The cute Japanese girl with a tuque

Yesterday I went to Triple O's to call my girlfriend at dinner. Weird you say? Well not entirely. November 12th, 2006 I met hime at Triple O's. At around 6pm to be exact. So that's when I called her. I sat in the same seat she was sitting in when I first met her and reminisced about that day...

It was raining and cold. I used to work at Triple O's so I was going there at the time to see some of the employees and I remember as I walked in I saw this girl sitting at the "bar" table (It's not really a bar, its on the other side of a magazine rack but it only has seats on one side - like a bar). I remember stopping at the door just after entering the store to look at her. I remember thinking "she's beautiful" but I knew it was pointless to think that because, well, I knew it'd be impossible for me to ever be her friend. So I enjoyed the short moment and went to talk to my friends (I didn't want her to notice me and think I was weird).

I talked to the people working there for quite a while but then it got busy and they had to actually start working again so I was waiting around (I had no other plans). But it was busy for too long... And that girl was still there. It looked like she was studying something. "Maybe English," I remember thinking to myself, "she looks Japanese". I had just started really learning Japanese and I was kinda excited to try saying something so.... I went for it. I went for it! I've never talked to a stranger in my life. An absolute stranger and I talked to her. (Well it took me about 10 minutes to get enough courage to say hi but it was totally worth it.. Even though it didn't seem to be at the time.) I remember I said "excuse me?"... no answer.

I was devastated. The first time I had spoken to a stranger and she didn't answer. But wait! She was wearing headphones. Maybe she couldn't hear me? I tried again... "excuse me?" Once again no answer. Well I've gone this far I might as well continue. So I tried a different tact, "sumimasen". (she's gotta know I'm talking to her now). But still! no answer. What should I do. This is the time when my heart started to pound. Should I give up? Keep going? ドキドキ I decided.

I put my hand down slowly on the table, close to her (I knew it was weird) and I inched it towards her. She finally noticed it and looked at me. Our eyes met and my heart stopped. WHAT DO I SAY NOW?! "Are you Japanese?" I think is the first thing that came to mind. She answered smoothly. "Are you studying English?" my thoughts started to blur. Wow, I'm talking to her. I believe she asked me "Do you know Japanese?" and I said "No, not really. Well a little bit" then I said what I had been learning. 「私は・日本語を・勉強しています・でも・まだ・上手じゃありません」 "I'm learning Japanese but I'm not skilled yet". She laughed and laughed and laughed. I had given some kind of impression apparently. It seemed to be good. I was excited.

We talked for hours and hours. We talked for a little over 6 hours. From about 6 to a little after midnight. It was the most exciting and interesting night I've ever had. I believe some people refer to it as "Love at first sight". I wanted to see her again. I had to see her again... but that required that "courage" thing again that I'm not very good with. But hell, I've already faced my fears once and I didn't want to pass up this once in a life time opportunity. I knew I'd never see her again if I didn't act. So I asked for her number, and she gave it to me! I gave her mine also. A little while after that we said goodbye and parted ways. Little did I know that she would be the girl I fell in love with.

Thinking back now... I'm so glad I talked to her. I'm also so glad that I'm kinda persistent. If I wasn't I would have given up trying to say hello and I wouldn't have ever been with the girl of my dreams.

So that's my story of last night. And that's my story of last night - one year ago.

三時

Today I went out with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. I met her in Blenz on the corner of Bute and Davie. なつかしいね、けんじさん？ But yeah... she's had some guy problems recently (quite big problems) and she wanted to go to the clinic to get "checked" I guess is how you'd say it. The past week or so I've been talking to her on the phone quite a bit and she's really worried but she was also too scared to go alone so I said I'd go with her. We had originally planned to go on Friday but we switched it to today because she wanted to get it out of the way. BUT... today it was closed. So we met at about 1:30 and she had to work at 3 and the clinic was closed. Sucks. So we ended up going out for Korean food on Robson at a place called Nor Boo. It's really good and inexpensive also. Actually I had to give her a going away card for a different friend I hadn't spoken with for over a year. So I got that out of the way as well.

After I finish writing this I think I'll go to Konbiniya again to pick up some stuff. Today is the last day of their huge sale they have going on right now so now or never I guess. After that I'm probably going to go to Triple O's to hang out. I haven't been there in a long long time. Then... I guess we'll see! If anything exciting happens maybe I'll post again.

