Kameoka!

Yesterday I went to Kameoka with Maho.
Kakurako had a job interview so she had to go to another city and be gone almost all day.

Me and Maho took the train and went to her home town in the mountains in Kyoto.
It's a really small town surrounded by mountains. Very beautiful place.
We went to her familys shrine, Obata jinja, wich is very old. Her grandfather is a priest there and a proffesor in university.
Again I got a very good fortune there! I am lucky. ^^
We took a walk in the rice fields and went to a very old cemetary. The graves didn't look the same as they do now a days.
Maho taught me a little bit more about shinto. It's very interesting I think.

When we came back to Takatsuki we met up with Sakurako at an izakaya.
Ate alot and I drank some Yamazaki whisky. :D

Tonight we're going bar hopping in Osaka, maybe.

Time to get myself ready.

Mata ne!

Rested!

Aaah. Today I just stayed in and rested. Slept a lot and listened to music.
I need to learn some new songs for karaoke. ;)

Yesterday we went to Kyoto, Arashiyama with Sakos boyfriend Yacchan and friend Kayo.
It was great! Arashiyama is so beautiful. It's below the mountains with a river running through. We hired a couple of boats and went rowing in the river. It's been a long time since I rowed a boat but I'm pretty good at it, and fast! lol
We walked through a bamboo forest and visited some temples and shrines.
I got a really good fortune at a shrine.
It said I'll meet the person I've been waiting for and my diseases will be cured. :D
I wanna believe it!

On Monday we went shopping and I finally bought a yukata. And I we went to the Suntory Yamazaki whisky distillery! Went on a guided tour and then got to taste the 12 year old Yamazaki whisky. It was really fun. I got a little tipsy. lol
I bought some whisky for my dad and the yummiest whisky cake ever!
Aah, I kinda wanna go back for another round. lol
I think I'll keep buying this whisky when I get home. And drink with sentimental nostalgia. lol

And last Sunday we went to Kyoto, met Sakos friend Mahou and saw Okuribi! It's the finally of Obon when the spirits are sent back to heaven. We saw all five fires! Daimonji was awesome. I was so happy and felt very lucky that I got to see it! Earlier that day we saw Kinkakuji. So beautiful! The whole area is super beautiful. Japanese really have the best sense for beauty I think.

And I guess it was Tuesday we went to Nara with Sakos friends Yuriko and Chiakki.
Nara park is huuuuuuge and there's deer averywhere. They're completely used to people and tame enough to pet. They're very beautiful animals.
We saw the huge bronze Buddha in Todaiji. There are some extremely beautiful temples and places there and the park is amazing. Anyone who is interested in Japan should go there!

Tomorrow I'm going with Mahou to her familys shrine in Kyoto. Obata jinja.
I want to learn more about shinto so I'll ask her to teach me. He family owns the shrine and the men of the family are priests.
Mahou has many swedish friends and has studied swedish. :D

I am amazed at how many people I've met that have visited Sweden. I really hope Sako will come visit me when I'm home again. And she can bring all her friends and her boyfriend! :D

Sako has been so amazing to me and shown me so much already. I'm so happy I came here and a bit sad I'll be leaving in a week. :./
At the same time I kind of miss Tokyo. I feel more at home there I guess. Since I've been there so many times.
If I'm lucky maybe I can stay with Kayo in Asakusa. She was really great to.
Wow, I've met so many great people here!
I am lucky.

I hope Tokyo will be as nice to me as Kanto has been.
But I have a week left and lots more to see!
I should probably go to Osaka again but honestly I didn't like it that much.
Feels just like a big city with not much to really see.
I guess it's great for shopping though. I want to go back to a store we went to and buy some more stuff there.

Ok.
I gotta sleep.

Oyasumi!

Ok, time for an update!

Since I'm not deadly tired today here's an update on what I've done so far!

When I got to Kyoto, Sakurako met me in the train station and then we went straight to Uji to see a big fireworks display!
I was really tired but it was great. I've never seen fireworks that huge and many. I think it was for like 2 hours too. Amazing!

