Happy Sunday afternoon...

My original plan this afternoon was to watch Kimi no Na Ha. The movie with Eng subs is now in cinemas so I wanted to watch it.

However, I got a surprise message from my friend Jackson saying he managed to get a flight assignment to Tokyo.

I've been waiting for this for months, so I ditched the movie plans and instead headed to Yokohama after my Sunday work.

He was staying at Intercon Yokohama in Sakuragicho. It's my first time to visit the place. I've always loved Yokohama. After visiting Sakuragicho, I fell in love with Yokohama even more.

What a superb afternoon! =)

Izakaya night...

Today turned out to be such a long day.

I'm not complaining. It was a tiring but a really good day.

When I finished my last lesson, I was just looking forward to hanging out a friend. We agreed to go to Yurakucho, to one of the izakayas under the train tracks.

Haiboru, umeshu cora, and lots of izakaya food coupled with a great convo - ahh, it was a great Saturday night.

Well, it's not over yet...

So what I thought was over turned out otherwise.

Last Sunday, IBA guy and I met up again. It was unplanned. I asked him if he and I were going to meet soon. It turns out he was going to be in Tokyo that day because he had a review session.

We agreed to meet up in the evening to catch a movie and have dinner.

Hmm, it was still a good date.

I'm just being cautious and trying not to invest a lot in it.

Over before it even began...

Well, it seems it's over. Lol.

It didn't even make it to a month. Oh well, that's life I guess.

Hmm, I guess what sucks about it is I thought it was actually going somewhere. I should've known it was too good to be true.

In a way, it's good that I have a drop of cynicism in me so I didn't completely commit the mistake I would've committed had I been in my early 20s.

残念ですね.

The analytical side of me saw me reading the conversations that started in late December. It's funny how a few weeks can change how a conversation goes. But I guess that's the reality of dating, huh? You date to find out if you fit with the other person.

Hmm, the thing is I really thought there was a fit. I dun care about the distance. 64 kilometers is nothing. Heck, I'm willing to take the train to and fro Tokyo every Sunday if that's the only way to have some QT. But these past few days, you've been like the weather in Tokyo - on some days cool, on most days cold... and I guess it's only going to get colder.

At the very least, I'm grateful for the awesome date last 28 December and 30 December. It's been awhile since I've had a great date like that. I felt the kilig and it was good.

Ueno Park. Starbucks Ueno. A walk around the park. United Arrows gloves. Last train to Ibaraki. Last train to Horikirishobuen.

Good one.

Found my neighbourhood sentou...

Ever since the first visit to an onsen, I've been wanting to make another visit again. Haha!

The thing is there are very few authentic onsens in Tokyo (I think). The next best thing was prolly the sentou (which is same same but different from an onsen).

Well, guess what, I was so glad when I learned that there's a sentou a stone's throw away from my apartment. Yay!

I meant to go the other night, but it was already closed when I checked it out.

Tonight, I got to visit the sentou. It's as local as you want it to be. The shoe lockers are made of wood. The reception is very simple and shared between the male and female sections. I made the stupid mistake of confusing the kanji for male and female and headed for the wrong section. Stupid gaijin. Haha!

The bath area was pretty small. It was okay because when I entered the bath area, there were only two other uncles. After rinsing myself, I went for the ofuro with the piping hot water. It was about 50 degrees Celsius, lol. I actually enjoyed it mainly because the weather outside was damn freezing.

I spent a good hour getting in and out of the ofuro and rinsing myself again. Of course, I felt super super clean again afterwards. I think I'll be a regular at this sentou...

I'm home at 730PM!

Well, this is something that happens once in a blue moon. Haha!

Today, I attended a company training and decided not to teach in the evening anymore. I figured I'd be exhausted from the training (I was right!) so I thought I'd just go home and relax.

It was a good idea. I'm trying to figure out why Image Capture is not recognising my phone but after I solve that, I plan to watch an episode or two of Merlin. Haha!

Not planning on staying up late though because tomorrow, it's back to normal.

Another slow day...

Hmm, today is another slow day at work.

I'm not sure why, but I'm crossing my fingers that things will pick up by next week. For some reason, I'm not that worried.

Maybe because I know I have no control over this situation. What I can only do so far is just to ask for blessings from above that I hit my target number of lessons every month.

Perhaps, this is the reason why I'm not worried. I put my faith in Him.

First visit to the doctor...

I've been fighting the colds for so long and it looks like I am almost close to losing the battle.

The other day, I know something was not right when my voice sounded deeper than it usually is. Even my coworker noticed it. Lol! While it's a nice thing, I defo knew something was not right.

So, yesterday, I paid a visit to a clinic near the house. Thankfully, there is a clinic nearby. And I'm a lucky boy because there was an English-speaking doctor on duty. I went to the clinic, waited for a few minutes, and was attended to. I'm not sure what the doctor prescribed but I felt better after taking one pill. It must be strong.

In addition to the meds, I also tripled my Vitamin C intake. Ugh, the last thing any foreign worker should want is to get sick in another country. It's costly. The good thing is I'm covered by the government insurance and I only paid 30% of the bill. Still, I'd prefer to pay a monthly rider insurance to cover that extra 30%. I should do some research about it.

Another blessing in disguise this week is that the lessons are slow. It's not good because I'm not earning any money without any lessons, but it's also a chance for me to go home after my morning shift and get some rest before heading back to work in the afternoon.

Winter is just about to start. I hope my body acclimatises asap...

Random emo post...

Now that things are starting to settle down, I started to feel one of the feelings I was worried about.

The other day, I messaged a friend who's also living alone in another country that speaks a different language and asked, "How do you deal with loneliness?"

I thought I should ask this friend because the person has been living solo for more than three years now.

My friend replied, "Well, FB, iMessage, Whatsapp have been most helpful." I agreed with this.

Thanks to these apps, I feel like my family, my best friends are one train ride away. I dunno how overseas workers in the 80s survived without all these apps.

My friend added, "Try to keep yourself busy." So far, I've been successful with this because I do hate idleness. Someone once told me that idleness is the workshop of the devil. Hehe! Hence, it's important to be busy all the time.

Faith has also been of great help. My friend agreed.

It's just one of those days, I guess. It's just like the weather in Tokyo these past few days.

On some days, it gets windy and rainy. Today the sun is out shining again. I want my sunshine again.

Happy New Year...

Something nice happened before 2016 ended...

I had a super nice date. The date was originally planned for 30 December, but the stars aligned and we met up two days earlier.

Rarely do I go out on dates, but this was one good first date. Lunch at a ramen shop in Ueno. A leisurely walk around Ueno Park. Coffee and relaxed conversations while sitting at one of the park benches.

It was a date that got extended into the night. I told you the stars aligned, I managed to get off work early. He decided he'd get me a pair of gloves to warm my hands and to take the last train back to his prefecture. Yeah, the guy lives an hour or so away from Tokyo. I kinda feel bad that he had to travel all the way to Tokyo.

It was a good date though.

If the first date was good. The second and third one were double the fun and double the excitement. Apparently, there is a 5-day holiday leading up to the new year so that worked to our advantage. Hehe!

Friday started with a hangout at Haneda Airport, followed by a walk around Yoyogi Park, then exploring Daikanyama (which I've never been to), and ending the long day with a good dinner and a movie at Roppongi.

I've always thought that walking around Tokyo would be a superb date. Well, surprise, surprise, this happened and it was all his idea. Hmm, is that a good sign?

We'll see, but yeah, Happy New Year...