Japan Trip ☠ Part 2
Whoo part two lol
3:24AM Tokyo Time.
Yes 3:24 am. I don't know why I was awake that much, it sounds stupid early, but it was a full 8 hours of sleep, and the first 8 hours of sleep I've gotten in like a week and a half. I'm sure there's a shit ton of stuff I could do on my own before I met up with Doreen, but well.... it's fricking 3:30 AM! xD Instead of going out, I decided to stay inside and rest my eyes for a bit longer (aka sit at my computer with my glasses on). I took pics off my camera and answered the shit ton of emails I got. I also got to use the bath!!!!!!!
Oh aoi~ *__* I can see why you love to take baths! It was possibly THE BEST BATH I HAVE EVER TAKEN. Of all the things in Japan, I will miss my Suica card and the bathtub most. I showered first, then filled the tub up and sat down in it. It was pretty hot cause I had trouble figuring out the knobs... I THINK, though I never bothered to compare, they turned in different directions then I'm use to.... I can't remember what conclusion I came to... Something I thought was cool about the bathrooms in Japan, all the toilet paper had this little covers over them so you didn't have to touch the toilet paper when you use it.
Good Morning Japan!
After dicking around till 8, I decided that I'd go insane if I stayed inside any longer and even if I had a lot of time to meet with Doreen, I'd just wander. I stopped in 7/11 to get some breakfast. Just onigiri and tea, which I didn't like, so I pitched it and bought juice at a vending machine. I spent about 45 minutes wandering around the block around Ikebukuro station near the McDonalds.
After wandering around for a while, I decided to go inside the McDonalds to wait for Doreen since we never really specified inside or outside. AND since I'd been up since 3 AM, I could use some coffee. And in going in the McD's I got my first taste of Japan norm. Everyone at the counter stopped what they were doing and greeted me as I walked in. Not in a 'hey sup, what do you want?', but in a 'We're VERY pleased to see you! Thanks for coming in! we'll do our best to make you feel welcome!' sort of way. It was rather startling and made me freeze up for a second. The man with the free register motioned for me that I could step up, and (I assume) asked what I'd like. I bowed my head a bit and told him I don't speak Japanese, sorry (in japanese), and the man said "I speak English."
However, he said it in a VERY deep, robotic voice, which, again, startled me into freezing up a bit, and all I replied was "Oh. I'd like this please. *points*"
I know, VERY suave of me, ne?
Anyway, McDonalds is really kinda different there. First of all, the chairs have no backs, and the tables are really tiny. I was fighting to keep myself from slouching, but it was weird. The first floor had tables and the kitchen, but the second floor had more sitting and wasn't smoke free. I can't even remember when you could smoke inside of food places in America. I sat by the window overlooking the main road and station, so i could see if Doreen walked up. I assumed she'd be easy to spot because so far, I was the only foreigner I'd seen so far.
Things I noticed while I waited:
• It looked as though most of the streets were one way, but apparently they're not.
• Lots of people here ride bikes, but I didn't see a single bike lock until I was in Odaiba on Monday.
• Boots are DEFINITELY "In" in Japan. I was happy that I had my awesome christmas present boots.
• Money is very confusing. It took me a couple days to stop going "Heh?!" when someone said "250 yen", thinking they meant two hundred and fifty dollars lol
• Lots of people smoke in Ikebukuro. I'm sure it's just more noticeable there then in the rest of Tokyo
Closer to ten, I'd finished my coffee and was getting antsy waiting for Doreen, even though she had lots of time. I went downstairs and stood outside to be antsy so I didn't weird anyone out with my awkward gaijinness. After a few minutes, I noticed someone not very asian standing at the corner with a suitcase looking around. When she turned her head to the side my brain reached out and grabbed a TWITTER ICON~ Yay! I walked over and was like Doreen~ and she was like Shul~~ Yay!!! hugs all around~!
So we went back so she could drop her big suitcase off at my place. The original plan was for her to use my computer, but we ended up catching each other up since she's been in Japan. Around 9:45 we suddenly remembered that neither of us could remember whether or not we were supposed to meet the other girls at 10 or 10:30, so we grabbed our stuff and hurried out. Getting INTO Ikebukuro station and finding the right train is easy ((Unlike exiting Ikebukuro station)).
