They did them, then they wrapped my head in saran wrap.

Man. This week was awful for using the Sendai Airport Access line. I was late for work on Tuesday and then on Thursday I was almost late again! No idea why, either. It was a little misty, so maybe they were afraid of running something over? Dunno. It was freaking annoying, though. I HAAATE being late and having to call work and announce my impending lateness makes me grate my teeth. GAH. I remembered to take a photo on Tuesday of the crowd that got out at Nagamachi station. It was intense! Everyone was advised to get off the Airport access train and use the city subway service instead. Hence, the mass exodus of the train flooding into the station. It was unreal.

On the bright side, on Tuesday Ai-sensei brought us in some coffee treats! She was off that day and her daughter, Yuka, comes to preschool on her off days. So, when she came to pick up Yuka she told me to 'Have a break!' and gave me a coffee jelly drink. Coffee jelly is kinda weird. It's jelly, suspended in a thick syrup with heavy cream. You shake the carton, and it breaks up the jelly and mixes it with the other stuff in there and drink. I don't think Angel would like it, but it's good. It was super sweet of her to bring it in, though!

On Wednesday I popped out to grab a snack during my 3 hour break. I keep looking for fancy KitKat bars, but I can never seem to find any of the interesting ones. However, I DID find one that day! Cookies and cream KitKat~ It was quite tasty. Add a caramel cafe au lait to it and it was a nice way to spend a break.

After work on Wednesday I popped to the Bux and waited for David. I found an intriguing movie advertisement on my way there! Why hello, Mr. Cumberbatch!

While I was waiting for David, Azusa came over and we had a nice chat. She was asking about my kobo and what books and tv shows I like. Turns out we both watch Big Bang Theory! We had a good laugh about Sheldon. He's her favourite character. I always like chatting with Azusa~ She's so sweet. :)

On my way home from work yesterday I popped into Mister Donut to grab one of their promo donuts. They're doing a collab with Calpis right now, so they have really cute treats. I got one of the soda star donuts. It looks adorable, but the taste wasn't for me. The filling was a bit too tangy for my tastes. Oh well~

Which brings us to today~ I went and got my hair did in Sendai today. I haven't had a proper cut in over a year and my hair was getting pretty bad. Last week Tam gave me a voucher for discounted services at Salon Progress, so I made an appointment for today. I got a cut and colour, which looks quite nice if I do say so myself. I was tempted to go super short and super blonde, but I opted to keep my hair shoulder length and layered and a nice mid brown. It's a little ash-y, but I guess since my name is Ashley, it's ok.

Can't lie, though. It was really funny when they were dying my hair. They did my roots first, since they were pretty bad. They did them, then they wrapped my head in saran wrap. True story. It was ridiculous.

While I was in Sendai I did a bit of shopping. I picked up some new earrings from the Disney Store and I also bought myself a new phone strap. I think the strap is quite cute~ It's a UniBEARsity charm from Disney.

There was an information fair at our Aeon today for the Disney Vacation Club, and it seemed like everyone was milling about. They didn't have any English info, so I just wandered through. The people seemed nice and there was a Mickey statue that everyone was getting pictures of or with.

Oh, I got tickets to see Wicked in Tokyo! Sooooo excited! They're in the mail right now, but that's fine. Super happy! I've always wanted to see this musical~ And even though it'll be all in Japanese, that's a-ok! Can't wait to see the costumes~ *________*

And on that note, gonna go back to my book. I bought a couple books at Maruzen recently. I love my kobo, but it IS nice to have a real book in my hands every once in a while. Anyway~ I figured that since I loved Wicked, I should read the next book. So, I bought Son of a Witch and I am finally reading the Hobbit. I'm just at the part where we meet Beorn right now. Awesome!

So, needless to say, I bought them.

So, Valentine's has come and gone. Ours was pretty quiet, as David was working, but we had a nice evening at least~ I made chocolate for David and it turned out really well this year! I tried a couple different things. I made molded chocolate, melted some and poured it into premade cookie cups and tried a recipe for nama choco. And I made sure to wrap it up all prettylike, too. The molded chocolate turned out nice! I made Mickey heads. Heehee~ The nama choco was just a simple recipe I found online. Melting chocolate and mixing it with a little fresh cream to give it a smooth taste and texture. And I sprinkled hot chocolate on top just for looks. The cookie cups were premade, so that made that easy. David liked the cookie cupped chocolate best~

In Japan it's more common for girls to give chocolate or gifts in Valentine's and boys give back on March 14th (White Day). As such, I wasn't expecting anything, but David bought me some chocolate, too! Sweet~!

