The Best Thing That Happened To Me

The best thing that happened to me during my time in Portland so far is having my best friend from Japan. From August 22nd to 27th, my best friend, Yuki was here to visit me. She is a same university student in Japan. We always hanged out, and we went through something good and bad together. Before I came here, she held a big farewell party for me with a bunch of my friends. She is one that I don't want to lose in my life. I really missed her that time because I didn't have many friends here and I was struggling to learn English. So when I heard that she was going to visit me, I was extremely happy. 

After she arrived at Portland, I felt a different way about Portland. Everything seemed to be exciting with her. We went to downtown, China town, Water Front Park and Hawthorne Street. What we did there was nothing special, such as having lunch/dinner, shopping and sightseeing. We enjoyed here as if we were in Tokyo where we used to hang out. However we did some usual things, I felt that Portland is the most interesting and exciting place in the world.

I realized that it depended on who to spend a time with, not where to spend a time whether it was going to be the best thing or not and also that someone could be the best or at least a good friend wherever you spend a time with he/she. Sometimes “where” doesn’t really matter for me but “who” does. After my best friend went back to Japan, I have tried to do something new with my new friends in Portland and to enjoy it here, because Portland is where I live now; I don’t have to feel lonely anymore because there are a lot of friend and a lot of places to go with them.

I want to enjoy the rest of my life in Portland!

Crazy Thanksgiving Holiday

I want to tell you about super crazy Thanksgiving holiday!

It started from the Wednesday night to the Friday morning. My boyfriend's family and I celebrated Thanksgiving on wednesday night because, in this year, a lot of stores divided big sales into 3 days. After we finished wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that my boyfriend's mother made, we went to K mart. There were already 10 people in the line in front of it at 10 pm, and we also began to wait for the sale. Eventually, we had been waiting till 6 am on the next day. I was freezing cold while I was waiting even though I wore a lot of clothing and I was in a sleeping bag. Especially, my feet was almost dead; I couldn't feel anything with my feet. I asked the first one in that line since when he had been waiting there, and he said that since 1 pm on the wednesday. That means he was waiting for 17 hours! Can you believe that? At that time, I realized how crazy the big sales during Thanksgiving holiday were; This holiday made people crazy. Anyway, after I helped my boyfriend buy a big TV, I got sick and gave up being in line, but my boyfriend continued being in the line again right after he bought a big TV for another TV. Finally, he got 3 TVs and totally, he was waiting for 22 hours to buy what he wanted. For me, I couldn't get what I wanted. It was totally bust! lol

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday? I'd like to know your story.

Movie Recommendation 2 "The Notebook"

I want recommend you the movie, The Notebook. This is really beautiful, sad and touching love story. This story is how Noah and Sara fall in love and old Noah read this story to old Allie who has Alzheimer's desease to make her remember her memory with him. Here is a trailer.

If you want to watch this movie, you must have tissue beside you because you'll cry so hard, seriously!

The Portland Trail Blazers

On Friday, Mathilde, Erin, my boyfriend and I went to Rose Garden Arena to watch a NBA game Portland Trail Blazers v.s. Huston Rockets. The game was a really good game because we had overtime and finally we won by 2 points; the score was 117-119. You can see the details of the game here.

It was my first time to watch Blazers game in Portland so I was so excited and nervous that I became hoarse. I'm a big fan of NBA, because I was raised by a big fan of NBA, my father. And, actually, I was a basketball player in middle school. My father and I used to watch NBA games on TV often when I was a middle school student and discuss about each of games. It was a good time with my father. Till I watched my first NBA game in San Francisco 2 years ago, watching a NBA game in the U.S. was on my bucket list. But now, I added one on my bucket list that is to invite my father to watch a NBA game in America. Someday in my future, I wish I can take him to a NBA game in America.

Chicken Skewers Party

On friday, Kanako, Minami, Erin and I had Chicken skewers party as known as Yakitori party at Kanako's house. Yakitori means chicken skewers in japanese. It is one of famous japanese bar foods.
First of all, Kanako's house was so pretty. There were big windows, a large kitchen and a clean bathroom, and also there are a lot of cute stuff such as small light, candles, furniture and so on. I was impressed.

We made chicken skewers, bacon skewers, mushroom skewers and onion skewers. Kanako brought a small BBQ stuff for Yakitori from Japan, and that was amazing! The chicken skewers that we made were quite like served by a restaurant. Kanako also had made sangria before we came over. Her homemade sangria was fruity, sweet and awesome! And also, she had a lot of seasonings. Especially, truffle salt was really delicious. We had it with olive oil on salad, and it smelled and tasted great.
After dinner, we enjoyed talking and drinking together. This party was a good start of this long weekend! If I have another chance, I want to do it again. Thank you my friends!

