(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT4

On the 12th we had a rather 'eventful' day. We managed to some how squeeze at least three things into 24 hours! First we went to Asakusa, since Imke has never been to Japan, and Asakusa is a beautiful place to see, and the weather was rather nice too. We did a bit of gift shopping, though Asakusa hosts a lot of confectionery and regardless of how much I tell my family to eat my gifts, they never do! So I decided not to purchase things. We looked in a few shops in hopes of finding a Kimono, but that quest at the time was a little bit of a failure. While walking around we soon stopped to watch a magician. He was rather amusing and his expression during some of the tricks was the best!

After a couple minutes of watching him we continued on our way, but noticed a group of small Children stopping people. After the second group I noticed that they were only targeting tourists - foreigners. They were asking where people were from! We finally got targeted, and four times! They were absolutely adorable. Their teacher explained to us they were learning English. They started with, 'Hello, how are you?' and asked our names, and where we were from. Then they asked 'Do you like Japanese food?' it was so cute, because the girls were really shy, and the boys - well, they were boys. Afterwards we had to sign the map, and were given a gift!

After we escaped the masses of Children, we had originally planned to walk to Akihabara. Since it was close - well, we thought it was close. Anyway cutting the story short, we caught a train in the end and headed to Akihabara. We wanted to go to a Maid Cafe, and after trying to get into one, we gave up so easily, which was a complete shame. I was looking forward to it! We ended up in a McDonald's, I love McD in Japan, their menu is so-so much better than here in Europe, uggh. Stress this so much haha. We walked around a few Arcades, and - to be honest, I didn't enjoy Akihabara so much this time, like there was something missing? But mainly I was progressively getting ill that day, so we took a stop by a shop so I could purchase throat sweets and facemasks, such a pro. I didn't even take any photos in Akihabara either. Eventually we headed back to the hostel after taking Purikura and losing a couple UFO catchers. Since we had a live, we wanted to get back and changed, I was super excited since Juu and myself were 'twinning' so ahh! It was cool!

I wasn't confident in locating 高田馬場AREA but - I had done it twice already in the past so a third time was lucky? We were running REALLY behind on time, and literally as our train arrived at the station, basically the bands were starting, so when we arrived there was a band playing, but we easily made our way to the front still. I actually was really pumped to see this live because it had ジグラット and コドモドラゴン but also Ｎ＠Ｈ-ノア- who I had seen a couple days ago. I had promised a member of コドモドラゴン I would be there! After finding out when he was playing I knew we wouldn't be late for him.
My Friend Mana told me her Japanese Friend was at the same live as me, but it's pretty hard locating a Japanese person in Japan. During a break, I was sitting and the girl I had been next to during the entire start of the live turned and asked me 'Are you Ali?' -- talk about a coincidence! Mana's Friend, Aya had found me! Again I had difficulty with Japanese vs English, but we managed fine, and she and I had a small conversation. She was also wearing a 10st Bracelet, but for LANDZ and she noticed mine.

When コドモドラゴン came to play, Aya kindly swapped places with me so I could see better, (although you can see from the photo, that towel was the barrier, and I had a good view) We laughed at the flyer the band had. Aya was really sweet, and gave me and Juu chocolate, I believe it was chocolate from Mana? I am not sure. I saved mine however, hoarder. I really enjoyed this live, since so many bands were playing I liked!

Aya is a LANDZ fan, but the majority of people there were also LANDZ fans, and I had moved to the back, but it gave you a direct eye level with the band on stage. Juu and I ended up making our own 'rapper black guy' furi, and for LANDZ we just went crazy with a few other girls at the back who slowly joined in with our dances. But LANDZ were very good! It reminded me of days with Zip.er hearing Towa's voice again. I did wish I went to see L&DS, they had a live while I was there, but I wasn't interested in the other bands. Oops.

I didn't get much merchandise from this live either. Though I do regret not buying the ジグラット singles, but I did buy 3 Mikito and 2 You チェキ, since they were only 500JPY each, but I had seen them online, and I really wanted some コドモドラゴン merchandise! I bought 4 チェキ, 2 singles and a towel. I got a free card and single by them too, which will soon be released on their mini album!

