Good Ol' Texas

I am back home.

It has been a week since the devastating 9 quake in northeast Japan. I still can't believe what has happened and what has brought me back to America. I just keep thinking: "Why does it have to be Japan? Hmm?!?! WHY?!?!?!" I love Japan and its people SO SO SO much. My thoughts and love go out to Japan.

I got a smack in the face from reversal culture shock. No more politeness. Road rage. Distasteful choices Americans make in life and fashion. I'm becoming more racist than I was before I left for Japan. And the thoughts I have in my head are not Japanese-like.

There are pluses being back in America. Don't get me wrong. My family is here. My babies are here. My Samikuns and Naito are so comforting to have around. My pup can sense the depression in my sighs and attacks me with kisses. I need to take my Naito for a drive, but with these gas prices, I don't know... There's easy access to daily necessities and non-necessities for low prices. I went to Spec's and Krogers and was SO amazed by the cheap prices while my brother complains how expensive things have gotten. Food is dericious! Had me some home-cooked bun rieu and Waffle House for a late night snack after drinking for St. Patrick's day. (Which I totally forgot about...) I can read and understand signs here. My English is going to go back to normal. (Hopefully) No more Japanglish.

Now that I am in America again, NO MORE MISS NICE GIRL!! I am NOT in Japan anymore. Readjusting to America is a lot more painful emotionally and psychologically than I thought it would be. I was only gone for 7 months. WTF. My mind is blank. I can't believe I am back in America.

The Terminal: Tokyo

I haven't felt this ghetto fabulous in well... ever. I have been at the Narita Airport for 17 hours and going on semi-strong. I honestly haven't felt this safe since the earthquake on Friday. Even though according to someone (who I seriously wanted to backhand) bluntly told me I am going toward the radiation if anything, I feel safe. I am closer to being home.

So, we were lucky enough to catch the airport limousine bus from Shinyokohama earlier than the time on our tickets. After running a few errands in the morning (cutting off my baller Softbank limited edition Hello Kitty phone and pocketbook wifi), I said my last goodbyes to my boss ladies. And during those 5 minutes, the building once again shook. I don't know if it was the strong winds or an aftershock, but it was signal for me to skedaddle. After my unpleasant conversation (which reminded me of the cons of staying even before the quake) and the rocking building, I realized that my decision was definitely the right one for me.

I am completely depressed about leaving Japan and not being able to say proper goodbyes to the students I really got to know and all the friends who I've really bonded with. I am, however, spending my last moments in Tokyo with a lovely training mate of mine. And another training mate lives in the same neck of the woods as me back in the states. This is not goodbye forever.

So, if any of my friends who I've made in Japan reads this blog, LET'S KIT! (Keep in touch!)

My email is: nguyet.anh.tran@gmail.com

Don't hesitate to drop me a line or two. :) Much love. Take care. Until we meet again.

Happy White Day....?

What a memorable White Day. My brain hurts so much contemplating whether or not I should flee Japan. I thought that at this time today, I would be tired from venturing around Kamakura with the Dears and Cuzzo but no.

An earthquake decides to hit in the northeast area of Japan. Then a tsunami hits. Then... panic. The Dears arrived the day before the 8.9 quake hit on Friday at 2:56 pm. I was in the middle of my private lesson talking about how marriage is loveless in Japan, and then the building starts shaking. I thought it was going to be like any other quake that would last like 5 seconds, but this one was stubborn and wouldn't stop shaking the building. Things started falling off the walls, and I could hear things crashing down on the other side of the classroom door. Being on the 9th floor of the building, I ran into the office and grabbed my coat and purse ready to run down 9 flights of stairs. Insanely enough, the staff was not prepared with any sort of earthquake evacuation procedures. So then, I dropped to the ground and curled into a ball. PANIC! After the first quake settled down, the students who were in the building left. I kept thinking to myself, why am I still in the building? We's gotta get the hell outta here!~ So, finally, I leave the building and crowds of people were standing outside. I didn't know what was going on, but people were pointing and saying "kowaii!!" The buildings were swaying back and forth. You can tell by looking at the window blinds. It seemed so unreal. And then the trees started shaking! The crowd migrated to the opposite end far away from the buildings and trees.

In between hyperventilating throughout this whole experience, all I could think about was WHERE ARE THE DEARS?!?!?! We were let out of work early, but I did not have my apartment keys to get inside. So, the adventure continues. I walk back to my apartment praying that they were home. There was no one. Thank goodness the internet on my cell phone started working again. THANK YOU FACEBOOK! 9 hours of wondering and waiting for the Dears. I walked up and down those stairs to my apartment unsure of where I should be waiting. Finally, I received a call. I was SO relieved that nothing serious happened to them. I waited in Cubic Plaza with the rest of the people who were stranded in Shinyokohama. The lines of people waiting for taxis kept increasing. And the air kept getting colder and colder. The guy that worked at Italian Quarter was super nice. He brought out a cup of hot tea for me and brought me chocolates while I waited oh so patiently for the Dears. Until... we were finally reunited!!! I have never been so happy to see them in my life. I was so happy and excited when they arrived they day before, but I was beyond ecstatic to see them that night.

