::Sapporo - Day 5::

Have to be honest and say that today didn't start that well.
For some reason, i had really nasty nightmares and woke up feeling disoriented and unhappy. This feeling took a while to shake, but it did go away.
In the afternoon, i went out to one of the big markets in Sapporo to buy crab for michael and shingo's new year's party (will hopefully blog about that in a few days)
Had a lovely lunch of kani-uni don, then walked into Sapporo to the beer factory. There, courtney and i learnt a bit about Sapporo beer they launched ourselves into beer tasting.
Then we met up with aki and had lamb bbq (aka genghis khan), which tasted way better than in tokyo.
And finally we headed off to one of my highlights of the week - Mooney. As usual, he didn't disappoint.
Not only that, i got an unexpected phone call from my german, which, after my bad start to the day, was really something i needed. Am still missing him way more than i anticipated. Words can't really explain it, but i wish we were together.

But enough cheese.

Tomorrow i am back good again - partly glad, partly sad.
I've had a bloody good week and it has been really good to escape, but still want my own space/home.

But none of this would happened without courtney & aki, so THANK YOU! I have really had a great week.

::Sapporo - Day 4:::

Today we took a day trip up to Otaru. Well, to be more exact we took an afternoon trip up to Otaru. It's only a 30-minute train ride from Sapporo and tobe honest there wasn't much to do other than shop (Otaru is basically a tourist town now so has a lot of shops selling random stuff including crab & glass things),look at old banks (beautiful old buildings from over a hundred years ago when Otaru was the main port and city of Hokkaido), ate sushi (bloody good stuff), drank Otaru wine (not as bad as i thought it would be) and ate Hokkaido cheese (way better than i expected)

Was a lovely afternoon trip out (even though it was bloody cold...but what do you expect in Hokkaido in december?)

::Sapporo - Day 3::

Started the day with a vague recollection of the day before and a mouth like a parrot cage...
Then pulled ourselves together, got outside, had a lovely french lunch, went shopping in Sapporo, planned our outing for tomorrow and came home to dinner of leftover turkey (which was damn tasty - courtney calls it `turkey cha-han')

Was a good boxing day.

::Sapporo - day 2::

Missed adding turkey photos:

and other stuff...

::Sapporo - day 2::

On the rankings of days for this year, today was definitely in the top 10.
Why?
Let me list the reasons:
champagne brunch,
champagne with snacks,
more sparkling wine with something else,
snow,
gorgeous christmas dinner,
more wine,
a phonecall from my german (who i have been missing way more than i anticipated. But i am not going to go into that here),
more wine,
chats with various family members,
beer,
baileys and coffee,
more beer,
and a dvd (babel - which i didn't fully understand due to drinking a few sips of liquor, but am also wondering whether i would have understood it sober in the first place...)

Yup, today was a bloody good christmas day.

::Sapporo - Day 1::

Left clear blue skies and 14C in tokyo.
Met crisp cold air, crab and christmas in Sapporo...

(am keitai blogging this week so excuse the short entries...don't want a serious case of numb thumb)

+Question of the Day+

Your Superpower Should Be Manipulating Electricity

You're highly reactive, energetic, and super charged. If the occasion calls for it, you can go from 0 to 60 in a split second. But you don't harness your energy unless you truly need to. And because of this, people are often surprised by what you are capable of. Why you would be a good superhero: You have the stamina to fight enemies for days Your biggest problem as a superhero: As with your normal life, people would continue to underestimate you

What Should Your Superpower Be?

I've had satellite TV for about 2 years now, and i love it. I would even go as far to say that it's a bit of an addiction. But as addictions go, it's not that bad....

Anyway, one of my new favourite shows is Heroes. OK, yes i know i am behind the rest of the world, but Japanese satellite TV is (for some reason) also behind the rest of the world. But it doesn't really matter - as long as i get to watch it in the end.
For those of you who know Heroes, you'll know that one of the main characters is Hiro Nakamura. He & his sidekick (Ando Masahashi - whose name i had forgotten, but has his own entry on wikipedia...and whose name seems wrong, ie his surname name first while Hiro has first name first...)

Well, Heroes started on TV here about 2 or 3 months ago, and i have avidly been watching it (with Japanese subtitles).
But whenever Hiro & Ando talk in Japanese, they also have Japanese subtitles. Is their Japanese that bad? To my non-Japanese ears, it sounds pretty authentic (even though the guy who plays Ando is of Korean origin). Compared to Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, Hiro & Ando are pretty fluent.

So, finally, my question (which is actually a two-parter):

1. Why do YOU think there are subtitles?
2. Is their Japanese really bad enough to warrant subtitles?
   

new hair and how to introduce your new boyfriend to your parents...

'behind blue eyes' - the who

so, how do you like the new hair? am aiming for a bob, but that will take a while...
still loving my dark hair though...
(sorry for the crap photo - my mobile camera sucks)

was talking to my dad last night. my dad is a good man, but very English at times...
this is part of our conversation:

Dad: So, you at home now?
Me: No, erm... [awkward pause - still uncomfortable, at the age of 33, to tell my dad that i'm at my boyfriend's place] I'm at my boyfriend's.
Dad: Oh.... [awkward pause while dad thinks about what to say] So, you got a new boyfriend?
Me: Yes...
Dad: Oh. do you want to speak to your mother, then?
Me: OK.

Then my mum proceeded to tell me about the Turkish & Croatian plumbers & electricians that are fixing up their house...

Then a couple of hours later, i met all (and i mean ALL) K's family on Skype.
In German!
And no, i don't speak any German....but i am learning.
Slowly... K's proving to be a good teacher... (smile)