4th day

we are going to North Carolina today.
im very sorry for not being able to make comment reply. i really wanted to see my net frens in the USA, but these 3 days ive been sleeping in weird time becoz of the jet log. and my frens wont lemme spend much time on blogging. whee(^o^;;
they recommend nature walk in stone mountains(?), but i feel toooo lazy to walk around. so juz explored downtown yesterday. took a nice view from Westin, 72nd floor. i will upload these photos as soon as i get back to japan.
i was told that i looked korean several times. oh there are many asians in Atlanta, koreans, indians, malaysians, nepalese, thais, they are all friendly!! love them!
american girls are so CUTE! some wave hands to stranger like me....lol
i learned that they call iced tea as "sweet tea". so i was bewildered when the waiter said "hot tea or sweet tea??"
there is a kangaroo park and i really wanted to visit there. but its closed until april.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my frens!!!!!!!!!

hello!

im in Atlanta, USA now(^-^)
the weather is rainy but nice. some ppl are still wearing short sleeves...lol
had shrimps & crab omlette and pancakes in IHOP. amazed with the size of omlette which was probably 5-10 times bigger than omlette in tokyo. the glass of water was 5 times bigger than japanese glass of water. they had cholula hot sauce, mexican(?) sauce tasted like tabasco. then i went to Walmart for shopping. bought a huge pack of salad and blueberry bagles, etc. everything is sooooo BIG in this counry!
ppl are very polite. they dont give me weird look. say "excuse me" very often(^o^;;;
even immigration officers at the airport were very polite and they spoke to me in japanese all the time. lol as we can enter without visa, they took my finger-prints and photo of face a bit. my frens are putting up late christmas tree, so im gonna help them.
have a good day!!!!

wish u a very happy new year!

Den-en-chofu
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

thank u very much for coming to my blog during 2005!
and thank u for these sweet frens who link me!!!
i cant express how much happy i am, for having so many net frens worldwide(^o^)/

i used to dream of having frens in abroad.
my first encounter with foreigner was at the age of 10 or 11.
there was a beautiful blonde girl in the bus. oh she was sooo kind, kept smiling like an angel. geee! (coz i kept staring at her) lol
when we got off the bus, she talked to me in english. awwwwwwww~~
but i was like a monkey, juz giggled and speechless..(^o^;;;
i said only "wats ur name? american school?" in reply.
(these are the few words i knew)
so she walked away...(T_T)
later i found out that shes a daughter of famous wrester The Destroyer! lol
and lived in the same apt compound with me. but she never looked at me since then.

i studied english hard, while she went back to the States. it took abt 15 yrs till i could become normal level. haha~

so, im really happy to have less language barriers nowadays. its my supreme pleasure to read ur blogs and communicate!
pls dont stop blogging, be frens forever!
thanking u...(^o^)/

japanese food items

japanese food items
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

these are some souvenirs i bought.
Ebara BBQ sauce, black sesame bread-spread, morinaga cocoa.
black sesame is yummy and good for blood vessels ^^

japanese food items

japanese food items
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

from right, instant miso soup, ghana chocolate, dinner curry, rice crackers, chahan rice spices, green tea powder, meiji white choco.

memories of christmas

im having weird sleeping patterns these days.
go to bed at 1am and get up at 4:30am. wheee~(>_<)
its okay, where im going to travel is 12 hours behind japan time. so it should be 4:30pm by now. feel very woozy and off balance in day time tho.
i went to see my younger brothers blog....
there was a pic of vegetable juice...lol
he said that red & green colors of the bottle might be good for christmas. haha~
at this time of the year, i remember the day i cheated my lil brother.
i put some old toys of mine in a box, and wrote 'letter from santa claus'.
forgot wat kinda toys i gave him.... ultraman's monster cards, rubber toys or something ordinary.
"here are some gifts for u. if u appreciated, please shout 'thank u santa claus' in the garden. so i will hear ur voice in the heaven.", i wrote.

so, the following day, my brother was shouting repeatedly,
"Santa-san Arigatooo!!"


oh i feel bad...(^o^;;; should have wrapped more fascinating toys!

merry christmas!!

