Busy Busy Busy is the only way to describe this past week. TGIF for sure! Not only have I been super busy at work, but I have been out every night this week as well. Fun times, but so fun that they've left me with about as much energy as a wet rag for the weekend.
Funny that I leave for Thailand tomorrow. I haven't packed yet or anything! I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that I'm leaving in 24 hours. I did, however, start my room makeover to make space for Bex' 2-month bonanza in Tokyo. I rearranged my furniture, and even cleared out space in my drawers and closet. Now THAT is a good friend!
The activities of the week included dinner on Tuesday night with Px and Matto at our fave izakaya in Shibuya, ironically right down the street from where I used to live. Wednesday night S and I went to dinner and a movie, hence the reference to feeling Sideways, a thought-provoking film about the human spirit and experience. Set entirely from the male point of view, it was interesting to see how two very different middle-aged men come to terms with the paths of their lives-- how people grow (closer or farther apart), how people fool themselves about their lives (to avoid disappointment?), and how all of this relates to the very substance that changes the color of my face to a too-conspicuous rouge. Wine.
St. Patty's Day followed, and of course I was not missing the night to celebrate my Irish heritage. I had set up dinner and drinks at my old stomping ground Hobgoblin with some co-workers and a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. I love when the company pays to make my celebrations that much better! And I saw my favorite Irish bartender (we go waaaay back), who gave S and me some Bailey's to cap the night off.
My busy week has finally come to an end, and my eyes are struggling to stay open. The clock reads 15:43, always my sleepiest time of day.
Bon voyage to me, and be ready for some good pics with my new digi cam upon my return from the shopping mecca and glorious beaches of Southeast Asia.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Monday, March 14, 2005
Party like a rockstar?...
That I did. Thanks for the birthday shout out elizabethbutler-chan. It was probably the best birthday weekend I've had in a long time. In fact I don't think I'd change anything about it. Thanks so much to Px, Tokyomx, S and everyone else who helped me celebrate. I didn't know so much fabulousness could be stuffed into one weekend!
Friday night, the 11th: I was birthday wined and dined. S, boyfriend turned fashion consultant, advised me to gather up my sexiest dress and shoes for a dinner out. I had no clue where we were going until we got into the taxi and I heard our destination.
"Shinjuku Park Hyatt"
It's actually the restaurant that shares its bar with the infamous hotel bar that Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson frequent in Lost in Translation. It's heaven-- quite literally-- I found myself looking out the window into the haze of the clouds. The view from the 52nd floor was stunning. The meal began with a cosmo and ended with finally, FINALLY my beloved slab of hot meat in the form of a mouthwatering filet mignon!! If they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, it was obviously before they met me. S and I closed the restaurant and a really perfect night.
Saturday, March 12th: A continuation of the festivites, but more the drunken silly ones than the romantic. P and I brought it local for this one-- a 15 person birthday dinner/party at our local eatery Connections. As I put in my evite, a great mix of Asian and Italian, just like me! P and Mx were incredible and ordered all the champagne and wine we could drink-- and boy did we ever drink. Highlights of the night included amazing company, the most touching toast ever from my sweetie Matt, and though it totally wasn't even deserved, 2 fabulous gifts-- a digi cam from P, Mx&Jo-Jo, Matt, K&M
Click here to see them all! And please keep in mind it's my birthday so I'm allowed to act like that.
The second pressie was silver and came from S in a blue box-- THE blue box . OK, so S found there are 2 ways to this girl's heart...
And that just about wrapped up a perfect birthday weekend. Made possible only thanks to my unbelievable friends who I can't thank enough.
If my DC/Nazo crew would have been there too, it would have made things only better, but for Tokyo, it will be a weekend never to forget.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
My first trip off the island...
Back to my second day of work after a 4-day holiday snowboarding in Hokkaido. Moreover, back to work with nothing to do. Add Spring time, sunny warm weather to the equation, and you just about know how motivated I am right now.
