If you're looking for an excuse......

....For why I haven't been blogging, my camera had no batteries and I was too lazy to buy more. Also means there aren't so many pictures in this post either... Also....I figured there have been a lot of pictures of me just hanging out with friends....and that's most of what I've been doing. HOWEVER, it's getting warmer.....which means its time for cherry blossoms!!!! Which means it's time to do Hanami. Which means I'll have tons of amazing photos of me hanging out with friends in pretty places. :) Because lets face it. That's what I do.

I've been on spring break. I've had two weeks off and I'm off for almost one more. I wish I'd gone out and done more, but I'm awaiting my tax-returns to fund the rest of my time! So it's been a lot of me reading Wheel of Time and doing puzzles. Which is really fun, but does not lend highly to pretty pictures. I've got lots of fun plans coming up and I'm going to take tons of photos! But first, what I've been doing recently!

My sister is all moved into her apartment, and I've been going over and spending some time there. We mostly walk around and watch movies and run errands and have a good time. I went out to dinner with one of the teachers at the school I'm interning at and we had more okonomiyaki! (If you don't remember what it is, there's a link to it in one of my previous blogs.) Then we met up with Ashley (my sister) and Mike (her boyfriend) for a drink at a sweet restaurant with '50's movie posters on the walls.

I also went out with some of the friends I've been making here. One night, me and Ashley went and did nomihodai with a couple from Iceland and a guy from Sweden. Nomihodai is where you pay a set fee and drink for a set amount of time (usually 60, 90 or 120 minutes) from a set drink menu. It's a cheap way to go out here! We learned a lot about Iceland and Sweden (I knew nothing about either of them.) Another night I met up with a friend from Brazil and we went to dinner with his roommate who is from Norway. I'm getting more cultural education than I ever could in a classroom! So much fun!

Now for the things I've been doing that involve pictures!  Just because I love to spoil you! :)

So, sadly, Mallory (my friend from past posts) has left Japan for greener pastures. No, really. She went to New Zealand for a couple of months.For her last night she really wanted shabu-shabu. Which is basically a hot pot of broth that you cook veggies and meat in at your table. It's delicious! You dip the food in sauce and just eat till it hurts! Unlimited meat and veggies. My dream!

This is how the meat come out to you:

This is the pot that you cook in. The plate in the background is some of the veggies we hadn't added yet. It's in the middle of the table:

 These are my sauces and my rice. I made a mess:

I got to meet up with my friend Shiori again! I'm pretty sure I posted about our Nabe adventures in one of my earlier posts. She's so awesome! We met in Omotesando and decided to try a new little cafe that neither of us had been to before. So we went to a little Spanish cafe and chocolate shop. It was pretty good and the chocolate was amazing!

Isn't she gorgeous!? :)

I got the pasta lunch set. It came with soup, salad, pasta and drink. Yummmmm!

After lunch they brought us chocolates to sample. They were both good, but the gin tonic one was incredible! Definitely one of my favorite chocolates I've eaten!

Well, I finally bought batteries for my camera, have backups, and promise to take more pictures! Or at least promise that I will try.
Hope all my NE friends are enjoying that incredible weather I'm so jealous of! But how jealous can I be? I'm in JAPAN!
-Aly :)

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

So, unfortunately, this will be a fairly boring blog visually, because I've been seriously slacking on the photo taking.

There hasn't been too much going on the past week. My sister is moving into a new apartment, so I haven't seen much of her, but last weekend I went out with Mallory (my sister's (and my) friend.) We had a blast!

One thing I absolutely love about Japan, that I definitely do NOT have in Lincoln, NE, is the fact that I can go out and meet people from everywhere! This past weekend I met people from everywhere from Pakistan to Sweden to Jamaica! It's so neat to be in such an international place! In that regard, it's definitely going to be hard to go back to Lincoln.

I really am starting to miss things about Lincoln. I miss my cats a LOT! I miss having such incredible friends around me, but I'm thoroughly enjoying meeting some great new ones! I miss doing hair, and all of my clients so much! I miss knowing where everything is, but I also love exploring new places. I miss good Mexican food and bad Chinese food! I miss having fluffy towels. I love how handy the trains are, but I miss being able to ride my bike to nearly anywhere I need to go. I'm so grateful for so many things in the life I've made for myself in Lincoln and the adventure I'm on now.

I had the chance to explore a salon here. It was absolutely amazing! The salon does mostly Internationals' hair, and has a very similar feel to the salon I work at in Lincoln. It was so fun to be able to talk with stylists again for a bit, and it definitely made me a bit homesick. Or maybe work-sick for my salon! I'm definitely missing the satisfaction I get from creating looks, and helping people to enjoy their hair.

My internship is going well. The students are done with classes for the year as of last week and are taking their finals this week, so I've been having half days and working on projects. I kind of miss having classes already. The staff at the school is so nice! They have invited Andi (the other intern) and I to join in for a trip for the incoming 7th graders. I think it will be great to get to know the new students and I'll get to do some hiking! I have spring break coming up and am looking forward to many adventures! I'll do my best to take tons of pictures for you all!

So, if you've managed to hang on this long, I'm gonna get into the good stuff: food!!! I have a few pictures from last weekend when I went to a little Indian curry place close to my sister's old station. The guy that works there is so nice, and I swear he has a photographic memory! He remembered my order after the first time we went and every time he knows exactly what I ordered! And he's friendly! So, without further ado, pictures!!!!!!!


Some amazing garlic naan

 Sean and Ina digging in and enjoying!

 Mmmmmmmmmm.

 Also, they have some sweet decorations and they are always playing Indian music videos!

This one is from a bar we went to that is owned by an English guy. The guy bartender is his brother and he was so nice and funny! The female bartender is friends with Mallory, and is great!

 What a fun night, with so many awesome people!

So, this next picture is from the next bar we went to. Nightlife in Japan is great, but if you stay out past around midnight, the trains are done running. This means that most people have to take a taxi  (which is what we do when we go out if we miss the last train,) or wait until 5 am-ish to get home. Or do what this guy did and just crash on a couch at the bar! (And get messed with incessantly by really obnoxious foreigners.)

Love the added touch with the spotted umbrella. No, we didn't add that in, it was there already.

Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed my post (even if there weren't many pictures!)
Tune in next time!
Aly