i-am-always-lost

[i-am-always-lost]

"more than words" ED4 Shibuya locations

Many thanks to the hardworking Jujutsu Kaisen fans who find these places. Credit to @/M79_yy on twitter. They've got better photos so check them out. Also, the JJK Google Earth project. I just wanted to link to Google Street View so you can really immerse yourself. Lol

Stairs by Rockaholic.

Bicycle garage.

Windows

Cerulean Tower

Graffitied fans by the stairs.

Cosmic Slope. Crates in front of this restaurant. Can't get a Street View from inside the alleyway.

Same alleyway. It has the Spanish restaurant behind Megumi but it's not on Google Street View yet.

Near the beginning(?) of Cosmic Slope. You can see the red bench across the street of the rails. It's near the alleyway.

Across the street from Shibuya Labor & Welfare building.

The telephone booth that was across the street.

Down the street to in front of PARCO.

Hachiko Memorial statue.

Shibuya 109 (Couldn't resist adding the Halloween 360 view.)

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 25 | Yokohama

I have been planning to go to Yokohama ever since the first week I've been in Tokyo.

For some reason, that iconic (for me at least) Ferris wheel from Honey and Clover has always been in my head since 2007. I don't even think it's the one from Yokohama but that started my fascination for Ferris Wheels. I've never even been on a proper one. I think the only one I've been on is the two story high one in Sunway Pyramid. PLEASE DONT LAUGH AT ME!

Been putting it off because I know it requires a full day and I don't get many full days. Because I waste my full days on studying (this is for my parents)! Yay! Plus it's bloody far away. It takes 1.5 hours and FOUR lines to get from the nerimatakanodai station to yokohama. But believe it or not, there is a direct train. It changes automatically. Color me surprised because my station is small, obscure and very far away. It goes from the seibu Ikebukuro line -> Fukutoshin metro -> Tokyo Tokyu metro (passing by Shibuya) and one more which I forgot to get to Montomachi Chuukagai (China town stop). You never know who would google this. Hello to Kyoko's future homestay guests!

Of course, Ferris wheel obsession aside, I was attracted to Yokohama for an entirely different reason.

Pilgrimage no 2!!

For those of you watching Bungou Stray Dogs (probably only two of my friends), you will know that it's set in Yokohama. It's a beautiful seaside town - bad description- one of the oldest and major ports in Japan. It is heavy with infrastructure yet beautiful in its own way. Other people know it as the place where the ramen museum is located. I know it as a port area.

tl;dr: No regrets coming here but might have regretted going to the ramen museum earlier than expected. Covered MOST of the places from BSD.

But you wouldn't want a tl;dr when you just clicked 'Read More', don't you?

How did I travel around?

I painstakingly planned out all locations according to a Crunchyroll article screenshots of the real life comparisons with the anime ones. SHOUTOUT TO YI EN BC I couldn't access the website in Japan. Okay, it didn't take that long and it was pretty fun. I ended up walking all over Yokohama though because of bad planning on my part. Also I got distracted by the ramen museum so I ended up missing one hour  of daylight.

Some fucked up route I took

For some reason, I stayed on past Yokohama and went all the way to Chinatown, which cost like 210 yen more! My brain thought that it would be the easiest starting point (which it was) so I went there. It was dead empty on a 9:30AM Wednesday morning, no doubt. Shops were opening slowly but pretty much no sign of life. So I decided to stand in the middle of the street to take a photo. TIP: Do not do this. There might be cars.

Got the shot!

Unfortunately, I couldn't see many similarities aside from the sign. I might have been at the wrong entrance as there are a number of entrances. The one in the anime has red poles and they have different store fronts surrounding it. Oh well!

Walked in Chinatown for a bit and saw tian hou gong. Pretty Chinese of them to have it right smack in the center of China town, lol! 

After that, I went to the park (you can observe the “logical” sequence)

The view from the deck was so amazing. You can see the Yokohama view and bridge from here. I didnt knew how to take less shitty photos though.

There was a flower garden near by as well with a nice fountain.

This is near the exit of the park where the girl wanted to surrender her crimes to the nearest police station from the anime.

Motomachi shopping street. This street looks quite fancy with all the fancy shops along the street. Even the roads look like they are right out from an anime. But you can see its very European-esque.

After that, I walked past this doll museum so I just went in randomly. It was 400 yen and the dolls were pretty creepy looking. The museum was designed like a huge, pink dollhouse! 

Entry ticket

Historical japanese dolls where they displayed dolls according to their geographical regions of Japan. They had international dolls too. The Malaysian one was in some traditional Malay outfit lol.

After that, I walked along the pier to get to the bay area where the ferris wheel and brickhouse was located.

Inside the brickhouse place was a shopping area! One of the shops that was interesting was this fake food shop. Look at the toasts!!! 

I bought a piece of salmon! It found its permanent spot on my bag pack now hehe.

Ferris wheel scene near one of Yokohama’s theme park. You will definitely see it near the pier.

Not quite the angle but trust me, this was the best I could get.

Yokohama’s Customs (Queens tower)

Okay. I walked past this building before heading to the ramen museum so the sequence is a little messed up. Honestly, I shouldnt have went to the Ramen Museum if I wanted to take good photos in the day but I still went anyway! 

The Ramen Museum near the Ferris Wheel (apparently there’s a nicer and larger one at Shin Yokohama which i HIGHLY regret not going to because of time constraint - I really should have skipped dinner that night) was pretty good, but I wouldnt waste my time if i were you and just go to the one at Shin Yokohama. At the very least, I got to customized my own Ramen cup and learnt a little about the Ramen history! Nissin is the main brand if you wondering. I never knew it was Japanese from the packaging when I used to see it at the local Asian grocer.

The interior looks damn nice and atas ok,

Vending machines for you to get empty cups. Customized ones are about 300 yen each!

This is how it looks like pre cooked.

After this experience, I think I’m a Nissin convert now. (They actually have laksa flavours at Hometown (Elizabeth Street near my Melb apartment) 

OKAY. SORRY FOR THE DETOUR (maybe I should do a two parter...)

The Yokohama Port Opening Memorial Hall.

I know this is a horrible photo but all my other photos could barely be seen due to the direction of the sun!! I took this photo around 4pm and the sun was so setting so quickly. This was when I realized I should have planned my whole pilgrimage better. Wasted too much time at the Ramen Museum.

Museum of History and Culture of Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama

As you can see, the skies are getting darker with every photo heh. 

The police station featured in the anime!

(this is the photo with the Kevin filter - wanted to give it the orange tinge. The sun was setting when I took this photo but it didnt hit the building :( )

Yokohamabashi Shopping District.

I remember the moment when I finally reached this street - it was such a long day and it was getting so dark at merely 5:30 (fuck winter, seriously), and I felt so relieved that I found most of the places featured on Crunchyroll! Sadly, I didnt get to find the bridge shot and the pier, plus the big longkang featured in episode 1. But I’m happy enough.

Inside the shopping street. 

It’s pretty old in comparison to the Motomachi shopping street and it is mainly selling food stuff - its like a market!

