Japan 2013 (Day 6 - 17th July)

Hello everyone,

So I had been annoying my husband about going to my favorite place in all of Japan which is Osaka, Namba-Shinsaibashi areas for some days before but because he is always so busy with his writting, reading and emails etc I didn't over-do it. I was surprise that he told me we could go this early but went skipping like a little child hehe.

I do not remember if we has breakfast or not that day but there does not seem to be a photo so maybe we skipped it for a change! We arrived at our local train station and outside there's a pond I had noticed before... but today it was different... we spotted two being which have apparently made it their home: two turles. 

This is a typical water turtle that just got huge in time. 

The other one that was in one of those rocks until she saw us and vanished seemed like a different species. According to my husband maybe she was abandoned there by previous owners which is ilegal of course. They should not be living in the same space. Those poor turtles! But at least they are in a safe environment.

Another interesting thing at the station is this box with "community" sort of umbrellas. These are here so people who are surprised by sudden rain can get home dry as long as they return them. As you can see, they actually do. This would not work in my country.

This is the local train station, it is tiny and not all trains stop here but even though it is in fact tiny it still has a bathroom, vending machines, seats, elevators, employees etc. Its quite nice actually even though we have to walk for a bit to get there.

Since we had to wait for around 10minutes for the train to arrive i got something from the vending machine, some sort of tea I do not remember.

It finally arrived and we got in. The trip is ok most of the time although I do not enjoy the silence and lack of movement and eye contact in this country to be honest, it all seems a bit cold really.. We did get to the destination pretty fast, Tennoji station. Since we were on the JR (japanese railways) and wanted to go to the subway instead we had to get past the gates and exit the station and get in the subway entrance which can be confusing to some.

Weirdest thing ever, when a machine is not available in my country usually its because its not working. It's the first time i have seen a sign saying its not being used to save electricity. What?

One of the few shots i have of myself from that day, proving that i'm sticking to the "I use the machines this time" rule.

We finally got out at shinsaibashi and had a stroll around the main shopping streets. I leave you with some photos, in no particular order:

Sales are everywhere, its so hard to resist!

Gah these dog clothes were adorable, i really wanted to get some and force them on my cats instead hehe.

This was funny, its a lingerie store and the drawing is of a public figure a comedian. Since i do not know anything about him I just appreciate this for the weirdness. 

I found this product at a store that sells drugs for which you do not need a prescription and makeup and also hygiene products etc. It is a spray that you use to get your skin to stop being oily so that's why they use a photo of a regular blythe (which is shiny) turning into a custom blythe without the shine. It's silly really but just seeing an add with blythe made me smile.

I took this one because some of you might find it interesting, its a big store with nothing but korean stuff, merchandise, cds, dvds, makeup products, etc etc. I did not even go in, no time.

ZARA and H&M are quite popular there too.

 I just fell in love with those shoes and thought it'd be nice to buy the mint ones for me and my friend Vania, she's totally rock them!

Anna Sui store in the area. I do not buy their clothes but i love some of them. I do like to buy their makeup.

This one is for you Susaninha, a big Sanrio store. It's pretty huge and there's a ton of stuff there. I went in to look for that phone cover you wanted but could not find it. 

Yes, Bodyline, the store is big but i've seen bigger. I rather like some of their shoes so i went in to peak and they are nice in person too. Did not buy them though. 

It was lunch time when we arrived and we were starving so we started focusing on picking a place to eat.

We went with a Katsu restaurant which means a place that serves fried meat, shrimp, etc. 

When we got in it smelled terribly of oil but i guess it couldn't be helped since they fry all day every day.

We were asked to go to the second floor where we sat and ordered. 

This is a regular dish, it comes with a salad and the fried option, in this case chicken. 

You can repeat the rice, ask them to fill in the bowl again and the same goes for pretty much anythig except for the protein.

The little bowl on the right with that yellow stuff is sesame we had to grind ourselfs at that time so it would smell and taste better.

I won't lie, we got lost, went the wrong way and took a while to get to the area we wanted ... but finally we saw..

These street lamps! It's when you see these that you know you are in the right place!

The first place we went to was puresound for two reasons: it was the first store we got to and also because it is a second hand store and I wanted to maybe get something affordable. I have found one or two dresses there in the past but this time it was terrible, nothing special, high prices it was not worth the trip so we left.

It's mostly a jrock cd, dvd, poster, merchandise heaven for those who are into that but i never browse that area of the store. The stairs are pretty much full of flyers and they also give them for free and even have events where they give out free cds if you buy something.

