27th December 2016: Yoshikimono in the Box {Japan, winter 16/17}

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Battling over jet lag, the first thing I did in the morning was setting of the Isetan in Shinjuku [新宿], because they were showing (and selling) some of the Yoshikimono. As a matter of fact, I headed there over twice over the course of the few days it was open, because on the first try I could not take pictures, and then I devised a plan to record stuff – and the second time I was there were people taking pictures, so I did too. But at that point, this was the best I could manage, from the outside.

After that, I headed off to “MAVERICK DC GROUP 35th Anniversary JACK IN THE BOX 2016” (mouthful, huh?), because D****e had gotten her hands on tickets, as Hyde was going to show up there. The concert was held in the Nippon Budokan [日本武道館], which looks a bit on the smallish side from above, as we were very far away (last minute tickets were last minute indeed).

Artist Lineup: MUCC; SID; MUDD (half of MUCC and half of SID); SICC (the other half of MUCC and SID); AKi; UNiTE.; Kameleo; CLØWD; VALS; PARTY ZOO Ken with Naughty stars 20th&25th Celebration: Ken (L’Arc~en~Ciel’s Ken), YUKKE (MUCC), AKi, Show (A9), Hiroto (A9), Tora (A9), Ryo (BAROQUE), Kei (BAROQUE), kazuma (gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy) and KENZO; D’ERLANGER feat. HYDE; 35th MAGNUM: PAUL (44MAGNUM), JIMMY (44MAGNUM), D’ERLANGER feat. HYDE; M.A.D SUPER ALL STARS ＆ MDC SUPER ALL STARS. And seriously don’t expect me to do all the alignments and setlist because most of this was AKi around with other people. You can check everything out in the JITB website.

It was a long concert, from 2 to 9 pm and between the different acts there were short videos of past acts. One of the funniest moments in the whole concert was when the screen showed someone covering TOKIO’s “Love you only” and the whole Budokan sang along “only yo~u” without even realising it. Then there were many embarrassed chuckles after that.

Hyde, who was the reason we were there, showed up lateish. In total he may have sung like four songs, including the closing act with “Honey”. We also saw Ken, who can’t do anything without his guitar. The most curious (tending towards sad) was how Hyde and Ken proceeded to ignore each other for as long as both of them were on stage (╯︵╰,).

After the concert we met up wit N***chan, T***pi and M***chan to have dinner.

26th December 2016: Japan can be cold! {Japan, winter 16/17}

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This was a discovery. Yes, I knew for a fact that Japan could be a cold country. I’ve seen he pictures and the snow, but it was the first time ever I was in winter Japan.

First of all, regarding the flight, Iberia is now flying Madrid Tokyo in a direct route, which is amazing. However, they charge you about 30 bucks for choosing a seat and the personnel is not the most helpful ever (^_^)”

After arriving in Narita, the first goal was setting the Internet on the phone. I was using Free Wifi at Narita and several stations among my route to meet D. for lunch and to get the keys to her apartment, because I keep forgetting that you have to go onto your browser and “register”.

Anyway, I met with D****e first for yakiniku in Roppongi [六本木], and I got the keys to her apartment as I was crashing with her. I was hungry and forgot to take pictures, so have a look at the ベリベリ (“very berry”) smoothy I got in Harajuku [原宿] with B****. later on (*^◇^)_旦. And after that we went to a place called “Cookie Time” which was amazing.

We also got to look at the winter illuminations between Harajuku and Shibuya [渋谷].

Finally, we went to eat sushi (*･∀･)_Ω. It is a common misconception that there can not be too much sushi, but it is actually a mistake. There is such a thing as too much sushi, but you won’t realise that until it is too late (*ﾟｰﾟ)ゞ.

5th & 6th of November 2016: Barcelona (Spain) for We are X

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I was supposed to have travelled to London in March 2016 to see X Japan’s concert, where they were also going to project the We Are X documentary premiere. Unfortunately, that was postponed to 2017 due to PATA’s health issues. I really hope it works out next year. However, the decision was made to start premiering the documentary in different music festivals, and the second I heard that it would be shown at the Beefeater In-Edit festival in Barcelona I got a ticket for it. Furthermore, I actually won two more tickets in a giveaway.

