Wanderlust @tliuser-blog - Tumblr Blog

Oct 13, 2013

UPDATE!

So..obviously my plan to create separate posts for each day once I got back didn't happen, esp. seeing as how it's been more than a year now since I last made that update OTL. BUT I did keep that long draft of short notes I made while I was there (at least for the first program I did), so I'm just gonna post it under the cut since I kept it and in case anyone is interested. I'm warning you though, it's very rough and unedited since they were just notes for myself probably made in the middle of the night. Please don't judge me, I'm sure I sounded lazy too orz

Putting that aside, I've decided to still use this as a travel blog because I'll be going on another trip soon! But instead of posting text updates everyday, I've decided to mainly post highlight photos with small captions or something instead. That way the same thing doesn't happen again since it'll be easier to manage. It'll be more like a photo blog! And I'll also try to post some photos from my past Japan/Taiwan trip in the future.

[Read on for the dumb, long draft of daily notes in Japan]

Day 1:

Shibuya, walked around, amazed at everything and being there.

Dogenzaka? Shibuya 109 and scramble crossing

early, felt different but nice

traversing through the trains with luggage suckssss

got to hotel, met people, went out for dinner

Day 2:

woke up early, watched weird Japanese TV

breakfast consisted of bread...

orientation and mini tour - very cool, I want to go to the school

walked a LOT

had lunch awkwardly, ordering was tough with no pictures, was called in by the shop people, then bakery

walked/explored - pharmacy, arcade, walked to nowhere lol

went out for dinner (yakitori) - tried beef tongue, chicken heart, takoyaki for the first time!! also had some sake, also heard SNSD's paparazzi (no one got me, alone in the kpop world)

went back, stopped by conbini, bought onigiri and pudding

Day 3:

ate my onigiri and pudding, freaking good

got more bread for breakfast

attempted to read...failed

left to go to class, stopped by mister donut first

had class, watched Laputa, and was confused by book

bought more conbini food cuz class is 4 hours long but couldn't eat it until later anyway (inari onigiri, BLT sandwich)

ate back in the room, watched weird Jap tv

had mos burger for the first time, awk but pretty good, still failing japanese

went back, watched anime w/ roomie, she snores lol

Day 4:

Long day out, lots of walking

First head out to go to Meiji shrine, very beautiful with lots of trees and nature

Then walked over to Harajuku, very close, walked down the street for an hour

Not enough time, but got to see a lot, lolita store w/ cosplay outfits, bought HK hat; lots of Nigerian men around..sold me a hat lol

Then head to Shibuya where our program coordis left us to do whatever and find our way around haha, went to eat sukiyaki there..left a lot of meat oops

Then took the subway over to Odaiba to explore; walked around a mall, HK store, uniqlo, etc. (check pictures), saw giant Gundam, walked around more

Head back to hotel and watched Jap. TV again..slept

Day 5:

Had class early in the morning, very chill day

Went to get lunch at Royal Host, got bibimbap lol

Chilled in the room for a few hours while avoiding homework

Went out to explore the area we live in..went to Don Quijote and a department store (only explored the first floor haha), bought lots of snacks

while checking out a shoe store, I heard a song and was like..that sounds like Girls' Generation, oh wait it is! It's Paparazzi. Yup, only heard it fully like once and I recognized it and their voices/singing...wth man

Went to get ramen under the station, chatted with a friend

came back, tumblr-ed and avoided reading again whooo

Day 6:

LONG ASS DAYYYY..didn't get to read in the morning

class in the morning, then headed over to Edo Tokyo Museum to conclude the class

tried green tea kit kat, very good

after, went to eat "sumo food" - delicious and healthy

rain all rest of the day

went back to hotel, changed to nicer clothes for Welcome Dinner party

left to go to Shibuya (train), walked to the JPop cafe where the party was

amazinggggg, a drum line performed for us with dancers (crazy and awesome), heard many important people of the Jikei school speak, met Japanese students and chatted, ate food, introduced ourselves awkwardly, students introduced themselves as well

wrapped up, went to karaoke with a few people, professor, and Japanese students

crazy, but lots of fun (did BB's Fantastic Baby, Journey, etc.)

