Day 7 - Home Sweet Home!

Date: August 16, 2009
Time: 11:30 AM


Checked out of our awesome hotel room and headed for Yokohama Station.  Before we left, we were checking out some stuff on TV.  Tamori-san was doing a show called Chibikko Land and a portion of the show showed people claiming their relatives look like celebrities.  One said their little brother looked like Sho.  I didn't pay attention so I thought Sho was gonna be there and got excited... He wasn't.  It's just look alikes.. boo..


Anyways.  Now on the train heading to Narita.  Had a problem at Yokohama Station, but not too bad.  Unlike in Tokyo haha.
On the way to the airport with all our heavy ass luggage.  Or just all mine.  Though I did have to pick up Deanna's luggage to put on top of the luggage rack in the Narita express.


I'm ready to go home.  Comfort of my home Haha.  Though sleeping will still be a problem. Jet lag.


Time: 3:31PM
At Narita waiting for our plane.  Boarding at 4:05 apparently.  Sad that i'm leaving, but seriously.. can't wait to get home.  Stop over at Seattle.  Be there around 9AM and flight for SF is at 11:15 or so.  


It hella doesnt feel like a Sunday.. then on the way back it's gonna be afternoon of Sunday.  So it's gonna feel like we went back in time.  


About to board I think..
Hungry already.. wondering when we're going to eat Haha.


Time: Whatever it is in our time zone.. haha (it's dark out)
Just finished our "dinner" or by the time we head to Seattle, breakfast.  Our seats had a double booking, but they let the kids move and kept us at our seats.  We shoulda moved Haha.. cuz we got a stupid ass lady next to me that's pissing me off.  i wonder if she's doing it on purpose.  Anyways.  Lots of choices of in flight movies.  Personal screens so that's cool.  Star Trek is on.  Wanna watch, but can't concentrate.  Also Monsters vs. Aliens - too bad no 3-D haha.
I wonder what I should do if I needa use the bathroom =/  Whatever.  Stupid inconsiderate lady who didn't help me get my shit.. also who takes too much fucking space.


Time: Roughly 8AM pacific time.
Just had breakfast on the plane. WTH? Haha.  Kinda weird to me.  First plane meal I didn't finish.  Felt gross to me cuz i'm not much of a breakfast person.  Huge egg with cheese, ham sausage (?!), it was like 3 vienna sausages put together haha, hash browns and an "apple pie."


Trying to stay awake for the next hour.  Let's see if I can hold up. My Eyes are slowly drooping though.  So i'm listening to my high tension music XD


I can't get that stupid Nakai commercial outta my head Hahaha!  Damn Johnny's!


I couldn't exchange a majority of my cash b/c it was in coins.  Sucks ass man..
I'll just save it for "next" time Haha.  Whenever that is.  The next time I know how to packa nd what to prepare ahead of time.


Time: 11:00AM -ish pacific time.
Stuck in a tiny ass plane heading to SF.  They overbooked the flight.  Would have given up the seat for a free ticket, but i'm ready to go home.  We've traveled longer than everyone else..
I'm already missing that big ass plane with the annoying lady cuz this plane and airport sucks ass! We transferred those terminal railways 2 times to get to our terminal.  Hella stupid.  I hate Tacoma Airport Haha.  Time to take off.


Time: 12:00-ish
I can't sleep on this stupid plane.
1) there's no room
2) the head rests suck
3) there's no room... hahah


I can't wait to unpack and see all the stuff I bouight.  I didn't really geta  chance to look at everything.  I really wish we got to go to the 100yen store, but we couldn't even find our way in!  or a place with cute nail jewels.  Prolly missed a couple in Shibuya.
I'm just bored trying to pass time.  I guess i'll do the "things I'll miss" and "things I wont" when I recap so at least these entries flow..
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picspam:

Pic #1 our plane getting ready to start boarding people, Pic #2 my omiyage (souvenirs) from the trip all laid out.
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Notes:
Thanks for reading throughout my trip.  I know I say a lot of BS and stuff doesn't make sense.  I don't tend to realize what I write at the time, it just sounds right hahah.

Hopefully this blog doesn't just end with a trip to Japan.  I want to go to plenty of places, so we'll see what comes up next.  (pending...... Seattle! ironic right? LOL)

Day 6 - Roam Around Yokohama

Date: August 16, 2009
Time: 12:10 AM


Last night in Yokohama.  Last night in Japan.  Enjoying to the last bit.


Went to Cosmoworld one last time around 6PM.  Bought some souvenirs at Cosmo Shop.  And then bought tickets to go into the Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris Wheel.  It was approx. a 35 min wait to actually get into the wheel and it was the 15 minute revolution.