These two tickets I got I gave to a couple-friend of mine who had been so nice as to let me stay over at their place. I took a train around 8 am and was in Barcelona mid-morning. I went directly to their place and we just hung out until it was time to go to the Multicines Sala 5, where the documentary was going to be shown. We were actually the first and, press aside, we were the first ones in. We sat dead in the middle of the cinema and a group that walked in ten minutes later wanted us to move. And sorry, random person, but the answer is not. We were not really a “queue” but we were waiting for a couple of hours, so I was not going to give my chosen “best seat” out of the whole theatre for a group of ten people.

This was a Saturday evening, and there had already been a premier on the 1st of November so there might be more fans there, but in general I was a bit taken down by how few fans there were, most felt like people who had a whole-festival ticket.

The documentary tells the story of X JAPAN, one of my favourite Japanese bands, from the point of view of its founder, drummer and pianist Yoshiki. The band crumbled at the height of its popularity when guitarist Hide died by hanging, and the singer ended up brainwashed by a cult. Everything is told from Yoshiki’s own point of view, which makes the film biased, but still poignant.

After the film we went back to my friends’ place and had dinner. The next morning, they wanted to show me their little orchard in the outskirts, and I was treated to the best paella (Spanish rice) that I have ever had in my life – so awesome I even forgot about taking pictures! It was sad that I had to leave by 8pm, so I was only in Barcelona for about 32 hours, but it was so well worth it.

Collage showing the entrance to Multicines 5 and the Beefeater In-Edit screen before the film started

16th September 2016: Some Madrid (Spain) Museums

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I woke up one morning, a silly weekday that I did not have to work for some reason and I decided to wander off and take a day trip to Madrid to see some museums, just because I could.

My first stop was the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, the museum of natural science. The museum is divided into several buildings. The first building holds the “Biodiversity” collection. This includes preserved specimens – in better or worse shape, mostly stuffed, and some skeletons.

Then I walked over to the palaeontology and mineral museum, where at the moment most of the collection is composed of replica, sometimes it feels that you see the same diplodocus or arsinoitherium (two-horned rhino) skull everywhere. Of course, however, I hunted down every megalodon tooth on site and sight.

After this, I walked around the mineral collection and walked down Castellana Avenue until Colón Square, where I had lunch somewhere before I walked around to see the Museo Arqueológico Nacional – National Archaeological Museum. There were a few things that interested me there.

My first goal was to study the Iberian stelæ . Nobody really knows what they are or what their meaning is, but it is thought that they were funerary monuments, maybe of fallen warriors.

An interesting thing to see in this museum is the sculpture of La Dama de Elche, the Lady of Elche, the limestone bust of an Iberian lady dated back to the 4th century BC. It is supposed to be a woman who belonged to the aristocracy that was later revered as a goddess, or maybe a reinterpretation of the Goddess Tanit of Cathage. The back part has an opening, which suggests that it could have been a funerary urn. It was originally polychromated, but it has lost its colours. I really like her expression, and probably due to the Hellenistic influence. I have a thing for Greek sculpture, after all.

A second “lady”, the Dama de Baza (Lady of Baza), stands next to the first. This one still keeps some of its colours. This one is full-body, also carved out of limestone, and it traces back to the fourth century too. This lady seems to have been designed in pure Iberian style, without Hellenistic influences.

The last key pieces of Iberian sculpture in this museum are the verracos – sort-of headless boars, pigs or bulls (depending on the interpretation), but it is commonly accepted that they are symbols of protection of cattle routes. Most of them are… visibly male.

Once I had seen what I really wanted to see I wandered over the rest of the museum, stumbling upon the currency exhibition, which was strangely interesting.

I walked past the Medieval rooms and then I found the Egyptian area, which is humble, but has some interesting things like the X-rays of a mummified falcon. Finally, I checked out the classical Greek area before calling it a day and making it back home.

31st July 2016: Last hour in Tokyo {Japan, summer 2016}

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The plane took off at around 1.00 am, and I said bye bye to Japan once again. I know it was not perfect and that I could have done many more things than I actually did. I could have travelled some more, visited more places? But I think it was good, and it was worth it. And I stayed within budget, which was a great surprise for me!

School was not that great, but I learnt more out of listening to the teachers speak Japanese and making friends, meeting them and so on, and travelling, than the actual grammar I was supposed to learn.