We got home, and we shared our stories and experiences. The Dears were in Center Kita and walked 2.5 hours back to Shinyokohama. Aftershocks are not my friend. I could not go to bed that night. I am so glad that the Dears are here with me. If not, I don't know what I would be doing at this moment.

Crazy enough, Cuzzo comes out to Japan Saturday. The day after the natural disasters. We obviously thought it was meant to be since she was able to catch a standby flight. Things were fine up until this Monday morning. All day Sunday, we toured around Tokyo. Started in Shibuya, got our Beard Papa's and ate keiten zushi then went to the next area. Harajuku and Omotesando. I finally got my Hello Kitty cell phone back! Walked around and ate a yum crepe! After that, we continued riding the Yamanote Line to Ueno to transfer onto the Ginza Line to see Sensouji in Asakusa. It was a nice little area, but then it was time to ride the Ginza Line back down toward Shibuya. We made a stop in Akasaka for our reserved dinner at Ninja Restaurant. It was a great experience, and we even celebrated Cuzzo's "birthday." It was a great way to end the night.

Doesn't it seem like everything is all peachy keens after having a wonderful day in Tokyo?? Well, I'm not feeling 100% anymore. Please give me strength.

Toto, I've a feeling I'm not in Japan anymore... or am I?

It's not that I don't fancy Japanese food anymore, but for some reason I have been eating at non-Japanese restaurants.

It all started after failing the first attempt to hit up a Vietnamese restaurant in Shibuya. I found myself at an Indian restaurant called Samrat instead. Let me tell you, that nan with the two types of curry I got was the bizzombs! I forgot what it was called, but one was mutton and the other was some sort of buttery chicken something. It was definitely good. I would go there again and order the same thing and more.

Then the next thing on my around-the-world menu for the weekend was Korean. I LOVE LOVE LOOOOVE Korean. I went to some place down the street from Okubo Station. It was Korean barbecue tabehodai aka all you can eat YUMMINESS!!~ They cooked the yummilicious marinated meat on top of some sort of crystal. It was fun watching them clean the surface of the slab of crystal in between massive cooking with cubes of ice melting and steaming on top. And there was a mug that caught the oil, which was SO not appetizing. No one wanted to take a shot of it for $100! Hah! I could possibly go back to this place again, but they need to not be fraudulent and have EVERYTHING be for real tabehodai. How can KIMCHI not be bottomless like the rest? KIMCHI!!~

So finally, I was able to have a taste of Vietnamese food in Shibuya the following weekend. And let me just tell you, they were definitely Vietnamese, which got all my hopes up. FAIL! I got me a bowl of bun rieu, and I had to force myself to eat that expensive bowl of noodles. Where was the crab? The soup of the pho was at least somewhat decent. However, nothing beats Papa's cooking. And honestly, it just wasn't great at all compared to even the crappiest Vietnamese restaurant in Houston. I also tried their banh cuon, and it tasted like it was just reheated and served. The texture of the cuon was not fresh. BUT! One good thing from this restaurant were the eggrolls, which were almost as good as Mama's. It will suffice.

Oh. I didn't get pictures of the banh cuon and eggrolls because we were too hungry and wolfed it all down before I realized I didn't take pictures of it.... Biyanee.

Later that night, the around-the-world menu was not over, I went to Ginza's Mitsukoshi department store to have some Italian. I got myself a pizza. I forgot what I ordered exactly, but it was some sort of chicken pizza. The chicken was mixed with some sort of special sauce and was plopped smack dab in the middle of the pizza. It was pretty good, but it wouldn't be something I would go back for again.

And this past weekend was full of festivities. I went to a restaurant called Arabian Rock in Shinjuku. It was pretty nifty. There were a lot of tricks to get into the restaurant and everything. If you have a birthday there, the Genie from Aladdin along with two wannabe Jasmines will parade around. That night was a nomihodai night aka all you can drink. You know it! How was the food? I don't really remember. It wasn't that special obviously. I would never go there again. Maybe it was because of the company I had. And I'm not talking about the girls in the picture with me. It's the other half that will not be exposed to cyber world.

Finally, to top off all my different tastes of the world, I got me some Mexican. The place is called Junkadelic. It's a super cozy place that totally made me feel like I was back at home. Maybe it was the other foreigners sitting at the table next to ours, but the feel of the place was definitely not Japanese. The food was definitely delish. I got myself a beef burrito. I would definitely come back here again. The enchiladas, empanadas, and well practically everything looked so good!

Some places did make me feel like I was still in Japan eating Japanese versions of Vietnamese, Italian, and Arabian. However, the winners of the weekends for authenticity, or something pretty close to it, were Indian, Korean, and Mexican.