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dmjewelleGood evening, I hope your National Day celebrations were good! I haven't had the mood to update since I watched Inception. Eames/Arthur withdrawal is a terrible thing, you know.
But we're not here to talk about that. No, you want PICSPAAAAAAMMMMM.
Japan at 6 AM is the equivalent of Malaysia at 9 AM - I still go ARRRGH OH MY GOD WHY DOES THE SUN DO THIS TO MEEEEEEE. This time at least it's cloudy!
Since I was up so early, I climbed up to the roof and took a pic of the Ikebukuro morning skyline.
This building actually has people working in it! You can see them at night when the lights are on!
THE SUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN IT BURNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Quick! Let's hide from the sun by running down this emergency exit!
*****
Went to Meiji Shrine. From Harajuku station, walk down the Cosplay Bridge (no I don't remember what's the name of the bridge) and suddenly you see this huge gate...
Trees....
More trees helpfully blotting out the EVIL EVIL EVIL SUN (you can tell Tokyo has traumatized me)
A river....
Sake barrels...
French wine...d'you think they've become vinegar by now?
The explanation for those truckloads of alcohol...
Another gate...
And a sign with the number 10 on it. 10 what? KILOMETERS? SCREW YOU I'VE BEEN TRUDGING ON GRAVEL MY LEGS FEEL LIKE THEY'RE SUFFOCATING AND IF YOU'RE TELLING ME I'VE GOT ANOTHER 10 KILOMETERS TO MEIJI SHRINE IMMA GONNA PULL A GOJIRA AND GO MOTHERF-
...wait, what's that in the distance?
Oh, here we are!
Meiji Shrine is a really popular wedding spot - this means you get to see the brides all dolled up, taking their wedding pics, and heading for the reception and ceremony shortly after. Since it was a Sunday, we saw three weddings in progress!
Here's one.
And here's a ceremony where the groom is a gaijin! HE'S LIVING THE DREAM YO.
Here's the gate...
...and the wonderfully wide expanse of courtyard!
One major reason everyone wants to go to Meiji is to write your prayers on a wooden board. For 500 yen, you get an ema , and the area where the boards are hung up have a containerfull of marker pens to use! You sorta need the pens since they don't take to ballpen very well, but it does look a LOT nicer if you were to write in Japanese with those markers. It's an aesthetic thing, I'm just saying. To get an idea of what to write, I browsed the racks to see what people prayed for.
Some people drew really cute pics!
Some people used the board as their freaking new SKETCHBOOK.
Some people REALLY LIKE KAT-TUN. This board was one of HUNDREDS in several languages.
Some people really know what they want.
Some people just need to be clubbed in the face and thrown across the courtyard by their angry wives...
Some people Just Don't Like English.
Some wishes are really aww-inducing.
Some wishes...you don't know who's referring to what. Like this, are the wish-makers the Taiwanese women or...?
Some wishes just give you a really sad feeling because you're reminded the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
Some wishes are the same in any language.
Some wishes have Naruto in them because they can.
Some people have TOO MUCH MONEY TO WASTE WHAT THE HELL.
Finally, some people sum up everything with two words.
This...is mine. I'm sorry I'm not terribly poetically POIGNANT.
Explored the temple grounds a bit more. One building had a sign "THIS IS WHERE WE HOLD WEDDING CEREMONIES. PLEASE DON'T COME IN", and what do we see? Tourists (you can tell because they're white and wearing shorts with backpacks) walking out. Do they...like...not know how to read English? I don't think so. After Saturday's immensely horrible omikuji I decided not to tempt fate this time and just bought a general good fortune charm. Good god these Japanese can capitalize on EVERYTHING - want a charm for road safety? I know somebody (CFer?) has one.
At least THIS temple didn't have construction work going on so it was genuinely serene!
FINE here's one more wedding picture! Thanks a lot for making us all terribly aware of our singlehood, Meiji shrine!
Walked back out to Harajuku, and what do we see?
OH MY GOD LITTERING IN TOKYO?! UNPOSSIBLE! D8 Honestly though I didn't notice this until I sat down at a particular spot and SAW it. Who knew Japanese were this good at hiding their trash!
The sign says: MARRY ME! I WANT TO SING A SONG IN YOUR LANGUAGE! Who wants to marry him JUST SO you can hear him sing in Tamil/Malay?! 8DDDD
HEY remember this guy from Day One?! I overheard him explaining to a bystander why he poses with the Scout Salute in some pics, and it has something to do with "A V-sign is for peace, and the world is one, so the world in peace = world peace!" or something to that regard. Thinking about how he does this every week makes me wonder if he really has got nothing better to do with his weekends and whether that is a Very Sad Thing. Of course, that's just me; someone else might think it's a noble cause.
