realization of another me

I came back home yesterday at 12:30 ish at midnight. My solo trip had ended and here I am now, in Saitama. This trip felt as if it lasted so much longer than just a week. It felt like it was at least a month. I suppose that was because of the events that took place and the people that I had met during my journey.
The first day that I got to Totori, I was exhausted from the long train rides and walking around with a heavy backpack on my shoulders. It took me about 8 hours to get there by trains/bullet train. Once I got to Totori station, I was impatient for waiting for a bus to take me to this youth hostel(fairly cheap and it is for travelers all around the world) so I took a cab which was double the price of the bus ticket. At that point, I just wanted to get to my destination and crash like a baby. Once I got to the youth hostel, I was really surprised of the presence of the temple right next to it. It looked kool from the outside, but the inside of the youth hostel was another story. I took a bath, and there were black mildew and rust it was not a pleasant sight. But, again I was too tired to really be appalled by the whole environment. After I take a bath and wash up, I go upstairs to my tatami room and lay on the futon mattress. Another terrible occasion was that the futon mattress was so thin that it was not even cushiony. I felt as though I was sleeping on a deck. After tossing and turning that night I realize that I need to leave this youth hostel about 6:00-7:00 in the morning just because I had plans to visit the sand dune and such.
After lying on the futon mattress for about 3 hours, I just couldn't fall asleep due to the uncomfortable position I was on the matress. I decided to wake up and get ready. That was about 5 in the morning. Trust me, after this trip I forgot how to sleep. I even attended the chanting in the temple, but I left shortly. I was chanting words that didn't even make sense, and I probably sound ungracious but I did not feel tranquil. My mind was saying, "you need to get to the bus stop or else you'll be wasting your time not getting to the sand dunes at the right time." So I pretty much skitter away from the youth hostel and not even check out appropriately. That place was overpriced, and there was no one around the checkin place so I left the sheets and such on the table. (don't worry, I paid beforehands)
I wait at the bus stop for about 20 minutes and the bus almost left without me. I was supposed to be on the opposite side, rather than the side I was at. Sitting there made me feel releived because I had caught the bus before it left me. I would have had to wait another hour for another bus to drive by. Totori is a rural area. Not many people lived there. I get to Totori station, and I had to wait another hour and a half for the bus to take me to the sand dunes. I bought a jello drink(it's kind of like a energy drink) and Soukenbichya(oolong cold tea) to refresh me for that morning. While waiting for the bus I met these French couple that was in their 50's-60's. I asked them how long they have been in Japan and they answered I think 2 weeks.....

Off I go.

I cannot wait for tomorrow! My solo trip is about to begin...!!! I'm ready to start my adventure alone! I'm going to Totori tomorrow to see the desertland that is in front of the sea....
So, I will be absent for a while! (at least 3-4 days!) Hopefully my trip will be safe and enjoyable!
I will take lots of pics in memory of my adventures!

Wish me luck!! sayonara for now!

Just pics of Tokyo!

This was at Kichijyo-ji. This was a bicycle parking lot that was FULL!



This was a bad picture of how crowded the station was... but it was crowded!



Again, another bad pic(it's really hard to take pics in Tokyo because you feel so rushed!)
this was a really neat clothing store's entrance.



Poor soichiro...this was before I left for Tokyo-and when I was babysitting him.