I forgot to mention before Cosmo World, we stopped by the mall for SOME shopping and got lunch, then headed back to the hotel.  
Got McD's "tamago double mac" which was surprisingly was good!  

So after the Ferris Wheel went to try the crane game.  Since I love playing those, Japan became my playground for this =P
I finally tried the machine with the Tofu plush I wanted from Kiddyland.  It's actually a little bigger than the one I wanted too.  I tried it for 200 yen and failed because I didn't know that when you let go you're done.
I tried it again and got it immediately!! Holy Shit! 400 yen to WIN the plush I wanted which is worth more than 400 yen.  I was so excited.  Too bad my camera corrupted that video of me winning it! Rawr!! 


After went to get drinks from the Sunkus konbini and dinner from KFC.  The chicken has less skin, a little dry, but still good.  The fries are good though, definitely different from those wedges we get. 


Now imma get ready to sleep.  Pack a bit then get straight to bed.  It's 1:19AM now and gonna wake up at 8 AM so yeah....
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picspam: 

pic #1: Queen's Square is the name of the mall. It's right outside the Minato-Mirai station.. just like how SF center is connected to Bart (for all you bay area people), pic #2 Ferris Wheel.  Changes color every second, pic #3 Yokohama Landmark Tower.  Didn't get a chance to go up there, pic #4 our last dinner in Japan. LOL, that's orange Fanta in my glass
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Notes:
Sunkus became our home away from home just like Family Mart was to us in Tokyo hahahah

Day 3 - Recap of Odaiba

Date: August 13, 2009 - Thursday (part 1)
Time: 12:49 PM

Sorry I missed one day.  Too tired to write.

Okay, so yesterdays adventures, Me and Deanna got brought around Tokyo by Linah and her friend Xuan.

*Funny story: Linah called me Tuesday night to ask me where I was staying at and what we were going to do Wednesday.  I told her I'm staying in Nihonbashi.  She tells me she's about 2 stops away.. here's the convo (note: not exact words)

Me: Yeah, we're in Nihonbashi

Linah: Oh.. That's only 2 stops away.

Me: Oh no, i mean Shin-Nihonbashi.

Linah: OMG, what hotel?

Me: ... Hotel Kazusaya

Linah: WHAT ROOM?

Me: 307...

Linah: SHUT UP!! hold on..

*knocks on door*

Turns out she was next door to our room in 308 HAHA.

What a coincidence! So we freaked out for a good 20 minutes and realized our rooms were switched.  We originally had the studio room, but ended up getting the bigger room instead (as i mentioned).  I told Linah what we ordered and it turns out our rooms probably got switched because we're foreigners.

Anyways, Tuesday night we freaked out and turns out we have different things in our room than they do.  They had the internet plan haha.  So now we have internet here! =O  

On to Wednesday.  At 10 AM decided to head over to Odaiba.  took the water boat there and transferred twice.  The water boat view was CRAZY beautiful.  The view of all the buildings and bridges was super nice.  When we were going around the Odaiba island, we saw the HUGE Gundam model just chillen on the side. Super Huge!

There's also a statue of liberty there.  WTF?!  A STATUE OF LIBERTY? Turns out the Odaiba attractions are called the "United States of Odaiba" HAHA!

Went to "Joyopolis" shopping center. HELLA people over there! Hard to walk around.  Checked out their ABC mart, but couldn't find new kicks.  Saw clothes, but didn't bother, looked like stuff out of wet seal and stuff.  After the shopping center we went straight for the "VS Arashi" stand.  I didn't think I'd freak out, but when we got in and I saw the pictures my eyes went O__O and I fell in love again.  It's unfortunate you can't take pictures (duh.. Johnnys..).  I saw you could use a stamp to stamp a booklet of yours, but I didnt have one.  I shoulda stamped this notebook.

After "VS Arashi" got a "passport" to go inside Fuji Terebi Studios.  Waited maybe 20 minutes in line to go up to the 25th floor.  Crazy line for the elevators.  The elevator led us straight to the dome on the top of FujiTV's building.  There's some art up there and some merchandise.  At the exit, we went down some stairs to tour a bit more.  Saw ads for some of the recent and past dramas.  Took a picture of the ad for Toma's drama (can't remember the name) and 2 of "Atashinchi no Danshi" and a TOKIO Variety I think.  When we got out decided to head to Harajuku for Kiddyland.  Ended up getting lost somewhere.  I'm guessign it's Hamamatsucho Station, but we ended up at Shiodome where NTV is.  Stopped at the Exclessior coffee shop for a drink.  I actually ordered for us in Japanese.  I was surprised I remembered my counters.

