[Japan]: Food, souvenirs, facial masks, doujinshi and manga~
Hullo again. 
As promised here's the continuation of my last entry featuring some of the delicious food I got to eat and the stuff I bought this time.
Why so delicious?
Needless to say that the food is one of the things I missed the most!
And especially during my business trip we got to eat insanely delicious and expensive food. (*_*)b
Just look at this!
I could have eaten this all by myself. XD
And this was just one of the various dishes we got that day.
Raw horse meat. Not my first time eating it.
Don't hate me, but I quite like it. ^^;; ...
Less luxurious food once my business trip was finished, but still yummie!
Had to get as much natto and sashimi in as possible! This needs to last for some time! ;_;
But of course, I did not only consume sashimi. ;)
I got to eat my beloved "houtou" - which I haven't eaten in AGES!
Definitely try it if you are in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Got delicious "sansai udon" on Mt. Mitake with green (matcha) udon. :D
I also had to eat a huge variation of ramen as my co-workers really like it.
I'm not the biggest fan of ramen and I simply cannot eat it every day. T_T ....
The typical "lady set menu". ;)
Lovely decorated plates at my ryokan in Shima Onsen, Gunma Prefecture.
And don't even ask how many times I went to Starbucks!
They currently have a huge tea variation. That was new to me.
I fell in love with the yuzu tea. Had it many times.
The photo above was taken at one of the Starbucks in Harajuku (the one opposite of Laforet).
I like it because of the terrace on the roof which offers a great view of Harajuku's Omotesando. ^^
Yeah, sorry. I didn't take photos of EVERYTHING I ate.
I'm just too used to it, I guess, so most of the things are nothing special anymore, but I'm SO HAPPY that I got to eat the most delicious food in the world again.
Even just the breakfast with raw egg and natto in my hotel made me smile every morning. Had missed this shit so much! ;)
Shopping in Tokyo:
I had to stock up on facial masks again. ^^;
I did research beforehand which ones I can get for the same price online and bought them via ebay. Mostly those were Korean brands such as Tony Moly.
I like those, but I also LOVE the "Pure Smile" ones in Japan and those I cannot find for cheap ANYWHERE online, so I just HAD to stock up on those. ;)
They had quite a few I have never seen before.
I especially like the lavender one and bought a few of them. I'm eager to try the jasmine one next.
As you can see I'm rarely going for the standard ones.
I decided to give the ones of Etude House a try.
As you probably know they have character masks everywhere.
The collection has grown quite a bit compared to last year.
These are more expensive than the normal facial masks.
The normal ones are available from 100 yen while those cost 300+ yen.
Apart from being cute, they don't offer any special value, so I didn't buy any. ^^;
Bought some delicious omiyage for family, friends and co-workers. Mainly KitKat as I had to do it at the airport after having passed security (simply because I had no space in my luggage anymore and was not allowed to bring any additional bags beyond that). ^^;
This is not all, but a part of the stationary I bought.
I also purchased nengajo as every year. Yeah, I'm keeping up the tradition even outside of Japan. *g*
I stocked up on my Starbucks card collection.
They finally released new ones for many regions, so at least I got the Kyoto and Tokyo ones. ^__^;
Also bought some 100-yen store stuff to brush up my apartment a bit.
There's a Watchfield store right below the Jetoy store in Harajuku now. Yay! ^_^
As always I went to the Jetoy store. I had to get a point card case as my old one just got broken.
And I also got a passport holder that I can wear around my neck. :3
Donki is so evil!
(Oh, and they even have facial masks featuring the Donki mascot!!)
I went there only on my very last day. My luggage was full (weight-wise), but when I saw those cuuuuuuuuute cats, I just couldn't resist. I had to get one!
I already had bought a cat pillow earlier that day, so within a few hours I added quite a bit to my luggage. T_T ...
But at least they fit perfectly into the rest of the cat family. ;)
(Yes, yes, I'll post an update of my apartment soon.)
These are so adorable!
I already saw them last year.
But as they need to be plugged in, I cannot use them in Germany. :(
They had much smaller ones that can run via USB, but they weren't as cute. *sigh*
I FINALLY went to Nakano Broadway!
I think with that I've finally been to all Mandarake in Japan. ^^;
(Guess Mr. Alien was already in Christmas mood although it was early November!)
Treasure hunting anyone?
I guess the Mandarake in Nakano is especially for you if you're looking for SUPER old manga or monster / other weird figurines.
But there's also something for train fans, card collectors, cel collectors, but they REALLY have EVERYTHING!
There's also a small selection of manga and doujinshi aimed at the female audience. I actually found one volume of a manga there that I couldn't find ANYWHERE else, so it was worth going there just for that. XD
This time I also went to hundreds of different BookOff and the Mandarake in Ikebukuro, Shibuya and Akihabara.
