The Drunk-ish Guide to Killing Time

Well, this was supposed to be pics of me and the "tall one" at the Night Aquarium, but there was a change of plans. Apparently, while Margaret was doing laundry, one of her cats jumped on the machine and stopped it. This little incident went unknown to Margaret for quite some time and by the time she realized it, the time needed to finish it and make it down to the port was too much. So, we had some time to kill. I wanted to do something, but didn't know what. I suggested we go to the game center. Here is the damage:

UFO catcher: ~$6 each
Taiko no Tatsuji game: ~$3
Mario Cart: ~$2
Shoot-'em-up-zombie game: ~$2
Guitar Freaks: ~$4

After that, we still had time; the night was still early, so, we decided to go to this Japanese bar/restaurant called "Skunk". *Note to self, drinking on an empty stomach can be fun!*
After a few drinks and finally some food, we racked up a bill of a touch over $50. Not bad I think.

Now, drunk-ish, we still needed something to do. Hmmm, karaoke anyone?

We had a great time killing time that night. I think we might make it a habit...as long as we have the money to do it :-)



At Skunk


Margaret and her beer


Me and my Long Island (talk about strong, I think he tried to kill me!)


...and Margaret too!


Dude! This smoked chicken breast was off the hook!


I think this was fried white meat chicken sticks


Delicious!


Needed some green in our lives and this salad did the trick


This was like something involving potatoes, cheese, and bacon...I think. At this point, we were well on our way to being tipsy.


See what I mean.


Kamikaze


I think I liked it


For some odd reason, Margaret let me poke her beer. It must have been the "beverages" making all of her decisions at the point. But dammit, I poked her beer and it was fun :-D


Let's sing...well kind of, we more yelled and screamed the lyrics...

Bakin' Rolls of Cinnamon

One day, Margaret and I decided that we wanted a cinnamon roll. But, they don't really have those here. So, we decided to make some. It takes a long time to make them because you have to wait for the dough to rise twice. Oh, and the amount of butter you need is sickening. But, in the end, they were good enough to sell. You can only eat one about every other day, nevertheless, they were delicious. Because we knew the process was going to take a while, Margaret and I decided to do a Pirate of the Caribbean marathon (I love buying DVDs). But, it took longer than we thought and didn't finish them until around midnight, so, we decided not to actually eat one that night. Otherwise we would have been up half the night on a massive sugar high. Anywho, here is my how to guide for those who would like to try.



Step 1: Take super cute pic of the cooks


Step 2: If there is a pet, take a pic of it as well. Here you have Lizzy (Elizabeth) a.k.a "the fat one"


Step 3: Measure the ingredients. 7 cups of flour, dry yeast, sugar, and warm water.


Step 4: Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm water in 1 bowl and add in the flour/sugar slowly and mix. Eventually you can remove the dough and knead it. After adding the 7th cup, knead the dough for an additional 10-15 mins.


Step 5: Put some oil in a large bowl and place the dough inside. Cover it. Put the dough in a warm place to rise for 45mins.


IT HAS RISEN!!


Step 6: Roll the dough out (about 15x12)


Step 7: Smother it in melted butter (disgusting)


Step 8: Mix in 3tbs of cinnamon and 3/4c sugar in a bowl and sprinkle it onto the dough


Step 9: Roll it


If you are me, you can pretend to roll it for a photo :-p


That's one fat roll!


Step 10: Pour more butter into the baking pan (ewwww!)


Step 11: Cut the roll into about 12-15 slices


Step 12: Place them into the pan to allow them to swim in butter


Step 13: Place in a warm spot to rise for another 30-45mins


THEY HAVE RISEN...again!


Step 14: Bake them (can't remember for how long and the temp)


Step 15: Remove them


Step 16: Let them cool. While you are doing that, you can make the icing. You will need powdered sugar, more melted butter, vanilla, and hot water.

Summer Fireworks on the Beach

Last week, the gang and I went to Utsumi beach to view the fireworks show there. After the hour train ride, we approached this show like any other: it's going to be good, but most fireworks shows here are good. But, we were pleasantly surprised to see that this show was phenomenal!! Who knew that watching fireworks on the beach would be so AWESOME!! We were so close to them that it felt as if we could reach up and feel the sparks on our hands. Here are some pics and video I took from the show.



Me and the roommate


Tell me, what do you see?


The night sun


Rainbow comet




Do you see butterflies?


I think I have a knack for capturing weird firework images

A Night at the Night Zoo

So, on the week the Night Museum 2 was due to come out here, Margaret and I decided to have some fun and go to the Night Zoo event. Higashiyama Zoo is one the most depressing zoos EVER!! I mean the animals are just sad. But, we figured: maybe at night, they wouldn't look so sad, thin, and crazy (I swear, the polar bear is insane!!) Well, we were wrong. So, I didn't take any pics of them. But, we did discover this awesome tortoise shell and we decided to play with it.



Look! I'm a tortoise!!


Margaret coming through.


She made it! What I neglected to say was that it had just finished raining and things were a bit sticky


Random kid making sure we didn't break it :-p

Traditional Japanese Singing in the Garden

Catching up...kinda...about a week and a half ago, the girls and I decided to go to Tokugawa Koen (Park) to see some traditional Japanese performances. It was a beautiful evening filled with cool music, relaxing atmosphere, bugs, and bats (thanks God for bats). Even though we didn't understand anything sang that night, we still had a great time just sitting and taking in the surroundings.



The lake


The performers singing very old very traditional Japanese songs








As you can see, we were lost in the little piece of old Japan for a while...