human traffic

I am exhausted from going to Tokyo. There is way too many people in one place...That's what I thought.lol I went to activate my JR-railpass in Ikebukuro. I forgot the overwhelming feeling of Tokyo in the summer. I think the huge amount of people wouldn't bother me if it wasn't for the humidness. My sister kindly looked up the railroad directions that I had to take, but I still took the wrong trains..haha. There was one Indian girl that was helping me out- she was gorgeous! Once I got to Ikebukuro, I slid my way through waves of people. First I went to the "Midori no Madoguchi"-which translates to Green Window- it just means customer service for the JR rail line. As I waited for this line that took about 10 min worth, the lady that helped me said that I needed to take a left to the information center for JR. So I trail down to the information center, and I felt releif because I was able to get to my destination. The lady quickly made my JR-rail pass and I was free to go to my next destination, which was Kichi-jyoji.
Kichijyo-ji is my kind of town. I really enjoyed Kichi-jyoji but I didn't enjoy getting lost..;p;
I get to Kichijyo-ji without getting lost, but I needed directions to the Red Bunny(tattoo parlor!) so I asked the "omawarisan"=policeman. There's always a police station near a railroad station, so I always ask them if I'm lost because they know the town:) or as least they have a map. The Omawarisan oppointed for me was a very kind younger man that gently explained and even wrote the way to Red Bunny- He asked me what store I was looking for... and I couldn't answer that because tattoos are still usually affiliated with Yakuzas-or it's still the mentality of it. Regardless, I just tell him Red bunny- I think he thought it was a clothing store of something. So his directions was good, it was just that I didn't understand his directions..:P While looking around for Red Bunny, I came across really neat and hip stores. I liked how everystore seemed unique. Even though I wanted to look around the stores, I just wanted to find where Red Bunny was and actually go in the parlor to see if it was the same as it was on the website.
I finally took the path that lead me to Red Bunny. The direction was sooo easy, but I was just not comprehending the roads of the new environment. I see the Red Bunny sign and I leap in excitment because I was walking around for about 30-35 minutes trying to find this bunny sign. When I go up the tight twirly stairs I see that the steps started to say Red Bunny as I got to the 3rd floor. When I got in the store, I see a man that was wearing those cute frontal hats. I tell him that I was Kawaguchi Wakako, and that I had an appointment with Akatsuki. He asks me what I want and I show Christine's samples. He asked if I drew them, but of course I didn't. In a very enlightened voice he said that they were impressive!!! There was a middle aged woman that I sat next to, and she was looking at tatoo books. She was kind of an odd one. She said that the only tatoo she saw that she liked was a butterfly one, but she said that she didn't even like butterflies! Even though she disliked them, she met with the tatoo artist and confirmed her appointment and dropped her deposit... I was so confused to why she wanted a tattoo from the first place. Tattoos are permanent and usually a thoughtful event to someone... anyways, I finally chose the sakura one because that represented Japan, and I liked the whole twig part as well.
Akatsuki was this petite little cute thing. I imagined her to be alot more bolder since she was a female tattoo artist, but she wasn't. She was really nice, and she asked me if I wanted pink for my sakuras. I told her I wanted blue just because I was going with the whole snowflake idea. She as well told me how well drawn the samples were!!! Anyways, I leave red bunny with my deposit and good feelings. The parlor had decorations of Aztec decor, and rockabilly aura! I'll take pictures the 21st.

Alright, I typed enough for 3 days!!Goodnight!

Rain, rain pour away all those mosquitos\heat!

what a day today was. I was basically researching all day for my solo trip that is beginning this monday. It`s official that I am visiting Totori, (which has the desertland), O-saka(has one of the biggest castles..it`s also known for their AWSOME takoyaki/okonomiyaki), and than Kyoto to visit my sister and the Gion festival that is running right now until august. My sister and I are planning to get dressed in Furisodes which is usually worn on the coming of age ceremony. Since I am turning 20 this year, it`s a custom in Japan to get dressed in Furisodes which are kimonos with longer sleeves that come down near the floor. I can`t wait to get dressed in kimonos and get hair and makeup professionally done.
Anyways, today was a very humid day. I thought I was going to melt when I took Hanaco for a walk for only 20 minutes. I think the official summer had begun today. When I came home, my sister said that my butt was drenched with sweat! How embarrassing! Hanaco is feeling a little better today. We really enjoyed the cold watermelon.

