Japan trip - Great people + too much shopping

Sunday the 17th of August

In Japan the "let's hang out" day is Sunday. In my own country we usually use Saturdays for that and Sundays to chill out at home or to spend with our family or have family reunions and special lunches etc.

Oh gosh I am salivating... I miss those sausages... how silly, to declare that one misses sausages but I do.

I had sheduled to finally meet someone I have known for quite a bit and grew fond of, Emma. We had tried to schedule to meet the previous year but I couldn't make it then and I was determined to rectify that this year. 

We decided to meet in my favorite shopping area in Japan, yes, again Shinsaibashi because i cannot get enough of it. 

Emma had asked if I was going to wear my new Emily Temple Cute dress and I said yes because I did not have another more of less complete outfit so she told me she actually owned the skirt in pink and that she'd wear it too. I thought that was awesome and it made me a bit more excited too.

My casual outfit for the day, in Sango station.

The meeting would be in front of Innocent World or accross Atelier Pierrot. Because we were a bit early I went in A/P and just did my crazy purchase of the day. I always want everything in that store and again the staff was super friendly.

Atelier Pierrot store window

After a bit I could finally spot her and we said hello. I was super excited and I was very happy because I liked her almost instantly which is always a plus, she really is super sweet!

I was told by the staff at Atelier Boz that there was some sort of colab event going on in a nearby café and Emma apparently goes there from time to time so we decided we should go check it out. The name of the café is Anamune. It was again in the upper floor of a building which was really in bad conditions, very crude but artistic. 

The entrance was decorated with anatomy related stencils I believe and set up the mood for what would be inside.

Me and the lovely Emma in matching ETC

Random medical related stuff,The place really was random.

There was a photo exhibition going on of a lolita in macabre background and clothing and the pieces were for sale as well, just like an art gallery. Here and there one would find medical or just strange pieces decorating the café, it was very interesting to look at since every bit would have something worth checking. Even the bathroom had interesting things inside it.

Overall view of the room

I chose a glass of wine and two mini sandwiches, they were one of the lunch menu picks. 

They also had this bjd doll on display. Apparently they keep moving it from place to place and at some point when Emma went there, they'd even let customers pick her up and "play with her". I do not know what sculpt she is and did not ask.

Another area of the café, really odd and random right? I loved it too. 

This is the entrance of the building, it looked quite nice until we got in the elevator i suppose. Very typical of this area.

After that we left and decided to take some purikura. I was really excited! I have always wanted to take purikura in Japan especially with another lolita! It was not much like what I was expecting though, the machines were very... glam and made me look like an alien haha and then its pretty stressful too I think. I did have fun though and I'm going to cherish my first purikura for sure!

Purikura boot

This is the end result. I realized we both picked this as the center shot. I love the randomly placed tooth best but the horns are nice too. :P

I asked Emma if we could step by Angelic Pretty too. Loyal Rosette had come out the previous day and since there was a huge hype around it I really wanted to check it out. 

We went in and again I had to look at Cameo Window which I love but in the only color they did not have in the store. I like the other colors too though but not as much.

The new series was at the store window in salopette and op. When I went in and checked it in person I fell in love too, especially with the most disliked colorway, brown. I loved the brown and the gold together, it was so... stylish. Fortunately for me they did not have the jsk (my fav piece) in any other color anymore so I knew I really loved the brown and didn't have to decide between them.

The problem came when it was time for accessories. I feel in love with the detachable bow in the hat but the hat itself on my head felt like a pasty chef's hat, i felt so silly with it on! I really wanted to get it but I couldn't bring myself to spend all that money on something that made me feel so silly so after thinking for a VERY long time, I decided to buy the bow instead. I also did not like the matching socks so those were the pieces I got. 

Emma tried the skirt on in green i think and decided not to get it even though she liked it a lot.

In front of Angelic Pretty Osaka, aka the very pink store.

Shinsaibashi was as lively as ever and it was ridiculously hot that day too.

Shisaibashi.

Emma suggested we could check out the new Alice in Wonderland store which apparently is very famous. I said that would be nice even though i had no idea there was one. 

When we arrived it was really cool looking from outside but the fact that they had a line to get in kinda puzzled me. 

The guard holding the entrance for the Alice in Wonderland store

Most of the items are either food goods to buy as presents or small decoration items and jewelry.

Inside the decoration was pretty amazing and in the candy area there was even a table set for the mad tea party but upside down. I thought that was cool. If you would like to see it better inside please click the Alice link above.

We also checked the second hand stores in the area and I was very pleased because I found them to be up to par with Closet Child so I am happy for the girls in Osaka. <3

I found a shirt I really wanted for a great price thanks to Emma and also managed to complete my newly bought Ap set that day as well. I shopped like mad but I had a blast.

Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to her but I'm sure I will see her again. I wished I could live nearby so we could do that more often, it was a lovely afternoon.

See you soon dear Emma!

