Let's dance in front of a purple spirit

Midterm's over. I sat in Starbucks seven in the morning cramming for three hours. I think I definitely passed.

But all that cramming causes stress and what is a better way to crash stress than a crazy Lady Gaga hour at the Japanese Karaoke place, followed by a nice steak dinner (all Japanese-style of course) and a festival at Asakusa? My dear friend Jason and I have turned up the heat by improvising a Tango dance in front of a Buddhist Temple in Asakusa. However, I think we might have upset the Buddhist spirits of the temple in the process. I actually have a picture proof for this--a purple spirit randomly showed up right around the place where we danced. Oops. Please don't be mad at us oh-you-holy spirits.

Purple Buddhist Spirit?

Then, we looked for an ice cream place that has about forty different ice cream flavors (that's nine more than divine Baskin Robbins). Too bad the store was closed and we had to go home empty-handed.

I'm not disappointed about the dessert situation in Japan though. Japanese definitely have a way of making desserts. I went to a cafe known for its toasts the other day, and had a bunny-shaped french toast vanilla ice cream. Yum! The only downfall: the dessert was kid-sized.

One other interesting area to explore in Japan is Shinjuku. The number of delicious restaurants followed by stores, and izakayas (bar) are almost overwhelming. Not to mention the creativity flourishing in many billboards and posters. I wish I knew more Kanji to understand what they're talking about.

I have accidentally ran into a bar that has many, many Japanese boys with high-arched eyebrows and sensitive fashion on stand-by. I think you pay about 3,000 yen (about $30) for two hours with them. Who knows. Maybe it's an innocent get-together for people who are lonely.

Before I left for Japan, I have been told about the step curve learning process while in Japan. There would be ups and downs, and it would be up to our determination to reverse the downward curve back up. So far, I have been frustrated few times with my Japanese skills, but

nothing major to discourage me from what I want to do. And my Japanese is getting a lot better. Sometimes I find myself speaking in Japanese even when I'm by myself. There's only a month left in Japan now, and I can only await more wonders in this ancient island.