T minus two and a half days....

So much has happened since my last post (sorry for the last one being off topic and unimportant).  The past few weeks have been really fun. This month, there are at least 8 birthdays this month for my friends, and one of those birthdays was mine.  Most of my friends all threw a birthday party, and I also had one too...well a family one. =p This second half of the months I went through so many first times...and I don't mean anything nasty. -_- So this month, for the first time, I got to see Poreotics (ABDC Season 5 Champions), and I saw them at Metropolitan (a Dance Club) which I was able to get in for the first time.  I also had my first LEGAL (emphasis on the word "legal") at 12 midnight on the 18th, which was my 21st birthday.  My first legal drink was a sake bomb! =D I love me some sake bombs. XD Also, on my birthday, I went to the casino for the first time. Lost about $20, but that's what you get for gambling (which I don't like to do).  On Friday, I chilled with my friend after work and we watched Pocahontas! She also took me out to a French restaurant, where I had my first tastes of French food. ^_^ It was pretty awesome!...except for the blue cheese...which I hated. >_< Speaking of work too, Saturday was my last day at work! I'm glad I am finally out of that restaurant, but I will surely miss the employees. They were like a second family to me. We would all get along and have fun. I pretty much grew up in that restaurant for the past four years I worked there. One of the older co-workers bought me a cake which was to celebrate my birthday and my last day there.  He was the most nicest person there and pretty damn fun to be around.  It's sad to leave, but also happy to be leaving some of those bossy ass people (not naming anyone). So on, this past weekend I went to Masquerade (another Dance Club, this time located inside a casino) for the first time! And I had a blast! We was mainly celebrating one of my friends birthday before I left, but she wanted to celebrate mines at the same time since it just passed. Before the club, we ate at this sushi/karaoke place called Little Tokyo. It wasn't my first time eating there, but it was my first time doing karaoke, even tho I didn't sing. XD Well...I can't really say it was my first time doing karaoke because growing up in a Vietnamese family, my parents (especially my dad) loved to sing karaoke). Even now he has a whole karaoke machine at this house.  The same day as I went to Masquerade, I had a movie night with my dance crew members, which was before I went out clubbing. It was the first time the actually whole crew got together while I was still hear. We had a lot of fun because we had a mini session, then watched two movies, Kick Ass and Zombieland, and also ordered pizza! I'm glad that I was able to spend time with them because they are like family to me and they are pretty much my closest friends. =] More importantly, I spent a lot of time with my family the for the past month. My mom's side of the family and I went out to eat  for my birthday and my aunt got me ice cream cake! =D It was delicious. On Sunday, I went to the temple after eating out once again with my mom and her side of the family. This time my oldest brother came along to eat too! This temple has pictures of my deceased family members. My aunt, two uncles, and grandma from my dad's side of the family.  I also went over to my dad's store a few times to play with my baby brothers and sister and to visit my pops. My dad threw a little dinner this past Sunday and a couple of my uncles and aunts came over. It wasn't the whole family as I was hoping for, but at least I was able to see someone from my dad's side of the family before I left.

Eating out with my mom's family for my birthday.

My birthday cake, which I only had one slice of! >_<

We relighted the candles because my baby cousin wanted to blow them out. So cute! <3

First cut!

Watching Pocahontas! =D

My friend's dog! 

My friend's really big dog, Zuri! I will miss this big lovable pooch!

Her other dog, Mochi, sleeping. I'll miss him too! They are so cute and cuddly! XD

French Appetizer

French-style steak

French-style fish

My other friend wiping her face off after I caked her for her birthday! =D

Chilling with my dance crew.

More members.

Karaoke!

Sushi!

More sushi!

Side of the Vietnamese temple

Front

Center piece inside

Left piece inside

Right piece inside

My cute baby sis Emily! <3

My two baby brothers, Steven and Henry. 

Cute baby cousin on my dad's wife's side of the family

The older sister. (Their mom likes to dress them up alike)

D'aww my cute baby cousin from my dad's side of the family

Packing
Onto the progress of getting ready for Japan...I am pretty much ready and set to go. I am allowed to bring two luggage weighing atleast 50 lbs each. One luggage is mainly for clothes and the second one has items that I will be using plus winter clothes. I was pretty much able to pack my most of my clothes into two suitcases which was pretty surprising, but then I don't have that many clothes to begin with. For present and future students that might need help packing I will list the items and number of each item in each suitcases.

