出発！！

There's really no suitable way to translate that. 出発 technically means "departure," but who the hell wants to say "departure" when you can scream out "shuppa~ts!!" while striking an astroboy pose? Anywho, this entry is about leaving for my second trip to Japan. And it was almost exactly the same experience as last year. sorta.

Both times I left the US from SFO (San Francisco Airport) where it was sunny and beautiful, slept almost 10 hours on the plane ride over, sailed through customs, got greeted with the heaviest rain known to man, got hit on by some weird guy, and spent the first few days in a guesthouse in Koenji while I looked for an apartment. I wonder if things really do come in threes....should I be worried?

The difference, the obvious one of many, is of course that I wasn't staying in Koenji because I had gotten swindled out of an apartment and was stuck in Tokyo with no place to go. Handy little point there. No, this time I was headed back to Koenji because I love the place. It's really close to the station, cheap, safe, and really quirky. I love all the weird stuff about it.

First of all, the two stairs are scary as hell, especially when carrying a 68lb suitcase. Secondly, it's located over something that looks like it belongs in the pink light district. Can't figure out what it is, but I never see anyone go in or out and I never hear anything from there so I know it's not a karaoke place. Tis a creepy mystery.

Another really hilarious thing about the place is that it is too close to the station. You can actually hear the lady on the train platform informing everyone that they have reached Koenji Station. "高円寺、高円寺です。ももなく・・・" Yea, you can actually see the station from the roof.

Despite that, which is actually not a bad thing really, the place is really wonderful and I would really suggest it to anyone who wants a temporary place to stay in Tokyo. It's just two stops over from Shinjuku on the Chuo rapid line and less than a minute from the station, and Koenji itself is a really fun area of Tokyo. Excellent location, comfortable rooms and beds, and the management couldn't be nicer. Just look how happy and friendly Ryuusaku looks!

And as you can see it has a nice sunny rooftop with wooden patio. The whole place has a nice wood feel to it. Very tiny, very cheap, but warm, safe, and friendly. They speak perfect English and of course native Japanese so just send them an email if you're in Tokyo! koenjitokyo@gmail.com

First Few Days of Food!!

So here are my photos thus far. Mostly food. haha. you can see where my interest lies.

First, I went to Harajuku and just kinda walked around. Scopin' the area out. haha. There are vending machines everywhere, which is nice, because it's hot and humid and people get thirsty, and what beter to drink, but what you are losing in buckets: sweat. That's right, I drank the famous Pocari Sweat. It was actually pretty tasty. Better than Gatorade. Gotta get my ions.

Then I was walking around and saw this in a doorway. I took a picture mostly for my dad's benefit. I feel like it's his kind of humor. and mine. ^^

I mean, where else would anything be made? Anywho, I really wish I had taken a picture of the whole street that we walked because it was crazy busy and stuffed full of more stores than there was room for. Forgot though. oops. Too busy with the actual shopping.

When Sam and I got exhausted, we sat down in this cute little cafe type place and I had a "mixed berry vinegar iced tea." vinegar. weirdness. It was so weird that I had to try it, and it was super tasty!! You have no idea. And there were little berries at the bottom!! Cute! Sam got a macha thingy.

Side note: this was the best spot for people watching. Harajuku style is so funny. but in a cool way. It's cool on other people, not so much me. Not that I didn't try. All the girls, not just in Harajuku, wear their hair right on the very top of their heads with little scrunchies....I may have bought a scrunchie.

Then I saw this shirt on a stand in the middle of Harajuku. It says, in bright neon pink I might add, "ore ha homo jyanai" or "I am not a homo." Then I asked the guy if it was ok for me to take a picture of it....IN JAPANESE!! Woohooo!! Look at me and my Japanese skills!! So I did and there's the picture. good story.

Next we went to Shinjuku, which is the largest JR (Japan Railways) station. 'Twas crazy busy. Looks like this from the station:

It was way cooler at night, but I was too busy being hit on by hosts to take pictures. True story. I'm gorgeous. They can't help themselves.

Then I went here:

and ate this:

Tasty looking, no? Less than 5 bucks! And it has a little croquet in it! I love those!! It was a really weird set up, the restaurant. It was kind of like how Japanese high school cafeterias work. You walk in and there are these little vending machine type things where to put in money and get a ticket for what meal you want. Then you bring the ticket to the cook guy at in the back, sit down and eat your delicious food. efficient.

The next day we had breakfast around the corner from where we're staying in Koenji at a place called Mister Donut. Look what I got!

Aren't they cute! They're little donuts that look like hamburgers!! Here look again:

Bam! Cute little donut hamburgers close up. And here's a little chart they had up on the wall telling you what's in them. The pink one that I think is supposed to look like tomatoes is strawberry jelly and strawberry whipped something or other, and the green one is macha (green tea) jelly and whipped stuff. And there is a chocolate bar for the hamburger meat and donut buns!! So cute! And only $1.68 for two! Only in Japan, land of the cute people.

Right after, for real food, I got a tekka maki (tuna roll) for about $1.30 literally 10ft away at this place:

The lady was so cute and old and nice! And this is what I stuffed in my mouth:

Then Sam and I went to Takadanobaba, which for the record, officially has the best name in all of Japan, to check out an apartment. It's in a really cute residential area, but it's really expensive. We're going to look at two others and then decide. This little escapade (and I call it that because it was really hard to find, but I got to ask a nice old man running a convenience store for directions IN KEIGO and felt super proud and happy afterwards) was followed by delicious curry with calamari on top. I love Japanese food. No, I love cheap Japanese food. I could seriously spend my whole life in Tokyo I think.

