06/09/2006: My Birthday!

     Today I slept in for my birthday. I got up and took a long, relaxing walk to the ATM, took the time to enjoy the cool rain showers, and watched people rushing off to their jobs as their lunch breaks came to their always-abrupt end. I decided it was time to treat myself to some good food since my student loan money had finally dispersed, so I went to Anne Marie's Restaurant across the street and ordered a huge teriyaki burger with a side of french fries. Here they give you entire ketchup and mustard bottles to use as much as you want! (a rarity in japan, where ketchup seems pretty scarce unless you buy your own at a supermarket). For eleven dollars I stuffed myself to the gills and for four more dollars I enjoyed a huge glass of ice cola. After lunch I returned to my room to do some laundry and clean my apartment room. I vacuumed the room with the small vacuum provided in the corner, and then organized and tightly packed away most of my clothing because I realized I only had two weeks left in my trip. I also realized I would have to mail some of my souvenirs home because I was running out of room in my suitcases!

     For dinner Kristina and I decided to head out to Harajuku and go to a fancy Italian/Spanish cuisine restaurant on the third floor of a building across from the JR Station. It was an excellent meal, in part due to our English-speaking waitress from Nova Scotia (a short jump from Maine and very near to where I'm from). In a way we were relieved to have a little break from all the translating we've been doing (which at times can be very tiring and frustrating when you can't seem to read all the kanji about. This was especially true for us because we were beginners at the time). I ended up ordering tapas (crispy bread kind with fresh tomato, basil and herb olive oil), a large plate of linguini covered in like 20 clams and white sauce, and a nice red wine they had on special that night. It was extremely good, and I complemented the chefs on their authentic Italian food. It wasn't altered for local tastes at all, which can be good but sometimes you long for the authentic varieties of your favorite foods.

     After that we went back to the hotel to sleep because we were going to get up the next day to go to Tokyo Disneyland at 6AM

Signing out, now 20 years old,
Lady Lara Jones