I think the one I have frequented the most in the past 10 years is the one in Ikebukuro, though. ^^;
I really didn't like the series "No game, no life", but this figure is what actually made me wanna watch the anime.
I still love the figure, but I REALLY thought the anime was sooooooooo booooooring. T_T .....
Oh, and I was so happy when I saw this " Nagi no Asukara" artbook, but WOAH, look at the price. ;_; ....
I didn't buy either. ;)
Erm .... and one was even sold out!!! XD .....
I was so happy to see "Days" everywhere. No wonder, it's still airing. ^_^
You know that I'm a sucker for sport series, esp. soccer series and I do like "Days" quite a lot, so yay!!
*cough* *cough cough* .....
The reason why I had to drag around 60 kg this time (I'm NOT kidding you! I can take 2 pcs of luggage a 23 kg + 10 kg carry-on + laptop bag + camera = almost 60 kg) was that I went crazy in BookOff.
(In fact, it was even more than that. One of my co-workers was so nice to take 6 kg of my luggage with him as he only stayed in Japan for a few days and had tons of space. Of course, I used that opportunity. XD ....)
I bought a lot last year and I just finished the last manga exactly in the week of my departure.
So, it was about time to stock up again.
However, this is quite a bit more than last time, so I'm quite sure that I won't be able to finish it all before I go to Japan again. XD .....
But that's alright. A lot of the series are still running, so I couldn't obtain all volumes yet.
And some were not yet available for cheap, so I have to wait.
What was REALLY sad is that " Akatsuki no Yona" was everywhere in the "popular series" shelves and thus EXPENSIVE - even in BookOff.
The same happened last year with " Chihayafuru", but this year you could grab a few volumes for 100 yen each.
So, I guess I just have to wait until next year. 300+ yen per volume is just too much. ^^;;;
As you can see I mainly bought shoujo manga and a few BL series.
Eventually I'll sell all of them, so if there's anything you're interested in, keep an eye open.
That being said, I haven't even put up the stuff from last year yet .....
(Photos are taken, I just need to find the time to upload them etc....)
I didn't go crazy with my doujinshi this time.
I only was interested in very few series / pairings, so that helped a lot. ^^;
As always had to get a few KakaIru ones.
Never can go without Haru x Rin. Never!
Stayed away from Kuroko no Basket, but I thought I wanted to grab at least one Kagami x Kuroko.
I was also a bit curious about Takao as he's my favorite character although I don't ship that pairing. I don't like Midorima. -_-;
Aaaaaand I browsed quite a few series I'm also interested in, but only grabbed ONE Blue Exorcist doujinshi. Yes, I'm a good girl. *g*
Stayed successfully away from "Ace of Diamonds" and "Yowamushi Pedal" this time. ;P
I just rewatched Haikyuu a few months ago and now the new season is running, so how can one resist, right?
Usually I'm only going for Kageyama x Hinata, but I was also curious about a few other pairings, so yeah ... ^^;
Last but not least, I was just toooooo curious about "Attack on Titan". I have no idea what pairing I would ship, but Levi x Eren looks way too convincing, so I hope I'll like it. ^^;;;;; .....
Also grabbed these:
2 x Haikyuu (1 x Karasuno, 1 x Nekoma)
2 x Captain Tsubasa (by Minami Ozaki the creator of Zetsuai / Bronze - these are rare and I LOVE her Captain Tsubasa doujinshi!!!!!! and I might have already read them in the past, can't remember ... XD)
I already noticed this last year, but it has become so difficult to find doujinshi for 100 yen.
Not only at Mandarake, but also at all the other doujinshi stores.
Like in Kotobukiya they had a special sale for Kuroko no Basket and Yowamushi Pedal doujinshis for 100 yen, but as I wanted to stay away from these series ....
*sigh*
Oh, I currently store all of them in my closet below my clothes as I don't have any book shelves in this apartment. ^^;; ..
When I came out of the shower in my hotel, I was happy to see the newest Utapuri season on TV.
However, I didn't like season 3 very much, so I'm not sure if I'm too eager to watch the newest one at all ... ^^;
Just like Starbucks, Lush is everywhere in Japan.
So, I finally tried my first bath bomb ever.
To be honest, I don't quite get the hype.
Yeah, it was nice. But, they're so freaking expensive and I'm not sure if they're good for your skin or not.
It's also a pain to clean up the bathtub afterwards (unless you use them in a hotel like I did).
Apart from that I don't have a bathtub anyways. XD ....
Uhm ... that's not everything I bought, but most of it.
I also bought some random tiny things and clothes (mainly tops, socks and gloves).
The latter is somewhere in the huge pile of dirty laundry next to me. It sucks that I don't have a washing machine here. :/ ...
Ok, that's all.
