18 - 20th of August

Time sure flies when you're having fun, we're already at our third week! On the 18th, we went to Odaiba, to Aquacity and Sega Joypolis. Since I already went to Joypolis last year, I decided not to go (it's expensive and I don't think it's worth a second visit). So I went to do a bit shopping on my own at Akihabara, Ueno and Shinjuku. In the evening we went to the Tokyo Tower. Awesome night view!!! But since the battery of my camera was empty that day, I had to shoot all of the pictures with my iPhone camera.

On the 19th we went to Ginza (Sony building) and Roppongi (Mori Art/ Sky view). This years artist of Mori art is a lot cooler than last years.

The 20th of August was.. GHIBLI MUSEUM TIME!!!!! Really, my fangirlism went all out at the museum. We saw a short movie (Koro no Oosanpo), about a little dog who got lost... so cute, I cried a little. Definitely a MUST-VISIT for Big (and small) fans! Too bad no camera's were allowed inside the museum, so I could only make pictures of the outside. Every visitor gets a small piece of film of a Ghibli movie. I got a piece of Nausicaa and Ponyo (Boy gave his to me!!). I bought the booklet of the Nekobus short movie of Totoro and a few Ghibli museum exclusive things. There was also a special section of the making of Ponyo in the museum, very cool. In the evening we chilled at Akihabara and Shibuya.

15 - 17th of August

Hellow! :3

Saturday night we went to the club Womb in Shibuya. I didn't like the music, but the club itself was nice, I had an awesome time. Although the entry-fee was quite high (4000 yen) and drinks were expensive. Next weekend we'll be going to Ageha, I'm very curious about that club.

On Sunday we went to Yoyogi Park where we met some Rockabilly Yankees! They are awesome. Check the vid & pics I made @ my Photobucket!

Click this~~> Rockabillies <~~Click this



Monday, was so nice. We went to Kanagawa, a place along the seacoast. The train ride was.. woooowww. Kanagawa is next to Kamakura, so we went there too. I showed the boys the Big Buddha. After that we went to the beach... so beautiful. Check my photo's!




*click this!!* --> Kanegawa Train Ride <--*click this!!*

13 & 14th of August

We were supposed to go to the Kisarazu Matsuri on Thursday, but Werner made a mistake, the matsuri was not on Thursday, but on Friday, the day of the Hanshin Tigers vs Yomiuri Giants match. So we decided to take it a bit slow on Thursday and went to do some shopping in Shibuya.

Friday, the day of the game, was awesome. First, we went to the Keio Department Store in Shinjuku where they have a special Hanshin Tigers section. There I bought a Hanshin Junbei and some other gear. Boy had spend a lot of money on that store. The match was awesome, we were in the special cheer leading section. It was soooo awesome, the people in front of us were really enthusiastic and along with them we went c-c-crazy. And.. the Hanshin won from the Giants!!! Our section went wiiiild!!!

After the match we went to do some karaoke along with the people of our guesthouse, that was fun too!

I'm sorry for the short post, but I'm really tired now. :(

10 - 12th of August

On Monday, we decided to take it easy since we just got back from a long weekend in Osaka. Boy, who is a big Initial D fan, wanted to go to Mount Haruna badly and since Gunma (the place where Mount Haruna lies), is not far from Tokyo, we decided to go there on Monday. It was a 1 hour trip with the Shinkansen plus 1.5 hour trip with the bus to mt. Haruna. Sadly, we got there very late and didn't got to see the S-way of the Anime, because we arrived there at around 4 pm and the last bus goes at 5 pm. Poor Boy, but he says he might rent a car and go have a drive there.

Tuesday... I woke up at around 5 am with my bed shaking all over. There was an earthquake in Tokyo, a light one though. But the sad news is, today was the day we were supposed to be going to Kyoto. But because of the earthquake, the Shinkansen were all messed up and we had to wait for over an hour for our Shinkansen to arrive. We arrived quite late in Kyoto so it was a short sightseeing at Kiyomizudera and Fushimi Inari Shrine. Too bad, because Kyoto is really a beautiful city.

We were supposed to go to Nikko on Wednesday, but since the Bathing Ape x Sanrio collaboration started today (and ends at the 18th of August), me and Boy decided to go to Isetan in Shinjuku to get in the line for the collection. What we never would have thought was, how loooong we had to wait. We waited 5 hours in total. Really, what's up with the lottery stuff in Japan? When we arrived there at 8 AM, we received a ticket with number 200 and 201. After a 1 hour wait, the line finally moved. But when we got around the corner, we received another ticket. I had 394 and Boy had 159. Since Boy got a lower number, we decided to use his ticket. On the tickets says that we could go in at around 11.30. So we ate something at Lotteria and went back to the line at 10.45. We waited a bit and at 11.30 our number was up. So we got in the correct line and waited for about half an hour before we could get in. When we finally got in the department store, we had to wait at the stairs for about half an hour. After that we were led to the outside of the Baby Milo x Sanrio cabin were we had to wait again. Only 1 person per ticket was allowed, so Boy gave his ticket to me so I could buy mine and his stuff. After a long wait I could finally go in the store, choose the stuff and got back in line again to pay. That took 1 hour once again. Pffff... really my feet were dead tired after this all. But since it was only noon, we decided to go to Harajuku and Akihabara after that. And now.. I'm soooo tired. XDDD

