I'm actually amazed at how good what I'm cooking right now smells. Buying basil was such a good idea. Though it's mainly for tomorrow, seeing how it's 11:30 PM already. The rice that's supposed to go with it, however, is taking foreeeever, probably because I put more in the rice cooker than usual.
Continuing my catch-up of recent events, though...
The 30th I spent a pretty quiet day mostly in. I can't really really remember much from it. In the evening was very small party for Miyamoto's birthday (since practically all the Japanese students went home for New Year's and the AIKOMsei, who all know him at least somewhat, were out), where I got much more familiar with Shoya, who I'd met a few times before at larger gatherings. It was a good, mellow time. "As I've turned 20 [the legal drinking age in Japan], I'll try alcohol!" "ええええ ビール苦いな!" Oh, Miyamoto (the most notorious drinker in Mitaka Dorm). XD
On the the 31st I left the dorm shortly after 11 AM with Joon Woo, Clara and Wu Di, for Tokyo Dome, where the concert we were going to that evening was to be held. We got to the entertainment complex next to it, Tokyo Dome City and there ate soba (traditional new year's food). No one else dared, but I braved the brilliantly named Thunder Dolphin, which I later found out is the largest roller coaster in Tokyo (not that there are many roller coasters in Tokyo). Clara and Wu Di went on a log flume, we ate in a cafe, bought some snacks at a convenience store, and headed to Tokyo Dome itself, for the concert.
When we got to the entrance, to our dismay we found that they were searching all bags, and prohibited items included PET bottles, such as those we had purchased drinks for the concert in at the konbini. Curiously, though, after the guard asked me to take off my bag and put it on the table, he opened it, looked inside, saw the two plastic bags (mine and Joon Woo's), and just shut it again. XD He asked if we had cameras (also prohibited), Joon Woo said no (though I did), and without checking, the guard let us through.
"...Is it because I'm gaijin?" Quite possibly. I guess it's okay sometimes.
The group we were seeing (actually only two guys), KinKi Kids, I have a few songs from that I've gotten as parts of bigger downloads over time (cough), but I never really knew anything about (such as that it's only two guys). The music was quite enjoyable, and the accompanying light show was also spectacular. Apparently a lot of their fame stems from their appearances on television shows, where they're quite funny. Accordingly, after the first four songs or so they stopped and talked for, liek, 20 minutes (I understood maybe 1/3, but it was pretty funny). One part of that stands out in my memory is when one of them said something that the crowd shouted back for, one of them said something like "Oh, I hear a lot of women's voices, but not a lot of men," which is actually not mysterious, since, well, they're sort of that kind of group. So then he asked all the men to shout at once "僕はここにいますよ！" which is basically "I'm here!" using a masculine pronoun for I. Needless to say, Joon Woo and I shouted our loudest. Then another set, and then, in the middle of the concert they stopped and talked for over an hour. Which probably would have been better if I understood more, but still was fairly entertaining, though I liked the music more.
After the concert, Joon Woo and Wu Di went to see another concert (Do As Infinity) which included a New Year's countdown at another location, and Clara and I went to join a big group, most of the AIKOMsei in Tokyo plus some non AIKOMsei, at Zoujouji (増上寺 - it's so fulfilling when I can actually read place names in kanji and even correctly guess how it's said). There was a whole festival set-up with mochi-making, free amazake, and all kinds of food for sale. We arrived just in time to see the inside of the temple before it closed. The outside was also quite beautiful, and right behind it was the very nearby Tokyo Tower. In the end, it was a really excellent place to count down (kudos to Alden, or whoever it was that found out about it!). We did some of the usual games of sharing reflections on the past year and resolutions and hopes (and in this case, as I think I've sort of mentioned before, kanji) for the new year. At Zoujouji there were also a large number of clear balloons that people tied wishes for the new year written on cards to. We were too late to get them, though.
Five minutes before midnight, all the lights on Tokyo Tower went out. The crowd all chanted the countdown together, and then at midnight released all the balloons together. It was really, really spectacular, watching them all ride up, glittering around the moon. Tokyo Tower also came back on right at midnight, with "2010" lit up in giant numerals on the side.
After surviving the crushing crowd leaving the temple, Clara, Yang Rei, Mina and I made our way to Shinjuku, where we happened to meet up with Wu Di and Joon Woo coming back from the DoA concert, and we all went to Kichijouji for karaoke with Sarah, Tommy and Kilar. We stayed in karaoke until 5. I sang lots of Spitz, this time, and, perhaps most memorably, Utada Hikaru's "Boku wa Kuma" for Kuma-san aka Joon Woo. Mina and I also sung a duet of "A Whole New World" which will live in eternity. All in all, very enjoyable. After karaoke we stood around trying to figure out where to go to see the sunrise for so long that it became impossible to go very far and make it in time. Kilar left, and finally Wu Di and Clara decided to skip the sunrise and go for Hatsukmode (first shrine-visit of the new year) at Meiji-jingu, one of the most famous shrines in Japan, and probably the most famous one for hatsumode. For the sunrise team, I suggested Inokashira Park, but since we weren't sure if the trees would be too tall and dense to see it decently we finally got on the bus to the dorm, figuring we could at least see it from the third floor. As our bus was passing the park, though, we could see that it actually would be pretty good there, so we pressed button to get off and ran down the street in the dark, back to the park entrance. XD We hurried through the large park, trying to beat the sun to the lake, which we figured would be the best place to view from. And in the end, it turned out perfectly, somehow. The lake was completely still, and the park was quiet, with very few other people around. We ended up taking hatsumode at a little shrine right there in the park, on the edge of the lake, and finally saw the first sunrise from one of the bridges.
From there, we went to the Gasuto in Kichijouji for our first meal of the new year, a Japanese-stlye breakfast. Finally Mina left to go back tot he dorm and sleep, but Tommy, Joon Woo, Sarah and I stayed there two or three hours, until it was time to go meet some Chabashira folks for a trip to Meiji-jingu (as I said, the most famous place for hatsumode). Although we'd already taken hatsumode on the spur of the moment, after finding ourselves at a shrine in the park, it still seemed like something I'd regret not doing if I skipped. It took a long time, but finally we did meet everyone from Chabashira plus Park (Joon Woo's friend who I met on our trip to Yokohama) and another friend of Joon Woo's. Meiji-jingu was really, really packed. There was a huge security force herding a solid queue of people 50-feet wide that went on and on. Because it was so packed, it was kind of hard to actually see the shrine; I'll definitely have to go back sometime. We prayed there, and then Sarah, Tommy and I, not having slept, said our goodbyes, while everyone else went off for lunch. I fell asleep on the train home for the first time ever, and then also on the bus (also the first time ever), and finally got home and slept at about 2, some 27 hours after I left. XD
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