This is when things get creepy! From my previous blog I mentioned I had bought the 10st x コドモドラゴン bracelet. I mailed the Drummer of the band since we exchanged a few messages previously about my visit, and I told him I had purchased the bracelet. He later made a blog, thanking Fans that bought the bracelet, and included a cheki of him holding the bracelet. When I went to the merch table, I asked for チェキ of their drummer, after the Staff studied me, she picked up a couple flicked through them randomly and passed me my 4 チェキ (usually, you get to pick them yourself randomly, however she gave me them) when I went to sit back down with Juu, we both noticed one cheki was the exact same from his blog?! You can see it in my photo, top left, and the photo from his person blog below. It was really freaky! I later got a message from him, thanking me for the gifts. So, yes - I was rather amused.

After the live, Juu and myself went to Shinjuku - for one reason - but in the end we ended up in an arcade taking more purikura! It's a little blurry, but once all purikura has been scanned I will upload again. But you can see our twin outfits! It made me look even shorter!! Shinjuku at night, is a love hate relationship, especially with the Hosts, though they are amusing as hell!

3月12日2012 @ 高田馬場AREA

ジグラット / コドモドラゴン / Ｎ＠Ｈ-ノア- / LANDZ / 

EAT YOU ALIVE / ヴェルテクス-Vertex- / BIOSPHIA

(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT3

On day 4, which was the 11th we decided to take a trip to Shibuya! We were fully aware of how packed Shibuya was going to be, considering it was a year after the Tsunami and Earthquake - and because naturally Shibuya is one very busy place. Street lights and buses were flagged with banners reading 'Action for Nippon' and 'THANK YOU' but I didn't get a photo of the buses. We headed straight to Shibuya 109 of course to do some major shopping.

 

I headed to COCOLULU because I had read somewhere about a Spring School Lucky Pack, however it is either online sales only, or not in stock anymore. But it was really cool in store, regardless. I followed Juu and Imke around some of the super girly shops such as Liz Lisa, but we made smaller pitstops in other stores too like COCOLULU, JSG and MARPLE-Q - I only purchased one thing from MARPLE-Q which is an amazing long shirt with really cute engrish on. After purchasing it, Juu also purchased the same shirt too! (We had a live for the 12th and we wanted to twin!) I think COCOLULU has been over taken by MARPLE-Q, clothing wise.

After walking around Shibuya 109 for what seemed like forever, our feet were aching so we went to Starbucks, despite the weather I ended up with a mango frappuccino.We sat for awhile just people watching which was rather amusing and relaxing too, we saw an original 'ganguro' - basically an old old crusty man. Then plenty of foreigners with bad fashion taste! Come on guys, you're in Shibuya! After Starbucks, it was my turn to take the lead, and we headed off towards Harajuku as it was only a small walk away from Starbucks. Plus on the way there I really wanted to go inside CHEER, but we ended up walking right by it because my voice was so little in asking. Oops.. On the way to Harajuku I spotted some rather interesting graffiti stickers. Powerful message, right?

 

Finally reaching Harajuku and how crazy the place is, we ventured into one or two couple shops, I know Like an Edison was a mini detour to pick up some fliers and to see the latest release. (I was waiting for the 14th since so many releases were happening!) Then we headed to Harajuku's Closet Child - shamefully, I only purchased one thing, a cheki of Tokyo Shitei - Runchu. It was a really old one of him too. I felt bad, because Juu's Friend is not really into Visual Kei, so she waited outside listening to god (amazing) awful rap music.

While in Harajuku I finally spotted the 10st store, which I have previously spoken about before in my blog here! It was amazing, just a really small store with a really nice shop owner who was so helpful. Juu was on a mission to find A, but it had literally sold out everywhere. While looking through the beads, OZ, Kiryuu, ROYZ and LANDZ, I spotted something so similar - but slightly out of place, a bead with a lizard. Haha, my reaction must have been so amazing, since it was the 10st x コドモドラゴン so I pretty much pounced on it demanding the price without a second thought! After awhile, Juu purchased her own while I was still in awe I had found their bracelet. (There is a story which follows after this, which will be in the next entry!) So now I own two 10st bracelets, and people would probably smack me for the price of these, but they're so pretty and my photo REALLY doesn't do justice, but I had to show it!

Afterwards we went for food in Harajuku, I cannot remember the name of the place either, my memory is really bad! But it was yummy, I had pasta - I no longer am a fan of pasta, I ate it so much again in Japan. Uggh, I think it got to the point I wanted to cry every time I saw pasta or pizza on the menu.

So, that was it for the 11th March 2012. I will leave you with an interesting photo of a vending machine in Japan and the graffiti tags people use over there. Here in the UK we have really boring 'I LOVE XXX' or just your very creative curse words.