This is the main area/ meeting point, the so called "triangle" at Ame Mura. You might remember it from my other trips to Japan. I really like hanging out there. I was so sad I only got to spend a tiny bit of time there this time... my husband is so busy... 

This is the Putumayoshinsaibashi store. I really had no time to visit it so i didn't even go in. I like Putumayo but I do not buy a lot from them so I suspected if i had to cut options, Putumayo would be one I'd skip this time. It's no fun visiting shinsaibashi like this so I will try to go there again.

Another one I skipped and right next to Putumayo is Algonquins. I love their things but i do not wear any alternative fashion other than Lolita at the moment because of well.. adulthood haha so there's no point in going there and wanting all those fabulous punk frocks when i won't wear them. 

In the same street, the first planned visit Angelic Pretty. This store is so easy to spot because its painted pink, you just cannot miss it. They had sales going on and I fell in love with this dress but because you cannot try on sales and it looked a bit short, i decided not to get it. I might though, if i see it again, i really did like it. 

You can see the new print, Promenade de Paris in the window, its adooorable!

On the same street there's a second hand store but it was closed and it made me realise that if i wanted to buy something not only did i have to buy it fast (pressured time wise by my husband) but also new from the stores... which is always a bit more expensive than i would like it to be.

The other store in the area is Atelier Boz. Again since I wanted to visit other stores and I did not have time I couldn't go in. And yes, its not on the ground floor yet they leave a manequin with an outfit outside without giving it second thought. I know right? This country... seems so safe!

We went around a bit lost for a while and I really wanted to drink something cool and go to a bathroom so we went to several Konbini but none had a bathroom. They had tons of pocky flavors though which has nothing to do with what I'm saying here...

Finally I did find a bathroom and I did get some water so I could continue with my shopping adventure. The next store was BABY, the stars shine bright. 

It's such a pretty store and it has so many things to choose from! It was pretty full and damn those japanese lolitas were loud... whoever thinks they are not (like i did) is wrong. Even the shop staff were loud. There were a couple of things I wanted but I couldn't buy everything so after a while i left with only one item. I'm not sure i regret that purchase either because... its just more black but oh well. I hate shopping rushing like that!

I then finally found my favorite lolita store in the entire world Osaka's Atelier Pierrot. It's not the stock, even though they carry most of my favorite brands (but then again maruione's kera has even more things and more of those brands), but the location (osaka) and the amazing staff! The Atelier Pierrot staff is the best i have met so far. No matter what I am wearing, no matter if i have a smile on my face or not, how many items i try on and do not buy, nothing matters.... they are still always 100% friendly and they sound like human beings and not some auto-sales-kawaii-person. I was a fool for not asking the shop girl for that day a photo but i look so terrible every day here during this trip that i didn't even consider that. I also bought something, went over my budget for that day and had to use my credit card but i just had to buy something there too, see? If the staff is fabulous sales happen without effort. <3 I wish i knew her name or mail so i could thank her again for the kindness.

Accross from Atelier Pierrot is the building where the Innocent World store is located. It's in a rather fancy looking building that feels like a residencial building but has a lot of businesses there, especially spas for some reason. You have to take the elevator to get there, turn left and then you will see this sign letting you know where the store is. I don't particularly like this Iw store, i am not thrilled with this apartment style of shop because its something odd to me but they have amazing things, the staff is friendly and the decoration is lovely. It all pretty much screams Iw.

I found a lot of things I like there but I was over budget so i only got a tiny item. I really went in hoping that for some reason (because it does happen sometimes) there would be a back shirred (that's the only reason why i want that one otherwise i'd go for the underbust one because I adore this print!) black long Westminster Choir Jsk left... but they really only have the short burgundy one. Since as you know i got two burgundy jsks already and because it was not the long one and my husband said it was too short for me. I did not get it. I'm not sure i regret it or not, i think i'll know if it turns into something impossible to buy in the future, but it was a very hard decision to make because if you think that print looks nice in the stock photos... you'll die when you see it in person. It is... amazing. It looks a ton better than the moitie stained glass one in person, as I was lucky to see both which is surprising. It's just that amazing. So I am crushed. If you know of anyone willing to sell it to me let me know. I'll pay the normal retail price for it at this moment. 

We had to go at this time because we had to go back for dinner at a determined time so there was no chance to look for the other store i wanted to visit, Metamorphose. But because the shopping mall where Miho Matsuda is located was nearby i managed to convince my husband to just go super fast. 

