It’s a little bit late but I’d like to try doing end-of-the-month wrap-up posts to just go over what I’ve done in the past month. Kind of like a reflection post of sorts? And to also highlight anything that might have happened or random thoughts and feelings.
February was quite a busy/hectic month for me.
I had a job interview, went to Seattle, had visiting relative from out-of-town, had my graduation, and went to Las Vegas!
Back in August, I had the chance to pay a visit to HATTI, the restaurant that Kitayama filmed his interview(?) in after coming back from his J’s Journey to India, thanks to some fandom friends. Our dinner ended up turning into one of those, “remember when we…” moments.
I happened to still be in Japan on the day of Kisumai’s debut anniversary so I got to join in on a dinner and drinks celebration with newly made fandom friends. Read More→
I’m back from Japan and I wish it weren’t so.
I should’ve written this entry sooner so that the feelings would still be fresh, but then I’d probably start missing everyone and everything and start tearing up again.
I’ve told numerous people this, but my trip to Japan this time was both the worst and the best.
I wasn’t expecting to make friends. I wasn’t expecting to get attached. I wasn’t prepared for all the feels. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. Read More→
School’s been out since May and I’ve just been working, going to the gym (started kickboxing too) and chilling.
In the blink of an eye, my summer vacation is already more than halfway over D:
I’m flying out on Sunday and when I come back from my trip, I’ll have one week to prepare my heart to go start nursing again…
It’s going to be so tough as I’ll be in HK and Japan for just under a month in total. That combined with the Kisumai concerts. I’m going to die
This was my second time going to Oedo Onsen Monogatari but the first time I actually got to go inside!!
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to spend there but if you had the time, you could easily spend a half a day relaxing there. I can imagine families with kids being able to spend an entire day there too!
.:Day 5: Akihabara:.
Luckily (or perhaps not so luckily) the day we went to Akiba was the opening day of the new Radio Kaikan so there were huge crowds! Volks was there as well so I definitely spent a lot of money here. We ended up spending quite a bit of time there checking out each different floor.
After all the shopping, it was time to find a place to sit down and rest a bit. It was my first time getting to go to a maid cafe in Akiba! A dream come true?? XD Walked around and decided to go into one of the many @Home maid cafe. No pictures were allowed inside but we were allowed to take pictures of the food only.
Together with the combo we got to go up to take a polaroid picture with the maid of our choosing. I saw in the japanese menu that you could either choose to play a game with the maid OR get a photo. I feel like because we were foreigners, they didn’t give us the option of the game and straight up just asked us who we wanted to take a photo with. :/
Of course the food prices were a bit overpriced, but it tasted surprisingly better than I had hoped for. The customers were mostly men with a few girls accompanying a guy and a small group of foreigners. From what I could hear in the bits and pieces of conversations other patrons were having with their maids, most were regulars as there is a points card system (they gave us one too!).
After we got most of our shopping done, it suddenly started pouring. It rained so heavily that even with an umbrella, you’d get soaked. Our next spot to hit while we were in the area was the Gundam Cafe. We got a few snacks and drinks there so by the time we left, the rain wasn’t quite so heavy anymore.
And to end the day in Akiba, we grabbed dinner near the station where I got to drink beer out of a boot!
.:Day 7: Yokohama:.
My main goal going to Yokohama was to go to Sea Paradise. I’ve always wanted to go see the tank where they filmed the date scene in the drama, Nobuta wo Produce! And because I also love aquariums and Sea Paradise is one of the biggest aquariums in Japan. We spent an entire day there even though I wanted to get to walk around Chinatown in the late afternoon but there was just so much so see! I took a lot of short videos which I’m just going to throw up here. It was here that I got SEVEN mosquito bites!!! >///<
The famous huge two story fish tank that’s often appeared in TV.
Here you get to buy capsule of fish food to feed them with~ It’s a a lot of fun ^^
By the time we left Sea Paradise and made it back to Yokohama it was already late evening. Most places were closed except for the restaurants so we just walked around Chinatown to grab a bite to eat.
.:Day 4: Odaiba:.
This was the long awaited day where I would get to visit the One Piece Restaurant, Baratie, in the Fuji TV Station in Odaiba!!
This post will just be mostly a gratuitous food picture post… I didn’t really do much this day as I spent the first half of the day in Odaiba and then we went back to our apartment soon after and ending the day with conveyor belt sushi. My first time!!!
The line up wasn’t too bad but we got placed into the side room of the restaurant so we didn’t get to sit in the main hall (My bad as it didn’t click for me that that was what the hostess was asking me about.. orz).
At scheduled times, a staff cosplayed as Chef Zeff will come out with a spiel and then hang around a while for photos.
The food was, of course, overpriced, but surprisingly good. I paid a little extra for mine and got it as a set since it came with a limited edition Sanji figure!
Look at Zoro just chillin’ up there~
After visiting Baratie and then the goods shop where I spent a lot of money…. it was off to see the 1:1 gundam~
For dinner, I REALLY wanted to try kaiten sushi but it was late and we didn’t want to have to travel too far. After some help from google we arrived at Kappa Sushi! We were so stuffed and the bill turned out to be so cheap! (we would later on find ourselves at Kappa Sushi one last time before we left Japan XP)
.:Day 3 – Ikebukuro:.
After an eventful first full day in Japan yesterday we decided to take it slow and explore the neighborhood where we would be staying in for 2 weeks, Ikebukuro.
The basement of the department store, Seibu, is connected to the Ikebukuro station. Basement floors of department stores are AMAZING I tell you. I don’t normally tend to shop in department stores as their stuff tends to be pricier, but I will most definitely shop in the basement floor, aka, food floor.
.:Day 2 – Disney Sea:.
First breakfast in Japan. Chocolate bread from the combini
It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve returned from my 14 day long trip to Japan. I reckon I shouldn’t put off writing about it any longer otherwise I will start forgetting…
This trip marks my fifth visit to Japan and my longest and most memorable one yet. I’ll write a series of posts with the places I visit and things I did during my trip and hopefully also include some travelers tips for people who have similar interests as me.
I brought along my DSLR but due to a combination of the humid heat and my own laziness, most of the pictures will be from my phone. ^^; Read More→
