Thanks, guys!

I'm still completely amazed that people actually remember me.

I still lurk every now and then, but I guess I should try to post more. Just got back from Stockholm, where I spent my birthday shopping, alone, because my travel companion got sick and had to stay in bed all day. Still, there's nothing like a little retail therapy to make a 21st birthday memorable (seeing as I've already been allowed to drink booze for years, unlike you Americans :p)

I have to agree with Lucifer, almost anything by Jamiroquai instantly makes me want to dance.

I really enjoy dancing, though, so it doesn't take much to have me up and dancing. If you're looking for specific songs, right now I'd go with:

Jamiroquai - Canned Heat
Cobra Starship - Guilty Pleasure
Earth, Wind & Fire - Boogie Wonderland
B2K - Take It To the Floor

Celebrating Halloween is becoming increasingly common in my country as well, but I can't say that I mind adopting a few festivities that aren't Finnish. Most of our holidays just involve getting drunk and wearing silly hats, so it's not like I feel all that much respect for them anyway. If a foreign tradition is interesting and the concept works, then why not celebrate it? I think Halloween is fun in the sense that you get to dress up as whatever you like, without having to feel humiliated.

Besides, Christmas is celebrated mostly as a gift-giving season and more emphasis is put on Santa Claus (the current image of whom was originally developed as a commercial ploy) than we do on the birth of Christ, so I think it's a bit ridiculous to be complaining about Halloween and its origins.

With that said, I still haven't decided on a costume, but if I was a guy with a great body and a shaved head, I'd totally go as Michael Scofield.

Yeah, same here, but the series seems promising. Aside from my first reaction being "Hey! It's Shinn! With the past of that guy from Full Metal Panic!", I think the characters seem pretty interesting. The seiyuu are top notch, at least. I'm in love with the opening song, and can't wait to see more.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate this.

I had a great birthday. After my uni lectures I went shopping, had sushi for lunch, bought a bottle of tequila and headed home. My friends came over in the evening, and we rented Save the Last Dance 2 and laughed at how crappy it was.

Shini: Ahahaha KAT-TUN. They never cease to amuse me with their lack of dancing skills. xD

Mirax: Well, it was full of asian boybands. Complete with cardboard almost life-size figures. xD

Lucifer: I ended up not drinking the tequila yesterday, but now I've bought a lemon and salt, so tonight should be interesting...

The tiny cities are always the best. Last time I went I spent a day in Izumisano (a suburb to Osaka), playing games at an arcade and having boys fall from their bikes because they kept staring. Are you going during the summer? I booked tickets for April, because I'm hoping I'll get to experience hanami.



My dad went to Barcelona a few months ago and it seemed amazing. You're going to love it. I definitely want to go there some day.

When are you going?

I'm also thinking of buying tickets to a concert in Kagoshima, so now I have to figure out how to get there from Tokyo. xD

Spain?! Cool! Where exactly? Madrid?

I bought a ticket to Japan. XD

Happy Birthday, my fellow European. :p

Make sure to have fun and blast a lot of Tool and Opeth through your speakers.

I can't believe people around here still remember me.

Anyway, this happened last spring when I was in NYC, and I walked into Jamba Juice with a friend of mine. I should probably mention that the reason I found this so amusing was that I had recently seen the SNL Jamba Juice sketch with Natalie Portman, so I told my friend about it and we decided to go order something to see what the place was really like.

Guy behind the disk: Hi, welcome to Jamba Juice!
Me: Uh, hi. I'd like a chocolate moo'd.
Guy at the disk: Alright, and what free boost would you like with that?
Me: Um... I'll have a... vita boost.
Guy: One vita boost, coming up. And what's your name?

At this point, my friend and I were snickering, because really, the exchange reminded me so much of the SNL sketch. Anyway, I tentatively told him my name, afraid that he was going to break out into a song like in the sketch. Luckily he didn't. Then, when it was my friend's turn to order, the guy turns to me and goes "You're not from around here, are you?"
At that point we just couldn't control ourselves anymore, so my friend and I cracked up. After calming down, I amusedly informed the guy that we were from Finland. He seemed equally amused.

This happened a few months back, when me and my friend went to a bookstore...

Me: Do you have any Korean dictionaries?
clerk: Hold on, I'll check.

*after 30 seconds*

clerk: Uh, no, but we have some Japanese and Chinese ones. Would those do?
Me and my friend: *facepalm*

And don't even get me started on my WTF moment at Jamba Juice last spring.

I moved out a few months ago, and am loving it. I live close to uni and more or less all the places I want to go to, and now I can have friends over whenever I want, which is awesome. All in all, I'm pretty happy. I still go home once a week for dinner, so I see my parents precisely as much as I need to.

Seeing my old room kind of makes me sad though, because it has changed so much and looks really empty now.

:lol

Cheer up, man. I'm sending you and Crystal some chocolate.  :p

shini: I just watched the first episode and laughed my ass of in the process. The anime is definitely better than the manga. And you were right about the seiyuu, they're fantastic.

I remember reading some of the manga, and not liking it all that much. Is the anime worth watching? Because I'm really, really bored and don't feel like studying for my entrance exams. xD

Also, why am I not surprised Matt watches it? :p