After that, I took the train home. I was lucky enough to only switch twice tbh! I was on the same train that automatically switched lines 4 times (i love Japan for almost 30 stops. The train ride was like 90 minutes long and I even made it back for dinner.

Yokohama is seriously one of the nicest, prettiest places in the world. I think I just personally love ports (Docklands, Yokohama, Port Klang (lol jk)) because of that fantastic ocean view in contrast with the city skyline.

ugh bring me back pls

If you have the chance, go to Yokohama or Kanagawa or just fucking both bc the views are definitely worth. Pictures cannot describe the feeling that you will experience. I promise that it will be worth it.

One day, I’m going back to Yokohama to complete my pilgrimage.

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 24 | Typical School Day in Japan

This is literally one day where I did nothing because all the action was happening on Day 25. But for the purpose of just writing something...I will tell you about a typical school day in Japan.

A school field right opposite the uni. It looks like those typical anime baseball fields  doesnt it?!

6:30AM (it gets progressively later from Day 1 onwards)  : Waking up, showering, breakfast (if I have time!)

7:58AM: Train departs from my station. It usually takes me 10 minutes to walk from home to the train station. This is my favorite part of the day because the sun will be shinning and there’s just something about a nice, sunny day during Winter. January also happens to be one of the months with the most sun. I guess this compensates the bitter, cold weather :D If I dont get this, I will get the 8:04 one, or the one after. They come fairly frequently for this small station (thank God). I’m going to write about the transportation system if I have not.

8:45AM: This is the usual time that I reach my station. From there, I walk to uni. If I want to get off a station closer to uni, I would have to transfer trains which is a hassle because of my short legs TT. Normally, I would walk straight to class and sit awkwardly. As time passes by, I learnt how to stop by convenience stores to get snacks. Such a bad habit but who in the world can resist food from convenience stores?!

9:15AM: Business and Economics Class

11AM: Media and Contemporary Class

12:30PM: Lunch! Most of my classmates just head downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch. In comparison to the prices off campus, its very reasonable.They range from 300-500 yen for a complete meal. I always get the 390 yen rice bowl with fried chicken lol.

1-5:30PM: It really depends! If I were actually studying here for the semester, I reckon I would actually be in the library for the whole 6 hours lol! I did spend a significant amount at the library for the time that I was here <_<, but obviously...nah I spent so much time here doing assignments that I dont recall going anywhere else. But hey, you could look it up in my other blog entries :p If I;m not studying, I’m probably exploring or shopping at Ikebukuro. 

5:30 - 7:00PM: The time where I depart for home. Hint: DO NOT TRAVEL BETWEEN 5-7PM ITS PEAK PERIOD and you might not be able to find a seat for 17 stops in a row while being squashed front and back like a human sandwich. 4PM is completely safe, 4:30 is pushing it but 5 - 5 is a death wish. But I guess 5 is arguably better than 6. It takes me about an hour to reach home.

7:30PM: Kyoko (my homestay mom) cooks dinner! Sometimes when she is out, her husband will cook. They cook amazing meals - as mentioned here - you can check it out. After that, I stay and chat for a little while with my housemates. This is pretty much the only time we interact during the day. The latest I’ve stayed for a conversation was till 11PM I think!

9:30PM: I head back upstairs to my room and I almost always fall asleep at this time, just to wake up at 12AM trying to get back to sleep again.

12AM: Waking up for no reason.Going back to sleep again

I..really miss this schedule. I missed the days where every inch of time was put to use. I also miss the days where my days had a purpose because of the limited time I had. It was like living in an alternate universe where I had absolutely nothing to worry about. 

But all good things come to an end.

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 23 | Yotsuya

After an intense class today, we went to have lunch at the Yotsuya area since we were sick of cafeteria food. I mean we only had a week left! We weren't going to waste our lunches on cheap but tasty food. Did that just contradict everything I said? Anyway.

One of the things that I love to do, in case you have not realized, is make comparisons of anime scenes and real life situations. It's so meta. Knowing that the Suga shrine stairs were near, I had to check it out. My lunch squad was interested too, so we ALL went.

Picture for reference:

From Sophia university, go left pass the Yotsuya metro station and go straight until you see the Yotsuya middle school. Turn left and go all the way up till you see the stairs! It was such an iconic scene that I personally felt that I couldn't miss.

cant believe i didnt take any pictures of the stairs itself well done ml

We ended up having a fun photo shoot for a solid 20 minutes or so. Excuse the shitty face, it has been an emotional half day at that point. Someone presented my presentation topic this morning without me knowing it but I chose another topic, and it turned out to be way better than my original topic

Anyway, there was a temple on top of the stairs. Fun fat, temples and shrines are build up high as a symbolism of the Gods looking over us.

After our photo shoot, we were searching for lunch. Stubborn me wanted Taiyaki even though I don't even like Taiyaki. I recalled seeing a stall by the roadside selling it but I couldn't remember which store. So I googled, and it took me to another store instead.

We queued for 30 minutes in the cold.

But it was worth it! Way more than the one at Roppongi. This one was beautifully fresh, with the right amount of red bean to dough. It fit perfectly in my frozen hands and melted right in my mouth. Okay it didn't melt bc red bean paste is solid af but it was literally heaven in all six senses. You can hear your other senses processing this sensation- ok I'm getting carried away. But make sure to try this Taiyaki in this secluded alleyway.

I bought three and ate two for lunch, one for my other groupmate. I really hope she didn't throw it away. It was bribery to get her to work with me. She didn't tell me how her Taiyaki experience went and I ended up finding the materials bc she couldn't.

Sometimes in life, you deal with people who are not bad, but just people who do not fit in your ideals. And then people who make you feel welcomed and accepted. I'm really grateful for the people who hung out with me today so shoutout to my lunch crew if y'all are reading this 🙌

Went through so many emotions in one day until I lost count. Was feeling really tired and drained by the time I got home but then I remembered that we were going to a Shinkansen sushi place! OF ALL DAYS. They were about to depart as I got home. I begrudgingly squashed into the backseat with two other large guys, looking like an emo 15 year old kid with my earphones stuck in my ears.

this grilled cheese thing on ebi was so good

Everything changed once I found out that it would be the last night I will be seeing my Spanish friend though. I immediately switched my face and started conversing like a normal human being again. The endless plates (ok it was 50 for 6 people) of sushi helped. The fresh tempura in my mind cheered me up immensely. We went to sushiro by the way, a pretty good 100 yen sushi chain store!

But it was the short car ride back to the house that made my night. For some reason, I felt really sentimental being with my host mother at that moment. Maybe she sort of reminded me of my grandma, maybe her kindness towards me since day 1 shone through as she shoved a blanket on my lap to keep me warm on the way back, or maybe it was the emotional long day I had. I actually started tearing up.

Damn ok, I will cut back on the feels! This is supposed to be a documentary of my life in Japan, together with tips and tricks for traveling in Tokyo. But yes, nothing much really happened today so I had to layer it on with the emotional context. That's all for now!

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 23 | Ishikawa-San

I wanted to blog about this as well as my Your Name encounter because I felt the strong need to get this story out to the small amount of people who read my blog. Maybe you will read this post today and tell your friends and family around you about his story. After all, that is what Ishikawa san wants.

