Hokkaido Life: Day 9

My legs... oh my legs.. I can't feel my legs...

and that is how the morning began at around 10am, My bones were aching and I was in pain from the run and very stiff when I woke up. Thankfully though the day was free and there really wasn't anything to do. So it'll be hard to make this a long blog post. What I can say however is that the time for cleaning had arrived!

My first task was to get some food and supplies from the local seicomart which included a nice can of bug spray because the war was about to begin between man and bug. So far we had only seen three bugs in the house so it was evident that we were winning thus far and after today's cleaning, there wouldn't be any chance of bugs coming in.

In all I vacuumed the entire house including all the corners, ceilings, behind and under furniture as well as wiping down several surfaces with a cloth. Everywhere was clean and all the rubbish was thrown away and my room was tidy. However it wasn't enough, to further ensure our safety against bug threats I opened the new can of bug spray and lined ALL the door frames, ALL the window frames and ALL the air vents with bug spray. Oh and the letter box! The whole process took around 5 hours and I was exhausted afterwards doing it all myself.

However that night we had something very special arranged. The eve of the shrine festival, Now, little culture lesson; in Japan, shrines are literally everywhere. You can't not help but accidentally find one and in Tokyo, you can even turn it into a game like 'where's waldo'. I knew from films and anime what a evening shrine festival was like but all of those had taken place in very populated areas so it was very interesting to see the contrast in real life in a small area.

Small is definitely the word I would use. A lot of people came but in terms of stalls and entertainment it was fairly restricted. This wasn't a bad thing of course and I loved the entire thing. Though we did suffer for a moment against the various flies and mosquitoes but we were able to borrow some spray from the Yosakoi squad who were using some.

The festival consisted of a food area which contained various things from frankfurters to beef kebab things and also a small raffle where I won a badge. The main events took place on the stage that had been setup. First up was the brass band which played songs mostly from anime and TV so I knew all of them which made me really happy and put me into a good mood since anime is one of my favourite things.

Once the band had finished we had a dance performance from the Yosakoi group which we had seen at the welcome party. They were just as good as they were the other day and I really can't wait to try it for myself. It was great to watch them and they were so skilled at dancing.

Afterwards we had something called Mochi Maki where they basically throw hard sweets at the crowd and you're meant to take them home and boil them before eating, something which Calvin learnt the hard way :P It was really fun and everyone was really super energetic and desperate to catch some. Afterwards there was a local guy who was doing some sort of live concert where he was singing Japanese songs. He was really good and everyone was sat on the floor on this big mat that had been laid out on the floor. If I were to guess, I would say there was maybe between 50 - 100 people present.

Finally for the night we played bingo which is very different compared to bingo back home. Here there are a lot more prizes up for grabs which includes toilet paper though to be fair, it's pretty expensive here so it makes for a great bingo prize. There were about 40 prizes available with 10 really expensive prizes. I came close to winning many times but sadly I was always one number away. The announcer was so cool and he made it really entertaining to take part in.

I left on my own as my partner had left earlier. I didn't win anything sadly but I had a really good time at the eve of the shrine festival and headed back home to the house and climbed into bed after having a good day. Thankfully though this time the house was nice and clean.

Oyasumi!!

Hokkaido Life: Day 8

10 Km... Never again I said... yet a few months later.. here I am. 

A life lesson for you folks! Never say the phrase: "I will never do that again." because once you say it... you tempt every god or demon or whatever it is you believe in to prove you wrong! During my fundraising I did a 10k run in Bolton to raise funds (£400+) and vowed at the end while gasping for breath that I would never do a 10k again... well now here I am at the start line ready to do it all over again. Though I've been told I can walk this one so it should be all good!