took train back and now super tired..still no reading

Day 7:

class in the morning, dead tired

went out to walk around Nishikasai finding architectural stuff for class

got more onigiri (salmon and seaweed)..so fat, so good

left to go to Asakusa, but rained like heck ALL DAY

walked around but didn't really get to stop to look at things and whatnot..mostly due to crappy weather I think

TIRED AS FUCKKKK got back and lied in bed until falling asleep so I took a 30 minutes nap

went out to eat dinner..had "hamburg" curry, freaking spicy and pricy ;~;

someone tried to convince me to go clubbing tonight..was not gonna happen

today, rainy and tired blehhh

Day 8:

finally got a day off and slept in

attempted to read multiple times..either distracted or tired

got mcDonalds, pretty average..couldn't tell the difference from America except it was teriyaki

did laundry...the washer/dryer in the room is crap; washing took an hour, drying took 3 HOURS and it didn't even dry all the way. Also damaged some of my clothing T_T

tried to read some more..epic fail

went to eat dinner at tempura place, pretty good

went back planning to read and write my stupid summary assignment..but got talked into going to a club

it wasn't that exciting..since it was a sunday there weren't that many people there and freaking Kevin ordered me a drink when I didn't want one..and I had to pay for it D: (it was called Pink Lemonade..yes there was alcohol)

headed back after a couple hours..had to shower and try to read

got too tired and just slept..but planned to wake up early

Day 9:

kept waking up and going back to sleep b/c trying to read for class to do assignment, but couldn't stay awake

finally really woke up around 8am and started reading..still kinda sleepy though

ate breakfast by myself around 9

continued to read until class at 12:30..didn't finish writing so I brought it with me to do in class while I could

actually had to present my chapter in class today -____- it was bad but whatever..my chapter was so difficult and long ;A;

watched Ghost in the Shell 2 in class, so many people fell asleep; it's a really comfy class with nice chairs and completely dark for films, basically like a theater

had to go to Ningyocho right after class to explore for a project

kinda just wandered and didn't know what we were doing lol, but it was alright

at least we found the main shrine, the rest was just kinda streets, restaurants; found a small park though

tried to decide where to eat for a while..ended up just having ramen, but not bad

came back and chilled mostly

Day 10:

- had trouble doing assignment for class; read and wrote summary until class at 12:30..continued to do it during class

- watched Paprika in class after lecture and talking about our chapters

- chilled until dinner

- tried to go to the steak recommendation place for dinner but was turned away b/c we had too many people

- went to this place instead where every "plate" is about 270 (sometimes more/less), but there was a table charge, ordered using a tablet

- we demolished all our food though, pretty good

- came back and discussed project/paper with Valerie, talked for a while

- stayed up online, then bed

Day 11:

- woke up early to go to Ghibli museum

- rode train to Mitaka (where ICU is!)

- walked quite a bit to the museum, got there when it was opening

- saw giant stuffed Totoro in the window(too bad for the glare)

- so excited, but no pictures allowed inside :( People in our group took some anyway, and there was one dude doing it so obviously but he didn't get caught WTF

- we got tickets for the theater show, which are film strips with 3 frames from a Ghibli movie! Cool idea, but no idea which one mine's from :/

- area that shows the progression of animation and the types there are, uses Ghibli to illustrate them (one with cool clay? figures rotating fast to create illusion of motion)

- then went to a small theater to watch an original short, really cute! I just wish there were subtitles or smthing

- wandered around the museum after..it has 3 floors so not so large

- saw a lot of production images, storyboards, character/set designs (done in watercolors, so beautiful and detailed, amazing)

- there was a replica of the dollhouse from Arrietty!!

- outside they have a Ghibli themed cafe I think..too many people so we couldn't eat there

- third floor has the fuzzy catbus!! it was so cute and there were little pits filled with the soot sprites xDD But only children could play around in it -__- I saw a kid jumping around on the roof of it D: I WANTED TO GO SO BADLY

- went outside where there's a spiral staircase up to the roof where there's a Laputa robot replica, and the cube further in

- Then..there was the merch store haha..OMG EVERTHING SUPER EXPENSIVEEEE but really cute =v= resisted, but still bought some stuff..spent quite some time there

- we left and walked a lot to go to the station for our next stop, the Suginami Animation museum (ate Freshness burger for lunch)

- small scale but had some cool stuff

- could take some pictures! but other places couldn't cuz of copyright, but there were some cool production pics I saw

- after, went to Nakano Broadway..it was eh. Lots of stores with figures! some manga, anime, etc..but nothing spectacular. But lots of rare collectibles to be found there for otaku. And our group is obsessed with UFO catchers so we went into every store we passed that had them. Didn't buy anything but lots of walking.