Today in media class, our lecturer brought in a guest speaker- a man who was wrongly accused/ convicted of murdering and raping a high school girl 54 years ago who also escaped death sentence and is awaiting retrial. It was the discrimination against the burakku-min that contributed to this outcome.

Transcript and summary of what I heard today in class:

Ishikawa san self admitted that he was a socially ignorant man who locked up for 23 years due to the lack of knowledge in the situation he was in - surrendering to a case that he did not commit on his innocent brother’s behalf as his brother was the breadwinner of the family. His brother was wrongly accused for a crime he did not commit. Ishikawa san was sentenced to death but escaped death.

Ishikawa san’s background:

He was brought up in a poor family. Had 10 brothers and sisters, none of them had higher education, and he envies at our privilege looking at us university students. As a result, they never had enough food for the family, and he grew up eating chicken feet. When he was in fifth grade, Ishikawa san sent to work in some business and was provided accommodation, he worked there till he was 18. At 18, he returned illiterate due to the lack of opportunity for education. After that, he went to employment agency and got a job, worked for four years. Got a girlfriend after that, and frequently worked overtime. His boss saw him as honest and earnest, and he was appointed leader of the shop eventually. Things seem to be going well at this point.

However, when you are in an responsible position, reports and paperwork are often required. Due to this illiteracy, his friend had to always help him. After some time, that was revealed and he was fired. After that, got a construction job where he didn't have to read or write. 6 months later, he was made into a rapist and murderer of the high school girl.

Prison days:

In prison, he met this ward officer who had a strong sense of justice and he learned how to read and write there for 8 years. He learned from the officers in the afternoon once he finds out that he does not get death penalty in the morning. Death penalties run from 9-12AM daily and if you didnt get to the chopping board, you get to survive the day. He lived like this for decades. Ishikawa san got his word out by writing letters to his supporters all over the nation to pass information on to the media. The media was more accepting towards him when they found evidence to prove Ishikawa san innocent and started changing their perspective away from the discrimination of burrakumin people as well. 

Post prison days:

5 years ago went to UN Geneva and appealed the law of police restraining people for many days without being able to see their lawyers (when it should only be hours). The people in UN were surprised to find out that  in Japan even if a suspect is not proven guilty, they would have to be locked up for 32 years (for Ishikawa san’s case), everyone at UN was surprised. He appealed them to talk to jap gov, and they did directly negotiate with Japanese government.

Thanks to science, tech and medicine, innocence proven by evidence. By the end of this year, he is expecting retrial is going to be granted. After his guilt is proven innocent, he would like to go to a night school and get education. He would also like to spend rest of his life studying and working to eliminate discrimination. If he live 32 years from now, he will be over 100, so he wants to be healthy in order to live past a 100. He is 78 years old now, and the way he sees it is if he lives past a 100, the amount of time that he was discriminated against would eliminate discrimination faced by his children and grandchildren.

Because of the injustive of Japanese law that made an innocent man locked up, there were angry voices reasoning with him and helping him fight the system. Would like to pay back the people that help, and he would want us(uni students who were his audience) to fight discrimination.

Sachiko ishikawa san (wife) gave a speech as well, following Ishikawa san’s speech.

She was honored that we were interested in her husband’s story and she would like us to  take back the story to our respective countries and tell at least one person and spread the word . Her husband was sentenced to death only by six months trial. It has been��54 years since the case. Of the 54 years, locked up for 32 years and wrongly accused. 

Surrounding this case, she highlighted two points:

discrimination against burakku community and

injustice 

Discrimination against the Burraku community

Burakku discrimination is like the Indian class system. Class doesn't exist anymore in their society, but still has influence over job hunting and marriage based on family background. When this case was investigated, they believed criminal was from the burakku community cos that's what the media reported. Mainstream media believed that criminals were all born in burakku. However, this was 54 years ago. But now, people in the Burraku community are standing up and raising voices, to try to eradicate and work against discrimination in Burraku. They would have to continue this activism as there is still hate speech against minority community.

Her story:

Sachiko san was also born in burakku community (western Japan). Since young, her parents and people around her told her that she should hide the fact she was born in burakku. There wasnt much of a difference on the surface having the same skin color and all, so even if she hid her identity no one will know. Since she was hiding, she was able to get jobs - but she still faced discrimination while finding marriage.

She didn't have any means to protest against , and that's where she learned about ichikawa san's case. Learned that he was learning how to read and write through prisons, but his messages still got out of the prison and spread throughout Japan His message at that time was you can't possibly run away from discrimination forever, you have to stand up and face it one day. Because of his words, she learnt that she should not hide her true identity anymore and found a new way of living. That's when she joined the movement against the buraaku discrimination and the fight against the injustice faced by Ishikawa san.

There are still lots of kids in burakku community, so they will go visit them and tell them to get education as he did not want them to be in his position if anything similar happened to them. Another strong feeling he had was never to repeat admitting to wrong accusations. 

It's very difficult to the wrongly accused to appeal to the justice system in Japan, even after 54 years they are still hiding evidence. Ichikawa san wants to tell justice ministry to have a fair trial and give away all the single evidences. They still go to Tokyo high court and have protest once in a while by demanding the prosecutor to give away evidence and have fair trial. They plan to do the same at January 26 and feb 2nd Sachiko san ended her speech by thanking us for having them there and she said that 

No one should be locked up without any reason in any country

Q & A

Did you lose hope?

I never gave up hope, as soon as he learned he was wrongly accused and was determined to stand up and tell his story

Faith in the criminal justice system?

Judges in court houses only listen to prosecutors. Feel that judges don't listen to people's voices too often

Parents’ occupations?

Father hired by some other farmers, weed the farms

How did you adjust in society after being in the prison for 34 years?

Really surprised! When he went in, only pebbled roads, after he coming out surprised to see the development

Why are police still withholding evidence?

Yes, think it's true they have to save face cos it will be proven that he is not guilty

Did he ever get to meet the murdered girls family

Condition for his probation not to meet family of the deceased

Did any media get his story when he was locked up?

Earlier on, media were only writing negative things about him and burakku (first 10 years) Now they are writing positive things Saitama newspaper and Tokyo shimbun were amongst the first to report

During his prison days, were there any similar cases?

Yes, 4 people who were locked up life imprisonment, they were eventually let go though

How was the process of learning to read and write in prison conducted?

Yes, it was strict but at that time he didn't know. Was awaiting death sentence in mornings (9-12) - when they didn't come to get him, teach him how to write the person who taught him how to write and read saved his life If he was caught he would be fired

Why did he had to admit his crime?

have to say bc police made him say it "It must be your older brother," but his brother was bread winner, so he admitted

How do they look at him in the society?

Most people already knew he was innocent, so even he went back to his village, people were supportive

Any other evidence aside from the confession?

Most surprising thing: fountain pen was supposed to belong to the victim but it ended up in his house With the science these days, proved that the fountain pen did not belong to the victim, only found out last year!

Any evidence AGAINST him?

wrist watch that was handed to him BY the police

How they pay for legal proceedings?

Retrial- legal team of 30 lawyers mostly working as volunteers, national network of burakku community

Do you think the girl's family knows the story?

he doesn't know

What's his secret at looking good at 78?