I didn't find anything i wanted there but did see stunning pieces at the kera store. Still... over budget! 

These are Gatshapon machines, all different sorts and some with really weird things in them. The price goes from 200yen to 500yen usually.

Trains, mushrooms, alien stuff, anime, cute stuff, panties for your iphone, you name it.

I only saw 3 lolitas that day, it was a weekday. This one was wearing the new moitie striped jumperskirt. She looked very nice actually.

Going home I saw these doll sized furnitures in a jewelry store window. 

The jewelry was expensive and i didn't care for it, but i really wish i had the furniture, how perfect is this? <3

We arrived home 10min late but it was alright. My mother in law already had dinner more or less ready so we just washed our hands and sat to eat.

It was curry, i love japanese curry and a delicious salad to go with it. They really know how to spoil me...

Overall it was a nice afternoon, i really like what i bought but think some thing was impulse buys from having to rush while shopping. But its a bit of tradition already, impulse buying on the first and last days. Does it happen to you guys too?

So I leave you with the first thing I bought for lolita during this trip:

Angelic Pretty Gloria cutsew black

I do not wear skirts and its a shame to hide the print which is the part that made me buy it so this was definitely an impulse buy. It is stunning though.

Anyway this is it for today, I hope you liked the post!

Love,

Jo

Japan trip - Day 13

We woke up still a bit beat up from all the running around, got ready and left for a stroll and breakfast.
Since the hotel is literally next to Sensoji. Senso-ji is Tokyo's oldest temple and one of the most famous. It is absolutely beautiful and really peaceful early in the morning.

Houses along the way. They have small swastika along the roofs

Typical small residential street in the area.

It was a bit chilly but sunny and so, very pleasant. We decided to take a stroll first and then find a place to eat as it was eally early.
Along the way we found smaller shrines around the temple which I always find adorable. They can calmly and peacefully co-exist in a perfect harmony.

Small shrine

We started stopping a bit along the way because we are both avid cat lovers and we started noticing a lot of stray cats (and its not very normal to find stray animals everywhere in Japan) ...

Miau

Sign that speaks of a group of voluntaries who not only feed the cats but also get them nuttered and clean up their mess. Only these people should feed the cats. - something like that. You can read more about this here.

Right after this we enter the temple's area. There are a lot of buildings and a lot of stalls, etc so basically i'll just leave you with the photos. I am sure (even though I appreciate ancient culture and art) some of you will probably appreciate these more than I do hence me posting them.

main building

Huge sandal. It is supposed to belong to one of the gods.

One of the few shots I have of myself in a tourist location from this trip.

From here to the main gate its all stalls stalls and more stalls.

We took this oportunity to shop for omiyage for mom and dad. Whenever we visited anything tourist-y we got them something typical to eat. I found that to be rather adorable and they seemed to enjoy it. ^^

Favorite stall: pet clothes and articles. Aw...

After visiting the Temple we looked for anything open but the first thing we found was McDonald's. We were starving so we went in. We grabbed a strange burger looking sandwich  and coffee and some hashbrowns. The bread was sweet but it was still tasty.
I left with my coffee in my hands which made the trip back to the hotel much more pleasant. (coldddd...)

McDonald's breakfast sets.

For some reason I never remember to take photos of things my friends might find interesting but i did that time. Here's a Japanese tabacco vending machine for you, Lucy. And see? one can be posh and smoke Vogue (we don't have those in Portugal, i think... i wouldn't know anyway since i smoke the regular stuff).

A pack is around 4,50 euro there. So basically its around the same price you get in Portugal. Now lets compare people's incomes... oh ouch!

We also checked some stores along the way, we were definitely still waking up and taking our time.

The most adorable portable umbrellas in the world for 5 euros each.

We got back at the hotel and got our luggage and said our thank yous and goodbye. In a few minutes we were going to say goodbye to Asakusa. <3 We hope to be back next year.

Asakusa subway station. They have this portable shinto shrine. It is still used, they just place it there when there are no festivities for people to be able to gave upon it. It's gorgeous.

I also took a photo of the subway line for you to gaze upon. I find it really confusing, not in the sense of how to use the line itself but because there may be stations with this only in kanji, so i suggest that you keep your own map with you at all times. Of course since I always go with my husband I don't do jack so if one day i have to go alone i'm sure i'll have to ask for info once or twice.

Buying tickets.