But I digress. The trip to Hokkaido was AMAZING! Think winter wonderland! Huge rolling mountains, snow-covered shores and thick, fluffy powder snow covering all of the slopes. I've now been spoiled by the boarding conditions and will probably stick up my nose at the resorts around Tokyo from now on. We boarded for 4 straight days, proving to be quite the challenge for my weak right ankle, bruised knees and aching muscles, but just the right way to improve. We were 10-- Me and Px, her 2 Japanese colleagues, S and 4 of his Frenchy friends, and one of their Japanese girlfriends, who ended up being about the same age as me and a very cool girl. The boys went off and did their own silly boy things, while we girls conquered the red (intermediate) runs, and even a few blacks. In the deep powder snow, falling wasn't so much a painful experience but an opportunity to roll around and do somersaults backwards down the hill. Believe it or not, this mindset causes you to fall less! I must give credit, however, to Frenchy F, who ended up being a most subarashii sensei. Because of his little tips I was careening down the slopes, off piste in the "do not enter" areas under the lifts, and between trees (only partially on my ass) by the end.
The dynamics of the group were quite funny as well. I have no complaints about being entertained by 5 very cute Frenchy boys, and to my delight, Px even liked them too! Apart from boarding we were almost too tired to do anything else besides going to onsen (referred to by the boys as the "swimming pool" because they were convinced the one we preferred was not "real onsen water"), eating lots and lots of ikura-don, miso ramen and other yummy Hokkaido delights, and drinking nama beer and umeshuu. The lodge was absolutely adamant about having us awake for 7:30am breakfast, and for some strange reason, the restaurant didn't quite appreciate our bringing cereal and toast from the conbini to breakfast rather than waking up that god-awful early. After listening to Frenchy G snore like he had industrial farm equipment working inside his nose, it didn't make for many good nights of sleep.
But all-in-all, a great weekend and break from Tokyo-- just making this week that much harder to get through, however. Now on to party planning-- my birthday bash will be held this Saturday at a location near you-- or near me, anyway... and then the next weekend I'm off to Thailand for 10 days and I'm bringing a present (Becca) back with me. Will try to update and get my photos uploaded somewhere in between, and god willing, get a new camera before I leave so I don't have to be embarrassed anymore by my "brick."
Here are some...
But I digress. The trip to Hokkaido was AMAZING! Think winter wonderland! Huge rolling mountains, snow-covered shores and thick, fluffy powder snow covering all of the slopes. I've now been spoiled by the boarding conditions and will probably stick up my nose at the resorts around Tokyo from now on. We boarded for 4 straight days, proving to be quite the challenge for my weak right ankle, bruised knees and aching muscles, but just the right way to improve. We were 10-- Me and Px, her 2 Japanese colleagues, S and 4 of his Frenchy friends, and one of their Japanese girlfriends, who ended up being about the same age as me and a very cool girl. The boys went off and did their own silly boy things, while we girls conquered the red (intermediate) runs, and even a few blacks. In the deep powder snow, falling wasn't so much a painful experience but an opportunity to roll around and do somersaults backwards down the hill. Believe it or not, this mindset causes you to fall less! I must give credit, however, to Frenchy F, who ended up being a most subarashii sensei. Because of his little tips I was careening down the slopes, off piste in the "do not enter" areas under the lifts, and between trees (only partially on my ass) by the end.
The dynamics of the group were quite funny as well. I have no complaints about being entertained by 5 very cute Frenchy boys, and to my delight, Px even liked them too! Apart from boarding we were almost too tired to do anything else besides going to onsen (referred to by the boys as the "swimming pool" because they were convinced the one we preferred was not "real onsen water"), eating lots and lots of ikura-don, miso ramen and other yummy Hokkaido delights, and drinking nama beer and umeshuu. The lodge was absolutely adamant about having us awake for 7:30am breakfast, and for some strange reason, the restaurant didn't quite appreciate our bringing cereal and toast from the conbini to breakfast rather than waking up that god-awful early. After listening to Frenchy G snore like he had industrial farm equipment working inside his nose, it didn't make for many good nights of sleep.
But all-in-all, a great weekend and break from Tokyo-- just making this week that much harder to get through, however. Now on to party planning-- my birthday bash will be held this Saturday at a location near you-- or near me, anyway... and then the next weekend I'm off to Thailand for 10 days and I'm bringing a present (Becca) back with me. Will try to update and get my photos uploaded somewhere in between, and god willing, get a new camera before I leave so I don't have to be embarrassed anymore by my "brick."
Here are some...
Here are more...