All in all, no regrets. Good feelings. Only a little sad as I close down the report for this trip. Bye for now, Japan. See you next time! Hello, European dairy, I’d missed you!(Behold latte and cheese sandwich during Frankfurt layover)

30th July 2016: 。・゜・(ノД`)・゜・。 Last day {Japan, summer 2016}

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I had set up my alarm at an insane time in the morning because I needed to take the trash out before 8am (between 7 and 8?! Seriously, Japan?). But in the end it was good – you see my contract said that I had to clean the apartment, wash and dry the sheets and vacuum the floors. Which was okay, until the fluffy cover sheet took an hour and a half to about 95% dry. Oh, and I packed. 23.1kg of suitcase (^◇^;).

Anyway, the previous day I had been unable to get the Gakucchi clearfile from the UFO catchers, but I still wanted to try again. As I had to be back at the apartment by 4pm to give the keys back and pass the inspection, I headed off to the nearest Taito station, the one in Ueno. Unfortunately, they did not even have the GACKT machines. So I decided to brace myself and go to Akihabara [秋葉原] to try to find an arcade. The first three – the Sega ones – were not successful at all. I was about to give up and go home very sad when I was finally victorious! I found the clearfiles in the Taito Station. The staff-San I approaches was not very helpful at first – probably my Japanese was not the most articulate at that point either – but when she realised what I was trying to tell her she got me the clearfiles (I had an order, aside from the one I wanted for myself) and placed the plush I wanted on the machine for me to try. Of course I was not successful but I have the clearfile and that makes me happy.

As I had a bit of time, I headed off to Yoyogi Kōen [代々木公園] and Meiji Jingu [明治神宮], as I wanted some omiyage. In the end, I offered an ema, and got some silly stuff. I also located the Like an Edison shop, but I stopped myself from going in because SUITCASE WEIGHT issues. I blame the Hyde is Dead photobook （；￣ェ￣）. I got back and bought some suahi from the street stand down my block, ate, sneaked out the rest of the trash, and sat down to wait for the inspection. At this point I was feeling kind of sad. Okay, without the ‘kind of’.

But the inspection / cleaner guy was adorable and he was pretty early so I could do stuff in the evening that would keep me going. I went to Tokyo station so they kept my luggage and then I headed to Tokyo Tower [東京タワー]. I got up to the main observatory, and had been considering walking up, but I did not trust myself without seeing the stairs first. So I climbed up on the lift and took pictures and enjoyed myself. I also wrote a postcard to myself to get the special post stamp… yes I’m lame like that, but I had a message for my future self （・◇・）/~~~

I walked down, because I figured out that I could so that more easily and I enjoyed it immensely. Then I stayed for a bit in the Zojo-ji [増上寺] matsuri in Shiba Koen [芝公園] , retrieved my luggage and headed towards the airport.

On my way I got to say goodbye to the Rainbow Bridge [レインボーブリッジ] on the way. It might be worth mentioning at this point that I could not complete the check in, and that I has only registered until Frankfurt… whoops.

Fortunately, after a bit of haggling with the lady organising the check-in queue I managed to get through to talk to an actual assistant who could get me my final boarding pass. I found myself some karaage dinner before moving on.

29th July 2016: Trying not to think {Japan, summer 2016}

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So I got home late the previous day and I did not really feel like studying, so this morning I had to do my homework and study for the exam (￣◇￣;). However, at around midmorning, I decided that I really did not care for a perfect grade anymore, that I was not going to get anyway because the teacher was not happy with my なければなりません and wanted なけれべいけません because that was what the book had. The other day when I was in Harajuku I’d seen something I really wanted, so I decided that screw everything, I would go buy it.

First, I stopped by Shibuya [渋谷], just because. I did a quick tour over Tsutaya, Book Off and Mandarake. In Tsutaya, I bugged a lady as I was looking for a specific manga and she did not look too happy to help (~_~;). Then I went to Harajuku [原宿] to buy the item I had fallen in love with, a 40cm high photobook (limited edition).

After class (and last exam, and saying bye bye and getting our pic taken with the certificate…) I met M. in Ikebukuro [池袋] as we were going to do fanstuff together. Well, let me rephrase that. First I went home because the photobook(s) was (were) heavy as hell and it would have been more expensive to find a coin locker for them than getting home and dropping them off. After that, I waited for her in the Book Off (and was self-restrained and did not buy anything else). We checked out the Ikebukuro Closet Child and then we had dinner together.

