Hearts

I went to play Ultimate today, finally!! It was really cold outside, I mean, f**king freezing.

At the field, one guy asked me I have stayed in the States before. I said no and I told him I stayed in Canada for a year. He said,

" Oh, I thought you stayed in the States because your English sounds a lot like American."

I told him my BF is American and I have learned from him, too. He said it explained a lot.

Actually, a lot of Americans have asked me this question. I wonder why. I think my pronunciation is not good. They say it's not pronunciation but it is the way I speak. Hummmmm, I dont know.

We packed up around 5 and went to a restaurant as always even though it was a bit too early for dinner. There were 9 people there and 5 of them including me started playing cards. After dinner, the other guys went home, but we went to Starbucks and kept playing cards. At the restaurant, we played a game called "31" and at Starbucks, we played another game called "Hearts". You can play this on your computer.

Then guess what.

I kicked their asses!!!!!!! YEAH!! (Excuse my language...)

I was really good at it and beat them out!

They said they would practice on a computer and challenge me again. Come on! I can take you guys anytime!

Oh, by the way, Starbucks in Futakotamagawa is huge! and also they have a lot of food menus, like cakes, icecream and sandwiches in a showcase, which normal Starbucks doesnt have.

If you happen to be there, take a look. But only tall size is available there, no short size. Be careful with that.

LAS CHICAS

As I said, I went to this restaurant to have dinner with my friend on Saturday.

This restaurant is located in a very quiet area. It's kind of difficult to find where it is.

The atmosphere is really good. There are a candle on each table and maybe it is considered as romantic, but still they keep friendly atmosphere, so it's good to have dinner here with your friends.

Some waiters are foreigners, so if your foreign friends are looking for some place to eat and wanna feel comfortable with English speaking people, good place to go.

We didnt drink, but they have a variety of drinks. Food menus are normal kinds, like appetizers, salads,sandwich,side dishes, pasta, pizza,main dishes( fish and meat) and desserts.

We werent really hungry, so we ordered "Grilled Chicken Caligula" which is a salad and "Chicken Dijon with Mash Potato". These were quite good. Food price is between about 1300 to 2600.

I think this restaurant is not for a special day, like your BF/GF's birthday or something. But still good for a casual date.

Go to this page if interested.

http://www.vision.co.jp/2004/index2.html

Post-Bonus Saturday

I had my hair trimed a bit because the tip of my hair was damaged and my hair was much longer. The beauty shop is in Ginza, so I went shopping after that.

There's "Banana Republic" in Printemps. I saw this store in Vancouver and ,for some reason, Korean likes this store. I dont know why. I was looking for a short, black, single-buttoned coat which matches my ZARA flared-skirt, then bought this!

I wouldnt have bought this if I hadnt got a bonus...... Very simple and classic design, so this will be good for years.

After shopping, I had an appointment to see my friend at Omotesando.

Do you know a new shopping place has been opened at Omotesando station, called "Echika" on last Friday? I stopped by there and walked around, but that place is smaller than I expected.

You know, it's in the subway station. Cant be a large shopping center. I went to a bakery called "Boulangerie JEAN FRANCOIS", but too many people lined up and I gave up.....

I got out of the station and walked around there. I have been to this area several times but dont know much about it, so just walked around aimlessly, hoping I would find something unexpected.

There is one high-quality variety store. Good place to buy a present, I think. Also I found a cafe I wanted to go. That was unexpected. I will go back there soon!!

Anyway, my frined arrived and had dinner together at " LAS CHICAS".( I'll write a repot on Gourmet page later. )

I met her at Ultimate game. She is younger than me. I dont know why we have got so close. We like girlstalk, but what we talk together is more philosophical sometimes. We like to study ourselves. She always has a lot of worries, which are the same worries as I had before. Listening to her stories is like listening to my old stories.

It's kind of her insecurity.

I was really insecure with myself before. I didnt have any confidence about myself. But after I came back from Canada, this insecurity was swept away.

Before I went to Canada, I felt I was so dependent and couldnt do anything by myself. I think I was ashamed of that. But in Canada, even though I had a lof of supports from my family and friends, I felt I accomplished something really significant by my effort. Then I could pull my self-confidence together and felt like there's nothing I cant do if I make efforts so hard to death!

I want her to build self-confidence and want her to feel comfortable with herself. I still have a lot of worries, of course, so am trying to make more efforts to overcome those. Go girls! Do whatever you want!!

Bonus!!

o(^o^o)o(^o^)o(o^o^)o ウキョキョキョ

((((ノ^◇^)ノ ウヒョヒョヒョ

(*^^*)(^^* )(^* )(* )( *)( *^)( *^^)(*^^*) ワーイ

I got a bonus today!!!!!!!!

Oh, god.... I had waited for this for such a long time......

I'm really glad that my company can afford to pay a bonus twice a year. This saves my life, really.

I didnt go out with my coworkers for celebration because everybody but me seems busy at this moment. So I bought a Haagen-dazs icecream(espresso flavor) for my 6 months efforts and hard-work. （＾￢＾）

I'll see my friend tomorrow and celebrate!

Pearl Harbor

I called him yesterday because he said he would carry his phone all day not to miss a call from me. I felt compelled to call him( well I wanted to hear his voice, anyway)

He said he was in a kitchen.

" What are you doing in the kitchen?"

" I'm baking cookies." ←He can cook and bake.

" What for? "

" We decided to bring something to our office, each day, each person, during Christmas season. It is my turn tomorrow."

Normal conversation till here. But next really confused me.

" I bought cookie cutters on the internet."

" Wow, Christmas decorations? like snowman and star?"

" No. Their shapes are like each states in US. Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"

" No. What day is it?"