(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT2

Alright, so get ready for the 'official first day in Japan' blog! It will be a little picture heavy, but nothing too terrible. Ready! Go- ミ☆ Our first day was a little crazy-busy but amazing, Juu had ordered us tickets to go to the live at 東京キネマ倶楽部. The name was familiar, and I realised I had been to the live house before when I first went to Japan. Live house is called, "kinema" and is a nice building, neatly hidden away and really easy to locate from the train station, unlike most live houses!
Before this we went to meet Juu's Friend who was going to be at the show too, she is called Ku, who was very sweet! (Again, I realised I had met her briefly before in Japan - in the same live house! It's scary at such a coincidence.) We met Ku at Ueno and went to grab a bite to eat in Hard Rock Cafe! Despite how cold it was - as always in Tokyo, I ended up with iced peach tea while freezing to death. (No wonder I am so ill right now)

 

This is Juu and Myself, and then Ku and Imke! (stealing pictures from Juu's Facebook!)

Afterwards we made our way to a Cat Cafe in Shinjuku! Called, 猫カフェ 新宿... at first I was a little sceptical considering I live with four cats and I didn't want to pay to sit with even more cats! But I am glad I did visit in the end! There were so many cats in the first room, and for 300yen you could buy treats for them. Since they were so used to treats, the moment they saw you with a plastic pot, you were suddenly covered in cats! Upon arrival you are given a pass, mine was No.07 and it had the cutest picture of a white persian! Not exactly like my own cat, but close enough!

 

Ku and Imke both had a pot of chicken, so the cats were all crazy! It was so cute. I did take a video of Juu and some cats, I should upload it, eventually! She was hand feeding them also! So cute~

After Cat madness, Ku had mentioned a Cafe which is Alice in Wonderland themed. It took us awhile to locate it, and at some points Juu and I weren't very helpful and danced around mindlessly at one point. Sorry!

The plates were so cute, and the whole Cafe inside was adorable. The Girls who served us were dressed as Alice too in small blue outfits. We ate, and spoke a whole bunch and just generally spoke about a couple Bands and stuff. We also had cute Alice themed desserts which were too adorable to eat! If you have me on Facebook - I have uploaded more photos there! We took Purikura at one point too, you can not go to Japan and not take purikura, seriously! It's a must!

After we ate, it was time to go to the live house! I was rather excited, because I was getting to see a band called N@H-ノア- and they look really fun live, and yes! They were super fun. I got to see Lycaon again, but we didn't know what they were wearing, well I was certain Yuuki was wearing white snake skin, and no one seemed to believe me until he came on stage. The first row ended up getting water spat on by Yuuki, I wasn't so amused because it happened at least four times afterwards. Mocking Yuuki seemed so amusing too, while people were headbanging I just stuck up my finger at him in which he returned it. Even though the event was an Undercode one, I wasn't so amused for Kisaki. I left around 8:30pm before him anyway to go meet a Friend in Shibuya! Pssh~

3月10日2012 @ 東京キネマ倶楽部 

凛 / Black Gene For the Next Scene / DIAURA / Lycaon / 

Megaromania / 怪奇!!動物アジテーター / N＠H-ノア- / SOMATIC GUARDIAN

 

(★ω★。) Tokyo ・ March 2012 ・ PT1

So there was a little hiatus from me due to the fact I was travelling to Tokyo for my third time! I hadn't told many people due to personal reasons. So I apologise now to those who were unaware. Anyway I left home on the 7th March and arrived in Tokyo on the 8th. Travelling alone is actually rather peaceful and enjoyable since I was able to do things at my own pace. (☆´ω｀)ﾉ
Arriving at Narita, I accidentally returned my suica card and got "lost" - the only reason lost is in quotations is because I was never lost, I just never seemed to trust my first judgement and swore I was on the wrong train at least a dozen times. Haha, but Japanese residence are Friendly enough to help - despite the fact I was getting; 'sorry' and 'excuse me' all mixed up.

☆ Of course I stayed in Asakusa, it's the only place I know well enough to travel to alone. I stayed in the original hostel I stayed in during my first trip, here the Staff are very Friendly, and when I checked in for my first night, the Guy was asking if I had stayed before since I looked familiar. Totally wasn't sure how to respond. For the first night it was spent alone - my flight would have been £250 more if I was to fly with my Friend, Juu, so I agreed to meet her on the blue bridge. (ﾉ￣Д￣)ﾉ~ミ☆ Though the weather in Tokyo was terrible and raining, though Japan has an amazing 'umbrella system' so you always have an umbrella close by!