After our drinks, we finally headed to Harajuku.  Went to KIDDYLAND and totally freaked out! So much toys and figurines! I wanted to buy everything.  Spent a hefty amount on items.  A couple souvenirs, a couple for myself, yeah.. major splurge haha.

After Linah showed us where the Johnny's shop is.  Along the way, took pictures of Johnny's ads along the roads.  At the Johnny's shop, I took pictures of all the signs possible.  We chilled for a bit, but because I was taking pictures and talking too loud, the girl came out.  Without her telling us, we left Haha.

Went home from there.  Linah hadda go home, but we all went back to the hotel on our own.  Luckily we didn't get lost.

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picspam:

*Pic 1: Gundam, Pic 2: VS Arashi tent, Pic 3: the crowd at FujiTV, Pic 4: inside KIDDYLAND

Day Two (part 2) - Shibuya Craziness!

Date: August 11, 2009 - Tuesday
Time:4:17 PM

I'm here at the Meiji Shrine. Just left Shibuya and embarked on a 1600 meter journey to Meiji Shrine from Aoyama.  yeah.. BIG mistake.

Meiji Shrine's in Shibuya.  So basically we walked an hour to go back to the same place.  So... we basically found the shrine in the city we were just in.  Funny thing is.. I wrote it down in my other notebook and forgot.

Time: 8:39 PM

Today, we went to Shibuya.  Our goal was to go to Harajuku after but decided to head back cuz I didn't know from where we were how to go tehre.  Decided to go to Aoyama instead (like I said XD) and headed to Meiji Shrine.  Well before i get to that, I'd like to say I hit dehydration today.  I was super thirsty.  Hunger never hit me (maybe a lil) and all I could do was drink up as much as possible.  I nearly fainted in Shibuya and I was getting cranky cuz I needed to sit and get a drink.  I ended drinking 2 cups of water, a glass of ice tea, ad bottle of Kirin Iced Tea and I U chugged a bottle of water.  And i only peed once today. That's.... bad LOL.

Anyways, back to Meiji Shrine.  The walk to the Shrine was really nice.  The trees and then you see different walkways and the shrine thingys LOL.

Sitting down for a bit and an Asian American asked me to take a picture for him.  I Think it's cuz we spoke English or I should say we were talking a lot in English.

We couldn't actually go into the Shrine cuz they were closing but we got a good look from outside.  We started leaving, but not before I tried the cleansing (wait, I did the cleansing first, then went to the Shrine).   Noticed Harajuku Station and decided to head tehre.  I wish I knew where we were cuz the Johnny's Shop was RIGHT THERE where we were and I had no idea >_< WHY?! Now i missed my chance.  I don't even know why i'm so upset when I'm not so into them now.. but still... lol.
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Picspam:

*top two pictures of Shibuya.  Lots of ads!
*bottom 3 pictures from Meiji Shrine
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Notes:

We saw a sign in Aoyama that said "Meji Shrine" with an arrow.. so we followed it.. and just kept walking and walking.. and ended up at like.. Setagaya station (i think?) and then saw the sport complex and just kept walking.  I realized we hit Harajuku at one intersection when I saw a police car that said "Harajuku" -_- great man that was a long ass walk, but it was nice to see everything.  All the small shops and buildings and nature along the way.

I felt really bad for Deanna because I lashed out at her a couple times before finally sitting down in a really cute dessert cafe.  After getting my drink I was super happy after that.  Then when I got my drink in Aoyama from the vending machine I was even more happy HAHA

BTW. The walk through Aoyama (park?).. some lady was brushing her dog and all its fur was shedding and blew right at us HAHA.  She was so cute though she was all smiling saying "aah, Sumimasen!" LOL

Yeah.. I dont even know why I had to include the last part.  I just made myself sound like a crazy fangirl HAHA

Day Two (part 1) - Day One Recap!

Date: August 11, 2009 - Tuesday
Time: 6:08AM

Couldn't sleep.  Originally was gonna wake up at 7AM, but the jetlag got us and ended up waking up (HOT!! as well) at 4:30AM.

Around 5 something an EARTHQUAKE hit... didn't even react cuz we thought it was strong wind or the garbage trucks we saw outside haha.  The quakes here feel diff than at home.  It sways side to side while home is all over.

Anyways, since we're awake so early, we're going to TRY to get ready and head out.  Todays itinerary is Shibuya and Harajuku area.  Wonder how that's going to pan out.  There's rain, humid temps and the possible quake aftermath.  Hope things go well... no problems especially with the railways today.  Gotta find Mitsukoshi station.  Says it's a 5 minute walk from here, but let's see which direction!  Our internet doesn't work, or we weren't provided any.  We know there is tho.  The wireless says there's one on our floor... but how to log in.