We got to Shibuya station and wandered around till we found a map so we knew what exit to go to. I thought it was nuts how easy maps can be read even though we were in a different country. We decided to go around the station instead of cutting through it again. It wasn't so far, and I like looking at stuff. Hachiko statue is pretty cute and there were quite a few people taking pictures with it. I was going to get a pic with him, but I decided not to. There were quite a few people and I wasn't sure how the 'who's next' worked so I just took pics instead.
Yeah, I dunno... he was doing a weird dance.
NOTICE ANYTHING???
Yaaaay!!! I'm so excited that I got to see it!!!
Ha we must have looked so funny fangirling and taking pics... it took a couple tries to get the whole poster in the shot WITH ourselves haha. We looked around and waited for the other girls, but we'd been a little late, because.... er well it was mostly my fault. My Suica Card, not only works at the trains, BUT CAN ALSO BE USED IN CONVENIENCE STORES AND VENDING MACHINES!!!!! HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT??!?!?! *___* Every time I passed vending machine I had to buy some juice cause it was fun to use the card LOL. I'm easily amused, leave me alone Anyway, I was worried we'd missed them, or they'd gotten lost, but we had no way of getting a hold of them so we decided to head to out.
First we wandered around Shibuya (and took the pics of the Poster), then kept walking. We found a little tiny little restaurant that sold Udon. I noticed that most, if not all, of the restaurants have their menus printed on big signs with pictures on it outside, so you know what everything looks like before you go in. When we went inside, it was sort of like a buffet... or food line. you tell the first guy what you want, and apparently you can get hot or cold udon. We got hot! It was neat to watch him prepare it, I wish I'd taken a video cause it was so cool looking. Quick and precise. He put our bowls on a tray and motioned us down the line where we could pick out various tempura and onigiri for dessert.
I was super excited about eating in Japan, but also kind of nervous because I didn't really know the customs and stuff. One thing I DID know was that SLURPING IS ALLOWED. HAHAHA. I love slurping noodles~ Doreen mentioned that she can't slurp noodles... not that she doesn't want to, she just cant. "A quiet eater," she said, then laughed and went "AND APPARENTLY A SLOW ONE TOO!!!" Because I basically breathed my noodles in after like 5 minutes.
After we finished eating, we got to use the bathroom in the restaurant... ((the super futuristic sort of bathroom)) then decided that it was time to head back to the train station and Harajuku. We paused at Hachiko to check once more if maybe the girls were there, but alas... the world was not ready for us to meet.... BUT I SAW SOME REALLY CUTE PUPS!!
Words don't descriiiibe how much I love cute pups!!!!!! When I saw them I was like "WAAAIT" to doreen and asked the ladies if I could take their picture. Actually it was more like 'ehhhh!!! kawaiii~ picture?? kudasai? *cute face*' They were like 'hai! hai!' The lady who owned the little black one tried to get him to look at the camera, but he was too excited with all the attention he was suddenly getting, hence the petrified expression haha. After I took the picture and thanked her, she took him out of the bag and asked if I wanted to pet him. GYAAAH SOOO CUTE OMGGG he's soooo soft and fluffyyyyy I WANT ONE!!!!! *w*!!!!
*cough* anyway. moving on.
Next was Harajuku! I really wanted to spend a LOT of extra time there, but sadly we couldn't spend forever there. It was very crowded since it was Christmas and instead of it being a family-religious-overdone holiday, it's more like a dating day. So yeah. Basically, the suck for a single. Aka, walking through Harajuku going *omgtherescuteboysEVERYWHERE--WHY DO THEY ALL HAVE GIRLS ON THEIR ARMS DAMNIT!!!*
We stopped in a teeny little gothic loli shop and Doreen tried on a skirt while I looked around. I really wanted to take pics because, even though the shop was barely bigger then my bathroom here at home, it was really cool looking and had a lot of neat designs. I've personally never been very good at shopping for myself, and it's definitely harder when the majority of people in the area are tiny thin girls. I wanted to try stuff on and buy outfits, but I chickened out and didn't want to ask if the lady thought anything there would fit me... I don't deal with darts to my self confidence so I shied away and waited for Doreen to finish up.
