Japan week 1 - Adventures in Tokyo
Day 1 - After the Horrible Plane Ride
Saying, “the plane ride really sucked” is an understatement. I flew United which apparently doesn’t have planes with those individual tvs where you can pick what movie you can watch. I wasn’t even on an old plane because their new planes are white and blue instead of that horrible grey color. Well anyway I survived it nonetheless and then I was off to my adventure of taking the trains in Tokyo by myself. I was worried because I couldn’t remember if the trains were in English too or not but they are so it was easy after all. I met up with Saiko at Kokubunji where we took another train to Takanodai, where her apartment is. Surprisingly Saiko doesn’t live anywhere near downtown Tokyo so the area she lives in is very suburban but also a college town. There are many little shops along the way to her apartment and so many family owned groceries. Her apartment is kind of like a studio and everything is smaller. She has a little loft where I sleep and there is a ladder to get to it instead of stairs because it’s so small. I would actually prefer this over apartments in Chicago especially because they can have laundry machines in their apartment. After bringing my suitcases to Saiko’s apartment we go back on the train to get some Ramen with her friend Mai. Saiko and Mai both know a lot of English so it was easy to talk with them but they do usually speak to me in Japanese first. After ramen I was so tired I pretty much just went to bed.
Day 2 - Harajuku and Welcoming Party
I woke up at like 5:30am which kinda sucked; stupid jet-lag. Saiko and I were planning on going to Harajuku and then that night she was going to have a party at her apartment with a bunch of her friends. Harajuku is pretty amazing. I was expecting it to be more name-brands than thrift stores but it was the opposite. The shops were more like boutiques and many of the clothes were outside. They were also pretty cheap. I bought a couple things, a dress, skirt and lacy pencil case. We had typical Japanese lunch there that was very good and cheap. I one of the stores they had music of nature and the whole place had fake grass and plants. The clothes were kind of Lolita, and the smallest blond Japanese girl worked there. She looked like she stepped out of Alice and Wonderland. After that we went to find me a cell phone but unfortunately I needed another ID which I would get after I registered myself as an alien with the city. I won’t be doing that until Nagasaki but the whole ordeal was an adventure within itself. The guy who was helping us was also very cute and very sweet… if only I knew more Japanese. We then went to meet up with Saiko’s boyfriend Tastu at Aoyama where they got visas for their trip to Cambodia. We went through a really pretty park on the way there. After that we had some time to go to Shibuya were I tried to look for sandals but failed. Shibuya is such a big place compared to Harajuku. This is where the name-brands are and crazy fashion stores. I didn’t get to see a lot because I didn’t have a lot of time but I was planning on going the following day anyway.
When we got back to the apartment I changed and then Mai and Tomoko (another friend of Saiko’s) came over to help cook for the party. I made gyoza from scratch for the first time. It was surprisingly easy. Then her other friends slowly stared to trickle in. Hitomi was a very short and energetic person, Tomoko was quiet, two girls from an art school came and then lastly this girl Yoko came and she liked to talk a lot. Besides Mai she tried the hardest to speak English to me and help include me in the conversation. I think they all tried but I was very tired so even when I did understand what was going I did not have the energy to do anything but listen. I felt really bad, I even fell asleep at one point but they understood. Despite being so tired it was a really fun party and they even made a cake for me and a girl whose birthday it was. She was one of the art students; I think her name was Yumi.
Day 3 - Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Shibuya
I could finally get my body to sleep in a little longer on this day. Saiko had work so her friend Mai was going to spend the day with me. I really wanted to go to the store Baby the Stars Shine Bright, from the movie Kamikaze Girls. I thought it was in Shibuya but it was actually at a stop next to Shibuya called Daikan-yama. It didn’t open till 1pm so Mai Tatsu and I went to a little pastry shop beforehand where I had this amazing… cake-thing. Then I went there and pretty much died and went to heaven. Never in my life have I ever cared about a brand-name but this store was like a famous place to me. I got to try on all these dresses including the white version of the one the main character was wearing in the movie. And yes, I bought one along with some other things. The purchase cost me about $240.00 but it was so worth it.