Hope you enjoyed this entry.
Bye~chuu!
As promised here's the continuation of my last entry featuring some of the delicious food I got to eat and the stuff I bought this time.
Why so delicious?
Needless to say that the food is one of the things I missed the most!
And especially during my business trip we got to eat insanely delicious and expensive food. (*_*)b
Just look at this!
I could have eaten this all by myself. XD
And this was just one of the various dishes we got that day.
Raw horse meat. Not my first time eating it.
Don't hate me, but I quite like it. ^^;; ...
Less luxurious food once my business trip was finished, but still yummie!
Had to get as much natto and sashimi in as possible! This needs to last for some time! ;_;
But of course, I did not only consume sashimi. ;)
I got to eat my beloved "houtou" - which I haven't eaten in AGES!
Definitely try it if you are in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Got delicious "sansai udon" on Mt. Mitake with green (matcha) udon. :D
I also had to eat a huge variation of ramen as my co-workers really like it.
I'm not the biggest fan of ramen and I simply cannot eat it every day. T_T ....
The typical "lady set menu". ;)
Lovely decorated plates at my ryokan in Shima Onsen, Gunma Prefecture.
And don't even ask how many times I went to Starbucks!
They currently have a huge tea variation. That was new to me.
I fell in love with the yuzu tea. Had it many times.
The photo above was taken at one of the Starbucks in Harajuku (the one opposite of Laforet).
I like it because of the terrace on the roof which offers a great view of Harajuku's Omotesando. ^^
Yeah, sorry. I didn't take photos of EVERYTHING I ate.
I'm just too used to it, I guess, so most of the things are nothing special anymore, but I'm SO HAPPY that I got to eat the most delicious food in the world again.
Even just the breakfast with raw egg and natto in my hotel made me smile every morning. Had missed this shit so much! ;)
Shopping in Tokyo:
I had to stock up on facial masks again. ^^;
I did research beforehand which ones I can get for the same price online and bought them via ebay. Mostly those were Korean brands such as Tony Moly.
I like those, but I also LOVE the "Pure Smile" ones in Japan and those I cannot find for cheap ANYWHERE online, so I just HAD to stock up on those. ;)
They had quite a few I have never seen before.
I especially like the lavender one and bought a few of them. I'm eager to try the jasmine one next.
As you can see I'm rarely going for the standard ones.
I decided to give the ones of Etude House a try.
As you probably know they have character masks everywhere.
The collection has grown quite a bit compared to last year.
These are more expensive than the normal facial masks.
The normal ones are available from 100 yen while those cost 300+ yen.
Apart from being cute, they don't offer any special value, so I didn't buy any. ^^;
Bought some delicious omiyage for family, friends and co-workers. Mainly KitKat as I had to do it at the airport after having passed security (simply because I had no space in my luggage anymore and was not allowed to bring any additional bags beyond that). ^^;
This is not all, but a part of the stationary I bought.
I also purchased nengajo as every year. Yeah, I'm keeping up the tradition even outside of Japan. *g*
I stocked up on my Starbucks card collection.
They finally released new ones for many regions, so at least I got the Kyoto and Tokyo ones. ^__^;
Also bought some 100-yen store stuff to brush up my apartment a bit.
There's a Watchfield store right below the Jetoy store in Harajuku now. Yay! ^_^
As always I went to the Jetoy store. I had to get a point card case as my old one just got broken.
And I also got a passport holder that I can wear around my neck. :3
Donki is so evil!
(Oh, and they even have facial masks featuring the Donki mascot!!)
I went there only on my very last day. My luggage was full (weight-wise), but when I saw those cuuuuuuuuute cats, I just couldn't resist. I had to get one!
I already had bought a cat pillow earlier that day, so within a few hours I added quite a bit to my luggage. T_T ...
But at least they fit perfectly into the rest of the cat family. ;)
(Yes, yes, I'll post an update of my apartment soon.)
These are so adorable!
I already saw them last year.
But as they need to be plugged in, I cannot use them in Germany. :(
They had much smaller ones that can run via USB, but they weren't as cute. *sigh*
I FINALLY went to Nakano Broadway!
I think with that I've finally been to all Mandarake in Japan. ^^;
(Guess Mr. Alien was already in Christmas mood although it was early November!)
Treasure hunting anyone?
I guess the Mandarake in Nakano is especially for you if you're looking for SUPER old manga or monster / other weird figurines.
But there's also something for train fans, card collectors, cel collectors, but they REALLY have EVERYTHING!
There's also a small selection of manga and doujinshi aimed at the female audience. I actually found one volume of a manga there that I couldn't find ANYWHERE else, so it was worth going there just for that. XD
This time I also went to hundreds of different BookOff and the Mandarake in Ikebukuro, Shibuya and Akihabara.