Brain Dead

Today was kind of a lazy day for me. It was a bit cloudy outside, so I didn't really feel like doing much. I hung all the cloths that were washed today in our room, since it was possible that it was going to rain today. I was going to go to Ikebukuro(Tokyo) to get my JR-railpass activated so I can venture out for my solo trip- and than afterwards I was going to go to Kichijyo-ji(Tokyo) since that was where I was going to have a meeting w/ Akatsuki to tell her what I wanted for my tattoo but- I figured I should wait until Christine finishes my design. My sister said that Japanese people like specifics so, it was a better idea to wait until I get a full picture.
My sister and niece/nephew and I decided to go for a walk- since Hanaco needed a refreshment. She had a lot of fun with the fountain at the park. Her hair got wet and curly...it was a fun sight. At home, my brother in law was frustrated because he works at home, yet because of the kids being around he said that he cannot focus. From tomorrow the kids will be sleeping at my mom's which is only about 5 min walking distance from here. Hopefully that will help, because no work means no money! not good!

hospitals and sick babies.

So, I awake from my nephews and niece's cry and scream and all that lovely noise children make. but, for some reason Hanaco had a fever and so she was not going to pre-school today.
Poor child. Apparently someone at her preschool gave her the fever.. My sister called the pre-school and apparently Hanaco was not the only one knocked out.
Well, I went to go get my MRI at 9:00 AM. The hospital looked pretty old. It was called Seiwa hospital. The techinician that instructed me about the MRI test was pretty imformative. He explained that the M for the MRI meant Magnetic. So, anything that I wore that was metalic needed to be put away. I changed into my Japanese looking hospital wear(it kinda reminded me of a yukata style) and was handed my ear plugs since the MRI made really massive noise. He gave me this noice maker to hold in my hand, just in case the MRI hurt me and that I could stop the machine if it was nessasary. That really made me nervous. If it was going to hurt me, I wondered if it was a electrifying pain.
During the process of the MRI, I sat still as possile since this test cost me close to 6000yen=which converts to about $60.00. I wanted the test to be accurate to the a. The MRI machine was kind of like a cubicle. No wonder the techinician asked me if I was clastophobic or not. When they put me under the MRI machine, I wondered if anyone was stupid enough to leave their peircings on. That would mean that the peircing would rip apart from the person and attach to the MRI machine.. in a way, that made me laugh. I realized that there was a camera hole near the level of my eyes as well. I wondered if the techinicians saw my facial expressions. The only facial expressions I had was closed eyes and stillness. I'm sure if they were able to see my expressions it wasn't that exiting..lol The MRI scanning was actually pretty harmless. I was dozing off, and just thinking about these ridiculous things. I was especially thinking about the careless person that lost my check via mail for my transcript. I called the bank last night and they had said that my $40.00 application fee was not cashed.. so, I'm just thinking that the IVCC people forgot to put it in my envelope or the University of Illinois Chicago admissions people didn't carefully look into my envelope. It really makes me mad, because my application will not be finished by the time I come back from Japan.
Anyways, I carry my test results to the hospital that I've been going to(Hanazono Seikei geka) and I wait patiently for about an hour for the doctor to tell my results. My result was that I didn't have a hernia... and that it might have been just an inflammation. This made me feel better about my leg, but at the same time I lost about 8000yen for this ridiculously non-serious illness. I guess I should of waited longer if my leg healed or not. Now I know that I just need to stretch more and excercise my legs more..lol Finally, before I left the doctor's room I asked the doctor if I could have my X-ray tests from the MRI. They look neat. I've always been fascinated by these X-ray tests, but unfortunately he said that it was law to keep it in his hospital for 5 years. He suggested me to take camera pictures or pictures from my camera phone, but that was not what I wanted. I wanted the X-rays!!!
well well, this is what happend so far today. During the waiting period in Hanazono I was looking at a magazine that had all different kinds of things to do in my city and cities near me. There was one male hair stylist that caught my eye. He looks unique and cute. check him out here...lol http://www.b-april.com/ I'm such a sucker for cute men:p