After this we headed over to Shinjuku again. First because we would have to get the bus from there to Oji and so it made sense to go and leave our luggage there and second because i wanted to visit Maruione.
But first it was lunch time, we were hungry again obviously so we went to an Udon fast food chain store.

Curry Udon, absolutely delicious. Also the topings etc are all free so you can just add as much as you want.

There was an Angelic Pretty lolita wearing white slurping udon right in front of me and although i really wanted a photo I thought it would be really rude so i snapped an outfit photo from the back. That should do it as a means to preserve her identity. I also have a photo of the cooks, they were really nice and posed for the photo happily. ^_^;

Udon loving lolita

Store front. If you spot it, go in. Affordable and delicious food ahead. <3

We got out and started heading to our destination. Since we did go buy many of my favorite things i am going to share some more photos.
First i must say that there's something really adorable about girl relationships in Asia: the holding hands thing. We don't hold hands in portugal very frequently, its just... odd to us so i always find it strange yet adorable when girls do so in Asia. I used to feel the same when i lived in China.

culture point: girls holding hands.

Right next to where Christon Café is there's a small shring. Yes right in the middle of the city confusing and one of the busiest spots in all Japan. Its like entering a completely different world.

Hanazono shinto shrine

It is located in a parallel street to this huge avenue:

One of the streets there

We made a small stop at the local Sanrio store and I managed to not spend money but encouraged my husband to get a kitty tie for work. It's very fitting for him to own such a tie i think haha. It's an adorable store, i really like it. <3

Gift Gate - sanrio store entrance

Maybe some of these are portuguese!

Karaoke building. I love the castle on top of it, its beautiful!

We decided to leave Maruione for later and went to our next assigned destination: Akihabara.

Saw Algonquins in the subway, which i thought was surprising in a way.

You know you're at Akihabara when images such as the next one start appearing everywhere. It's a mix of cute, revolting, silly, disgusting.... I don't know what feeling. I suppose if I was very innocent it would just be "cute" but i can never just look at things without processing them at least a bit so i myself ruin things for me haha. Oh Japan Japan.

This one is for Duarte.

We can't spend many ours there without coffee so...

Afternoon cofee stop!

Right next to the main station entrance there was a huge queue. I then looked at the start of it to try and see what it was and another feeling of disgust came to me: AKB48 shop and café?!? THAT's what that huge line is for? Oh Japan Japan Japann....

That annoying jail bait pseudo band was everywhere this year, i mean everywhere.

Right next to it was something much better with a smaller queue.

Gundam Café. Although i'd prefer a Macross Café, its still pretty awesome. I obviously didn't go in, no time to stay in a line like that. Maybe next time.

An interesting thing about Japanese Otaku is the difference between how seriously they take their hobbies as opposed to how not seriously so called anime fans take their hobby over here (not sure about other countries, you'll be the judge of that). They spend tons and tons of money on their hobby and they are very loyal and faithful. In fact in order to actually be respected as an otaku by other otaku in japan you would probably have to lead a very finantially confortable live otherwise there's no way one would make it.
A sign of that are the local car mod otakus. These otaku ride their modified and decorated powerful cars around the area probably showing off or something. It was hilarious but also (I admit) slightly cool at some point. I totally respect their love for their hobbies.

Example (I have a couple more but can't post everything)

The area is basically formed by very tall buildings that sell game, anime, manga, collectible related things. There are also big electronics department stores and themed cafés and stores. It's a lot of fun but you would need a full day just to check some of it and we were running out of time. I did snap some photos for you guys.

General view of the area.

There are also advertisement for releases and things of the sort.

My destination was Mandarake. They sell second hand models and figurines and I was hoping to get wigs for my future dolls. I found that 25 euros a wig was a big too much for me at this point so i didn't actually buy anything there.

Mandarake building

Ok maybe just one more hahaha

After browsing the area we left for Shinjuku again. I really wanted to visit Maruione and we had to have dinner and eventually leave as it was already past 5pm and the bus was leaving at around 8.

Maruione, this time with its normal amount of visitors unlike the previous day.

Isetan building view at night, gotta love all the lights.

I found a small store at Maruione that was only staying for a small period of time. The store sold a big number of Pullip dolls and they also had some doll clothes. Doll clothes as I would find out are ridiculously expensive, you can actually buy clothes for you with the price they charge for them. So I basically spent the same i later spent in boots for myself in doll clothes and left.