This is the biggest Forever 21 store you may ever see in your life; It probably has better clothes than here too.
The Japanese have coin lockers to put stuff EVERYWHERE. I first wonder why can't we have that system in Malaysia, then realise all the lockers would be busted by the end of the first week. Does this not give you violent thoughts at all about the state of our mentality?
Went to a shop called Modern Pirates. They had some pretty nice accessories and a gashapon machine where I got a tiny canbadge. Every Jrock fan apparently knows about them because that's where a ton of Jrockers get their stuff. No random Sg Wang trinket shop/I-Socks here, nuh-uh. Anyway the owner (Ryu? Liu?) started up a conversation about all the Jrockers he knows from Nightmare and Glay and Idunnowhatelse. Sure it's nice to know a guy who knows all these people, but Nadia got this aura of "I know these guys, doesn't that make me extra hot in your eyes" vibe from him; I wouldn't know because my fangirlism for other stuff tends to trump Jrockers anyway so I wasn't heavily affected.
However there was this mirror in the store that had a ton of Jrock autographs! Shame everyone else is reflected on the surface. :( Don't mind my hoodie, it was the best place to pin that canbadge! <3
Omotesando is across the road from Harajuku, pretty much - we went to meet up with Nadia's friend Miea for lunch. Along the road I saw people signing release forms for magazines - apparently this is where to go if you want to get spotted for your trendy fashion sense.
Miea says "OK we're going to this restaurant for lunch! It's only a 5-minute walk away!" and so we follow behind her...
And walk...
And walk...OH GOD IS THIS GOING TO BE LIKE MEIJI SHRINE ALL OVER AGAIN ALL THIS WALKING IS-
Oh here we are!
Maisen is apparently REALLY famous for their tonkatsu - price varies according to what part of the pig and which region it's from, and you wouldn't know unless you had someone to tell you that. *__*
Everyone gets a plate of sliced...radish...? and tea.
Miea actually moved aside and rearranged the cup so that there would be "more light". I feel horribly indebted to her now because the pictures turned out SO BAD despite her well-meaning intentions. Miea is also a really nice lady (with really big sunglasses) - she explained the meaning of the different tonkatsu sauces and the characters used (but it tasted a bit samey to me NOES). She was also very surprised I work in a hospital. Makes me wish I could tell people I'm a neurologist in training but I AM NOT AND THAT IS JUST LYING so I can't. ^^; There is this massive joke about some Jrock drummer signing GUNMA, JAPAN in his autograph which I suppose is not very funny on its own but Nadia said I had to put it in somehow so...here it is! GUNMA, JAPAN.
This was my set! It looks big, but the bowls are much smaller than you think!
Something fried, a small piece of tonkatsu, and a croquette! In this restaurant the tea, rice, and CABBAGE are free-flowing. Like, a waitress will actually dump MORE cabbage on your plate kind of free-flowing. You will never see this anywhere else, I'm sure.
Bowl #1: Minced chicken meat with egg on top of rice. Rather dry. :\
Bowl #2: Shredded salmon with salmon roe on top of rice. Also rather dry. :/
Bowl #3: Ginger stir-fry pork on rice YES THIS IS MUCH BETTER NOW. :)
Side dish: Tuna sashimi! *o*
Finally, dessert was a scoop of sherbet! We actually thought they'd forgotten about it since we didn't hear from the staff after they cleared the table but THEY PROVED US WRONG. It will take a lot for me to doubt Japanese service from now on.
After lunch we walked back out and passed the only dental clinic I saw. Or its sign, rather.
And walked...
And walked...
And walked...
Omotesando's back streets does have a Bangsar feel to it...minus the potential threat of snatch theft.
And walked...IS THIS EVER GOING TO END OH LOOK A SCHOOL!
I saw the death of the bubble economy...
And these cheerful posters greeted us back in Harajuku!
Went to La Foret and bought a dress, the salesgirl was really nice and tried to start a conversation, though I had to explain the extent of my vocab to her.
Girl: So where're you from?
Me: Malaysia.
Girl: Oh! Malaysia!
Me: You know?
