Monday, January 26, 2009

Birthday Weekend

I had an awesome birthday weekend in Japan! Jenny and Kari came up to stay with me, and Friday night I met up with a big group of teacher friends and Japanese friends. It was a little overwhelming because it was a bigger group, but it was a lot of fun. We had traditional izakaya food including sashimi (raw fish), nabe (soup cooked on the table in front of you), koroke (breaded patties of potato/meat/etc.), gyoza (japanese potstickers/dumplings), etc, etc, etc. After that, we headed to an Australian bar in Fuji and then we headed off to karaoke for a few hours. It was a good night out on the town, something I haven't done in awhile.

Saturday we slept in hardcore since we stayed up til almost 5 in the morning the night before. We lounged around for the afternoon and then headed over to Mishima, a nearby city for our hidden Mexican restaurant. It has killer food, but such small portions...so we just order a lot of food haha.
Yesterday we headed to the Gotenba Premium Outlet Mall, the biggest outlet mall in Japan, quite popular among people who come from even Tokyo. It was kinda cool driving on the expressway again, it's been awhile since I have driven out of the city! Shopping was awesome - the prices were good and there were clothes that were actually my size! It's hard shopping in Japan, so it was like heaven! I spent a bit much, but got a lot of much needed things as many of my clothes are getting worn out. And when I was in Thailand and getting pictures taken of me, I realized that I have been wearing the same clothes in like every picture from all my trips abroad. I decided that called for a new wardrobe!

The next three weeks will be busy with work, It Takes 2 Committee, travel plans, and catching up with Japanese friends I haven't seen since before Thailand. Wish me luck!
And pictures for my mama - please excuse that they are all only of me!
Friday Night =
Flowers
Raw Fish
And Birthday Crepes!

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