I spent most of this annoyingly rainy Sunday carting some of my stuff all the way to my new apartment. Well it isn't really all the way I guess. I bought a daily bus ticket because I thought it would be cheap and I could make many runs. Well no. The morning started off well enough and I got all my fragile kitchen stuff to the new place. Then on the way back all the buses disappeared. I waited at one bus stop for 20 minutes. No bus - but it was an obscure bus and I thought it'd be a miracle if it came anyway. So I went to the bus stop on the main road. I know those buses - they're ones I catch all the time. Now it was pouring rain and I had no umbrella and I was stuck at this bus stop for 30 MINUTES! One bus didn't show up at all and when the other one did it was spilling out people who were desperately trying to keep dry.

While I had been waiting, an elderly lady was kind enough to give me her umbrella because she had a spare one. It actually helped me dry up. So I squeeze into this bus with my suitcase and I barely fit but at least I do fit and everyone's fairly comfortable.

A few stops later, the bus pulls up again and lets more people on! Hell knows why! And then he was trying to tell this old man that there was another bus coming straight after (because the old man most definitely couldn't fit on this bus!) He turned around and told that to the people still waiting for a bus. Then the door could barely close because of this old geezer. Then he decided to SIT ON MY SUITCASE which I was try to hold up out of the door's way! FUCK, OLD MAN!

Finally get off that bus and I bought a heap of train tickets because I thought catching the train may be quicker on the way back instead of waiting for buses. Well at least the tickets will come in handy even if I don't use them today. This time on my way there (the shopping centers smack bang next to the station are flooded with people! Great for sales I guess but couldn't they at least have garbage bins???) my suitcase's wheels are starting to break down. I mean it is a twenty minute walk to the station and then I walk when I get there.

Managed to get there without hassle and a little dryer, though the poor suitcase is now lying retired there. Felt so weird thought. For the first time in YEARS I was running around without any bags - just the things I need in my pockets! This time, for a laugh, I think I'll go buy something to munch as I sit and "wait" for the Mystery Bus. I end up having to run for it before it can drive from the stop! Miracle or what!? I love catching new buses and checking out new places. It was fun.

Then it stopped at a part of the station where a local bus also does. I hopped on this bus but it was weird and my ticket wouldn't work. I just paid and got it over with. On the way, the driver must have heard people in the back bitching about the lateness of buses on rainy days because he sorta snapped back, "There was a severe traffic jam that took us 30 minutes to get through."

All I can say is, as much as I appreciate being closer to Tokyo now, I really miss Fukuoka. It was such a nice and uncrowded city where everything just ran. Yokohama is full of aging, grumpy, frantic, snail-paced (or just a weird mix of all of the above) people. It makes getting things done, and moving about very hard. :(

Well I packed some more to finish my evening but my knuckles are bruised now so I'm taking easy for the rest of the evening.


AND FINALLY...

I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED UTABAN x ARASHI! TT_____TT I'm so busy I don't even know what my fandom is up to!

Came home to my apartment in tears yesterday. I was soooo worried something had happened. It sounds weird but I couldn't have bared arriving to find my walls and posters graffitied and slashed and my TV broken. Fortunately none of that happened and I cried tears of relief. I emptied my mail box of the junk and came in with the real mail and my New Years postcards. They were bundled up as they always are and on the top with one from Japan Post thanking me for using their services etc. Now, chat buddies I got the wrong idea so I'll clear this up now. On the back of that message was a New Year's message from my akogare no kata (憧れの方 - the person I admire), Sakurai Sho! I was so happy that I was crying, also because I hadn't sent Sho a card because well he's an idol and doesn't know me and stuff. Anyway, I only just figured out that it wasn't because I was part of the fan club, it was because he was the face of this year's JP campaign and so everyone got one. Still, so happy. XD

Anyway, after chatting with my buddies for a while I went to bed at 3pm-ish. I then woke up after some sleep and looked at the clock. 7:00. Oh yeah, I thought, get up for a while and then get some more sleep. So I went to get something to eat from the convenience store only to find it was semi-light outside. Strange, sun usually goes down earlier in winter. Wasn't until I got back home and checked my phone that it was MONDAY 7am, not Sunday 7pm. *yawn* Still a little tired though. Might watch Yoiko no Mikata while I enjoy my breakfast.

PS. I've figured out it's just my bloody apartment that's cold. Yes, please send the blanket, Dad!

PPS. I found and killed a spider in my bathroom that was 4x the size of the little babies I'm used to. It could have really bitten me too! Dammit where do they keep coming from?

PPPS. I want to move to Kisarazu. It's closer to Tokyo, has schools in the country that probably no one in my company wants to work at, and would be a nice new start. Still, depends if my company exists out there or not. I had wanted to move to Osaka but EVERYONE wants to go to Osaka. No one puts Kisarazu on their "Preferred Locations" any more than they put Isahaya there. XD

Last night I said some final goodbyes, this time to Takumi and the gang there. We had a lot of fun and actually did a bit of singing this time around. I spent the night with my Takumi, crazy fire-bird Ryouta, and the really nice owner Katsu-san. I'd actually got a phone call earlier in the evening from Katsu-san (AFTER I'd called Takumi to say I was coming) and for the life of me I had no idea who the hell it was! I told Takumi this story when Katsu-san went to get a drink, adding that I'd thought maybe I was receiving a phone call from another stalker. Takumi told Katsu-san and he went into one of his playful-angry/shock states, where he either punches the couch or slumps dead in it.

I'm really going to miss them, those crazy boys. I actually got an email from Katsu-san today saying that I should do my best and if I ever need anyone to talk to, I can email/call him or call Takumi. So sweet.

This morning, despite having sent all my stuff away, I still managed to have five pieces of luggage on my person. Don't know how the hell I managed that! Anyway, the lady next door gave me some sandwiches and wiener and capsicum mini-kebabs for Yuumi and I to share on the bus. So nice of her. (^_^)

Yuumi drove about an hour out of Isahaya to Ureshino, where we caught the bus to Fukuoka. It was an hour and a half trip and cheaper and more convenient than the train. Apparently the bus stops at Isahaya too so I'm really going to have to check that out!

I dumped my baggage in a locker and went to the apartment company's office to retrieve my key. I then came back to my bags and finally lugged them to the nearest taxi I could find. Then the unthinkable (at least in Japan) happened.

The old guy behind the wheel had absolutely no clue where he was going. He asked for directions so many times over the radio that they told him to call the office on his phone. After that he got around the area but still couldn't find the place. What was supposed to only be a half hour trip ended up taking around an hour. Not only that, but apparently we'd driven past the place a few times already. (-.-;) Fortunately I didn't have to pay and the guy even gave me a packet of peanuts to make up for it. Um, thanks...

In any case, I've finally moved in. It's not such a bad place. I just really don't like being in an area I don't know at all. Guess I'm going to have to explore tomorrow. Though I'm rather hungry now. Let's see if I can get to that 7-11 we passed about six times in the cab.

Got a phone call today, pretty much telling me to quit N*VA ASAP because another company needs me in Fukuoka for a primary school teaching job! I'm freakin overjoyed! And Fukuoka isn't that far from all my friends and family in Kyuushuu! I'm so damn happy! Finally, a secure job! I finish N*VA on the 13th of Nov and start my new job on the 19th of Nov! Best day ever! What's even better is that apparently 666 has gone away for a month so with all luck, I may never see him again! YATTA! This rules!