Day 45 - Niji no Kai Halloween party

Hey everyone!

I have got a massive backlog of posts so you will have to forgive me as I will be posting on some rather outdated topics!

October 26th was Niji no Kai's annual Halloween party!

I was really looking forward to the Halloween party and as I may have mentioned in a previous post, I had my costume ready to go!

Costume ready and waiting

Remember Donkihote? Donkihote is the big shop that sells a huge variety of stuff at pretty cheap prices. Amy and I both picked up our costumes from here as they had a pretty big selection of Halloween stuff.
In fact Donki usually stocks a range of seasonal products for all your celebratory needs in a section at the front of the store.

I thought that with my blonde hair and short stature Alice in Wonderland was a no-brainer so I picked up my favorite looking Alice costume. Donki not only stocked a variety of costumes but there were usually a few different designs for each one. Amy decided on a cute witch costume.

My costume included the blue dress, white apron and a headband, unfortunately the white tights were not included so I had to make a frantic trip back to Donki to pick up one of the last pairs!
I also bought some Disney brand Alice in Wonderland themed nail tips to go with the costume!

I obviously couldn't lug all my nail varnishes to Japan so unfortunately haven't been able to do any nail art since I arrived here so the Alice nail tips were a good substitute. It didn't come with glue so I had to quickly run back into Donki on the night of the party to get some, so if you buy any make sure you check if it has the glue!
I had never used stick on nails before and was a bit nervous about how they would turn out but I was really impressed. they are pretty easy to use and look good, the only advice I would give is to make sure you buy a good glue, if you don't they will tend to come off more easily!

Here are some obligatory selfies of me in costume (excuse the messyness, they were taken in the morning after the party!)

We met up at Takadanobaba and once everyone had arrived we made our way in a huge group to the station.

I hadn't managed to have time to stick my nails on so Shereen helped me to stick them on using her by-far superior glue while we were on the train.Not a recommended place for doing such an activity!

Faces of concentration (Amy's pic)

The party was really fun! Everyone was dressed up and some people had put a lot of effort into their costumes!

It was a really good chance to meet and talk to the Japanese students. We met so many new people!

There were tables covered with snacks and drinks were available too. 

Near the end of the evening there was also a costume contest but unfortunately as I was queuing up for the loo at the time I missed the winner! (fail!)

I would definitely recommend the joining Niji no Kai to any prospective Waseda foreign exchange students. They have a wide variety of events from seasonal parties, days out in Tokyo and longer trips where you can experience Japan outside of Tokyo. There are always lots of fun activities and the members are really nice so it's a good circle to join if you want to make new friends. A good thing about their events is that if you are usually a shy person, the activities help you get involved and overcome your shyness.
I met lots of new people at the Halloween party and it was great getting to know them! The only thing from there on after exchanging Line ID's and or Facebook profiles is to keep in contact after - which I am afraid to admit is something I need to work on!
It is much easier to talk to people during Niji no Kai events because the atmosphere is always good but once the events are over it is hard to have the confidence to keep in contact outside of the events. This is something I definitely want to change!

Dopplegangers! (Amy's pic)

Amy and I met two girls who were wearing slightly different versions of our costumes so of course we took some photos together and got to talking. 

Scary!

As you can see some people really did well on their costumes. The girl in the picture above did all the special effects makeup herself! Not only did she do her face but she also had fake wounds on her arms!

A cute spin on Sully and mike!

The girl in the Mike costume above had cute little Mike feet covers on her shoes!

Cookies and crisps and sweets - oh my!

As is rather common with Japanese parties it ended pretty early so a bunch of us were hoping to go on to a second party. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out and we ended up ambling around Tokyo for a while until some of us eventually gave up. Stomachs feeling a bit empty we headed into a restaurant to curb the hunger pangs.

At the restaurant

Unlike some of the others, I wasn't feeling so hungry - probably scoffed too many cookies! - so I ordered something small....

...NATTO! If you haven't heard about natto it is kind of like the Japanese equivalent of Marmite, only not in taste. You either love it or you hate it! Natto is actually fermented soybeans, the beans are a light brown colour and have a kind of viscous slime that keeps them together and it emits a fairly strong fermenting smell.
The natto that I bought came with a packet of mustard to go with it. I know I am not really selling it here and for foreigners it may be a little too different from what they are used to but if you have the chance, I would definitely say give it a go.

You can see the stringy sticky substance amongst the beans

I had actually tried Natto before coming to Japan, however it was a long time ago and I had forgotten how I originally felt about the food so I wanted to try it again. Now to contradict what I said earlier, I found that I neither hated nor did I have any overwhelming love for the snack. The fermented flavour is quite strong and could perhaps be likened to a stinky cheese. So if you think you can get over the slimy texture and you like stinky cheese, this may be the stuff for you!
I have never found textures an issue for me but the taste was definitely an acquired one. I feel like if I eat Natto more I will get used to it and I think it will grow on me. So have challenged myself to eat more Natto in the hopes of educating my taste buds! After all isn't it better to try to like everything? Surely that way your life will be more pleasant, even though you may find it harder making a choice at restaurants!

We then headed back home, it was already the morning of 27th so it was probably about time to get some shuteye anyway!

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts in the comments!

That's all for now!