Sunday Joy
Feb. 15th, 2009 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blacklillyHaving turned down snowboarding trip today on the basis that I was still regurgitating lung as of Friday, I awake this morning to discover that the bloody thing has almost cleared up. Which is a little disappointing, as I feel like I falsely turned it down now. My knee, however, decided that it would start hurting again on Thursday. Whenever the subject of snow-based exercise/injury is brought up my knee magically starts twinging. In fact, it seems to be doing it right now... Weird.
Anyway, yesterday was Valentine's Day, which in Japan involves the setting up of mile upon mile of chocolate and cake stalls throughout every available shopping mall. There was even a Cosy Corner (best shukurimu - profiterole type goodness- ever) set up outside the subway station in Iidabashi on Friday morning. February 14th is for girls to give gifts and chocolate to their friends, boyfriends and intendeds. March 14th, known as "White Day", is for guys to return the favour and continue the oiling of the consumer wheel until Cherry Blossom Season starts in April. There seemed to be some expectation upon me to provide chocolate to not only the people I work with, but also my students. Thanks, to an excellently timed package from my mum, I was able to give out Cadbury's Giant Chocolate Buttons and still keep enough for my emergency chocolate stash.
Speaking of which, another package also arrived yesterday, containing my copy of A is for Alien. I spent my lunch break cooing over the lime-green end papers and sniffing the paper. (Yes, I was getting strange looks.) Alas, I had to leave it at work, along with the chocolate as I didn't want to cart it arounf Tokyo last night.
Being one of a few singletons I know, we decided to have a little V-day get together, so I hopped over to Hon Atsugi. Alas, the Peruvian place with shut, so we ended up in a cool little okonomiyaki place called Bochi Bochi (Kansai-ben for so-so in English). I was messing around with a new film in the Holga, so we'll see how it all turns out. After, we went to a cool little snack bar called Ray's Aquarium and Liquor, which my friend Kate says sounds like a backwater Texan bar. The bar itself has leather sofas and the table tops are panes of glass through which you can gaze at tropical fish, including baby blowfish. Needless to say, all I did all night was coo at the fish and take stupid double exposure shots through the glass. I dread to think what a waste of film that's going to be.
After a very long train journey home (the station staff were all looking quite jumpy today too), I checked the post to find the results of my Japanese exam waiting for me. I steeled myself for the grand opening by telling myself that failing the exam was not the end of the world. As it turned out though, I passed - 93% in writing and vocab, 86% in reading and grammar, and a sad but not unexpected 76% in listening. So pretty darn good. I think I might treat myself to a bottle of wine tonight in celebration. First, though, I need to tidy up. I'm sure I tidied on Thursday...
TV I'm going to watch today: Dollhouse, QI, The Wire(maybe) and Supernatural (finally I get to understand all the Jensen squeeing). You see why I always complain of having no time, ne?
Anyway, yesterday was Valentine's Day, which in Japan involves the setting up of mile upon mile of chocolate and cake stalls throughout every available shopping mall. There was even a Cosy Corner (best shukurimu - profiterole type goodness- ever) set up outside the subway station in Iidabashi on Friday morning. February 14th is for girls to give gifts and chocolate to their friends, boyfriends and intendeds. March 14th, known as "White Day", is for guys to return the favour and continue the oiling of the consumer wheel until Cherry Blossom Season starts in April. There seemed to be some expectation upon me to provide chocolate to not only the people I work with, but also my students. Thanks, to an excellently timed package from my mum, I was able to give out Cadbury's Giant Chocolate Buttons and still keep enough for my emergency chocolate stash.
Speaking of which, another package also arrived yesterday, containing my copy of A is for Alien. I spent my lunch break cooing over the lime-green end papers and sniffing the paper. (Yes, I was getting strange looks.) Alas, I had to leave it at work, along with the chocolate as I didn't want to cart it arounf Tokyo last night.
Being one of a few singletons I know, we decided to have a little V-day get together, so I hopped over to Hon Atsugi. Alas, the Peruvian place with shut, so we ended up in a cool little okonomiyaki place called Bochi Bochi (Kansai-ben for so-so in English). I was messing around with a new film in the Holga, so we'll see how it all turns out. After, we went to a cool little snack bar called Ray's Aquarium and Liquor, which my friend Kate says sounds like a backwater Texan bar. The bar itself has leather sofas and the table tops are panes of glass through which you can gaze at tropical fish, including baby blowfish. Needless to say, all I did all night was coo at the fish and take stupid double exposure shots through the glass. I dread to think what a waste of film that's going to be.
After a very long train journey home (the station staff were all looking quite jumpy today too), I checked the post to find the results of my Japanese exam waiting for me. I steeled myself for the grand opening by telling myself that failing the exam was not the end of the world. As it turned out though, I passed - 93% in writing and vocab, 86% in reading and grammar, and a sad but not unexpected 76% in listening. So pretty darn good. I think I might treat myself to a bottle of wine tonight in celebration. First, though, I need to tidy up. I'm sure I tidied on Thursday...
TV I'm going to watch today: Dollhouse, QI, The Wire(maybe) and Supernatural (finally I get to understand all the Jensen squeeing). You see why I always complain of having no time, ne?