarious. Now, I know what you're thinking. "But Ashley, how did you not feel that earthquake?" Well, the answer is simple: It hadn't happened yet already happened while we were walking. And when did it happen? While we were walking to the pageant. I actually just realized this as I was typing, hence why it's so far down the story. Oops. When we were waling across the street to re-enter the arcade, I heard lots of rattling and people started to run out from the shopping arcade. I also noticed that I kept walking into David, kinda like how when someone is drunk they'll walk into you. But, I wasn't drunk. Ahhhh~ now it all makes sense. Crazy. Anywho, we got to the station at about 6:45 and it was insanely crowded! Like, had to fight to get to the gates. Once we passed through and walked to our track, we noticed all the departure times were off. It was already about 7pm, but they all listed departure times for around 5:30. We thought we lucked out, since our train was there. We hopped on and waited. And waited. And waited. We waited for about 20 minutes before I started to feel dizzy. I needed to get off that train. There was no air and it was hot and just all around bad. So, we got off and started to go back up the stairs. Until I heard an announcement saying something about track 3, so we scrambled back to the train. This time we tried a different cart and found seats. And waited on the train for about 2 and a half hours. We finally left the station at about 8:30. And then, when we got to a station about 2 stops before us, we stopped again and waited for another 30 minutes. It was like 9:21 when we finally got off the train. Insane. We didn't know about the earthquake. We thought maybe a train crash or something. But, we finally figured it out when we got home and saw this.
Oh hey there rice~ What are you doing all over the floor? My friend Mel helpfully pointed out that the earthquake was quite polite in knocking over the paper towels, too. It was trying to help clean up, you see.

So, after that fun evening, it's been a bit quiet. I've been meeting David for lunch whenever he's teaching here in Natori and it's been getting colder outside. A few days ago, I met him for lunch and it started to rain/sleet on my walk home. And I, without an umbrella, just grinned and beared it. However, the wind was wicked and it shows. My hair is so fashionable thanks to the wind~
Oh, and we went and saw Skyfall a few nights ago! It was awesome! It was my first James Bond movie and I really enjoyed it! Gonna watch the other Daniel Craig Bond movies sometime soon~ Woo. We were the only gaijin in the theatre and there were about 8 of us in there. Skyfall had just been released when we saw it, and I think most people went to the Japanese dub showing. And you know what was funny? We had the WHOLE theatre and we all chose seats near each other! Then again, it's reserved seating at this theatre, but it was funny. We kept seeing ads for the Hobbit and Les Miserables. I'm so excited for both! And it was while we were out, that we found them. FROOT LOOPS! Er... Fruit Rings! The taste more like Crunchberry's, but hey~ They're still good!
Going out with some friends on Saturday~ They're coming up from Fukushima to see the Starlight. Hopefully no earthquakes this time!

Monday, December 3, 2012

I reeeeeally wish they had the chai eggnog lattes here!

We had our first snow of the season on December 1st! It was awesome! I was up early, because I was meeting a friend for brunch in Sendai. David worked that morning, so I walked him to work. And as we walked outside, there it was. Snow! Just a light snowfall. And it didn't stay. David's coworkers told him that the snow is blown over from the mountains and it usually won't stay because there's not very much. Oh well~ It still looked nice! I tried to take a picture of it, but I don't think they turned out well.
So, I made a new friend! her name is Tamsyn and she's a doll. I was meeting her for brunch on the 1st. She's from the UK and I swear, she has the cutest accent. And she's just all around awesome. We met very briefly through a mutual friend a few months ago and we've only just gotten together. Anywho~ We had raisin pancakes for brunch at her place. They were awesome! And we just chatted about ourselves and whatnot. She was so easy to talk to and there were never any weird lulls in conversation. I forgot to take pictures, but hopefully I'll remember next time we get together.

While I was walking through the station on my way home, I noticed that Sendai Station has been decorating! They had a massive Christmas tree in the main waiting area. And it was surrounded by Docomo phone booths. Ahaha. Tis the season to make phone calls?I grabbed a coffee from the conbini by the train tracks and it was all Christmas-y, too.
David and I had a date that night which was fun~ We met at Starbucks after he was done work. I tried the praline latte. Not so good. I wasn't a big fan. Back to the staple gingerbread latte, methinks. I reeeeeally wish they had the chai eggnog lattes here! That's my favourite Christmas drink!
On the subject of eggnog, I attempted to make some a few nights ago. It wasn't bad. I added cream into it, to give it a little more body. It looked really watery when I first made it. Bad idea~ The cream kinda overpowers it. Oh well. Live and learn. Gonna give it another bash sometime soon using Keira's recipe.
I've been keeping myself busy honing m new found cross stitch skills. After Luna, I did a tiny Sailor Moon and now I'm working on Angel's Christmas gift. She asked for a sample, so I'm making her one. I'm also half working on an 8-Bit Theatre themed sampler for me. Wooo! Geekery! Isn't it awesome! :D
No pictures of Angel's gift, for obvious reasons~ Don't need her to snoop! :P

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

It was really nice and festive.

