Japan trip 2014 - Tokyo day 1

Sunday 3rd of August

 

 

Hello again! I have to apologize again because for some reason I cannot find a single photo from the 2nd of August but I probably rolled around in the futon, ate and packed.

 

Basically we had to wake up ver early because we were on a morning shinkansen trip to Tokyo. My husband bought a train round trip +hotel combo online which made the whole trip slighly cheaper from usually going by bullet train. We have gone on a night bus before. I was relieved because train is much less tiring and a lot more confortable (and faster).

 

We first had to get to the shinkansen station which in the area is Shin Osaka. It takes up to around an hour to get there from Sango. We both travel with our own carry on luggage which enables for some storage space in case we buy something.

Waiting to get on our first train that day, bound for Tennoji

 Sango station looks and feels much like the rest of Sango, calm, quiet, like the country-side. I feel quite relaxed everywhere we go here.

Sango station, platform 2 - Osaka direction

 Usually the train isn't this empty, it was Sunday, around 7am.

Normal local train

 When we got to Osaka we start seeing many more customers and even interesting things like this USJ bound themed train. How cute is this?

Hello Kitty decorated train heading to Universal Studios Japan

 When we got to Shin Osaka I saw this cute train paraphernalia store that my friend Fernando would probably have to go browse as he is into that sort of thing.



Train toys and models are everywhere in Japan, even in the local supermarket.

Shinkansen train

Our "yay" face.

 One thing I notice is that the moment someone sits on the train, everyone grabs a bite, we brought chips from home and bought beverages: i got the relaxing Jasmine tea.

Yummy goodies.

Inside the shinkansen there's plenty of room to relax and the benches go recline so you can take a nap. The lights do not go dim so you should care an eye mask if you are sensitive to that. The seats have a reclinable table and a net to hold items, and hook for your coat. The only thing i miss is a foot rest. I took a shot of the tickets too because to leave the exit station you need to put these in the gate and they do not come out so you do not get to keep them as a souvenier.

 



After many hours, i think it was around 7 hours we arrived... sort of.
My husband fell asleep and I did not know which station we had to exit so when i woke him up we were stationed in Shinagawa station. So he mumbled something and we got our bags as fast as possible and left the train... well I left the train, he was left behind and we both freaked out because he had both our tickets and we didn't discuss what we would do. To make things worse the security officer started screaming at me in Japanese because I was on the yellow line and the train was about to leave.
A little nervous I then apologizes and he said (all of this in japanese and i am not exactly very good in the language) that i could get the next train to the next station to which i replied that I did not speak japanese well and that i should just wait at shinagawa. He then told me it would be better to stand on the other side where trains from Tokyo arrive to which i nooded and thanked him as respecfully as i could (even though the screaming did not help i still understand that he was trying to do his job) and sat on the other side waiting. My husband appeared 40min later and i felt a huge relief. I know, best start to our stay in Tokyo ever, right? It was then that i chose to, whatever could happen, just be cool and try to enjoy the stay.

We then got to the next train station where our hotel was in which was a surprise. The hotel is Ours Inn Hankyu and I recommend it if you are visiting Tokyo. It is close to Yamamote line connection Shinagawa station and Yamamote line has the following stations: Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Yoyogi, Akihabara, Tokyo, etc. So it has all the major places usually people with similar interests want to visit. And this also means during this trip we only used trains, never got in the subway which is very good.

The building also is over a shopping mall complex which means we had 24 hour fast food and convenience stores and during the day several coffee shops, restaurants etc.
There was na affordable sushi place so thats where we had lunch.

the two of us ate for 20 ish euros. Not bad for decente sushi. That soup was delicious, i fell in love with it but it looks like my mom's caldo verde haha.

The Hotel building, the white block building is the station! I know, it was great.

Yamamote Line - our destination was Shinjuku

The meeting point was the east exit of Shinjuku station which was a slight pain to find but we had been warned so we asked around and it wasn't so bad. I sometimes imagine what it would be like if i was alone or worse... if most people i knew were alone, it would probably be a huge headache so i'm actually very lucky.

 

We waited there for a bit, watching people go by like busy bees and I took the oportunity to check what people were wearing which i feel people assume because of what we see online and in mags that Japanese people are all super fashionable. That is not at all true, most of the time people seem to not really care about what they are wearing to be honest but then they'll take out their Gucci coin purse and you get confused. It is just weird, everything goes and most of the time, in my own aesthetic preferences, its not... very pleasant I must say. But still, better than in my own country, maybe.

 

Finally I spotted Aviva and Sapphira. We all were accompanied by our fabulous "partners in crime" and we had arranged to meet but since I had no Lolita items whatsoever and due to the heat, only Sapphira came in Lolita. She's so pretty irl, prettier than the photos (I always mean what i write so that's true, not some sort of cliché sentence). Aviva was sort of made the planning officer which now that i think about it sounds annoying but i guess it couldn't be helped.

 

We went to a café that looked really interesting and silly, i loved it. It was a mix of Span, México, Europe in general and gothic cathedrals. The staff all had the weirdest haircuts.... it was hard not to notice and they seemed pretty unorganized with led for some funny bits such as someone asking for Syrup and they got us Salt which is funny since we were having coffee and cake! XD

 

We chatted a lot, well i was awkward as usual because i cannot stand... silence like almost unconfortable silent moments when the conversation stops you know, but because I have known Aviva and Izzy for 5 years or so I really do not feel ashamed.

Cake - spongy and not very good

The cake was not good at all but we had fun there. After that we decided to go to a Izakaya where we contiued chatting. I like Izakaya because it is one of the rare places where Japanese people seem more like us, chatty and sort of loud (ok maybe a bit too loud, at times).

After that we went to the new Marui One Annex which I only visited briefly with them and therefore could not check properly at that time. I have na opinion on it but I will write that in the next post to match the actual day. We only went straight to Kera shop to check some accessories and parted ways there. Me and my husband would return the next day for some shopping so we left as well.

We only went to a electronics department store after that and then went home. I was beat but super happy. I had a blast and it was a pleasure to meet Sapphira, she's one of those perfect lolitas in all accounts you know? Looks, personality, behavior wise, everything is the ideal of what a Lolita should be like. Since I am not like that, I totally admire it. <3

Aviva is amazing and so is Izzy, I really really like them a lot. <3

New vending machine, all touch operated and it shows the weather, had advertisement etc, seems like something from the future.

After that we just went to the hotel and rested!

Bike parking, my brother loves bikes and i think this is fabulous.

Origami Wall at hotel

Hotel room halls and me relaxing in the room, the view was nice so I liked hanging out there for a bit.

I hope you liked reading about my day. A big kiss,
Jo