We were picked up in the morning by a man known as Sasaki-san who would be our walking partner for the 13km around the lake. Sasaki is a very outgoing guy who is convinced that I am allergic to girls because of my love of Anime. I should explain that Otaku's are given a pretty negative image in Japan as being nerdy boys with no life outside their bedroom. While I only fill half that category, it seems to amuse Sasaki to no end xD I should stress however it's only banter and that he's not being malicious or anything! He's a really funny person who perhaps likes beer a little too much ;)

I had my camera while walking around the lake and during the walk we got the chance to talk to some of the high schoolers who were also taking part. I wish I could tell you their names but the amount of names that have been thrown at me recently is just too many to remember. They were very energetic though and I managed to learn quite a few games from them. During the walk though I managed to take a lot of pictures of the lake which was great. However; not much else happened really. For the most part we talked with people but short of posting a transcript on here, there's not much too report on,

For the final KM, Sasaki-san decided we should jog which pretty much nearly killed me and my partner after 12km of walking constantly with no breaks. However at the end of the march was the best prize you can imagine.. a cold drink and delicious beef for a BBQ down at the beach. I have never been so hungry in my life and I gorged myself at the BBQ. The meat was lovely and we sat in these really tiny chairs that are able to hold a massive amount of weight surprisingly. Though this rather large man to my left was slowly sinking into the sand :') 

Delicious!

After the BBQ we had Ice cream which Sasaki-san kindly paid for before leaving us to return to whatever it was he needed to do. We spoke to our host Erika-san as she had been helping out with the BBQ area and we were introduced to Miki-chan. Miki-chan is an absolutely adorable little girl who was very shy but curious. She was desperate to ask me and my partner questions while hiding behind Erika-san. She asked us various questions about us such as our favorite color and if we had girlfriends but the best question had to be the one she was too scared to ask: "Why are you white?" Me and my partner broke down into laughter after Erika-san told us she wanted to ask it. She was seriously cute!

Afterwards my partner went back to the house and went to bed but I couldn't be bothered with going back home at only 2pm so I went to take a few more pictures of the local scenery. Whilst out I was called over by one of the towns people who owned the coffee shop across the road and she invited me inside to have a drink and something to eat. We spoke a long time about England and her English was very good. I drank orange juice and had the nicest vanilla cake I have ever had but the best part was that it was all for free! I insisted that I should pay but she refused to accept it.

Afterwards I headed back home and found my partner passed out on the bed in his room which was pretty fun to look at. So for the evening I made dinner and heated up some left overs that we had been left from the previous welcome party. Today was very tiring and I crashed out in bed and well asleep pretty quickly after eating. Thankfully the next day will be free but I do seriously need to clean this house properly!

Thanks for reading!!!

Hokkaido Life: Day 7

Another beautiful day in paradise

Konichiwa. I'n still catching up on blog posts but I am getting closer to being up to date. I promise! Also YouTube will resume as soon as possible. Most likely next week! 

This morning started out perfectly with me in bed until 10am. This morning we had nothing arranged and I was able to catch up on a good amount of sleep, not that I really needed it but it was nice to laze around in bed and not have anything to do. However this is Japan and opportunity and adventure doesn't come to those that lay in bed all day doing nothing at all. In the morning I sorted out my room after all my posters had fallen off the walls because in Japan, sellotape and sticky pads just don't work. I'm going to assume from the heat but when I woke up I looked like I was living in a pig sty. However the night before once my posters were all up, my room felt so relaxing and personalized. 

After finally sorting out the mess that was my bedroom I put all the posters away so that later I could iron them flat so they would maybe not fall to the floor while I am asleep. (Note: It didn't work and the battle to have my posters on the wall is ongoing) In the afternoon we were met by Erika-san who took us to get our residence information sorted at the main office in Abuta where we were also introduced to even more people. In addition we were given our 'new' phones. 'New phones' you ask? Sure.. they were new... if we were still in the 90's :P The phone itself was a standard Japanese style flip phone which I am certain originates from the 90's period. It matches my computer in the Sogo Center perfectly though!

Runs Windows XP but I am pretty sure this the 98 Model

Flipping awesome!

I absolutely love my new phone though and it feels so nostalgic. For the most part of the afternoon we lounged around in the Sogo center having a go on our new computers and occasionally we would have to fill in some forms. One of the most interesting forms we had to fill out was our bank forms which was a real bugger to do. This is because of two things.. my name and also the address of the Sogo Center which had to be written in Kanji. Now believe it or not.. but my kanji was perfect and there were 0 problems. The issue was my OWN NAME WRITTEN IN ROMAN LETTERS!!!! It had to be done a very certain way in block capitals as apparently the bank are very strict. I had to attempt to write my name three times in the correct order 3 times with the correct lettering. It was so mortifying. Though to be fair I did have 5 different names to write because my name is so long :(

