Merry Christmas!!!11

It's not like Christmas back home, but I'm still in a great mood. Which is always nice :)

Today, it being Christmas and all as well as a Sunday, Shota and I went out to Namba for a little Christmas shopping. In the end, I wasn't able to convince him to get a Christmas present, but we ate a lot and just had a good time together.

This photo was taken at the Big Step in Ameica-mura. I've yet to actually explore the entire Big Step shopping centre, but I'd like to check out the KERA shop sometime..!



 
 Earlier this week (or maybe a couple days ago, I'm losing all sense of time again), I got this freebie pack in the mail. I filled out an online survey for this magazine called KATY, and they sent me this as a present. Some Marie Claire make-up, which I don't recall ever seeing before (I'm only aware of the magazine). The eye liner, pencil and liquid, and eyebrow pencil are all in brown, so I probably won't use them that often, but I like the eyeshadow palette. The pink and white brow highlight are my faves~ :)





On Christmas Eve, we decided to do the Christmas dinner thing. I totally reneged on not getting fried chicken (me trying to go against the tide :P), but it was so cheap at AEON, I couldn't resist. I do love a good fried chicken. We also had french fries, sushi and miso soup. What an eclectic meal..! ;D











And to save a little money, we bought small cakes instead of a one huge Christmas cake, like we did last year. I much prefer these little cakes and when you put about four together, they equal the size of a small Christmas cake, but for about half the price. YEA! :D

And yea, I had to pick up the Disney cakes. The Disney compels me *zombie face* e_E








Christmas Day outfit!!

I was trying to channel my inner abominable snowman. ;)

But seriously, those leg warmers helped a TON because the wind was kicking everyone's butt today. Completely relentless.


I also broke out my Betsy bag. It's been quite a minute but I do wish I owned a couple more Betsy Johnson bags..







Our first stop for today was Namba City for my Christmas present..! Last year, I didn't pay much attention to Namba City, but the basement floor is probably one of my favorite secret places to shop in Osaka now. There's a World Wide Lovers shop PLUS a shop that sells Vivienne Westwood and J.P. Gaultier clothes and bags :O Though that stuff is out of my price range, I love just looking at it and thinking about owning some..! :P

I do want to buy more World Wide Love and Super Lovers stuff though..!! I love how WWL goes from really crazy designs to more mainstream stuff. Gives one lots of options :] And since there's no more JSG in Osaka.. ;o;



My Christmas present!! Some Dr. Martens..! :) I needed a sturdy winter boot since that last pair I bought were kind of cheap and didn't fit well.

There's another style similar to this pair that I'm on the look out for because, quite frankly, you can never have enough Dr. Martens.

Classic ;)




After Namba City, we walked down Midosuji street to Shinsaibashi OPA. It wasn't as crowded as Namba City (though NC had a free live, so that might be why), but I suppose boyfriends don't really want to be cooped up inside OPA all day on Christmas day either.

UNLESS, they're going to the dessert buffet, like we did..!! This is my favorite dessert buffet in all of Osaka (so far). It's cheap and they have a large variety of desserts plus a chocolate fountain and you can make your own crepes. They also have some light food like spaghetti and pizza. The drink bar is included and it's only about 1400 yen for 90 minutes. We're usually full within the first 45 minutes, which gives us enough time to digest and then eat a little more. We're lucky we walk so much otherwise we'd be sumo-size :X..

Lovely view of Osaka from the dessert buffet windows. It wasn't until I looked out of these windows that I realized Osaka is surrounded by these huge mountains. Of course I knew Osaka was, but I hadn't realized it. Or ever really seen them from the city before. It was a nice realization :)







After OPA, we wandered back down through America-mura, to check out some of the small street style shops. I love the strange t-shirts they carry like a African American Minnie and Mickey Mouse. I'm gonna try to pick that up the next time I go. :)

We also stopped by a sports shop in Big Step, where I took a photo of these Santa. He's standing outside of a used clothing shop.







We then started our walk back towards Namba so we could watch the lights displayed in Namba Parks. But on the way, I saw this small shrine.

It was so modern looking, we almost thought it wasn't real. It's got security cameras and everything D: I guess someone was trying to walk away with some donations. Shame man...