The plan was try and hunt the Gakkuchi. That is, some of the adorable plushes that GACKT makes. He had decided to put some as prices for the UFO catchers. I do know that getting them is next to impossible, but for 500Y try, you got a clearfile, and that was awesome…

So awesome that the clearfiles were “sold out” in all Ikebukuro. We tried one station over, a smaller one. No luck. We tried my station. Still no luck. Damn, what a way to finish the day (♯｀∧´).

28th July 2016: Ueno + VAMPS Replay {Japan, summer 2016}

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As the time to leave drew near, I felt a bit sad this morning (T^T). However, I did not let myself be dragged by it, so I forced myself out of the apartment to do things, and these things involved Ueno Kōen [野公園].

First I headed off to Ueno Tōshō-gū [上野東照宮], which I had not found open last year when I was there, because there was a matsuri, or something, I don’t really remember. Then I found out about the two dragons, the ascending dragon and the descending dragon, who come to drink at the pond at night. It is a very nice imaginary. Also, the shrine is really cool. It has a bit of a Chinese style, and is decorated with a gold layer. The inner fence shows animals of the sea and the wind, making it a unique shrine. I really liked it a lot.

The main building of a Shinto shrine, sparkling golden with a dark ceiling

Wooden painted carving of dragons, one going up, one going down

Then I found the Ueno Daibutsu [上野大仏], the Great Buddha Pagoda, which I had missed before – one of the things I love about Ueno is that whenever I go I find something new, yay. Most of the Ueno Daibutsu was melted for metal during WWII.

A giant Buddha face made of metal in a ceremonial pagoda

Gojoten Jinja [五條天神社] is really cool too, but I decided to leave getting its seal for another time. Next time.

A row of torii gates

I walked by Shinobazu no Ike [不忍池], the Pond in Ueno.

A pond covered in water lilly leaves, with some high rises in the background

Finally, I went to the museum of Shitamachi of Customs, Shitamachi Fūzoku Shiryōkan [下町風俗資料館], where they keep some old houses from the years after the great Kanto Earthquake. A bunch (hundreds) of houses were built there to make sure that the population was housed. The museum shows how life was those few first years, and how people lived and organised themselves. There are a few items, houses, photographies and so. The second floor is hands-on, with games and pastimes and so. There was a very nice guide there and she explained a lot of things to me.

Reproduction of pre-industrial wooden houses in Tokyo

Later I went to class (I found another Gyoza Franchise on my way back to the station) and then I skidded out because I had to get to Yoyogi National Stadium, Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyogijo [国立 代々木 競技場], in Yoyogi [代々木]. I was attending the Sukkiri Superlive in order to see VAMPS one more time before heading off back home. All in all, a very complete day that ended up with a bang – when I should have been studying Japanese to be honest ^^;;

The Yoyogi national stadium, and a screen reading Sukkuri 10th Anniversary Super Live

27th July 2016: I could not miss an aquarium {Japan, summer 2016}

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I mean, visiting aquariums is like a second nature to me when I’m in Japan. It seems that each has something that I really love but had not realised it before.

In this case I headed off to Tokyo Sea Life Park – Kasairinkai Suizokukan [葛西臨海水族館] in the namesake park, Kasairinkai Koen [葛西臨海公園], in Edogawa [江戸川], especially famous for keeping a tank of yellowfin tuna (all of which died unexpectedly last year and had been replaced though) <・ )))><<.

The aquarium is mostly an underground complex, accessible through the main dome in the middle of the park. During my visit it was full of parents with young children. For some reason, Japanese people believe that children must love fish? I don’t really understand… ~(・・？））

Before class I went to Tokyo Daijingu [東京大神宮] in Iidabashi [飯田橋], which is surprisingly quite small, and I think it has something to do with finding love?

At night I met with my new friend M. to try to find a cat café we were interested in and somehow did not manage to find, but we turned that into dinner and karaoke – Joysound, to watch the VAMPS special message ｖ（＾＿＾ｖ）♪.

26th July 2016: Day and night {Japan, summer 2016}

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In the morning I went off to Shimokitazawa [下北沢], which is a “commercial and entertaining district in Setagaya [世田谷], Tokyo [東京]” (according to Wikipedia, at least).

My first stop was Kitazawa Hachiman Jinja [北澤八幡神社], about 10 minutes away from the station. It is one of those not so hidden shrines that give you the impression that time has frozen.

Afterwards, I undid my way for lunch in Gyoza no Oshou, which I heard that was GACKT’s favourite gyoza place (ironically, this seems to be a franchise, I also found one in Ueno, later on). After that I slithered over to Harajuku [原宿] to find the Closet Child there (and buy things and get a discount card!) Because the fact that there were no more planned shopping sprees does not really mean… anything（≧∇≦）.