David and I went on a date yesterday! I haven't been out of Natori in a while, so we went into Sendai for a date. It was really nice! We started out at the post office in the Sendai station and then grabbed lunch. There's a cute little bagel place in the restaurant area under the station. I got a bagel sammich. Ham and gouda on a tomato and parmesan bagel. Holy crap. It was really good! And the bagel was so soooft. I haven't had a bagel in forever!
After lunch we wandered over the the shopping arcade. They had it all jazzed up for the holidays! There were lights and decorations everywhere. It was really nice and festive. We popped into a few stores and just kinda window shopped. I got my eyes tested and ordered some new lenses for my glasses. Super excited for that, can't lie.
I really wanted to visit the Disney Store (big surprise) so we walked over. It was all decked out for Christmas, too. I wanted to buy the whole store. They were playing random Christmas songs and we walked in to Kermit singing a Christmas carol. They had a sale on their ornaments, so David and I bought 4. I also bought a new handtowel for my purse.
We went for dinner at an Italian place in the Aeon Mall near our apartment. We got a dinner for 2 set. David picked the pizza and I picked the pasta. It came with a salad, which was really nice. There were huge slivers of parmesan cheese and the veggies were yummy. I picked the tomato and mozarella spaghetti for our pasta and it was amazing. Yumyumyum~ David picked a 4 cheese pizza, which wasn't really good. It had cheese sauce instead of pizza sauce and yick. Not a fan.
Oh! I learned how to cross stitch on Sunday! I had a skype date with mum and she taught me over skype. That was fun. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I made a cupcake with the kit I bought as my introduction to the craft. And then last night I scouted around on spritestitch.com and found a cute little pattern for Luna, the cat from Sailor Moon. I'm pretty pleased with the result~

Saturday, November 24, 2012

The Mickey and Minnie decorations are my favourites.

Ok, so before I get started, I just noticed the funniest thing ever. So, in the spring I was sent a CD from Stuart McLean. It's a funny CD. I've listened to it a few times. He's awesome. Anywho, for those who don't know, he's a radio host on CBC. He hosts the Vinyl Cafe every Sunday, and believe me, he's hilarious. If you don't listen, give it a try. Anywho, he's a story teller, basically. And when I popped the CD in I noticed this gem in my Windows Media Player.
Rap & Hip-Hop? Wow. Really? Nooooo~

Anywho, hey y'all! Life's been getting better. We finally got our refund from LeoPalace and things are getting settled financially. Woooo! And to celebrate, David and I went to see the new Evangelion movie. It was pretty good, even if I couldn't understand most of what was going on. I won't spoil it, but it's TOTALLY different from the series. Like, reeeeally different. It was weird, to be honest. But, I really like Kaworu again after watching it.
I found more Evangelion printed snacks, too. Caramel Corn. To be honest, it was basically caramel flavoured cheetos. True story. It does not have cheese in it, but I could still taste it. It was awful. XD
But in any case, life goes on. David and I got pizza a few nights ago, which was nice. I've finally started to watch the Big Bang Theory. I just caught up yesterday and wow. Best show ever. I find it soooo very amusing. Ahaha. Anywho, so we got pizza and David brought me home a treat. He bought me a churro! They were selling them at the bakery in the train station. Yum yum~ I also had a midnight snack of the MeltyKiss Fran sticks. Kinda like pocky, but a bit more fancy. MeltyKiss is reeeeally nice chocolate that really does just kinda melt in your mouth. I love it.
Actually, David's been really sweet, bringing me home little treats when he comes home late. He brought me home a cupcake from Mister Donut! It was really tasty and it was decorated with a Charlie Brown theme. Cute!
I spent an afternoon at the mall a couple days ago. I met David for lunch and then just wandered and did some shopping. I actually did my first real coffee tasting since leaving the Bux that day! I popped into the Bux for a gingerbread latte and a cranberry bliss bar and they gave me a sample of the Christmas Blend. Not a bad pair, the coffee with my bar. They balance each other out nicely, I think. Anywho~ I was there for about an hour. I brought my Kobo with my, and just read. I'm reading a biography of Queen Elizabeth right now. Or at least, the preview. Gonna buy the book once I find it on rakuten.
I bought myself a new shirt and a new dress from Axes Femme. They had a massive sale on, and I got them both for a steal. Woo! And then I did some Christmas shopping. Got part of David's gift bought and did some pricing for the rest of the shopping I need to do.
We ate at Saizeriya last week and we found Christmas lights in Japan! Woah! I was really excited. There was a house we walked by that had Christmas lights outside in the shape of a tree. I tried to take a photo, but as ever, it didn't turn out. Oh well.
And on the subject of Christmas lights, we decorated our tree last night! It's kinda sad looking, but I'm happy. We bought some coloured lights that twinkle cutely and most of the decorations were from Daiso. Ahahaha. The Mickey and Minnie decorations are my favourites. It was fun! I'm really happy we have a tree, even if it is kinda Charlie Brownish. Heehee~
I met David for lunch today and man! Was it ever buuusy! It was crazy! The food court is massive and I think we got the last 2 seats available. Madness! I like meeting him for lunch, though. It's nice~ I brought us curry from home and we just ate and chatted. And then we went and got ice cream as a treat from the soft serve place downstairs. I also popped into Lush and bought some face care stuff. I've been told UltraBland is really good for my skin type and thought I would give it a try. It's like a clay cleanser. With exfoliates in it. Wooo! I also got some toner and they gave me a face cream sample. Wooo! They ladies were super friendly, too. One of the girls there spoke English and was really helpful. Here's hoping it works.
So, that's about all from here. I'm hoping to have pictures of myself to post eventually. Ahahaha. I just realized that I never seem to take photos of myself anymore. Oops.