My two luggage (open)

Luggage 1
Mouthwash
Toothpaste
Eyedrops
Tylenol
Deodarent
Grounding adapter plug
Bandaids
Imodium (meds)
Comb
Nail Clippers
Lent Roller
Adapter plug set
Running shoes
Body wash
Slippers
Pants (6)
Loofah
Duffel Bag
Contact Solutions (2)
Shampoo
Q-tips
Hairdryer ('cause I am an Asian guy with a somewhat long hair)
Hair Straightener
Laundry Bag
Jackets (7)
Adidas shoes
Aldos shoes
Hi-top shoes
Genki II (txt/wk books)
Contacts
Brush
Electric Shaver (plus charger)
Sonic care (toothbrush + charger)
Alarm Clock


Luggage 2 (Mainly Clothes)
Thermals (3)
Boxers (9)
Socks (9)
T-shirts (12)
Long Sleeves (7)
Shorts (7)
Pull-Overs (2)
Jackets (2)
Jeans (3)
Long pants (2)
Dress pants (1)
Dress shirts (2)
Tie (1)
Muscle shirts (10)
Belt (1)
Towel (2)
Small Towel (8)
Headphones
USB for camera
IPod USB
Batteries
Genki I CD
Mouse for laptop
External Hard Drive
Webcam
おみやげ (souvenirs) (3) - these are for my speaking partner, Ayumi.


I know it seems like I am packing a lot of stuff but honestly I was still underweight by a couple lbs for both suitcases. I still have some room inside each bags too put more stuff in too, but I want make sure I still have enough room for souvenirs and what not that I am hoping to get in Japan. It may also seem like I am bringing a lot of clothes, but I really do not like wearing my clothes twice a week. I packed a few extra just incase I needed them.

My two luggage (closed)

Money
So today I went to the bank to pick up some Yen that I ordered last week and to purchase some traveler's checks. When exchanging American currency into foreign currency, you want to give the bank time to be able to process the money orders. For me, it took a little bit less than a week for the money to come in, but it could vary for different banks. I exchanged about $250 worth and got 20,000 yen for it. As of now, the currency rate from dollars to yen is $1 for 85 yen. I was suppose to get at least 21,000 yen, but eh close enough. Traveler's checks can be purchased and received at the same moment. It cost me about $1 dollar for each check and only came in increments of either $50s or $100s. I heard that getting international post money orders have the cheapest exchange fee, but I was too lazy to go to the post office since I was already at the bank; and traveler's check have the second cheapest exchange fee...from what I heard.  Hopefully, I will be able to exchange the traveler's check before orientation in Japan. I'm not even sure exactly where to exchange them at...either a bank or post office I believe. >_< My main concern is that I hope I bought enough to last me until atleast the end of September when the banks accounts are all set in Japan and the stipends for my meals plans finally come in.

20,000 Yen

Front of the Yens

Back of the Yens

Time is running out and I really hope I don't forget to bring anything. With a little bit less than two and a half days remaining now, time has been going by so slow! I still have a few things left to be done. I got to wash my car tomorrow and try to see if I got everything I need and if I need anything else. I really hate that feeling that I am forgetting something...it happens every time I go traveling. I made a list of everything that I am bringing, items packed in my luggage and items packed in my carry-on. Oh! I forgot to mention, my flight has been changed. Instead of leaving on Thursday night at 7 pm, I will be leaving at 5:30 a.m....Friday morning! My mom wants to leave the house by approximately 3:00 a.m. so that means no sleep for me until I get on the airplane. I will probably be pretty restless while travelling.  I will be making two stops, one in Houston, TX, and another in San Francisco, CA. At the San Fran stop, I will be meeting a few other KGU students that I have met through a facebook group and will hopefully group up together and try to find our way around. XD By the time I get to the in Japan, it will be 3:30 p.m. there and 1:30 a.m. back home here. The time difference will be 14 hours. I don't believe I've had any anxiety or any serious feeling of nervousness...just yet. I do have a feeling that I will start to get nervous and what not when I am about to leave because I am afraid I might get lost or my luggage might get sent to the wrong place and what not. I haven't felt any butterflies in my stomach yet either. Maybe it's due to the fact that I keep believing that this is just all just a dream and I will suddenly wake up. >_< I just haven't fully accepted the fact that I will be leaving in two days. Hopefully, this whole preparation and trip will go as smoothly as possible. Sorry for such a long boring post. I just felt that I had to release all the excitement I experienced over the past two weeks into this post. This will probably be the last post until I get to Japan, so wish me luck and see you in Japan!

Ciao-su!