Been a while (as usual). I thought I'd write something in xanga seeing as I got rid of my facebook account. Please don't ask why because there's really no point explaining so hehe

I was away in Japan for the past 3 weeks and I'm back in the UK now. It was nice to see my family again and eat really good food for a change. I suppose one of the most memorable things that happened was going to the photo studio dressed up in a kimono that my mom wore when she was 20. There's a proper ceremony in Japan around January for those that become 20. I wore layer after layer of material and it was really tight but that wasn't much of a problem. It was just that I didn't eat anything for lunch so I spent 2 hours with an empty stomach hehe My sister also rented a kimono and dressed up as well because we didn't know when was the next time we'd ever go back to japan. I took pictures with my relatives and just my family. I think it's the first family photo we've took since I was 7. My dad suddenly decided that he wanted to wear a thobe so there's a picture with him in it like that hehe It's a shame but I don't have any of those photos with me at the moment, my sister took some with her digital camera and it's in my father's computer so I have to wait till he sends them hmm Either way, after taking the photos my sister took off her kimono (cuz it was rented) but I stayed dressed up and went to the local mall to get something to eat. Maan, I really stood out (esp because I took the photo on 12/30 which is a lot earlier than the ceremony itself). Oh well, I didn't really care if people saw me because it wasn't like i was wearing an arabic national clothes or an evening dress pff

Another memorable (?) thing that happened was that, on the way to Japan, I missed a flight at France because the flight to France from UK was extremely delayed. When I was at Heathrow, I ended up leaving from the check-in counter to the gate, 15 min before the flight was supposed to leave. Everyone was pushing and shoving because there was some system error at the check-in counter. I lined up for 2.5 hours that morning. Either way, when I found out that I missed my flight to Japan, I had to line up at another counter for 2 hours because A LOT of people missed their flight. By then, I was getting dizzy because I didn't sleep the night before. I figured that I wouldn't get any jet lag if I do that... eish. After a while, I managed to get a ticket that provides a place to stay etc because the next flight to japan was the next day. I took ages just trying to find my way out of the terminal. People at that airport were quite unhelpful -_- Anyway, a lot of Japanese people were around but I decided not to talk to anyone seeing as I was dead tired. Once I was at the 2 star hotel they provided, I got ready to sleep although it was still 5 pm. The shower only had to little pieces of soap and a shampoo bottle and that was it lol I couldn't even brush my teeth because I barely took anything with me onto the plane due to the "one baggage rule".

Right before I fell asleep I noticed that there were 2 odd stains on the wall; as though something got splattered onto it. I went up to it and it looked red... hmmmmmmmm I actually freaked out a bit then but I turned away from the wall and went to sleep. I don't want to imagine what happened in that room hehe Either way, I somehow managed to arrive in Japan (I watched a lot of movies hehe) but once I got to the baggage reclaim err place, my suitcase never came out .... I looked around and noticed that some people who were stuck with me in france had their luggage. I was one of the unlucky ones that couldn't get their suitcase ARGH I went and wrote in some sheet and left. I was told that the bag should arrive in 2 days and if it doesn't I should try to get compensation from the company. In the end, the bag didn't arrive for 3 days, the people at the airport were saying that there was some kind of strike at the airport after we left and well when I called about my suitcase the woman on the phone was like she had no idea where my suitcase was -_- She assumed that I lived in Japan or something and that losing a suitcase wasn't such a big deal because I'd have a house but nooo I kept borrowing my sisters clothes and all... In the end, I did get my suitcase back so that's a relief.

PHOTOS

Went to Yokohama's China Town with Asato and Jumana

A small police station in Asakusa

Shibuya mmm busy busy

Jumana, me, Ahmed (The three freaks)

Out for dinner (my 2 cousins and my bro)

Nagashima Spaland (view from the ferris wheel)

Small show at the amusement park

Famous toilet company "TOTO"