Making Progress

Today was good. I studied a bunch, I got to sleep in and I played games. I also tried out this interesting kind of Japanese energy drink from Konbiniya. They're having this huge sale on now because it's their 14th (i think) Anniversary! So everything is quite cheap there. They're also selling this neat little gadget that lets you watch Japanese TV right here in Canada over the internet or something. It's pretty interesting. They had it on display today.

In 10 minutes it'll have been a year since I met Hime. A year! It totally doesn't seem like its been that long. Time goes by like *that* eh? It's pretty crazy. (It's not REALLY our anniversary per se, it's just the first time we met. First time we talked). It's hard to believe. A year. It's amazing =D

Right now the weather in Vancouver is terrible (but when is it not, right?). Right now its like 10 degrees, the wind is blowing at about 45km/h and its rainy. Beautiful eh? Well yesterday was nice (cold, but nice).

I also found out some interesting information about Japanese Working Holiday Visa too. It is only valid for 6 or 12 months. 悲しい。 But I will get one soon I hope. I will need a Passport first though I guess eh? And a medical exam!? >_< くそ

今日本語勉強しています

That means "Now I'm studying Japanese" because well.. I need to get crackin'. Today I downloaded a flashcard program that will hopefully help me out a lot. I have my own flashcards here at home but they take a while to make and it's hard to test myself with them. This way will hopefully be a lot better.

Here's what I'm using if you're interested:

Flash Card Manager - This flashcard program is awesome. It's super easy to put in all the cards you want and then while you're testing yourself you actually click on what rating you give yourself (like Positive, guessed, fail etc) It's great. If you fail something it will keep showing it to you until you get it right and it tracks your stats too so you know how many you still have to memorize and how many you've memorized so far. Amazing!

JquickTrans - It's got pretty much any word you could imagine. I got it for free when I bought Instant Immersion Japanese Deluxe but It's totally worth the $10 it costs online. Sometimes it's almost too much help because it has so much information. It has romaji also (If you're worried you don't see any romaji in the screenshot)

Instant Immersion Japanese Deluxe - If you're going to buy it DO NOT buy it from Amazon though. I just provided a link there to see the details. In Canada (as you may have noticed) things are extremely expensive compared the United States ($85CAD / $49USD which is about $45 Canadian). So you're paying almost double if you buy it on Amazon. If you want it - Find some way to order it from the states or find a place that will sell it for a decent price. (But with all that aside, it's an awesome program.

Kanji Gold - This is a flashcard program for Kanji. Already pre-set with all the kanji in the different "grades". It works with the JWPce databases so check that out too if you want this. I think this program would be really good for starting to study for the Japanese Proficiency Exam as it goes through the grades as an Elementary student would go through them.

Today I am probably going to study for a long time. I haven't spent too much time studying and I'm really regretting it. Wish me luck!

Shopping on West 4th

As I mentioned in the morning, today I was going shopping with my friends. We left a little bit later than I thought we would but that's because I'm slow. すみませんね。 We took the bus over the bridge to West 5th, then started shopping on West 4th under the bridge. We went into a few stores then finally found one that was giving away free hotdogs and had this minigolf game where you could win stuff. It was pretty interesting... I won a scarf hahaha (I'm terrible at minigolf).

We walked up west 4th into the Kitsalano area before turning around and walking home over the Burrard Bridge. After we were back to the downtown core we went to Daikichi Sushi (I mentioned it in one of my first posts) however, now it's not near as good as it used to be. ほんとに悲しいです。 The service isn't as good and the food isn't as tasty. It's also not very busy any more... I think most of the regulars are probably having the same reaction as me. It's really too bad. I withdraw my recommendation for Daikichi. Musashi on Denman is 100x better. Go there. I love it.

I emailed my friend Kenji yesterday because I hadn't talked to him in soo long. He used to teach me Japanese when he was in Canada. He's a teacher in Japan and he's been teaching so I think he's pretty busy. I'm excited to see him again (even though I won't be able to until after I move to Japan haha).

Long Weekend

Today I'm going to go shopping with my friend フラミンゴさん if you remember who that is :) Actually these nicknames I use are kinda なつかしぃ. But in any case we're going to go look for snowboard gear, I believe. I actually just woke up (it's now 1pm) - I was pretty sleepy but I think I'm good to go now. Tonight I might be going to a friends' birthday party from work. I haven't really decided yet but I don't have any other plans and he's a good guy so I might go.

そして日本にでんわするのは高すぎますね～ちょ高いよ。。でもオケイです。 If my sentences are wrong I apologize (I'm just practicing hehe).

