And man, does it feel good.
I have a lot to say (when do I not?) so this post (the first real official one!) will be conveniently divided into three parts. They will be in chronological order because I'm blood type A and everything has to be in its rightful place or else someone's gonna get it. So I'll start by explaining my trip to Japan, which was kind of like demon spawn because I traveled for more than 24 hours with no thanks to Delta airlines, and ended up spending a night in Tokyo. And then I'll talk about Japan, complete with pictures! I hate myself for being such a tourist with the camera and all, but sacrifices must be made for the sake of memory. And then I'll just freak out at the end because come on--I'm in Japan. I think I'm allowed to freak out a little bit. Or a lot a bit.
I. DEMON SPAWN TRIP
Maybe I'm exaggerating a little when I say demon spawn, but then again I could say it was the trip from hell and it really wasn't that, so what's less than hell? Demon spawn, I guess. (It works out in my mind, okay? Don't ask questions.)
The condensed version of DST (demon spawn trip) is that our plane had to be rerouted to Fairbanks, Alaska in order to drop off someone on the plane who needed emergency attention. That wasn't bad; I mean, it was all for the best. So you think we'd be in and out, right? Drop off the sick person, refuel a bit, and be on our way?
NO. That did not happen. Instead, the sick person got taken off the plane and then we sat there for five hours. Doing nothing. They wouldn't let us off the plane. BUT WHY? Nobody knows. According to the vague words of the captain and flight attendants, we stayed so long because we needed maintenance. So, okay, it took awhile for the mechanic to make it over to Fairbanks from Anchorage, and another hour for the stuck valve or whatever the hell was wrong with the plane to get fixed...and then we were "on our way," meaning we taxied to the end of the runway and sat there for another hour before we departed. Supposedly we were getting de-iced. Or something. I don't know. I really don't. All I can think of when I recall this incident is WHY. WHY WERE WE THERE FOR FIVE HOURS? I made my way across the fictional world of my Dragon Quest IX Nintendo DS game and beat three bosses before we even taxied. And then I finished a book. I mean, I guess I was productive. And at least we got the sick person to land safely. But all that aside....FIVE HOURS. WHY. It wouldn't have been so bad were we allowed to leave the plane, I think, but they kept us in. And like bears, or Americans, we raided the kitchens. No, really...by the time we were in the air again there was a drink shortage because economy class had a little too much fun helping themselves to "free" soda and water. (Myself included.)
So we ended up getting to Tokyo six hours after we were supposed to. Naturally, everyone on the plane with a connecting flight missed their connections. Woo hoo! Once we were let off into the totally-deserted Narita Int'l Airport, Delta representatives swiftly ascended on us, trying to pacify everyone before we all exploded by giving us new flights for the next day and moving us to the airport hotel for the night. It was too late, of course; most people were already exploding, including the brisk (and by "brisk" I mean "ear-splittingly loud and high-pitched" or, if you understand, 150% Filipino Woman) Filipino lady I'd had the great pleasure of sitting behind during our flight. Those of you that have not yet been blessed with hearing my wonderful Filipino accent, remember this blog post so that when you see me again you can ask. It's only funny in person.
ANYWAY--so we were bused to Hotel Nikko, the Japan Airlines hotel, which was actually a pretty nice hotel. Or maybe it was just nice because it was all FREE and they extended the restaurant hours (they had closed at 10 and re-opened until 3 AM for us) to give us poor foreigners (and we were on a huge Boeing 747; there were A LOT of said foreigners) some nutrition in our severely jet-lagged states. Thanks Delta, it's the least you could do.
Then sleep. Yay, sleep.
In the morning we took the hotel shuttle back to Narita, but that's not important. Instead I want to talk about how amazing my breakfast was. I know no one cares because you all know how much of a secret fatty I am, BUT JUST LISTEN, OKAY, because this is the Japanese breakfast I've wanted for the past 3 years. Dream: fulfilled (for now). So I had my eggs and sausage, right, and then I went back to the breakfast buffet and THERE WAS ANOTHER TABLE. Melissa was happy. Then I actually looked at what was on the table--Japanese-style breakfast foods. Melissa went into a state of bliss. I had vegetable stew and tofu with soy sauce and green onions and rice porridge with pickled vegetables and homemade miso soup with daikon radish and I sort of passed out a little from happiness. And look, I know you're all rolling your eyes at me, but you don't understand. JUST LEAVE ME AND MY DREAM BREAKFAST ALONE.
