The Lazy Blogger

I will no longer be attending Volks events, visiting their stores or buying their products new (once I finish paying off my Yos from Tokyo Dolpa) because I am extremely disappointed in the company's behavior towards me. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice it to say I do have very good reasons and this decision saddens me but I feel like is the only one I could make. I am also extremely disappointed by the other FDQ volunteers. If you are one of them, I think if you examine your decisions you will know why. I'm not going to be saying any more on this subject because I'd like to move past it and I don't wish to discuss it. I feel like I've already spent more energy on it than it deserves.

In happy news, I survived my Japan trip and had a wonderful time! This was a big deal to me because I was very worried about my abilities to actually manage to get around and do things as I've been quite inactive now for months. I did have to change plans a few days (I still get motion sick on the train, so Matsumoto was out and got hit with pouring rain the day I wanted to go to Nara) but overall for me the trip was a huge success. Mostly, I got to see my friends, particularly dilettantka and chocolate_chip who I truly appreciate taking so much time out of their lives and schedules to hang out with me and go to wacky places I wanted to eat. I also loved getting to see hinoai, akaisakura, and jougetsu. I wish I could have see misspaulette and triplepunch but so things goes. I also got see Aya-san! This was really lovely because it made me feel like she wants to see me outside of the whole doujinshika circle milieu. I'm really hoping we can get together when she comes to the US, even if it involves me trying to do things with a newborn, at least the weather will be better!

Among the things I did get to do was karaoke 3x! This was one of the things very high on my list as well, since I know it will be much harder to do in the future if I go back to Japan with a baby. I still can't believe how well my hotel reservations worked out. I paid on average 7000 yen a night for my single hotel rooms in Kyoto and Tokyo. My Kyoto room was the most convenient (aka a 5 minute walk from Kyoto Station, nearly all of it underground so rain could be avoided) My Tokyo rooms were the nicest, a huge nearly queen size bed with lots of pillows, mattress pad, and non-Gundam bathrooms! For about the first week I kept track of how much money I spent in Japan this trip. I have the receipts still but hands down I spent the most on: tea (much of it gifts), transportation, and food. The amount spent on everything else pales in comparison. I did make sure to eat well in Japan and made it to: Loving Hut, Pure Cafe, Eat More Greens, DevaDeva, Chien Fu, Nataraj, Proverbs, and Sunshine Cafe. I feel bad I didn't get to go to anywhere 2x, but still so many favorites and I rarely make it to Chien Fu! I also got Mexican at the Mexican place in Osaka and went to Dean and Deluca. And even more wonderful, other than the plane trip to and from Japan and one morning when my vitamin set me off, no puking!!!!!!!!!!

I had a pregnancy moment, where I was convinced I had left my conditioner in Tokyo and was heartbroken as I did not have it to use in Kyoto when the entire time it was sitting in my bathroom at home.

I am also finally showing! I now look pregnant, which is just so happy. Not only do I look pregnant but my daughter kicks more all the time!

I am glad to be home and I missed my husband terribly., thank goodness for Skype! My only true sadness is CT is actually more hot and humid than Tokyo was o_O; Luckily, I have central air.

My keitai # should be....
080-3418-3019

though I will be sad if the phone is not pink and might try to swap out for a pink one lol

based on my actual now in existence tickets.

June 22 (Tues) Leave for Japan
June 23 (Wed) Arrive, dinner in Tokyo
June 24 (Thurs) Kamakura?
June 25 (Fri) Order FCS, possible shopping
June 26 (Sat) dilettantka
June 27 (Sun) dilettantka
June 28 (Mon) Matsumoto maybe or well whatever I want! depends on when dilettantka
June 29 (Tues) Leave for Kyoto, see if triplepunch can do lunch maybe?
June 30 (Wed) kansai
July 1 (Thurs) Kansai or something
July 2 (Fri) Hieizan!
July 3 (Sat) Maybe go to Nara?
July 4 (Sun) Leave post dinner for Tokyo! (Maybe go to Sato earlier in the day? Note must get REAL lunch not keiki.)
July 5 (Mon) Leave to come home to spend day off with sexy wonderful husband! who drooled all over his pillow when he was napping and it was adorable

So if I am really going to Japan I need to buy airfare tomorrow and I need to start booking places. I need to be realistic about what I can and can not do. I can not climb Fuji-san. I do not have the energy. Also What to Expect does not recommend going from sea level to anything over 7000 feet when pregnant.