Movie Recommendation 1 "Ted"

 I watched a movie, Ted. It became one of my favorite movies so I want to recommend you to watch it.
This is a story about John who hadn't had any friends till he got a teddy bear as a Christmas present named Ted. After he got Ted, he wished that Ted will be his real friend like he would be able to speak and move. His dream came true. The teddy bear suddenly could act like a human. 27 years later, they were still best friends for each other. But the only thing that changed was that the guy got a girlfriend. Her name is Lori. Lori didn't want Ted to bother their relationship, but actually, Ted bothered them. One day, Ted got in trouble that someone who wanted the human-like teddy bear so bad kidnapped him. And after all, the kidnapping guy killed him. John and Lori tried to fix his separated body but it didn't work. Then, they realized that Ted is John's best friend no matter how he is annoying. After that, Lori made a wish that Ted would be alive again. Her wish came true. They live together happily ever after.
At first, I felt this movie was just comedy, but it was not just comedy. It also taught me how important my best friends are and that I should not compere my boyfriend and my best friends; both of them are really significant.
I do recommend you to watch this movie!! (You can also laugh and learn a lot of slang! lol)

About My Holiday

Look at the picture on the right. What do you think is happening on it? This picture is about Black Friday. I’m looking forward to Black Friday this year! Do you know what Black Friday is? It is at the next friday after November 24th. The reason why they say it Black is many retail stores' profits are going to be in the black. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE CHEAP; this is my kind of holiday. 

"Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. "

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

I’m already thinking about what I’m going to buy such as clothing, shoes, bags and cosmetics. Especially, I want new headphones or earphones so bad. One of my friends said that Beats by Dr. Dre is awesome. According to my friend, the sounds are clear and the beats are heavy as if you are surrounded by a lot of expensive speakers.

"Beats By Dr. Dre provides a premium sound experience with its line of high-quality headphones, Beats Audio HD-sound systems and MOG digital music service." 

Official Cite for Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones: http://www.beatsbydre.com/

A lot of musicians or famous celebrities use it. For Example, Gwen Stefani who is  one of famous singer uses it, too. (the picture on your left)

I guess I will go to a store and wait there from early morning with my friend wearing a lot of clothing or having blankets. It is my mission in Portland! (Because of no sales tax in Oregon.)

Halloween!

I went to the concert in Seattle last weekend. It was my first time to go to seattle, but the only thing I regretted was that I didn't have enough time for sightseeing. By the way, the concert was awesome! It was held at WaMu Theater in Seattle, and there were three stages for different kind of music, three rides such as merry-go-round and roller coaster and there were also a tons of people. According to the Facebook page of this concert, about 10,000 people clicked its LIKE button, but I think there were actually more than 10,000 people; it was packed. I saw people wearing crazy costumes. Were those costumes? No, they were almost naked! It was a kind of culture shock, but also I realized how free people in the U.S. are. They seemed that they didn't care how others looked at them. I was surprised and impressed.

On October 31th, Halloween, I went to three places with my boyfriend. At first, I went to OIS Halloween party in PSU, and I saw Erin, Brandy, Mathilde and Takehiro wearing costumes. (Take put on makeup.) It was fun to see friends of mine wearing various costumes. We stayed there only for 30 min, because my other friends were waiting for us in OMSI. So we went to OMSI but we didn't have tickets and the ticked was $12 per person. We decided not to go. Instead of this, we went go to downtown for bar hopping. Second, we went to Goth bar (I'm not sure....)because friends of my friend told that they were there. (actually they were not there.) In the bar, there are a bunch of evil decorations and they played Punk Rock music. I'm not familiar with that kind of music, but I seemed faded in the bar because I wore skeleton costume. lol I also went to DEXIES in downtown and I danced there. I like to dance especially when I drink. I had so much fun there.


 I love Halloween<3 How was your Halloween? I hope you had fun as much as me.