Right now my hime is in Sapporo with her friends so I'm not able to call so much any more (calling a cell phone is really expensive) She'll be home next week and I'll get to talk to her more often then. Luckily I can send emails to her cell phone so we're always in contact やった！

Sunday and Monday I have no plans as of yet. Maybe I'll clean a little bit because I haven't cleaned very much recently.

THAT REMINDS ME. I have a new roommate! But I don't think he has a nickname yet. Maybe I will call him 隆 (リュウ)(Ryu) because he likes Street Fighter so much. He moved in last week so we've only been living together for a week but it's really fun. I'm so happy he is living here now and not our old roommate (who was quite antisocial and messy) He moved in a week after my gf left so it's been good. We play games together all the time. Actually he is kinda otaku like me. Its a good otaku though haha. でも、隆さんはゲーム上手だ。I always lose haha but it's fun.

Okay maybe I will blog again this weekend sometime. Now I have to go get ready to go out. My friends are probably waiting for me >_< またね

Notes for reading this post:
なつかしい (Natsukashii) = A feeling of nostalgia. It kinda translates to "Wow that really brings back some good memories, doesn't it."

Long time no post.

姫さんがここにいないので、僕は悲しいです。姫さんは日本に帰りました。

I haven't written on here for a really long time mainly because I didn't really have the time. My gf just went back to Japan this morning so I have a lot more free time with nothing to do... So I'll probably post on here more frequently.

It's pretty sad that she's gone now. Our room feels so... empty. I still have a lot of cleaning to do and I'm sure that after I'm finished it will be even more empty. めちゃ悲しいぃ。

Now I gotta go get some kind of Visa to go live in Japan myself =D I've started studying Japanese again and as I said earlier, I have a lot more free time so I'll be able to study lots I hope :) I'm really excited and sad all at the same time.

Our Trip to Disneyland

Oct 20 - This is just after we arrived in Los Angeles at about lunch time. Right now we're just at the airport waiting on the little cement island for our Shuttle bus to our Hotel in Anaheim. It took so long for the bus to come and there were literally a hundred buses that came by (and we had no idea what it was supposed to look like). But finally a big bus pulled up with Disneyland written across it's side and Disney characters all around. I asked just to make sure... It was it! So we boarded and tried to catch some shuteye... but it was hard with all the excitement. We went to Disneyland until late that night after we checked in to our Hotel and dropped our stuff in our room.

Oct 21 - The second day of our trip we ended up sleeping in without even meaning to. We were so tired from the 2 days before (we had an overnight layover in Seattle on our way here and we stayed up most of the night because airport seats aren't meant for sleeping). This is probably around 11am. It was probably around 30°C and damn it was windy. This day we spend just about the entire day in Disneyland. After this day we had taken just about every ride and seen every attraction that was there (except the boring ones of course). We were only missing a few and we had one more day of Disneyland to go so we were pretty confident we could do it :)

Oct 22 - This day we went to Universal Studios. It's not really what it's all made out to be. Most of the attractions (shows) aren't very interesting or even entertaining (in my opinion), but the only two actual 'rides' that they have are definitely better than Disneyland. They have Jurrasic Park (my favorite) and The Mummy (Hime's favorite). They're both super fun. Jurrasic park has this huuuge drop at the end of it (you're floating in a boat) and you get soaked! It's great. The Mummy, instead of using gravity to gain speed (going up and then back down), it actually suddenly accelerates you foreword really fast. It's really interesting - I've never been on a ride like that. Also when you think its all over.. instead of actually ending, you start going backward - it's awesome.

Oct 23 - This was a weird day. We went to Disneyland in the morning thinking that today was our last day in LA but... it wasn't. So we finished our shopping early in the morning, then came back to our hotel, checked out, grabbed the shuttle bus back to the LA Airport, and attempted to check-in. After quite a while they finally figured figured out why we weren't booked for the flight that evening... because we weren't leaving until the 24th! Very embarrassing. Luckily we had got a stamp when we left Disneyland so... We took the shuttle bus BACK to Anaheim, checked BACK in to our hotel (luckily they let us) and went back to Disneyland. This day we stayed right up until it closed to make up for our lost time. We tried every ride we wanted to so it was all good in the end.

Oct 24 - So today was our actual departure date so we went to LA in the late morning so we could do some shopping downtown. Sadly, as we discovered, downtown LA is ugly and shopping is hard to find. We had to tote around all our luggage as well since we weren't able to check it in until 4 hours before our flight (which was at 8pm). We went right into the heart of downtown and visited the Fashion District and Jewelry district. Both of these areas seemed very dirty and they weren't very busy at all. But we went and found the LA Library which is actually super nice and from there we looked around and found one tiny little shopping center so we had some food at the food court and headed out again. We didn't really find anything interesting except for the yoshinoya Japanese restaurant. It was pretty tasty. Then we headed back to the airport just in time to take our flight to Seattle.

