And the night continued till 7 am. We went shopping next. All the stores and at exoborant prices. We stopped by the car to drop off the bags and took an hour nap between 1-2 am. At around 4 am, we headed over to Disneyland. I finally got to see the castle! I only saw Disneyland briefly, but Disney Sea seemed more intricate so I rather liked it better. Ride-wise I sat out on one, and went to a 4D and 3D movie. A Star Wars themed one and one about music. My first time to hear all the big Disney numbers in Japanese, haha. When we left the park, the sun was rising and people were already camping out in front of the gates with blankets for the next opening time at 9 am. So hardcore! I think experiencing it in Japan was a positive. Everyone is uber-polite, the service amazing. I’m curious to see how the atmosphere would differ in the US. I’m so glad I got to go. It was magical.

I left via the train station to go to my friend Y’s house in Shinjuku. She invited me to celebrate New Year’s Day with her family! I was going to meet her around lunchtime. The line to get into the station through the ticketing gates was insane. Such a flood of people from the resort park. E told me how to get to Shinjuku station since my phone died earlier in the night. I really need to get a portable battery charger. I had to switch trains at Tokyo station so I wandered around unsuccessfully looking for an outlet. I bought some bread for breakfast and a drink, but no outlets anywhere. I searched for a Starbucks outside the station, but exited via the back entrance and had to circle around to the front. Everything was closed for New Year’s. I found a McD’s by the station with an outlet and had some hash browns before a worker told me I couldn’t charge there. Seriously, Japan?? Even the McD’s in Kyoto had outlets built in and was a fav study spot.

I gave up and continued on to the Yamanote line which goes in a circle. I was told by locals that it’s great for sleeping on. I promptly fell asleep for the 30 minutes it took to get to Shinjuku and then missed getting off and had to return. I was planning to sleep at a manga/internet cafe, Manboo, because I thought it’d be more restful than the train. Wrongggg. The five minutes I charged at McD’s got me to 10% and enough directions to find Manboo. It’s 9:30 am at this point. I descend into the basement and approach a lady at a counter to check in. I borrowed a membership card so I show that and ask for a flat, 3 hours booth. Only smoking is available, but I take it. It costs me 1100 yen. You could also pay extra for a shower.

I was counting on being super tired and easily falling asleep, but no. All the walking this morning woke me up and I only started drifting off an hour later at 10:45 when I have to wake up at 11:15 am. At least I could properly charge my phone! It was quite interesting to experience. Rows of booths, shoes outside them, with a small sliding door and about 1 x 2 m space. I had a computer and guest slippers. I managed to fit my backpack in, and used my coat on top of the small pillow they provided. I couldn’t completely stretch out, a little too short for me, but the mat was comfortable and it was warm. The coughing, shuffling sounds were a bit distracting, but I felt there was barely any light. I draped my scarf over my head to block out some of the smoke, but I’ve definitely been in smokier situations (coughGermanycough). There were shelves of manga - so many of my favorites!

After checking out, I head off to meet Y at Shinjuku station, the southeast entrance since the place is huge. At this point, I’ve had 2 hours of sleep and my body feels like it’s swimming through air. This is why I’ve never pulled an all-nighter. Y finds me easily enough despite being wrapped up with my hair tucked under a hat. We are both surprised by the number of tourists and people around. Tokyo is quite empty because most Japanese people return home to their families for New Year. It was actually the most pleasant time I’ve had in Tokyo, haha. Her father picks us up at the station nearest to her house.

Both of her parents are elementary school teachers and speak a couple words of English, but Y has to do a bit of translating with her basic English. She warned me that her house was small, but I didn’t really think so. A narrow building with three stories. We put my luggage in the room I was staying in - it also had a loft. The second floor was the main living area. I now understand why Japanese people hang the entryway curtains - to trap heat in a certain area when you don’t have doors. I met her mother who’s the same age as my parents and her older brother who’s the same age as me. She was busy cooking, preparing so many amazing foods for lunch. I also met her dad’s side of the family who was visiting - two cousins, great aunt, grandpa, aunt, and uncle. The one cousin spent a month in Alabama so he introduced himself nicely in English.

I got my basic intro out of the way and quickly picked up the new year’s greeting. So much active listening to all the Japanese. I can still pick up words here and there with the help of context clues. Her uncle even gave me otoshidama - new year’s money that’s supposed to be for kids. So sweet. Y explained some of the traditional new year’s food to me, osechi: fish cakes, mashed sweet potato with chestnut that’s supposed to bring wealth, black soybeans - health, and anchovies - abundant harvest. I didn’t eat too much, still worried about my stomach issues, but it was all delicious. Post-lunch, the younger folks played jenga and some card games. They taught me a Japanese game and I taught them spoons.

We all went outside to send them off in the afternoon. It was about 3 pm and I headed upstairs for a 2 hour nap. I crashed hard on the warm and comfy futon. Woke up groggy, but in better condition than before. After my nap, we planned to go to a sentou - a really nice modern one. Y and her parents came with. They treated me to the bath and to dinner afterward. I felt so included. Unbelievably kind. It’s the first sentou I’ve been that had a big, mixed gender pool where you wore swimsuits. Y and I rented them. I had to guess my size, 3L! It actually fit decently well length wise, if a bit big width wise. They were the traditional school bathing suits that I’ve seen in manga/anime. Once in our swimsuits, you still rinsed off in showers - like in the US - before getting in the pool. There were different spots with massagers - neck, back, leg - and an area to walk in, practicing water aerobics. There were two outdoor baths and a sauna as well. By far the largest sentou I’ve been to. One of the outdoor baths was mineral based and had a brown, yellow color to it.

Afterward, we stripped off the bathing suits and spun the water out in a machine before placing them in a plastic bag. We then did the traditional sentou stuff and baths. These ones were much hotter. Again, we went outside and even sat in the individual old style bathtub ones. My skin felt amazing and I was all warm and cozy. I love this part of Japanese culture. We got dressed in the outfits they provided and went up a floor to get dinner. I didn’t eat much, just some fries and salad, but also got to try nabe - hot pot - for the first time! It was kimichi nabe so a bit spicy. Then we got soft ice cream for dessert, matcha and vanilla flavor. The matcha was okay, but the vanilla really good. Much better flavor than US soft ice cream. Then back to her place and bed!