Girl: Yes! *Gestures upwards* Japan up here! *Gestures downwards* Malaysia down here! :D
Me: Sou desu! :D;;;;;;
Well at least her sense of geography is decent!
Then went to Shinjuku and back to the Jrock store, but it was closed because there was some event with some Jrock band - the store is basically closed to all, and the fans get to ask questions to the band members who then answer them. It's a really cozy meet-and-greet session that lasts more than the 20 minutes of lining up and shaking hands that we know of, and the staff actually hang out outside sorting all their stuff and doing work while the event's going on.
I go to the land of Kinokuniya and what do I do? NOT go to Kinokuniya, that's what! The novelty of Kinokuniya tends to be lost when you see manga shops every 5 steps, after all.
Went to Isetan to get MACARONS. I have no pictures of the food market but it is HUGE and GORGEOUS and it spans FOREVER. I swear I could come back to Japan and eat all the desserts in the area and I WOULD BE TOTALLY FINE WITH IT and then have some of their savoury food as meals in between. Not even the cured leg of ham strung out in the middle of the floor would deter me, oh yesssssss. It is love, and I will take pictures if I go there next time. Isetan is generally REALLY high class - the ground floor is where all the jewellery brands are and people are just CROWDING around the counters like it's 70% off everything. It's wide and spacious, and doesn't have an inch of the cheap feeling we get here. Granted, Lot 10 was upmarket at one point but that was a long long long time ago. The only downside of this opulent place? NO CHAIRS. We seriously lepaked at the STAIRCASE for an hour because we were crippled from all the WALKING.
Went back to Ikebukuro for dinner. I think a few of you will like this...ridiculously huge...poster.
Shockingly, nobody ever thinks of ripping these posters from the walls and putting them up in their room.
Caved and went to Fujiya for our last dinner in Japan. Here's what Tarako spaghetti looks like.
And here's what Tarako spaghetti with gratin looks like!
My only regret in Tokyo? Not trying this place out - I passed it every day en route to the train station but never thought of going in. :(
I mean...they can even speak Thai! Communication would've been SO EASY.
Somehow...I think Hard Gay works here. I don't know why.
Finally, let's have one last look at Ikebukuro at night!
That's it for this round! Next update will be the flight back because IT WAS EVENTFUL AND WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN SITTING WITH HIDEO KOJIMA but now we'll never know. My life, it always has stories.
Good night! ^^/
But we're not here to talk about that. No, you want PICSPAAAAAAMMMMM.
Japan at 6 AM is the equivalent of Malaysia at 9 AM - I still go ARRRGH OH MY GOD WHY DOES THE SUN DO THIS TO MEEEEEEE. This time at least it's cloudy!
Since I was up so early, I climbed up to the roof and took a pic of the Ikebukuro morning skyline.
This building actually has people working in it! You can see them at night when the lights are on!
THE SUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN IT BURNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Quick! Let's hide from the sun by running down this emergency exit!
*****
Went to Meiji Shrine. From Harajuku station, walk down the Cosplay Bridge (no I don't remember what's the name of the bridge) and suddenly you see this huge gate...
Trees....
More trees helpfully blotting out the EVIL EVIL EVIL SUN (you can tell Tokyo has traumatized me)
A river....
Sake barrels...
French wine...d'you think they've become vinegar by now?
The explanation for those truckloads of alcohol...
Another gate...
And a sign with the number 10 on it. 10 what? KILOMETERS? SCREW YOU I'VE BEEN TRUDGING ON GRAVEL MY LEGS FEEL LIKE THEY'RE SUFFOCATING AND IF YOU'RE TELLING ME I'VE GOT ANOTHER 10 KILOMETERS TO MEIJI SHRINE IMMA GONNA PULL A GOJIRA AND GO MOTHERF-
...wait, what's that in the distance?
Oh, here we are!
Meiji Shrine is a really popular wedding spot - this means you get to see the brides all dolled up, taking their wedding pics, and heading for the reception and ceremony shortly after. Since it was a Sunday, we saw three weddings in progress!
Here's one.
And here's a ceremony where the groom is a gaijin! HE'S LIVING THE DREAM YO.
Here's the gate...
...and the wonderfully wide expanse of courtyard!
One major reason everyone wants to go to Meiji is to write your prayers on a wooden board. For 500 yen, you get an ema , and the area where the boards are hung up have a containerfull of marker pens to use! You sorta need the pens since they don't take to ballpen very well, but it does look a LOT nicer if you were to write in Japanese with those markers. It's an aesthetic thing, I'm just saying. To get an idea of what to write, I browsed the racks to see what people prayed for.