After this we went to Daimaru in Shinsaibashi. Daimaru is a department store. The reason why we went was because she suggested that we go to a thing called Zombie Defense University which is basically an horror zombie house. It seemed like a great idea so there we went.

When we got there however I really couldn't bring myself to go. Girls were coming out crying, 16 year old guys were telling friends and familly there's no way they'd go in there etc etc so I chickened out completely and did not do it. I got my husband a ticket and he went and he said it was not scary and came out laughing. -_-; meh. haha

It was now time to go home but not without eating something so we wandered for a bit deciding what to have. We went for Omurice which is basically just a omelette with rice inside. It was really tasty actually, it was a good pick for sure.

After that we got in the station which is close and rode a couple of trains until we got home. The last train, the local train to Oji was deserted at some point so I ended up having some shots in it, which i really like. I love that my husband still wants to take photos of me after such a long and tiring day, he is so sweet!

And that was it for my lovely lolita day, there had to be one, right? 

Thank you Emma for everything!

That day's shopping haul included:

- newest Kera 

- a paris kids mini hat (for my dolls)

- a bit of sewing/crafts materials for a project

- tweezers to put eye lashes on my bjd

- Millefleurs Georgette Shirring shirt (black)

- Angelic Pretty Loyal Rosette jsk (brown)

- Angelic Pretty Loyal Rosette headbow (brown)

- Btssb brown wrist cuffs

- Angelic Pretty Melty Chocolate socks (brown x gold)

- Atelier Pierrot Clown Palace Jsk

I really hope you enjoyed reading!
Love,
Jo

Japan trip 2014 - Some lolita, finally!

Wednesday 30

We did nothing all day which feels good and is exactly what I am doing today.
We woke up, had yummy food for breakfast, had instant yummy food for lunch and had super healthy food for dinner (tofu, mushrooms, fish etc).
Played with Mari, watched tv, relaxed. Best days are those lazy days.

Breakfast included karepan (my favorite) and sweet buns with handmade maio filing.

Mari had fun in that box.

Discovered Mari likes matcha flavored stuff too, this is matcha pudding.

Friday 31

My inlaws wanted to take Mari so we had a more relaxed time. Woke up later than usual and there were some tasty onigiri waiting on the dining table.
After that, we were planning on leaving the house soon but my friend fla has a big mouth and chats a lot which makes me happy haha so i stayed in and we chatted and chatted and I was happy. Unfortunately soon it was time to leave and we had planned to visit Osaka's shinsaibashi área which is supposed to be my favorite in Japan so far.

This is what I look like. People stare a bit because of the sunglasses, very rarely do I see anyone with sunglasses here.

 This pond is right by Sango train station. Last year it was full of water and there were fish and turtles living there. We wondered about the turtles and found out they were taken to a save place but I got very annoyed when i looked at the área beneath a grid and there was water and still fish living there, that place is tiny and dirty! So sad...

Once a beautiful pond, now its like a trash can where some fish are still trapped.

but then vending machines make it better. I got the Café Au Lait which is milky and sugary and reminds me of my kitty cat left back home *tears*

 We got in the train and headed over to the connection station which is Tennoji. I like the fact that i always need to be in a train to go to places although i find the whole line this and that and JR and bla bla ridiculously confusing.

Since it was lunch time and had to literally step out of the station to change to the subway my husband suggested we ate around the area. I actually had been there last year to meet with one of his friends and I like it a lot, its super modern and there's a ton of things to discover, lots of stores and all that. 

The view accross the train station

People with sunglasses. I want to take more photos with my husband but its not easy to do so when we are by ourselves.

We then entered a shopping building because they have restaurants there, usually in the bottom but mostly in the top floors. I like malls here, they look super upscale like the sort of place i'd think twice about entering in my own country because of the price of the items and because I feel like i look odd in them haha but in Japan they are so normal everyone is everywhere and that feels nice.

I stopped twice, once to eat of course and the other time in the kid's floor. I was drooling over Mezzo Piano and even more over Shirley Temple's marvelous pieces. I fell in love with one jsk, but it was 7000yen on sale and still big for my daughter. I swear when she's a year older i'm going to buy this stuff for her. I do not care!

This in jsk version.... how can you not want to dress your kid in this???

The top floors with the restaurants had the staircase área all decorated with these leaves on the ceiling and i though they looked amazing, like something from a dream.

We browsed all the floors until we decided where to have lunch... its just that there are queues out of each one of the restaurants and I hate waiting...

Finally we decided to go to a Chinese food sort of place and I knew what to get from the shop window, plastic food model display, eggplant! I love eggplant!

I ordered a menu which included a small soup, a small salad, a roll and a meat fried piece which i adore.