One we were finished up in the Sogo center we headed back to the house where we had a couple of hours to kill before the big party. One of the things I made sure to do was to prepare my welcome speech which contained a moderate amount of information in Japanese as I knew we would be presenting it in front of a rather large audience. We had also been told that for the event we should suit up so there was a little bit of a mad dash trying to get the iron working properly without ruining our suits. Though to be fair, my suit was a £45 suit from Primark so I can't see how I can ruin it ;) 

This picture needs to be burnt! D:

With us suited up we headed to the party and boy we were met with a pretty amazing setup. The entire hall had tables set up with food and chairs everywhere and people were steadily arriving. I would put it down at about 40 guests at least who were all Japanese, except for one american girl called Stephanie who works in Abuta. She is part of the JET program, the company I hope to return to Japan with after University. Stephanie was really nice and it was great to have a full conversation in English without it being broken or pausing to try and interpret what each other had said.

Various people gave welcome speeches to the audience and we had Stephanie who speaks very good Japanese, translate for us or in some cases their speech had an English translation written afterwards that summarized everything they said. Unfortunately the mayor couldn't attend which is understandable but the vice mayor was present which was really nice that they take so much interest in the new volunteers. 

Finally the time came for us to do our speeches. I went first and I could feel my knees shaking like mad as I was not used to speaking Japanese in front of so many people, it was even worse that they were natives and could spot every mistake I made. I probably sounded awful but I received a huge round of applause and awe at my speech which made me really happy. In addition we were presented with an array of gifts which included flowers and home made jams. The evening was amazing and everyone was so interested in us. I even received 2 offers to marry someone's daughter! One daughter was even 42.... so as you can see, the Japanese get quite carried away when drinking!   

I also learnt that the Japanese do not stop with just one party and afterwards we headed over to the Guten Tag where people drank even more but I still stuck to cola. There we chatted away all night and had a great laugh but unfortunately we had to leave early due to us having to wake up at 6am tomorrow. I was really impressed with the level of welcome we received and I can't stress enough how grateful I am to the people of Toya. They have shown an unlimited amount of kindness to both me and my partner and I feel as though I am forever indebted to them. Tomorrow is the two day march which I am really looking forward to so I'll leave it at here for now.

I shall post more soon! Thanks for reading! Oyasumi!

Hokkaido Life: Day 6

Lake Toya is pretty much heaven

Hello yet again from Lake Toya. Still trying to catch up on my blog posts! So today is the 6th day we have been in Japan and also the 3rd day we have spent in Toya. Todays agenda consisted of our final day of sight seeing and we were to be visiting local places in our district. Taka-san suggested the day before that if the weather was nice then we should take the bikes instead of the car to the places. Naturally we assumed all three of us would be on bikes but in reality me and my partner were on bikes and Taka-san was in the car. It was hilarious trying to follow him on the bikes and the whole thing was pointless but really fun.

Our first task however, was to introduce ourselves to our neighbors which is an important part of Japanese culture. Since I have good knowledge of Japanese culture I had prepared presents of little English sweets in origami bags to give to our neighbors which were greatly received and met with many thanks. It was interesting to meet everyone and everyone was really friendly towards us which makes me wonder what volunteers in the past had done to deserve cold welcomes as described in other blogs. 

Once we had greeted everyone and introduced ourselves in Japanese to them, (something which is becoming rather frequent) we proceeded with our tour of the town. Our first stop was the visitor center known as 'Mizu no Eki' which also acts as a mini market and bus station on the lake side. The building is really pretty and I will make another post as soon as possible with pictures of key places around the town. Inside there is a noodle bar where we had lunch and a dish called Butadon which is meat and noodles. I highly recommend if you ever visit Japan to try butadon as it is amazing. The staff at the noodle bar are lovely as well and even adjust the dishes to our preference by removing the red ginger which was really nice of them to do.

As well we visited the local shrine which will become a big part of our lives in the following days to come as soon there will be a festival. The shrine was up a huge set of stairs which was not good as we had to cycle up hill for about 10 minutes to get to the shrine as it's just outside the town but it was really pretty. Out of respect I chose not to take pictures inside the shrine but I will try and get permission and upload them at a later date. 

Afterwards we visited the local art gallery which contained a lot of traditional and modern Japanese art work which included sculptures and many interesting displays. The staff at the gallery were also really friendly and polite, one of them is actually a member of the English class as well so it was nice to know that my students are nice and friendly people! 

