#i ALWAYS play cruel angels thesis because i don't know many of the songs that my arcade's version has :-P

[uproariousscarecrow]

i've been wanting to go back to the arcade and play pop'n music again :-T

[abbytakestokyo]

よかった: Thank Goodness

After one blink-and-you-miss-it short flight to Toronto and a brief layover, including some bonding with fellow Tokyo-goers over the mess of a line to get on our plane, I was on a much, much longer flight to Tokyo. Now I’ve done the Europe flight from the US three times roundtrip now. 8 hours was long. 13 and a half? In my head I’d told myself it wasn’t that much longer. Spoiler alert: It was. But, I still managed to get a bit of sleep here and there, and was seated next to a lovely guy who was on his way to Japan with his armor-cosplay-building son! 

After I got my suitcase (not getting mine that one time on the way back to the US has always made me a bit paranoid), customs was quick and surprisingly easy, none of the “where are you staying what are you doing when are you leaving” questions I got coming into the UK every time.

And, as my travel experience continues to prove to me, the things you always worry about the most end up going by fine, it’s the things you take for granted as easy that’ll get you. I spent less time trying to find my subway connections than I did trying to get my SIM card in the airport! I had a map and all, but didn’t realize the Sakura Mobile kiosk I was looking for didn’t exist: they just left my package at the post office! I thought they had a kiosk next to/inside of it. But after a kind Japanese information woman took pity on me and approached me with my probably perplexed face, I found the appropriate venue, acquired and popped in my SIM card! I didn’t read the email close enough to realize I needed to install an APN on my phone before using it though, so my data didn’t work until I activated it back at the Airbnb with Wifi...But luckily, my hosts supplied me with a picture guide of how to get to the Airbnb, which I had screencapped on my phone, so getting there was a breeze! I got there later than I expected, close to 6:30, after my 3:30 arrival time. My hosts got to the place shortly thereafter, showed me around, and I signed my lease. Success! 

I’ll have to do a separate post about my house, but so far, so good. It’s a traditional Japanese style home that is remarkable spacious, and only a 10 minute walk from two stations, one of which on the JR line! The futon is totally  great with a bit of extra padding under it, and the pillow super firm and super comfy. The shower is a perfect 40 degrees C, and heats up remarkably fast, with the best water pressure I’ve ever had.

But I digress! For my first night, I just grabbed a few things to eat at the nearby supermarket, Life, mostly French pastries because they were at the front and I Trusted Them. But I also got some gyoza! I managed to stay up until 10pm with the help of amazing Japanese TV programming: I don’t know what the heck was going on, but at one point they did a countdown of best karaoke songs and performed “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” from NGE, so I was Hype.

I had a late start yesterday, not managing to get my act together until around 11AM, but after just set out to explore the nearby Ikebukuro! I could take the subway, but decided to walk, and man, was it HOT! I still need to get a hat/umbrella because yeah the humidity wasn’t that bad actually, but the sun veryyy warm and my skin veryyyy pale. I did put on some sunscreen, though!

Ikebukuro has a section called “Sunshine City” which now I’ve been, I completely get. It had a bunch of game centers and various clothing/department stores, and I was bombarded by cute music walking in and among all the UFO catcher games. I also just wandered a random department store to get a notebook and pen for my class on Monday: and yeah, their stationary game is up there with France. They also have a love for random French phrases, much to my amusement. Some were surprisingly on point, others just left me going ??? One of my Ikebukuro goals was to buy a smaller backpack for class/walking around that was less obtrusive than my travel backpack: I found a winner at Jeansmate, which I had found in looking up backpacks popular in Japan! I ended up going with the brand Anello, because you can use it as a backpack, but it has straps that let you easily hold it like a purse: perfect for the subway!

I made myself eat that afternoon, a sandwich, some curry-ish thing with potatoes? But honestly my appetite is the thing thrown off the most by this time zone shift! My sleep schedule is okay (well besides the whole “wake up at 4:30 with the sun” thing), but my body still thinks I’m eating in the middle of the night! It’s okay though, it’ll get there! I took it easy after lunch, making my way back to the Airbnb and napping, before getting a yummy dinner of plain rice and edamame at the store. 

Today, in honor of Sailor Moon’s birthday, I’m going to a café that has Sailor Moon desserts with some new Japanese friends I met via Twitter, so I’m very excited!!! I’ll take way too many pics! また ね !