Last night we had a problem at The FAMILYMART conbini.  The girl asked us something and we were like ..... what?  She said nevermind (in Japanese) and continued on haha.

Semi problem using the train station after we got off of the Narita Express.  Didn't know we could transfer and but didn't know how to get to the other side.  But looking how the trains work remind me of Bart and Muni so it wasn't too bad. It was only one stop with no problems after.

Finding the hotel was a problem though.  Even though the directions said to exit at #6, it never said which direction to go to for the hotel.  Looked at the street names and easily found it in one of the "alleys."

A man helped me with my luggage up the stairs at the exit since there's no elevators or escalators.  My limited Japanense was with a "iie, ii desu" he helped anyways and then i gave the simple "arigatou gozaimasu" Haha.  so SIMPLE! my skills suck... i wonder what the barrier will be like today.

I'm waiting to shower next.  The bathroom is hella small, but whatever.  Our room turned out to be bigger than I expected and paid for haha.  Not like the picture at least.  There's actually space to walk around!

Anyways.. gotta get ready to head out.  Shower and yeah... maybe I shoulda showered first since my hair is gonna take  the longest to dry.  Well i'm off for now.

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Picspam:

*our hotel room, the blue thing on the bed are yukata robes

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Notes:

The earthquake hit Shizuoka (if i remember) with a maginitude of 6.0+.  There was also a previous earthquake that had hit Japan the Sunday we left to head there.  Throughout the week we were there, all we saw on the news was coverage about the earthquake (and that Noriko Sakai scandal haha)

It seems that the person who gave us the hotel room switched our room with the people who were next door to us (HAHA Sorry Linah XD)

Day One - Travel Day!

Date: August 9, 2009 - Sunday
Time: 11:30AM - 12PM

This is the start of my travel log. What's my destination? TOKYO, JAPAN.
That's right! After 5 years of dreaming and planning to go, it finally happened. My planned travel buddies always changed, but I finally found one on such a whim too.
It all started (and ended) like this:

Me: I wanna go to Japan.... Let's go this summer!
Deanna: .... Okay!
Me: You think i'm kidding? Im not
Deanna: ... Okay!

Haha! Yeahh... not the exact convo, but pretty close.

My original idea was to go for Arashi's 10th Anniversary. Turns out they're celebrating in the winter than their usualy summer concerts... booo... BUT i'm happy and super excited despite haha.

I'm actually on route to Japan as I'm writing this. The view at take off was amazing. I couldn't believe how much prettier San Francisco was until that aerial shot. The fog was rolling in (or maybe even away) and engulfed the Golden Gate Bridge. It was such an amazing shot. Too bad no camera or electronics could be turned on...

So, Flying United Airlines, not an empty <--Ha! I mean not a full plane. Got myself a little extra room to stretch .. next to the window with Deanna falling asleep at the other end haha.
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So, Just had lunch or dinner or whatever, ginger chicken salad and an oatmeal bar, which was actually super yummy! (love & quiche haha)

I feel bad cuz we kicked some guy out of his seat, then it happened 3 times cuz of Lady.

It looks like it's bed time even though it's day out. They turned off all the cabin lights and told us to close our shades. 10 minutes later, they turn them back on and now we're in turbulence mode. Seat belts back to buckled. Btw, I'm still hungry Haha.
*Buckles off again Haha, never ending process.

David Archuleta's "Crush" is playing on the planes radio. A little fuzzy but still sounds good enough to listen to.

I Just found an 80's station, i think, sweet!

Okay, right now i'm wondering what time it is. It's crazy not knowing what time it is... I'd say we were in ehre for at least 2 hours, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

Judging by the video we're being shown, we're heading up North and are about where Oregon and Washington is. Still a hefty chunk left for the flight. I'm worried about when we get there. My Japanese isn't the best and my skills are dreadful... I'll be lucky to remember stuff...

The in flight movie is on, but I didn't see what it was. Paul Giamati and Julia Roberts is in it. I wonder. I'll just keep listening to music Haha. I think i'll end this for now. Be back when we get to the hotel.
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PICSPAM:

*The view from Narita Express train from the airport to Tokyo Station. 
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Notes:
There are 3 seats per row on the sides of the plane, so me and Deanna had some guy with us. He ended up moving to an empty section since there was plenty of space available (1). He was kicked out of the section he moved to sit somewhere else (2). Later, he was asked to move again because some lady needed the whole row to lie down due to motion sickness (3). I felt bad for him =(