I realized that I meant to post up a calendar of the month that I'm staying here, but I forgot to yesterday so here it is.
I dunno if you can see it that well, but this is how it works out. Anything in green means it's a class about anime/manga. Anything in light blue means that it's a class about Tokyo. Anything in yellow means its a day trip. The one exception is on Wednesday on the 11th. It is still a day trip but also a class I guess. It's gonna be at the Ghibli Museum! I'm so stoked.
Ahem.
So, I woke up at 7 this morning. Setting my alarms for 9 is really useless for this week cuz I'm never gonna be able to sleep past 12. With nothing else to do, and the fact that I totally slept while trying to read a book for tomorrow, I began to read. The book isn't a bad read but I'm pretty sure this doesn't have to be this long. I grabbed a quick breakfast cuz I couldn't really concentrate. Came back, read some more.
More reading and more reading and a trip to the konbini again.
I bought another big bottle of Calpis and a bento type thing.
More reading and more reading and a trip to the konbini again.
I bought another big bottle of Calpis and a bento type thing.
AND MORE READING.
100 pages is a lot. And not a whole lot of pictures either.
More reading...
and then...
I thought I was imagining it...
But I paid closer attention...
And yes...
An earthquake was happening.
I freaked the fuck out cuz I was on the 8th floor.
It wasn't HUGE, but it was noticeable and enough to make me super scared.
It lasted like a good 30 seconds before I could calm down again and do work.
So Demetri and I left for class, and surprisingly nobody was downstairs in the lobby so just us two walked to school.
It turned out that they all went ahead to go get lunch at Mister Donut while we were frantically scrambling around trying to find everyone at school.
First lecture of the month wasn't too bad. We got to sit in that theater that I showed in the last post.
The first hour or so was to talk about the basic Japanese aesthetic principles and such and give a background so that we could learn about anime theory a little better.
There was also a screening today.
It was Laputa!
That pretty much took up a majority of the class.
There was a quick meeting afterwards to discuss the day trip that would be held tomorrow, which would be Shibuya and Odaiba.
Class was dismissed and we went home. There was talk of going to Roppongi (I think that's how you spell it) after eating, but I wasn't really down to go, cuz I wanted to take care of some things.
But somehow those plans slightly changed and the destination was changed to Akihabara.
I dropped everything and went.
I had a yakisoba bread right after class, but the majority of the group was still hungry, so we went under the train station again to find something to eat. The group was a little indecisive and ended up breaking off, and I went with the group that was going to the ramen stand.
Luckily for us they accepted meal tickets.
Unluckily for me, the options on the ticket machine didn't have pictures.
I ended up putting 1000 yen into the machine and picking a random choice and hoping for the best.
I got this for my meal ticket:
I promise after this picture, I'll try my hardest to stop talking about how good the food is here, cuz it's getting redundant, but let me just explain this ramen I had.
This ramen was better than the ramen that I had in the Day 1 post.
But it isn't enough to say just that.
Demetri ate a full meal before coming with us to go to Akihabara.
I offered him some, and he hesitated because he was full.
He took one bite.
Then he asked, "Which number is this on the machine?"
And he ordered it.
After eats and after the group reassembled we went to the trains to go to Akiba!
And what a sight it was.
So I took some pictures that will cater to a specific person or group of people so when it comes up, I'm gonna call you out (assuming you read this).
There were anime stores EVERYWHERE.
It was like a dream come true.
I saw one poster that reminded me of the guys back home. You know who you are you lokos.
Going inside the anime stores was like a little kid going through a candy shop.
I came out smiling and giggling to myself like an idiot.
Walking around was such a blast. All the lights and displays were just crazy fun to look at.
Eventually we stumbled upon another interesting shop that towered up to 5 or 6 floors.
Just looking at the outside I thought it was a cosplay shop.
See, you can see the K-On uniform in the bottom right of the racks.
Upon entering, I realized I was dead wrong.
Well actually I was 1/5th right.
One of the floors was dedicated to cosplay.
The other 4?
Straight. Up. Porn.
Not even just like ecchi teasy shit.
Straight up naked girls and TV displays running porn samples.
Floors dedicated to vibrators and dildos.
Sex toys and objects oriented for men.
Kinky lingerie and a wall of lube.
Tons of posters of naked chicks.
Sex dolls and the like.
I didn't find a Tenga btw (I don't think I looked hard enough).
It really caught me off guard but I still came out smiling like an idiot.
Figures.