I'd love to go to Matsumoto or Amanohashidate but the real question is, how much walking can I do? I can walk, I just get tired super easily and I'm not sure how well I can bend over to look between my legs right now. I'd love to go to Izumo Taisha but between the long train trips and the fact there is unlikely to be much for me to eat in the area it seems an unwise choice at best. At least in Tokyo and Kyoto there are many many food options. (I must find my 2009 guidebook!)

So a tentative schedule...
June 24 leave NY
June 25 arrive in Tokyo and maybe meet dilettantka for dinner, it's a Friday so I'm in love, or something...
June 26 Tokyo and some sort of fun shopping w/dilettantka Sat
June 27 Tokyo, see June 26th Sun
June 28 Uhh Tokyo and I guess place that FCS order at the Ginza store Mon
June 29 Kamakura! (must see hydrangea and Kamakura has food I can eat, and ice cream ♥) Tues
June 30 Matsumoto?? (stay in Tokyo start 1 week pass) Wed
July 1st travel to Kyoto, maybe see if I can meet triplepunch for lunch, assuming I can book hotel in Kyoto still) Thurs
July 2nd Hieizan Fri
July 3rd Nara Sat
July 4th ??? Sun
July 5th ?? Mon (stay in Tokyo on Mon night)
July 6th ?? (come back to US!) Tues


now to look at hotels... and airfare... >>;

Anyone who wants to meet up and do stuff please let me know. I really do need to eat ever 2-3 hours, particularly if I em exercising. I also need to drink a lot. I get more tired easily ad by then, maybe I will even sort of look pregnant and not just like I've been eating too many cookies.

I'd really really like to go to SCC and Dolpa, but I'm thinking more and more that is is a completely ridiculous idea. The problem with trying to go to both of course is, my closing and my move would literally be the week I am leaving and in the case of the move, the day I need to fly out. It's also an extremely limited trip since I need to be home for the 7th to see my husband. There is also the problem I am still puking, as in a couple times a day, which makes me anxious about flying and SCC under the best of circumstances.

So despite more crowds and higher airfare and heat urgh and no Dolpa and no SCC, I am thinking... maybe I should go to Japan in June. The pluses are: hydrangea, uhhh hydrangea, I can spend more time in Japan like two whole weeks and actually manage to do some of the sightseeing I'd love to do... like visit Amonoshidate and Hiei-san or maybe Izumo taisha or make an attempt on Fuji-san, OK yeah pregnant ladies should probably try not to climb Fuji-san but still..

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated on this.

Happy Birthday to Yuutan while it is his birthday in both Japan and the US! :D I was going to write a ficlet, I might still do it. I am of course behind lol

I also got my ticket to the Basara event!!! HEEEEEEE So I am row 13 seat 26, which is not center but definitely towards the front center. I hope Hoshi sees me!!! I think I shall wear my favorite perfume just for this. ♥

Speaking of Basara, I've now visited Sanada's grave (which is way hard to find but, Sanada!) and visited the Tokugawa encampment as well.

It's interesting, there has been so much more English spoken in Kansai than when I was last here in October. It's like... Kyoto has completely taken to heart the new Yokoso campaign and everyone wants to prove how much English they can speak. It's sort of nice for me since my Japanese is awful lol

I love my hotel, my room is small but lovely and is super convenient which is really all I want.

I also found a huge love hotel section of Osaka, with my favorites being: The Emperor (which had a hilarious Engrish sentence about "Love" and "Hate" and all I could think is this is what Lelouch did in Area 11 during his brief reign. Wedding Bells, since nothing says wedding like a love hotel. And of course... the Hotel Broccoli, because nothing is as romantic as some broccoli. Oh Japan, please don't ever change.

I've now been in Japan several days though it doesn't quite feel like that because I've been going to bed at 8 pm lol

Some fast thoughts for those curious...

Tokyo is WAY colder than when I was here in February 2008. I keep wanting to just spend the day sitting in the onsen at the hotel. It makes me really look forward to Hakone and Takayama where I might just spend a good portion of my day soaking in an onsen.

What have I bought the most of so far this trip? If you answered tea you would be right. I've now hit up Muji, Karel Capek and Lupicia. I think everyone I know is now doomed to get tea as a gift. The Muji tea is for my own consumption though they of course had tons of V-day LEs.

Speaking of V-day most awesome free chocolate samples ever. ♥

Have I mentioned I am freezing cold? Yes, I know I will not get sympathy from most people I know as it is worse where they are. I seriously need to discover how to turn on the heat in my room. The first night I was boiling but since then I've been so cold!