" Oh, you should guess. "

・・・・・・・・・・α~ (ー.ー") ンーー

I had no idea what day it is 7 of Dec. His hints were・・・・

★It's not a celebration day. It is a remembering day.

★Think why he uses cookie cutters, which shape is each State of US.

★It happened in 1941.

ヽ(￣ー￣ )ノ　オテアゲー

I was kind of mad because he didnt tell me the answer for a while and tried to make me guess even though I said I had no idea. ( Sorry, honey... I shouldnt have been mad... )

He said it was the day when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Ah, OK......(-_-;)

But why is it a hint that he uses state-shape cookie cutter?

" Because aircraft carriers and warships were named after the States, like Arizona, California, and so on."

・・・・・・・・・( ・_・)へぇ・・・・・・・・

Honey, your cookies have too much thought.......

********************************

I baked a banana cake today. You can tell how bored I am now.

Holiday Season

I had lunch at Starbucks today. They have a new sandwich menu, which is "Turkey and Cranberry Sandwich". After Thanksgiving, there are a lot of Turkey menus even here in Japan. Tully's has " Holiday Turkey Sandwich." What else...? I cant remember...Oops.

Anyway, in my opinion, Starbucks sandwichs are not as good as Tully's ones. I prefer Starbucks drinks, but I prefer Tully's food menu. So I usully choose Tully's over Starbucks for lunch. Which one would you prefer? Oh, Starbucks has Crème Brûlée Latte and Tully's has Tiramisu Latte as a seasonal specialty. Just for your information.

****************************************

I stopped by at LaQua on my way home today. It's kind of close from my office.

Christmas illumination was so bright and beautiful. Take a look!

It's really cold recently, so it makes me feel Christmas is really coming. It was kind of warm last year, so it didnt seem like Christmas even though there were a lot of decorations and illumination.

I'm really looking forward to a winter vacation!!

Long Distance Love[Track Back Station]

How can I miss this topic?!(≧∇≦)

" Do you think long distance love will come to love marriage?"

As you can see, this blog's title is " Long Distance Love"!! ( actually, from today...)

My BF lives in the States, 5000 miles away( about 8000 km).

I know from my experience it is really tough on both of you if you are in love with someone who lives far away from you.

But it depends on how you spend time when you are by yourself.

Would you just cry and complain how tough a long distance relationship is on you?

Cant you do anything without him/her ?

Arent you making any efforts to make it possible to be with your lover?

Have you ever thought why you fell in love with him/her ?

What is your answer to that?

Try to make your life alone satisfying and try to better yourself.

Well, you know what. I'm saying these to convince myself........

ゞ（+ヘ+）`` ナクモノカ・・

Why is it raining today!?

I didnt go to Ultimate due to the rain....＼（－"－）／ マイッタ

Here's my timetable today.

9:00 woke up and started laundry

9:30 breakfast

10:00 cleaned my bathroom and room

10:40 put laundry to a dryer and went out to pick up my jacket from a laundry shop (started raining a bit)

10:50 got a phone call from my BF and talked to him for a while.

11:30 emailed my friend to ask whether he is going to the field or not.

12:50 decided not to go to the field today.

13:00 went to a rental video shop and grocery-shopping. Also sent my DVD player and Star Wars DVD to my mom.

14:30 ate lunch.

14:50 talked to my mom on the phone.

till 17:00 did other chores.

17:30 started baking a marble angel cake.

19:30 started cooking dinner.

20:00 ate dinner and started watching a DVD " Terminal"

22:30 finished the movie and washed dishes.

23:15 current time

Very boring....

Other Ulti players went bowling instead, but it's really bad for my back. You can see how bad it is if you imagine the posutre of throwing that heavy bowl, so I didnt go.

I need more activities in my life.

Assumption

Do you think Americans say " I love you" more often than Japanese?

The answer is yes, but it takes long time for them to say it first time.

My BF didnt say he loved me at first. It made me upset because I had this assumption that Americans say " I love you" to their girlfriends anytime, anywhere as if it's their favorite phrase. But he just said " I like you very much."

One day, when we were talking on the phone, I was tipsy by drinking red wine(=^～^)o∀ウィー, I asked him why he didnt say it. He said he wasnt ready for it yet. I didt get it. Then he said,

" We have to really feel and mean it when we say it. I like you very much, but we've just started our relationship. I'm not sure about our future yet. "

or something like this.

I didnt understand it at first. I thought it's just his opinion, but when I talked about this to my English teacher ( she is an American in her 40's), she said most Americans think the same. Also she said him saying he is not sure about our future yet means he is thinking about our relationship seriously, which is good. I decided to wait.

Be careful, Japanese women!

If a foreinger come to you and say "I love you" very soon, it means he had a really big crush on you, or he is just playing, not serious about you.

Lazy day

I woke up at 13:00 today. ￣O￣)ノオハー

I havent seen any of my friends. My life is not active recently. I go to work, come back home, go to bed, and wake up next morning..... When I'm busy at work, I'm busy at private, too, but I'm not busy at work now so I'm not busy at private either. Hummmmm, I should do something.

Anyway, there's nothing I had to do, no appointments, so I went shopping in Ikebukuro to buy a book.

I did a research on what I'm going to buy next on Amazon, but couldnt find books I'm looking for. Then I browsed some other books. There's one book that caught my attention.

Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri

I dont know why this caught my attention, but when I browsed it, it made me want to read more. It's a magic of word.

I went to LOFT next to buy a Christmas present for my BF's mom. Now my Christmas shopping is done!

Mmmmmm, nothing else to tell.

I'm going to Ultimate tomorrow if weather permitting.