- Went back and had katsu for dinner instead of the steak place that's a fail

- Had to work on my paper due....all night and had mini naps, needless to say it was a crappy night

Day 12:

- stayed up to write..was late to class cuz I was trying to finish it

- class, then went to the Center for Tokyo Raids and War damages which is a very small place but run by the people for the people essentially

- was so tired all freaking day, but the museum was interesting

- got back and knocked out for about 3 hours >.> people went out but I decided not to this morning when I didn't get enough sleep

- woke up around 7, got dinner at this cool place. they were really nice but it was a tad pricey. Good food though and not carb loaded

- came back and had to work on project presentation with partner

Day 13:

had to get up early for class at 9:10am

class...did the presentation for Ningyocho..I was told to be more enthusiastic lol. I was so tired though :/

Got mail from my friend!! She sent me a f(x) bookmark she got for me at AX <3

after class, group of us head out to Shibuya

people were going to eat sukiyaki, but me and a friend decided to find somewhere else...turns out the place was closed so we met up again and got Shakey's lol (all you can eat pizza, pasta, curry??)

Finally got the chance to shop!! Walked around at first, checked out Tokyu Hands..then wandered more. Finally got to go inside 109 and look at the shops

109 is freaking amazing! It's definitely a place to see..there's 8 floors of small clothing "shops" plus 2 basement floors and the place is packed and just accosts you with clothing! the fashion is so interesting and varied..some are pastels, cutesy frilly, and then there's like just crazy, vibrant colors with crazy designs that you would only see in Shibuya and the like (Harajuku?). I was just amazedddd

Then went to uniqlo..I'm so sad they didn't have some of the shirts I was looking for, or the couldn't find sizes. I bought a shirt that EXO wore...but it's the women's cut which I don't think looks as good and the design doesn't have the cool fade effect like the men's does. Mehhhhh I might try to find other uniqlo's haha.

Head to meeting place, waited a while and plans got weird, people separated to do their own thing. First my group left to go back to 109 to the basement levels to find something. I stayed to potentially watch a movie for our assignment..but it seemed complicated and too late so I decided to go join the girls again. I ended up going into a place and buying a shirt lol. It was on sale so yeah....dude clothing here is so expensive though..esp. cuz it's Shibuya too I'm guessing, and it's kinda brand names

went to Tower Records after..has like 8 floors. Needless to say, I checked out all the Kpop hahaaa. I went to the floor where they had everything and flipped out lol. they had lots of autographs from artists and there was an f(x) display (kinda) AHHHHH yeah I was excited. And then I debated buying the EXO albums..but I decided to think about it. Might just buy them online..dunno.

Checked out the Disney store here for a bit. It's a cute set up and has 3 floors. They had some cute stuff..esp. the sleeping characters. their faces were ADORABLEEE

Left to go back home to nishikasai

Day 14:

woke up kinda late..11am ish; didn't eat breakfast

went online to talk to Rachael, skype

went to Odaiba again, regret my decision -_- It wasn't worth it

had to transfer tons of times, spent lots of money just travelling to and back but didn't even do much

went to eat Ramen which was freaking expensive and not worth it

visited fuji tv station..it was alright and there was lots going outside, but I didn't get to see too much

went to Joypolis but decided not to go, pricey and don't know if it's good

walked to Panasonic building to see Nintendo stuff..wasn't that great but lots of random interesting stuff/tech

took the freaking train back to where we started..just to walk to another mall to visit the glico store. I didn't even buy anything there -_- I wanted to go to uniqlo to check something but we just left..mehhhh

then just came back to nishikasai while people continued to go to akihabara

Paid money just to go there to walk basically it felt like -_- Buhhhh I hope to stay in tomorrow but who knows

Day 15:

woke up late...went out for lunch at an udon shop, epic failed in ordering and got some don instead (rice)

stayed in all day, didn't get work done when I was supposed to

tumblr, FB, yup

dinner at some family restaurant which was super awk cuz they kept trying to tell us stuff and we were like huh?