I think the one I have frequented the most in the past 10 years is the one in Ikebukuro, though. ^^;
I really didn't like the series "No game, no life", but this figure is what actually made me wanna watch the anime.
I still love the figure, but I REALLY thought the anime was sooooooooo booooooring. T_T .....
Oh, and I was so happy when I saw this " Nagi no Asukara" artbook, but WOAH, look at the price. ;_; ....
I didn't buy either. ;)
Erm .... and one was even sold out!!! XD .....
I was so happy to see "Days" everywhere. No wonder, it's still airing. ^_^
You know that I'm a sucker for sport series, esp. soccer series and I do like "Days" quite a lot, so yay!!
*cough* *cough cough* .....
The reason why I had to drag around 60 kg this time (I'm NOT kidding you! I can take 2 pcs of luggage a 23 kg + 10 kg carry-on + laptop bag + camera = almost 60 kg) was that I went crazy in BookOff.
(In fact, it was even more than that. One of my co-workers was so nice to take 6 kg of my luggage with him as he only stayed in Japan for a few days and had tons of space. Of course, I used that opportunity. XD ....)
I bought a lot last year and I just finished the last manga exactly in the week of my departure.
So, it was about time to stock up again.
However, this is quite a bit more than last time, so I'm quite sure that I won't be able to finish it all before I go to Japan again. XD .....
But that's alright. A lot of the series are still running, so I couldn't obtain all volumes yet.
And some were not yet available for cheap, so I have to wait.
What was REALLY sad is that " Akatsuki no Yona" was everywhere in the "popular series" shelves and thus EXPENSIVE - even in BookOff.
The same happened last year with " Chihayafuru", but this year you could grab a few volumes for 100 yen each.
So, I guess I just have to wait until next year. 300+ yen per volume is just too much. ^^;;;
As you can see I mainly bought shoujo manga and a few BL series.
Eventually I'll sell all of them, so if there's anything you're interested in, keep an eye open.
That being said, I haven't even put up the stuff from last year yet .....
(Photos are taken, I just need to find the time to upload them etc....)
I didn't go crazy with my doujinshi this time.
I only was interested in very few series / pairings, so that helped a lot. ^^;
As always had to get a few KakaIru ones.
Never can go without Haru x Rin. Never!
Stayed away from Kuroko no Basket, but I thought I wanted to grab at least one Kagami x Kuroko.
I was also a bit curious about Takao as he's my favorite character although I don't ship that pairing. I don't like Midorima. -_-;
Aaaaaand I browsed quite a few series I'm also interested in, but only grabbed ONE Blue Exorcist doujinshi. Yes, I'm a good girl. *g*
Stayed successfully away from "Ace of Diamonds" and "Yowamushi Pedal" this time. ;P
I just rewatched Haikyuu a few months ago and now the new season is running, so how can one resist, right?
Usually I'm only going for Kageyama x Hinata, but I was also curious about a few other pairings, so yeah ... ^^;
Last but not least, I was just toooooo curious about "Attack on Titan". I have no idea what pairing I would ship, but Levi x Eren looks way too convincing, so I hope I'll like it. ^^;;;;; .....
Also grabbed these:
2 x Haikyuu (1 x Karasuno, 1 x Nekoma)
2 x Captain Tsubasa (by Minami Ozaki the creator of Zetsuai / Bronze - these are rare and I LOVE her Captain Tsubasa doujinshi!!!!!! and I might have already read them in the past, can't remember ... XD)
I already noticed this last year, but it has become so difficult to find doujinshi for 100 yen.
Not only at Mandarake, but also at all the other doujinshi stores.
Like in Kotobukiya they had a special sale for Kuroko no Basket and Yowamushi Pedal doujinshis for 100 yen, but as I wanted to stay away from these series ....
*sigh*
Oh, I currently store all of them in my closet below my clothes as I don't have any book shelves in this apartment. ^^;; ..
When I came out of the shower in my hotel, I was happy to see the newest Utapuri season on TV.
However, I didn't like season 3 very much, so I'm not sure if I'm too eager to watch the newest one at all ... ^^;
Just like Starbucks, Lush is everywhere in Japan.
So, I finally tried my first bath bomb ever.
To be honest, I don't quite get the hype.
Yeah, it was nice. But, they're so freaking expensive and I'm not sure if they're good for your skin or not.
It's also a pain to clean up the bathtub afterwards (unless you use them in a hotel like I did).
Apart from that I don't have a bathtub anyways. XD ....
Uhm ... that's not everything I bought, but most of it.
I also bought some random tiny things and clothes (mainly tops, socks and gloves).
The latter is somewhere in the huge pile of dirty laundry next to me. It sucks that I don't have a washing machine here. :/ ...
Ok, that's all.
Hope you enjoyed this entry.
Bye~chuu!