[Japan 2010] Top 25 list
25. Searching for autumn leaves
In Sweden, the leaves were already yellow and lots of them were dry and had fallen on the ground. In Japan, we had to find them high up in the mountains. I can only imagine how beautiful it would look like when the red leaves season starts for real.
24. Capsule Inn Kinshicho
Not easy to find a capsule inn for women. The one in Akihabara where we stayed last time has closed down. But I liked this one much better. Located in Kinshicho it's a good stop from or to Narita Airport. The area itself is very nice, good shopping, tasty food and the streets are charming. The hostel felt clean and the staff were friendly and helpful, even though they didn't always speak English. The best of all I think was the public bath that we were able to use, since we were guests at this hostel.
It's a cool experience to sleep in a capsule room, so don't miss it. Just make sure your luggage isn't too big to fit in the lockers... ^^;
23. Trains
When you travel in Japan, don't forget to buy your Railway Pass. It really comes handy at times. Going by the trains, we had some fun time. There were times when we got on the wrong train, got off at the wrong station or almost missed our stops. Now and then we were caught in the rush hours, being squeezed in the crowd while giggling nonstop at nonsense things.
Trains make the life of a tourist much easier, you can get lost but it's simple to get on track again. v( ^ o^)v
22. Kyoto
To be honest, Kyoto doesn't feel that exciting anymore - shrines and tourist spots are feeding me up to the throat - but I don't know why, once I step out from the Kyoto station building it's like back then when I first visited Kyoto; a special, nostalgic feel I have for the city. No matter what, I still like to be here.
21. Kinshicho
You only need two weeks to create a nostalgic sense for a place. On our last day in Japan, we went back to Kinshicho, to the Isetan shopping mall, to eat and buy the last stuff. We found a cool place at the roof where you also can see the new Tokyo tower. Of course, fooling around when no one's there is fun too.
20. Fighting Man
The latest single of NEWS was released when we were in Tokyo. At that very day I went to Tsutaya and listened to the CD at one of their listening stands where they also showed NEWS' Fighting Man PV. Suddenly, while I was listening, two Japanese ladies came by and took some pictures of the screen. LOL. Johnny's fans. Well, I totally understand them. ^^
19. 100 yen shops
Love these shops. It's cheap, it's nice and it's useful. The shops are like magnets drawing us to them wherever we may go. We cannot not go in. Then we spend time and money there. ^^;
18. Hello Kitty mini food set
So I wasn't able to stalk Kame this time. But I stumble over Hello Kitty wherever I looked. What to do? Just admit defeat and buy it of course. Found some really, really KAWAII stuff to bring home. The cutest one must be this Hello Kitty miniature food set. XD~
17. Inofficial Johnny's idol shops
I love these underground stores at Takeshita-dori in Harajuku. More than Johnny's shop with his official merchandises, because you can find more stuff at these stores WITHOUT being in queue for hours just to get into the shop. Yup, I bought some Kame stuff: photos, penncase, uchiwa, ruler, stickers, memocards...
16. Snacks in konbini
We made it a habit to buy snacks and drinks in konbini stores such as 7-Eleven and Lawson every evening before going home to the hostel/hotel. Buying food before a day trip is also convenient. We found a good hot peach drink in Himeji. Yummy!
15. Ebisu Garden Place
Well, we went to this place simply and only because we wanted to see where Domyojii waited for three hours for Makino in the drama Hana Yori Dango, which is Jenny's favourite Japanese drama.
14. Shinjuku and hotel N.U.T.S
It's nuts because you will have a hard time finding it. Beware of that people in the street can give you the wrong directions when you're asking them, if you're lucky to find someone who actually understand English and understand your English...
I like Shinjuku a lot. Eventually we found a shortcut from our hotel to the station where we would pass a big shopping street and some nice restaurants and a cinema on our way. Next time, we should explore Shinjuku more...
13. Kanransha Ferris wheel in Odaiba
The world's tallest ferris wheel, in 1999 until 2000 when it was succeeded by London Eye. Today it's only the 12th tallest one. Nevermind, it was beautiful with cables in different colours. Also transparent ones where you can look down through the floor....
12. Boat trip in Kawaguchiko
At the Kawaguchiko station, we searched sightseeing information and were told to buy a ticket that included both boat, cable car and bus ticket, so we bought that. Since we obviously came at a low seasoned period, there weren't many tourists with us. Especially not that day, because it was too foggy to see Fuji-san, so when we boarded the boat it was empty but for us and the staff. I can tell it was weird, having someone starting a ferry-like boat just for you alone. It was nice, though, the view, even without Fuji.
11. Asakusabashi
We stumble over this place merely because we wanted to go to Asakusa, but instead of transferring by the subway, we decided to walk from station to station, which we were told would take apprioximately 30-40 minutes. A whole world opened for us and we arrived to Asakusa about 4 hours later...
