The last bits and bobs of December were made up of a lil of this, and a lil of that. A lunch with my buddy Jean to dish about the woes of life, a pre-Christmas tattoo touch-up (ow), and a bunch of Cialis commercials. It looked a little something like this:
Christmas morning didn’t bring that usual elation a small mountain of presents does. Because there wasn’t a small mountain waiting. Because of my trip, the wonderful gift-givers around me imparted me with ca$hola…which is perfectly awesome but significantly less thrilling. But I put on my best game face for the occasion.
After opening our gift(s) (“s” for Janelle, not me – boo!), we readied ourselves and headed to Starbucks to laze around, Christmas-style. It’s Christmasssss!
After a lonnnng discussion about where we should spend Christmas, we decided, for no real good reason, to head up to Ikebukuro and mill about. So we got on the subway…and then got off to change and guess what?? I spotted some guy wearing a pair of heeled silver ladies strappy sandals! The major crime here is not that he was wearing them – it was that they were ridiculously hideous and he was wearing black socks. WORST.
OOOOOH Janelle and I laughed. Sorry I couldn’t get a better picture for you.
There was soooo nothing special in Ikebukuro today. Just herds and herds of people/couples walking around, long lineups for purikura, and intense heat inside of Sunshine City. We did get to see this gaudy pink tree though:
For Christmas dinner we picked Nakamuraya’s Racontez curry buffet in Shinjuku to celebrate Christ’s birth. Yum!
On the right: My sad re-creation of the menu board’s picture.
After dinner we decided to muscle our way into an arcade and get some Christmas purikura done. Some Thriller-esque poster-girl awaited us.
Creepy.
Of course, we did a bit of poking around the “Juku, and ended up finding a store I wanted to visit, Komehyo. It was only okay, but they did have a boatload of crap for sale.
No Christmas is complete without a trip to Isetan.
Just, you know, your run-of-the-mill average stuff – Rolexes, Tiffany jewellery, a large metal bin filled with LV bags, Chanel suits, etc etc etc. Nothing to see here.
We headed for home and a session of karaoke at our local Utahiroba.
Dancing Queen needs tambourine.
On the walk home I was feeling especially daring and bought a corn soup can from the vending machine. Mmm…potage!
Hot and tasty.
When Janelle is prepping for sleep, she can don the silliest of things. One of my favourites is her shower cap. Hee hee!
Tomorrow we are joining Maya and her Mom at the Isetan sale at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. Deals to be had? Japanese women in a flurry of wild purchasing (beyond the usual?) We shall see. Oh yeah…
メリークリスマス!!
So it’s finally Christmas! Ha ha…ha? After spending last year’s Christmas in BC with my family, we once again made the trek out to Manitoba on snowy Christmas Eve (snow in MB…not here.) I hadn’t been back to Manitoba in nearly two years, since my Granny died in early 2008. When it came down to it, I was actually quite excited to be jetting down into Winnipeg’s decrepit airport.
After work on Christmas Eve, my Aunt drove us into Vancouver airport for the evening flight out. To our surprise, the airport was mostly deserted – I suppose the Christmas rush had already passed. We took our time eating dinner before making our way to the gate.
Ramen! It tasted awful. This place is no Ichiran.
The flight was dark and cold – as to be expected. I listened to some K8 while Marty snoozed…typical. We pulled in on time and were pleased to find Tracy and Morgan waiting for us…in thick winter apparel. I prepared for the worst.
Tracy is really giving her side of the story here, it would appear.
Tracy and Morgan were kind enough to let us sleep in Tori and Cole’s beds at their apartment to avoid the long commute to Altona in the threatening snowstorm raging outside. The temperature wasn’t actually too deathly – I was surprised, but it’s amazing what a steely will can do.
After a glorious sleep, my parents came into the city to pick us up from Tracy and Morgan’s and then it was back to the airport to pick up B. Too much decrepit airport in 24 hours. But it was very nice to see the parents and chow on lunch waiting for B’s plane to arrive.
Oh yeah, ps – MERRY CHRISTMAS! I’ve totally forgotten already as this day has been anything but opening presents and holiday cheer. I just ate lunch in the airport, for Pete’s sake.
B arrived and we all jammled into the truck for the trek home. The next few days were filled with food, family, and frigid weather. I didn’t have much time to breathe, much less take any relevant photos about the whole schmozz. (It was over three months ago anyway – like you care! Ahem…) So yeah. On the 28th, I finally got around to whipping out the camera to show you a bit of my snowy holiday. 
