Karaoke Date

Today's date was a lot of fun. The experience of dating in the new version of the game is much smoother than NLP, and the various scenes (including skinship and kissing) flow into each other without the jerkiness, delays and lag time that were so evident in the 3DS game. Dates seem to take longer to play now, though, with the average Sunday date taking just under an hour - and considerably longer if the date extends.

When I met Rinko at the station this morning, she was wearing her hair in a new, cute style (still short, though). Her clothes were a little more casual than I like, but still okay, so I let them pass.

We went to the Ramen Shop for a snack. I ordered the Pork Ramen Set, and for some reason Rinko had the same thing (which is unusual). The set included a plate of gyoza which looked absolutely delicious.

The main part of our date was Karaoke, which is a firm favourite of Rinko's. I wonder what songs she would choose to sing??

With the option of a second date location, I took Rin to the Amusement Park, where we rode on the Jet Coaster. She loved it.

Then our date was over, and it was time to take Rinko home. I walked her back to her place and kissed her goodbye.

At 12:00 noon I visited the Flea Markets at Fountain Park, where I bought a CD and my first Premium Date ticket (for the night-time Sakura viewing).

Later today we had a short date in the rain.

Back To Work...With A Date

In the "real" world, I started back at work today. So sad that the Christmas/New Year break is over! Anyway, it's still Winter Vacation in Towano, which means that you can date your girlfriend any time (rather than waiting all week to date on Sunday). So I decided to book a date for lunchtime today and play it at work.

And it turned out to be a very charming date, in fact. Rin-rin arrived with a new hairstyle, which is still semi-long, but which looks like one of the short hairstyles she wore previously. It's a nice change, though. Her clothes were part-casual, part-not, which again looked ok.

We stopped into the Coffee Shop for a quick refreshment. Rinko always complains about going there on dates, but then ends up enjoying it anyway.

Because I've been concentrating on unlocking the date locations around Ten Feather Station, I was able to date Rinko today at the Game Centre for the first time.

There are a number of choices at the Game Centre, and I chose to play Billiards with Rinko. You don't get to play an actual game of Billiards though - you basically just stand in the Billiards room and talk. But that's fine.

Next stop was the Ramen Shop for lunch.

It's a nice place to eat, and Rinko's meal of ramen and gyoza made me really miss the experience of eating out in Tokyo.

After lunch, Rinko fell asleep on the train going back to Shin Towano. (You can also see her little pink heart earrings in the next shot.)

And finally, this shot was taken while I was walking Rinko home from the station. I used a low camera angle here to show the sky, which was wintry but a deep shade of blue.

All in all, it was a really enjoyable date, and a perfect way to lift my spirits on the first day back at work.

One Hell Of A Disastrous Sunday!

Today was one of those days where if something can possibly go wrong - both in the "real" world and in Towano - it did. I won't go into all the details, but real life was just one disaster after another. I did, however, get to visit the Flea Markets in Fountain Park this morning, where I bought another CD and a nice watch go give Rin on our date today.

Then, in the "real" world, I went out shopping this afternoon, hoping to be home by 3pm for the date, but I took my 3DS along with me just in case we were late. Then, half way home in the car, I realised that my 3DS wasn't there! I panicked - then realised that I'd left it in the grocery cart...in the car park of my local shopping centre!

Cold sweat set in when I pictured my beautiful Limited Edition console - with my beloved Rinko game inside - being stolen by thugs, smashed to pieces, or worse. We raced back - but fortunately, my 3DS was still sitting there in the cart! Wow. That was a lucky escape.

Anyway, once I was safely home (with the 3DS not leaving my hands the whole time) I played my date with Rin.  She was dressed very nicely today in a light brown coloured top, with the hairstyle I love.

It was a huge improvement over her image last week. Anyway, we stopped into the Coffee Shop for a tea...

The main part of the date was Karaoke, followed by a delicious dinner at the nearby Ramen Shop. One more disaster was to follow, though - again, I pressed the wrong button in the camera menu and deleted all my photos from the day (after saving the above three shots). I'll really have to be more careful with this option in the future.