After that, we walked around and found... what I'm assuming is an idol shop and I kinda lost my mind and bought a bunch of pics and packs LOL Doreen was like 'You're gonna spend ALL your money in one shop! Lets gooo~' We walked around more till we found a store that Doreen haaaaad to peek in~ I don't remember the name of the store, BUT it was VERY PINK AND LACY! I felt SO out of place in there, but she was having fun and it was fun to people watch. She didn't find anything she wanted, so we headed out. I remembered a store that La Carmina mentions in her blog a lot and asked the girl at the front of the store greeting people if she knew where it was. With the help of one of the other girls ((srsly I was starting to feel bad at how everyone was dropping what they were doing to help us)), she pointed us in the direction and we wandered more looking for it. I'd seen Closet Child on google map's street view, so it was easy to spot, but we had to climb quite a few stairs to get up there.
Sadly, the experience wasn't that great... The girl working the counter wasn't very nice, and she ended up being the first, and only, rude person I met all weekend. I have no idea if she was just a bitch, or whether we did something wrong and pissed her off. I'm assuming it was something one of us did that was improper or something. When I paid, I tried my best to explain that if I did something wrong, I didn't know what it was, but I was very sorry and afterwards she gave a smile and nodded to me and said to have a good day... I still don't know what I did wrong, but I felt a little better about it.
SO anyway. We were going to walk around, but we noticed the time and Doreen had to head towards Tokyo Dome for Luna Sea's concert, so we started walking back up Takeshita Street. I had to stop in mc donalds to get a milkshake ♥ it was interesting... all open, no doors. Then we stopped and I got a Gelato Banana Chocolate and Cream Crepe~ It was delicious.
Next we took the train to Tokyo Dome, which was great because I really wanted to know where everything was for Sunday. I didn't know anything about Luna Sea, or this concert, but now that Doreen said 'Black is required' for this live, I understood why she needed to get a black, gothy outfit. I have NEVER seen so many goths in one place!! My gothy fangirl was DYING!!! SWOONING at ever turn!!!
AND AND!!! I got to meet Taina! :D I wasn't expecting that and was sorta like Σ(O_O;) *derpbraingoesblank* Basically, I froze up and got really quiet... especially since I was still overwhelmed by the gothy awesome.
I wasn't going to the concert, and since it would have been a few hours waiting for Doreen to get back out, so I decided to go back to my hotel room and wind down. Taina was SUPER helpful and told me how to quickly get to Ikebukuro (instead of the long way I was going to go). SO, I took a picture of the station so I would know what station to get on and off at, then went back to my hotel. Though on the way, I took a picture of a sign that had made me lawl every time I saw it.
Though of course, on my way, I got lost AGAIN. This time I left through the wrong exit again, all on my own. I left through the East exit by accident and was sorta like shit I did it again. I was about to go back inside when I noticed a sign. A sign with a single word on it. "BOOKS" 8DD YALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE BOOKS. So I had to go. It was a mall... and it took me a while to find the book place and when I got there I didn't stay long cause it was reeeeally overwhelming, but I bought some magazines and it was all less then 2000 yen... screw you kinokuniya in america xDD Anyway. I was frustrated, overwhelmed, went back into the station and tried another exit. Finally branding "WEST EXIT" into my brain I hurried bac to my hotel room and sat in the dark for a long while lolol.
It was still really early though, so I decided that, instead of really going out ((because I'm totally not that kind of person... I don't MIND it... but I'm a corner sitting kind of person and only if I'm in groups. I have trouble trusting strangers so I don't feel comfy going out alone)), I wandered around Ikebukuro looking for food. I came to this little place and decided to go in. I sat at the bar because I was alone and didn't want to take up space if there was a party. The woman brought me a laminated menu because nooo one spoke any english. I'm totally cool with that though. I really like TRYING. I asked what something was (in japanese) and the girl gave me this petrified look and went "......fish" LOL I said ooh.. okay |D;; I knew that, but I wanted to know what kiiiind. Oh well. I left it alone. This old man came out of the bathroom, kinda drunk, or tipsy or something and he was talking to the waitress and turned to me and asked, "あなたはアメリカ人ですか？" (are you american?) WHICH I HAPPILY KNEW! and replied with "はい！アメリカ人です" (yes, I'm american) with a happy smile (lolol) he then went on to ramble about something in Japanese and I was like 'ehhhh.... ごーごめん。。日本語がわかりません。。。。 (sorry I don't understand japanese)" TO WHICH he replied with 'aaaahhh..... kawaiiiiiii' and the waitress giggled and nodded and I was like *palmface* REALLY?! nooo xDDD;;; SEE I LOVE hearing asian people speak in English because it's so damn cute, but I never really thought of it being cute the OTHER way around.