10 years after he came out, running a few kms/minute 20,000 steps every day now!!

Pensions from the government?

no

How did the husband and wife meet?

Year after he came out, they met at a rally, started talking and hit it off

Has his brother told him not to take the blame

brother said he shouldn't do that, but they weren't able to meet for a long time, only after he visit him and had death sentence only his brother was allowed to visit.

Only interacted with other immates when he go out to field to do physical exercise.

END

After the class, I took photos with his wife and asked details for the court hearings that were going to be held a few days after this. Unfortunately I didnt go -- and I felt really sorry for not going. But here I am writing this to my limited audience, hoping that this can be spread to the people reading this. After all, it is a social responsibility.

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 22 | Kanda Myojin shrine

I knew I had to work on my assignments before I was officially screwed and crying on Wednesday night. But at the same time, I wanted to go to places - a matsuri in particular. Matsuri are Japanese festivals and they are often the lovely night ones you see on animes. Sadly, I missed out on a big one last week *clenches fist*. So I did some last minute googling and found the Daikoku festival.

It was nothing like what I imagined. Just the temple being slightly crowded on a Sunday morning 😨. Almost like 天后宫 on the second day of Chinese New Year? As I was leaving the house, my host mother came up to me and asked me what I was doing for the day as she took unconsented videos and pictures of me. She likes to report to my mother for no reason. I told her my plans for Kanda Myojin and she was surprised (but then she's always surprised when I go to places). Asked her whether she wanted to join and she said yes! She pulled a new guy from Brazil along too.

Reached the otemesashi(can't remember the name) station and got off. It was the same station I got off for Akiba the last time! Apparently it's just next to Akiba. All the districts are really close by and in walkable distances, which I love!

Our host mother was the navigator for the temple. We passed by a random temple and she suggested that we could go in as people usually pray for good studies in this temple. Also you can see both of them in front of me heh heh.

After that, we got out and walked a long distance ...just to realized that we came to a full circle and that Kanda Myojin was just located RIGHT behind the study temple! Oh well. We were not using google maps or any sort, just a paper map.

All shrines are beautiful, including this one! The Daikoku festival is basically a Japanese 财神 that blesses you on your business. Did the traditional thing where you wash your hands and rinse your mouth. Except I always swallow. You are not supposed to swallow, that's what she said ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). I missed out on the fish slicing action for being too late! Kinda disappointed bc I was hoping to catch that. At least I caught some traditional dancing though.

There was also a horse next to the Daikoku god. My host mother kept stroking it and I found her so adorable. I realized that she was talking to this other older lady and I didn't want to interrupt them. Don't you just love how old people bond? It was until she was STILL with us at the exit that I asked, is that your friend? She stared at me and said, it's my cousin.

Awkward.

I told her that we should definitely invite her to lunch, especially after learning that she came ALL the way from Chiba just to meet my host mum at the Kanda Myojin temple. Apparently she did not pray as her husband passed away recently and it was against traditions to pray.

Guess where I went for lunch?

Ha! I was determined to leave without any regrets. Jokes, I already have half a luggage full of regrets, other half is filled with food. My first regret is not extending my stay 😅

in my defense mobile phone usage wasnt allowed in the shop (as written on the sign) so I couldnt take it from that angle :p I could only take a quick shot from where I was sitting!

VERDICT: For the price, it was pretty amazing. I only paid 480 yen for this! It wasn't mind blowingly amazing, or a must go place but I really loved it. The only place where I can think of and put 'mind blowing' to it is probably the Taiyaki place - oops not sure whether I covered this already or not! Spoiler: I'm writing all these posts in the future if you don't know already :p There was a line though, for all the cheap prices and I can say that I'm glad that I went. Headed to the library after that. Honestly, one day I would probably look back and regret not staying in Akihabara for the afternoon. Nevertheless, I had a productive three hours before heading home.

There are so many things undone, and so many words unsaid. You really feel this when you have to choose between two things (studying and basically travelling). Unfortunately you can't choose all story paths, you can only explore one future. Same concept for time traveling animes bruh, except they usually get to explore many. Thinking about this makes my brain hurt. Don't think about the endless possibilities - but by reading this you probably started thinking didn't you?

-wistful pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 21 | Tsukiji & Ueno

Ueno is the prettiest place in Tokyo. YOU HAVE TO GO IF YOU EVER VISIT.

Went to fulfill my Tsukiji cravings. You know how you just suddenly crave something because you didn't have it the other time? Well that was me. Mentioned to my housemate over dinner that I was going to Tsukiji and he expressed his interest. Was meeting up with my other classmates from class so I asked him to join us.

We were OBVIOUSLY too late for the auction which was 4-6 in the morning. Trains don't even run that early. So we reached around 11:40. I set that time bc I'm pretty sure no one would bothered waking up on a Saturday. After spending a good half an hour finding them, we went for lunch.

Introduced T to Unagi. He fell in love (not with me). This beautiful bowl was 2000 yen but I insisted on sharing it with him so I could be cheap and just pay half. Well, it worked. It's always hard asking for money goddamnit. After that, we walked around and had the famous 100 yen egg roll.

It's...different. Wasn't used to it being sweet but I bought an entire packet despite that! I'm not even done with it yet and it expires on the 24th.

White Peach soft serve! Apparently, white peach is a very famous flavour in Japan.

This black sesame mochi like thing which was very soft.

I still dont know what meat this is.

It’s more interesting than what my pictures are showing! It was also really packed, which I felt that I didnt capture really well. Briefly after that, my friends left for Ikebukuro,leaving me with just T. Wanted to go Ueno but he didn't want to join me so we parted ways.

Ueno park

Best decision ever.

Missed out on Ueno during the school trip because I registered late lol. Honestly, I didn't expect myself coming all the way here (okay it's just next to Akihabara) because frankly I had zero expectations and I thought it was just like Yoyogi park, which had nothing. I was delightfully wrong!

Ueno park is a park WITH science and art museums, an art gallery/exhibition space, shrines, a zoo, and random fountains. Near the main Ueno station, there are two big streets as well for you to shop. You can easily spend a day in Ueno.

First shrine I visited was across the park.

It looks so heavenly under the light im telling you

Dead lian ou.

Shrines are my thing. Well, you basically wash your hands in the cold weather, pray, and empty your coins into the temple box thing but yeAH, as someone who aims to get as many beautiful pictures as I can, shrines are photography havens for me. The AESTHETIC. The ARCHITECTURE. HISTORY. FLAVOUR. PICTURE.

Random animals. Even the animals in Japan are cuter.

I'm not sure whether you get me at this point but I like shrines. Even though they are pretty boring.

Pretty shrines with the red colored bamboo thingies where you can only find in Kyoto. Met a woman from Peru there who took a Picture for me!

...the picture is in my camera.

I LOVE this place. You cant find a view anywhere else in the City. (lol im making an assumption)

A different one! 

Also backstory: There was a peony farm but it cost 2,000 yen to go in so I was like nope I aint paying that amount of money to take photos. I did took a photo of a single peony though. It was growing on an extended branch beyond the fence.