My hotel has a really nice little onsen set up. There is a tiny outdoors ones, a bigger indoors one, and a sauna. HAPPINESS!

One nice thing about not having a rail pass is it makes me more likely to use the subway.

I can now spend only 1 hour looking at doujinshi at say K-books and make it through everything I really want to go through.

Current Pocky LEs appear to be pocky coated in various bits of cookie and such. PLMK if anyone wants any. Kit kats are for now are raspberry and passionfruit (though soon disappearing) and soda is chocolate!

twotone does English Lupicia offer all the seasonal LEs Japan Lupicia does? The new green tea strawberry LE smells divine!

So I am trying to decide between 3 hotels in Takayama. I know everyone is supposed to want to stay in a ryokan there and if possible the gassho zuri farmhouses but realistically, I am a vegetarian and hida beef is just not something I am going to eat. Things I do like to do are onsen... sightseeing, and onsen.

The 3 choices are the Hida Hanasato no Yu Takayama Ouan, for around 6600 yen a night, it's 5 minutes walk from the station, the rooms are supposedly small, but it's just me and my luggage lol they do have a roof top onsen. I'm not sure if they have separate onsen for men and women or just change sex depending on the time of day. The negative of this of course is you have to pick to use the onsen during your time.

The Associa Takayama Resort, the most expensive of the bunch at 10,000 yen though it does include breakfast (and fancy hotels like this tend to have a breakfast buffet with things I will eat) Other pluses are 2 full floors of onsen, so one floor is always women only. It's also off a little ways from town. The negative is it is a free 15 minute shuttle from the station so I have to wait for the shuttles or time all trips to make the shuttles back and forth or splurge on a cab. It's also the most expensive.

The final option is the Spa Hotel Alpina, which is also 5 minutes walk from Takayama station, about 6900 yen a night and has a roof top onsen though it's not as outside as either of the above two. Again I'm not sure how large the onsen is so it might switch between the sexes.

I'm 99% sure I won't have my period during this part of the trip, but of course my period is not particularly regular and things like trips and exercise tend to throw it off.

I've booked the first half of my trip, now it's just booking the second and deciding when I want to return to Tokyo my flight out is Saturday morning so I need to be back in Tokyo by Friday evening but other than that everything is open.

I lost the tickets I was bidding on. I bid quite high and it is annoying because I was just outbid by a bit and as the tickets are concert tickets I need to let SMJ bid on them so it's not even like I can snipe. I'm also frustrated since some of the other tickets I was considering sold for considerably less and I could have won those. So now I am once again on the look out for good seat(s) to see Hoshi. I have another auction I am watching, the seats are not as good, (more off to a side) but row 12-14 seems good. I just wish I could bid myself like on other items and didn't have to bid manually since it makes it an awful lot more work for me.

I'm still attempting to figure out my Japan trip. I've fallen in love with the idea of visiting one of Takeda's hidden onsen and I still really want to go back to Ueda and Bessho.

I've also discovered that despite being called plum blossoms ume are in fact apricot blossoms. ~.~ I don't see why one calls them plum when they are in fact apricot. On the happy side there are going to be some ume fests while I am in Japan and I am determined to go!

Onto Memeage!

Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one reason why I like you. Then repost this and spread the love.

While I'm sure Japan will still be chilly and not up to the beautiful 60s and above I adore and there is way too much snow to go to some of the places I've always wanted to go... there are some huge pluses to Japan in February, not the least of which is the fact that hotels tend to be cheaper, there are fewer tourists touristing, and I can actually book hotels in Kyoto with little to no pain. lol

So I'm trying to decide between the APA Villa (That's the one practically right above the exit near that foreign food market near Kyoto eki) The plus being it is super super close to Kyoto eki, is not very expensive, I like the APA chain and the beds are comfy, and I can easily catch an 8:30 shinkansen back to Tokyo on the morning of the 21st to go to my event.

My other thought is trying the new Hotel Mystays Kyoto-shijo. The rooms look nice, it's brand new and is right near Shijo station. So I could either walk the 20 or so minutes to Kyoto Eki or hop on a subway. The room rate is enough lower than the rate for the APA villa to cover the subway fare roundtrip to the station for when I don't want to walk.

I think I am going to pass on Okinawa since it seems a silly way to blow my money when it might be more fun to do other things.

So who is up for Sato fun day on the 20th of February?