I've been talking a lot about a New Year's trip.

Like A LOT a lot. Our work schedules this past year have been INSANE. My company put the kabash on all vacation time after my drug was approved and Brian's been working more than I thought humanly possible. These are not complaints, mind you, as I love my job and love even more seeing how productive and happy hubby's been - but the fact remains that aside from a whirlwind weekend of comics, artists and mayhem, our last trip together was in May 2009 to our beloved Japan.

So, I've been talking a lot about a New Year's trip.

I first got it into my brain that we needed to do something different. We needed to experience more. I started researching a week-long New Year's adventure to Hong Kong. It was a longer flight than Tokyo, a more expensive trip and, to some degrees, a more foreign experience. That is, I know less about Chinese culture and language and customs than I do Japanese. It was interesting and seemingly beautiful and exciting. Then, I added a four day side trip to Beijing. It got even more expensive, more foreign and yes, an even further flight. But, Hong Kong on New Year's is warm, exciting, packed with pleasure seekers and they speak English there! And Beijing has The Great Wall and the Forbidden City and Crazy Chinese food! And shopping! And I got excited. So frickin excited!

And then I looked up New Year's events in Tokyo. And I started to cry. (I'm crazy. I know this.) Balloons, prayers and fireworks at Meiji Shrine; a throng of people ushering in the New Year with bells and gongs at Sensoji shrine (oh, how I LOVE Asakusa). Shogatsu in Tokyo. Soba noodles to welcome the New Year, Bonenkai and Shinnenkai and being able to see my breath as I walked through Shibuya crossing and actually making it to Fujisan and going back to Horizaru and strolling around Yoyogi Park and spending more than an evening in Shinjuku and more than an hour at Harujuku and getting back on the subway and I realized that I don't want to go to Hong Kong. I want to go back to Tokyo.

I'm not even wanting to look at other Japanese cities - I am really just craving Tokyo.

So I called the Cerulean Tower Hotel this morning. I even spoke to them in Japanese! I remembered enough Japanese to say good morning & do you speak English!!! (Ohayo gozaimasu. Eigo ga hanemasimas ka?) & I got put through to an English-speaking reservations person (Noguchi-san) and (GASP!) I made a reservation! They were able to look up what room we stayed in last time and quote me a price for this time and I did it. I frickin booked a Corner Queen on the City View floor with the bathtub view upgrade, mutha fuckas.

Now I'm just waiting for Brian to wake up so that I can tell him. :-)