Unfortunately, the Christmas lights-thing was a bust. The wind was almost literally tossing everyone around the outdoor courtyard, so we gave up and went inside. And took purikura..!! :D I think this another machine that makes you look taller than you are. It also shrunk my nose..!! I like my nose...











After Namba Parks, we decided to call it a night. And since we got home so early, I was able to blog..!! Way to go productivity ;D

Here's my little haul. The Martens were the Christmas present, while the W♥C purchase was completely out of necessity since I was in need of a good winter coat. Totally out of necessity.

Totally.







Aforementioned necessary coat :] I love the big furry hood. I almost went with the Super Lovers coat, but it was covered in leopard print and I thought I should just step away from the leopard print a little. I've got quite enough Lol Though I still want it a little..

And that was my Christmas..! I still have another mini cake, so I'll probably munch on that, then get ready for work tomorrow. But only two more days! 2!!! I'm excited to just have time to mess around without having to worry about work. Plus, lots of clubbing will be done :D Yuuussss.

How did everyone's Christmas go!? I can't wait to read other Christmas blogs. It's like reliving Christmas over and over again ;D

And Christmas music, couldn't possibly forget ;P

I'm probably guilty of a lot of things this week: Not taking better care of my health, not taking more time to just enjoy myself, being bitchy, not preparing for this week better, the list could go on. But I guess admitting to what I'm guilty of is a nice first step. The next one, correcting those offenses, may take a while..

Anyway, this past week was pretty boring in Osaka. We started of with our formerly weekly karaoke trip, but our usual spot (Round1), was full of idiots (or so I supposed), so we got fed up with the service and left. One hour gone.

We wandered around Shinsaibashi/Namba for a minute, taking some purikura, before settling on Rainbow Karaoke, which I believe is a spot maybe only for kansai. At least my friends from Tokyo had never heard of it, and I've only seen it in Osaka. The place definitely had the Osaka vibe, smoking allowed, drink buffet with ice cream, decor looking like remnants from the 80s. But it was getting late so it was either that or go home, and I needed my karaoke.

They did have a black light inside the room that showed planets when you turned it on. Pretty cool but, as one would imagine, totally unnecessary :)

The room was really small too D: Ugggh, I really wanted to stay at Round1 but I swear their service quality has just plummeted recently and I can force myself to pay for bad service. >:[








Then it was off to work Monday (last week), which was Halloween. I did have a Halloween party for my Monday classes, so I got to dress up but the mall totally ruined the Halloween vibe with the Christmas decorations and music. So soon AEON!?
I was not ready.

But I thought their Japanese Christmas tree was super cool. Made from bamboo and origami'd things. And the random tabi thrown in.







They also had these constructions of armor from a children's program I think..? They're not made out of LEGOs, but they kind of look like it. Anyway, I thought it was cool so I snapped a photo of it.














Then at the end of my uneventful week (see how I just skipped 5 days?? Straight from Monday to Sunday~), we had a school trip to the zoo in Osaka. I was moaning about it all week because it was taking up one of my days off, but actually ended up enjoying myself a lot. And my students impressed me a lot by speaking a of English and not crying (the babies).

A good time was had by all.

That baby in the front is one of mine :D Tsurugi and his pop. I think he's 2 yrs old, but he's a smarty and a playa. Got a bright future ahead ;D.

Then after work, I ran away from my co-workers and joined Shota at the nearby Q's Mall for some quick shopping before we head to the states Wednesday. I needed to pick up a "Jimi Hendrix hat" for my trip out into the desert, but ended up with some new shoes as well (leopard creepers..!!). Damn you WE GO.. bane of my shopping addiction.

That being said, I love the new hat and shoes and have worn them almost everyday so far. :D Except today, since I'm doing an up-do. But if I could put a hat on an up-do..!! I would..









That's it for this week..! Next time, I might be sharing my adventures overseas with Shota and his family. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them since it's been a few months since we've had any kind of gathering. AND I'm totally looking forward to some Q.T. with my fellow Americans in Las Vegas. I'm bringing the batman maxi dress. BE READY.

A song to hum to yourself (and the title of this editiong ;D)
One of my favortite movies and probably what opened my mind to a more realistic (or not) kind of romance (versus the Disney kind :P). Love this movie~ Subs all the way.