The wait was long and the food wasn't too great, but eh; dessert wasn't bad though

continued to procrastinate until lateeee

Day 16:

woke up late again..attempted to eat my yogurt and banana but was kicked out for cleaning lol

went to get lunch with ppl but didn't eat

people planned to go to disneysea..but I had plans with someone in ginza

rode the train by myself for the first time! wasn't bad, getting used to it now

arrived at ginza at mitsukoshi dept. store freaking huge

ginza is just huge with skyscrapers like all around, really cool

had some time to kill, went to 12 story uniqlo haha

went back to meet up and went back to uniqlo again..shoppedddd hehe

got some dessert; cake with royal milk tea, really good

went back to the dept. store, bottom floor filled with foooooood and awesomeness I can't describe

then walked to Tsukiji (it's like right next to it omggg) and ate sushi

talked to businessmen I was introduced to haha, they were nice and impressed at little/easy stuff I knew (Jap. vocab and old anime)

went back to hotel..and failed at writing my paper yayyy

Day 17:

didn't finish my paper, too damn tired, DGAF so hardddd

was awk the only one to class late today lolll oops, then was told I could turn in my paper later thanks to an email I sent about notes heheeee except he still hasn't sent them -_-

long classss, at the end we had to analyze manga mags and my partner picked up the boys love one HAHAHAAA omg it was super awk with lots of sex but hilarious

people went out to go bowling with Jikei students, smaller group went to ginza..but I was super tired and was lame, just went back to shower and ktfo yuppp

didn't really get to have dinner...snacked it up

have been online this whole time..tumblr mostly, debating whether to spend loads of money on fanmade items for EXO /cry

should work on my paper and finish it....

also my roomie has been laughing for like an hour or longer now at something she's watching. I understand but srsly..it's been going on for a while. Control yourself woman!

stayed up lateeee..but had to get up early ughhh =_=

Day 18:

got up earlyyyyy to go to Nikko for a day trip

had to get in the trains during rush hour in the morning, super awk and squished like no other; actually got to experience people SHOVING you in so everyone can get on, ridic

long transportation time, about 1.5 hours one way; took an express train, which was nice and had seats that could turn around but was pretty slow for an "express"

talked to people more, and shared some kpop and jpop lol

got to Nikko, took a bus to a shrine-like place, huge area with like 3 different parts to walk around

really pretty with lots of trees, more nature, really green

everyone was tired and hungry though so some ppl didn't really pay attention to the tour guide that much, her english was a little broken and hard to understand anyway

there was some cool stuff to look at though, very detailed buildings, nice nature scenes

lots of walking and stairs at some point, so tiring but a good workout I guess. Except I was only running on like 4 hours of sleep

we went to get lunch nearby..had udon with wild vegetables and yuba (soymilk skin, many layers of it, kinda like tofu) which Nikko is known for

went back to the station and got to shop around a bit, just got ice cream lol (blueberry yogurt flavor)

long ride back again, was fun but fell asleep at some point and got my picture taken D:

came back, then went out to eat dinner at Royal Host, made a fool of myself when ordering blehhhh

walked around a bit and then came back to the hotel, just in time cuz it started raining not too long ago

now I really need to finish my paper DDDD:

Day 19:

Too tired and couldn't finish paper last night or this morning, ended up trying to do it in class today

didn't really pay attention and kept falling asleep..all 4 hours were in the classroom

dressed like a hobo today too, but kinda reminded me of Amber LOL...just more boyish I guess (large T-shirt, gym shorts, and a cap)

after class, went directly with a couple Jikei students to get sushi, it was one of those rotating sushi places...long walk and hot and gross, but food was ok

came back and just knocked out on my bed without showering, changing, anything..too tired

woke up and went to get dinner (convenience store food), ate while watching TV, some TW drama was on that had 2 members of Fahrenheit lol

then....worked on my paper and finally finished by 12, but we have a midterm tomorrow..couldn't read, too tired

Day 20:

tried to wake up early to read..didn't happen

bombed midterm in class..oh well, then went out to explore for class

Went to omotesando to look at architecture, which is amazing and it's a great place for shopping and just wandering around looking at places

professor had to leave, so we walked by ourselves, went to oriental bazaar and then had okonomiyaki!!! finally, for the first time :) It was pretty good and a fun experience.