We bought bentos for dinner a few nights ago on a whim. We don't usually get bentos because they tend to be expensive, but we bought them when they were on sale, so score! David got curry and I picked up a chicken tartar box. Basically, chicken strips covered in tartar sauce and some rice. It was really tasty! Usually bento chicken is kinda questionable, but they used really nice pieces for this.

I met David in Sendai on Friday afternoon. We decided to meet at Starbucks, so I got there about an hour early to just relax with a drink and my kobo. I got my chai latte and a sakura macaron. Yummmm~ And after a little while, they came out and offered some samples around. Currently, Starbucks is doing a sakura themed line. They had Sakura White Hot Chocolate for the sample. It's really nice! Not too super sweet and a good tastes for the season.

Oh yeah, I got a phone. Finally~~ That's it up there with the cute Pikachu phone charm.

We got lunch in the station and just wandered about that afternoon. It was nice to have a lazy date~ It was raining, so we didn't walk around much outside. We stuck to the shopping arcade and a few other shops. We stopped in at a hobby/toy store so David could pick up a stand for his new Gundam model and while we were there the fire alarm went off! I had no idea what the alarm was for, so one of the employees came over and explained that there was a fire downstairs and we had to vacate the building. Turns out, there was no fire. Someone pulled the alarm by accident. Hahaha. The didn't kick us out entirely, we all huddled in the entryway so as to avoid the rain outside. It was kinda random~ But, David got his stand and I actually found a set of Vocaloid music boxes! David and I tried really hard to win them in Sega World and had no luck, but we found the set for about 3,000yen. So, needless to say, I bought them. They're really pretty~ The music that they play is really nice.

And wanna know what else was awesome? When we got home, we had mail waiting for us! Mum's Christmas package finally got here. Wooo! There was a package of eggnog mix, some candy canes and some money in cards from mum and papa. There was also a calendar of Canadian places that David's been showing his students. I was beginning to think it'd never get here! I can't wait to crack the eggnog mix open, though~ I'm hoping that if I mix it with a chai latte, I can make myself a cheggnogg latte! Cheggnog lattes are my favourite seasonal drink from Starbucks~ And they don't have eggnog in Japan. Oh well. We'll see how that turns out.

So, yesterday while David was working, I went out to Aeon Mall just to do some window shopping and maybe grab a drink from the Bux. Maaan, was it ever BUSY! There was a line out the door at Starbucks and the sitting area was chocablock full, so scratch that idea! I went into a few shops and did some window shopping. I met one of our neighbours, too, actually! A girl named Chihiro, who works in one of the stores I like. I was attempting to chat with one of her coworkers and then she came over and asked if we lived in the LeoPalace apartments near the gas station and Max Value and then introduced herself and told me she lives on the first floor. She was really sweet and I told her to come see me if she wants to practise her English at all~ So, after looking around, I went to the grocery store and just bought a coffee from there. I tried a Cocoa Latte, which was practically just chocolate milk. It was tasty, though. I just wish there was some coffee in it. Lol.

And I keep meaning to take a photo of this, but there are ducks that live in the river by Aeon Mall. Ducks and cranes, actually. There's a whole flock of them and they're really cute! They have been there all winter, just chilling in the river. I keep meaning to take a picture of them all, but usually I'm too cold to stop. I stopped yesterday, though!

And as for today, we went out for dinner. We really like this Italian place in Aeon Mall, so we went there and got the dinner for 2 set. Pizza, pasta, salad and a drink for each for about 2,500yen. I was investigating the menu and I noticed that whoever made the English menu must've had my sense of humour.

And then before we left, I popped up to the Bux and got my drink. I also indulged and bought myself a tumbler. I've missed having one and this season's selection is quite pretty. Lots of sakura themed things. I bought a tall sized tumbler and ordered a sakura white hot chocolate and got my drink for free. Awesome!

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.