After that we went to Shibuya and Mai took me to the famous Mall “Ichi-Maru-Kyu” or 109. Clothes were a little pricey there. There weren’t many things under $30 but I would have to say I definitely splurged. I got a dress, cute pjs, a skirt, shoes, and a t-shirt with a lace-up back. The shops there were amazing. They had basically every fashion style there minus the weird ones. The shoes there were crazy, like high-healed basketball shoes that were neon. There were 7 floors of clothes and in took all day to get through it all. After that Mai and I went to another typical Japanese place where I had yakisoba cooked in front of me and so sort of Japanese omelet. It was pretty amazing. After that I met up with my friend Susannah in Harajuku. I ended up buying a skirt and sweater there as well. We had some coffee together while Mai shopped by herself. And then made plans for the following day.
Day 4 - Studio Ghibli and Karaoke
Saiko didn’t have work today so I could spend the whole day with her. We went to Kichijyoji, which is a quieter part of Tokyo that is close to her apartment. She said she often went shopping there because of the good deals. I got myself a couple pairs of shoes. Then we went to the Studio Ghibli Museum and it was amazing! The building and surrounding plants looked like they came straight out of a Miyazaki film. They had as much of an outdoor exhibit as an indoor one. There was a huge stuffed Totoro behind glass that I took a picture of, a huge catbus for kids to play in inside, and a giant statue of one of the robots from Castle in the Sky. It was so amazing. They even had some artists there who work at studio Ghibli painting some pictures. They pictures they painted were unreal. Everything by hand and it looked like computer animation. We also saw a short 20min film by Miyazaki and it was so cute and amazing. It was very science fiction with a lot of people inhabiting different planets of different sizes. This one boy makes his own little world from a stone and then releases it into the galaxy. It was so beautiful!
After that I met up with Susannah and her friend Miki and David to do Karaoke! It was so much fun; we basically sang half English songs and half Japanese songs. And yes, I did sing Crocodile rock, Sherry and Piano man. Some Japanese songs we sang were songs from the Nana movie, Linda Linda (Rinda Rinda), I miss you, and Only one. It was so much fun and we got free drinks.
Day 5 - Ikebukuro and one last visit to Shibuya
I met up with Susannah and Miki in Ikebukuro, which was about as crazy and crowded as Shibuya. None of us really knew where we were so there wasn’t very much extensive shopping but it was fun to look around at all the Pachinko and gaming malls. Pachinko is Japanese gambling. We went to this really cheap Spaghetti where I got a full meal that was actually pretty good for 368 yen or about $3.68. I then got a ton of Gatcha-Gatchas that were really cool. Finally Susannah and I had to part ways because she wasn’t feeling well but hopefully she will visit me in Nagasaki.
I went by myself to ichi maru Kyu again because… I’m addicted. I got a few things that I was thinking of getting before like a cute sweater, a dress, and lingerie. I actually didn’t spend as much money as I was expecting. Lol. I also went to ichi maru kyo 2 but then found out it was a guy’s version of the first one. Then I went back to Saiko’s place and we watched Full Metal Alchemist while I packed.
Day 6 - Anime Party and Saying Goodbye L
Saiko and I went to Asakusa to go to an anime party that her friend Ayano invited me to. I had to carry all of my luggage across Tokyo, that part of it was not fun. The event wasn’t really an anime convention because there weren’t really any panels or anything. Basically there were a bunch of cosplayers at a theme park. It was a lot of fun and Ayano had a shit ton of gifts for me. I was so surprised! A lot of if was pictures of Bleach from Magazines and she even drew me some pictures. After that I looked around Asakusa a little and it was a very traditional part of Tokyo as you will see in pictures. And then sadly I had to say goodbye to Saiko and Tokyo. The trip to the airport was awful because I somehow manage to always get lost. It was a goof thing I gave myself so much time to get there. The flight was fine and I arrived in Fukuoka at about 8pm where I met some of my group member in the abroad trip. Many of them had just commuted for 14 -20 hours so they were really out of it. I did bond with some people later that night who were more energetic. The part of Fukuoka I’m in isn’t really interesting, just hotels and convenient stores. Although I managed to make an ass of myself at one of the stores because I tried using a credit card it we went through this whole thing. Oh well this will encourage me to learn more Japanese so these embarrassing situations don’t happen again. To end on a good note the hotel I’m in is pretty cool and I get my own room with free internet!