Nothing like pyjamas and mukluks in -30 degrees.
More lazy days went by at the speed of light…Sis arrived on December 31, just in time for Christmas(?). Well, our Christmas, anyway. B and I and picked her up at the airport and then headed to Mongo’s to devour a few bowls of Mongolian BBQ – YUMMMO. That night was, for all intents and purposes, Christmas Eve. It was a very Holt Renfrew Christmas for me.
That’s it – a bunch of gift cards and pair of socks – but it’s what I asked for!
After the gifts came the many rounds of eating. It was like, eat, break for half an hour or so, then eat again, repeat. B escaped to some lame dood’s party in Winnipeg, so Sis and I were left up to our own devices.
After digging through some boxes, I found the most entertaining piece of our evening – my old journals/diaries. Oh my gosh…this was some priceless stuff.
Sis and I nearly died laughing. Pretty much if I had anything at all to do with you throughout my formative years (grades 4 to 10), there’s an entry (or ten) in these books about you. Oh, and it is priceless stuff. I was so serious…and teenage. Perhaps I’ll do a short series of excerpts in the future so we can all have a laugh. I’ll try to not be too embarrassed.
And then it was midnight. Happy New Year.
A few days later, some friends had an impromptu get-together with foods. It’s been only what, two years? Too long mates…too long.
There can be only one.
Oi! I get the stink eye. It must have been something I said. I say a lot of things.
This meeting also revealed some absolutely fantastical old photos – kudos to Suzy for keeping us forever young (cue Rob Stewart song). As you will see, I wasn’t always such a fashion-focused individual:
Oh 20” hem circumference Randy River jeans…I don’t miss you.
This is a classic Erin-circa-1998-2000 look.
OI OI OI OI! This is dreadful. I remember this night though – grade 12 Christmas banquet. Marty and I had already broken up yet he decided to go with me anyway. As you can see, there was no place else he’d rather be.
A Panic Button classic, plus Lora D, minus Lori F. After a gig and sleepover in Landmark. Damn, my memory is clear!
Token action shot. What I’m holding is a Wagon Wheel. Lunch hour tradition dictated that we hurl that thing against the wall until it was crumbs, and then Jen would finally get to eat it. HA HA HA HA HA it makes me laugh even now. I guess you’d have had to have been there.
And finally, the present-day version of a few of us…sometime soon we’ll all have to congregate!
The drive home was a bit of a cold one:
Sister-time doesn’t happen very often…but when it does, things can get a bit ridiculous, as evidenced by New Year’s Day, 2010.
They just might kill me for that one. In fact, this picture may have been deleted by the time you even read this. Let me know Sisses!
Oh no! B is getting mauled by Stitch and a caveman! Poor thing.
A busy trip was made yet busier by the wedding of Tracy and Morgan in Winnipeg during our last weekend out. I didn’t take any pictures of the wedding (I’ll leave that to the pros), but I did manage to snap a few shots of our ghetto-fab Travelodge room. No windows to the outside here…only a great view of the pool area. I didn’t even know rooms like that still existed! But they do, dear readers, they do!
The ride back to town from Winnipeg is so beauteous in the winter cold.
We now go to the last full day in the sub-arctic of MB which was also our last family gathering. I really love my extended family (which is great, btw), so it was a really nice way to wrap up the Christmas festivities. Before they arrived, I braved the outdoors once more to run up and down the driveway a few times. Sis cheered me on from inside the house.
…and welcomed me back inside with open arms. I was so freaking cold. My Gramps thought I was nuts.
After consuming copious amounts of delicious foods, we kicked back and chatted, joked, and even horsed around a bit (well, the younger ones, anyway.)
Can you tell we are sisters? SISTERS!
Al and Martha, in Christmas-y matchy-match shirts.
He’s too proud of his heater remote control and needed to show it to me.
Oi! No makeup. Me sitting on and squishing Snacks.
Aw! Cousinly-love abounds.
After gatherings, one must always consume excess snacks. This is how we all end up fat after the holidays.
The next day we zipped on back to our homeland. There was no one available to pick us up, so did the best we could with public transit. I’m not gonna lie – it was a bit of an inconvenience lugging our massive sacks of dirty clothes and Christmas goods onto the rush hour train home. But…the scenery was nice and the temperatures milder.
Hello to the new-ish year and all it brings. I have a feeling this will be a good one. --> \(^_^)/
