Watarium and Samgyopsal!

So today was a pretty awesome day for the most part. After class and lunch I went to the Harajuku area with Becky to hang out. It had been a while since I was last there, so I was glad to go back! To be honest I miss living in that area...anyway got a pair of summer shoes and bought too many clothes. OH and also, discovered that there are now Slurpees at the 7-11s in Japan!!! (at least the one in Harajuku!) Like, I can't even describe how surprised I was. When I first got to Japan I was like "There are so many 7-11s but no Slurpees..." which made me really sad. When I talked to my host dad about it before, he said they used to sell Slurpees back in the day but they weren't popular so they stopped selling them. But apparently they are back, and cheap! Okay, so actually they Slurpees here aren't as good as the ones in the States, but still it was pretty good. And perfect for summer.

Beautiful.

After we finished shopping (which took forever since I found a million things I wanted to try on) we went to the Watarium art museum in Jingumae (located on the street I used to live on!) I had been there before for a different exhibit, but there was a new exhibit featuring the work of this artist called JR that I wanted to check out. And I'm so glad we did since we got to participate in the art project! With the museum ticket (which was only about 600yen for us students) we got to take one picture (and have it printed) taken to be a part of the Inside-Out Project!! So cooool!~

Here are some links about it: http://www.insideoutproject.net
http://www.jr-art.net

After that we met one of the new spring study abroad students and one of our Japanese friends to go eat at our favorite samgyopsal restaurant (our fifth time there!!)!! We hadn't been there since before February, so it had really been a long time. But even so, the chef there still remembered us! And as usual, he gave us free food. A delicious fluffy egg thing with vegetables in it. I can't even describe how good it was. We also just chatted with him for like 20 minutes or more after overeating. I really love that place. One of my goals was to become a regular at a restaurant in Tokyo. Even though we aren't technically regulars since we don't go there often enough, the staff treats us like regulars and are super nice. Definitely going there some more before I head home!~

We Can Do Cheese

Thursday I started English teaching again. It's pretty cool to teach English to a jazz singer. I only had one class Thursday but it was over three hours long and yeah...just too much. Went out to eat with my friend Jhanus and some Japanese friends who are in the club we are in (and who also might be coming to the Philippines/Korea with us?)

Friday I woke up and finalized plans for Kyoto and Osaka with my host mom. I'm so glad she helped research travel packs for me! After that I played with building blocks with my host brother. Sometimes when we play together I don't know who is haivng more fun...haha. My host family is in Nagano for the weekend. I could have gone with them but really needed to plan stuff for the Philippines and Korea/save money.
For lunch went to a curry place with Becky called Curry Up in my neighborhood. Some of the best curry I've had here. Next we went to a cafe called Lapaz which is also in my neighborhood. The drinks/cake was a bit pricey, but the atmosphere there is great and the bathroom is crazy (it's all white and has cool architecture  I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland). Got some homework done there thankfully. After that continued to walk around my neighborhood (Harajuku, Omotesando, Jingumae area). Really love where I live. Checked out some 2nd hand shops/thrift stores that had some of the ugliest sweaters I've ever seen. Too bad the best ones were like over $20...oh Japan. Thrift stores here are always thrifty...For dinner we went to this samgyapsul place (kinda like Korean BBQ). Started talking with the workers there which was fun. They ended up giving us free face masks, nori, and put cheese on our dokbokki even though it wasn't on the menu when we asked if they could (at first the waiter was like no we don't have cheese dokbokki, but then the chef was all like you want cheese? we can do cheese). Oh, and before that we stumbled across a vintage American toy shop! Polly Pocket and Barbies! It was a bit creepy though...haha

Delicious cake

This cafe is so cool!~

All the ugly sweaters

Saturday class was horrendous as usual. Afterwards met up with everyone at Dre's to plan for Philippines and Korea. So excited. Haven't bought the ticket yet but know which one I want. We reserved a hostel in Seoul though! These next two months are going to be crazy! Also went to the gay bar (LOL) again with Jhanus and some other friends from our program. Made some new friends and got to see our bartender friend for a bit! After that ate at a family restaurant and went to karaoke. So tired. Went to bed around 6:30, got up at 2 (and woke up like five times in between that). Trying to finish some more homework today so it's not all pilled up later...also going to the samgyapsul place again for dinner? Haha. Today I've been in Japan for four months. Crazy. I've made so many great memories so far. AND MY BROTHER IS COMING TOMORROW YAY!~