Earthquake!

For those of you who only see this and not my facebook, Dorothy and I are fine! We got the first train home, we are safe, but there are still a lot of aftershocks and we are ready for another big one.

Dear blog, I'm really not forgetting you I promise.

I haven't been blogging much lately because I havent' done THAT much since the last blog. Dorothy has just started her new job, so she has been working rediculous hours, and her schedule is pretty much she works every other day. Sometimes she works a full day, which is nice because it gives me time to do homework. And sometimes she only work a half day, like today, I am going to meet her in Shibuya at 3 and then we will begin our adventures for the day.


So I shall pick up right where I left off. Shibuya & Harajuku.
Right outside the Shibuya station is the famous statue of Hachiko. It was sort of awkward getting my picture with it, because there were actually a few families trying to get a picture with it too.

We then crossed the "BIGGEST PEDESTRIAN CROSSING IN THE WORLD" which I didn't even realize was what it was. We weren't there at rush hour, so I guess that might explain why it didn't live up to all its hype? I didn't even take a picture of it because I didn't realize what it was, but I might today.

Our first stop in Shibuya was the Shibuya 109 shopping center.  I definitely might be coming back for a few things there haha. It's the mecca of Japans "Gal" fashion, which I used to really follow, though now not so much.

The view from 109

We then just wondered around Shibuya  a little bit. Stopped by the Marui department store, and mens 109, which didn't have too much mens clothes haha.  And then we walked over to Harajuku, which is a nice short walk. On our way to Harajuku, we went into this little Lovers House store (A brand I've loved for EVER) and it was a TINY little store, with two sales people in it and no customers. We didn't even get an "IRASSHAIMASE!"(welcome to the store) or anything. We just turned right around and left, but then we went into one of their stores in the La Foret store, and the people there were REALLY nice and helpful.
On our way to La Foret, we went down the famous Takeshita-dori

It's a fairly long street with no cars, just lined with tons of little stores. We stopped by the Bodyline store, and a used Vivienne Westwood store, both of which we will probably be back to.
And then we went to La Foret, which was pretty much more than I expected.


And then the next day was AGE- Asia Girls Explosion, a fashion show put on by X-Japans Yoshiki. One of Dorothy's friends from school got a big group together, and got us these special "Foreigners are Free" Invitations. So we got in free to a $130 a ticket show. Pretty much amazing.

On our way to Harajuku for the show, we stopped by this little bakery on the way to the station. They had chocolate coronets, and I couldn't help but do a little Lucky Star pose with it

We met up with the rest of the group in Takadanobaba, and then headed to Harajuku. The show was at the Yoyogi Gymnasium, and outside there were tons of hide cosplayers. Neither of us had the courage to ask for pictures, but I did snipe a pictures of these two

The doors didn't open until almost an hour late. We had no idea what kind of tickets we had gotten, since they were free we expected to be up in the bleachers.
How wrong we were.
Photos inside were STRICTLY forbidden, but let me put it into perspective.
Check this link.  At the bottom center of the picture, the guy in the white shirt was with us. To the right of the picture is the end of the runway. Yeah, we were AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE. 
The show itself was really cool. Though we could tell right away that there was something in the middle of the end of the runway, since a few bands (including X Japan) were going to play at the end. And it only took until the second model down the runway for her to FALL INTO IT. omg it was hilarious, I'm sure she was told a MILLION times not to walk in the middle.
And then after the fashion portion, some DJs, Violet UK, and X Japan played. Sadly, X only played their newer stuff, and only about 4 songs, but Yoshiki's piano was what was under the thing that the model fell into, which was right infront of us, which was amazing.

Yoshiki's Piano in the background. Even though the show was over, we still get yelled at for this picture haha. I'm pretty sure it's because the flash went off though.

Outside with the posing with the sign

And then we went to McDonalds for delicious midnight snacks. And then I experienced the horrible smell of late night trains. The whole car just REEKS of alcohol, it's pretty hilarious.

Monday was just a nice relaxing day. Dorothy and Marco had bought tickets to a concert way before they knew when I was coming, so they had a little date night. And then on Tuesday Dorothy worked a loong shift, so I worked on school stuff.

And then yesterday we ventured out to Kichijoji.

Kichijoji is where the Ghibli Museum is, but we didn't go there this time, since we will probably be going with our friend Mikaela when her friends get here.
In Kichijoji is a gorgeous park. Of course, the first thing we did when we got there was get soft serve.

 

I got Sakura flavor, it was DELICIOUS

This park actually had a lot of dogs, which I though was really nice. One of the main things that strikes me about Japan and dogs is that at the grocery store, there is a bigger selection of dog toilet pads than there is of dog food. So, it's nice to actually see people taking their dogs out.