7, 8 and 9th of August

Just got back from 3 days of Osaka! It was truly awesome. We arrived kinda late at Osaka on Friday, so we went straight to our ryoukan in Namba. But when we got there... the ryoukan was closed. We were like "NOOOOOO!!!". Suddenly a man popped out of a car and told me that the ryoukan was closed for the day because the air conditioning was broken and it needed to be repaired. He wasn't sure when the airco will be on again. We were like, "ok.. we all had luggages with us, it was bloody hot, we want to chill." So I told the man that we were going to look for another hotel. He understood and told us again how sorry he was.

Osaka was really hot. We decided to leave the luggage at a certain spot where Werner and Dope will be guarding it, me and Boy went to look for another hotel. Really, Japan has more Love Hotels than normal ones. We went into a love hotel two times, they looked like real hotels on the outside. Then we got to a real hotel, the Washington Hotel. And yes! They got rooms for us!!! And man, the rooms were sweeet! We got our own yukata's, a telly, a nice bathroom and even our own BGM sound.

Since it was already kinda late, we decided to stay in Namba and have something to eat there. We went to eat at a hot-pot restaurant, which was delicious. After that we went to some arcade and did karaoke at the Big Echo in Namba! Boy went crazy, he sung his lungs out.

Saturday we went to Miyajima, an island near Hiroshima. On that island lies the famous red Torii (gate) on the sea (one of the 3 most beautiful views of Japan). It was very hot that day, we all were melting from the heat. But Miyajima was so beautiful. You can get to the island by a JR ferry and the view on the boat ride was really beautiful. There were a lot of deers on the island and they aren't scared of humans at all. The torii itself was big and since you can see the sea at one side and the mountains on the other, the view was fantastic. I bought a pack of Manjyu (cake) on the island, deliciousss.

After Miyajima we went back to Hiroshima to see the Peace Memorial Park, the place where the atomb bomb was dropped. There you can see a building which was the only building which didn't got destroyed when the bomb dropped. The park gave me a creepy feeling, especially the building.

We planned to go to Universal Studios Osaka on Sunday, but since we arrived late at Friday and didn't got to see Osaka, we decided to drop Universal and go sightseeing in Osaka. We went to Ameri-mura, Denki Mura and Umeda Sky Building (awesome). Too bad the weather was bad that day, we couldn't see the view clearly at the top of the Umeda Sky Building due of all the rain.

After returning to Koenji, we went to do some karaoke once again (there is a Big Echo 5 minutes from our hostel).

It's 4 AM now and I'm really tired, so I'm gonna hit the sack!

6th of August

It was the first day of our Railpass Week today. We decided to take it a bit slow at first so we traveled to Nagano, which was 100 minutes away from Tokyo. To get to the Monkey Park, we first needed to take an express train to Yudanaka. The train ride to Yudanaka was really fantastic. We went uphill with the train and the sightseeings was wonderful. After we got to Yudanaka station, I ordered a special Taxi to Monkey Park. Since Nagano lies up north of Tokyo, we thought it would be colder, so we all wore long trousers and I even took a cardigan with me. Oh how wrong we could be, it was so hot! But the climb to the Monkey Park was fantastic, I really love mountains.

I really didn't think we could be so close to the monkeys. They are really not scared of humans, they are really that close! The Monkey Park is definitely a MUST SEE for when you're in Japan.

After the Monkey Park, we decided to take the Shinkansen again and traveled to Karuizawa, where the Pirate flagstore of Bape was. Wow, Karuizawa is really a nice shopping spot, with a lot of outlets (like Nike, Stussy, Adidas etc.). Seems it's one of the favorite spots for youngsters to go to when they have vacation. I bought an exclusive Baby Milo Pirate Tee, which was quite cheap for a Bape shirt. After Karuizawa we decided to go back to Tokyo, to have dinner at Hard Rock Café in Ueno and to visit Yamashiroya.

Today was once again a fantastic day! Tomorrow we'll be going to Osaka, where we'll be staying 2 nights in a Ryoukan (Traditional Japanese styled hostel). We'll be traveling to Miyajima from there and maybe also Nara. Stay Tuned! ^________^

5th of August

Today has been the greatest day so far since the starting of this vacation!!!!! First, we went to Tokyo to activate our railpass. After eating at a Tempura-restaurant in Koenji, we went to Odaiba! When we sat in the Yurikamome line, we could already see it... the BIG size Gundam!!! THAT GUNDAM IS FUCKING AWESOME, fuck all the Daibutsu's in Japan, Life Size Gundam owns them all~!!!! I've made like millions of pictures and we went crazy over the Life Size Gundam Official Shop.

After the amazing Gundam we went to the Onsen... ahhhh~! I had a massage, it was so painful at first, but after that it was.. ahhh~! Yep, today was awesome, like how Japan is supposed to be!!! Tomorrow: NAGANO, Bathing Monkeysssss.

4th of August

Wazzup guys!

