Gantz

２０１１年１月２９日

So today I caught up with Sayaka, who I hadn’t seen for a while! Actually, I think the last time I saw her was before Christmas/New Years break! Anyway, we went and watched Gantz at the Toho Cinema in Umeda. I didn’t realise that it was released today, but I just decided I wanted to see a movie, checked what was on, saw Gantz was on, wanted to see it since it came out, and so that’s how I decided on it. And the verdict? AWESOME!! I’ve only seen the first 3 or so episodes of the anime and I’ve only read the first few books of the manga, so I have an idea of the story line, but seeing the movie blew my mind! It was really good, and I want to see it again! I already love 松山ケンイチ but was also happily surprised with ニノ‘s acting! Man, I want to see it again. Also, I was happy, because I paid for a students ticket price. 1,500円!

ほんで, yesterday I got a new haircut!! ^_^

I would like to take credit for thinking about this haircut all for myself, but everyday I’m influenced by the different trends in hair and fashion here in Japan. I don’t really like facial hair, but seeing so many Japanese guys sporting it around as the new fashion, I sub-consciously grew it too. So my new style is short on one side, and longer on the other. AND it’s also got a small undercut on either side until just behind the ear area. I’m not sure what my school will say, if they say anything, but I’ve liked fashion and hair since I went to university. Even at the hospital when I was working as a nurse, the other staff members (including my bosses) liked it when I styled my hair “differently” to the others nurses. And also, it gave the patients something to talk about! So I don’t see why I have to stop being who I am here in Japan, when I think that the fashion and hair styles are so much more popular here than back home!

Anyway, I also watched another movie after coming home that was Sayaka’s recommendation. 腐女子彼女 (funjoshi kanojo). Funjoshi apparently refers to girls who like BL (Boys Love). It was quite interesting and another insight into a popular trend for girls in Japan!!!

example:

鹿児島 & Flooding Brisbane

２０１１年１月１１日

And so here we are, 11/1/11. The first time I was amazed by this was in 1999, of course the date was 9/9/99 otherwise why would I be amazed with the date..?? Anyway, nothing special has come on these dates, and why should it… It’s just another day, another period of time.. Well I suppose this date should remind me of the floods in Brisbane at the moment. My family had moved to Brisbane a few years ago and now there is flooding rains which although my family say’s that they are alright, I have some fear that they might get caught up in these floods which are suppose to be worse than the 1974 floods which were pretty disastrous!

とにかく、鹿児島の旅行について。
ホンマに良かったやで。修平と泊まってた。もう３年ぶり会ってないし。
色々所に行って、例えば：霧島　ー　さくらさくらの泥温泉、神宮、高千穂牧場。

天文館で修平の友達と晩ご飯たべたり、ダンスしたり、酒を飲んだりした。めっちゃ楽しかったやん。
それも、桜島も行ったし。分からへんやけど、なんとなく、桜島のコンビニの色は茶色や！

ほんで、めっちゃいい温泉に行った！古里温泉だと言う。

古里温泉に行かなきゃならない！ホンマに。

Anyway, I’m back in Osaka again.. back to work. Trying to fix something up for my next classes.. Even though travelling overseas (actually just travelling in general) can be tiring, it’s so worth it when you look back and can see how enjoyable it was!

TTT – Taiwan – Tokyo – Toddo

２０１１年１月３日

Right now I’m sitting in my room, having lunch at 3pm with my doors wide open even though it’s slightly cool, because I want to listen to my town. How I’ve missed my town. But how long will this feeling last..? Anyway, lets not think about that as I don’t want to gets my hopes down or something drastic like that…

…moving along…

So as my previous post implies, I left for Taiwan and had a superfragilisticexpialidotical time (is that even a word? maybe. do I care? no.) I ate non-stop for the entire time I was there. Fruit was super cheap!! I wanted to buy a whole fruit store and pack it in my bag and bring it back to Japan with me, but I know my attempts would end with a fail, not because it’s impossible to pack a fruit store into my bag, but because customs would stop me and put it in the bin before I could get to the gate where my plane would be waiting for.

Anyway, I was able to meet up with my friend Jason who I had met in Armidale and Fiona who I had met in Sydney. We travelled to the night markets, to various tourist attractions such as a house which got over grown by a tree and turned into a “must see” thing, and other such things one does when in a new country.

I have already decided to go back, because I didn’t even visit Taipei. I only flew into there and out again.

Anyways, my time in Taiwan turned sour as my friend drove away after dropping me off at the airport. He lives 3 hours away by car, so of course after driving me all the way to the airport, I didn’t want to delay his journey going home so we had a quick “bye-bye” chat and then we parted ways. Only when I walked inside the airport to get my plane ticket and passport out did I realise that I had neither, nor the bag that they were inside of! My bag was still on the back seat of Jason’s car!!! I didn’t have his mobile number and I didn’t have his house number. I didn’t have Fiona’s number, though I had given her mine the day before. I didn’t have money, so I couldn’t find a computer to use the internet, which meant that I had to use my iphone in Taiwan (and I hadn’t organized for international roaming so god knows how high my phone bill will be), log on to facebook.. leave messages on their “walls” with no avail. Luckily one of Fiona’s friend’s decided to add me on facebook, with whom I could leave a message with, she then called Fiona who then called Jason (who didn’t pick up). Jason had already driven 1.5 hours home when i decided to check his phone and got messages to come back to Taipei Airport. Needless to say, I missed my flight, I had to pay a LOT of money for a new ticket and learnt a very important lesson. It’s common sense to keep your passport on you at all times, and I’ve learnt the hard way. But I still made it to Tokyo.

Tokyo 東京

I love this place. It has to be one of my favourite cities that I’ve been to so far. There is so much to do, so many things to see, so many interesting people to see, so much more openness and, and, and, just so much!
One of my favourite places to go to is Harajuku.

A place where people can truly express themselves without having to fear being publicly ashamed or hated or bullied. Not only do I love looking at the people that make this street awesome (it’s not like it’s a hobby or anything) but I also love the clothes! If they made more clothes a little longer in the legs and a little longer in the arms then I would be set for life. I would only need Harajuku for my clothing needs!

So.. after shopping in Harajuku, I also found “Top Shop” an English brand of clothing which I have never seen in Australia or America, and my friend brags about having Top Shop in London, so when I found it, I just had to enter and buy something. Of course I didn’t have to buy something, but I’m not planning to go to London until 2012年 so, I don’t really want to wait that long.

Anyway, fun was had by me… and now I’m waiting for my clothes to dry so that I can pack them in my bag before I jet off to Kagoshima 鹿児島 tomorrow morning.

*mental note to self – save more money for emergencies*