In which there is an entry about this past weekend.
Ha, well, so much for trying to update for "the next few days"! I'll get to February and then May through the first week of July soon enough... but for now...
tl;dr - I went to Tokyo for the weekend and then some. It was awesome. I'm sad to leave.
On Friday, I got into Tokyo, checked into my little hotel room (I got a great deal on hotels.com -- half price on a double! Really, they aren't paying me to say that, I just wanted to let you know that shit is legit) Despite being a "duble" (perhaps it was a "duble dx"?) it was still probably the smallest one I've ever been in, but price was right. Plus, the hotel was a really convenient location, actually: just steps away from Bakuracho Station, on the Yokosuka/Sobu line. I went to go tutor signal 's fiancé, the Kenjerator, as is the plan now. I taught him my favorite joke, which is, "Bacon and eggs are driving in the car when a child darts out in front of them. Bacon turns to eggs and goes, 'BRAKE FAST!'" He seemed to appreciate it, and I told him to tell it to her when he got the chance.
After that, I went to Shibuya and got changed in a bathroom at the 109 in order to go to Pandora Room. I wore my red vinyl uniform with matching black/silver backseam vinyl stockings and high lace-up boots as well as my long red wig. Why the wig? Welllll, I chose that particular one because when I wore the same ensemble sanswig last weekend, psyencefaction pointed out that I looked like Molotov Cocktease from "The Venture Bros." - mostly because of my heart-shaped eyepatch, I think. So I figured, eh, why not?
Anyway, I was invited to this one by this beautiful lady while I was at Department H, and I thought it sounded like fun once I read the event schedule. I got kinda lost trying to find the club (for some reason. Shibuya at night is SO much different than Shibuya in the daytime... I could have easily gotten there if it were light out!) but doors opened at 10 and I got there only a little while after. When she saw me, she was so excited! It made me happy that she was genuinely glad I showed up. She's a DJ named Mei and she was wearing this totally cool vinyl jumpsuit at the party.
The night ended up being pretty awesome! It's still not not really something Pillow would have enjoyed that much, but it was less "weird" and more... ikd... fun than the other party. There were a couple of burlesque shows, a drag queen comedianne, dancing, and a random performance by a professional pole dancer (she was amazing!) Even though I went by myself and can't really speak Japanese, I managed to have a good time. I hung out with a bunch of different people -- the burlesque dancer, whose name was Copellia, an awesome drag queen in a full latex body suit named Lala, and various other folks! I got my photos taken by a professional photographer, so I'll see about digging those up on the web once they're posted. I think I looked awesome. (ETA: I DID.)
At the end of the night 5 AM, I changed back into my normal clothes (it was such a weird transformation, since I took off my wig and put my glasses back on... everyone was like "ehhh?! That wasn't your real hair??") and proceeded to stumble out into the light. I looked across the street and realized that... wait, what the hell?! Freshness Burger was open?! I was so surprised, because... seriously?! But apparently that location was open 24/7. So I got a strawberry smoothie, a classic cheeseburger, and some potato wedges, and it was delicious, but I couldn't finish the potatoes, so I gave 'em to another group of late night revelers eating burgers next to me. They seemed pleased.
And then I got on the Yamanote to Akihabara, walked a few blocks to my hotel, and fell asleep... only to get up around 3 and catch a train out to Yokohama for another tutoring session, this time with SAT Boy. He surprised me by giving me a birthday present (he said he wasn't sure what I'd like, so he got me a little box of Godiva, and I was like, "...you did well")! And during the lesson, I remembered that man, the SAT is dry as sandpaper... like, hurrrgh, even when you know English backwards and forwards, it's hard to decipher some purpley prose memoir segment.
Afterwards, I headed over to check out the Vivre Yokohama summer sales. I'd already gone once, but I came back because one of the KERA shop girls told me that more clothes were going to get discounted after July 1st. Buuuuut, I was really bummed because... the first time I went to the KERA shop, I tried on this green dress and I loved it, but it was so expensive. So every time I've gone in, I've looked to see if the price has been reduced. That was 2 1/2 years ago and IT NEVER WENT ON SALE WTFFFF. Whomp whomp. Anyway, after popping into Closet Child, I ate some taiyaki and then headed back to the hotel again to take a bath in the giant tub.
The next morning, I got up and hung out with neko_oni in Asakusa. We'd originally planned to go out by Atsugi, but it turns out their festival was canceled, so I convinced her to come up to Tokyo instead. Right after we met up, I was interviewed by a TV show, シルシルミシル！ They saw me in my yukata and asked me if I could sing a Japanese song for them... alright... so I thought about it and then sang part of "飛べ！ガンダム" and showed them my tattoo. They seemed quite surprised. I also said, "アムロ！行きます" and they were like, "oh, say that again!" and filmed that, too, LOL. So hey, if you're in Japan and get TV Asahi, look for a doofy girl with auburn hair in a black yukata with a purple umbrella during the August 17th episode at 11 PM!