Other than that, the only other places we visited were mostly the shops where we would get our supplies from and the local post office/bank but there wasn't much that was strikingly interesting about that. Afterwards Taka-san left us on our own at about 2pm and my partner decided to head back to the house whereas I went down to the beach and went for a bike ride towards Toya-onsen which is 10 - 12km away. The route there is really beautiful and it was really relaxing as the ground is more or less flat meaning I didn't have to exert much energy and I was able to take lots of pictures of the lake. 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until the evening where me and my partner decided we would go to the mini temple in the evening and also watch the fire works that took place over in Toya Onsen. Whilst we were there we could also see a lightning storm going on over the hills in the distance but thankfully it missed us and left us with clear skies and warm cool summer temperatures at night with no rain so it was amazing to watch as Japan gets mostly bolt lightning. 

The moon, shrine and lightning storm all in one shot

Tomorrow will be the welcome party which I am hugely looking forward to! Until then, thanks for reading and I will try and get a YouTube video done once I am up to date with my blog posts which should be soon!

Hokkaido Life: Day 5

Ohayou Gozimasu from Lake Toya!

My first day in Lake Toya was an extremely busy one, I'll tell you that. It was an early one as well with me being up at 7:30am which to me in an ungodly hour to be awake! However I desperately wanted a shower and a breakfast which ended up being toast after trying to figure out how the toaster oven works here. We've pretty much settled on just using the maximum heat setting and sitting and watching the food to make it doesn't burn! In our fridge as well is a mountain of left over Chinese and Karaage from the night before as the Japanese do not like to waste any food, but I accepted the delicious left overs with no problem at all. We are really being spoilt! But anywho... on to the shower....

Showers are meant to be relaxing and warm and pleasant but our bathroom.... not so much. I can only dread what it will be like in the winter but for now I have to suffer with a pretty bad setup which I hope to rectify soon. I will upload a picture of the shower room later as I don't have one on my phone at the time of writing this (Totally not 6 days late...) but to put it bluntly... it's not the best shower room and is in need of dire renovation but as for the shower head itself.. it works great and is powerful and very easy to adjust the temperature without scalding yourself.

So once showered and fed, we were to be meeting the mayor which we had dressed.... sort of formally for. We simply put on shirts which were honestly.. very badly ironed so they still had creases left over but still, we were in a rush despite being up early. Strangely as well my partner has taken to waking up at 6am to go jogging... I swear he's insane. But anyway, we went to the town of Abuta which is about a 15 minute drive away where we met the Mayor of the town. He was a very nice man and he gave us a tour of the head offices which included the fire department and communications center which was really cool to look at. Apparently as well he doesn't show volunteers around the center so we felt rather privileged that he took the time to show us around.

We met several of the workers at the office including the board of education members who we would be staying with for some time on Thursday afternoons during our working days in Abuta. We frequently introduced ourselves in Japanese which was a little daunting but thankfully as I was used to speaking at least some Japanese it wasn't too much of a problem though my nerves got in the way quite frequently, causing me to slip up. Regardless, everyone was really impressed and commended us on our Japanese ability. At the center as well, we had our pictures taken for town article which is sent to around 400 people and we were to be on the front cover! I hope to track down one of these articles if possible but it's a little disconcerting that the entire town will now know your face and name when you don't know theirs. We had a long chat with the mayor and drank green tea whilst talking about the geo-park area which contained Mount Usu, the active volcano which erupted only 14 years ago. It was really interesting and poor Erika-san was doing her best to translate everything the mayor said as he didn't speak any English and he was using a lot of technical terms, so I am very grateful to her.

After visiting with the mayor we were taken by Taka-san around Abuta which included going on a mini hike up the hill where we had a great view of the town plus views of the volcano. One of the key things we did was look at the damage caused by the last eruption of the volcano. The Japanese left some of the debris as a reminder of the damage that the Volcano can do and that they must learn from the eruptions in order to reduce the damage caused. It was a little sad to see all the places, including a destroyed nursery which had been claimed by nature once more.

This trail lead all the way to the top of the hill which gave a great view of the surrounding area and Taka-san showed us the site of the volcano and where everything was in correlation with the eruption zone. He also gave us a bit of a history lesson and took us to the excavation site of native inhabitants homes.