Oct 25 - We didn't take any pictures this day but we did do a lot of shopping. First thing we did was we went to the Greyhound bus station to buy our bus ticket back to Vancouver, then we put all our luggage into a locker (LA doesn't have them at the airport). So we were able to shop without luggage! It was amazing. We ate lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in the Greyhound bus station. The food was pretty good but the service wasn't so much. After that we took a stroll in downtown Seattle. It's way nicer than downtown LA and there's actually places to shop and things to look at (not just broken windows and run down buildings). We found an arcade and played games for a while then had some Nachos there too (but they weren't as good as the nachos at our hotel in Anaheim). Hime bought a nice jacket JUST before we had to come back. It looked so warm >_<. Then... we came back to Vancouver! And thus ends our trip to Disneyland.

Summer Recap!

It's Canada Day!! Actually we took this picture while we were still in Vancouver (It was a really sunny day... that's why my eyes are not open haha). Such beautiful scenery around here... I was actually pretty suprised. But anyway... And so it begins, our trip to Sechelt, B.C.

We went to a few different cities and towns along the way. The first place we stopped at was Gibsons because, well, that's where the ferry stops. This was the day before Canada day we got here. And DAMN does Gibsons have a huge hill!!! It was pretty crazy... and we walked up it. Actually our hotel was at the top and I just had a map from google so we figured we'd adventure a little bit but it was really tiring. In this picture we were about 1/3 or so of the way up the hill. We had no idea how much longer it was going to go on for... we just knew we had to keep going haha.

Day 2 it was Canada Day and we were still in Gibsons. We walked back down that crazy hill, all the way to the bottom where the actual downtown area is and went out on to one of the many piers. Again, it was a beautiful day. It was hot, the sun was shining and there were people milling around all over the place. We were in a 'festive spirit', I guess you could say. This is definitely the reason people come to Canada. The beautiful scenery (and the people of course ^_^) We didn't stay in Gibsons for too long today though, we had plans to begin our trip to Seachelt! But we had to try those tasty smelling hot dogs the cadets had on sale. They were a little on the expensive side but they were really good. And it was vacation! Who cares if a hotdog costs a bit too much, it's time to enjoy! But, we had had our time to enjoy already and it was time to get on a bus and head off to Seachelt.

On the way over there we got a little sidetracks and suddenly decided to get off the bus to explore a beach we saw (It's public transit so it was all good). We wandered over to the beach and started to fish around in the sand for anything living. Crabs, oysters, etc. Sadly we couldn't find anything too interesting. Then it started to get a little overcast and our spirits started to drop a little bit but not to fear, the tide is coming in! We had to evacuate the beach along with everyone else who was enjoying their time there. But it was interesting watching the tide come in on such a flat beach. Very cool. After the beach we crossed the street and went over to a small little farmers market where they were selling vegetables and fruits. We bought some raspberries and cherries and then went next door to a little store that sold collectibles, juice, hand-made jewelry and the like. We bought a fruit punch smoothie there... it was alright - nothing spectacular, that's for sure. And then off to the Fish and Chips place! We bought some fries and were just sitting down to eat when the bus came! What's up with that? So we ran to get on the bus and were informed that we can't eat on the bus. So we ended up just looking at our fries being hungry until we got to Seachelt.

Now this is Seachelt. Actually, I'm sorry, I don't have a picture of the city but I do have a picture of us together on the coastline! (I know that doesn't help haha) This picture you might have seen before... Actually I know you've seen it before because it's both my display picture on MSN and it's my picture on this blog also. I really like it, as you might have guessed. Seachelt is a pretty small town - I'm actually not really sure what there is to do here, I just remembered the coastline was so pretty - that's why I wanted to bring my Hime here to see it. We went for dinner at one of the few restaurants I know of and we had Halibut - it was really good actually... but expensive haha. The next morning we took some pictures at the local Drug Store with cute animal hats on. It was actually really fun - I've never done something like this before - just put something on and taken pictures hahaha. After we finished looking around the Drug store we were off to go back home.

