明けましておめでとうございます！

Happy New Year!

I have been on holiday for a few days! It has been lovely! I have had Mexican food and been dancing and enjoyed drinks with friends and made new friends and went for a long walk and visited Tokyo Tower (although we didn't go up it) and a temple and Akihabara. And I've had some lazy relaxing times too! And I bought a humidifier (thrilling, I know)! And I went to DisneySea again (super super crowded but, like, even more amaaaaazing than I remembered)!

Tonight I hope to be at a shrine at midnight, to ring in the new year in Japanese style.

Wishing you a happy and amazing 2010!

And enjoy a picture of Mexican food, three pictures of Tokyo Tower, and three pictures of the American Waterfront area of DisneySea (including Tower of Terror and, in the pic with the Columbia, a tiny view of the real sea beyond the wall). It was night when I was in that area last time I went to DisneySea, so I wasn't able to get any good pictures from it.

メリークリスマス！

Today is Christmas, but I actually celebrated two days ago! Wednesday was a national holiday, so we had the day off; my friend and I took the chance to do Christmas things while we had the time.

10 Ways We Celebrated Christmas

1. Went to a movie (Avatar)
2. Visited temples (near to where I live, but I'd never gone before)
3. Ran into people we know (in Toshimaen and Ikebukuro)
4. Gave to the Salvation Army (outside Ikebukuro station)
5. Went shopping (in Loft)
6. Did Christmas karaoke (an hour and a half of Christmas songs!)
7. Had Christmas dinner and pudding (at an English pub in Meguro)
8. Had a Christmas drink (complimentary bubbly with our dinner)
9. Enjoyed Christmas lights (at Midtown in Roppongi)
10. People-watched (the other people enjoying the Christmas lights in Roppongi)

It was a lovely, magical time! Please enjoy some pictures from our day!

Thinking of you and wishing you a Very Happy Christmas! I'm on my way to work now, but I enjoyed opening presents and listening to Nat King Cole this morning!

Fuji-san!

So even though I've been on Mt. Fuji, I have never actually seen the mountain from a distance. Tragedy!

But a tragedy that was remedied yesterday morning when I was able to see a super snow-covered Fuji-san from my friend's apartment building! すごい！

very merry holidays

I uploaded this for my mother earlier, so I might as well share it with everyone! The last room of It's a Small World, Christmas style!

Christmas Fantasy 2009!

Yesterday I went to Disneyland! This was, of course, exciting. Going to Disneyland is always exciting! But it was even more exciting because it is all decorated for the holidays! Christmas Fantasy 2009! Lovely! As for things that have a Christmas overlay, I particularly enjoyed the Haunted Mansion, since it's all Nightmare Before Christmasy (I've been to this in California before) and It's a Small World Very Merry Holidays (which I'd never seen before). Festive!

As for things that don't have a Christmas overlay and should, here is my top three list:

1. Snow White's Adventures. The Tokyo version of this ride is terrifying. I might have screamed once because the witch suddenly appeared and actually scared me. It doesn't even have a happy ending; she appears to kill you with a giant rock at the end. Festive Christmas cheer would greatly improve this. The skeletons in the dungeon could be wearing Santa hats! There could be holiday music! The witch could offer you a present instead of a poison apple!

2. Space Mountain. You could be in Santa's sleigh, hurtling through space on his journey to deliver toys to all the world's children!

3. Star Tours. Yeah, I just want to see R2-D2 in a Santa hat.

Anyway, Disneyland was also lovely because the weather was nice (at least until it got dark when it got super cold) and I got to eat churros, watch the Electrical Parade, go on all my favorite rides, and enjoy Disneyland with my Disney-crazy friend. Fantastic!