I should have figured out what the store was by this outside display, anyways:
Maid cafes are everywhere, although we didn't go inside.
We did see the maids outside though, advertising the cafe.
Sorry I didn't take a picture of the maid, but here's one of the cafe sign.
I also found a recognizable name from Lucky Star.
I didn't know this shop existed:
Oh, and Joyce, if you're reading this, I found something for you.
When you see it, you'll know.
This one is for Dennis, Josh, Jay, and Eileen:
And this one is for Eileen. I found it!
Speaking of which...
We wandered into several arcades during this adventure.
I was looking for Street Fighter this entire time, but no luck.
Must've been because the arcades were owned by SEGA.
But eventually, we found one that wasn't SEGA owned.
The search had paid off.
It was here.
I finally achieved my dream of playing against real Japanese people in an arcade setting on their home turf.
They weren't as good as I thought they'd be, but they were still really good.
I got some legitimate wins, some fraudulent wins, and some frustrating losses.
One of the most confusing matches I had was a match with a Cody, where he was clearly dominating me. Just before he was about to win, he just walked forward like he was giving up, and that was a win I definitely did not deserve.
Kevin (the other Street Fighter player in our Travel Study group) was also freaken excited to play. He played Cody against a lot of people and ended up spending a good amount of money and walking away salty.
We walked even more and found a variety of games.
Including a music/rhythm game based on Hatsune Miku.
The highlight of the day was going to the crane games.
The crane games here are actually designed for you to win.
It doesn't feel impossible to get the prize.
We, as a group, walked around the area and witnessed multiple people obtaining their choice figurines, plushes, and collectibles.
Maaike decided to give it a try.
After 8 consecutive tries, she got herself a Hatsune Miku figurine.
Kevin also decided to try his hand at a machine giving out Carnival Phantasm watches.
He got it on the first try.
Then when the guy reset it, he did it again.
And while I wasn't there for it, I heard even though he didn't touch it on his second try, it still fell and he won it.
I was inspired to try my hand at it, but I spent most of my money already. All I had was a 500 yen piece that would buy me 3 tries at a machine.
I saw an Azunyan figurine with her in her uniform and the cat ears and her hands up like paws.
Dennis would really love this, I thought.
I fucked up the first try because I didn't know how the controls worked, and the next 2 tries were fails.
I didn't get a picture of the actual thing.
I really wanted to get it though.
Dennis, if you're reading this, I'll do everything in my power to get that Azunyan figurine for you.
Up to 3000 yen, at least.
Although the trip ended in a downnote and me walking empty handed, it was still a very fun trip to Akiba and I was really happy. Most of us as a group agreed that it was mandatory that we go back eventually.
And then, I'll all the figurines/manga/anime/goodies that I want to get.
Came back around 11:30 and barely cut it for this post.
But that's ok.
Tomorrow's the Shibuya trip, stay tuned.
More reading...
and then...
I thought I was imagining it...
But I paid closer attention...
And yes...
An earthquake was happening.
I freaked the fuck out cuz I was on the 8th floor.
It wasn't HUGE, but it was noticeable and enough to make me super scared.
It lasted like a good 30 seconds before I could calm down again and do work.
So Demetri and I left for class, and surprisingly nobody was downstairs in the lobby so just us two walked to school.
It turned out that they all went ahead to go get lunch at Mister Donut while we were frantically scrambling around trying to find everyone at school.
First lecture of the month wasn't too bad. We got to sit in that theater that I showed in the last post.
The first hour or so was to talk about the basic Japanese aesthetic principles and such and give a background so that we could learn about anime theory a little better.
There was also a screening today.
It was Laputa!
That pretty much took up a majority of the class.
There was a quick meeting afterwards to discuss the day trip that would be held tomorrow, which would be Shibuya and Odaiba.
Class was dismissed and we went home. There was talk of going to Roppongi (I think that's how you spell it) after eating, but I wasn't really down to go, cuz I wanted to take care of some things.
But somehow those plans slightly changed and the destination was changed to Akihabara.
I dropped everything and went.
I had a yakisoba bread right after class, but the majority of the group was still hungry, so we went under the train station again to find something to eat. The group was a little indecisive and ended up breaking off, and I went with the group that was going to the ramen stand.
Luckily for us they accepted meal tickets.
Unluckily for me, the options on the ticket machine didn't have pictures.
I ended up putting 1000 yen into the machine and picking a random choice and hoping for the best.
I got this for my meal ticket:
I promise after this picture, I'll try my hardest to stop talking about how good the food is here, cuz it's getting redundant, but let me just explain this ramen I had.