...Yeah, so, shuttle back to Narita Int'l Airport. Once we got to the gate we actually met up with a bunch of people from yesterday's flight; apparently I was not the only one thinking WHY. Everyone else was still nursing bitter feelings over the whole five-hours thing, especially since most of them were only going to Nagoya to wait 11 hours for a connection flight to Manila. Ridiculous, right? That's not a layover as much it is...well, half your day.
Then I met the cutest 3-year-old ever, and we got on the plane, and I saw Mt. Fuji (pictures below) from zillions of feet in the air, and then we landed in Nagoya. ('We' meaning my dad and I; he oh-so conveniently had his vacation time the week I decided to leave for Japan--truly he is only here for the food; but then again so am I). Since Monday is a national holiday (coming of age day--and that includes me! I should totes be wearing a fancy kimono, getting my pics taken and going to the shrine), I'm headed to the Nanzan dorms on Tuesday after I get all that fancy alien registration done at the immigration bureau, and also after I get a cell phone (hopefully! Japan is so weird about what you need to get a phone, so hopefully I have everything I need).
For now, we're at a hotel in the city. And we just had Coco's curry. If you know what that is, I dare you not to be jealous.
II. JAPAN
I feel like I should put this in a list, because if I tried to write everything that's in my head this would be a) a novel and b) gibberish. And everyone likes lists, right? We don't get enough of them in college, after all...
So, LIST 1: Favorite things so far.
1. SPEAKING JAPANESE ALL OVER THE PLACE! And being understood. Okay, so maybe I've said yes (hai!) to a few...or more than a few...questions that people have asked me even though i had no idea what they were saying to me, but for the most part, I got this, yo! No surprise that I love it. I can get around and ask questions and explain myself and understand what the shows on tv are saying (mostly). Such a wonderful feeling.
2. Boxes of tea! Boxes > bottles.
3. Riceballs! Or, as we used to so affectionately call them, "rice triangles." What? They are.
4. Ramen! Self-explanatory.
5. Food! I mean, if the last three things on this list haven't been a dead giveaway...
6. Department stores! How I missed going from the supermarkets in the basement to the hundred yen shop on the top floor. Which leads us to--
7. Hundred yen stores! Or, well, okay, one hundred and five yen stores. Damn you, sales tax! No, but seriously, these aren't your typical dollar stores. You can buy ANYTHING in a hundred yen store, and I don't mean like junk you don't need (though they have that too), I mean you can buy cute dishware and luggage and clothes and shoes, all of extremely good quality. Basically you could buy your life here. But not a car. Or a husband. Sadly.
8. TV! As my dad said, "There are so many stupid shows on Japanese television." This is true. However, they are so fun to watch. Also, today we watched sumo, and then the national high school volleyball tournament. Not to mention the commercials--I love Japanese commercials (CMs, as they're called here). They're just so....Japanese. Proof.
9. This! You have no idea how much I missed train stations. Or trains, for that matter. That might sound ridiculous but I couldn't be more honest. We took one today from the airport to the hotel and it was just--nostalgia and love all wrapped in one 40-minute train ride, shooting through countrysides and cities and fields.
10. CONBINIIIIIIII. You're not going to get it if you haven't been in one, but they're kind of like the awesome sister of the hundred yen store, except it's mostly food and everything is over one hundred yen. Maybe they're just special to me because I used to get lunch there (aka run there and back in the blazing heat/freezing cold) with my friends during the school day (raise your hand if you were one of those friends and you would punch a cat in the face just to get to Family Mart again!), but seriously, I love conbini because I love their snacks (pork buns, sandwiches, riceballs, ice cream, 30395973847539041580958 other delicious/strange/deliciously strange/strangely delicious foodthings, and most importantly tea in boxes!!!!!). Plus they are open 24 hours a day. I...just thought I'd throw that in there.
PICTURES! I know that's all you're here for.
I will marry this curry. Chicken included.
The bridesmaids: boxed tea and rice triangle.
Guest of honor: ice cream.
And it will take place on Mt. Fuji. (Seen from the plane! It was actually HUGE.)
III.
I said I was going to freak out, but that wasn't the truth. I'm not freaking out. I'm not filled with an amazing sense of shock and/or awe that I'm back in Japan. In fact, that's all I can think of--I'm back, I've returned, I'm here again, yes. It's not anything fancy with fireworks and super-hype and stars exploding and keysmash (sldfkefjowhweoaisfnandohawehfohJAPANYAYJDDLJDLknfoihoi!!!!!!) all over the place.
It honestly feels like I never left in the first place. I walk around and I go to places and I ride the train and I eat the food and none of it feels like the last time I did any of that was three years ago. It's like I walked out of the house, stayed away for awhile, and came back to find everything where it was before.
Like I said, it feels good. I'm so happy to be back. :)
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