Spica

How do I get myself into these dumb situations?

Because. I am dumb.

No Armani

If this morning was any indication, don’t risk losing what you have by chasing something you don’t.

Blazer

My new Marcs blazer :)

I always thought little people like me should stick with cropped blazers, but I really like this one even if it does almost look like a coat.

Goodnight and Go

One of these days
You’ll miss your train
And come stay with me
We’ll have drinks
And talk about things
Any excuse to stay awake with you
You’ll sleep here
I’ll sleep there
But then the heating may be down again at my convenience
We’d be good
We’d be great together

Bye Japan :(

“I know it was you who told me
That two stars are called by one name
Tokyo is decorated in all different colours
So many lights to negate the darkness

I searched for the night sky
How long did it take me?
Everything I do is all for you

See, if the light of the stars reunites the two hands that were parted
If the name of the star I’ve just remembered leads me to a future I’d lost the way to
We’ll be side by side forever, just the two of us, a white Spica” – Plastic Tree, Spica

I had planned to blog everyday when I was in Japan, but eventually it became too hard to keep up. So I’ll sum up everything in one post.

Osaka

I think I liked Osaka best, mostly because it was our first city and we were still freshly excited about being in Japan, every time we ate it was something new, and the weather was excellent every day.

On our third day, I think, we went to Universal Studios, which later will compare very favourably against Tokyo Disney Resort. I don’t think we did much except go on rides. It was rather quiet and we were first in every line. The rollercoaster was the best. It had pretty much a free drop in the beginning and we went twice just for that. The Spiderman and Back to the Future rides were also awesome, the former more so than the latter. The only disappointment was Backdraft THANKS A LOT B.

We also had one of our better meals in a yakitori place near J-Hoppers. The waitress there was so nice she walked us to our hostel, so in return we went to the restaurant she worked in for dinner. Everything we had was so good and we totally went hard and ordered almost more than we could eat. They had these frozen strawberries stuffed with condensed milk for dessert, and more notably warm mini chocolate brownies, from which “four more!” was developed.

Hiroshima

Bike riding around Hiroshima was one of the most memorable days. We went in a circle around the city to visit gardens and castles and temples and memorials. Most memorable were the Kinkaku and the Memorial Museum which everyone walked through so quickly but I tried to stop and read everything. The third level was dedicated to victims of the A-bomb and after reading about a couple of deceased children whose items were on display I felt oddly like it would be somehow disrespectful if I didn’t read about the rest. So I did, and it was depressing. One boy was so badly burnt that his skin was hanging from his flesh, and out of desperation for water he tried to drink pus from his own arm. He died less than a day later and his parents donated his fingernails and bits of his skin to the museum for display.

On a brighter note, MD stacked it hard while racing J’s little sister let’s call her Little J.

We also visited the Torii gate, the significance of which none of us knew and I should really look some of these things up. All we did was take photos in front of it like it meant something to us.

Kyoto

The ryokan was both an experience and a bit of a joke for all the arms and legs we paid for it. It was sort of shabby-looking, had terrible showers, and even more terrible food. Since dinner and breakfast were covered, we came back early that night. Dinner was this weird sort of hot pot where there wasn’t really any soup. The lady who served us dinner took out a giant block of lard and oiled up the pot, and then instructed us on how to cook the meat and vegetables. The meat was served raw, looking innocently like regular hot pot beef. However, it was extraodinarily fatty in ways you cannot imagine and not good-fatty like Wagyu but fatty like you’re drinking the deep-friers of Maccas. The sides that came with it were questionable sashimi and watery miso. Dessert was literally one slice of melon still attached to its skin, which was refreshing after all that grease, but you’d think a little effort wouldn’t hurt.

Breakfast was a piece of rubbery-looking fish, egg sushi, rice and miso, which was more tolerable than the previous night’s dinner, but I know that if we hadn’t paid a fortune for the package, we would have gone out for breakfast without a moment’s hesitation.

We all slept in one room because the room in which dinner was served smelled like, well, dinner. I liked sleeping on their futons. They were second most comfortable after K’s house in Hiroshima.

Tokyo

We spent 9 days in Tokyo which is more than the time we allocated to all the other cities put together. There was a lot of shopping and not as much sightseeing. After a few days we were all familiar enough with the vicinity that people started being Elmo and heading out alone. Hotel Sunroute Shinjuku was hands down the best accomodation of the whole trip, not least because it was already paid for. I shared with Astroboy and we were the only room with two single beds, which I don’t think I could’ve gone without. We also wasted like $50 on Room Theatre, and each time we fell asleep before even finishing one movie.

We went to Shibuya and Harajuku several times during our stay in Tokyo. Shopping was interesting but not great, because most things were expensive or fob or both. I bought a giant Nerf gun at C’s request but after I dragged it all the way home he told me it was on special back home for cheaper than I paid. So a few days later I dragged it all the way back to Kiddyland. It might be karma that I ended up losing C’s present.