Then we went to the art gallery that was connected to the restaurant, really interesting stuff..but it started pouring

walked more..people left to go home, I continued with 2 of the guys and went to Kiddy Land haha..I bought a rilakkuma >.>

Walked around with Eric, walked down a small back street to reach Shibuya in the rainn

went to 109 and got to explore all the floors this time..still didn't buy anything though. Honestly I was looking for f(x) stuff but I couldn't find the earrings I saw before :((

Went to the station back and dropped off stuff, went directly back to the station to meet up with Jikei students

walked to the river next to Nishikasai and did fireworks (sparklers) there :DDD Then went back to eat dinner at cafe Gusto. I had omurice..pretty good actually and not as bad experience as last time.

Stayed for a while, talked and laughed a lot. Lots of fun :) Tried to use my lame Japanese with the students..got back to hotel pretty late, almost 12

Day 21:

slept in late..had lunch at 12:30, curry..it was alright, more spicy than expected

then...DISNEYLAND!!! the commute was annoying esp. cuz of the slow bus but it was fun!

road like 6 rides? and shopped and ate (details later)

bought souvenirs for SD peeps and something for myself :)

going to DisneySea tomorrow! Peace

Day 22:

- DisneySea (all day)

7/23:

7/24:

- class in the morning....

- went to Ginza to take pictures w/ Val for prj

- first apple store which is 4 stories lol, had an elevator

- walked around looking at all the cool architecture, then head over to uniqlo (srsly like my fave store now lol), bought Lay's shirt /cry and took pics for prj

- went to giant Abercrombie which has like 13 floors? it's so obnoxious, worse than the ones in America omggg; they even greet everyone in english like "hey what's up" i died

- went to the LV store which looks super cool, then head back

- ate Sukiya, which was quite filling

7/25:

- Day trip to Kamakura at 9am

- went with other Jikei students (Miyuki, Kengo, Ikumi, Rina, Maki), talked to them more :), mostly Rina and Maki

- went to the shrine (name?), like an hour commute, worked on my summary on the train lol

- sat with Kengo and Miyu, had staring contests with Matt lol wut

- lots of walking in the heat, ughh so hot, chilled at the shrine a bit

- got soba for lunch, kinda expensive but pretty good

- went to see the giant Buddha, that area had sooooo many ppl and tourists then

- some high school girls were amused by S and wanted to take pictures of/with her because she looks so foreign lol. But all Japanese ppl love her cuz she's cute

- got ice cream, craving it so bad (green tea with vanilla :))

- that day there was a fireworks festival going on so many people

- decided to go to the beach, but just walked around cuz I didn't wear sandals

- messed around with Rina and Maki, they like poking, tickling and grabbing stomachs T^T My fat ahhhhh but they're cute. Sang to them with M cuz they wouldn't :(

- went to meet up with the prof for dinner in Nakano for Okinawan food, lots of fun with good company :) drank..but eh not a lot, just craziness everywhere

- came back late, couldn't work on anything blehh

7/26:

- woke up earlier to finish powerpoint, kept falling asleep -_-

- went to class, presented my ppt which was crap yayyy

- left and went to 7-11 and got Oi Ocha, which I usually get at UCSD, but this one had a K-ON! charm that came with it hurhurr

- for class, we went to Shinjuku to visit an intercommunication museum? It was cool, couldn't take pictures though

- then went to get udon for lunch; immature guys laughing at the bukkake udon -_-

- went back, debated going out but it was freaking hot and I was tired

- took an almost 3 hour nap lol

- woke up..skyped with Sky, went to the conbini to get food later

- not getting anything done..but no class tomorrow :D

7/27:

- woke up and was on the comp, ate my yakisoba sandwich, blah blah

- stayed in the room until like 1:30, left and went down to the lounge to try to get work done..was falling asleep most of the time

- Matt, Demitri, Nathan came by and were going to TCA with Miyu and Kengo..I joined since I wasn't getting anything done

