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Bonne année, grand nez!
Jan. 3rd, 2009 10:59 amHere's my version of our New Year's Eve/Morning Adventure:
Arabian Rock: We got a room with floor seating and cushions! We revisited our favourite foods and drinks (cheesy fondue dip, Jill had balls, I ordered the lamb dish, etc.) and the staff did their usual schtick of setting stuff on fire and having us shout about it. One waiter had cow ears and horns on, to mark the new year of the ox. And because it was Becca's birthday, she got a special slice of cake and a photo and the birthday song.
Somehow, the round of introductions felt like a PoT/tenimyu/D-Boys-Anonymous meeting. "Hi, I'm blodeuedd on lj, and I'm a Seigaku girl. My favourite character is the Golden Pair. Yes, they count as one! :D"
Purikura: Can you believe I'd never done purikura in Japan before? I'd done it in Vancouver, but never here. *fails*
Midnight: I'm glad that Tiffany wanted to go to the Meiji shrine, because it was something I'd been wanting to do, but it just wouldn't have been as much fun on my own. Being in the crowd was nice, in a way, because the penguin effect kept us mostly warm, except for me feet; I'd chosen to wear shoes instead of boots, because I'd originally thought I'd be bumping and grinding in a club for part of the night. A couple of times we ended up with cold air at our backs, as policemen cordonned off the crowd, but we quickly wormed our way forward again.
We were still a ways from the actual shrine itself when midnight struck, and it took us over an hour to get to the front, where we had about five seconds to toss our coin and say our prayer before the next wave of people crashed at our backs. We headed back toward Shibuya, and I got to see the never-open-except-at-new-year Harajuku station entrance in a state of openness, though we didn't use it. Also, I had my first sighting (and ingesting) of chap chae as a festival food! Why don't they have it everywhere?! Needed more vegetables, though.
Shibuya Revisited: We picked up Hannah at Hachiko, then had soup at First Kitchen. We were joined a little while later by Becca and Crystal, after some confusion about which fast food place's basement we were actually in, and a little later still by Jill and Mari. On the way out, a girl coming down the stairs dropped her piping-hot coffee on my foot, splashing my pretty new green jeans in the process. Fortunately (?) my feet were soon cold enough that I could ignore the fact that my shoe was full of coffee, and the stains came out in the wash, so no harm done, I guess.
Then there was an hour of karaoke, where I kept it real with the classics, i.e. Evangelion and Gundam Wing songs. ^_^
In Search of a Sunrise: We ended up going to Shinagawa, which was as deserted as you'd expect it to be at 5:30 on the first day of the year, and had breakfast (mini pancakes!) at "D's presented by Denny's" -- how is it different from regular Denny's? It is a mystery.
While we didn't get a superb view of the sunrise (I do think we would have if we'd searched for that big bridge, but oh well...), I think it was somehow more memorable to be standing in a nearly-deserted park, slightly delirious after having been up all night, watching people walk their dogs, exclaiming about the shiny newness of everything: "It's the first piss of the year! XDDD" Then the sun actually rose from behind the buildings, and everything was golden.
The best part, I think, was sharing the first Caramelldansen and group hug of the year with all you wonderful ladies. <3
Arabian Rock: We got a room with floor seating and cushions! We revisited our favourite foods and drinks (cheesy fondue dip, Jill had balls, I ordered the lamb dish, etc.) and the staff did their usual schtick of setting stuff on fire and having us shout about it. One waiter had cow ears and horns on, to mark the new year of the ox. And because it was Becca's birthday, she got a special slice of cake and a photo and the birthday song.
Somehow, the round of introductions felt like a PoT/tenimyu/D-Boys-Anonymous meeting. "Hi, I'm blodeuedd on lj, and I'm a Seigaku girl. My favourite character is the Golden Pair. Yes, they count as one! :D"
Purikura: Can you believe I'd never done purikura in Japan before? I'd done it in Vancouver, but never here. *fails*
Midnight: I'm glad that Tiffany wanted to go to the Meiji shrine, because it was something I'd been wanting to do, but it just wouldn't have been as much fun on my own. Being in the crowd was nice, in a way, because the penguin effect kept us mostly warm, except for me feet; I'd chosen to wear shoes instead of boots, because I'd originally thought I'd be bumping and grinding in a club for part of the night. A couple of times we ended up with cold air at our backs, as policemen cordonned off the crowd, but we quickly wormed our way forward again.
We were still a ways from the actual shrine itself when midnight struck, and it took us over an hour to get to the front, where we had about five seconds to toss our coin and say our prayer before the next wave of people crashed at our backs. We headed back toward Shibuya, and I got to see the never-open-except-at-new-year Harajuku station entrance in a state of openness, though we didn't use it. Also, I had my first sighting (and ingesting) of chap chae as a festival food! Why don't they have it everywhere?! Needed more vegetables, though.
Shibuya Revisited: We picked up Hannah at Hachiko, then had soup at First Kitchen. We were joined a little while later by Becca and Crystal, after some confusion about which fast food place's basement we were actually in, and a little later still by Jill and Mari. On the way out, a girl coming down the stairs dropped her piping-hot coffee on my foot, splashing my pretty new green jeans in the process. Fortunately (?) my feet were soon cold enough that I could ignore the fact that my shoe was full of coffee, and the stains came out in the wash, so no harm done, I guess.
Then there was an hour of karaoke, where I kept it real with the classics, i.e. Evangelion and Gundam Wing songs. ^_^
In Search of a Sunrise: We ended up going to Shinagawa, which was as deserted as you'd expect it to be at 5:30 on the first day of the year, and had breakfast (mini pancakes!) at "D's presented by Denny's" -- how is it different from regular Denny's? It is a mystery.
While we didn't get a superb view of the sunrise (I do think we would have if we'd searched for that big bridge, but oh well...), I think it was somehow more memorable to be standing in a nearly-deserted park, slightly delirious after having been up all night, watching people walk their dogs, exclaiming about the shiny newness of everything: "It's the first piss of the year! XDDD" Then the sun actually rose from behind the buildings, and everything was golden.
The best part, I think, was sharing the first Caramelldansen and group hug of the year with all you wonderful ladies. <3