Then we went to Sakurakos house. She lives in Takatsuki that's right in between Kyoto and Osaka. It's great and her parents are so nice. ^^
I've even got my own room with aircon, tv and stereo! It's really like a luxury hotel. lol

I slept for a long time that night.

Next day we went shopping in Kyoto. I bought alot of cool clothes. I really like japanese fashion.
Sizes haven't been a problem so far either. I'm realizing that I'm not so fat anymore. lol

Keeping my diet/lifestyle isn't as har as I thought either. But I feel like I'm being troublesome sometimes because I don't eat rice and bread. I've eaten hamburgers a couple of times. Just not the bread. But eating in an izakaya is really good cuz I can just order all sorts of meat and fish. :D

Yesterday we went to an izakaya with Sakurakos friends. 1 gork and three guys. It was really fun! A couple of them could speak english. I also met Sakurakos boyfriend. He was nice and good at singing. We wen't to karaoke after the izakaya. ^^
I impressed with my japanese song skills and my enka singing. lol
I love karaoke! :D
The guys wen't crazy and pulled their shirts off for the last song. XD
I took photos of course. ;D

Today we went shopping in Osaka. It was really crowded and felt huge. I bought some supercute shoe accesories. Like clip on shoe ornaments. Then we were looking for a swedish cafe where Sakurakos friend works but we couldn't find it. We were super hungry and looked for a place to eat for probably an hour. Finally we decided on an izakaya and we found a really nice one.
I love japanese izakaya food! Meat, meat and more meat. Lots of fat left on the meat too. :D

Tomorrow we're going to the Kyoto Handicraft Center.
I'll probably buy lots of stuff there. I love japanese handicraft. Everything is so beautiful. Japanese people have the best sense of aesthetics in the world I think.

It's soon time to buy a Yukata too. I've been looking for one but it's been hard to find a really nice one. The good thing is they're on sale now. ^^

I'd like to upload pics but I don't have a usb cable for my cam with me. I could easily buy one though. Maybe I'll do that. I already bought a new battery for my cam. Good to have two. ^^

I don't think I'll go to Okinawa. If I'm going there I should go some other time when it's less expensive. Now it's high season so plane tickets are expensive. I'd rather spend my money on a yukata this year. And I still don't know if I'll have to get a hotel in Tokyo. :/
I sent some couchsurfing requests but it's difficult to surf when I don't know what exact dates I want to stay.

But it'll work out somehow. ^^

Now it's time for bed.

Oyasumi!

The best day ever so far!?

I got to Narita airport at 8 am.
After I got my luggage I went to buy a prepaid phone. I had to wait for two hours to get it.
That was a bit annoying but I need to get a prepaid so I can mail. Mailing with a rental phone is really expensive.
After I got my phone I went to Sugamo in Tokyo to meet my friends from stickam.
Three guys. Hikaru, Pato and Jonah. First I didn't think they'd all come so I was surprised.
They're all so nice and sweet guys!
Hikaru came flying "Eeeeeeeeema" and gave me a big hug. lol
He's so energetic.
We went walking in Sugamo on the shopping street that's nicnamed "Old womans Harajuku." XD
The really only sold old peoples things anf clothes. It was fun.
We ate ramen. It was so yummy! But I didn't eat much of the noodles. I just mostly ate the pork and egg. But I got so full. I really can't eat alot anymore.
Hikaru gave me maccha as a present. Arigatou gozaimasu!
After window shopping we went and drank maccha in a small café.
I love maccha! I love Japan!!! lol
Then it was time to go to Odaiba to see the Gundam!
It was so cool! Huge! We walked between it's legs and touched it. Haha.
It had a little show with music, sound effects, lights and smoke. It really felt like it could start walking away anytime. But it can only move it's head.
We sat down in the grass and relaxed for a while and then went to Otsuka.
I was supposed to stay with someone from couchsurfing there so we went there to wait for him to call me.
In Otsuka we found an izakaya and ate and drank. We talked alot and alcohol really helps me to speak japanese. lol
After getting drunk it was all sex talk. XD So funny!
I drank some pink drink with vodka and grapefruit. It was pretty strong.
I felt like the ground was swaying. By now I'd been awake almost 48 hours so I thought I was just being tired and drunk. I felt it earlier too when we were in Sugamo.
Then there actually was an earthquake! It was pretty big. The house rocked back and forth.
It was my first time feeling an earthquake.
So that feeling I had earlier wasn't maybe just me being tired. lol
It was pretty cool but a little worrying. There is a really big one coming sometime after all.
Luckily this wasn't it.
I called my couchsurfing contact and he was late in getting to Otsuka so we stayed in the izakaya until they closed. By then we we're all pretty drunk.
Hikaru decided to let me and Pato stay at his place since my contact was so late.
So we went there and bought more drinks on the way. lol
It's a really small appartment but it was fun. We did drunk stickam live. XD
Me and Pato danced the waltz to swedish summer music I brought.
Hikaru fell alseep pretty fast so me and Pato drew on his face. lol
Then we drew on our own faces and we all looked insane. XD
I got super drunk and don't even remember what happened before I fell asleep but atleast I had removed the makeup.
And then the first day in Japan was over.