kimono bag
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

christmas eve means a lot in japan.
girls gonna have wonderful dates at hotel or somewhere prestigious. then receive diamonds or something expensive, spend the night together if possible....(*^o^*)
i dont know why it should be on the 24th????
i dont remember when was my last gorgeous christmas eve....lol
maybe when i was 19 or 20. went over my bfs house. we planned a naughty christmas, so went to his parents room (they were out at that time).
he said i could borrow anything from his mother's closet. so i tried on a looong black fur coat. woooow!!!
then hopped into Grand Palace for dinner. i wasnt wearing nice clothe underneath...kinda funny leopard shirt. and my bag, shoes, rings, all looked shabby with such an expensive coat. haha~
we both got tensed up when the waiter came, couldnt enjoy meals much. but it was unforgettable christmas eve!(*^o^*)

after a couple days, my bf said...
"mom found out that u borrowed her fur coat..."
"awwww~!! how did she find out??"
"shes organizing things very well. so she could even tell wat we moved and wat we ate in the house."
"oh nooooooooooooo!!!!"

be aware of women!! i saw her couple times after christmas. thought shes gonna yell at me, but she didnt say anything. neither did i...(^o^;;;

i wish u all have a very merry christmas!!!!!!

miracle tablets

kitty
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

im going to GA soon.
there were some things i was worried abt this trip. but one was solved! goodiee(*^o^*)
thats abt my period. i thought i wud have period during this trip.
remembered when i went to india, i got medicine to stop female hormones at womens clinic. which was 5000 yen(abt $42). ;;tear;;
no money to do things like that again, so i thought this out...

back in school days, there were some girls came up anxiously. then wispered,
"dont tell anybody niki, i might be pregnant! my bf & i are 17. cant marry sooo early. wat shall we doooo??", with full of tears in their eyes(^o^;;;

as they looked miserable, i brought multi-vitamin tablets from my house on the following day. then gave them to my frens.
"take this tablet. it will activate ur hormones so u will have period very soon." *liar liar~*

it worked in a single day!! felt a bit guilty, but they really appreciated my miracle tablets. hehe

so i took multi-vitamin this time for me. needless to say, i dont have to worry abt period anymore!! (^o^)v

i had a chance to watch cricket in the office yesterday.
after masala tv fraud in tokyo, we havent been able to watch it for a year.
(the agent company took money and ran off) lol
so everybody was sooo happy to see the India vs Sri Lanka.
i didnt know the rules of cricket, so was asking which scored high etc.
they explained nicely at the beginning, but gradually became hostile slanty eyes.
"go back, india supporter!"
one said to me in cold voice.. (^o^;;;;
awww~ india beated them!?
as they switched off quickly, i couldnt get the result.


anywayzz my boss had gone back to Lanka today.
(geee.. its gonna be awfullly busy this week.)
wat was funny, he went to the airport in the early morning.
couldnt check-in the counter, coz his wife's passport was Valid Until Jan 2006....lol
so they drove all the way back to tokyo, got extension at the embassy!!!!
then, got back to the airport again.....(136km distance or something)
luckily they could take another flight in the afternoon.

if i were in that situation, i dont think japanese embassy wud do such quick action.
the driver was boasting that he had to drive 150km/h.
thank god for saving them all!!

in the memories of MURA

in the memories of MURA
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

used to go this tea shop with my family. i loved their earl grey tea..(*^o^*) mom hated earl grey tho.
isnt it nice flavour??
they closed down after 30 years good services.

figure skating

we luv trench coats
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

we enjoyed watching figure skating these couple days.
Mao Asada won gold medal yesterday.
shes only 15 years old, japan's new star who can do triple axel..(^-^)
if ur interested, pls check out japanskates.com
Miki Ando, 17 y.o is more popular tho. she was not very confident and failed many times.

oh rumour spread that the great tokyo earthquake is forecast on Dec 31st.
ive seen this news in magagizes too(>_<)
mom said im lucky to escape from japan. but havent prepared for the travel yet. gotta start packing!

cold!

cold!
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

the news forecast min temperature 1 degree in Tokyo(^o^;;;
oh noooooooooo!!!!
heavy snowfalls expected in north, Japan Sea side. (glad im in the Pacific Ocean side...)
sorry my brain is not working in the cold weather these days.
hope ur country is okay!!!!

