Official New Link!

Hello,

This is just a little note to redirect you to site number two: http://maggieinjapan2.blogspot.jp/

Have a nice day!
Maggie

Attention! I Am Moving Blog Locations!

Dear readers,

I have reached this Google account's limit on picture saving space, so, naturally, I'm going to just make another Google account (margaret.vo.jp@gmail.com), get another blogspot domain name that's as close to the previous one as I can get, reformat it so that it looks like this one (maybe I'll change color based on rainbow as I go along? Hm), and then start where I left off! Based on this 1 GB space limitation, I think I'll be switching about once every one and a half months. Thus, this won't be the last time I move, so please bear with me!

That being said, I got back from my night out in Shibuya pretty late today, and though I might have had the energy to push out a blog post about the day, I definitely do not have the energy to erect a completely new site, format it, and then write from there. Thus, I'll be doing that tomorrow instead, and you'll be getting two blog posts then. Sorry for the delay! But it's either this or I give Google money to expand my space (and I'm not sure they need any more of that ;]).

I hope you all have a good day today! I'm going to go to bed soon, sleep well, and then, once I write the new blog post, I'll put the link to it here.

Cheers!
Maggie

Straight from One Thing to the Next

今日の日本語の言葉: nomimono (飲み物) - drink

This word is brought to you by a celebration of drinks today, in one of the few days I actually bought something from one of the many vending machines.

I woke up and talked to Anna today, as usual. We finally got some things down, regarding the February trip, like booking some hotels and figuring out certain dates/times. I'm glad that is out of the way, since now I can focus on other, less plan-necessary things, like what to do on days in Tokyo. Just brainstorming ideas, you know?

I also managed to finish chapter 2 last night, at 1:00 a.m. I couldn't stop writing, and though I knew I needed to go to bed, I simply couldn't stop. It ended up being over my intended word count, clocking in at 12,000 words, when I only meant for around 8,000. But the more the merrier, I guess! And of course, being my dedicated writer self, I'm already 2,000 words into the next chapter, mostly by writing whenever I'm on the train. I usually write in class too, but today, that time was spent doing something else important, which I shall explain later.

When I got off at Akihabara station, I passed by a quirky little kiosk that sold seaweed and stuff. These things appear quite frequently in many different stations where there is space to spare, and what they sell can vary greatly. I've seen only underwear, to grapefruit scented air fresheners, to computers, to snacks, etc. I especially liked the one I saw today, though, because of its interesting decor. It just seemed so out of place, and that made it so cool.

As I walked to school today, I came upon some more hot cocoa! It isn't the same brand as the one I saw when I was out with Ryosuke, but I wanted to try it nevertheless. And now that I have tried both cold and hot Van Houten Cocoa, I have to say that I definitely like the hot better. Nevertheless, I still didn't manage to finish the whole thing. -_-"

School today was meh. I've had better days, but I've also had worse days. It's just that we learned nothing interesting today whatsoever, and the teachers weren't particularly fun either. But luckily, Tiffany gave me a good task to occupy my time today, and school actually passed pretty quickly. What was I doing? I was drawing! She wanted a picture for a friend's drawing, based off of an actual photo, and she's done quite a bit for me through the years, so this is like, the least I could do in return. 

After school, I went with Saya to a convenience store like usual, on our way to the station. I spotted some dark chocolate Kit Kat bites (I think they're dark, at least, based on what I could read), and I had to get them to try it. And now that I have, I can tell you that they're actually not that good. Nothing, apparently, beats the classic Kit Kat bar. 

When I got home, I had a nice dinner of seafood pasta and some soup. I finished my homework, which barely made any sense. The questions were so open ended that I'm not sure how I was supposed to answer them, based on what we've learned so far. Some of the questions didn't even make sense to Yoshiko-san. So I'll see what my classmates have to say when I ask them tomorrow.

After dinner and homework, I sat down and finished what I had been working on in class. Since I didn't have my tablet on me, I couldn't do more than ink and shade it by hand, then scan it in and clean up paper crinkles on photoshop. I think it came out well, at least. For their privacy, I'm not going to put up the picture that this is based off of, but I will tell you that I purposely tried to make it more manga-esque than usual. That was the request. I had a lot of fun drawing this, and I hope they like it too.

With that, I'm going back to writing chapter 3 for a while before heading to bed. Maybe I can go to sleep at a regular time today, eh?

お休み！
マギー

I Don't Miss American Waffles

今日の日本語の言葉: kanransha (観覧車) - ferris wheel

This word was brought to you as a continuation of yesterday, since nothing noteworthy really occurred today, and "waffles" is not worth the "Japanese word of the day" title.