When we woke up, hungover, I took a shower and then we went out to eat breakfast in McDonalds. And then I said goodbye to Hikaru and me and Pato took the train. Then I changed lines and said bye to Pato.
I went to Tokyo station and got on the shinkansen to Kyoto to meet Sako.
But what happened efter that is another story I'll tell soon.

Today we'll go to Kyoto again.

Mata ne!

In Japan!!!!!

OMG, I'm so happy to be back in Japan.
Yesterday might have been the best day ever.
Hikaru, Pato, Jonah, Sugamo, samen, maccha, Gundam, izakaya, earthquake and alot of alcohol. lol
Today was hangover, rain, Shinkansen, Kyoto, Sakurako, Fireworks show!
I will write in detail about it later. Now I'm so tired. I need sleep.

Oyasumi!

Aaaaah!

Time to go to bed, get five/four hours sleep and then get going early tomorrow!

Yay!

Wow. Maybe I'll find Him. lol

A horoscope for next month.

The Lunar Eclipse of August 5 is about behind-the-scenes action and meets up with a healing trio of planets of which Jupiter is part of the team. Jupiter in that behind-the-scenes place acts as an angel on your shoulder. On August 19 that same Jupiter forms an aspect of fate with the restrictive Saturn, a long-time resident of the house of the partner. It could be the angel whispering in your ear is also guiding the two of you to a long-awaited happy ending. August 20 brings a dramatic New Moon in Leo and a spotlight is turned on your romantic life. You've been waiting for this month for a long time Pisces, so enjoy its bounty.

Exiting. Haha!

By the way. I believe horoscopes only work if you read them. It's power of suggestion and maybe a little of The Secret. So I will keep this in mind. ^.~

Only 4 days left!

On Sunday I'll finally be back in Japan!

I think I've got most of my packing ready and I can't wait to go!

My horoscope for next week said everyone will like me and I'll even find sweet love. lol

I wonder who that could be! Haha!

It aslo said I'd get some extra cash so it was an exellent horoscope. ^^

I'll be meeting a friend from stickam when I arrive in Tokyo. We're going to Sugamo wich is like old peoples town. lol I just read about it in my guide book and the shopping street is nicknamed Old ladys Harajuku. XD

Also there's a big japanese garden there that I wanna see. So that'll be fun!

Then I guess we should go see the damn Gundam. lol

I found a place to sleep through couchsurfing so I'm not too worried about that anymore.

Just now I was printing out railway maps of tokyo. Ahh I miss the JR trains. lol

I might be sick in the head but I miss the old, shaky Yamanote line the most. XD

I might have some problems getting people to understand why I don't eat rice. In japan it's like "No rice, no life" lol

But now I can say it's cuz of my RA.

Aaah it's already 12pm!! I gotta go wash my hair. I really need to cut it too. I'll do that in Japan!

Work is a bitch and hate it as always. >.<

Only two and a half hours until I'm there again. T_T

Oh well.

The next six weeks will be heaven. lol

Then I guess this will become a travel blog! :D

Peace!