And that was our Canada Day weekend and our trip to Seachelt. I really had a lot of fun - I love traveling and it's so much better when you're doing it with someone you love. We're trying to plan another trip.. but we're not quite sure where to yet. Maybe Disneyland =D

My mom and sister came to visit us in Vancouver for a night then we all went back to Penticton together for the weekend. Sadly Penticton wasn't very hot the few days we were there, which is pretty strange - usually it's in the 30's. But we still floated the channel.. but were freezing the entire time because it was so windy. Actually we had a little mishap with one of the floaties... I was holding on to my sisters' and then I thought she grabbed it but apparently she didn't so we both let go and whoosh, it was gone upstream. I attempted to swim upstream after it. It didn't have any trouble continuing upstream but I sure did. I was so, incredibly tired when I finally got to it. I didn't even have enough energy to talk once I managed my way back to Hime and my sister. Whew, interesting experience. But we still had a good time and still managed to get suntanned despite it only being 26 (which, I guess, is still pretty warm in most places)

Back in Vancouver and... our roommate is now gone. She was pretty cool and I kind of miss her. And now we have a new roommate and he's not really... well he's kinda anti-social actually haha. He never does anything outside of his bedroom. He always either eats out or eats cup noodle. Strange guy.

Right now I'm working a lot of overtime at work. I've been working from 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-5:30pm on Saturdays... It really sucks. Lots of money, but no time to spend with my girlfriend. I'm so happy she's good about it though. Actually she cooks me lunch and dinner everyday. So nice! I love you Hime - ありがとう!!! Actually, I got somewhat of a promotion at work. Mainly just more responsibilities but I see it as a way to show what I can do. They asked me if I would like to be the Point of Contact for the Economy in our game and I gladly accepted. So my roll is to coordinate the testing of our in-game economy. It's pretty cool. I'm so happy I was given this opportunity - I hope it pays off.

Karaoke is awesome!! Man, I love it. I'm a terrible singer but I really like karaoke. The first time I tried it I was with Hime and her best friend and I was so nervous. I sang a couple songs alone and then I tried singing one with Hime's friend but I was so off key we couldn't even sing together hahaha. Recently I've gone with Hime a bunch of times and I'm really liking it. Sadly it's really expensive... not even just kinda expensive. It's super expensive. More than dinner for 2!!! It's crazy.

フラミンゴさん (Ming) came back from Monterey in Mexico and brought with him some souvenirs! I love souvenirs haha. He brought me a coffee mug that says Monterey on it so I brought it to work and use it every day. Thanks!!

Now its なっとさん's (Nat's) turn to go back to Japan. Actually I was never very good friends with her but she's really cool and a good friend of Kenji so it was kinda sad saying bye. Hime and I went together to her party to say goodbye at a restaurant called Ebisu on the 2nd floor on the corner or Robson and Bute. We didn't actually stay to order any food or have any drinks so I don't really have any comments on the restaurant but the ambiance seemed pretty good for hanging out in groups. Actually I told Nat that Hime and I had just got back from Penticton and going down the channel because I remembered she told me she had done the same thing back in December of 2006 at Ming's birthday party but she said she had never told me... but she gone to Penticton to go down the channel. Hime also remembers our conversation at Ming's party so we had no idea what was going on hahaha. It was pretty funny though. Still now I have no idea.

We're Moved In!

Hime and I moved in on Monday of this week and it went pretty smoothly. No major hassles or anything. The move itself went just about as smooth as you could ask for. Nothing broken and so far nothing lost. The major problem we ran into was after the move when we discovered we were missing a lot of essential things such as a pot, a can opener, bowls, microwavable plates, plastic wrap, a toaster, oven mitts, some kind of sharp knife, and a few other things. Actually I just remembered I do have a couple of sharp knives... but my old roommates must have packed them up with their stuff by accident. I'll have to call them later and get them back.

Our new apartment is really nice; I'm super happy with it. It's fairly large and it has a wonderful layout. Can't ask for too much more. Oh, it also has a balcony and is a block from Robson street =D. We still have to get a little bit more furniture such as a coffee table or a TV stand (since the TV is currently on my coffee table), a dining room table, a second desk for Hime and a few other things. We also will be looking for a roommate soon so we will have to buy a second bed for the roommate to sleep on and probably a desk for them to do their work on. The kitchen is great. There's lots of cupboard space for the size of kitchen it is and still enough counter space too. Also, this time, the counters are the right height. In my last apartment the counters were made for midgets, I swear. I feel so comfortable here. I'm so happy we found this place and I'm with my hime.

By the way, I finished reading Ancestors of Avalon and it wasn't very good. It also took me a terribly long time to read. I plan on reading a good book next.