At first, we found this store where you can buy pearls and decoration for your phone or nail. Some good stuff. XD
Then after this, we came to the street where they were selling kitchen stuff and plastic food for restaurant. Some good stuff there too. XDD
Go here if you want to see how I decorated my cellphone. ^^
10. Tokyo Dome City
One day, I will hopefully go there for KaT-TUN's concert, but for now, it's enough playing around in the park.
9. Morning view at Kawaguchiko
It was really something to wake up to this view. Suddenly, I wasn't sleepy anymore. =)
When I saw the blue sky, my first thought was: "We might be able to see Fuji today." Off to the outdoor onsen!
8. Foot bath at the roof - hotel Konanso
Aaahh... the temperature is cold, but the water warm, so nice for your tired feet.
Yup, Fuji is behind us (or in front of me, but behind Fung and Jenny), although you can't see the whole mountain because of the clouds. Nevermind, the sight is mighty as it is.
I thought our hotel was worth the money. ^_^
7. Walking from Harajuku back to Shinjuku
I wanted to go for a walk in a park, so after shopping in Shibuya, we went back to Harajuku to walk in the Yoyogipark. There, we stumble over Meiji-jingu shrine. After that, we continued our way to Yoyogi and wanted to go to the Shinjuku Gyoen (park)...
Nope. Couldn't find the entry. >.<
Nevermind, we had a good walk, so we went back to our hotel instead and called it a day.
6. Broken luggage bag (handles)
I knew that my luggage bag handle was loose from the beginning of the trip, but thought it would be okay if I just avoided to use it too much and was careful. What we didn't expect was the attack from Fungs luggage bag. The whole thing, the handle where you use to pull the bag with, came loose and kind of fell off. But as you can see, we managed to save it. ^.^V
On the last day, on our way to the airport, we had to take the bags down a stairs without escalator, and a helpful bypassing guy wanted to help, so he took my bag, right at that handle that was loose and... ritsch, he pulled it out from the bag, well parts of it. Poor guy, he was sooo shocked, thinking he had broken my bag, but I tried to assure him it was okay. Cool to meet som nice people. ^^
5. On my own
As much as I love my sister and cousin, we were together 24/7 in Japan and I'm not used to be with people all the time, so that day when they dropped me off in Johnny's shop in Harajuku, I wasn't too worried about being by myself in the big city. I was by myself. Now I could take my time, looking at stuff in my own pace without worrying about people waiting for me, of boring them out.
Firstly, I spent about one hour in Johnny's shop selecting Kame photos, and after that I went through Takeshita-dori's idol shops (I might have entered all of them!) and found a lot of nice stuff. Yet, I didn't buy everything I saw and liked, hehe...
Took the subway to Shibuya where I managed to both listen to NEWS' single and buy it and yet have twenty minutes left before time to meet up with the girls again.
Last time I was here, there were so many Kame billboards. This time, none. *sniff*
4. Speaking Japanese
I enjoyed this trip differently because I was able to catch a little of what people were saying. This time, when I asked a question, I could at least understand one (or maybe two) word(s) of what they answered. It was cool to be able to communicate not only in English. XD~
Funny how I was often pushed forward to ask things because the girls really think I'm able to speak Japanese. LOL. Most time I just did what they would do, ask that very question in English. XD
Mistakes? Ah! When we were in Harajuku searching for a nice café to eat breakfast in, we met a guy (worker? the owner?) in a café who didn't know much English, but we understood that there were no toast or egg in his shop. I tried to ask him where to find breakfast in the area, but he showed us the menu of his café instead, so we figured out he didn't understand my question. Afterwards I realized that I actually said koko ni instead of doko, meaning here instead of where. Baka da yo!
T_T;
3. Sanrio Puroland
Well, what to say? I came, I saw, I was happy....
But we left before I could eat another Hello Kitty-meal (I wanted to have afternoon tea with some Kitty-cakes!!!!) because the other two were already fed up with Kitties after just three hours in Kittyland... T.T
2. Cinema Wald 9 - Kimi ni Todoke
Fung suggested that we should go to the cinema in Japan for the experience of going. At first we thought of an American movie and I guess we half-hearted made an attempt to go... until I recognized this movie as Kimi ni Todoke. The anime is great, the story adorable... and the live-action movie was starring Miura Haruma. Yes, I wanted to watch it!
In the middle of the night me and Fung went to watch the movie and with us was four (or was it only three...?) other people, in the whole salon! ^^;
1. Travelling with my sisters
This trip was truely awesome not only because we were in Japan, but because this was a trip with the right company. With people that I can relax and be myself I could enjoy my vacation to the fullest. Thanks to Jenny, we had some great shopping time, and thanks to Fung, we had some great food.
