Hachioji Matsuri

Today, I only had two things I needed to do. I first needed to get my bill paid off for FedEx, which was at the Yokohama port that isn’t even on the map, but is near Ishikawacho station. I was talking to some friends today. I was talking to CFri, ACk, and my youngest sister. Since I woke up around 10am today, I wasn’t able to do much because of the overbearing heat. I was just about to die today because I woke all sweaty. It was nasty.

I was talking to CFri about our trip that we will take this month. I gave her a list of places I would like to go to and she chose one. We decided that we will go to Thailand in August a little after Obon season so it will be cheaper. But we were having a little difficulty because she needs to be back on August 26th before the evening time, and her friend that will come with us won’t be able to get her passport before we planned to leave, so I’m thinking about when would be the best time for us to go. I have all the time in the world and will probably take a few trips this summer since I have the money and time to.

I was talking to ACk about many things. It was mainly about change and what one would have to do to win the heart of a loved one. It’s not just about change as it is the transformation from where a person is at to where he wants to go.

I was talking to my sister about our computer situation. I first informed her that I will go to Thailand, so that if anything happens, they would at least know where I’m at. Then we talked about getting a new computer. I think that will be a very difficult task since I told her not to get one until the new version of windows comes out at the end of next year. Since it would be better to stay up to date with everything and we’d be able to get a better machine to be able to perform the tasks that we will need from them. Her computer is really falling apart and falling part fast too. Her computer is newer than the one in my other sister’s room, the one I built many years ago. But Gateway computers just suck, so I’m very disappointed in their quality and in their service. I know to stay far away from them next time. I think the next computers we will get will be custom built because through my experience, they just last longer and are better at the up keep.

As I was talking to all of them at the same time, my internet connection cut out again. It was very disappointing because, that’s when I was getting to the nitty-gritty of the conversation, but it was around noon time and I had to leave in order to get my bill paid and to be able to get to Hachioji on time.

I left my house around 12:30pm, which was about 30 minutes later than I wanted to leave, but I thought that it wouldn’t matter in the end. I ended up going to ishikawacho station about 1:15pmish, and then took about 15 minutes to walk to the FedEx place, which really isn’t easy to get to and especially if you don’t know where you’re going. But fortunately I remember from the last time I went. They didn’t charge me a late fee, even though it was like a week late. That’s nice and I think the guy could understand because I didn’t use any Japanese with him, and he helped me last time to ship my digital camera back to San Diego for my sister. On the way back to the station, I decided that I needed to get something to eat. I stopped at Mos burger to get something because it was convenient and fast enough so I wouldn’t end up being too late. The problem was, when I was eating the food, my stomach started to hurt. I think it was because I don’t eat so often, and well, it’s not used to having food in there, so it was the stretching out of my stomach that I was feeling. I had to eat much slower because it was hurting so much.

But anyways, after that, I felt much better and started on my way to get to Hachioji. I went to Yokohama station and changed to the Toyoko line to Kikuna station, only to go back to the Yokohama line for Hachioji. It turns out that I ended up going very slow and arrived about 24 minutes late. I don’t really know what happened and didn’t think that I would be that late, but I was. SEK was just about to go back home, when I arrived there, so it was perfect timing.

From there, we went walking around the festival area, which is like the center street away from the station. Then after looking at things, we went back to a place near the station, where we could get something to drink and ice cream to eat. I had Hokkaido Soft Cream, which is just soft serve ice cream and she got something like a parfait. We sat there and talked for about an hour before she blew her ashes from her cigarette into my ice cream…I wasn’t happy, but I was almost finished so it was ok. She blew it because she couldn’t contain her laughter. And the tables in Japan are very small, so it naturally went all over the place even though it didn’t go far.

Then we went back to the main festival area to look at some things and through other areas. Little did I know that we were actually going to her house and on the way, we ran into her mother, who was just walking down the street as we were passing by. We stopped off at a little grocery store place to get some fruits and other things like that. I didn’t realize that we were getting all that stuff because we were going to consume it when we got back to her mansion (apartment like condo). She’s got a nice place, much nicer than mine, but then again, everyone’s place is nicer than mine.

Her mom began to make a blended mixture of apple and oranges to serve to us. It was pretty good since it was the healthiest thing I’ve had all month. There were also grapes and lychee too, but I didn’t touch those. I was deep into conversation with SEK and her mother.

A few hours later, she began to get ready for the festival because she was going to wear a yukata. I looked through her yearbooks and photo albums as she was getting ready. She gave me some beef jerky, how awesome!! Her mother gave me some drawings that she did a while back, and they are amazingly good, so I’m glad to have something to decorate my place. It’s the only thing that I have that actually will decorate my place. So I’m happy about that.

Then we went to the festival. We arrived there around 8pm, which was when they started to shut things down. Not very good timing as I thought, but we were able to get some yakiniku on the streets. She got BBQ Cow Tongue… I know sounds gross, but it was ok. I got Black Pork, also sounds gross, but was really good. That was pretty much it for the festival experience. Then we went to get something to eat since everything was closing down. We went to First Kitchen to get dinner. I had a Shrimp Sandwich with onion chips. She got a Caesar salad with French fries. We stayed there till 10pm, when it closed. We had a very good conversation and I didn’t realize how much she likes her ex-boyfriend, but knew that she needed to break up with him. I always thought of them as the ideal couple, so I was shocked that they broke up last week. I’m in favor of getting them back together, but I would like to see him get her back. He’s an amazing guy that I know, and he’s got a wonderful heart, but he doesn’t have the drive to take him to a higher level. I’d like to see him be able to get there and I think she just stepped aside in order for him to grow. It’s very noble, in my opinion. I can really understand that since I did the same with my ex-girlfriend, but I was disappointed in the person she’s become in my absence. I thought I’d be leaving around 10:30pm for home since I live very far away.

We found a spot near the station and sat down and talked. It was a pretty good talk. We pretty much continued the conversation from before, but this time I shared more information. I think she’s got to believe that he will be able to do it. But we’ll only see how things turn out.

I left Hachioji around 11:30pm, and caught the last train back to Hongodai. It took forever to get there and I finally arrived at my house around 1:30am. It’s been a long day today. Tomorrow, the only plan is to go see the largest display of fireworks in Japan.