Yokohama Royal Park Hotel

My fiancé's parents are in Japan for a few days before they leave on an Asian cruise ship.  Which is awesome.  The fiancé and I love staying at nice hotels, and I am guessing, as an engagement present to us, they booked us a night in the same fancy hotel as theirs.

It is quite posh.

Zail and I have spent several nights out in nice hotels, though usually when we are going to Disney (or that one time we couldn't get a cheap place in Nagoya).  This one, however, takes the cake.  We are in the tallest building in Japan (third largest structure--I think Sky Tree is the largest structure in Japan). It is a superb place.  We are on the 57th floor this evening, and the view is killer.

Sadly, it's a kind of gloomy day. 

I let Zail come back early, he had a rough and early morning of heading to the airport to fetch his parents, while I stayed at home doing pretty much nothing.  I worked on a sewing project and watched the gas leak year episodes of Community. 

The hotel room is pretty nice too, though there was no bottle opener for my beer.  This was a problem until I figured it out on my own. 

I just wanted to share a picture of the awesome view.  :)

An intro

I have been living in Japan for over eight years now.  That is a crazy statement.  Currently, by August this year, I will have been in Japan for nine long years.

It has been an interesting journey.

I started out coming to Japan as a HUGE western otaku.  By size standards, I am still pretty huge.  ;)  However, while my otaku style is not as strong as it once was, it's only because my tastes include fancy hotels and expensive otaku goods.

In this blog, I expect to recount some of the stories as my time as a douninka (Japanese fan comic creator), ALT/kindergarten teacher/actual teacher, some of the best festivals ever (that include giant penises made of wood), and the expat experience of what I never expected to be: a long timer.



The image at the top is provided by my good friend Megan.  You can find her cool art tumblr Here (link will open in a new window).