Japan Times!

Well, I have been up since 4am (partly because I am so sore (or uncomfortable) and partly because I went to bed far to early last night. I don't have much else to do, so I have no excuse but to blog! Of course it has been too long, yet again. But since Matt and I have both quit facebook, twitter and all other forms of social networking (except for Instagram!- that will NEVER happen), I need to be more up to date with this blog!


So we arrived in Japan last Sunday and we are having an amazing trip (I think I say that every time) but how can I not, it's Japan!! First thing we did (what we always do) is went out for Japanese food! To our favorite restaurant Dalian (it's in China Town, Yokohama).

Gyoza (dumplings) and a chilli noodle dish (can't remember but it was delicious)!

Ahhhhhh China Town, how I love thee

Valentines Day dinner- Freshness Burger. The best damn fast food you will EVER eat in your life! 

Ok, I just realised this post is fast becoming all about the food (you can see where my priorities are) :P So Monday Shige finished my left sleeve (The Phoenix) and it looks so beautiful. I realised I've been going on so much about my new back piece that I haven't given my phoenix enough credit. I absolutely love it of course and after 1 and half years it's cool to have both sleeves and chest finished. But I think that is pretty quick to knock all that out in that amount of time, especially since I have to come to Japan to get tattooed! 

On Tuesday and Wednesday it was Matt's turn. I was supposed to start my back on Tuesday but thankfully Shige needed a little more time to finish off my drawing. So I had a few more recovery days in between (which I was rather thankful for). So Matt had another Oni added to his thigh on one day and the next day a whole bunch of black shading done on his front piece. I think most people know now that Matt has Shoki, riding the tiger over his front and I know I keep saying it but it is truly amazing! And with some black shading now, it's really starting to take shape!

Hard day for Matty too, obviously

I was getting ready to take some pics on our camera and the battery died but you can kinda see some progress here. 

Thursday was my turn again and we started my back piece. Her name is Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前). Here is a little insert I stole from "The Tale of the Heike" (to describe her). 

"Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors"

Anyway, ever since I read about her, I wanted her to be my back piece. Obviously there is a lot more to her story but she's my hero and I wanted her to be riding a horse (since it's my favourite animal and I use to ride myself). The fact that I am born year of the horse is pretty cool too! 

So back to the tattooing, Thursday was a difficult day, we had a lot of tattooing to get through in one day and as Shige said "It was a difficult piece to do". But I won't go into detail about it, I got through it and that's all that matters!

This is me after Thursdays session. Walked into the hotel room and landed like this, done- haha

By Friday we were pretty sore and sorry for ourselves but we managed to scrape it together for a little shopping, walking around Yokohama and eating lots of food (again) :P

I am not sure what this building is but I like it!

Yokohama, your so cool :D

The dog outfits kill me. This is cowboy outfit. It has holster belt, jacket, check shirt, jeans and cowboy hat. Anyone who can get their dog to wear that (without sedation) is a genius!

Rad old school movie posters, so cool! Next time we are getting some!

Saturday we spent a beautiful day in Sankeien Garden, it's probably one of my favourite places to visit in Yokohama. It's beautiful and so peaceful there, I could spend days in there wondering around. 

So pretty! 

Bamboo

I took  million photo's of these, plum blossoms

So many friendly kittens, the one on my lap plucked the hell out of my jeans and pretty much ruined them (totally worth it for the cuddle though)

So many Koi Fish! We spent a good 1/2 hour daring each other to put our hands in (neither of us did- haha)

Sunday was a fun day. We got the train into Shinjuku and met up with our Danish mates Allan and Amalie. Went out for yummy lunch, did some shopping and ended with coffee and cake. Was a lovely afternoon! Amalie also had a great suggestion that I might need a little comfort for my tattoo sessions, I totally bit her idea and we went shopping for my comfort pillow (who is now known as Ted)!

I stupidly forgot to take any pics (I do that when I am caught up in the moment), so I ripped this one from Amalie's blog so go there to check out her blog too http://princessinferno.blogspot.com/ 

Ted!!!! The star of the show! 

Sunday night we had to rush back to Yokohama in time for dinner with our mate Benny, who was getting tattoo that day, as well as Shige, Chisato and Ayaka. There was so much yummy food and again I wish I had photo's but I totally forgot about it again. Ayaka was showing me scary Japanese ghost stuff on YouTube and Chisato was telling me ghost stories (anyone that knows me, knows I love the scary stuff). But I spent all night having nightmares about Japanese ghosts, haha (and Ayaka is 8- much more mature than me obviously) :P Now I know I am going to have obsession with Japanese ghost TV- hehe

Monday and Tuesday was time for me to finish off my outlining. So we had done my whole back on Thursday and Monday/Tuesday was going to be spent on the bum and thighs (each day, each side). I had two really good days, thank goodness and cruised through both days, just fine! I would like to take a moment to thank Ted (and Amalie for the idea) for getting me through, he really was a super star :P

YAY! Finished (with outline that is), still a long way to go. But so, so happy with it! Thank you Shige!! 

And now I must go because we have to get ready to take Matt to his appointment today. So more updates after he finishes his next few sessions. So bye for now.