Some golden shrine/ temple like thing. I actually took a brohure but my lazy ass cant be bothered looking it up

Passed by the zoo but didnt bother.

Tokyo National Art Gallery/ Museum

It looks very modern and futuristic! Really wished I took more photos on my phone.

Caligraphy by students. Kinda reminded me of primary school days during Chinese New Year.

Tokyo National Museum

I noticed that there was a very strong cock theme in the museum. Could be due to the fact that it is the year of the Rooster?

Half asleep at the museum, I took out my phone in a feeble attempt to connect to the non existent wifi. Filled with inappropriate cock jokes on my snapchat, I connected to my dying 4G and posted them. And then I saw Michelle's snapchat story, she was at Ueno!

Not really sure whether I was filled with euphoria of meeting someone I know after being alone for three hours or what, I spammed her with caps locked messages. We ended up meeting up (after going to the wrong train station entrance a couple of times) and we went tor dessert.

The dessert was heaven omfg guys. Tsukiji (a famous Jap restaurant worldwide) has nothing on it. Jk I've never tried anything from Tsukiji. But I trusted Michelle, she trusted the queue. Best matcha ice cream I've ever had in my life.

Store name: Anmitsu Mihashi Uenohonten

I didnt take this photo, I’ll admit! But this photo is so much more nicer than anything I had. Anyway, it was HEAVEN IN A BOWL.

We ended up walking around Ueno and I had kebabs for dinner (I really miss my heart stopping HSPs ok). At one point, we went into a generic game store and she suggested to do purikura.

#welp i will update this part with purikura photos once i upload photo from my cam.

ALL I CAN SAY IS I'm glad I did it. Even though it was an intense few minutes posing for the camera when your face is not camera ready. Let's face it, I'm NEVER camera ready. It was a really fun half an hour we spent decorating our photos!  

That concludes my day! Bottom line, Ueno is a great place to go for a first time tourist and you shouldn't miss out if you have a free day.

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 20 | Ginza

Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to visit the Tokyo Station. So after school, I set off to Ginza, with Ginza initially in mind. But I ended up outside the prime minister's office, the DIET building, and the Tokyo Station. People would hate traveling with me -- I change my mind faster than Waze recalculating a route if I were to drive.

Having the privilege to learn about the Iron Triangle and a little bit about the Japanese government through my classes, I was curious about where they worked. On my way to Ginza, I saw the stop for the diet building so I got off.

Prime minister’s office entrance

There was nothing there, absolutely nothing except for many glass buildings. The glass buildings were pretty though -- a very concrete jungle vibe! My shitty photography skills do not capture what I want to express.

It was shit weather day -- snowing but not snowing at the same time. In the past 20 or so days that I've been here, 17.5 out of 20 days were sunny. I can distinctly remember which days were rainy -- it was the Sunday before Akihabara (Day 8) and the Monday on Akihabara (Day 9) itself. It wasn't too much snow until it looked like some Christmas movie-- it was dandruff like where it felt and looked like disappointment. And it was cold as fuck in general! Tbh the past two days were worse than the actual snowing day itself. So the pictures look gloomy and dark, just like Malaysia's skies (and future).

Went to the Tokyo station and it was very empty as it was not rush hour time. Found out later from my housemate that they were amazing views from the high floors of the departmental store attached to the station. Didn't explore enough to find out though!

Here are some eeriely quiet pictures of the station.

Yi En tagged me in this video on Facebook that was featuring this French patisserie place in Shibuya. Found out that there was a branch near Ginza.

...tbh the fact that it's near Ginza should have clued me in that it's an ATAS as fuck place. And there ain't no big ass macaroon with dripping chocolate.

Here is the view on the way to Ginza!

Next to this atas place was the Yurakucho station, I think. And after walking beyond that station towards the Ginza direction (tbh I wasnt even sure how I managed to navigate there with limited data), I reached the Yurakucho area. Went in this big shop called The Loft. Apparently its a chain departmental store and it’s everywhere! They have amazing choices for gifts and household items.

Bought a pair of boots and uniqlo top. I honestly did not expect myself spending on Ginza. At least I loved the top even though the boots were pretty unbearable. Then again, no shoes I've worn are comfortable.  

Somehow, I felt more overwhelmed and excited when I came to Ginza the last time. Maybe bc it was in the day and everything looks fancier in the day. The night view is still fantastic though! And this time, I bought something from the world's largest uniqlo :p

It was just a normal afternoon off wandering around the Tokyo area, nothing special really. But i will never forget how my hands were freezing in that shit weather, and how I walked back in my new high heeled boots semi regretting my life choices. Nevertheless, every day is a blessing. 😌

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 19 | Dinners

Basically today after class, I spent 8 hours finishing my essay and had the average score that everyone got. Also, My teacher graded it right after reading and there was no feedback?? Then again, I was pretty proud of my effort.

...I have not blogged about my host family's dinner, pretty sure. She serves bomb ass dinners and I am so lucky that I get to eat them every night (well, almost. The 8 hour essay cost me my dinner!) but yes, I have been unintentionally bulking because my host mother cooks so much.

...that totally looks like one of the Sukiyaki nights we had. 

Vegetables

I cant remember what that was, but one of the dishes was sweet potato. The other was some rice cake material thing and the other was brinjal? Either way it was goooood.

Curry rice with sweet onion

Yes, everyone knows curry. The curry here is not typical served with pork cutlets, its just curry with bits of meat. I should talk about the onions here! They are really huge and crispy and sweet. It is also sour and pickled. I also realized that they put a lot of onions in Japanese dishes.

Gyudon

Beef bowls are probably one of my favorite things in the world. Best comfort food! The savoury salty beef and sweet rice compliments each other so well and melts in your mouth (◡‿◡✿)

Okonomiyaki

My host mother loves to serve this as dessert. I know, its weird right?! Being savoury and all. Every time after a heavy dinner, she would carry this out and asked us whether we had a second stomach for this. Betsubara is the Japanese term for it.

Udon

Sukiyaki

There isnt much difference between the OG one and the one in Malaysia tbh, they are equally tasty! The one that my host mother served probably had more variety of ingredients.

Rice with some chicken stuff

Main dish isnt really some exotic dish, but my side dish is pretty cool. We have fish (a very strong fishy taste), a sweet fruit thing, and some fish wrapped in nori.

Sake

I learnt that the proper way to drink sake was to put the sake glass in a plate, and then your server will pour sake until it overflows. You have to drink everything from the plate then or else it wouldnt be polite ^^

Chicken with tamago on rice

Dango

Just your typical Japanese rice based snack! Its some sort of savoury sweet sauce that I cant point out on top of it. It was pretty good but I think I prefer daifukus over this heh. 

I will make a post on snacks from convenience stores soon!

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 18 | Disney Sea

A very controversial post for my parents. But to sum it up, I'm glad I gave up the time that I could be spending on my essay to go to Disney Sea.

In NORMAL circumstances, I would have definitely rejected outright if someone suggested to cut homework time for fun, sacrificing the possibilities for obtaining a higher grade. But weighing the opportunity costs, I made a last minute decision (literally at 10am on the same day) to go to Disney Sea instead of the library.