In the evening (after class and homework), even if it was raining, I waltzed off to take pictures of the city at night. While Shibuya is bustling with neon, Shinjuku was a bit heart-wrenching as the homeless tend to gather around the station for cover, some of them read your palm for cash.

Shibuya [渋谷]:

Shinjuku [新宿]:

Cityscape from the Observatory of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] (not alone in the lift this time…):

At night there was an earthquake. Not a big one, probably (3, maybe?), but it made my whole apartment creak with the strain. It was creepy enough to straighten me out of bed (◎_◎;)

25th July 2016: Back to Tokyo {Japan, summer 2016}

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Nothing special really happened this day. I had a 10 am train to get back to Tokyo, and was too dead to do any tourisim beforehand. On the Shinkansen, an obaachan got her seat wrong and sat on my seat. Figuring she had the aisle seat and that she had a lot of luggage with her, I sat down next to her and did my homework for the weekend – not the cleanest, prettiest homework I’ve done.

It turned out that the little old lady had gotten her row wrong. She was sitting on my seat, and I was sitting on some other lady’s seat and the poor lady had not known what to do with herself. The conductor arranged it by sitting the second lady on the obaachan’s place. The obaachan was very apologetic and gave me some cookies in apology. At least it was not clear enough that I would have seen Fuji-san from my seat…

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the little detail that the conductors bow at the passengers when they exit the carrieage? Just a little thing, I guess…

I got to Tokyo station, from there I went to class, and from class I went home because I did not even feel human. (( _ _ ))..zzzZZ

24th July 2016: I can Osaka (ish), Haido can’t Japanese {Japan, summer 2016}

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Before going to the concert I headed over to Shitennoji to pay a visit to the complex. Before that I had a great view of the Tsutenkaku Tower [通天閣].

A wide shot of Osaka, showing the Tsutenkaku TV tower on the right

Shitennoji [四天王寺] was as cool as I remembered it, but I did not find the place to get my seals, which I guess just means that I’ll have to come back. Damn it (^_~)

Collage. A torii gate. A temple building with a pagoda. A temple with a pond in front of it. An hexagonal pagoda

I headed off towards Namba Hatch again, as there was a second VAMPS concert happening, and I tried to find a coinlocker in the Namba station area, basically at the end of the world, and on my way back I got the wrong turn. That is why you get to see a whale sculpture.

Sculpture of a grey whale breaching the floor

I found myself a friendly katsu place and this time I really enjoyed my meal – I would have gotten takoyaki but I did not think it would have lasted enough.

Lunch. A tray of different deep-fried goodies

The concert had a similar set list to the one the day before, but it was different enough to make the experience different. Also, it was weird to have seats and not be in the arena – I had a seated ticket for the second floor –, though I can’t say it was a bad experience – I might have to consider it from now on. One of the funniest points of the concert though was that Hyde was having a bad Japanese day, and he kept tripping over his own words for some reason. After the concert was over I headed back to the hotel and there was gyoza from 7/11 for dinner because I was ravenous. And I slept like the dead.

Picture of the venue and the projected countdown on the stage curtains

23rd July 2016: My two fandoms {Japan, summer 2016}

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While most people would not consider that a fandom, the truth is that my yokai research and related stuff is insanely fun, so I guess it is fair to call it that. Thus I headed out to visit Abeno Jinja [阿部野神社], which stands at the birthplace of Abe no Seimei. Luckily in the same metro line I had to take to go to the VAMPS‘ concert at Namba Hatch.

Torii with bright blue banners hanging from it, and main building of a Shinto shrine, in dark red and grey colours

I don’t remember if I mentioned this before, but Japan had unified IC cards, so now you can use any card in most major cities, which is bloody awesome. On my way back, I checked the Zepp Osaka, basically because I had a mental slip and was confused about the place for a second, and when I saw ‘Zepp this way’ I just felt like following directions.

Between goods and concert start, however, there was katsu, which was really yummy even if the waiter was rather unwelcoming. If not for the fact that she would have been happy I would have left the restaurant. Sometimes I just feel sad that Japan does not do tips, I would have made the leaving one-penny statement.

When it was finally time for the concert, all the woes went away though, and I had a lot of fun.