(*´･ω･人･ω･`*) When my Friend finally arrived - after at least four hours of walking too and from the hostel and bridge, in the rain which resulted in completely soaked socks, we got our room and freshened up before heading on straight out towards Shibuya. If I remember correctly, we went to meet Juu's Friend in order to receive some concert tickets, and then we all went for food! I was really hungry. (ノд・｀)

 

Afterwards we returned to the hostel, expecting my Friends would have serious jetlag and needed to sleep, but we didn't sleep until almost 2am and we had a - sort of - early rise the next day for a concert. ヽ(´◇｀)ﾉ

These blogs will be pretty choppy - I never manage to blog fully about my trips, well - it's always started but never continued to complete them! Please look forward to them, since the trip was shorter than my previous I am hoping to fit one or two days into one blog post! Right now I am pretty jet lagged and sleeping at the wrong hours. I woke at 5am so I am ALMOST sleeping correctly, just got to stop sleeping at 4pm till midnight UK time. (4pm GMT = 1am JPT) Enjoy my future posts, please!

(*´ω｀*) Places: #4 Asakusa

Asakusa

浅草

Asakusa was probably the last of all places that you expected to be reading about here, right? "What is this 'Asakusa'?" (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ So, for those interested in History, Japanese Shrines and Temples, then Asakusa is definitely a spot to put on your map! I will admit, the first time I travelled to Tokyo, the only reason I stayed in Asakusa was due to it being cheapest at the time. (The second cheapest Hostel was in Akihabara, but saving money would have been disastrous then. ) Asakusa is home to the Senso-ji temple/金龍山浅草寺, and is Tokyo's oldest temple. Close to the temple is Asakusa shrine also, it is known as "Sanja-sama" - Shrine of the Three Gods, so you can see how popular this place is to tourism. (Please visit the supplied link for further information!)  
So why do I keep returning to Asakusa? ヾ(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ Along with the cheapness of Hostels, I am now familiar with the city and feel at most ease with such a quiet and peaceful place, and I always find something new to see!

Inside the temple area you will find yourself suddenly within a market known as 'Nakamise' it is over 200 meters and you are more than likely bound to get lost in awe with the traditional souvenirs, food and sweets! (◎ω◎*)~ The shopping street alone has history of over several centuries, and it is still running strong today! So Nakamise is definitely the place to go and buy all your souvenirs and gifts! If ever you plan to visit Tokyo during the New Year, I really recommend coming to the temple for it's lively bustling vibe, great street food and such an amazing aura to be around! (σ・ω・)σ Of course yes, like most places in Tokyo, there is also an arcade or five dotted around variously! Fun for all the Family!

☆ Asakusa has a lot of famous landmarks. In the above picture there are two already - or possibly three!? The bridges itself are rather well known - it's a good guide to where you are in Asakusa, if you are finding difficulty in locating a place, just make note of which bridge it is closer to, then the locals will exclaim rather loudly, 'Ah! Blue bridge!' and point you in direction, trust me, it is not hard to miss these four lane bridges for transport. The river you see is called Sumida river where available boat trips are ready for anyone! ヾ(ﾟ∇ﾟ*)≡=3

Another very popular landmark in the above photo is the Asahi Beer Hall building - can you guess which one it is? The 'Asahi flame' is often referred to as "golden turd" kin no unko/ 金のうんこ due to it's strange shape, and that isn't just the tourist giving it the unique name, actually the locals refer to it as the golden turd too! ♪ (〃∇〃)ﾉ The second landmark is possibly hard to spot in the above photo, on my two trips to Tokyo, the building was still incomplete and only now - to  my knowledge - it is fully complete!

That building is, the Tokyo Sky Tree/東京スカイツリー! Can you notice the difference? (despite my awful photography skills) (⊃ω⊂) The Tokyo Sky Tree is of course criticised for it becoming the 'New Tokyo Tower' and despite all it's criticism, it is now the tallest tower in the world! You can find the Sky Tree's progress in photos here @ Wikipedia and other information on the tower and the features.
So as you may have guessed already, Asakusa is a wonderful place to visit, either to stay or as a very long day trip. The city itself has a lot of traditional gift shops, restaurants and it is really a beautiful place. (つД｀) For budget travellers I would definitely and strongly recommend this place too, for days you want to save money but see amazing sights.