Went into the Sunkus (convenience store) near my house with 32% hope and 68% of acceptance of my fate : spending my day in the library. SURPRISE, SURPRISE. THEY SELL TICKETS!! That eliminated my fear on not being able to get tickets at the gate, this double confirming my attendance for sea. Sugoi~~!

Went there and met three other classmates. Two of them had a two day pass and they went to Disneyland prior this day, so they pretty much bonded a lot over the last 24 hours that they weren't apart. I'm not going to say that it was mostly awkward trailing behind-- because I had a lot of fun even though that happened <.< I really enjoyed experiencing time hanging out with different groups of people (by this time, I have hanged out with approximately 4 different groups in different occasions? I eat lunch with one group, shop with another, Disneyland and harajuku'd with another group. And of course there are my housemates. I have to say-- it's tiring. It's tiring having to adjust to different people on intimate settings when you are not immediately familiar with them, especially being a person who warms up to other people only after several occasions of interaction. Nevertheless, always good to take the first step and see who is compatible is who isn't.

Anyway, DISNEY SEA!

My schedule:

Got there around 11am. Have to say -- the monorail there is lit as. Look at the DANGLING HAND RAIL THINGS. ITS MICKEY. Magic starts as you leave Maihama station guys. Met H and J at the raging spirits ride. Bought a chicken leg beforehand (shortest queue of the day) bc you simply HAVE to.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

IN MY DEFENSE THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH SHOULD BE DARK ANYWAY

First ride of the day! NOW, im not a ride person. The last thrilling ride I went on was the fucking speedy one that goes indoors and outdoors in Genting Highlands. But i could say that the awkwardness took over the nervousness. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Was totally entertained by H in the crew who was talking for the whole 80-90 minutes when we were in line 😂

VERDICT: IT WAS FUN AND I DIDNT DIE. 9/10 will recommend. It started off slow, then it got dark, then it sped up so quickly and went downhill (literally), and then it was over way too quickly. Savour the 4 minutes after waiting for more than an hour!

Lunch at this American themed place

I dont think i have photos for this :( but the reuben was really good. Disney food in Japan is really good in general!

The boat thingy

After that, me (third wheel) and K (fourth wheel) wandered off as the other two had fast passes for tower of terror. K claimed that ToT had a different narrative from what she experienced in the California one. I proceeded to learn about the minority representation in video games for the next hour while sitting in a weird ass boat that jerked every 5 seconds on water - which is not at all enjoyable but it was something to do.

Toy Story ride!!

Easily the best ride in Disney Sea. Idk, i might be biased but this was pure fun! Queued up for 110 minutes but the short 10 minutes or so was worth it. Subconsciously felt like those characters in a Taiwanese idol drama where they looked like they were having fun at fun fairs, except i really felt it! Basically you sit your seat and they whisk you around to shoot fake 3D balls using real canon puller things.

Aladdin canoe ride

I switched my Spotify playlist to Arabian Nights for this section. The Arabian front was so beautiful. They replicated the landscape pretty damn well- this goes for every other section of Disney as well. The aesthetics were 10/10. Unfortunately most of the photos are on my camera. We explored around and took the canoe ride. The characters are actually really well built and flawless! This was a comment from (K I think), in comparison to the one in Florida.

My little mermaid

🎶 Under the Sea 🎶

As I mentioned, the aesthetics are on point - THIS INCLUDED. It was so beautiful 😍 Got to say, the highlight of the whole place were the sea slugs of course. They were glowy and orangey (perfect description). Went for the teacup rides!

Dinner

Wanted to go for the gondola ride on the fake Venice river, but we couldn't find an entrance of the ride and it was getting late. So we went to dinner at this Italian place nearby. Had the lasagna and was honestly disappointed that it wasn't in a Disney plate. First world problems!

Some fortress

At this point I was so tired of walking till I was literally dragging my body around. But our crew with endless energy decided to explore every nook and cranny of the place. There were so many interesting things around though, just didn't get a single reference of it lel

Titanic ship

I'm not sure what this Columbia ship is in reference to-- but it looked exactly like the Titanic one. Tbh I can't tell, I've only watched about five Disney movies. Does inside out even count? I'm kidding. But the ship was so legit! H went around telling us about how the masks and poles work, not like I was listening completely bc I was half asleep at that point.

FANTASMIC

THE MOMENT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR. It's funny-- i didn't know I was even waiting for this moment until I experienced it. All I can say is it was worth every single second watching the Fantasmic show. Pretty much reminds you why you went to Disney in the first place. Brings the magic to you. Took so many clips of the show until my phone keeps threatening me on storage space every 5 minutes.

VERDICT: You should go if you've never been to say you've been there. The aesthetics and replicas are amazing and easily one of the best I've seen. And if you are a Disney fan, YES?? Confirm can cover most of the rides because it's quite a small park IN COMPARISON with the others. But I honestly wouldn't go again since I've been there :p

Honestly, I know my pictures are pretty crap. That’s because I took most of the photos on my camera! Can’t exactly transfer my photos to the computer as well bc most PCs dont have SD card slots. I owe many people many photos because my camera is apparently “very on point”. So okay. And uploading all these photos takes up a lot of time soz. I know this review isnt very complete and good as well. Might come back to edit though!

- disneyfied pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 16 & 17 | Sophia's library

I've hit rock bottom. I'm blogging about my uni's library bc I haven't been going anywhere due to my academic obligations. I have a nuclear essay and my first economics essay due!! I am here for summer school after all.

Okay, so I'm going to compare Sophia's central library to Ballilieu, Melbourne Uni's oldest and central library.

Sophia has way more floors and it definitely smells better lol.

Pros:

You get to borrow laptops when the computers are occupied

They have water fountains on every floor and you just have to step on a pedal to get water out

They have toilets on every floor

It smells better lmao 

More floors

More space

Quite a lot of plug points but this can be improved

Cons:

they don't have wifi on every floor, especially the computer room floor for your phone (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻) 

Lesser computers..? I'm actually not sure about this

The computer smells like printer ink and it's SUPER hot in there, has the vibe of a sterile office that never sleeps

Closes at 10pm (way too early but then again, trains stop running after midnight so it might be a good thing, also forces you to stop wasting time as well lol)

Needing your student card to get in - now this is not necessary a bad thing bc yeah, you get to control who uses the facilities. On the other hand, damn mafan

But yes, this is my observation after spending a good amount of time in the library. Seriously, TIP: make sure your technological items are in top condition before traveling. Also always prepare backup cos shit always hits you unexpectedly.

-last minute pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 15 | Harajuku and...Okinawa?

A couple of girls from class suggested going to Harajuku during the weekend. Having missed out on Tsukiji market, I felt a little sore. I also knew that I would be slaving away in the computer lab on Mondays and Tuesdays (which is exactly what I am doing right now :p). This post that you are reading is typed on an actual keyboard! So I said yes and hopped on the 10AM train.

We agreed to have brunch but I ate breakfast right before I went out because my host mother cooked this amazing set of eggs and I simply could not resist.

My host mum is a literal dream host mum.