- super cool, they have lots of animals; we saw the aquarium (lots of fishies large and small, some scary ones), and the reptile room which we hung out in

- held 2 snakes, a python and a little milk snake; there were turtles, snakes, geckos, an iguana, tarantula D:, frogs...yup pretty cool

- tripped up the stairs as we left..in front of a guy. Good thing I don't wear skirts and I got up immediately, but it kinda hurt. Later on it would turn into a monster bruise ughh

- came back and chilled for a bit

- went to a Matsuri finally! Except not the kind I was expecting. Mostly festival dancing in the streets with people watching, large crowds with narrow sidewalks; ate takoyaki and yakisoba, then went to 7-11 for ice cream haha

- 7-11 had some rude lady that kept looking at us and glaring/giving the stink eye. I was thinking wtf is her problem??? I thought she was just staring me down cuz she was looking at me whenever I looked up but apparently it was all of us. I didn't like her. It was for no good reason!!

- then we head back..and now I'm avoiding more work. But I gotta get up earlier tomorrow for a full day out

7/28:

- planned to go to Shibuya to meet with Andy

- got to the station and got LOST hahaaaa; couldn't find the right exit, then couldn't find Andy's apt..epic fail. But I finally got there after a while and getting super sweaty

- BBQ and ate like crazy, met cool people, chilled on a patio all day, drank lol

- Full as heck, but went to meet Alisa in Ginza to eat dinner -_-;;

- introduced to the family of the chairman of Alisa's comestic company..awkward haha

- ate at this tofu place, pretty good food but I didn't get to eat everything or try it all cuz I was so full. I ate slowly and forced food cuz it was good though lol

- found out the daughter was 29 yo and I was like WHATTTT??? She looks so young, like my age at least. I was super surprised..and she wants to marry a Taiwanese man lolz. apparently they think Taiwanese ppl are nicer and the men care more about their women hahhaaa

- walked a bit and then just went to the station to come back

- there were lots of firework festivals going on today though so the train back was PACKED but not as bad as morning rush hour

- got back in one piece, saw Arashi on TV haha, talked about tomorrow plans with Val yayy I get to do what I planned for today..cuz that didn't work out

7/29:

- woke up early to go visit Todai, met with Mr. Kanno who guided us

- took lots of pictures cuz me and Val are using it for our last project..which I will regret later

- they had a Lawson on campus that we chilled at for a bit after the tour, then went to eat lunch at the school cafeteria..it was aight, but it was relatively cheap so not bad.

- walked back to the station and took the JR line to Shibuya with Val and Lauren

- got there, walked back to Andy's to give him his charger..blehh it was freaking hot and tiring man

- after we made it back to the crossing, went to the Tokyu? CD store, then went to Tower records

- the prices for the EXO albums were the same and they wouldn't let me just purchase posters..so we left

- they have displays all the time and it was different from the last time I saw it; Wonder Girls and TVXQ this time

- I was leading and actually knew where to go hehe; went up a promenade to make our way to Omotesando where I finally got to go to the Topshop I saw last time...too bad it's like EXPENSIVE TO THE MAX. Joyrich is in the same building so I went to look at that too..but it's tiny and didn't really have anything that I've seen T_T Also checked out the omotesando hills mall thing before that..all boutiques and not very interesting except for the huge starbucks on the top level with and outside seating area that looked pretty cool

- Then..went down another street to find this store I saw last time that I wanted to check out which I found! It has a bunch of cool stuff..which are apparently knockoffs but the quality isn't bad so you know. Andddd I saw the lightning earrings I've had my eye on so I just bought it haha. I was also checking out the eyeball hairclips that Krystal wore in the ES MV but they don't suit me and they didn't have red..which is the color I would've wanted. They have earrings of the same design too, which I saw a girl wear before and it looked cute, but she's Japanese and cute like that haha, they can pull off things I can't. Sooo I didn't get any of those. Oh well, I'm happy with my lightning earrings hehe

- took the train back and was exhausted, then me and Val went to the restaurant we went to before with the nice people and ate our fill...then I probably attempted to do work before passing out.

7/30:

- Last day of class!

#japan #personal #ahaaaa finally updating omg

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