Japan, Week 7-8.

Hisashiburiiiii~

 

 

 

So not much happened in week 7 and then all sorts of things started happening so I didn’t really get up the time or energy to update until now, into week 9 lol. But oh well.

 

The good news is that I’ve finally been certified as an assessor for the company’s elementary school assessment tests! This means I’ll finally get to travel out and see all around Japan. My first stop is up in Ibaraki Prefecture, in Kamisu-shi. I should be heading out there either next week or the week after~

 

The other big thing that happened in week 7 was that finally I did the voice recording for the storybook DVDs! I travelled down to Meguro to the studio there.

 

 

 

My script~

 

The engineer, Hiroshi, at work.

 

More of his setup.

 

The recording booth~

 

 

We went out to lunch before I did my recordings~

 

Roast chicken and a beef korokke.

And garlic bread that wasn’t garlicky xD;;

 

The recording was really fun! I was very nervous and I had a hard time with a few lines because they didn’t read out in English the way the producer wanted them to… and my throat was really dry through the first story, ahaha, but it was super fun and I think I did all right. I will apparently get a few copies of the DVDs, so I’m excited to see how they turn out in the end!

 

 

 

Two days after the recording, I was taken to the hospital.

I have been feeling really sluggish, weak, achy, tired, and dizzy for about… it was about three and a half weeks at that point, and it’s been a month at this point. It wasn’t anything that was going to kill me, but the people in charge of me were beginning to worry, so I went to the hospital for a routine checkup.

The first day, they drew some blood for testing because my symptoms didn’t tell them anything.

The next time, I got my blood results back. Nothing was abnormal, but I was recommended to a psychiatrist for further checking.

The third time, I went to see the psychiatrist who at first wanted to send me back to America (uh, NO); after, he wanted me to go to another clinic for psychotherapy and medical treatment (too expensive), and next wanted me to take an extremely long break from work (impossible). The reason is that with the situation at work and with life back in America, I’ve become overworked and overstressed and my body isn’t capable of handling the amount of stress I’m enduring, so it’s deteriorating. I’ll be all right, but I need a lot of rest.

So at the moment, we’re going to try to arrange work so it’s a bit less stressful. We’ll see how that turns out. I’m also supposed to increase my medication dose and sleep less (to try to make the sleep deeper and more restful) At the moment I’m writing this, my body has spun back into hellish aching and pain, but maybe with a good night of sleep it’ll fade.

 

On the upside, I now know what a Japanese hospital is like! :Db

 

 

 

Here are some random everyday things~

 

Announcements from Tokyo Dome! x3 I check it every day, but at the moment, there is nothing there.

 

 

Another poster to cheer your day.

 

 

Look at the tiny little taiyaki! ( *｀ω´) It’s so cute!

 

 

 

Shrimp-scented senbei! Usually I hate shrimp, but these weren’t too bad… probably because they tasted like not-shrimp haha.

 

 

 

Iced cocoa at the hospital cafe.

 

Chicken tandoori sandwich at the hospital cafe.

 

 

I finally got a suit blazer for my professional getup, just in time too. It’s technically men’s but it looks good on me, doesn’t it? x3

 

 

 

The big news of week 8: the GazettE’s new album, “TOXIC”!!!

 

 

I got the limited edition, which was announced would have a special artbook, but the artbook –is- the case and the lyric booklet. It’s a really gorgeous layout (though I could do without some of the pictures of the model. NOBODY LIKES YOU) and Ruki specially designed a piece of artwork to go with every song’s lyrics.

I’m not a huge fan of modern art, but it’s really interesting to me to look at the pictures and read the lyrics while I listen to the song.

 

Some of my favourite pieces:

[INFUSE INTO], the opening instrumental track.

 

 

“UNTITLED”, the lovely soft ballad of the album.

 

 

“RUTHLESS DEED”, which sounds a bit like Dir en grey as far as the music goes, but in a very GazettE way.

 

 

 

My favourite piece of artwork though, is this one:

“TOMORROW NEVER DIES”, the optimistic, encouraging, upbeat song of the album. It feels quite misplaced initially, but I can see how it fits into the overall scheme of the album. It’s the flip side to the darker “THE SUICIDE CIRCUS” (which is my personal favourite on the album).

 

 

Overall, it’s quite a good album. It’s very different from their previous work, which is what they do anyway, but it still has their essential sound and theme. I don’t think it’s as good or complete an album as “DIM”, but I am enjoying this one very much. It is definitely my second favourite, and I am looking forward to Saturday’s live and seeing how this album plays out on stage~

 

 

 

The other big event of week 8 was lunch at the Moomin Cafe in Tokyo Dome City!

Moominpapa waiting right outside for you~

 

 

 

 

 

And Moomin sat with us! x3 Awwww so cute~

 

 

I had the Moominpapa lunch, which consisted of stewed pork (some sort of paistea, I believe), potatoes, broccoli, creamed potatoes, and salad.

Manna also gave me half of one of her Moominmama korokkes, which was cream cheese and crab.

 

It was really an excellent lunch and reminded me a lot of my mummi’s cooking. I miss it so much~ ;___;

 

After lunch, we peeked into the bakery for a bit~

 

 

 

 

I’m definitely going back sometime to get some pulla rolls and some perunaleipa~ ( *｀ω´)ゞ Taste of home~

 

 

 

About all else I have are just pictures of home cooking:

 

Rice and miso. This is what I lived off of for about two days before I got fed up with it, haha. With all the hospital bills to pay, I had about ¥1,000 to feed myself with for at least a week.

 

So I made this, kabocha (pumpkin) curry! This was super good! Japanese pumpkin is really taste and the rind is divine. In a curry it tastes fantastic.

 

Someone from church was really sweet and when she heard I was sick, she brought over this kabocha-miso soup. It has chunks of pork, carrot, kabocha, and potatoes in it. It was really good, I’ll have to try making it soon.

 

 

 

Kabocha sukiyaki! Lots of kabocha because it’s really tasty!!! x3

 

 

The other day when I had some money I went to the wagashi (Japanese sweets) stand and got a couple of treats:

The one on the left is called ohagi, and the one on the right is a plain an doughnut.

Ohagi is, basically, a rice ball wrapped in an. It was really good, but super-rich. x3 I’m going back to that stand soon to try some of their other treats~

 

 

Today I was craving Western sweets, so I went back to the bakery and bought this:

A chocolate gateau, which I haven’t eaten yet so I didn’t take out of the box. xDDD

 

 

 

Purchases of the last two weeks have been basically nonexistent save this:

 

An old, old Kimeru CD/DVD pack because I found it in Book-Off for only ¥500. I really should kick my addiction to this man BUT I CAN’T I LOVE HIS MUSIC SO MUCH.

 

 

 

 

And that’s all for the last two weeks. The GazettE live is on Saturday, and I’m really looking forward to it~ I’ll check in with a report next weekend!