The place we had brunch at was called Eggs n Things, a Hawaiian branch for brunch. LOL. There was a line and we waited approximately 20 minutes until we agreed to just sit out on the terrace in the cold but under the sun. The food was divine. 

Look at all this CREAM.

I really wanted to get something savory, but I wouldnt have gotten this mountain of cream so no regrets here.

My classmates got omelettes!

After that, we walked to Takeshita street; the main street of Harajuku where you are expected to see cosplayers around especially on a weekend. To my disappointment, I only spotted two Lolita girls in a clothing store and this very eccentric guy in pink. The weather was super fucking cold though despite the brilliant beautiful sky, so it was understandable that they would be hiding underneath their blankets in this temperature.

One of the girls wanted to get pink, fluffy things. The strange thing was, she totally looked like someone who is definitely not into pink, fluffy things. I like her personality a lot though. I did get a pink, fluffy item which made me very happy as it is super functional and cute! I’m so obsessed over Gudetama I cannot even. Harajuku did really have many pink themed shops; as well as cosplay costume shops. It was kinda disappointing that I didnt manage to buy any clothing especially when they had mega closing down sales up to 50%. But its always hard for me shopping with other people bc I hate to make people that I am not close with wait for me for a million years.

Pretty sure I broke a lot of laws by taking pictures in the first place, and not turning on the sound when I take pictures. TIP: This is something you should take note of!

We came to a consensus that we were tired after 3 hours of walking and went our separate ways. I wanted to finish my stupid nuclear essay so I planned on walking to this internet cafe which was near to my station. On the way there, I bumped into my Spanish house mate and since he was interested, we went together. I left immediately after looking at the price tag though-- it was so expensive compared to the one I went to at Ikebukuro! We ended up going to a bar. It was something that he suggested to my Austrian housemate (who lives in another house with Netherlands girl but we are under the same host) and I.

The bar was pretty good! To be honest, I wasnt sure what to expect. But it was a really cosy and the owner (Masa-san) was very friendly to us. He gave us appetizers for free!! To be honest I wasnt sure whether it was free or not. Anyway, the place is called Okinawa Heaven’s bar, and it is located in Nerimatakanodai. You should definitely check it out if you are in the area.

It was nice hanging out with my temporary housemates, and being in a different country living a different life with completely different people. Bet you didnt imagine that I would be doing this 15 days ago. I didnt. And I’m very thankful I decided to choose the homestay instead of a cheaper alternative. You learn about other people and you learn about yourself as you communicate with them. I learnt that I was awkward despite talking to anyone from any country in the world LOL.

(I have a group photo but its not with me 🙃)

Can’t believe I’m already halfway through!! AND THERE IS SO MANY PLACES I’VE NOT BEEN TO. BLASPHEMY! 

Yokohama; Kanagawa

Places in Kimi no na wa near Shinjuku and Yotsuya

Odaiba

Disney Sea?!

An onsen :(

THE REST OF JAPAN?!?!?!!!!

Tsukiji fish market

Ueno 

Shinjuku Gyoen Park T_T

Oh my goddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd I have no time left *screams*.

Maybe I should do a places I’ve been to to make myself feel better:

Shinjuku

Shibuya

Roppongi (at night)

Akihabara

Ikebukuro

Harajuku

Yoyogi Park & Meiji Shrine

Akasaka

So basically I’ve not been to anywhere. *screams*. I blame it on my sick days. But I’m not worried, I will eventually go to these places! Hopefully.

- Adventurous pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 14 | Ikebukuro...again?!

It won't be my last either! Ikebukuro is the closest "big suburb" that I have to my station at Nerimatakanodai. It is like the Glen Waverley for Monash Clayton students. Or Chadstone for Monash Caufield, is this an accurate representation? Idk.

Anyway, it is only eight stops away from my place! It sounds like a lot but really it's not, around 16 minutes? Every stop is almost a two stop interval. It really depends on what line you take since there are literally dozens. You have the rapids, the fast rapids, the immediate rapids etc. A disadvantage living at a small town would be getting less trains to stop by your station as there are no rapids from your station to the other, so you have to take the slower one where they stop at every station. Don't get me wrong, trains are still fairly frequent at my stop!

Pastries at the train stations!

Mister donut

Daifukus

I wanted to check out a public library near Ikebukuro, or anywhere else. Let me tell you how a normal neighborhood library is like:

THAT AINT NO STATE LIBRARY BRAH

The one I went to was called the Toshima City Library. It is located in this small ass village near the buzzing Ikebukuro station. But hell, that 10 minute walk felt like an eternity especially when you keep getting lost.

It is so cute¿ These days, we have different (new and more updated) ideas of a library especially when we are so used to the ones in uni. This library is literally a book haven, just filled with books and a few tables lying around.

Your average community library in an average Japanese prefecture.

It felt quite stupid walking all the way in the cold (yes it was so cold to the point where it literally started snowing- that or dandruff fell from the sky but it was barely there). There were nice views of the neighborhood tho!

After that, I decided to find a real place with computers (lol). My lecturer mentioned Internet cafes so I looked it up. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much Internet cafes have evolved throughout the years. People just see it as a gaming hub and some dodgy shop with dim lighting and rows of computer at tourist towns. Okay, that's how I see it. But the Internet cafes here are also known as manga cafes. People even stay overnight at cafes like this because it can be cheaper than a typical backpackers hotel or even a capsule hotel? All you have to do is pay an overnight fee. Apparently, it's a culture for nerds here. I would probably spend all day at the cafe if I could read Japanese T_T

Fun fact, many poor young adults who cannot afford paying rent in a normal appartment/house practically live here while working part time. There are bathing facilities at some cafes. They even register their addresses to the cafe so the cafe receives fuckton of job offers etc.

Ikebukuro is a like a smaller Akihabara where anime fans loiter around since there are so many merch as well! After spending three hours in that internet cafe, I went to animate.

I WAS MIND BLOWN from a considerable amount of distance. Everything always looks perfect from afar, you know? Like the new season of Sherlock, except its not.

I’m kidding, animate is pretty much an otaku’s heaven. The pictures below will tell you why. 

Upon arriving, I felt like I descended to a New World where only bright lights and fictional characters exist. You could see people selling badges and keychains of anime characters near a park next to animate - probably because queues are crazy long on all 9 levels of Animate. It’s their head office after all. Once you approach the door, you will see a caravan selling Yuri on Ice! themed drinks. You get a coaster or some sort of useless merch with Yuri’s face on it. 

The shop is a dream. LOOK AT THE STAIRS AND WALLS.

As amazing as this place, I left empty handed as I did not know what to buy. Most of the things were keychains and badges and the occasional overpriced plush toy that you can get a cheaper place via Taobao. I really wanted to get something but I didnt end up with anything...sorry guys. Unless if you are really into keychains and stuff I dont know what to get you guys. :/

Went home after that! And I had curry rice for dinner. I have great dinners every night; will post a compilation when I run out of things to post.

-Otaku pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 13 | Roppongi and Shibuya

Instead of documenting my night as I always do, I will make a list of things.

Sunset view at Roppongi

Things I've learnt from this day:

1. You should definitely spend the whole day (morning and afternoon as well) exploring Roppongi. It has AMAZING views and the Tokyo Sky Tree is just close by. Unfortunately it was already dark (4:30 ish pm) when we arrived.