I woke up at 7:30 this morning, to the calls of "Maggie! Breakfast!"—a call which I'm usually wide awake when I hear. It was definitely a surprise, and I totally jumped up and ran down. But I actually woke up late! I guess I was more tired from yesterday than I thought I had been. 

I had a nice conversation with Anna as I got ready for school. I managed to talk a bit more about our trip, which is coming together nicely. We've picked out our onsen, and it's now only a matter of purchasing tickets to and from Hokkaido, which is about $100 in one direction, which I think is a pretty good deal. Doesn't happen much in America, that price.

I left for school without lunch, so I was starving! I decided that it was finally time to break down and try a waffle from that delicious smelling waffle shop right outside of Akihabara station. It has these interesting waffle sandwiches and some very good looking regular waffles. I got a plain regular one, and a rare cheese waffle sandwich. The regular waffle is a lot sweeter than its American counterpart. It tastes more like my idea of what a Belgian waffle does, but is still even sweeter than that. It's like... sweet cream bun tasting. The sandwich was even sweeter, though it had the nice tartness of the occasional raspberry punch, which balanced it out a bit. Nevertheless, all in all, it sadly was not worth the money. *sigh*

Yet, I still don't miss American waffles. In fact, I don't miss American food at all. I still crave Japanese food every day, and I miss Thai food a little, but that's about it.

My time in school today was spent furiously writing whenever I could. I've been having chapter 2 problems for quite a while now, with flow, ideas, witty dialogue, etc., and I just made a breakthrough late yesterday night. It was an eye opening moment in which everything fell in place, and in the end, I had to force myself to go to bed as it approached 1:00 a.m. I haven't really stopped writing all day (even as I write this post, I'm taking periodic breaks to write paragraphs of the chapter). It feels great to have inspiration run through your veins sometimes.

After school, I dropped by the convenience store with Saya, and you know what I saw? Two very interesting things. First was Monsters candy. That's right. Candy with the brand name of my latest Japanese drama obsession on it. I want Saionji and Hiratsuka candy! Although I don't know what flavor it is, since all it says is "original" on the package. I mean, does anything other than original exist at the moment? If so, I couldn't find it, and I didn't get the one I did find.

The second interesting thing was a nikuman, except pizza flavored. I got this one out of pure curiosity. Inside it was cheese, meat, and tomato sauce, like a regular meat pizza. It didn't taste half bad, actually, but I still definitely prefer pizza over this. There's just something fundamentally missing when there's a lack that nice crisp crust.

OH! Fun fact: the actor who plays Hiratsuka is in a band called SMAP, which is actually quite good. You really should look them up. What they don't have in looks, they make up in actual voice quality. I mean, when they're acoustic, they still sound spectacular, and that's a pretty difficult feat this day and age (sad, I know).

Whenever I look at a performance of theirs, though, I keep seeing Hiratsuka singing. It's like seeing Cumberbatch in a band all of a sudden. Will you ever think of him as anything other than Sherlock? I've never even thought of him as Maj. Jamie Stewart from War Horse or as Peter Guillam from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. How weird would it be if he was suddenly in a band? Can you imagine if famous American actors ended up in bands? Brad Pitt singing alongside Matt Damon? It happens so often over here—and it's not just actors on the caliber that Justin Bieber is an "actor," but it's like how weird it was for me when I saw Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) singing in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." It just... doesn't happen in the states, does it? Robert Downey Jr. in his boyband. xD

Anyways, I had a great dinner of pumpkin, rice, and fish today, which I wolfed down quickly before sitting down to do my homework. Since I've been bored by the level of my homework and schoolwork recently, I've started to endeavor to write everything in kanji, in order to challenge myself. My homework, I vowed, would have the grammar of a beginner, but the writing of a pro. Some of the kanji, like 優 (yasa(shii) - nice/easy) and 勉強 (benkyou - study) are especially difficult, and took me a while go get down with the right stroke order. But I have it now, and, though it took me a good twenty minutes, I did both sides of my homework all in kanji (well, the parts that are naturally written in kanji, of course; I'm not at the point where I can just make up random kanji where they don't belong yet. xD). 

I know there wasn't much to say today, and on a usual day like this, I would take this place to tell you something profound and interesting, but honestly, I'm dying to write the rest of chapter 2. It's so close to completion that it hurts. So forgive me if I don't have anything interesting to say here!

Well, I guess I have one thing. I've been watching some late night T.V. off and on with Yoshiko-san at night, and there are some pretty weird shows out there. There's a late night thing that teaches Japanese people English, and the stuff they teach is the weirdest stuff. "Last night, did you feed John's dog?" Tell me, have you ever said this in your life? Why don't they teach stuff like how to hail down a taxi and give directions or something? And there's this wonderfully sassy gay guy that leads all the American speaking parts to the Japanese hosts. He's great! And he always has such interesting scarves on. xD

Anyways, I know it's short, but it's here that I shall leave you for the day. I really want to finish this chapter tonight, so I'll cut the blog post in favor of keeping my fiction fans happy. I'll see you on the morrow!

