(no subject)

[pacificpikachu]

Japan in less than a week now! I've fallen into denial land, which always seems to happen in the week or two before I go do something super exciting. My savings are A+! As soon as I get this next paycheck (on Wednesday) I'm totally set, with a great amount of spending money. I'll even be getting a few hundred extra, thanks to the great exchange rate right now! I'm looking forward to everything except maybe the long flight. Even then, the airline we're taking has excellent reviews, so it should be about as nice as a 10+ hour economy flight can be! Also, I'll have Super Smash Bros to play, so that'll help the time go quickly. I'm going to make the most of this trip and do my best to enjoy every minute of it. I hope that pheonixxfoxx and I will have a smooth, fun, happy journey, and I think we will!

I'm going to be very careful about what I offer to pick up for people, as I'll be picking up a lot of very large items for myself and I'm worried about space (going to EMS ship things back, but even then), but is there anything elusive and reasonably small that anyone is after? I'd rather not pick up stuff that's readily available in online shops, but if there's something that's difficult to find that you want me to hunt for, I'd be happy to! I'll be doing a lot of shopping, and it's fun to "treasure hunt"!

Tosca is still not home, but the possible sightings continue at random intervals. I had a game cam up for a few weeks, and a cat that looks a good amount like her showed up many times on the camera. It was always far enough away that I couldn't say for certain, though--spots weren't visible. Unfortunately, I caught some guys in the act of trying to steal the camera, so I had to take it down. The other day, a man who lives right in the area where many of the sightings have been saw a bengal cat playing with another cat across the street. I rushed there, but seemed to just barely missed the cat (and I had to go to work so I couldn't hunt around). This man's grown son has a bengal, so I do trust him to know what one looks like. It may sound unrealistic, but even though it's been so long, something in my intuition tells me I'll get her back... Maybe it's just that I can't handle the alternative, but...it's just this feeling that's stuck with me and I really want to trust it. If nothing else, at least it stops me from falling into total despair.

Otherwise, life is pretty good for the most part.

Comments

[okapifeathers.livejournal.com]

i have no idea if its possible, but i'll be hunting for the nidoran M banpresto... i guess it would be in the ufo catchers though? if by some magical chance you can find one i would love it! not looking forward to fighting for one on the comm. ):

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Of course, I will keep an eye out for it! :D If I find any or can win one in a UFO catcher, I'll let you know!

[hebilea.livejournal.com]

Have a great time over there!!!
I wanted to ask you if I can ask you to search for something that is not Pokemon?

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thank you--I will! :D

And of course, as long as you have a picture of it (and as long as it's not large/bulky). :D

[hebilea.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, since you mentioned that you are possibly going to the post office, wouldn't it be better if you would send some things off directly from there? :o

I would then decide if you look for some things for me (and no worries, I will not ask for some overly huge things). When I went to Japan last year, I couldn't really go treasure hunting, because my friends aren't that much into anime, and doing lots of treasure hunting in Japan/Akihabara is what I have been wanting to do so much! At least I got to play UFO catchers :)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I'm actually very nervous about shipping packages correctly (and I don't want to spend a lot of time packaging things and gathering shipping supplies), so I'm trying to keep my package sending to a minimum. I'll probably send 2-3 huge EMS packages back home, but I'm going to try not to ship things otherwise. I just don't want to mess up and get overwhelmed, as this is a vacation, after all! I am happy to look for small and light items for you, though, if they're hard to find online.

I'm sorry you weren't able to go treasure hunting, that's a shame! I'm thinking of going to Japan again in spring 2016 (for Pokémon's 20th anniversary), if you maybe want to plan on going then? Just a thought! :D

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

I'm really jealous of your Japan trip. Have fun! And be sure to post lots of pictures!

I thought of one more (non-Pokemon) figure I am trying to find. It's a Nyanko-sensei trading figure from Natsume Yuujinchou, around 4-5 inches tall. They made 3 versions, and I'm still looking for the orange and blue versions. I'm mentally kicking myself for not pre-ordering the whole set when it first came out in 2011. ;___;

If you want to limit it to one or two requests per person, feel free to search for just the Kyogre Pokecen pressed coin and the Bulbasaur Poketime plush. Those are my two main wants right now. (Well, those and one more Pokemon figure that I have never seen for sale before... but I'm going to wait to say what it is because there is a YJ auction closing tomorrow for it. Crossing my fingers that I can win it!) Thanks again for offering to hunt for hard-to-find items!

I'm not surprised that someone tried to steal the camera. Some people are terrible.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm going to take tons and tons of pictures. Last time I went, I regretted not taking more, so I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen again.

I can definitely keep an eye out for those Nyanko-sensei figures! I'm a big fan of Natsume Yuujinchou, too, so I'll be looking for Natsume-related merch myself and will look for those. Let me know if you don't win that other figure and I'll look out for it, too. Good luck! I don't mind searching for hard-to-find things at all, as it's fun looking for them and then I won't end up getting everyone's requests for sure, so space won't be as much of an issue that way.

Yeah, I was hoping no one would could across it where it was, but it was wishful thinking. I actually caught the guys in the act of trying to steal it, as I just happened to be walking my dogs by the property right at that instant, so the timing was kind of crazy. The camera was locked on to the fence with a rope lock thing (like for bikes), but...meh, people are awful. It's super frustrating because I was getting close to capturing a good image of that cat, and now I still don't have definite answers. The cat looks a lot like her, but I can't say that it's her for sure...

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

The super secret figure ended up going above my budget after middleman fees were taken into account. It was the clear Kyogre Tomy with sparkles:

(I already have the standard clear version, just need the sparkly one.) Unfortunately I don't have much info on it. According to this page, it looks like it might be the version from the 9th movie set? My budget is around $40 for the figure itself, a little more if you find it in a boxed set because I can resell the other figures.

I still need the pearly Kyogre Tomy too, but I don't know when that was released.It wasn't released in the 10th anniversary pearly set, that's for sure.

Thanks again for offering to look for these! Seeing the same 20 Kyogre items relisted all the time on YJ gets really frustrating.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that! I will definitely let you know if I spot one, or the pearly Tomy for that matter! And yeah, I know the feeling of just waiting for something new to pop up!

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

Oh how exciting. I am going to look forward to your pictures and trip report.

The flight isn;t too bad, it goes by faster than you think. I see it as a time to finally catch up on movies I missed and reading.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm sure it's going to be an awesome trip. I'll definitely share as much of my adventures as possible! I remember feeling I hadn't taken enough pictures last time so I'm going to make up for that.

I hope the flight will go by fast! Last time it seemed to take an eternity, but that was my first long flight. (Strangely, I barely remember the flight back. I think I slept the whole time...? I know I slept for three days straight after I got home, as I was very sick, so that's probably why I don't remember flying home.) This time I feel a bit more mentally prepared and have lots of things to keep me occupied.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Those are easily available online for reasonable prices, so it would probably be easier for you to order one. I won't be back for a few weeks and it would probably end up costing about the same either way. I recommend buying from sellers who ship from Japan (and definitely avoid sellers shipping from China) to try to avoid bootlegs. If I do find any that are super cheap and I have room, I'll bring one back, though!