Some people drew really cute pics!
Some people used the board as their freaking new SKETCHBOOK.
Some people REALLY LIKE KAT-TUN. This board was one of HUNDREDS in several languages.
Some people really know what they want.
Some people just need to be clubbed in the face and thrown across the courtyard by their angry wives...
Some people Just Don't Like English.
Some wishes are really aww-inducing.
Some wishes...you don't know who's referring to what. Like this, are the wish-makers the Taiwanese women or...?
Some wishes just give you a really sad feeling because you're reminded the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
Some wishes are the same in any language.
Some wishes have Naruto in them because they can.
Some people have TOO MUCH MONEY TO WASTE WHAT THE HELL.
Finally, some people sum up everything with two words.
This...is mine. I'm sorry I'm not terribly poetically POIGNANT.
Explored the temple grounds a bit more. One building had a sign "THIS IS WHERE WE HOLD WEDDING CEREMONIES. PLEASE DON'T COME IN", and what do we see? Tourists (you can tell because they're white and wearing shorts with backpacks) walking out. Do they...like...not know how to read English? I don't think so. After Saturday's immensely horrible omikuji I decided not to tempt fate this time and just bought a general good fortune charm. Good god these Japanese can capitalize on EVERYTHING - want a charm for road safety? I know somebody (CFer?) has one.
At least THIS temple didn't have construction work going on so it was genuinely serene!
FINE here's one more wedding picture! Thanks a lot for making us all terribly aware of our singlehood, Meiji shrine!
Walked back out to Harajuku, and what do we see?
OH MY GOD LITTERING IN TOKYO?! UNPOSSIBLE! D8 Honestly though I didn't notice this until I sat down at a particular spot and SAW it. Who knew Japanese were this good at hiding their trash!
The sign says: MARRY ME! I WANT TO SING A SONG IN YOUR LANGUAGE! Who wants to marry him JUST SO you can hear him sing in Tamil/Malay?! 8DDDD
HEY remember this guy from Day One?! I overheard him explaining to a bystander why he poses with the Scout Salute in some pics, and it has something to do with "A V-sign is for peace, and the world is one, so the world in peace = world peace!" or something to that regard. Thinking about how he does this every week makes me wonder if he really has got nothing better to do with his weekends and whether that is a Very Sad Thing. Of course, that's just me; someone else might think it's a noble cause.
This is the biggest Forever 21 store you may ever see in your life; It probably has better clothes than here too.
The Japanese have coin lockers to put stuff EVERYWHERE. I first wonder why can't we have that system in Malaysia, then realise all the lockers would be busted by the end of the first week. Does this not give you violent thoughts at all about the state of our mentality?
Went to a shop called Modern Pirates. They had some pretty nice accessories and a gashapon machine where I got a tiny canbadge. Every Jrock fan apparently knows about them because that's where a ton of Jrockers get their stuff. No random Sg Wang trinket shop/I-Socks here, nuh-uh. Anyway the owner (Ryu? Liu?) started up a conversation about all the Jrockers he knows from Nightmare and Glay and Idunnowhatelse. Sure it's nice to know a guy who knows all these people, but Nadia got this aura of "I know these guys, doesn't that make me extra hot in your eyes" vibe from him; I wouldn't know because my fangirlism for other stuff tends to trump Jrockers anyway so I wasn't heavily affected.
However there was this mirror in the store that had a ton of Jrock autographs! Shame everyone else is reflected on the surface. :( Don't mind my hoodie, it was the best place to pin that canbadge! <3
Omotesando is across the road from Harajuku, pretty much - we went to meet up with Nadia's friend Miea for lunch. Along the road I saw people signing release forms for magazines - apparently this is where to go if you want to get spotted for your trendy fashion sense.
Miea says "OK we're going to this restaurant for lunch! It's only a 5-minute walk away!" and so we follow behind her...
And walk...
And walk...OH GOD IS THIS GOING TO BE LIKE MEIJI SHRINE ALL OVER AGAIN ALL THIS WALKING IS-
Oh here we are!
Maisen is apparently REALLY famous for their tonkatsu - price varies according to what part of the pig and which region it's from, and you wouldn't know unless you had someone to tell you that. *__*
Everyone gets a plate of sliced...radish...? and tea.
