Catching you up on the places I've been...

So I've had a lot going on lately between castings, going out and about, midterm essays, and decision making... to update briefly: last week one day I had off from castings and there was a festival for the shrine in my town Ebisu so I walked around taking pictures, visited the shrine, had some green tea and sweets, as well as tried Takoyaki- a typical yummy Japanese food (dough balls with octopus inside and soy sauce, ginger, and fish flakes!) Then last Thursday I had a job for a car magazine cover in Yokohama. My first mag cover! It'll be out by the end of the year I think... I posed with the new Audi SUV model- Q5. Kinda cheezy but oh well. (Check out the gallery for pictures from all of this!) And then Friday was decision time about whether I was leaving Tokyo this week or gonna roll the dice and stay for another month. It was a tough decision to make all on my own- to hold that power was a bit overwhelming as I felt the enormity of it when it came down to it Friday night and I'm sitting in my apartment debating pro's and con's in my head. My decision to stay, once I reached it, was for the better. I think the idea of leaving so soon was stressing me out more. I am happy with my choice and have accepted it- I felt very empowered after in having the ability to make that decision and make choices for myself in what I want to do with my life. That is a great feeling.

Takoyaki- see the octopus inside? once you get over that it's ooey gooey yumminess!

But anyway I love it here and figured why not stay since it's not really costing me anything more, and see what more I can get out of it from modeling work and if nothing else, richer experience! So much more blogging to come! Anyway- this past Sunday I had an amazing day and let the day take me where it went- which turned out to be quite a few places! I started out taking my time getting up and going, with my only real plan to take a walk over to Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple for a traditional tea ceremony since they only perform it on certain days. I got to the temple and went around back to the tiny tea house where I was the only one at that moment for the ceremony. So they take me around to the little garden and into the house with traditional tatami mats and I sit on my knees chatting with the women and observing. They first serve me a small sweet made from beancurd and I later find out it has a half-moon shape on it with hopes for the coming moon to be seen. As the one woman is preparing the green tea, three other people come around the garden- a Japanese man, woman, and white guy. They apologize for interrupting and I tell them it's no problem. The Japanese man spoke English very well and helped translate a lot for me and the guy who came with them. I was able to get more out of the experience for it- like learning that the scroll hanging on the wall dated from the Edo era of more than 3,000 years ago!! We all bowed to it and I asked if I could take a picture (see gallery). They were all so friendly, so we're chatting amongst ourselves- the women serving the tea telling the others that I'm a model (since I explained to them why I'm in Japan).

preparing the traditional powdered green tea

Then after we finish our tea, we leave and thank them. Walking out of the garden, we are still chatting and I'm learning about their relationship with the guy visiting who is from California and in the music business. Basically- they are huge fans of a Japanese music trio called Perfume and the guy from Cali (Jordon) posted a video on YouTube a few months back and the fans in Japan saw it and it became very popular. So popular that this one fan- the Japanese guy, Taro- saw it and invited Jordon to come for their concert in May. They never met before or knew each other but Jordon came and had a blast. Then Taro invited him again this week for their last 2 performances of the world tour this Thursday and Friday. I find this hilarious yet totally believable because 1) music brings all kinds of people together, it's universal and 2) the Japanese are extremely friendly people. So I'm just loving this scenario already and we're getting along so well, they invite me to walk to Tokyo Tower with them since that's next on their plan for the day. I hadn't planned on going myself since it was a bit overcast that day, but since I had people to go with, and wasn't quite ready to stop chatting with them, decided to join. I had no plans so what else was I going to do? It was great to get the views and find out more about these guys. The woman, Maki, had to leave since she didn't feel well, but we had a good time.

view from the lookdown window at Tokyo Tower- eeek! (my feet)

After they were going to Akihabara- the electronics district- where I have yet to go so since they invited me to tag along again, I went for it. We walked around a bit and saw lots of Japanese comic book and anime, along with every electronic imaginable. We even got some Takoyaki- it's quite popular. I was really enjoying myself- I just let the day go and didn't worry about the time or having to tell anyone where I was or what time I'd get home- it was liberating. I ended up spending the rest of the evening/night with them! After we went to dinner in Shibuya where we met up with 4 other Japanese women that Taro and Jordon are friends with, one who Jordon stayed with when he came in May. There are 3 of them that are all friends and Perfume fanatics. They're so goofy and hilarious to be around- they speak a bit of English and they all really liked me and kept saying how cute I was anytime I said anything. The one girl gave me a cd of Japanese electro and a spoon with a jewel-encrusted handle haha. We had a big potluck at dinner- lots of Japanese things to try and I loved it all! Then we headed off to Karaoke! Boy was that hilarious- the trio had outfits one of them made (she teaches fashion design) just like the girls from Perfume and they know all the dances too. They put on quite a performance- I'll try to upload the video I took. It's great. I did my fair share of singing too- one was a duet with one of the Japanese girls, Tomomi, to Material Girl.

The trio as Perfume

That pretty much made my day- I had a blast! After we had "tea time" at this cafe where you can go and play Wii, board games, watch movies, etc! It's pretty awesome. These people are so fun to be around I couldn't believe when it was 11pm on a Sunday night and time to head home. On my walk back I just kept saying in my head "did that really just happen?" I don't take "coincidences" lightly and believe very much that the universe brings circumstances and people into our lives- I mean think about the timing that I happened to be there when they came for the tea ceremony at the same time! We all exchanged emails and I already saw them again yesterday for a home-cooked Japanese dinner at Jordon's apartment. They invited me to the Perfume concert on Friday- I hope I finish castings in time so I can go!! Anyway, that's what's been going on and I'm loving it here. Oh- and tonight in yoga I was able to put my foot around my head all by myself! I'm making progress, it's so rewarding! Though I don't mind the attractive Japanese guy who teaches it helping me out with some of the stretching haha.