The things you find when you're not looking for them

Ma and Pa

My hammy brother

Business in the front...

...party in the back!

Dad when he was skinny!

My dad took this photo of my mom.
I believe he's stated it's his favorite ever.

Kula Farms, Maui

There's no place like home <3

Twas the week or so before Christmas...

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone is thoroughly enjoying the holiday, since it's on a Sunday and no one in Japan or America has to work. I certainly enjoyed this view at Waikiki Beach on Christmas Eve.

A while back dearest Marissa decided not to go back to America for Christmas, so we had a little Christmas get-together at her ENORMOUS apartment. Seriously, the company put me in the tiniest little studio and Marissa has this huge 1RK apartment with enough space for a queen sized bed and two burners in the kitchen. TWO!

The girls got me a totally legal copy of TegoMass' newest album, Tetsuya <3 on the cover of the latest EXILE magazine (that I refrained from buying a few weeks ago since I bought the J Soul Brothers cd + dvds), and the Dolly Wink eye shadow that I've been wanting since the summer. 

Tracy and I got Marissa some GANTZ postcards we managed to find in Nakano and some other things she doesn't remember because NINO AND THAT OTHER GUY IN LEATHER SUITS HEEEEY.

Marissa and I got Tracy a Totoro blanket and a bunch of nail polishes. Revlon makes scented nail polishes in Japan, so I got her the pink peach-scented one.

I also brought over this sake that was left for me in the apartment by the last teacher. Drank half the bottle and didn't even feel it! Lame.

Tracy and I also impulsively bought a few Christmas cakes. In Japan people eat regular cake, absolutely no special ingredients whatsoever, at Christmas and call it Christmas cake. We also bought a crepe layer cake which wasn't that good.

And now for some really bad photos! I don't think we managed to take a good one at all.

And a wonderful time was had by all!

Mini-Post: I'm home!

 I'm in Hawaii, my dear homeland, for the holidays. I'll post about my (early) Christmas dinner in Machida and alcohol later. For now, I'm gonna spend time with my family and enjoy the warm weather.

Beautiful downtown Honolulu.

Merry Christmas to everyone in Japan and everyone in America (including me!) has mere hours to get those last-minute Christmas gifts!

Shameless Purchases Post

Welcome to another Shameless Purchases post! I've been dropping some serious cash on various things this past week, and I'd like to share them with you~

Seriously, how do I sign up to drive the EXILE/J Soul Brothers truck?

First up, my beloved Sandaime J Soul Brothers released their new album! Check out their ad trucks rolling through the Shibuya scramble, easily one of the best random things in Tokyo. I bought the album set as a reward for taking the JLPT, and what a reward it is. The set contains a brand new CD, a DVD with four videos and two making-of clips, and a live double DVD of Nidaime vs. Sandaime AND some show the entire EXILE Tribe did. HOT DAMN.

The best clip is the "Fighters - Round 3" PV, where the performers get their crazy free-style b-boy skillz on and are completely adorable and make me want to marry all of them - even the one who can't decide what his look is supposed to be and looks weird most of the time because of it.

Yes, this is the second album they've released this year.

Caroline has been gradually cleaning out her apartment, and bestowed upon me a great deal for her old jisho and JLPT N3 study books. I've been wanting a proper electronic dictionary for a while but have been holding off since even the cheapest ones are a few hundred dollars. I am now super legit with this jisho and can even bust it out in class with Mittens and Slightly Racist Teenager when they don't know something. Mamegoma is totally staying on there and will be getting company shortly~

Full color touch screen is pretty badass.

This is the greatest Christmas card I have ever seen. Tracy described it to me a few weeks ago and it made it sound like all of my wildest dreams come true. I found it at Loft and it is WAY cooler in person. I'm gonna send it to my grandmother, I hope she finds it as mesmerizing as I do.

And finally, I did my nails! I've really come to like these little pa nail polishes, they're cheap and come in all kinds of great colors.

Looks better in person, I promise.

Now somehow I've got to save SOME money this month, hopefully I won't have to do too much more Christmas shopping before I get paid and go home.