Miea actually moved aside and rearranged the cup so that there would be "more light". I feel horribly indebted to her now because the pictures turned out SO BAD despite her well-meaning intentions. Miea is also a really nice lady (with really big sunglasses) - she explained the meaning of the different tonkatsu sauces and the characters used (but it tasted a bit samey to me NOES). She was also very surprised I work in a hospital. Makes me wish I could tell people I'm a neurologist in training but I AM NOT AND THAT IS JUST LYING so I can't. ^^; There is this massive joke about some Jrock drummer signing GUNMA, JAPAN in his autograph which I suppose is not very funny on its own but Nadia said I had to put it in somehow so...here it is! GUNMA, JAPAN.
This was my set! It looks big, but the bowls are much smaller than you think!
Something fried, a small piece of tonkatsu, and a croquette! In this restaurant the tea, rice, and CABBAGE are free-flowing. Like, a waitress will actually dump MORE cabbage on your plate kind of free-flowing. You will never see this anywhere else, I'm sure.
Bowl #1: Minced chicken meat with egg on top of rice. Rather dry. :\
Bowl #2: Shredded salmon with salmon roe on top of rice. Also rather dry. :/
Bowl #3: Ginger stir-fry pork on rice YES THIS IS MUCH BETTER NOW. :)
Side dish: Tuna sashimi! *o*
Finally, dessert was a scoop of sherbet! We actually thought they'd forgotten about it since we didn't hear from the staff after they cleared the table but THEY PROVED US WRONG. It will take a lot for me to doubt Japanese service from now on.
After lunch we walked back out and passed the only dental clinic I saw. Or its sign, rather.
And walked...
And walked...
And walked...
Omotesando's back streets does have a Bangsar feel to it...minus the potential threat of snatch theft.
And walked...IS THIS EVER GOING TO END OH LOOK A SCHOOL!
I saw the death of the bubble economy...
And these cheerful posters greeted us back in Harajuku!
Went to La Foret and bought a dress, the salesgirl was really nice and tried to start a conversation, though I had to explain the extent of my vocab to her.
Girl: So where're you from?
Me: Malaysia.
Girl: Oh! Malaysia!
Me: You know?
Girl: Yes! *Gestures upwards* Japan up here! *Gestures downwards* Malaysia down here! :D
Me: Sou desu! :D;;;;;;
Well at least her sense of geography is decent!
Then went to Shinjuku and back to the Jrock store, but it was closed because there was some event with some Jrock band - the store is basically closed to all, and the fans get to ask questions to the band members who then answer them. It's a really cozy meet-and-greet session that lasts more than the 20 minutes of lining up and shaking hands that we know of, and the staff actually hang out outside sorting all their stuff and doing work while the event's going on.
I go to the land of Kinokuniya and what do I do? NOT go to Kinokuniya, that's what! The novelty of Kinokuniya tends to be lost when you see manga shops every 5 steps, after all.
Went to Isetan to get MACARONS. I have no pictures of the food market but it is HUGE and GORGEOUS and it spans FOREVER. I swear I could come back to Japan and eat all the desserts in the area and I WOULD BE TOTALLY FINE WITH IT and then have some of their savoury food as meals in between. Not even the cured leg of ham strung out in the middle of the floor would deter me, oh yesssssss. It is love, and I will take pictures if I go there next time. Isetan is generally REALLY high class - the ground floor is where all the jewellery brands are and people are just CROWDING around the counters like it's 70% off everything. It's wide and spacious, and doesn't have an inch of the cheap feeling we get here. Granted, Lot 10 was upmarket at one point but that was a long long long time ago. The only downside of this opulent place? NO CHAIRS. We seriously lepaked at the STAIRCASE for an hour because we were crippled from all the WALKING.
Went back to Ikebukuro for dinner. I think a few of you will like this...ridiculously huge...poster.
Shockingly, nobody ever thinks of ripping these posters from the walls and putting them up in their room.
Caved and went to Fujiya for our last dinner in Japan. Here's what Tarako spaghetti looks like.
And here's what Tarako spaghetti with gratin looks like!
My only regret in Tokyo? Not trying this place out - I passed it every day en route to the train station but never thought of going in. :(
I mean...they can even speak Thai! Communication would've been SO EASY.
Somehow...I think Hard Gay works here. I don't know why.
Finally, let's have one last look at Ikebukuro at night!
That's it for this round! Next update will be the flight back because IT WAS EVENTFUL AND WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN SITTING WITH HIDEO KOJIMA but now we'll never know. My life, it always has stories.
Good night! ^^/