But thanks to me, they can now say they've been to Kittyland!!!!! ^_^v
In Sweden, the leaves were already yellow and lots of them were dry and had fallen on the ground. In Japan, we had to find them high up in the mountains. I can only imagine how beautiful it would look like when the red leaves season starts for real.
24. Capsule Inn Kinshicho
Not easy to find a capsule inn for women. The one in Akihabara where we stayed last time has closed down. But I liked this one much better. Located in Kinshicho it's a good stop from or to Narita Airport. The area itself is very nice, good shopping, tasty food and the streets are charming. The hostel felt clean and the staff were friendly and helpful, even though they didn't always speak English. The best of all I think was the public bath that we were able to use, since we were guests at this hostel.
It's a cool experience to sleep in a capsule room, so don't miss it. Just make sure your luggage isn't too big to fit in the lockers... ^^;
23. Trains
When you travel in Japan, don't forget to buy your Railway Pass. It really comes handy at times. Going by the trains, we had some fun time. There were times when we got on the wrong train, got off at the wrong station or almost missed our stops. Now and then we were caught in the rush hours, being squeezed in the crowd while giggling nonstop at nonsense things.
Trains make the life of a tourist much easier, you can get lost but it's simple to get on track again. v( ^ o^)v
22. Kyoto
To be honest, Kyoto doesn't feel that exciting anymore - shrines and tourist spots are feeding me up to the throat - but I don't know why, once I step out from the Kyoto station building it's like back then when I first visited Kyoto; a special, nostalgic feel I have for the city. No matter what, I still like to be here.
21. Kinshicho
You only need two weeks to create a nostalgic sense for a place. On our last day in Japan, we went back to Kinshicho, to the Isetan shopping mall, to eat and buy the last stuff. We found a cool place at the roof where you also can see the new Tokyo tower. Of course, fooling around when no one's there is fun too.
20. Fighting Man
The latest single of NEWS was released when we were in Tokyo. At that very day I went to Tsutaya and listened to the CD at one of their listening stands where they also showed NEWS' Fighting Man PV. Suddenly, while I was listening, two Japanese ladies came by and took some pictures of the screen. LOL. Johnny's fans. Well, I totally understand them. ^^
19. 100 yen shops
Love these shops. It's cheap, it's nice and it's useful. The shops are like magnets drawing us to them wherever we may go. We cannot not go in. Then we spend time and money there. ^^;
18. Hello Kitty mini food set
So I wasn't able to stalk Kame this time. But I stumble over Hello Kitty wherever I looked. What to do? Just admit defeat and buy it of course. Found some really, really KAWAII stuff to bring home. The cutest one must be this Hello Kitty miniature food set. XD~
17. Inofficial Johnny's idol shops
I love these underground stores at Takeshita-dori in Harajuku. More than Johnny's shop with his official merchandises, because you can find more stuff at these stores WITHOUT being in queue for hours just to get into the shop. Yup, I bought some Kame stuff: photos, penncase, uchiwa, ruler, stickers, memocards...
16. Snacks in konbini
We made it a habit to buy snacks and drinks in konbini stores such as 7-Eleven and Lawson every evening before going home to the hostel/hotel. Buying food before a day trip is also convenient. We found a good hot peach drink in Himeji. Yummy!
15. Ebisu Garden Place
Well, we went to this place simply and only because we wanted to see where Domyojii waited for three hours for Makino in the drama Hana Yori Dango, which is Jenny's favourite Japanese drama.
14. Shinjuku and hotel N.U.T.S
It's nuts because you will have a hard time finding it. Beware of that people in the street can give you the wrong directions when you're asking them, if you're lucky to find someone who actually understand English and understand your English...
I like Shinjuku a lot. Eventually we found a shortcut from our hotel to the station where we would pass a big shopping street and some nice restaurants and a cinema on our way. Next time, we should explore Shinjuku more...
13. Kanransha Ferris wheel in Odaiba
The world's tallest ferris wheel, in 1999 until 2000 when it was succeeded by London Eye. Today it's only the 12th tallest one. Nevermind, it was beautiful with cables in different colours. Also transparent ones where you can look down through the floor....
12. Boat trip in Kawaguchiko
At the Kawaguchiko station, we searched sightseeing information and were told to buy a ticket that included both boat, cable car and bus ticket, so we bought that. Since we obviously came at a low seasoned period, there weren't many tourists with us. Especially not that day, because it was too foggy to see Fuji-san, so when we boarded the boat it was empty but for us and the staff. I can tell it was weird, having someone starting a ferry-like boat just for you alone. It was nice, though, the view, even without Fuji.
11. Asakusabashi
We stumble over this place merely because we wanted to go to Asakusa, but instead of transferring by the subway, we decided to walk from station to station, which we were told would take apprioximately 30-40 minutes. A whole world opened for us and we arrived to Asakusa about 4 hours later...