After my 15 seconds of "fame", we made our way over to Sensoji, and they were having a festival called Hozuki Ichi, selling wind chimes and hozuki (Chinese Lantern Plant). July 10th is also the day of Shiman Rokusen Nichi (literally "46,000 Days"), where if you visit the temple once, it equates to going 46,000 times! So I prayed for Pillow and I to have continued happiness as we start on this new chapter of our lives, along with other stuff 'cause I figured... 46,000 times? I can pray for a few things at once.
We ate kakigori (shaved ice with syrup and sometimes cream or other things) at my favorite kakigori place, and then wandered the streets until we came to Kappabashi Dori, where they were still celebrating Tanabata (technically, July 7th is Tanabata, but it goes on all weekend.) We took pictures of the decorations and watched some cute girls playing taiko drums. After we'd walked around for a while, I started to notice my companion was getting dangerously flushed and could tell heat sickness was imminent, but she made the call first to go sit somewhere for a while. So we went to a Denny's for lunch. On a side note, man, Denny's here is so weird - no Grand Slams! Siiigh. But I got french toast and tea, so that was nice. Also, my parents and I have a joke that the "La Quinta" in La Quinta Inn means "next to Denny's", due to the reoccuring proximity of said hotel and restaurant, but in Japan, Denny's are on top of 7-11s! Whaaat.
She and I parted ways, and I went off to browse a bead/charm/jewelry supply shop near the hotel. I'm going to make myself and nuriko_chan some cute necklaces. After that, I dropped off my unnecessary stuff at the hotel, freshened up a bit, and then went to the Four Seasons Chinzan-so to tour their Firefly Garden and indulge in some high tea. It was really lovely, though I wish I'd gone at dusk rather than once the sun had already set, because I would have liked to view the garden rather than walk through it in the dark. Even so, I did see a few fireflies! I was still wearing my yukata and man, there's nothing like having people murmur that you're cute when they think you can't understand them, ha. But anyway, that was a nice time, and while I'm glad I went, I wish I hadn't been myself, because it was quite romantic.
On Saturday, I got up earlier than I wanted to because I had to get over to Ebisu because on Friday night, a girl stopped me and asked if I would be her model for a cosmetics exam. So I met up with her, she bought me breakfast, and we went to her school. For the next three hours or so, she worked on makin' me even prettier, but with a natural look. And the end result was pretty striking! Here's a picture, completely unretouched. I really like what she did with my eyebrows, but I wish I could have gotten one of the pictures where I wasn't showing my teeth...
When it was finished, I thanked her for her hard work, and then went to meet signal back at the station. We were originally supposed to meet up at Harajuku, but I wanted to go eat at this place I'd discovered via a website with hints on how to eat at Michelin starred restaurants for under 5000 yen - and the biggest hint was to go at lunch. So we went to the Westin Hotel, up to the 22nd floor, to their 1 star (as of 2009) teppanyaki restaurant, Yebisu. My original plan was to go solo, but I'm glad I brought her along, because they had her favorite dish: sukiyaki! I got a steak set, and both came with a salad, rice, miso soup, and ice cream and coffee or tea afterwards. Each meal was about 3000 yen - and totally worth it.
Also of note is when I went to the restroom (and oh, I love fancy hotel restrooms! The one in the lobby of the Four Seasons was spectacular!) an old woman told me that I looked like a doll and called me cute. I get that doll comment a lot! I think it's because a) I have super pale skin like porcelain and b) I'm usually wearin' a floofy skirt. Still, it made me smile. Here is a (heavily photoshopped due to bad lighting and a poor photographer) picture of us.
Once we'd had our fill, we went off to Harajuku's Takeshita Dori so she could get me my birthday/going away present, and I wound up with two wigs and a shirt! lol. She told me that my dutiful student had indeed told her the joke I taught him, and that he'd said, "it's American humor" afterwards. Ha! We took purikura and then went to our friend Kaki's for a bit. We hung out with her and her silly dog, Pippy, for a bit until the sun began to set, at which point signal and I left to meet up with her fiancé and go to Tokyo Tower. We passed by Zōjō-ji on the way there, and even though I was walking really fast, I took notice of the hundreds of Jizō with the little red hats decorated with pinwheels. In fact, Kenjerator asked, "why is she going so fast?" and signal was like, "she wants to get there before it gets completely dark!!" Which was true. I wanted to see it at dusk, since it was my first time visiting.
