My goodness did Andrea and I have fun! This is my friend Andrea from upstate New York, an incredible artist who is working on costumes for a show in Tokyo. We are at Muscle Park, playing a game called Muscle Train. It's pretty hilarious. We have to stack blocks into a tower without derailing a train than runs around Tokyo. It's okay if you don't understand.
Perspectives: My artistic take on the Ferris Wheel in Odaiba that she's been dreaming to go on. Andrea was too much. "Oh this is soooo much fun Carol. Are you having as much fun as I am? I'm not even scared you know." I laughed. "Andrea, you're why I have kids!" She has the same lovely, childish wonder children have and parents hope they never lose. It was possibility the most fun I had on that Ferris Wheel experiencing it through Andrea. It's the little things she notices like the dorky Halloween headgear the staff were forced to wear. (Yes Elsie, walking in Akihabara with you would be probably top it!!) She's got pictures of that so she can tell that story. We were just howling inside talking about it.
This is another hilarious game we did. We have to manuveur a basketball through a maze without dropping the ball or touching the sides of the maze. Andrea and I did okay, made it partway through. About two years ago, I actually COMPLETED this course with a certain incredible amateur athlete! What he did was to keep up a constant stream of cheers like "Focus, focus, we're doing great, not too fast, good going." Anything to keep my mind focus on the game and not let my mind focus on negative thoughts.
This is Andrea at Starbucks when we first met. This was a special day for me. I don't have penpals or do MySpace, but I do have a bunch of wonderful on-line friends and it's the first time I've actually met one in person. She is lovely, talent, funny, kind and generous, exactly the way I knew she would be. These are the gifts she brought my children. They loved the stuffed animals. Took them out of the bags and started showing them the view of Tokyo Tower and explaining stuff because they were animals from America! I got a gorgeous, handcrafted, initialed keyholder. It's a maple leaf because I'm Canadian. My husband was very jealous because it's actually something he would have picked out for himself! She'll probably tell the extended version of the story but I actually threw her gift in the garbage bin. (after spilling coffee on my handbag) And I actually didn't notice until she pointed it out! I am not being self-deprecating when I say I am completely inept!!!The other funny story of being at Muscle Park with Andrea was that she gets all worried when I forgot to bring my stuff to the next area. It was so sweet because Nagano was the same way. At first, he kept reminding me about my bag. After a while, he didn't even bother asking and just starting carrying my stuff for me. After a while, I was like "Nagano-san, my camera please" and he would fetch it out for my bag and hand it over. Someone saw us together and asked me whether I was his manager. I told him that later and he said, "You should have told her I was YOUR manager. I carried all your bags!" I am so hopeless. Andrea says, "Oh sweetie, you do need your own handler."
I am giving Andrea an Odaiba tour and she was like, "I know you know Tokyo but somehow I still feel like if we're going to get lost." She's not wrong. It's entirely possible I'd get caught up in chatter that we'd miss a station or take a train going the wrong way. But she's still gamed to have me drive her to the airport on Monday. I did warn her. "I drive the way I am!"