At first, we found this store where you can buy pearls and decoration for your phone or nail. Some good stuff. XD
Then after this, we came to the street where they were selling kitchen stuff and plastic food for restaurant. Some good stuff there too. XDD
Go here if you want to see how I decorated my cellphone. ^^
10. Tokyo Dome City
One day, I will hopefully go there for KaT-TUN's concert, but for now, it's enough playing around in the park.
9. Morning view at Kawaguchiko
It was really something to wake up to this view. Suddenly, I wasn't sleepy anymore. =)
When I saw the blue sky, my first thought was: "We might be able to see Fuji today." Off to the outdoor onsen!
8. Foot bath at the roof - hotel Konanso
Aaahh... the temperature is cold, but the water warm, so nice for your tired feet.
Yup, Fuji is behind us (or in front of me, but behind Fung and Jenny), although you can't see the whole mountain because of the clouds. Nevermind, the sight is mighty as it is.
I thought our hotel was worth the money. ^_^
7. Walking from Harajuku back to Shinjuku
I wanted to go for a walk in a park, so after shopping in Shibuya, we went back to Harajuku to walk in the Yoyogipark. There, we stumble over Meiji-jingu shrine. After that, we continued our way to Yoyogi and wanted to go to the Shinjuku Gyoen (park)...
Nope. Couldn't find the entry. >.<
Nevermind, we had a good walk, so we went back to our hotel instead and called it a day.
6. Broken luggage bag (handles)
I knew that my luggage bag handle was loose from the beginning of the trip, but thought it would be okay if I just avoided to use it too much and was careful. What we didn't expect was the attack from Fungs luggage bag. The whole thing, the handle where you use to pull the bag with, came loose and kind of fell off. But as you can see, we managed to save it. ^.^V
On the last day, on our way to the airport, we had to take the bags down a stairs without escalator, and a helpful bypassing guy wanted to help, so he took my bag, right at that handle that was loose and... ritsch, he pulled it out from the bag, well parts of it. Poor guy, he was sooo shocked, thinking he had broken my bag, but I tried to assure him it was okay. Cool to meet som nice people. ^^
5. On my own
As much as I love my sister and cousin, we were together 24/7 in Japan and I'm not used to be with people all the time, so that day when they dropped me off in Johnny's shop in Harajuku, I wasn't too worried about being by myself in the big city. I was by myself. Now I could take my time, looking at stuff in my own pace without worrying about people waiting for me, of boring them out.
Firstly, I spent about one hour in Johnny's shop selecting Kame photos, and after that I went through Takeshita-dori's idol shops (I might have entered all of them!) and found a lot of nice stuff. Yet, I didn't buy everything I saw and liked, hehe...
Took the subway to Shibuya where I managed to both listen to NEWS' single and buy it and yet have twenty minutes left before time to meet up with the girls again.
Last time I was here, there were so many Kame billboards. This time, none. *sniff*
4. Speaking Japanese
I enjoyed this trip differently because I was able to catch a little of what people were saying. This time, when I asked a question, I could at least understand one (or maybe two) word(s) of what they answered. It was cool to be able to communicate not only in English. XD~
Funny how I was often pushed forward to ask things because the girls really think I'm able to speak Japanese. LOL. Most time I just did what they would do, ask that very question in English. XD
Mistakes? Ah! When we were in Harajuku searching for a nice café to eat breakfast in, we met a guy (worker? the owner?) in a café who didn't know much English, but we understood that there were no toast or egg in his shop. I tried to ask him where to find breakfast in the area, but he showed us the menu of his café instead, so we figured out he didn't understand my question. Afterwards I realized that I actually said koko ni instead of doko, meaning here instead of where. Baka da yo!
T_T;
3. Sanrio Puroland
Well, what to say? I came, I saw, I was happy....
But we left before I could eat another Hello Kitty-meal (I wanted to have afternoon tea with some Kitty-cakes!!!!) because the other two were already fed up with Kitties after just three hours in Kittyland... T.T
2. Cinema Wald 9 - Kimi ni Todoke
Fung suggested that we should go to the cinema in Japan for the experience of going. At first we thought of an American movie and I guess we half-hearted made an attempt to go... until I recognized this movie as Kimi ni Todoke. The anime is great, the story adorable... and the live-action movie was starring Miura Haruma. Yes, I wanted to watch it!
In the middle of the night me and Fung went to watch the movie and with us was four (or was it only three...?) other people, in the whole salon! ^^;
1. Travelling with my sisters
This trip was truely awesome not only because we were in Japan, but because this was a trip with the right company. With people that I can relax and be myself I could enjoy my vacation to the fullest. Thanks to Jenny, we had some great shopping time, and thanks to Fung, we had some great food.
But thanks to me, they can now say they've been to Kittyland!!!!! ^_^v