Things got better today, the guys had read my blogpost and after a few discussions we've made a compromise; I will act less like a guide and they will take more care of me.

Today we chilled in Shibuya again, there I bought some Clarks shoes and Boy bought 2 Bape Shirts. That guy already has bought 4 Bape shirts, with 1 exclusive (Bape x Ghostbusters). I saw on the Bape magazine that there will be a limited Baby Milo x Sanrio collaboration between 12th of August and 22nd of August, I'll definitely buy a shirt then! I've also ate Taiyaki which is very yummy.

After that we went to Akihabara where Werner went a bit crazy over the Animate store. He also bought a Wordtank (the newest Casio) at Yodobashi Camera. Did you guys know that the 8th floor of the Yodobashi is a floor full of restaurants? We ate there, at a Chinese restaurant which was (again) very yummy. The 7th floor consists of various store, with Tower Records also in it.

Since we left a little bit late today, we didn't make it to the onsen. But they promised me that we'll go to the onsen in Odaiba tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll be also going to activate our Railpass for Thursday. The first trip will be to Nagano, to see bathing monkeys!

2nd and 3rd of August

Good day from Tokyo!

The weather here is still cloudy and not so warm (thank god for that!). There's not much of an update since we only had shopping-sprees these past 2 days. We went shopping in Shibuya, Harajuku and Akihabara. Ah, we did bought baseball-match tickets for the 14th of August, Hanshin Tigers vs Yomiuri Giants again! Too bad all the seats are sold out so we could only buy standing tickets. After that, we went to the batting center which was awesome ofcourse.

On Sunday-evening, we went to Outback Shibuya for some oishii steak. Monday, we went to Harajuku and Akihabara once again. Gundam arcade is awesome btw! I bought quite some clothing already, also a Baby Milo x Mario Cap.

(A little ranting)
It's too bad that I'm the only girl (Amberrr why did you have to go to Americaaa), because there are a lot of things I'm in a disadvantage of. I often have to shop alone and guys are more selfish. I hate it when they take it for granted that I have to take care of things because I'm the one who can speak Japanese but think they can do better although I was the one who showed them the way. Like I'm only good when help is needed. Also the talking subjects are so different. Talking about banging girls they see walking by and stuff like that, are guys really that sex crazed? So I decided not to care anymore because I want to enjoy my own vacation. Feeling lonely at a supposed to be awesome vacation sucks bad though.

I don't really know what they want to do tomorrow, I heard like going to Harajuku again and than Akihabara again or something. I sooo want to go to the Onsen.

Oh yeah, I've uploaded some pics at my photobucket, take a look!

はじめの日！

今日は, first post in Japan! =DD

I arrived safely in Narita yesterday at 1.30 A.M. (Dutch clock), but didn't really had a nice flight. We had small turbulences during almost the entire flight and since the leaning of my seat was broken I had to sit/sleep straight up for the entire flight.

I still have this unreal feeling that I'm back in Japan again, although everything looks so familiar. After Narita Airport, we went to Shinjuku with the JR Narita Express where we traveled to Koenji-Kita station through the Marunouchi Line. It was the wrong station though so we had to walk about 20 minutes to the correct station (JR Koenji Station) with our luggages. My first impression of our guesthouse was: "OMG so tiny!". Our guesthouse, Koenji Greenhouse, is located in a back-alley near the JR Koenji station right along with a hostess club next to us. The rooms are very small, you can't even put your luggage in it. But the people are very nice here (I think Boy and Dope have taken an interest in an American girl who's also staying at the guesthouse).

After a short rest in the guesthouse, me, Boy and Dope (Werner and Colin haven't arrived yet) went to Shibuya. When we arrived at the Starbucks in the Shibuya crossing and when I had a Green Tea Frappuccino in my hand, I was in bliss. After that, I showed Boy and Dope where all the cool shops are in Shibuya (Bape store, ABC Mart etc.). We didn't stay very long in Shibuya, because Colin and Werner were about to arrive at Koenji and Boy wasn't feeling very well with his dried contacts. So we went back to Koenji to pick up the two, had a little rest in the guesthouse again and went to Akihabara afterwards because I need to buy a camera. So we went to Yodobashi Camera where I scored a Fujifilm Finepix Z300. Werner went crazy on the store but hasn't bought anything yet.

We walked a bit through Akiba but decided to eat at Ueno since Boy wanted to try out Yakiniku. So we went to the restaurant where we ate a few times last year at Ueno, omg I almost forgot how the tasty meat was sooooo tasty again. Boy and Werner went for the a bit more expensive beef (NOT Kobe Beef!) and that meat was so soft!! Too bad I wasn't feeling ok (I was very very tired and I had a stomach ache because I haven't eaten a lot during the day), so I couldn't fully enjoy the meal.

After yakiniku, we decided to go back to our hostel since everybody was tired from the flight.

I woke up at 4 A.M., I think I am a bit struck by jetlag. :( Today we'll go to Tokyo Dome to buy baseball tickets (Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers once again!) and we'll head to Harajuku after that and will be having dinner at the Outback! =DDDD

From today on I will be shooting a lot of pictures, it will be uploaded on my photobucket site!!!