Reason Five:

“Coffee Day”, an official coffee day in Japan. It’s on October 1st. Actually, I’m not all that sure if this is official official. But it seems to be. Even so, I’d celebrate it. Plus they have a lot of little cafes and bakeries so that’s just good enough.

Reason Four:

Anime is a normal thing to watch in Japan. Enough said? I think so. (Plus you get to chase around anime directors and manga artists like Hayao Miyazaki and Tite Kubo)

Reason Three:

Politeness. I feel like I’m being racist, but I really am not. I just know that Japanese people (at least when i visited Japan) are extremely kind and friendly. Everyone was so polite. Things are kept clean. I really liked that about Japan, maybe one of the main reasons I enjoyed visiting.

Reason Two:

Sushi and other Japanese foods. I just love Japanese food. Sushi is delicious, and their teriyakis and tempuras and all that are just great. I also love how eloquently everything is served and such. Chopsticks may be my enemy sometimes, but nonetheless I love Japanese restaurants. I need to expand my palette, so if you have any recommendations please comment!

Reason One:

Cherry blossoms. This one is definitely thanks to Kelly ’cause I had completely forgotten about it. Cherry blossoms are such amazing flowers that grow on such amazing cherry trees in Japan. (Sakura!) In Japan they have Cherry Blossom Festivals when the blossoms are in bloom. We have them in the US and such too, now, like in SF, and DC – I’m really hoping I can attend one in Japan one day, though. I consider this to be the best reason because they are just so beautiful. I immediately think spring when I see them.

And there are my reasons to move to Japan, or just visit it. Last time I visited Japan was … a while ago, maybe six years? I can’t remember the exact number, but I really need to revisit! Do you like Japan? What are your own reasons for liking the amazing sakura-filled country?

After visiting Santa Cruz yesterday, things look different now. I visited Porter and Kresge College, my top two choices in UCSC. UCSC has a 10-college system; you affiliate yourself with a college, not based on strictly your major, but rather your interests, what you want your community to be, and your housing. I originally was leaning towards Kresge, because of the apartments and writing aspect. I also liked the idea of “Power and Representation” (it’s core course/theme) – but this was all text. Things I’ve read, people’s stereotypes and bias opinions. During the recent tour, we only saw a few colleges, not all of them, or the ones I really was considering. Yesterday, I saw those two colleges, and Porter just turned me around. Now, it was a weekend, it was quiet, barely anybody was walking around like they had been during the tours. I’m not completely sure why, but this may have affected my opinion.

My opinion is biased as most are. I liked Porter because it was more alive than Kresge. I’m sure next year if anybody reads my blog and reads this entry (Oh hi future friend!) they might disagree with me, or think I’m being stupid. Sorry, this is my view. Or maybe, I felt more alive at Porter. It just seemed so much more friendly and colorful. It is supposed to be the ‘artsy’ college. Kresge was artsy too, but in a different way. I felt more in touch with nature at Kresge, but I didn’t want that. That would be a huge transition for me. Porter felt like the transition itself, a mix between suburban sidewalks and mauled to death by redwood trees. Kresge felt too quiet, almost eerie. It felt like everyone was in their apartments, living. Which is fine, but I suppose at Porter there was a little more life. Even then it was quiet, again, maybe it was the weekend? Or maybe sometime big was going on that I didn’t know about. Oh, and I do know there is some construction, and probably will last through next year, but I don’t mind. I would mind sharing a room with someone (something that was a little tiny bit less likely at Kresge, just a little) – but I’ll get through it. I’m not going to be anti-social again. I’ll try hard.

So, college-wise I’ve decided: 1) Porter, 2) Kresge, 3) College 9, 4) College 10, College 8. I originally had Crown in there, but I’ve considered it, and realized it’ll lead me to being more anti-social. I want some fun at college, and Crown may be fun, but I feel like it’ll be too similar to the life I’m living now. (Again, sorry if I’m disrespecting any future friends who go to any of these or any colleges)

After my visits, I went to downtown Santa Cruz, and I freaking loved it. That life I saw a glimpse of at Porter was all over the place in downtown. I know I’ll be there a lot throughout next year. At first we went to a nice restaurant called Kianti’s (it reminded me a bit of Tomatina in Dublin) at which I had garlic cheese bread and a custom pepperoni-sausage-tomato calzone. So good! Then me and the parents walked further down Pacific Ave, visited some stores, and then went to a nice little Café called “Cafe Delmarette” – I got myself a Cafe Latte and Strawberry Scone:

[View more photos from my Santa Cruz trips on Flickr...]

The scone was amazing, the Cafe Latte (saturated in sugar as usual) was yummy too! I’ll have to get the Mocha next time I’m there, and other items off the menu. Definitely revisiting that place again! All in all, Pacific Ave was amazing. I’m hoping to visit more before I actually live in Santa Cruz. I think going here again really has helped me like it more.

But like I said, unfortunately for my tongue, hot beverages are hot. That would probably explain why they’re called hot and not warm. So where am I going with this? Well, I burnt my tongue today, like I do often. Why? No no, being impatient wasn’t my problem this time. I’m sure of it. I believe it was just unluckiness, some foreign force testing my understanding of chemistry and heat conservation or something. So story time children, gather around.

The wooden coffee stirrer lied. After swishing the coffee about with all my might after dumping 3 packets of Splenda sugar, I decided to lick the stirrer like how kids lick the spoon covered in frosting or cake batter or something sweet after it’s done being used. I was expecting it to be hot, but for some reason (probably chemistry, or the Gods enjoying my misery), it wasn’t. It was warm, and tasted wonderful. I immediately closed my coffee cup’s cap and took a sip, expecting more of this lovely taste, thinking Wow, whoever made this kept the temperature just right! And then I burnt my tongue.

Maybe I exaggerate a little, you must be thinking my tongue is probably red and throbbing in pain. It’s just feels a bit scratchy, you know that feeling, we’ve all had felt that feeling on our tongues… and if you haven’t, I hate you, but not really, keep reading my blog posts. Moral, don’t underestimate the power and burning sensation of coffee, and hot beverages in general. :)

Before seeing the movie, I had an interesting “lunch”. I wasn’t all that hungry, so I decided I’d get a chicken salad, and instead, I got a chicken greenhouse. The salad was HUGE. I know, ironic, how I wasn’t hungry so I expected the salad to be not so filling. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to waste the food, so I tried, and I emphasize tried, to finish it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. I also got a yummy strawberry smoothie thing from jamba juice. :D

After the movie, bubble tea! Coffee milk tea w/ small tapioca balls. I think I prefer the big ones. Or as someone specific put it “I like big balls better than small ones.” …. Sigh.

An interesting day, a good one :)