Oh my God. Things can only get better tomorrow. Today was really the pits. I'll try to take Rin out one more time before 9pm, just to get a few more shots and make up for my mistakes.

====

OK, so here are some shots from my late night-meet up with Rin at the Combini (Convenience Store). It was raining - wouldn't you know? But still, Rin looked nice and was more than happy to meet me.

And boy, these shots really make me miss the Convenience Stores in Japan. You can buy anything there, at all times of the day and night, and they're kinda fun places to be. And anyone who's played LovePlus through with Rinko will know that she used to hang out at the Convenience Store at night in the first half of the game.

So, at least the final part of the day in Towano was nice. I wish I could say that about this horrible day in real life. I have a really bad headache, and will probably go to bed early to get it over with.

Interesting...?

When I opened the game this morning, I had an interesting schedule for the day:

1. Event
2. Event
3. Date
4. To Do

Wow, I've never seen a day look like this! After yesterday, I'm not sure if it will be good or bad. I just opened the first "Event" block, and Rinko met me at a table in a restaurant and talked for a while. I'm not sure what's going on, because I didn't get a chance to reply. That was the end of the event.

The second "Event" block today I still didn't understand, but the outcome was at least a little better. Rinko met me at the shopping centre, and I was able to kiss her.

I say "able" to kiss her, because she really didn't want to stop. Then we went to the Live House and kissed some more. Every time I wanted to advance to the next screen, she made a very disappointed sound and the skinship outline appeared, so she wanted more. This was kinda embarrassing, because I was actually visiting a friend's house for lunch today. I had to stop (for what I thought would be a quick event) and play the game, and it actually took around half an hour. T_T

And what can I say about the skinship and kissing? I couldn't kiss Rinko outside when I met her, because of the rain and her umbrella. But once we were inside, everywhere was five kisses plus four refrain kisses! My little Rink was in a very very VERY loving mood today. Maybe the rain is romantic after all.

Anyway, at 5:00pm it was time for the big date. It's been raining for two straight days in Towano City, and today was no exception! Rinko met me wearing a super outfit - still no change of hair length, though - and her usual polka-dot umbrella. I tried to kiss her, and she didn't look very impressed...

Oh well. We also had to change the location of our date from Fountain Park because of the bad weather. I chose Karaoke, and Rinko liked it. She was much happier sitting next to me on the train.

Then at the very worst time I ran out of photos on my in-game camera. I hate it when this happens. For some reason, I could only take five shots today (and 2/5 were blurred). Arghhh! Maybe spending money on the camera upgrade will be worth it.

Anyway, Karaoke was nice. Every single kiss on today's date went to five kisses and then four refrain kisses, continuing Rinko's lovey-dovey mood from this morning. If anyone doesn't believe me, here's a photo I grabbed with my iPhone. XD

After Karaoke, we went for lunch at the Ramen Shop. Rinko really enjoyed the ramen and gyoza I ordered for her (only 4 rich - so cheap!). But then came the next surprise. Rinko came back to my house and hung out with me for a while IN MY ROOM. We listened to my new CD together. We played PuzzleDama together. And you probably guessed that there was kissing involved. (*Blush*) Here are some photos taken with a camera...just to capture the moment. I love the variety of Rinko-chan's expression:

But that still wasn't the end! I'd been playing this date for over an hour already, and expected it to end, when Rink invited me back to her house! We had a study date. And then finally, totally exhausted and supremely happy, it was time for the date to stop. At least she didn't say that today's date was "giri giri".

Wow, after a few slow days in Towano, this one was amazing. Two nagging points, though. First, I wsn't able to give the CD to Rinko as a gift. Guess I'll have to try something else next time. And two, I don't have a clue what the To-Do assignment is all about. Have to look for some online information about it. ^__^

PS: April Fool!
Well, looks like I was the fool today - I totally forgot that today was 1 April, which is April Fools' Day. So that's what Rinko's seriousness yesterday and this morning, and why I had to search for her today. She was playing a trick on me. Great.