But they are still always wearing dog clothes. 

Kichijoji is also a kind of entertainment district too I think.

This was one of the cute little streets we went down.

And then we just walked around a lot of little shopping streets. Until we found a HUMONGOUS Seiyu department store. Which of course we had to go play in. 

This is me on my way to my first day of school HAHA. These backpacks are all you see little kids with, they cost about $300, but they are meant to last a kid through their whole elementary school years. And the you see kids everywhere wearing this hat when they are walking home from school.

Dorothy found a Chopper hat.

And then also in Kichijoji, we went to this HUMONGOUS electronics store. But the only thing we went there for was toys. I found this gem, that's is Lucky Star characters in Street Fighter costumes, I had to work long and hard to talk myself out of buying this haha

And that was our day yesterday.

Today I will be adventuring out on the trains all by myself to meet Dorothy in Shibuya after she's off of work. Wish me Luck! Thankfully everything is in English, but I have to transfer trains in Ikebukuro, which is one of the biggest stations.

DAY TWO: TAKADANOBABA & IKEBUKURO
On my first full day, Dorothy had to go to her school to fill out some of her papers. Her school is in Takadanobaba, so we took the train there and walked to her school. On the way back to the train station, we saw this little shrine, which I thought was really pretty

I'm sure we'll be going back to Baba a few times.
And then we adventured off to Ikebukuro, which is a really big entertainment district. We didn't really go around very much, we just went to the shopping center called "Sunshine City," but there was a lot of others things to do in Ikebukuro which we will be back for.

Also, the second movie for the anime Macross Frontier is just coming out, so there is a lot of advertisment for it. It's one of my favorite animes that I have cosplayed from, so it's really exciting to see it everywhere.  Right outside one of the arcades we passed in Ikebukuro, they have these two posters outside, which are signed by the voice actors I believe.

The only thing I bought in the whole shopping center was a Hello Kitty jacket that was half off. I was really proud of myself LOL. But there is a Ghibli store in this center, so I'm pretty sure I will be back towards the end of my trip when I see how much money I have left.


DAY THREE: ASAKUSA
Asakusa is a really big Buddhist temple that is a pretty big tourist destination for both foreigners and Japanese people. My attempt right now is to have one day where I might go shopping, and then one day where I will just go to temples or go sight seeing, so  less money is spent. That attempt has been pretty successful so far, all  I really spent in Asakusa was money on food, and one little souvenir.

Here are some pictures of the walk on the way from the train station to Asakusa.

 

As you are approaching the temple

 

The first entrance gate.

After you go through the first entrance gate there is a long line of little shops selling tons of little souvenirs and food

We got these little treats, I forget what they are called but they had red bean paste in the middle. Yummy!

 There are a bunch of little cross streets along the bigger one with more little shops.

This is the second entrance gate once you get past all the little stores

The backside of that gate, with some Gods shoes, we aren't sure whos.

 On our way back to the train station, we noticed this whole line of characters, outside of what we assume is the Bandai building.  Of course we had to take pictures with them.

 

 Me and Doraemon, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Anpanman.

There are some more pictures that I didn't post on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanasaurusrex/

Next Post will be my first trip to Shibuya and Harajuku, and whatever exciting things we do today. Today is Dorothy's first day of work, so I am just staying home and working on homework (obviously HAHA) and tomorrow is ASIA GIRLS EXPLOSION fashion show. I know I will have TONS of pictures from that.

Just a Quick update!

I am going to be uploading my pictures to Flickr everyday hopefully, so even when I don't have time to make a realy post, head over there daily to see what I'm up to.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanasaurusrex/


Today, we are going to Asakusa! Which is sort of like "old Tokyo" and has a huge Buddhist Temple.  I'm still getting used to not being embarrassed about taking pictures of everything, but I'm sure I'll have a TON of pictures of Asakusa!

My Arrival

I'm here in Japan! AHHH so exciting! It is now around 7am on Tuesday, and I just woke up since my internal clock is all wonky. Everyone's still sleeping, so I thought this would be the perfect time to make my first post.