This was the best fish I've ever eaten in my life. I ate EVERYTHING. Like was Andrew Zimmerman or something LOLOL EYEBALLS AND ALL. it was GROSS. They eyes were, not the rest of it haha. The other waitress came in while I was finishing up and she had an iphone, so the first girl ran over to look up what the fish was that I'd just eaten. ((These people are SO goddamn friendly and helpful!!! ;A;)) It was Mackerel though :D
After that, I wanted to try something else, so I... attempted to ask the waitress to surprise me with something. Basically asking for her to pick something out for me. She chose this... potato, beefy soupy stew sort of thing OMG~~~~~ I'm DROOLING just thinking about it.
The little onion things were a gift from the chef *_* the waitress put them down and was like 'for you! free!' and I was like 'oooooh!!! 80 arigatooo!!' They were soooo good! Like a sweet tangy delicious crunch. I drank tea and wrote in my book. I wished I'd brought my game boy with my new japanese game so I could look stuff up in it's dictionary and phrase book...
On my way out, I used quite a bit of hand motions and stuff to ask whether or not you tip in Japan.. I tried to explain who that's the norm in America, and when she realized what I was saying, she was like "NOOOOO no no no!!!" I was like @_@ okay!! *bowbow*
I went back to the hotel, stopping to buy a christmas cake at family mart as well as some paper and envelopes to write the guys their letters to give at Dome.... then went to bed~
Next is Sunday~ and live report~
♥ Part 1
♥ Part 2
♥ Part 3
3:24AM Tokyo Time.
Yes 3:24 am. I don't know why I was awake that much, it sounds stupid early, but it was a full 8 hours of sleep, and the first 8 hours of sleep I've gotten in like a week and a half. I'm sure there's a shit ton of stuff I could do on my own before I met up with Doreen, but well.... it's fricking 3:30 AM! xD Instead of going out, I decided to stay inside and rest my eyes for a bit longer (aka sit at my computer with my glasses on). I took pics off my camera and answered the shit ton of emails I got. I also got to use the bath!!!!!!!
Oh aoi~ *__* I can see why you love to take baths! It was possibly THE BEST BATH I HAVE EVER TAKEN. Of all the things in Japan, I will miss my Suica card and the bathtub most. I showered first, then filled the tub up and sat down in it. It was pretty hot cause I had trouble figuring out the knobs... I THINK, though I never bothered to compare, they turned in different directions then I'm use to.... I can't remember what conclusion I came to... Something I thought was cool about the bathrooms in Japan, all the toilet paper had this little covers over them so you didn't have to touch the toilet paper when you use it.
Good Morning Japan!
After dicking around till 8, I decided that I'd go insane if I stayed inside any longer and even if I had a lot of time to meet with Doreen, I'd just wander. I stopped in 7/11 to get some breakfast. Just onigiri and tea, which I didn't like, so I pitched it and bought juice at a vending machine. I spent about 45 minutes wandering around the block around Ikebukuro station near the McDonalds.
After wandering around for a while, I decided to go inside the McDonalds to wait for Doreen since we never really specified inside or outside. AND since I'd been up since 3 AM, I could use some coffee. And in going in the McD's I got my first taste of Japan norm. Everyone at the counter stopped what they were doing and greeted me as I walked in. Not in a 'hey sup, what do you want?', but in a 'We're VERY pleased to see you! Thanks for coming in! we'll do our best to make you feel welcome!' sort of way. It was rather startling and made me freeze up for a second. The man with the free register motioned for me that I could step up, and (I assume) asked what I'd like. I bowed my head a bit and told him I don't speak Japanese, sorry (in japanese), and the man said "I speak English."