Tickets and Vamps tour truck with publicity for the tour and the Beast party

22nd July 2016: I did not play hookie {Japan, summer 2016}

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So I stayed studying all morning. And maybe – just maybe – lazying around for a little bit. Then I headed off to class and after class I went to Tokyo station because I was going to hit the road (traintracks?) again to go to Osaka. I had a good nap on the Shinkansen and made it to the subway without complications. It still amuses me how different the train attitude is in Tokyo and Osaka, it is like night and day sometimes. So there I was again, ready for a weekend of fun – hopefully.

I am not completely sure of why but I really love Osaka [大阪]. Sometimes I think that a bit too much. I did try to keep it sane this time around and even if I had physical time to do things, I tried to take it easy.

21st July 2016: Shopping spree (II) {Japan, summer 2016}

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This was the last planned big shopping spree and honestly I felt quite pleased after that. I started off in Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] and then made my way to Shinjuku. Nakano aka Mandarake Land has reorganised itself to have topic-oriented shops. I had not been able to find the one that interested me – male singers – just yet. Actually I had found it but they had been moving things around and nothing was to be found there. Fortunately this one time I found interesting stuff at very good prices ＼(^o^)／ (I saw the same item I got for twice the price later in TRIO). After the Mandarake I moved onto the JRock TRIO and fell in love with a Gackt’s Ghost pendant so I got myself that, along with a VAMPS postcard and a Galileo special from Fukuyama Masaharu’s fanclub Magazine (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

Happy with my items, I headed off to Shinjuku [新宿] to find the Closet Child CD shop. The previous day I had been in the punk goth one and gotten myself a ring, but this time I wanted the CD one. And when I found it, it was so worth it ♥

After class, I headed off to have dinner with a friend, totally ignoring that I had an exam the next day. Oh and when I got home I did laundry. Cause I’m cool like that ψ(｀∇´)ψ

20th July 2016: Hababi in Kamakura! {Japan, summer 2016}

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Hanabi [花火] are fireworks, in case I had never explained that, which I might just as well not have done. I was just beat in the morning and I had not studied, so I got a late start, which did not work out too well as I did not find what I was looking for. Twice. Then I headed off to class and barely had time to buy food in the Conbini, which was running a sale in onigiri. Unfortunately, that meant that the only thing left were the not-so-yummy spicy tuna. And then the trains were delayed.

Yes, I was already in class, but I had plans for the evening. I was meeting a new Japanese friend M-san in Kamakura [鎌倉] to watch the fireworks! Fortunately the delay was over by the time I got out of class. I managed to make it to one train earlier at some point so I had the spare time for a toilet break, which was well needed. My three transfers were smooth albeit packed, and I even sat down at some point!

When I arrived in Kamakura I was surprised by the sheer amount of people I saw there. After M-san arrived we headed off for the beach to watch the fireworks which were amaaaazing. They made faces with the fireworks!! Cats and frogs! I could not believe it!

19th July 2016: Oopsies {Japan, summer 2016}

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After doing some studying in the morning, I was to meet B**** for dinner. I went to Iidabahi [飯田橋] early and bought some meat buns (nikuman) for lunch – the most delicious nikkuman I’ve ever eaten are sold in a small Chinese shop there.

Unfortunately B**** and my carefully-laid out plans were forced to change because she had a gas inspection in her new apartment also known as the apatosaurus. However, we were able to go for some okonomiyaki and monjayaki .

After lunch, we headed off to karaoke. All in all it was fun and plans were remade.

18th July 2016: Shopping spree (I) {Japan, summer 2016}

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I started the week off with a mochi breakfast that I had received as omiyage (typical present / detail from a particular area). It was delicious!

Japanese sweet pastry on a toothpick

This day I took my first real shopping spree and I headed off for Shinjuku [新宿] and Closet Child & Pure Sound. I ended up in the Pure Sound buying quite a few things, including but not limited to VAMPS DVDs. I had made a friend at Gackt’s Birthday party and she needed to be shown to the shops, so it was the perfect school.

The entrance to Kabukicho district

We also went to Ikebukuro [池袋] for some more shopping and we had lunch at CocoCurry, where I tried the kanikoroke as I was feeling adventurous. As much as I love the chicken, this was an amazing choice!

A curry dish. The sauce is spread at the bottom, and two croquettes stand on the rice

To be honest, I was sore from my fall the previous day and I was staring to feel the tiredness of “doing all the things”, so I took it slow and I just went home after school.