golden gaijin

sitting in my apartment being all lazy and randomly cleaning things, listening to japanese songs with the volume level up a few more notches than usual.  the  wind was whipping all of my laundry around so i brought everything in – lucky none of it fell to the ground on the first floor, just on my balcony…

the break has been pretty fantastic this far with the exception of my original nye plans going to shit.

the 26th consisted of a small bonenkai to celebrate the bosslady’s completion of her term, guess she’s no longer my boss now.  the 27th was a bonanza of sorts starting with 4 hours of karaoke and drinking, moving onto an izakaya for another hour or two of drinking, and then on to my apt to start/finish off a bottle of shochu.  the pictures at this point are laughable, drunkenness ftw.  after sleeping a few hours, in which we are now on the 28th, we went to shimokitazawa to eat, hang out, and relax.  i was hungover most of the day but the green curry at the thai place we ate at was delicious even though i wanted to throw up every other minute.  the 29th was pretty relaxing.  i went with some friends to see avatar in 3d, then we decided to go get mexican food at a nearby station.  upon exiting the train at that station, i noticed that my wallet was not on me and tried searching for it on the platform.  within 15 minutes, the station staff had confirmed that my wallet was at kita-senju station (just a few stations down) and we went to pick it up.  i retrieved my wallet and confirmed that everything was inside it.  i’m lucky someone decided to be nice, which happens more often here than anywhere else as far as i know.  after getting my wallet back, we decided to eat at a kaiten-zushi place at kita-senju and filled up on more or less delicious sushi.

later that night, a few of us were planning out what to do on nye, unfortunately a wrench was thrown into the plans due to indecisiveness and everyone decided to do their own thing.  the whole thing was upsetting to me.  as i shed a few tears, i remember visualizing dane cook’s sketch about having a good cry and all, and laughed at the same time.

i slept it off and the 30th arrived, i was still feeling down and all, but again a bunch of us were hanging out to see another friend visiting from korea.  we went to iidabashi and ate at a place called canal cafe which is a really nice place overlooking the water.  the food was delicious albeit a little pricey.  afterwards, we hit up two shrines, yasukuni shrine and another one nearby.  yasukuni shrine is where about 2.5 million people are enshrined regardless of rank, encompassing many wars (including ww1 and ww2).  i don’t pray much, but i offered some thoughts – not only to the japanese, but to the filipino, americans, chinese, anyone who died in a war.  throughout the day, let’s just say i wasn’t in a talkative mood.  not exactly shut off completely, but my mood/spirits weren’t at the highest.  it was good to see my friend again and glad she’s doing well in korea.  shortly after arriving home, i shed a few more tears and then spent time on the phone letting the air out and working things out.

today, it’s nye, and although i won’t be spending it with a group as i’d hoped, i’ll still spend it with someone special.  i still need to get some cleaning done and get a little groomed up, my face is all itchy from letting my facial hair grow out but i’m not shaving this sucker off until the last minute.  i’ll be going to ikspiari which is a shopping area next to tokyo disneyland, much like what downtown disney is in california.  we’ll drink some sake, go through the countdown, and might even hit up tokyo disney at 2am.

this was originally going to be just a small list of things i want to do in 2010, but o well, here goes:

• save money, minimum 20000yen/month, shouldn’t be too hard with my slight pay raise that’s now in effect
• hike up mt. fuji, no excuses or crap this time
• plan things better, or just plan things period.  i’ve been too lazy this past year relying on people to come up with stuff, no more of this indecisiveness mess anymore.
• pass jlpt 2-kyuu (about one hour of studying per day, at least)
• speaking of study methods, all japanese all the time, as well as book work.
• hit the gym a minimum of 3 times a week, i now weigh 64 kg (about 140 lbs) due to losing the fat as well as muscle, time to sculpt my body and not waste my gym membership money.
• cut down on alcohol, keep it social if anything.
• cut down smoking to a cigarette every now and then instead of a pack every two days.
• write more often and in a more timely manner (my friend ‘shirts’ alog comes to mind, letter will be on the way soon buddy)
• figure out my plans for after 2010, of which i have 3 choices
• call my friends and family on their birthday, that’s right, from japan
• philippines, cebu or boracay or something, for obon.  even if it’s just a few days.
• cut down on impulse buys, that tv, mbp or imac, and e-book reader are all so enticing though…
• visit california during golden week, i need me some beach time, family time, and laughing-out-loud-all-the-time time.

there’s more to add to this list, i think, but that sums up things i’d like to improve or do.

all told, what a fun and relaxing break this has been, and i’m blessed to have thoughtful and wonderful friends here in japan, here’s to a stronger friendship between us and more fun in japan!

2010, year of the tiger, more excitement to be had and a life to live.