また明日、
マギー

Under the Sea and Into the Sky

今日の日本語の言葉: suizokukan (pronounced "suizokkan") (水族館) - aquarium

This word was brought to you by where I spent the majority of my day today, chaperoning Ryosuke. It was fun, but let's say I'm never having children.

I woke up today later than usual, having actually finally gotten out of bed at 8:30. That's probably because I went to bed at 2:00 the night before (or I guess, this morning, right?). I was just so caught up in writing, and Anna was actually around for once! But that means I'm totally beat now, and it's not even 6:00. Taking care of Ryosuke also didn't help my tiredness.

It was great fun though! We left the house at 10:00, after Ryosuke finished his homework—he really hates homework, which, I don't understand. I don't think there's ever been an assignment that I haven't enjoyed in some way or another. It was a train adventure, considering I've never been out in that direction before, and the majority of the trip was done in the metro system, rather than JR, which is what I'm more used to. 

But we successfully did it! I can now read the kanji and know the announcements for all the different types of trains too (like rapid, local, semi super express, express, semi express, etc.), so we even managed to catch a good rapid the majority of the way, and then switch over to a local at the right point. I'm pretty proud of myself! The train system isn't the easiest to maneuver around, after all.

When we arrived at Kasai Rinkai Koen station, the first thing Ryosuke told me was that he was hungry. We just ate breakfast about three hours ago, so I don't know how that was possible, but we went and ate anyways at Mc Donald's—per Ryosuke's strong insistence. I think I gained back all I lost hiking yesterday from just that sandwich. -_-"

The park around the aquarium was very nice! It was so calm and relaxing, and the view of the Flower and Diamond ferris wheel was spectacular from almost anywhere. When it was built back in 2001, it was the second largest ferris wheel in the world, coming in at 117 meters. The tallest one now is in Singapore, coming in at 165 meters, if I remember correctly, with a bunch in between it and the F&D wheel. Nevertheless, it's still the biggest in Japan, and you know how I mentioned before that Tokyo loves its ferris wheels!

We stopped to watch a pair of street performers before heading into the aquarium. They were very entertaining, and I was happy to know that I understood them enough to get their jokes, too, even though they were in Japanese. You know, the best thing happened to me two days ago, which I forgot to mention then. I read an advertisement. Now, that's already something I haven't been able to do much, and that in itself made me happy, but what's better is that I got the double meaning! It was a play on words, and I understood! Yattaaaaaa!

Anyways, I'm going to lump all the aquarium stuff right here, before all the pictures, like I did with Takao-san. So this aquarium leaves an amazing first impression. Even from far away, there's that high dome that looks to be bordered by trees until you basically get right up to it. And then, when you actually get there, it's suddenly all open air and water. So much water. And the sun's angle and the water behind it just makes it all glisten even more. It was truly breathtaking, and I would have gone to the aquarium just for the feeling of standing there in that open area, looking at the bay. The only reason I would ever want to be an architect would be to create places that gave you feelings like that.

When we got in, the first thing we encountered was a tank full of sharks and sting rays. Honestly, if this is the first thing we see, the rest of the place must be extra badass—and that it was. They really liked large tanks and impressive displays. They had a large tuna tank, and then a 360 fish tank, which actually were the same tank. But it's seen in various views from different parts of the aquarium, to make it look like there are several. Nevertheless, there's a certain majesty with turning a corner and then coming to that huge thing right in front of your face, and your head naturally turns upward.

They also had a bunch of smaller tanks, though they still like big things. They had a massive great grouper, which was probably as long as Ryosuke is tall. They also had a giant sea coral formation, which I could probably lie on top of, and none of my limbs would touch the ground. Well, maybe they barely would. 

And then there was that penguin area! Oh the penguins! There were so many of them, and they were so cute. Some of them were utterly tiny, while others were like... you know, average large penguin sized. That penguin area was also right near the touch tanks, where Ryosuke got to discover that sea anemones are prickly, and certain sharks just don't bite humans. It took him a while to get comfortable with that, though.

They also had a very cool section where you could walk on the second floor and see the tops and "inner workings" necessary to keep up all the tanks on the first floor. I really enjoyed that section, since you got to see all the tanks from the top down, providing another view than just the usual one-view you get of tanks at most aquariums.

After we finished going through the aquarium, we hit up the cafe for some ice cream, where I got the cutest cone I have ever seen. It's just so squat! And they really didn't skimp on the ice cream. I bit slowly all the way down to the bottom of the cone and there was still ice cream all over. That's quality ice-creamsmanship right there.

