2015 – Ready…. GO!

Well February has arrived and I’m happy to note 5 pounds have come off and I have just started going back to the gym.  This is not a New Years Resolution kind of thing but more a re-focus and get back into the swing of things I was doing towards self-improvement prior to getting lazy late last year.

On the flip side, we just had bothersome news that my step-daughter has made a decision not to move out with us, which we are still getting over the shock of.

New Years Eve was interesting, disappointing, lovely, fun and memorable.  Our original plan was to train up to Tokyo, check into the hotel, grab some food, head to the pub where we would bring in 2015 with our favorite local band as we did last year.

What we ended up doing was train up to Tokyo, check into the hotel – which was really lovely, decor of early 1900’s French gothic style and everything smelled of flowers but not in an overly, nauseating kinda way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After checking in, we decided to grab a nap, we anticipated a pretty late night.  A couple of hours later we made our way to Shinjuku, the area of Tokyo that held the pub.  Without too much trouble we found it and descended into the basement of a building (not uncommon) to see what kind of place this was and grab a drink.  It was almost 11:00 pm at this point so we thought people would be crowded in there already catching the bands playing.

The pub was a dud.  The cover was an obnoxious 2,000 yen each (about $20 each) and when we entered it was standing only (which I wouldn’t mind too much if it was a good venue) and the room was about the size of my living room with a bar on one end and a tiny stage on the other end.  My husband ordered a beer and by the time he finished it we were both ready to bail out on it and the maybe 10 people that composed the “crowd”.

So, to Jon and the band we really wanted to rock out 2014  and bring in 2015 to, we apologize.

Well then, we figured jump back to Shibuya and catch the fun in the crosswalk area.  Not to happen either, the po po decided to lock down the intersection because last year it got too rowdy.  Ok…heading to The Hobgoblin, they should have a drink and a smile at least.  It was 11:15 at this point so we needed to land somewhere quick.

The Hobgoblin is a British style pub chain in Japan which ended up being a fantastic time.  It was crowded but not packed in and I actually was able to nab a stool and spot to put our drinks down.  Then a four man pub band got up and sang us in to the New Year.  Drinks and fun people watching that night!

New Years Day, the tradition in Japan (well, one of them) is the Lucky Bags!  Merchants and such put out gift bags that you purchase for a set amount and often have no idea what is inside or only a hint.  The rule is the value of the contents is at least twice what you paid.  We didn’t partake of this tradition last year so I wanted in on it this time.  It was a blast!  Much like Black Friday in the States but not quite that crazy of course, Japanese are more respectful.  We ended up with some great loot!

People spend serious money on bags.  I only spent about $80 total, some places had bags for over $100 into several hundred/thousand for high end jewelry, computer stuff, etc.  I stuck with cute hair clips and jewelry, rice crackers, wine and cheese and socks/hose, makeup/nail stuff.  It was fun and I give a ton of kudos to my husband for tolerating that madness.

Not much else went on during January, except helping to throw a fun baby shower for my friend who is due in early March!