Following on, we then drove to a tourist like area at the foot of the volcano which was owned by a researcher who studied volcano's before anyone else in Japan which provided essential information in predicting eruptions and how they worked which launched Japan's research into the top of volcanology. The place was really pretty and had a lot of interesting gift shops that we got a chance to look around in.

The next place is a little hard to write about as I do not want to give offence to our hosts. It was meant to be a zoo for bears but It's hard to use the word 'zoo'. Coming from England where animal rights is a very serious issue and all zoos conform to regulations that protect the welfare of animals, Japan I don't think does. The bears were cute but they seemed very unfed and their 'enclosures' were mere cages and empty concrete pits. The pits were overcrowded and didn't seem clean. The area was filled with crows and the presence of death was everywhere. It wasn't what I would call the nicest experience and whilst I am grateful for being taken, I can't say I agreed with the way the place was run. Though the staff were nice enough to us and welcomed us.

This is a stuffed bear... :/

However, afterwards on the way back to Toya we stopped for ice cream at a place which overlooked the hills. There we are delicious ice cream and let me tell you, the Japanese really know how to make ice cream! It was absolutely amazing and I really wish we lived closer so I could go back for more. There is actually an ice cream shop near our house which also sells amazing ice cream but I shall tell you about that in another entry!

After the ice cream we went up to a hotel called the Windsor Hotel which is a super expensive 5 star luxury hotel that hosted the G8 conference in 2001. We felt very poor going into the lobby area as that was the only place we could go but the inside was absolutely beautiful.

We stood in front of the huge glass window with live classical music being played and it really did feel like being in a movie scene such as James bond, only we were in causal shirts, jeans and trainers. I would love to explore more of the hotel however that comes with an £800 price tag as one night in the cheapest room they have costs that much, AND THAT'S NOT EVEN INCLUDING BREAKFAST OR DINNER!!!! I might stay there maybe on night but I highly doubt that will be this year. The view from that window covers the entire lake though so it's a really pretty place to stand.

Finally we were taken back to the town we were staying in and left to our own devices. However, my partner disappeared and actually went back home but there was no way in hell I could go back and sit in the ho0use with such beauty and opportunity outside so I went out with my camera and it was like Shinjuku all over again, only greener and less crowded. Here are some of my pictures!

After exploring it was finally dark and I got home after a quick shop at our local convince store. I bought what I assumed was bacon as well as udon noodles, meat sauce and mini american style hot dogs which I planned to chop and make a noodle sausage bolognese style dish... however reading Japanese instructions is not easy and let me warn you, don't try to cook it the English way because that really does not work... So in essence I had cold noodles and cold meat sauce with no actual meat... lovely. My partner meanwhile only had bacon and toast, but that was by choice. I still had to make it mind you.

Today was amazing and I really can't wait for the next. Soon we'll have the welcome party as well which I am super excited for! I'll write more soon!

Lost in Tokyo and Hokkaido Life: Day 4

I wish I could say good morning but today I don't think I can because I am leaving for Hokkaido this morning. Whilst I am really looking forward to Hokkaido and can't wait to go, I desperately want to stay in Tokyo because I love this city so much. However, it was not meant to be but I am sure that I will visit this great city as soon as I can.

The day started like any other, with mad packing that I had failed to do the night before and another strange and unhealthy breakfast/lunch from the convenience store. Our flight was to take off at 12:00 so we left at 10:30 for Haneda Airport. I would've preferred to leave an hour earlier but our student guides from Showa assured us we'd make it on time.

Oh how wrong we were.... The train to Haneda airport is quite a long route and it gets very busy as well. So we didn't arrive at Haneda Terminal station until 11:30. To make matters worse we went to the wrong terminal and had to dash across the length of Haneda airport on the automatic pathways with the poor girls trailing behind in their heels. We checked our bags in at 11:40... only twenty minutes until scheduled take off. However at security we were too late until at the last moment they managed to rush us through with what I would barely call a security check.

We waved good bye to the students from Showa and I was able to thankfully exchange LINE and Facebook with a few of them so that I could keep in touch. I was sad to say good-bye to the students as they were all lovely and helpful people who I hope to soon see again. However, our good-bye had to be a quick one as the plane was now due to take off in less than 10 minutes. We ran to the gate and managed to get on board a few minutes before they closed the gate.