(Pictures will be here soon but they are on Facebook anyway.)
Saying, “the plane ride really sucked” is an understatement. I flew United which apparently doesn’t have planes with those individual tvs where you can pick what movie you can watch. I wasn’t even on an old plane because their new planes are white and blue instead of that horrible grey color. Well anyway I survived it nonetheless and then I was off to my adventure of taking the trains in Tokyo by myself. I was worried because I couldn’t remember if the trains were in English too or not but they are so it was easy after all. I met up with Saiko at Kokubunji where we took another train to Takanodai, where her apartment is. Surprisingly Saiko doesn’t live anywhere near downtown Tokyo so the area she lives in is very suburban but also a college town. There are many little shops along the way to her apartment and so many family owned groceries. Her apartment is kind of like a studio and everything is smaller. She has a little loft where I sleep and there is a ladder to get to it instead of stairs because it’s so small. I would actually prefer this over apartments in Chicago especially because they can have laundry machines in their apartment. After bringing my suitcases to Saiko’s apartment we go back on the train to get some Ramen with her friend Mai. Saiko and Mai both know a lot of English so it was easy to talk with them but they do usually speak to me in Japanese first. After ramen I was so tired I pretty much just went to bed.
Day 2 - Harajuku and Welcoming Party
I woke up at like 5:30am which kinda sucked; stupid jet-lag. Saiko and I were planning on going to Harajuku and then that night she was going to have a party at her apartment with a bunch of her friends. Harajuku is pretty amazing. I was expecting it to be more name-brands than thrift stores but it was the opposite. The shops were more like boutiques and many of the clothes were outside. They were also pretty cheap. I bought a couple things, a dress, skirt and lacy pencil case. We had typical Japanese lunch there that was very good and cheap. I one of the stores they had music of nature and the whole place had fake grass and plants. The clothes were kind of Lolita, and the smallest blond Japanese girl worked there. She looked like she stepped out of Alice and Wonderland. After that we went to find me a cell phone but unfortunately I needed another ID which I would get after I registered myself as an alien with the city. I won’t be doing that until Nagasaki but the whole ordeal was an adventure within itself. The guy who was helping us was also very cute and very sweet… if only I knew more Japanese. We then went to meet up with Saiko’s boyfriend Tastu at Aoyama where they got visas for their trip to Cambodia. We went through a really pretty park on the way there. After that we had some time to go to Shibuya were I tried to look for sandals but failed. Shibuya is such a big place compared to Harajuku. This is where the name-brands are and crazy fashion stores. I didn’t get to see a lot because I didn’t have a lot of time but I was planning on going the following day anyway.
When we got back to the apartment I changed and then Mai and Tomoko (another friend of Saiko’s) came over to help cook for the party. I made gyoza from scratch for the first time. It was surprisingly easy. Then her other friends slowly stared to trickle in. Hitomi was a very short and energetic person, Tomoko was quiet, two girls from an art school came and then lastly this girl Yoko came and she liked to talk a lot. Besides Mai she tried the hardest to speak English to me and help include me in the conversation. I think they all tried but I was very tired so even when I did understand what was going I did not have the energy to do anything but listen. I felt really bad, I even fell asleep at one point but they understood. Despite being so tired it was a really fun party and they even made a cake for me and a girl whose birthday it was. She was one of the art students; I think her name was Yumi.
Day 3 - Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Shibuya
I could finally get my body to sleep in a little longer on this day. Saiko had work so her friend Mai was going to spend the day with me. I really wanted to go to the store Baby the Stars Shine Bright, from the movie Kamikaze Girls. I thought it was in Shibuya but it was actually at a stop next to Shibuya called Daikan-yama. It didn’t open till 1pm so Mai Tatsu and I went to a little pastry shop beforehand where I had this amazing… cake-thing. Then I went there and pretty much died and went to heaven. Never in my life have I ever cared about a brand-name but this store was like a famous place to me. I got to try on all these dresses including the white version of the one the main character was wearing in the movie. And yes, I bought one along with some other things. The purchase cost me about $240.00 but it was so worth it.