So I guess I will start from my trip over. Going through security in Sea-Tac was fine, But I forgot to take out my bag of liquids from my luggage, but the operator was some really old lady, and she couldn't have cared less. The flight from Seattle to LAX was fine, but I flew a code-share flight on Alaska Airlines when I was flying American from LAX to Narita. BIG NONO. I get into terminal 2, or whichever one it is, and my flight to Narita is in terminal 5. No problem, I think, I have a two hour layover, I just have to find the train that takes me over there. Nope, not even close. I have to go find someplace to print out my itinerary to show that I have to go to the AA terminal, and then I have to sit and wait for the "shuttle." I get to where the shuttle is, and its literally just a little shuttle bus that drives you on the runway to the other terminal. And comes at random times. I had to wait almost an hour for the shuttle to the AA terminal (I just mistyped it as shittle. I think I might keep it that way).  Oh, and did I mention that everyone that works at LAX works in SLOW MOTION.  So I am waiting for the shuttle, and I realize it is 11:10am. My plane just began boarding. By the time the shuttle drops me off, its around 11:25, and my plane is scheduled to leave at 11:40.
And here's where it gets even better. Since I flew Alaska first, they didn't check me in to my connecting flight, and I can't check in online for international flights. I had a feeling this is what happened, so I am just running to the gate, and right as I get there I hear one of the workers go "ok, we're just about ready to close up."  I literally just come up to the desk waving my passport saying "I NEED MY BOARDING PASSSS!!"  The AA employees were really nice, and since I was so late, I'm pretty sure that they gave up my reserved seat to standby people.  But that was A.OK.  Because the seat I got was still a window (though right over the wing, but I could still a little bit out), and I'm pretty sure it was in the nicer economy section, AND no one was sitting next to me. So I was able to sprawl out across two seats the whole flight, which was REALLY nice.


Arriving in Narita, it's amazing how the second you walk off the plane, all you smell is cigarettes.  Even though you can't smoke inside the terminal except for in little smoking boxes now, the carpets definitely permanently have the smell in them.

I forgot how going through customs here is a BREEZE. I got through the first one that gave me a visa in less than 3 minutes, didn't have to wait in line or anything (I filled out my forms on the plane of course, and I was one of the first off the plane). And then I got my luggage within 10 minutes, and then going through the second customs he just asks "is this all your luggage" glances at it, and then ushers you through.  But what I did find interesting was there there was a security agent just walking around with a drug sniffing dog. But, unlike, how stern TSA agents in the US are, whenever the dog would stop for a second to sniff, but then walked away, the agent would just sort of laugh and walk away with him.

Once I got out of immigration, Dorothy was waiting right outside! I exchanged my money, which made me want to cry. Last time I was here was right before the crash, so the exchange rate was about ¥120 to a dollar. Now it's ¥75 to a dollar, so I was not happy haha.

And then we started our trek home.  Dorothy helped me set up a pasmo, which is just like the ORCA card in Seattle, you load it with an amount of money, and then you just tap it as you go through the station, and it deducts your fair.
Here are some picture from the train station at Narita. These chairs were really cool, they had Kabuki faces on them

The Train station platform

The shinkansen, or Bullet train. We weren't taking that, but it pulled up at the platform next to us

It was about a two hour trip home, there is a faster way to go from Narita to Nerima-ku(the town Dorothy lives in), but it costs about ¥3000 each way, which means Dorothy would have had to pay ¥6000 to come pick me up, this way only costs about ¥1000.  We had to transfer twice, first at Ueno, and then at Ikebukuro. Ikebukuro is a really big station, and we were traveling around 7pm, right at peak time. And we were going to the suburbs, which means the train we got on was PACKED. Everyone was squishing  in, and I felt bad because I had my luggage which was taking up a lot of room. We also first transfered the to the wrong train in Ikebukuro, which was an Express train that just passes our stop. When we got off at the next stop, Dorothy just went up to the on of the train security guys and used her AMAZING(seriously omg) Japanese and explained it. He motioned for us to go up to this teller, who gave us a little ticket kind of thing so that we wouldn't have to pay our fair again. He was motioning to where we should go, and then the security guy that helped us first just said "Kochira dozou!" which is easy enough for me to understand, "Right this way". And then when we got off the elevator upstairs, there was another security guy waiting for us and helping us on our way. I was really impressed with how nice they were, I'm sure I will run into some people that are just like "oh, foreigners*rolls eyes*" But I'll just have to remember the kindness of these guys.   And thankfully the train going  the opposite direction was pretty much empty.

We got off the train in Nerima-Ku, Dorothys town. I always pictured it as living out just in the suburbs where there aren't very many businesses. But right as we got out of the station, I was met with a Mister Donuts, McDonalds and 7/11. The walk to Dorothy's house is just about 15 minutes, and it was raining. But we got there in no time. I'll show Dorothy's apartment in a later post, but it's so tiny and cute! We got home around 7:30, and Dorothy had already cooked dinner, so she just warmed it up for us. I stayed up until around 10pm, so hopefully I will get used to the time change soon.

All right, that's all so far. Today we have to go to Dorothy's school so she can sign something, and then we are going to explore around Waseda, and Shinjuku. I'm sure I'll have a lot more pictures! I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post, and I doubt they will be as indepth as this post, but we'll see!