That's right: it was my first time. I had thought it was a super overrated tourist trap and that's why I'd never gone before, in my two and a half years in Japan. I mean, I've always really been quite fond of it, but mostly in terms of viewing it from a distance. The main point of going up to the observation deck is the view, it seems, and I've seen some pretty stellar views of Tokyo (for free!) from other places, which also allows you to see the tower itself. I just figured that was the way to go. But signal has been there like, seven times and and wanted to take me there, too, so I was like, "oky doky, why not."
And it turned out to be AWESOME. The view, especially as the sun was setting, was spectacular. signal said she'd never been able to see Mt. Fuji so clearly, and I so, so so so wished I could have shared it with Pillow - more than anything, really. I took lots of photos and some videos, which doesn't really have the same effect, but I can at least share some of the experience with him. When we went down to the secondary viewing platform, and they had the actual dress from the live action Paradise Kiss movie (see this reblog), which was a HUGE deal for Molly because PK to her is like what Gundam is for me... at least in terms of being life-altering. She'd had NO idea it was up there, so when we saw it it was really this moment of "oh my GOD" and I felt so incredibly happy for her.
We were a bit parched, so we got some drinks at the cafe (and sat in seats that were near the dress and looked out over Roppongi) and Kenjers randomly mentioned that Tanabata reminds him of Pillow and me. I was like, "why?" and he said, "because sometimes you are seperated by the water." Awwwww! I thought that was really sweet, and I was like, "man, too bad met on June 7th instead of July. That would have been insane."
When I'd gone to the counter to get my drink (oh hot tea on a hot day why do I love you so~) I'd noticed that there was a little bottle of champange for sale at the cafe, so I was like, "yo... let's split it." And it was surprisingly good for being cheap! I poured it into three plastic cups and we toasted the evening, friends, life, Tokyo, and how the things that happened in our life brought us to this place where we are now.
And it was at that point that I started to cry.
There's a lot of emotions mixed up in this whole process, but I think most of all, I just feel... extremely grateful: grateful to Pillow for being in my life, and for making sacrifices for so long for my happiness; grateful that I was able to meet such amazing people; grateful to have experienced all the things that I never even dreamed would be possible even just a few years ago. It hasn't been the easiest of times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
After I had my verklemmt moment, we left the cafe and noticed that there was like, a dance area set up, with a disco ball and pretty blue lights and everything. They were playing "I Just Called To Say I Love You", and it was just so totally cheeseball that I was like, "You know what? Fuck it! C'mon, let's dance!" and so signal and I danced together. It was really silly, and Kenjer took video of us, ha.
Once we were done being doofuses, we went back down to the base to get food -- they got McDonald's and I got Pizza-la, which was actually really good! I also browsed the souvenirs and wound up with a Hello Kitty charm of her dressed up as Yagyuu Jubei. She has the pink heart-shaped eyepatch like Jubei-chan, though! When the night was over, signal 's fiance walked us to the train station, and we got on the same train until I had to change at Tokyo Station to get the train that ran to the hotel. I packed, and then went to bed.
This morning, I got up, checked out, and hauled ass to Asakusabashi station, which was nearby and the Asakusa line (which turns into the Keikyu line) runs through it. I had some random European guy kindly help me with my bags (I was dragging the suitcase down the stairs one by one because it was too heavy to carry) and caught a Limited Express Misakiguchi-bound train right as it pulled in, so I had a seat all the way to Yokosuka-chuo... although I decided to mix it up a but and went to the other platform to take a local train to Shioiri, since it's a bit less of a walk to the base.
Once I was on base, I caught a cab back to my apartment, put down my bags, and then cleaned. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. When I was done cleaning, I went out to to the post office to mail and receive packages, and then went to the base library to print out Pillow's orders so I could go to Personal Property to arrange for our packout and then take the information they gave me to the Housing Office to arrange for my final housing inspection... then walked back to the apartment. I basically walked in a circle around the base. There's a map, and I crossed out the George Washington because they SO aren't here right now. Anyway... it was hot. I kinda regretted doing that much walking at like 2 in the afternoon. But at least I got a lot done and I rewarded myself with an nice cold shower, ahhh~ Plus, neko_oni dropped off lemon cupcakes! Yum!
So, I'm back to my normal life, for now, after my Tokyo fantasy weekend. It looks like I'll be heading back stateside for good around the 28th... I don't want to leave, but there's nothing I can do to stop it from happening. There's good things waiting for me ahead, and I can look back with fondness at the good times behind me, too.
PS: The lyrics to this song are pretty apt, if you replace descriptions of the sky and the beach with skyscrapers and gardens...
"And in this moment, I am happy. I wish you were here."