Finding our seats was an issue as they were at the back of the plane and we couldn't decipher which boarding tunnel to use. I took one way and Calvin (My partner) took the other. Turns out he entered the first class area and had to walk the entire length of the plane looking like a silly gaijin ;) The flight was surprisingly comfortable. As a 6 Ft westerner I was expecting my knees to be against my chin on a local Japanese flight but I had more than enough room, in fact I had more room on the internal Japanese flight than I did on the British Airways flight from London to Tokyo which is just ridiculous.

One of the many camera screens

The flight was very nice and short with only a few terrifying features added designed to scare the hell out of you. For some strange reason the Japanese like to see a front view of the plane as it takes off.... AND LANDS. I'm sorry but seeing the ground rushing towards you as you plummet to the earth in a plane is not something that makes you feel at ease!! These screens are everywhere as well so short of closing your eyes there's not much you can do. I will say however, they did switch the view to a birds eye view of Tokyo which was really pretty and fun to watch but as for take off and landing.... NOPE. 

This marked our final moments in Tokyo before we were quickly flying over the rest of Japan heading north to the frozen winter lands of Hokkaido. Our most interesting experience upon landing was the massive group of school children on board who were obviously on a school trip. Clearly they were local to Hokkaido or some where that did not see many foreigners as we were met with intense stares of curiosity, wonder and awe plus the occasional smile or wink from some of the older girls which was a little weird.

I shrugged it off and grabbed our bags which thankfully had made it onto the plane with us and headed outside, unsure of how to find our host. Thankfully though, being white in Japan makes you very easy to spot! Our host found us and she was with our secondary host. Our hosts; Erika-san and Taka-san. They treated us to lunch at the Japanese equivalent of McDonalds which serves delicious noodles and beef! I gorged myself on the stuff as I hadn't eaten much during the day. The food was delicious, and it was the first of many dishes that I would enjoy in Hokkaido. The drive to Lake Toya would take a couple of hours but we were to take the scenic route which again (Forgive me) I filmed more than I photographed so YouTube will come soon! I promise.. I really do... Maybe... We stopped off at a really cute service station and rested for a little bit before continuing onward to Lake Toya.

It was about another hour to Lake Toya and all I could think was that everything was so quiet and peaceful and green. I mean seriously.. this place is green.. everywhere is green. I'm honestly surprised the sky isn't green either! It really is beautiful on Hokkaido and everywhere is filled with forests and trees with the occasional building looking very out of place. The roads were quiet and peaceful so I managed to get a lot of nice footage of the passing surroundings. However, I wasn't prepared for what I was about to see... Lake Toya. The place that I would be calling home for the next year of my life is undoubtedly the most beautiful place I have seen.

It was breath taking seeing the town for the first time. In the evening we were taken to a place called the 'Guten Tag' which is a German themed pub/restaurant, with nothing German inside. However it's a really nice and cosy place with the most delicious food I've ever eaten. The karaage (fried chicken) is absolutely amazing and I love going there whenever possible.We met several people from the international exchange committee who were all very welcoming and helpful. I was able to use a lot of Japanese and I was able to communicate a lot better than I thought I would.

Finally, we were left in the evening to our own devices and we explored all the closets in the house which revealed an interesting sword collection as well as a variety of books in the house. Sleeping was a little difficult as the bed wasn't what I was accustomed to but I'm sure in time I will grow used to it. Whilst I do still miss Tokyo, I am already in love with Lake Toya as well, despite it's isolation from the rest of the world. I feel this year and next is going to be an amazing year!

Lost in Tokyo: Day 3

Ohayou Gozimasu!

Please ignore the publishing date ;) I am pretty far behind on these. Gomen.

Today was our final day in Tokyo, which made me very sad as I am in love with this city and the way it makes me feel. I really do not want to leave and I have already made friends with several of the Showa students who are all the nicest people I have ever met! Today a large group of them met us in the hostel (8 to be exact) and they were to be taking us around Tokyo for for the final dose of sightseeing. However, the group was going to be far too big with 16 of us boarding on the subway and standing all together, we would've easily filled a carriage! So we split into two groups and went to different places at different times.