This ramen was better than the ramen that I had in the Day 1 post.
But it isn't enough to say just that.
Demetri ate a full meal before coming with us to go to Akihabara.
I offered him some, and he hesitated because he was full.
He took one bite.
Then he asked, "Which number is this on the machine?"
And he ordered it.
After eats and after the group reassembled we went to the trains to go to Akiba!
And what a sight it was.
So I took some pictures that will cater to a specific person or group of people so when it comes up, I'm gonna call you out (assuming you read this).
There were anime stores EVERYWHERE.
It was like a dream come true.
I saw one poster that reminded me of the guys back home. You know who you are you lokos.
Going inside the anime stores was like a little kid going through a candy shop.
I came out smiling and giggling to myself like an idiot.
Walking around was such a blast. All the lights and displays were just crazy fun to look at.
Eventually we stumbled upon another interesting shop that towered up to 5 or 6 floors.
Just looking at the outside I thought it was a cosplay shop.
See, you can see the K-On uniform in the bottom right of the racks.
Upon entering, I realized I was dead wrong.
Well actually I was 1/5th right.
One of the floors was dedicated to cosplay.
The other 4?
Straight. Up. Porn.
Not even just like ecchi teasy shit.
Straight up naked girls and TV displays running porn samples.
Floors dedicated to vibrators and dildos.
Sex toys and objects oriented for men.
Kinky lingerie and a wall of lube.
Tons of posters of naked chicks.
Sex dolls and the like.
I didn't find a Tenga btw (I don't think I looked hard enough).
It really caught me off guard but I still came out smiling like an idiot.
Figures.
I should have figured out what the store was by this outside display, anyways:
Maid cafes are everywhere, although we didn't go inside.
We did see the maids outside though, advertising the cafe.
Sorry I didn't take a picture of the maid, but here's one of the cafe sign.
I also found a recognizable name from Lucky Star.
I didn't know this shop existed:
Oh, and Joyce, if you're reading this, I found something for you.
When you see it, you'll know.
This one is for Dennis, Josh, Jay, and Eileen:
And this one is for Eileen. I found it!
Speaking of which...
We wandered into several arcades during this adventure.
I was looking for Street Fighter this entire time, but no luck.
Must've been because the arcades were owned by SEGA.
But eventually, we found one that wasn't SEGA owned.
The search had paid off.
It was here.
I finally achieved my dream of playing against real Japanese people in an arcade setting on their home turf.
They weren't as good as I thought they'd be, but they were still really good.
I got some legitimate wins, some fraudulent wins, and some frustrating losses.
One of the most confusing matches I had was a match with a Cody, where he was clearly dominating me. Just before he was about to win, he just walked forward like he was giving up, and that was a win I definitely did not deserve.
Kevin (the other Street Fighter player in our Travel Study group) was also freaken excited to play. He played Cody against a lot of people and ended up spending a good amount of money and walking away salty.
We walked even more and found a variety of games.
Including a music/rhythm game based on Hatsune Miku.
The highlight of the day was going to the crane games.
The crane games here are actually designed for you to win.
It doesn't feel impossible to get the prize.
We, as a group, walked around the area and witnessed multiple people obtaining their choice figurines, plushes, and collectibles.
Maaike decided to give it a try.
After 8 consecutive tries, she got herself a Hatsune Miku figurine.
Kevin also decided to try his hand at a machine giving out Carnival Phantasm watches.
He got it on the first try.
Then when the guy reset it, he did it again.
And while I wasn't there for it, I heard even though he didn't touch it on his second try, it still fell and he won it.
I was inspired to try my hand at it, but I spent most of my money already. All I had was a 500 yen piece that would buy me 3 tries at a machine.
I saw an Azunyan figurine with her in her uniform and the cat ears and her hands up like paws.
Dennis would really love this, I thought.
I fucked up the first try because I didn't know how the controls worked, and the next 2 tries were fails.
I didn't get a picture of the actual thing.
I really wanted to get it though.
Dennis, if you're reading this, I'll do everything in my power to get that Azunyan figurine for you.
Up to 3000 yen, at least.
Although the trip ended in a downnote and me walking empty handed, it was still a very fun trip to Akiba and I was really happy. Most of us as a group agreed that it was mandatory that we go back eventually.
And then, I'll all the figurines/manga/anime/goodies that I want to get.
Came back around 11:30 and barely cut it for this post.
But that's ok.
Tomorrow's the Shibuya trip, stay tuned.
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