After that we went to Shibuya and Mai took me to the famous Mall “Ichi-Maru-Kyu” or 109. Clothes were a little pricey there. There weren’t many things under $30 but I would have to say I definitely splurged. I got a dress, cute pjs, a skirt, shoes, and a t-shirt with a lace-up back. The shops there were amazing. They had basically every fashion style there minus the weird ones. The shoes there were crazy, like high-healed basketball shoes that were neon. There were 7 floors of clothes and in took all day to get through it all. After that Mai and I went to another typical Japanese place where I had yakisoba cooked in front of me and so sort of Japanese omelet. It was pretty amazing. After that I met up with my friend Susannah in Harajuku. I ended up buying a skirt and sweater there as well. We had some coffee together while Mai shopped by herself. And then made plans for the following day.
Day 4 - Studio Ghibli and Karaoke
Saiko didn’t have work today so I could spend the whole day with her. We went to Kichijyoji, which is a quieter part of Tokyo that is close to her apartment. She said she often went shopping there because of the good deals. I got myself a couple pairs of shoes. Then we went to the Studio Ghibli Museum and it was amazing! The building and surrounding plants looked like they came straight out of a Miyazaki film. They had as much of an outdoor exhibit as an indoor one. There was a huge stuffed Totoro behind glass that I took a picture of, a huge catbus for kids to play in inside, and a giant statue of one of the robots from Castle in the Sky. It was so amazing. They even had some artists there who work at studio Ghibli painting some pictures. They pictures they painted were unreal. Everything by hand and it looked like computer animation. We also saw a short 20min film by Miyazaki and it was so cute and amazing. It was very science fiction with a lot of people inhabiting different planets of different sizes. This one boy makes his own little world from a stone and then releases it into the galaxy. It was so beautiful!
After that I met up with Susannah and her friend Miki and David to do Karaoke! It was so much fun; we basically sang half English songs and half Japanese songs. And yes, I did sing Crocodile rock, Sherry and Piano man. Some Japanese songs we sang were songs from the Nana movie, Linda Linda (Rinda Rinda), I miss you, and Only one. It was so much fun and we got free drinks.
Day 5 - Ikebukuro and one last visit to Shibuya
I met up with Susannah and Miki in Ikebukuro, which was about as crazy and crowded as Shibuya. None of us really knew where we were so there wasn’t very much extensive shopping but it was fun to look around at all the Pachinko and gaming malls. Pachinko is Japanese gambling. We went to this really cheap Spaghetti where I got a full meal that was actually pretty good for 368 yen or about $3.68. I then got a ton of Gatcha-Gatchas that were really cool. Finally Susannah and I had to part ways because she wasn’t feeling well but hopefully she will visit me in Nagasaki.
I went by myself to ichi maru Kyu again because… I’m addicted. I got a few things that I was thinking of getting before like a cute sweater, a dress, and lingerie. I actually didn’t spend as much money as I was expecting. Lol. I also went to ichi maru kyo 2 but then found out it was a guy’s version of the first one. Then I went back to Saiko’s place and we watched Full Metal Alchemist while I packed.
Day 6 - Anime Party and Saying Goodbye L
Saiko and I went to Asakusa to go to an anime party that her friend Ayano invited me to. I had to carry all of my luggage across Tokyo, that part of it was not fun. The event wasn’t really an anime convention because there weren’t really any panels or anything. Basically there were a bunch of cosplayers at a theme park. It was a lot of fun and Ayano had a shit ton of gifts for me. I was so surprised! A lot of if was pictures of Bleach from Magazines and she even drew me some pictures. After that I looked around Asakusa a little and it was a very traditional part of Tokyo as you will see in pictures. And then sadly I had to say goodbye to Saiko and Tokyo. The trip to the airport was awful because I somehow manage to always get lost. It was a goof thing I gave myself so much time to get there. The flight was fine and I arrived in Fukuoka at about 8pm where I met some of my group member in the abroad trip. Many of them had just commuted for 14 -20 hours so they were really out of it. I did bond with some people later that night who were more energetic. The part of Fukuoka I’m in isn’t really interesting, just hotels and convenient stores. Although I managed to make an ass of myself at one of the stores because I tried using a credit card it we went through this whole thing. Oh well this will encourage me to learn more Japanese so these embarrassing situations don’t happen again. To end on a good note the hotel I’m in is pretty cool and I get my own room with free internet!
(Pictures will be here soon but they are on Facebook anyway.)