2. It can be the first, original Taiyaki that was ever made in 1909 but it can taste subjectively mediocre. 

3. Just go with the damn flow. You never know where you will end up, or who you will meet and spend your night with. (This sounds shady af but it isn't dont worry). Make plans but learn how to be flexible as well.

4. Do some research before just "randomly going into bars". You might get better deals than you think. Thanks to the internet, I found a place where you could have unlimited drinks for 1000 yen for a limited period of time.

5. Not something I learned, but something I should point out: trains and buses stop running at midnight, so plan on whether you want to stay on all night or leave before the last public transport service.

6. Despite being marketed as a sleazy place, the bar I went to at Roppongi was fine (Jumanji55)

7. I normally don't support gender inequality but this social issue definitely worked in my favor. It is way cheaper for females to get into bars/clubs compared to males. In Shibuya, places like the Sound Museum/ Vision were only 600 yen plus a drink ticket for females compared to the 3500 yen entrance for males. DO YO RESEARCH.

8. Have a great time and enjoy yourself. You don't have to always accommodate other people's needs. Two people can't be happy all the time at the same time.

-rejuvenated pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 12 | The infamous Shibuya crossing

Look at this contemporary piece of art.

I am so proud I can't even¿ just, amazing photography skills. I'm kidding. It's not that hard to prop your mobile phone against a window and use the time lapse function.

I took this shot from Starbucks; as everyone in the area would know that is a prominent crosswalking gazing spot which have impossible seats due to the popularity and crowd. If you go around 1-2pm on a weekday, it is relatively easy to get a spot.

It was a little underwhelming since there wasn't much people crossing at that time of the day. It should be around 1-2pm? Anyway, I went one hour in advance to get that shot. Yasssss. I was meeting up with two of my extended house mates (they stay in another house owned by my host family).

Yeah, they are pretty friendly people and it wasn't as awkward as I thought. Then again, it never is because I overestimate every time.

We took a selfie!

After that, we walked around and went to a Forever 21 and McDonalds. I KNOW, I KNOW. But the sweater was so pretty and I couldn't find anything like that in Malaysia. And you definitely can't find teriyaki chicken burgers in the McDonalds elsewhere.

Shibuya is a pretty westernized shopping district, if you haven't noticed. They have 7 floors of Bershka!!! And a handful of Western malls like Adidas, Zara, Gucci, H&M etc. But Shibuya is rather big; the harajuku area is under shibuya too??(need to fact check). We were only loitering around the crosswalk area.

Shibuya is also famous for their night life and they have the "best clubs in the world" (ain't dat subjective), along with Shinjuku and Roppongi. I will get to that in my next post as I experience it myself. ;)

P.S.: to everyone who is reading, tell me what I should improve or change if you see something lacking or inappropriate. Tell me if it's good as well so I won't change a thing. Thanks!

P.P.S.: Sorry that it’s so short nowadays! My assignments are pilling up...literally.

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 11 | Reflections

Since I did not do anything today except for staying back in uni (and getting on the wrong train which made me got back an hour later), I will write some reflections. Or write about how I got lost if it's too short.

Above picture features the correct platform I should should be on.

This trip was more cultural than I imagined it to be, holy taiyaki.

I never imagined meeting people from the Netherlands, Austria, *insert 21 more countries*, or living with Japanese, Spanish and Korean people in this short duration of my stay in Japan. It's pretty incredible going to my media class and learning about different countries each day. And it's pretty in depth, insider perspective as well. Shows how much uni students are well informed and educated on their own countries (except for me lol).

Fun facts:

- Like in Malaysia, almost everyone drives in Austria bc public transport is not big - In Spain, they have very good public transport and my friend claimed that it was comparable to Japan's - It is sometimes required to buy all three main newspapers in Jamaica to get the full story once you put them together. Apparently, they report bits and pieces of the same stories in different newspapers - Airport security is very strict in Canada - Driving licenses are hella pricey for Europeans (citing a girl from Netherlands and a guy from Austria) - There are mangrove forests in Bangladesh

Yeah ok, that's what I have so far.

How I got lost:

It's really stupid, actually. I went to the same platform that I usually ARRIVE at when I take the train to uni. Obviously going home you would expect to go in a different direction, on a different platform as the trains only go one way. I was about four stops in before I realized I was at Ginza.

Yes, I've learned my mistake that was worth 200 yen.

Will blog more fun facts later in the month!

-slightly more cultured pancake

[i-am-always-lost]

Day 10 | Visiting JICA

This is going to be short because I have three assignments and two presentations due within a month plus approximately 12242 trips that I want to make in Tokyo.

Not the best pic but i loved the view?

Jokes! When are my blog posts ever short.

To anyone who is reading this, thank you for making it this far till the 10th day! Its been a pleasure blogging about my journey in Japan and getting to share my journey with all of you. (Seriously though, it IS a lot of commitment. I have been typing on my 40 minute metro rides to and fro from my University). And it is really tiring when I get back home from uni. Right now, I am typing in the computer lab GOD BLESS actual keyboards.

I miss my laptop a lot.

Anyway, went to JICA on the 10th day. This is my highlight of the day. It is one of the Field trips for my Japan Business and Economics subject. Strangely enough, I feel like it is more relevant to social issues and the international effort that Japan is involved in and I do not see any relevance to the Japanese economy but MOVING ON:

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (独立行政法人国際協力機構 dokuritsu gyōseihōjin kokusai kyōryoku kikō?, "JICA") is a governmental agency that coordinates official development assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international cooperation. In October, 2003, Sadako Ogata, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, became the President. It has been led by Professor Shinichi Kitaoka, the former President of the International University of Japan.

Yeah because I’m lazy, I just linked the entire first paragraph of wikipedia. Basically it is a Japanese cooperation agency ran by the gov which is involved in social and economic growth in developing countries (Uganda, Bhutan etc.).

Me and my friends decided to walk instead of taking the train there because it was just one stop, so we thought it was nearer than taking the train. Plus we save 170 yen (that’s one Matcha latte mind you). So we ended up in the wrong JICA, made a wrong turn but we still somehow managed to reach at the same time at the other people! HAHA. Lesson learnt to check the place before heading off though.

We were led into a room where a Japanese female volunteer was giving her presentation on her volunteering experience in Uganda. She started off by teaching us the basic greetings and phrases that Ugandians would use.I believe the official language is called ‘Luganda”. Even though she wasnt very fluent in English, I could still feel her passion and love towards Uganda and the poor kids she volunteered for. We met some other volunteers showing us pictures and some other daily items utilized by the people of the countries they volunteered for (India, Nigeria, Bhutan etc). They also explained the information that they collected on the Health, Social, Poverty etc sectors.

For me, it was insightful to see Japan being so involved with other developing nations. The perception of Japan was they were a rather private country in terms of trade and yeah I dont know what I am talking about bc this requires research, despite being one of the most culturally rich countries in the world.

Confession: I fell asleep during the presentation though. <_<

Okay, that was my JICA visit. I HAVE to start on my contemporary issues essay now.

- A slightly more cultured pancake