It was way too much food for me so my husband ended eating half of it. My mother in law told us not to get stuffed for lunch because she wanted to take us out for dinner.
Since we were headed for shinsaibashi and we remembered it was not easy to find a bathroom there we decided to go before. Now I know you were waiting for toilet shots again but common, again? (ok maybe next time).
I did spot something I am actually thinking of requesting people implement here which is this:

Seat for kids

I know it sounds obvious but no, there's no place to put your kid down when you go to the bathroom... so going to the bathroom with a under 3 year old child is a huge drag! They had these in all the toilets and even the men's bathroom which is where this one was located actually. Isn't it perfect? I thought so.

We then left for the subway and headed to our destination, shinsaibashi. We left in the station with the same name and got lost. I always find Bodyline and never find the famous triangle park the first time. This time again we got lost and then laughed a bit when we got there because we totally had been close before and just missed it. I will always find it now though i forced myself to memorize the path to it.
That means we had just a couple of hours to browse things... which is not a lot but i mean shopping can happen any time, and this trip is about familly and resting.
Some photos taken of the area when we were just wandering around:

The famous GLICO sign.

 

When you see these lamps you know you have arrived.

My first stop was the one closest to me which was Angelic Pretty. I was hoping to miracly find a Cameo Window fully shirred jsk in red but of course it wasn't there. The other version not available in the site was there in red but its 89cm long and frankly full shirring is just more comfortable for me so i did not get it. I am still debating if I should get it in Brown or ivory so I left without buying anything.

Angelic Pretty Osaka - Cameo in pink for fla

After that, in the same street I went to two stores, one was the local second hand store which has become much more expensive than it was before, all the things I wanted were close to or over retail price, I really want musee in ivory but nah. But they had really nice things there.

Then I went to Atelier Boz but I found that nothing was too exciting except for this which is lovely but not something i'm dying to have. I also loved their hoop skirts!

After that I went straight towards my favorite store in the world, not because of the brands they carry (juliette et justine, moi-meme-moitie, "chantilly", triple fortune, atelier pierrot and others) but because of the atmosphere and most of all the servisse. The staff are friendly and act and seem... well human. Some stores train their staff to act in a way that seems plastic and just odd or even somewhat not helpful which happens everywhere, not just here and not just in Lolita stores. The Atelier Pierrot staff acts as if they are your friend and just want to help. I wanted to try on some triple fortune corsets and was looking for it in black but did not find it, they only had that pink on the window there. I fell in love with chantilly's prints and was disappointed by the one i actually wanted to see (haha life) and also fell in love with a MmM shirt (can't afford that) and a complete outfit by Atelier Pierrot that I will probably buy next week if its still there. I feel stupid though, buying a complete coord shown in the store but i loved it!

Anyway I just want to go back and get a photo with the store girl because i love her and want to be her friend (how creepy).

Atelier Pierrot Osaka - my favorite store in Japan

We also went in Innocent World where I also was disappointed by the only thing i wanted and almost got a dress on sale. I went in to buy a short sleeved  cardigan in black but they had 0 in L size so i couldn't.

Kera shop had the most gorgeous Lumiebre parasol ever with a stained glass print in it... for like a lot of cash (and for me to get it meant i'd have to play the luck game with the airplane trip "will it or will it not break") and I got to see my new jj dress which is... ok but super thin. Why are my jj dresses never thick and nice like the cat/rabbit dress my friend Vania owns... *sigh*
Finally we went in the PureSound second hand store. I found out their Lolita section is now pretty much non-existant and found two things I wanted there. One I got and will show to you (it was the only thing i bought that day) and the other I left but would like to own and might return to get, i didn't get it because it was just a plain pink dress but i think i'll wear it a bit. Not too cheap nor too expensive.

After that it was time to go, we had scheduled to be in Oji station by 6.30 and we meant to keep our promise.

Regular japanese train, bound for Oji station

In the process of getting there i got realy thirsty and wanted to buy water but we were out of coins so when I arrived at Oji the first thing I did was get Money from the ATM and hit the nearby supermarket. Never did water taste this good.

Buying water at the supermarket, gosh i was so ridiculously thirsty!

When we got back very soon everyone arrived so we got in the car and my daughter reacted in the most adorable way ever screaming "mommy mommy" ^_^; *melts*

After a while we arrived to our destination: more meat heaven!

The restaurante, during the day was black and at night it looked more grey-ish. It looked pretty grand haha

Korean style barbecue. Sooo tasty!

 After that we got back in the car and went back home where we rested a bit and waited for something that we wanted to watch: Cristiano Ronaldo in a japanese food tv quizz show.

Basically two guests have to eat 3 dishes, in the middle there's one the guest does not like. In the end they have to guess which dish the other does not like to "win".
Ronaldo was asked to take off his shirt if he lost (what?) and he did lose so he did take it off, the girl was melting, it was ridiculous haha.

After that we went jogging... and jogging here is harder I haven't made it to the 5k I usually run because its so hot!
Took a shower and slept like a baby!

This is the only thing I bought, I know... how ridiculous! I told you I am most probably falling out of love with lolita. :|

Victorian Maiden Gobelin print capelet. Not sure of name or if anything is missing.

Hope you liked reading!
Love always,
Jo