Ueno

I passed out last night,

so I will upload the photos from yesterday now.

We went to the National Museum in Ueno

with my friends from high school.

We were going to meet my friends at 9:30

at the station,

but well

when you're in hurry

something unexpected tends to happen...

My poor foot lost a shoe....

(...it fell under a platform when

Evan and I were running in the train station)

It was actually kind of funny,

though it was kind of embarrassing

walking with one shoe.

We went back to the station where I lost it

but we couldn't find it.

Can you believe that this is a lake

covered with lotus?

What a peaceful day...

In the park,

there was a flea market...

Lots of weird/awesome stuff...

If I wasn't going to travel around for the next coming years,

and if I had enough money

I would have bought so many things.

Walk Along the River

I wanted to walk the path that

I always walked

when I was an elementary school kid.

The way to school felt

a lot shorter

and the street,

a lot narrower.

Evan and I came across

a coffee roaster on the way to my old school.

The espresso tasted different than the one

I am used to drinking,

but it was tasty.

Maybe not the best one I've had

but the owner was very friendly

and the conversation definitely made everything taste better.

The owner Mr.Ebe with

Conti espresso machine.

Coffee makes us happy :)

Walking along the river

I met this kind of cute pigeon.

I really like the font of this sign....

We didn't spend much time in Koenji

but it's one of the places I would really like to explore.

I had a really good time here though ;)

We had shabu-shabu with my friends from high school.

All-you-can-eat-meat

....how do you like that.

Stuffed!!!

Yokoso

I'm happy.

He is here.

....!!!!

oh dear.

Dear Mary-Jean

Thank you so much for the lovely gift.

I will take a good care of it like your mom and you did.

Thank you so much for always making me feel fuzzy and warm inside.

Tokyo Nova

Pat and I know each other since

I was 6,

and tonight

we went to a Brazilian restaurant

in Yotsuya

and had some cocktail.

Every Saturday,

I had an English lesson with Pat.

This is when I started taking a bus by myself

to go to the lesson in Kichijoji.

I will never forget how grown-up-ey I felt.

I still remember back then,

I always spelled

'berry'

for 'very'.

...and now I'm a college graduate.

Honestly,

it wouldn't have been possible

if I hadn't met Pat.

Though I'm not taking your lessons anymore,

you're still my teacher

but also,

you're my mentor

and my friend.

Thank you so much for all the support

and fun time we had together.

Tada, I'm 4 times older than

the first time we've met!!

Saci Perere
in Yotsuya, has live Brazilian music

and tasty food. I don't know aabout the owner

but the servers there were Brazilian people

and they were all friendly.

shimokitazawa

During summer and winter break

when I was back in Japan,

I used to not

tell my old friends that I was back.

I was kind of scared to see

how people would react seeing

how much I had changed.

'Change' meaning that I wasn't 90 lbs anymore.

The truth is that

I like myself right now better

but I wasn't sure if my old friends

felt the same.

I guess, in a way,

while I was struggling with anorexia,

I constantly had this feeling of guilt

that I was lying to my friends and to myself.

I never felt like I showed who I was

or let myself to be who I was.

It's just recently

that I started to accept my past

and tell my friends that I was mentally ill.

I haven't told everybody yet,

but it's not a problem for me anymore,

I can laugh and tell you about

everything that I was going through.

Shimokitazawa is a place where I used to go

almost everyday after high school.

It was my favorite

shopping/wandering around spot.

After not seeing each other for 5 years,

me and my friend from junior high

went out drinking in Shimokitazawa.

We talked about music and art and

about the junior high days

and we both agreed that it was fun time.

I think we're getting old...

We both used to be almost straight-A students

....up until Junior high.

Alas...what had happened.

P.S. 5 days more days.

Hakone

My family and I took a trip to Hakone.

We had good time,

though I constantly had this

weird cloudy feeling in my mind.

Anxiety?

Uncertainty?

I don't know what it was,

Should I just think that it's normal

....since I'm about to go on a big journey?

On the way back

we talked and laughed about when we were still

little girls.

It's something that we started to enjoy

in the last few years.

We remember the days we were still young

and we laugh until our stomach begin to hurt.

We are very different,

in fact I feel like we are getting more and more

different as we grow older.

Sometimes, I wonder

if we would have been friends

if we were just complete strangers.

....Probably not.

Oh, boy

sisterhood is just so precious.

This is part of the wonderful meal

we had at the hotel.

Back

I'm back in Japan,

and I'm glad I don't have to say

"Bye"

for a while, while I'm here.

The last month in Seattle was just so hard.

I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be.

I was also happy

because in many ways,

it really told me

how much Seattle and the people I've met there

mattered to me.

Today's weather in Tokyo

Hurricane, and then clear blue sky.

How is it in Seattle?