We also hit up the gift shop, where I fell in love with all the plushies. They had such cute penguins (including the one that Aaron got for me at the Boston Aquarium), and they also had adorable jellyfish plushies, which were utterly irresistible. Of course, there were pencils, pens, erasers, and other stationery supplies. There were even classic Japanese tea mugs that had penguins and dolphins on them. I would drink so much more tea of I possessed those objects. xD

Then again, I don't drink much of anything but water, so mugs are sort of wasted on me—except for my odd love of eating out of cups with spoons.

I love these fish that hang vertically, floating up and down with the current.
I still don't know the species name, though. D:

It goes 360! 

Don't I look utterly imperial? 

After the aquarium, we headed off to the ferris wheel. It wasn't part of the initial plan to go there, but considering that it's the largest in Japan, I sort of had to go on it now that I was so close. Plus, Ryosuke seemed to want to go on it pretty badly, so he decided it for me. Ferris wheel it was!

From this ferris wheel, you're supposed to be able to see practically every Tokyo landmark, like Disney's castle, the rainbow bridge, Sky Tree, etc.—even Fuji-san. The only one I actually managed to find, though, was Sky Tree. It was too foggy far away to see Fuji-san, I can't tell what bridge is rainbow bridge (so I might have actually seen it anyways), and Disney's castle actually isn't that big... But either way, it was really high up and it gave me a really nice view of the city to one side, and then the sea to the other. 

We found out the hard way that Ryosuke is afraid of heights, even though he said he wasn't. Even though I'm afraid of heights too, the feeling just doesn't occur in a ferris wheel. Maybe it's because of the closed windows and enclosed space, for I'm sure I would feel such terror in an air balloon or something equally open.

It had a little water ride kids could go on before the ferris wheel. xD

That little dome to the right is the aquarium~

Midway point!

Sky tree!

He was a little bit petrified.

I WANT THEM ALL

We headed back home after the ferris wheel. We stopped by a section of vending machines, where I finally found canned hot chocolate! I knew that if canned cold chocolate (not milk chocolate) existed, then the opposite must be true too. I didn't get it though, just because I wasn't in the mood for something so sweet, and because I've really never been able to finish an average sized mug of hot chocolate in my life. 

Ryosuke got the corn drink, however, and he let me have a sip. Now I don't like corn chowder because it's so sweet, but I do love corn just by itself. I was tentative about this thing, considering it could be one of the sweeter corn products. Plus, it just sounded weird. I mean, warm corn juice in a can? Does this happen anywhere else but in Japan? xD

But, to my surprise, it was delicious. It might be my favorite vending machine drink so far (well, except water, but that doesn't count). I'll definitely get it again if I find it, though I haven't really noticed it anywhere. It just tastes like... corn. Good corn. I'm not sure of its nutritional value, but by god, it is utterly divine tasting. I think I might love corn in general just a little too much...

When we got on the train to ride home, we ended up getting in the last car, which had a nice window view into the conductor's room. This view exists in all trains I've ever been in anywhere, but this is the first time that it's been a large window that looks into a lit up room. Nowhere else have I found a conductor so accepting of onlookers. I mean, imagine this in the NY subway system, for example. They'd probably give you the middle finger if you stared. xD

But this conductor was so nice! In between stops, he would write out in quick kanji for Ryosuke what various things were on the dashboard as he pointed to them. He even waved good-bye to us out the window as the train sped off after we left. What a nice guy.

I was so tired by the time I got home. Taking care of Ryosuke took a lot of energy. His favorite pastimes seem to be getting lost, touching things he shouldn't, angering other people by elbowing them aside (for which I then have to apologize in my broken Japanese), and running into traffic. I mean, honestly. I had a headache before we even got into the aquarium.

Now this isn't to say that I didn't have a great time. I really did enjoy it, and since I don't get a chance to dote much on younger siblings (Alex is not really around, and Corbin is still too young for me just to take to the aquarium by myself), I really reveled in this experience. But I don't think I'm having children. I can't deal with them running into traffic every day for seven or eight years of my life. How did my parents do it?! Or all you other parents, for that matter. It's crazy. 

Well, I had dinner by now, and I'm very tired. I just want to go to bed, but I still have some Skyping to do (not to mention Monsters to watch), so I'll still be up for a while. I gave Ayuka her present from the aquarium, since she was so heartbroken that she couldn't come (there was no way I could handle them both). She liked it very much! I'm so happy. She's still thinking of a name for it at the moment, but promised she would tell me once she figured it out.

On that note of happy smiling children, I leave you. I'm going to go and try to write more of chapter two before I start Skyping people.

Good night!

マギー