However, he said it in a VERY deep, robotic voice, which, again, startled me into freezing up a bit, and all I replied was "Oh. I'd like this please. *points*"
I know, VERY suave of me, ne?
Anyway, McDonalds is really kinda different there. First of all, the chairs have no backs, and the tables are really tiny. I was fighting to keep myself from slouching, but it was weird. The first floor had tables and the kitchen, but the second floor had more sitting and wasn't smoke free. I can't even remember when you could smoke inside of food places in America. I sat by the window overlooking the main road and station, so i could see if Doreen walked up. I assumed she'd be easy to spot because so far, I was the only foreigner I'd seen so far.
Things I noticed while I waited:
• It looked as though most of the streets were one way, but apparently they're not.
• Lots of people here ride bikes, but I didn't see a single bike lock until I was in Odaiba on Monday.
• Boots are DEFINITELY "In" in Japan. I was happy that I had my awesome christmas present boots.
• Money is very confusing. It took me a couple days to stop going "Heh?!" when someone said "250 yen", thinking they meant two hundred and fifty dollars lol
• Lots of people smoke in Ikebukuro. I'm sure it's just more noticeable there then in the rest of Tokyo
Closer to ten, I'd finished my coffee and was getting antsy waiting for Doreen, even though she had lots of time. I went downstairs and stood outside to be antsy so I didn't weird anyone out with my awkward gaijinness. After a few minutes, I noticed someone not very asian standing at the corner with a suitcase looking around. When she turned her head to the side my brain reached out and grabbed a TWITTER ICON~ Yay! I walked over and was like Doreen~ and she was like Shul~~ Yay!!! hugs all around~!
So we went back so she could drop her big suitcase off at my place. The original plan was for her to use my computer, but we ended up catching each other up since she's been in Japan. Around 9:45 we suddenly remembered that neither of us could remember whether or not we were supposed to meet the other girls at 10 or 10:30, so we grabbed our stuff and hurried out. Getting INTO Ikebukuro station and finding the right train is easy ((Unlike exiting Ikebukuro station)).
We got to Shibuya station and wandered around till we found a map so we knew what exit to go to. I thought it was nuts how easy maps can be read even though we were in a different country. We decided to go around the station instead of cutting through it again. It wasn't so far, and I like looking at stuff. Hachiko statue is pretty cute and there were quite a few people taking pictures with it. I was going to get a pic with him, but I decided not to. There were quite a few people and I wasn't sure how the 'who's next' worked so I just took pics instead.
Yeah, I dunno... he was doing a weird dance.
NOTICE ANYTHING???
Yaaaay!!! I'm so excited that I got to see it!!!
Ha we must have looked so funny fangirling and taking pics... it took a couple tries to get the whole poster in the shot WITH ourselves haha. We looked around and waited for the other girls, but we'd been a little late, because.... er well it was mostly my fault. My Suica Card, not only works at the trains, BUT CAN ALSO BE USED IN CONVENIENCE STORES AND VENDING MACHINES!!!!! HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT??!?!?! *___* Every time I passed vending machine I had to buy some juice cause it was fun to use the card LOL. I'm easily amused, leave me alone Anyway, I was worried we'd missed them, or they'd gotten lost, but we had no way of getting a hold of them so we decided to head to out.
First we wandered around Shibuya (and took the pics of the Poster), then kept walking. We found a little tiny little restaurant that sold Udon. I noticed that most, if not all, of the restaurants have their menus printed on big signs with pictures on it outside, so you know what everything looks like before you go in. When we went inside, it was sort of like a buffet... or food line. you tell the first guy what you want, and apparently you can get hot or cold udon. We got hot! It was neat to watch him prepare it, I wish I'd taken a video cause it was so cool looking. Quick and precise. He put our bowls on a tray and motioned us down the line where we could pick out various tempura and onigiri for dessert.
I was super excited about eating in Japan, but also kind of nervous because I didn't really know the customs and stuff. One thing I DID know was that SLURPING IS ALLOWED. HAHAHA. I love slurping noodles~ Doreen mentioned that she can't slurp noodles... not that she doesn't want to, she just cant. "A quiet eater," she said, then laughed and went "AND APPARENTLY A SLOW ONE TOO!!!" Because I basically breathed my noodles in after like 5 minutes.