On Saturday night we went clubbing at AgeHa. It was sort of different to clubbing in Sydney. It wasn’t packed, everyone faced the front, and Japanese guys pick up anything that moves. I think that was one of the most fun nights, but mostly because of the company than the venue. Unfortunately Little J was underage and had to go home, where she witnessed D chuck up after one drink.

We got home at 6:00 am and it was already light outside. I was supposed to meet Yongfook that day but slept in and missed his calls. Unfortunately my phone stuffed up after that and we couldn’t contact each other so didn’t end up meeting. I was disappointed but C’s happy because he was entertaining the ridiculous notion that I was going to stay in Tokyo and marry Yongfook.

I’ve left out giant parts of the trip but there’s just too much. When photos are up I’ll be having fun with those :)

I know it was you who told me
That two stars are called by one name
Tokyo is decorated in all different colours
So many lights to negate the darkness

I searched for the night sky
How long did it take me?
Everything I do is all for you

See, if the light of the stars reunites the two hands that were parted
If the name of the star I’ve just remembered leads me to a future I’d lost the way to
We’ll be side by side forever, just the two of us, a white Spica

Day 2 – Osaka

Good evening boys and girls from J-Hoppers hostel in Osaka.

We checked out of the Capsule Hotel this morning and spent half the day shopping around. Considering buying earmuffs. Me, M, J and J’s sister put them on for a photo and they turned out to be really cute. However I think once we’re back in Sydney it’s going to turn totally fob on us.

We had breakfast at a ramen shop on Dotonbori. It was exactly like ramen at Ryo’s and was delicious. After shopping we ate lunch at Freshness Burger, which J’s friend ML said was the best burger place she had ever been to. B, P and I ordered the teriyaki burger and it was awesome mostly because of the bun, which was soft and fresh and kind of eggy.

In the afternoon we checked out of the Capsule Hotel to make our way to J-Hoppers. Taxis are apparently really expensive here so we caught several trains. Trains in Japan are so efficient, needless to say, but also so confusing because we didn’t understand why there we had to change between different types of trains or what any of the signs said or what tickets to buy. When we asked the guy behind the ticket counter at JR Osaka station the price of train tickets to Fukushima, he quoted AU$200 and we were all WTF and it turned out he looked up Fukushima like on another island.

Eventually we made it to J-Hoppers and I swear I will never bring two separate suitcases ever again. We got a bit lost after leaving Fukushima station and J asked the staff of a random little restaurant for directions. The girl was so nice she actually walked us to the hostel. M said we were going to her restaurant for dinner as thanks and we agreed. It turned out to be the best decision ever. It was a yakitori place where everything was 280 Yen and the food was simple but so so yummy. For dessert we had these giant frozen strawberries stuffed with condensed milk, and warm brownies that were soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. The latter was so good we ordered a total of eight servings no joke. The waiter’s expression when we ordered the second four was of shock. Gaijin fatties.

After dinner it was raining so we walked back to the hostel.

I’m so sleepy. Going to bed. MD is owning ass in thirteen, B is catching up, and T is getting ass-raped.

Good Morning :)

I’m in the Asahiplaza Shinsaibashi hotel in Osaka, we just arrived last night.

By the time we set everything down and went out most places were closed, but there were still a lot of people walking around. We sort of just went walking aimlessly exploring. There was someone standing on the corner of every sidewalk. It would always be a young person, wearing all black and wearing a long skirt. I have no idea what they do but am curious.

We walked around the Dotonburi and it was cold so we went into the first cafe we came across. It was like a tea party place with poofy flowery sofas and tiny tables. After we sat down, the waiter brought us water and menus and we realised there was nothing we wanted to eat. They had things like hot chocolate and latte and waffles and cake with no explanation of what kind. Even back home it would’ve been too rude to walk out, so we were stuck with “one order minimum per person” and high prices. MD suggested we all order toast which was the cheapest thing on the menu, but that would have looked totally dumb and nobody wanted toast anyway. In the end we all ordered cheap drinks but the bill still came to 6,030 yen.

The Capsule hotel felt a little bit claustrophobic and reminded me of a morgue. It was however really clean and toiletries were provided so we didn’t have to shop for them first. The showers were communal. Only J and I were up for it, and that was when the showers were completely empty. I’m so glad we’re only here for one night because it’s just too inconvenient. We had lockers to keep things that we need immediately and luggage was kept downstairs. If we wanted to access them we have to see the front desk first and present our receipt, and when we were done the luggage gets put back into the storage room. Our Capsules and lockers are located downstairs through locked doors so it was a bitch running back and forth especially if we forget something.

Today we’re doing exactly what we did last night except everything would be open and we’ll keep out of Dolores Umbridge cafe.