Another Random Pix Update (Yay!)

The Japanese gangstas

Okay, so I'm not the world's best chef...I guess I missed a step when I tried to marinade this chicken. I thought it went:
1. Marinade
2. Cook
3. ??????
4. Profit!!

Pot merchandise is really popular for some reason in Japan. It's extremely rare here, and simply being associated with it can you get locked up for a long time. In actuality, it's the pot leaf icon is what's more popular here than the actual narcotic itself. The Japanese also love to sport the Playboy bunny, believing it only means the colloquial "that guy's a Playboy" versus the actual magazine (I don't think they even know about the ecchi zasshi (porn magazine)). The Stussy symbol is also very popular...that was big back when I was in Jr. High.

Hahaha, they tell you straight up what this is ^_<>

These aren't your regular Pringles, oh no...these are gourmet Pringles we got ourselves here (and at a gourmet price too...). They actually weren't half bad. The other "gourmet" flavor they offer is garlic and cheese.

I <3 style="font-weight: bold;">best investment I've ever made in my entire life. It's pretty long (note the pen for a size comparison), very cushy, and extremely cuddly. I don't know how I lived without it back in B.S.P. (Before Stitch Pillow).

So I've re-arranged my room a little bit since the last time I showed pictures. I swapped out the table I had the TV resting on for my spare chair that was rarely used - it's a perfect height and size for a TV stand. I took one of the extra couches off of the hands of another ryuugakusei, though actually I just swapped the one shown here for a different one since he preferred this one and I'm just a borrower =P The table in the center is very convenient for doing homework and studying. I forget the Japanese name for this type of table, but what's really cool is that you can plug the table into an electrical outlet and have it heat your feet underneath it. Great for these chilly winter days. And, speaking of winter, it has indeed got much colder here, though there isn't much precipitation as had been forewarned about. Thankfully there's not much wind either, so as long as the sun's shining and you have on long pants, you don't get too cold. It's about as cold as Santa Cruz gets in the winter. It does make waking up for soccer practice at 6:30 AM Mondays and Wednesdays a little more troublesome, but you warm up as soon as you start practicing :) But, you might look at this picture and think, "Well, where's Xander's bed now?" Also, look in front of my bookstand..what are all those plastic bags for?...

...so I put my bed up in my former sotrage space loft. It's pretty nice, and it stays a little warmer than the floor, which is nice for these winter days. Also, I've yet to encounter those pesky bedbugs again, probably partly due to keeping my bed elevated and not on the floor where all creepy-crawlies have access. As for the plastic bags...

...well, they used to be my system of organizing my schoolwork. I had one of the tutors come over to help me with my children's literature class (the class that's a regular Japanese class, so it's near impossible to actually understand what's being said). She couldn't stop laughing at my nice system for storing papers...hey, I'm a guy, what do you expect me to be, organized? Anyways, when we went to Fujikyu Hailando they had a Warner Bros. store, so I bought 8 paper organizers, 6 of which are old Batman comic covers, 2 are Superman. I figured that they were cool enough (being Batman and all) that they warranted the purchase. Also, since I'll be needing to bring all my schoolwork back with me to America to turn into the central EAP office so they can judge my class workload and determine how many credits I receive per class, I figured it was worth the 100en an organizer to keep my papers nice and crisp.