After we finished eating, we got to use the bathroom in the restaurant... ((the super futuristic sort of bathroom)) then decided that it was time to head back to the train station and Harajuku. We paused at Hachiko to check once more if maybe the girls were there, but alas... the world was not ready for us to meet.... BUT I SAW SOME REALLY CUTE PUPS!!
Words don't descriiiibe how much I love cute pups!!!!!! When I saw them I was like "WAAAIT" to doreen and asked the ladies if I could take their picture. Actually it was more like 'ehhhh!!! kawaiii~ picture?? kudasai? *cute face*' They were like 'hai! hai!' The lady who owned the little black one tried to get him to look at the camera, but he was too excited with all the attention he was suddenly getting, hence the petrified expression haha. After I took the picture and thanked her, she took him out of the bag and asked if I wanted to pet him. GYAAAH SOOO CUTE OMGGG he's soooo soft and fluffyyyyy I WANT ONE!!!!! *w*!!!!
*cough* anyway. moving on.
Next was Harajuku! I really wanted to spend a LOT of extra time there, but sadly we couldn't spend forever there. It was very crowded since it was Christmas and instead of it being a family-religious-overdone holiday, it's more like a dating day. So yeah. Basically, the suck for a single. Aka, walking through Harajuku going *omgtherescuteboysEVERYWHERE--WHY DO THEY ALL HAVE GIRLS ON THEIR ARMS DAMNIT!!!*
We stopped in a teeny little gothic loli shop and Doreen tried on a skirt while I looked around. I really wanted to take pics because, even though the shop was barely bigger then my bathroom here at home, it was really cool looking and had a lot of neat designs. I've personally never been very good at shopping for myself, and it's definitely harder when the majority of people in the area are tiny thin girls. I wanted to try stuff on and buy outfits, but I chickened out and didn't want to ask if the lady thought anything there would fit me... I don't deal with darts to my self confidence so I shied away and waited for Doreen to finish up.
After that, we walked around and found... what I'm assuming is an idol shop and I kinda lost my mind and bought a bunch of pics and packs LOL Doreen was like 'You're gonna spend ALL your money in one shop! Lets gooo~' We walked around more till we found a store that Doreen haaaaad to peek in~ I don't remember the name of the store, BUT it was VERY PINK AND LACY! I felt SO out of place in there, but she was having fun and it was fun to people watch. She didn't find anything she wanted, so we headed out. I remembered a store that La Carmina mentions in her blog a lot and asked the girl at the front of the store greeting people if she knew where it was. With the help of one of the other girls ((srsly I was starting to feel bad at how everyone was dropping what they were doing to help us)), she pointed us in the direction and we wandered more looking for it. I'd seen Closet Child on google map's street view, so it was easy to spot, but we had to climb quite a few stairs to get up there.
Sadly, the experience wasn't that great... The girl working the counter wasn't very nice, and she ended up being the first, and only, rude person I met all weekend. I have no idea if she was just a bitch, or whether we did something wrong and pissed her off. I'm assuming it was something one of us did that was improper or something. When I paid, I tried my best to explain that if I did something wrong, I didn't know what it was, but I was very sorry and afterwards she gave a smile and nodded to me and said to have a good day... I still don't know what I did wrong, but I felt a little better about it.
SO anyway. We were going to walk around, but we noticed the time and Doreen had to head towards Tokyo Dome for Luna Sea's concert, so we started walking back up Takeshita Street. I had to stop in mc donalds to get a milkshake ♥ it was interesting... all open, no doors. Then we stopped and I got a Gelato Banana Chocolate and Cream Crepe~ It was delicious.
Next we took the train to Tokyo Dome, which was great because I really wanted to know where everything was for Sunday. I didn't know anything about Luna Sea, or this concert, but now that Doreen said 'Black is required' for this live, I understood why she needed to get a black, gothy outfit. I have NEVER seen so many goths in one place!! My gothy fangirl was DYING!!! SWOONING at ever turn!!!
