Totoro-Ninja

So this weekend I went to Tokyo to spend some time with Asami and her family that live there.
We've been planning on going to the Studio Ghibli Museum and Disney Sea... well, I got sick on Thursday and I still haven't recovered ^^
Anyways I'm fine as long as there's a toilet near by and they're easier to find if you're in a city...plus I made sure I didn't eat anything on the way to Tokyo.

Ok, enough about my sickness and how I was able to adapt while in Tokyo.

We went to the Ghibli Museum and it was fun. Everything was cute and we saw a 15 min movie about cat buses ^_^ Oh and I bought a lot of little things at the shop too...and most are for me ^^
We also ate at the Straw Hat Cafe cuz we were all hungry and all I ate that day was toast and we were eating lunch at 5pm. A lot of the food there had some kind of dairy (for those who don't know, I can;t process dairy at the moment and it's been the longest since I have...while in Japan). I've also been eyeing this meal since we came in cuz it looked so damn delicious, so I ordered the steak dinner. It was damn delicious and I didn't care if I did get sick, kinda. So we finally left but while heading toward the Totoro's bus stop (and yes there is a special Totoro bus you can ride) I remembered how some of us talked about the special themed restaurants they had in Tokyo so I asked Asami if she knew where the Ninja one was at. She didn't :( but Naoko (Asami;s sister-in-law) did and made reservations for us ^_^

So the Ninja restaurant is a place where every one's dressed up like a ninja and you enter the secret world of the ninja. There are signs on the building where the restaurant is at but there are smaller signs pointing to where it's at. As soon as you get inside the darkened entrance, you are greeted by kimono dressed hostess where they call for your ninja waiter to appear out of nowhere to lead you through a series of dark twisting passageways. Since I spoke English our ninja waiter guided us and showed us the secret passages all in English. It was amazing and I wished I could've recorded it but I was pushed up front since we went there for me ^^. The waiter showed us into the ninja's training building and after a series of more twists and turns took us to our dinning nook named Nekome (cat eyes) and told us to remember it just in case we got lost. There we were given scroll menus, one in English and the other in Japanese. There was also an option for the Ninja Surprise dinner -7700 yen/person which is gourmet food all done with surprise ninja moves ^_^ but we didn't get it cuz it was expensive and I didn't feel like eating escargot or ...foie gra??? I don't know how to spell it but that dish where the force feed a goose til it dies so we can eat it's yummy liver -_-

Anyways, while eating dinner a ninja came to our table to show us ninja magic, in other words a magic show just ninja themed. Everything was slight of hand but i still love the card tricks ^_^ http://www.tofugu.com/2007/07/29/restaurant-ninja-akasaka/

Although I was sick I did enjoy my day and wish I could go back again a record the entrance into the restaurant.
*want to view more pics of the place go to photobucket

Going Back

Hey people.

In a little more than 5 weeks I'll be coming back home. In 21 days we will have the closing ceremony and I will have to say goodbye to my kids ;_; I'm going to miss them...most of them, some more than others, harsh but true.

I wish I could stay another year and see the 3rd yr students graduate and see which high school they end up going to. Yes in Japan students get to pick which high school they get to go to. It doesn't mean they are accepted off the bat. The have to study hard and take test to get into the school they want. Their fall back school is the high school in town... Point is that I'm going to miss seeing them move on. I really wish I could see them grow up.

Last week I had to attend a Returner's Conference. There they talked about the procedures to get our pension and how to close accounts here and move on after JET. So now, for those of us who are leaving have packing and tying off loose ends to look forward to.

One thing they had us do was make a list of Things you'll miss about Japan, Things you'll be glad to leave behind in Japan, Things you've missed about your home country, and (my favorite) Things you'll be annoyed about your home country. So I'll just tell you one of each. Onsens, Bugs/being illiterate, Things open after 6pm i.e.24 ATM's, and Rude people i.e. bad customer service. There were a few things on my list but I don't have it with me so that;s it.

Fun things i'm going to do before leaving Japan:
Go to: Tokyo Sea, Studio Ghibili, Hokkaido.
Do: onsens, karaoke, white water rapids (hopefully), onsen, karaoke (yeah i'm going to do those things like every weekend if i can... not the rapids thou).

So see you guys in about 6 weeks.
Oh, and something that I might experience when i get back, Reverse Culture Shock which is basically a Japan homesickness. A large majority of returning JETs get it and usually within the first 2-6 months. So you guys are going to hear tons of stories about Japan and i'll try not to tell the same one's over and over again. Oh just so you know, I didn't get any Culture Shock while I was here and i really didn't get homesick, i missed a few things and those didn't even last that long.

So things to look forward to:
packing
shipping and paying hella money for it
putting Hideki on a 9 hr flight
looking for a job
taking the math section of the CBEST
doing taxes
... ok so there not something to look forward to but things i have to do -_- and not really excited to want to do them.

Ja ne ^^

look forward to seeing pics that i've been forgetful and lazy about putting on the net ex. more school posters!!!