Double post

We went to the mochi pounding this morning. It was hard to get up, but I dragged myself out of bed, and made the trek into the city again. The temple is small and humble, but we only get to hang out in the kitchen area...we don't actually go into the temple.

The pounding was going in full force when we got there. A man with his hand covered in hot, sticky rice was rolling it around in the bin, as another man banged the sledgehammer like weapon down on the rice. It's an ancient Japanese tradition to do this for New Year's, and it can be like a choreographed dance with one person turning rice, and the other pounding it to oblivion. When the rice turns into a ball, glutenlike substance, it's turned over to the table of women in aprons. They dust it with flour, and turn it into little balls of mochi, which is then sold.

Bf's mom ran into an old family friend and we got the royal treatment. She set us up chairs and hooked it up with the hot soup, which is amazing. There are many Japanese plants and roots in the soup, and one of them is a lotus root. It's supposed to symbolize good luck and I got one in my first cup of soup. She also gave us a sweet rice ball sprinkled with seaweed.

We put in our mochi order and then went to downtown Japantown. There is a new store called New People. It's three floors of shopping goodness, well one floor is a gallery. It's the first store of it's kind in the U.S., and it's modeled after trendy stores in Japan. The clothing line is very "gothic lolita," which I love and adore, but can never fit into. The first floor was a bunch of knick knack type items, with books, ice cream and cake shaped candles, fun jewelery, and weird little toys.

When we got to the second floor, holy moly, I was in heaven. Ruffled and lace dresses and skirts galore. I took a deep breath and headed into the madness. The dresses were absolutely beautiful, but when I looked at the price tag, I knew it was over. No dress was under $200. Yikes. The skirts and shirts were not under $100 a pop, and I just wandered about, touching the clothes I knew I would never have, or fit into.

We went back to get our mochi order, then off to the Japanese market. I got myself a can of azuki beans to dip my mochi into. They have great food, and I was tempted and teased by the gyoza, sweet potato croquettes, sweet and sour pork, and pork buns. I didn't get any of it because I knew I wouldn't be able to hold back.

I drove bf's mom home, and then went to the car cleaning place. I try to get my car cleaned out once a month, and it feels really good to vaccuum and dump all the junk. I looked in the trunk, and saw stuff I knew I would not be taking with me on my next journey, so I dumped it. Just like that. I dumped old school work, dresses I never finished, crappy pillows I made...just gone. I get so worried sometimes about how I'm going to take all my stuff with me, so it felt good to lighten the load a little, even if it did tug on my heart a little. Just trying to loosen the attachment strings a little.

I have my laundry sitting in my car, so eventually, I will be forced to do it. I really hope my next place has a washer and dryer because going to laundromats is pretty much the pits.

As I pulled into the parking area of my apartment, I saw crazy neighbor lady. She smiled at me and asked if I wanted to hit her joint. I certainly do not, crazy neighbor lady. I then told her that if we don't answer the door, there is usually a reason for that, and it's not ok to just walk into the apartment. I did not say this in a mean or angry way, just matter of fact. She was a little surprised and told me she kept saying "knock knock," but nobody came to the door. I told her again, if we don't come to the door, there is a reason for it, and that if it were just an emergency, I would understand. But, to barge into my home to just beg for a cigarette was not ok. She thanked me for confronting her about it, and I told her I was about to pee my pants, so I had to run. I'm glad I said something though, because I think it's completely out of line for her to just walk in. She is not a friend, nor do I have that close of a friendly neighbor rapport with her to warrant her just walking in. She's crazy, and I don't want her wandering around in our place.

I'm surrounded by christmas paper and presents, and I can't bring myself to clean it all up.

Tomorrow is the bf's birthday. Another day of nonstop craziness. I need a break from my vacation!