AND AND!!! I got to meet Taina! :D I wasn't expecting that and was sorta like Σ(O_O;) *derpbraingoesblank* Basically, I froze up and got really quiet... especially since I was still overwhelmed by the gothy awesome.
I wasn't going to the concert, and since it would have been a few hours waiting for Doreen to get back out, so I decided to go back to my hotel room and wind down. Taina was SUPER helpful and told me how to quickly get to Ikebukuro (instead of the long way I was going to go). SO, I took a picture of the station so I would know what station to get on and off at, then went back to my hotel. Though on the way, I took a picture of a sign that had made me lawl every time I saw it.
Though of course, on my way, I got lost AGAIN. This time I left through the wrong exit again, all on my own. I left through the East exit by accident and was sorta like shit I did it again. I was about to go back inside when I noticed a sign. A sign with a single word on it. "BOOKS" 8DD YALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE BOOKS. So I had to go. It was a mall... and it took me a while to find the book place and when I got there I didn't stay long cause it was reeeeally overwhelming, but I bought some magazines and it was all less then 2000 yen... screw you kinokuniya in america xDD Anyway. I was frustrated, overwhelmed, went back into the station and tried another exit. Finally branding "WEST EXIT" into my brain I hurried bac to my hotel room and sat in the dark for a long while lolol.
It was still really early though, so I decided that, instead of really going out ((because I'm totally not that kind of person... I don't MIND it... but I'm a corner sitting kind of person and only if I'm in groups. I have trouble trusting strangers so I don't feel comfy going out alone)), I wandered around Ikebukuro looking for food. I came to this little place and decided to go in. I sat at the bar because I was alone and didn't want to take up space if there was a party. The woman brought me a laminated menu because nooo one spoke any english. I'm totally cool with that though. I really like TRYING. I asked what something was (in japanese) and the girl gave me this petrified look and went "......fish" LOL I said ooh.. okay |D;; I knew that, but I wanted to know what kiiiind. Oh well. I left it alone. This old man came out of the bathroom, kinda drunk, or tipsy or something and he was talking to the waitress and turned to me and asked, "あなたはアメリカ人ですか？" (are you american?) WHICH I HAPPILY KNEW! and replied with "はい！アメリカ人です" (yes, I'm american) with a happy smile (lolol) he then went on to ramble about something in Japanese and I was like 'ehhhh.... ごーごめん。。日本語がわかりません。。。。 (sorry I don't understand japanese)" TO WHICH he replied with 'aaaahhh..... kawaiiiiiii' and the waitress giggled and nodded and I was like *palmface* REALLY?! nooo xDDD;;; SEE I LOVE hearing asian people speak in English because it's so damn cute, but I never really thought of it being cute the OTHER way around.
This was the best fish I've ever eaten in my life. I ate EVERYTHING. Like was Andrew Zimmerman or something LOLOL EYEBALLS AND ALL. it was GROSS. They eyes were, not the rest of it haha. The other waitress came in while I was finishing up and she had an iphone, so the first girl ran over to look up what the fish was that I'd just eaten. ((These people are SO goddamn friendly and helpful!!! ;A;)) It was Mackerel though :D
After that, I wanted to try something else, so I... attempted to ask the waitress to surprise me with something. Basically asking for her to pick something out for me. She chose this... potato, beefy soupy stew sort of thing OMG~~~~~ I'm DROOLING just thinking about it.
The little onion things were a gift from the chef *_* the waitress put them down and was like 'for you! free!' and I was like 'oooooh!!! 80 arigatooo!!' They were soooo good! Like a sweet tangy delicious crunch. I drank tea and wrote in my book. I wished I'd brought my game boy with my new japanese game so I could look stuff up in it's dictionary and phrase book...
On my way out, I used quite a bit of hand motions and stuff to ask whether or not you tip in Japan.. I tried to explain who that's the norm in America, and when she realized what I was saying, she was like "NOOOOO no no no!!!" I was like @_@ okay!! *bowbow*
I went back to the hotel, stopping to buy a christmas cake at family mart as well as some paper and envelopes to write the guys their letters to give at Dome.... then went to bed~
Next is Sunday~ and live report~
♥ Part 1
♥ Part 2
♥ Part 3