View from Mandarin Orient, Tokyo

view from Mandarin Orient, Tokyo
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

this is an awesome view of Nihonbashi, Tokyo. photo by Takashi Kuroda. thanks a lotttt(^o^)/
he went to the newly built Mandarin Orient Hotel.
i worked for govt indian company in this town for 4 years. unfortunately they had withdrawn from japan and left me alone in here.
still waiting for my bosses come back... *tear*

awww~

kimono belt
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

heard that my sister's fren is going to Germany for liver implant!(*o*)
his mom must sell their house and also desperately waiting for donations.
i remembered my sis tried to arrange marriage of this fren and me a long time ago...lol
but there was nothing romantic between us.
(who wants to marry sister's bf?? ugh)
instead, he showed interest in my fren and they were dating for quite a long time.
wat was sweet, he paid abt $850 for the language school where i was working for. that was 3 hours/ once a week/ 6 months course. but he never attended the classes due to his hectic job...lol
my sis says its okay to donate $10, but i feel like i should donate $850 in return....
awww~ thats impossible(^o^;;;;
hope the implant will go well soon!!!!

katsu curry

katsu curry
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

this is juicy katsu curry!(*^o^*)
dont ask me wats inside...ahem ahem.
coz some ppl cant eat pork and some ppl cant eat beef.
oh! maybe i'd better write this is chicken. yeahhh

travel abroad

im gonna take a vacation and fly to abroad in a couple weeks.
wheeee(^o^;;;
this is my 5th time visit to that country, and i dont worry abt it very much.
but come to think of my miserable experiences in travel abroad, i get tensed...

1st time was soon after i graduated from univ.
ohh i never expected such horrible language barrier.
everytime i got communication probs, i burst into tears like a child...lol
at the airport, at the bookstore... (wat a sensitive girl)
juz felt like i was treated like a caged animal, which cant utter words.

haha~ but why did i cry in the bookstore???
i remembered it was Bangkok. i was desperately looking for a yellow pages, telephone directory or something..(^o^;;;;

of course they dont sell yellow pages in bookstore. (horse sense!)
so the bookstore girl was sooo confused and gave me weird look.

the other day, i ordered a glass of water in the restaurant.
the waitress kept saying "huh? huh??"

then she brought a glass of VODKA!!!!!!!
after this incidence, i order only coke, coffee or tea.
hope there will be no prob during next trip(^o^;;;;

:D

051209_091728.jpg
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

happy friday!!!!

otooto

051209_091058.jpg
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

my bro gave me URL of his blog, which is private website and i cant introduce it here.(^o^;;
im glad i dont have to worry abt him anymore, coz blog will tell everything abt his daily life. and he is doing candid cam shots like me. haha~
(like sis, like bro....lol)
felt great to see his pic after 5 years.
thank u everyone for ur kind words!!

Tokyo View from the Rooftop

Tokyo View from the Rooftop
Originally uploaded by x3magic.

this is a gigantic view of tokyo by x3magic!! sooo many houses.
woooooooow(^o^);;;;;
my house is there there!!!!!
(juz kidding. my hometown is in the opposite direction. haha~)
last year he'd taken beautiful photos of snow in the end of december. so, im waiting for the next series.
thanks a lottttt!!

kamameshi

kamameshi
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

kamameshi steamed rice is one of my fav japanese meals. this one is with oysters and red caviar. they added a lota yuzu orange peel. great flavour!!!!

odakyu line

odakyu line
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

this is odakyu line train. i went to see my fren in Zama City, about 25 miles southwest of central Tokyo.
Zama is famous for the US Army Camp and surrounded by beautiful mountains.
there are also thousands of nice houses on the top of the hills.
i couldnt stop saying WOW....(^-^)

christmas illuminations

051201_180208.jpg
Originally uploaded by niki yokota.

sorry im awfully sleepy today...
going to bed in a min (-_-)zzzzzzz
today policemen came to our office again. juz for security, they said.
i wonder if they are paying visit to all muslim ppl in tokyo.
good job....