I had the most amazing time ever! The Great Ocean Road was beautiful. I walked through a rainforest and saw all kinds of cool ocean rock formations, many with interesting stories behind them. I went to some more museums. I ate delicious things. I went camping in the mountains, in a swag. I held a baby koala! I saw wild kangaroos, emus, koalas, cockatoos, echidna, bandicoot, bearded dragons, and blue-tongued lizards. I love the smell of the gum forests. I definitely want to go back some day! What a truly amazing place!

It was smooth sailing flying back to Japan, sneaking out of the airport, and getting around. I stayed in 2 different capsule hotels and, in one horrible night, a "DVD room," which would be more aptly named a porn room, because that's what all the posters, offers, and smells clearly were. Ew. Just ew. The scabby-faced worker offered a shower. I declined. But I had a good time, aside from that. My regular capsule hotel gave me a returner's discount of 300 yen per night, and they had this amazing bathtub... If it had been deeper, I could have swum a lap and a half in it. Sooooo nice!

So in Tokyo, I went to Akihabara (twice), Shinjuku, Shibuya (twice), Harajuku, Ginza, Asakusa (where I stayed), and more. I saw Tokyo Tower. I visited a number of shrines, temples, and a load of anime/manga places. I spasmed with glee many a time. But I exercised remarkable restraint when shopping. I did come home with plenty of stuff, but I made sure (most of) it was necessary first.

Leaving the country and flying home went smoothly too. Nobody mentioned my missed flight to Korea. Nobody cares. Yes! I got home last night, had a bowl of soup, took a shower, did laundry, and went to sleep. Today I went thrift shopping with my mom and unpacked all the boxes that have arrived so far. There's at least one, maybe two, still coming.

I need to get used to driving again, because I need to go register for my one class next semester, drop off my camp application and references for loads of people, and make some other visits to places. Car is top on my list of Large, Vital things, followed closely by job. Can't get a job if I can't get there...

Will work on my Phantom Hourglass story now. I promise!