Next was Juniemoon, the blythe store. I drooled over all the dolls they had there, cried with the even more expensive clothes they had for sale there and asked some questions.
I really wanted to buy the Blythe x Emily Temple Cute doll but it was 180 something euros and, since i didn't know much about the hobby, i thought it might not be a smart move. If it was today I would have gotten her because i found out that the price will only go up from that and also because i can't stop thinking about her and i still want her badly. ;_;

Next stop was the footwear floor. They were the only floor with sales already and i fell in love with a pair of gorgeous boots that I got. They also had another pair i loved but they didn't have the LL and L was small for me so i got a pair of very pretty brown shoes instead. I love their shoes, they are more affordable than brand and as beautiful!

I also visited  the rest of the stores and broke my heart at Kera. They had the Mére Vierge Juliette et Justine dress and i nearly cried of happiness when i saw it and asked to try it on. Unfortunately I found out that the shirring is there to make suckers like me get their hopes up and then fall in an instant meaning, it is there for nothing as it does not work so it didn't fit. I was so sad that even the store employee was clearly feeling sorry for me. It sucked really hard. Oh well...

We then left Maruione and I went up to Innocent World really fast just to check if they had anything special but i didn't want anything other than the shirts that never fit me anyway so I left.

Innocent World Shinjuku store

Tired as heck but happy (especially with the doll clothes) we went to another chain restaurant and had dinner.

I think this photo clearly illustrates the tired but happy idea. XD

My "not yet arrived" girls's new clothes! At least two of them won't be naked anymore!

My dinner, so damn tasty!

After that i had to make a choice: dessert at Christon Café like usual or Alice café for the first time? Even though i love Christon the alice café was just there and i did feel like i should try something new.

We went down the stairs first because we didn't read the sign properly and found out that the only way to access the café was through the elevator, so we went back up and looked for it. Found it and got in.

The café sign outside.

When we got there it was amazing, the decoration was fantastic and all you could hear were disney songs and other wacky old tunes. haha I guess my older brother would want to kill himself as he hates musicals but whatever.
Anyway we found out that people usually make reservations for these and it was completely booked. We did say we only wanted to stay for a bit so he found a spot for us right away. Apparently when people go there they stay there for a long time! They told us "we have a table for you but only for one hour, is that ok?". It made me wanna laugh and i said "ok" - I mean for me 1 hour is a looot of time! o.o

The reception: the employee who greated us was dressed as a fancy buttler. I didn't want to disturb him so i took a photo of the space instead. There was a hidden door in a panel and he lead us in after that.

The open menu, a lot of alice illustrations and alice related names.

The menu was amazing, it was basically like a story book with images and gorgeous features. All the food names was alice related and one would have to read its content to know what they were referring to.
All the waitressed were dresses accordingly, as alice or something else. The place was completely full.

Menu2

Closed menu

The room was small but lets not forget that in order to reach it one has to go throught a lot of different individually booked rooms which means its bigger.

Center chandelier.

Another photo of how full it was and myself.

I think this is a ginger ale but am not sure. The 8 card is our "coat" hanger number

As an appetizer they brought caramelized fruit or something. I can't say because i don't really like these. The bowl was adorable though.

And this is what i ordered for us: Cheshire cat dessert! Check the little chocolate made paw!

The face (I ate that first muhahaha)

It was pricey, around 25 euros for both cocktails, the dessert and the experience but i think it is worth it. It's not something you do very often so...

The entrance/exit doors

We left for the bus stop area. It was still a bit early so we checked some of the subway stores.

Ballet window. Gorgeous!

We always spend time at the book stores, and for japanese people this means nothing but common, how can you not laugh at...

This name!!! XD

I must say its the first time I see a complete wall of gothic and lolita bibles in a book store, including older numbers. Very cool. I couldn't buy anything though, i had gotten too many mags already. :|

Gothic & Lolita bible wall.

Lastly we went to a coffee shop right in front of the bus stop. They were a smoking ok coffee shop and the place was full of smoke. I understand how people can be anti-tobacco when they go in a place like that haha, everyone there was smoking and the ventilation system must have been really bad.

We ordered drinks and just relaxed for a bit. The staff was nice though, very nice.
They kept filling our glasses with water and saying nice things.

After a couple smokes we just left. Getting on a bus at shinjuku is quite challenging i tell you that so be sure you get there on time or you are screwed.
But we found our bus and got in and everything went as planned. We were so tired that we slept the whole time.

Bye bye Tokyo, see you next time!