Then we went to Oimachi station to meet someone who was taking an English lesson from me. We got there like 1 hour and a half, 2 hours early, but we were both pretty tired, so we just chilled out in this cute little garden type place by the central exit to the station. It was really nice weather, and then these guys started playing really relaxing music. One guy was on the semi-acoustic guitar and the other sang and played the piano. I liked them so much that I bought a CD and had them sign it for me! You can hear it here. The first one is our favorite. It's the one that got us to each buy the album. They were so nice and I spoke some Japanese to them! I love speaking Japanese. I wish I could do it better. haha.

Then this cute little Japanese lady walked up to me and said she was my student! Yay! She is a newlywed and so sweet. We hit it off really well and had a really wonderful English lesson. We were at a little cafe inside the station and at the end of the 50min, she hadn't finished her tea yet. She was really surprised that the 50min had gone by so quickly too. So, we just continued talking until she finished her tea, in English and Japanese, and then left really pleasantly. I think this is going to be really good. We're going to meet every Tuesday evening at $15 each. Pretty good for my first experience teaching English in Japan, no?

So I was on such a high after that. That's my dream you know? To teach English all over the world and I'm doing it already at age 19!! The day was just topped off perfectly with an oyakodon in Koenji by my room.

Also, we've made friends with one of the guys we're sharing the house with. His name is Jonathan and he's from San Francisco oddly enough. He's a little older than us, but really cool and speaks Japanese much better than I do. He's been her 4 months already too, so he's pretty cool to talk to.

There are two other guys in the house. They are both from Sweden, but I've only met one of them and only once. I really only see Jonathan. I really like it here and it will be kinda sad to leave Koenji I think. Maybe not. Depends on how much in love with my apartment I am. ^^

All my blogs are not going to be this long, but Sam and I decided that today was going to be a lazy day of recuperation so I have time to update. I'll try to keep updating, but hopefully I'll be too busy! Ok, bye then!

Crazy Problems that will Magically Work Out

So I’m in the air off the coast of Vancouver without a phone, no internet (despite the cool article I read in Sky Magazine saying that internet was now available in flight) and big blanks on my health questionnaire under “returning flight number” and “contact address and number in Japan.” I know neither.

I don’t have the flight number of my returning plane because I didn’t think I would need it before I landed and left it safely in my email. I don’t have a phone because before I left my house I decided that it would be a good idea to charge it in the corner. I plan to get a Japanese cell phone as soon as I land, but I need the blank filled by then. I don’t have an address in Japan because the apartment I was supposed to move into was probably part of a scam. No keys and probably not getting my deposit or 1st month rent back. At least not very easily. It’s alright. It just means I have to report him to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), file a claim with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) which is run in part by the FBI, and get the U.S. and Japanese Embassies involved. Revenge is fun so we’ll see how it all goes. In the mean time, I managed yesterday to find a place for my friend Sam and I to stay for the next 4 days (longer if need be) for only 1750￥a night each, but that is only temporary and I don’t know the address. I only know that it is in Koenji because one of the staff member is going to meet Sam and I at Koenji Station.

A big happy looking blue television monitor is telling me that “congratulations, your flight is scheduled to come in at 4:13 local time instead of at 4:55 as we had predicted earlier. Yay! Your 11 hour and 50 min flight has been shortened by 35 min due to unexpected tailwinds!” which is nice, until you realize that this is going to make meeting up with also cell phone-less Sam that much more difficult.

I’m actually not all that worried though. I found out yesterday that my apartment had fallen through, spent hours yelling carefully chosen and appropriately harsh words to my ex-potential landlord in London, and then got right online and found a place to stay immediately for the first 4 days for cheap, and 3 new potential apartments. I dealt with that pretty well, I can handle the rest. Dare I ask what else could go wrong?
_________________________________________________

Now I'm in Koenji which is really cool little area of Western Tokyo. I'm in a tiny little hole in the wall kinda place, but it's really cute! And the beds are the most comfortable things in the world! It's kinda like a futon bed hybrid.

I had ramen for the first time in an authentic Japanese ramen ya. It was sooooo tasty! And the guy who ran the place was really nice. There was another customer there too who understood English really well, but the owner only knew a few words. So they decided to give is "training" as they said in Japanese. Sam and I were actually able to hold a decent conversation for most of it. Except, I was really tired and mixed up right and left. haha. oops. But it was really cheap and tasty, which is why I'm really upset that I can't go back. I'm pretty sure the owner started hitting on me and getting creepy. Offered to show me around and I said something along the lines of "ummndnfidnfosndgosiuhguo" and politely excused myself.

The area is really cool (to me) because it's kinda seedy. I mean, I feel perfectly safe, but the place is legit seedy. haha. It's the Japan that most tourist don't get to see. But it's filled with cute little shops and restaurants and stuff. It was a good first night.
Pictures to come when I stop feeling lazy.

Oh! and there was this CRAZY thunder and lightning storm last night while we were traveling to the guest house we're staying in! It was super insane! Sam got on a train and I didn't make it so we got separated but we both knew to get off at Koenji Station so it was ok. But I called her when I got to the station to find out where on the platform she was and we couldn't hear each other on the phone because it was raining so hard!! So cool.