My Favorite Bar in Portland

Today, I want to introduce my favorite bar in Portland. The name is Momo's located on southwest 10th avenue and Morrison street. I often go there to drink with my friends, because it serves good drinks and foods with a good deal. It looks not fancy, but all staff of Momo's are friendly! I ordered Nachos there three weeks ago, and it was delicious and huge, so you can share it with your friend. Momo's has tables outside; I felt comfortable while I was drinking on a table outside in summer, but it's too cold to drink outside right now. If you're over 21 years old and you have a chance to go out drinking, I do recommend this bar. 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/momos-portland

Halloween Is Coming

Did you get your costume? Are you ready for Halloween?

...I'm pretty much ready for Halloween!

 A week ago, I went  to my boyfriend's house and I carved a pumpkin like Hello Kitty. It was my first time carving a pumpkin, but it was easier than I had thought although its inside was gross. After I finished carving, I put a candle in it. It was AMAZING because the light was warm orange, and I could see its shape, Hello Kitty very clearly. I was impressed so much, but at the same time, I was jealous of my boyfriend. He did a great job on his pumpkin. I didn't think he could carve Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I told him he couldn't turn Jack into a jack-o-lantern, but he did. I lost this bet. lol
 I already have two costumes this year, because I want to have fun twice as much as you do. Today, I remade my pink tank top that is one of my costumes at my friends house; this is my original one, and I will wear it this weekend. My friend taught me how to remake clothing. Here is the picture of my pink tank top that I did on the right. I tore its backside like a diamond shape and braided it.
 I don't want to tell you what I'm going to be, but you will see on my blog after Halloween.

What are you going to be? How are you going to enjoy Halloween this year? Let me know your plans.

My Haunted Weekend

 

I went to Fear Asylum a haunted house in Milwaukee, Oregon with my boyfriend and his family. Before we entered the haunted house, we ate dinner together at Elks Lodge. I ate Garlic King Prawns there, it was really good. There were a lot of people, we waited outside in line for 45 minutes, I was cold.
It was my first time to go to a haunted house since I entered the U.S. I thought it would be horrifying but it wasn't so bad.

 Two years ago, I went to a corn maze in San Francisco and it was so scary I cried. Compare to the cone maze, this haunted house was nothing. My boyfriend was disappointed that I wasn't scared.
 We also went to the Davis Grave yard, I thought the decorations were amazing. I could tell they put a lot of time into there decorations. There are a lot of tombstones and ghosts, the thing I liked the most was special effects used to create the ghosts. (web: http://www.davisgraveyard.com/Welcome.htm)

Happy 20th Birthday to Chikara!

I used to live with my host family before I moved to the apartment I live in now. Chikara, one of my japanese friends, lived there before I had come to the U.S. so they are also his family.

Today, we had his birthday party together because we are like a family. We held the party at our host sister's house and had big dinner there. My host sister grilled lamb and vegetables and my host mother made a birthday cake to him, and I LOVED these delicious foods! They are good at cooking. It has been for while since I saw them last time, so I really enjoyed today's dinner with my american family and talking with them. I like this kind of family gathering, because I live in the apartment now almost alone. (I get along with my roommate but we're not very close.)

By the way, He turned 20 years old. That reminded me of my Hatachi memory. Hatachi means 20 years old. It means a lot for japanese people, because a 20-year-old person is considered as an adult and he/she can drink and smoke and whatever he/she wants to unless breaking the law or being selfish by their responsibility. We have a big ceremony for 20-year-old people in Japan. It is called Seijin-shiki. Seijin means an adult and Shiki means a ceremony. Each city has its own ceremony, but usually they attend their hometown city's ceremony. They can see old friends again and celebrate being 20 years old together. We also put on Japanese traditional clothing, Kimono or Hakama. The picture on your left is Kimono I wore about 2 years ago when I was 20 years old.


After the ceremony, in my case, I drank so hard with my old friends. We were all crazy but that was fabulous memory for me. Thinking of Seijin-shiki, I miss my old friends and my hometown. Do you have any special ceremony of being an adult in your county? How do you celebrate? I'd like to know interesting ceremonies all over the world :)

Design Week Portland

I went to Nike Graphic Studio Art Show: Outside the Box.
http://nikegraphicstudio.tumblr.com/

I heard Portland is one of famous of art, and you can find a lot of galleys when you walk in Portland. From October 9th to 13th, it was Design Week Portland. There were a number of events during Design Week Portland.
http://www.designweekportland.com/#_event-92

There are many cool paintings and crafts made by Nike designers. There are few wired things, too. But I felt like I was in a unrealistic world at that time.

Sometimes, a special art event is held in Portland. I don't know how to look it up because I usually get the information from my friends. So if you're interested in art or something similar to art and you know about art events in Portland, let me know!