Our first stop was my dream location: Akihabara. I am a massive anime fan and I love all things to do with J-Pop culture including the music, idols, anime, manga and video games. So for me Akihabara is the mecca of earth and I was thrilled with going there. Sadly when we did go it wasn't really the ideal time as it was a weekday meaning that most of the would be cosplayers were in school or busy during the day as opposed to Saturday. However, there were lots of cute girls in maid outfits advertising maid cafes which sadly I didn't get to visit.

Akihabara is pretty much how I imagined. Anime and manga references everywhere! Disturbingly I could identify almost every show and poster in terms of its origin. Even the music which was playing all over the place originated from anime and I knew them all! I was in paradise and I will definitely have to make sure I go back to do lots of shopping when I have money! However, two things I need to mention about Akihabara. Firstly is its attitude towards cameras. They do not like pictures in pretty much all the shops which makes it hard to show off the splendor of the district. I did however manage to snap this!

Levi from Shinjeki no Kyojin

AKB48 Chibi's :D

The second thing is the amount of adult content. Akihabara is pretty in your face when it comes to adult content. We didn't really go into many of the shops as the majority of our group don't have much interest in anime, but the few that I peered into through the doorways revealed a slightly disturbing amount of what is known as 'Fan Service' which includes mostly inappropriate angles of female anime characters. It really doesn't help the otaku stereotype but I am past the point of it bothering me much, I have after all, seen over 200 anime shows so I am used to the typical fan service. What I would say is that I want to buy more anime/manga/video game posters but I don't want inappropriate ones :'(

After Akihabara we went to Shibuya which is a very high class shopping district and home to the Shibuya crossing which is often seen in films and TV and often named as Japan's Times Square. The place was bustling with life even for a weekday and was crammed with lots of people. Shibuya as well is filled with huge tall buildings and skyscrapers. I loved all of it, even the noisy crowds and cars beeping their horns. Something about it just feels like home, despite not being anything like my actual home!

Shibuya Crossing

In Shibuya we looked around the many shops and found many expensive items that were clearly out of our budget range but it looked very nice and was fun just seeing the different sites the city had to offer. Sadly the weather had taken a bit of a turn and it was starting to get a little gloomy but that in no way dampened our spirits [Pun intended, deal with it ;)] After Shibuya we went to Harajuku which is the trendy fashion district and boy, there were some clothing styles that were very strange, even by Japan's standard. Annoyingly, I filmed most of my travels rather than taking pictures as I have a video camera so again you'll have to wait for the video to be uploaded to see the footage. I'm so sorry :(

Harajuku Shopping Street

Our final stop with the girls from Showa was the Tokyo Sky Tree. This is not to be confused with Tokyo Tower which is a different place entirely. Tokyo Sky Tree is pretty similar to Black pool tower but much more pretty yet still as expensive to go to the top. We decided against going up the tower but thankfully the sky tree rests on a hill which even from the base, gives you an impressive view of the Tokyo skyline. However the weather wasn't on our side which meant we couldn't see as much as we'd like to. Plus by this time it was night. Never the less, the tower was beautiful and it illuminated everything around it.

My group at Toyko Sky Tree. I am on the far right.

Sky Tree! So pretty!

After the sky tree, it was pretty late and the jet lagged group wanted to go back to the hostel. Again, we braved the Tokyo subway on our own as our friends from Showa University had a long way to travel back home so it was easier for them to depart at Tokyo Sky Tree. We bid them farewell for the night and traveled back to the hostel. However, I was left unsatisfied. It was only 9pm when we got back and by time we'd eaten it was 10pm... way too early for going to bed with so much wonder out there just a few train stops away! So.... whilst my group were content with staying indoors.. I grabbed my camera and left on my own to the station. I boarded the train bound for Shinjuku... and it is probably the best decision I have ever made. Shinjuku at night is an unforgettable sight and it's skyline is illuminated by busy shops, skyscrapers and lanterns. Words alone aren't enough to describe the feeling of being there in the heart of Tokyo at night, so I'll leave these pictures;

There are so many pictures that I can upload and I will get to work on setting up a gallery page on my blog so that you can view all the pictures I take. I will also be including the video footage on YouTube very soon so stay tuned! This was my last place to visit at night and was definitely my favorite. I can't wait to come back to Tokyo and explore even more districts and find what sights they have in hold! By the way, listening to Japanese music while walking around Japan is just plain awesome! 

Oyasumi!!