Day 40 part 1 Failed trip to Kiba!

Hey everyone!

I am going to be splitting this post into two as they cover two very separate outings from the same day!

On October 30th Amy, Zoe and I were planning to go to another Halloween party but before that we wanted to check out an owl café.

We headed to Kiba to try out an owl café called 鳥のいるカフェ (tori no iru cafe). Little did we know that only disappointment and crushed dreams lay in wait for is.

The problems started as soon as we left the station. We spent quite a while trying to find the cafe using the very ambiguous map available on cafe's website. After a while of searching and feeling like we were getting nowhere we went inside a convenience store to ask one of the workers for directions (much to the amusement of one of the customers).
A very friendly worker gave us directions and we were back on our way. We had only just left the conbini when he came jogging up to us and offered to guide us there which was very sweet! However the cynic in me guesses that anything would be a good break from sitting behind a till for hours on end.

He was very friendly and we got chatting. We were walking back the way we came! Turns out we had already passed it, but it was no surprise that we missed it because when we arrived at the destination, this is what we saw:

Crushed dreams

It was shut! Not only was it shut but stuck to a lamppost just outside the shop was a poster about a missing bird! I hope they've found it!

We thought it couldn't get any worse, when Amy when to get a drink from one of Japan's abundant vending machines. Surely nothing more could go wrong right?

We found this creepy little vending machine alley and when Amy went to use one... it didn't work!

We decided to get out of Kiba before anything else could go wrong! There was clearly nothing for us there on that day! Perhaps we will try again to find better luck, who knows!

It was almost funny how badly our outing went, the poster of the missing bird really topped it!
We certainly don't have any plans to go back soon!

But it wasn't a completely ruined day because we still had the Halloween party to look forward to.
I will cover Halloween in part two of this post.

That's all for now!

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I have got a massive backlog of posts so you will have to forgive me as I will be posting on some rather outdated topics!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

Day 31 - Harajuku shopping, Snow White and the Togo Shrine

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all well!
It is getting closer and closer to Christmas! The Christmas decorations started popping up in Tokyo as soon as Halloween was over so I'm already starting to feel like Christmas is around the corner - whether I like it or not!

On October 31st Amy, Zoe and I went to Harajuku. There are so many things to see in Harajuku that there was no way we had time to explore everything during the first visit, so here we are again!

As I probably mentioned before Harajuku really does have a similar feel to London's Camden market although with perhaps a slightly cuter and more lighthearted air to it.

There are lots of shops selling accessories, shoes, bags, clothes and food.

Earphones in as many designs as you could possibly need

First we went into a shop that sold lots of accessories and bags. The store was packed wall to wall with numerous cute and colourful things from nail varnish and nail art supplies to mobile phone cases and headphones!

Hooded-rucksacks! Yay or nay?

One point to mention about this shop was the bags that it had hanging up on the back wall. What was special about these rucksacks was that some of them had hoods attached to them! I'm not sure I will ever buy one but I thought it was a rather novel idea and some of the designs were pretty sweet!

In the same shop was a little corner for nail art and personalised phone-straps. I really want to buy some more nail varnish as I haven't really been able to keep up my nail art since I came to Japan, but since I had to leave all my nail varnish back in England it feels like too much to have to build up a substantial colour collection over here!
In the top right corner of the above photo are nail wraps. They are pretty cute and I have seen a lot since I arrived here, but I have never used them before and am a bit apprehensive about giving them a go! Have you ever used them? If so, what do you think?

Anyone for Alpaca slippers?

After perusing the wares in the first shop we wandered into another nearby shop that was selling knickknacks.  

This shop also sold clothes and bags but it had a few more random gag gifts and oddities.

BACK SCRATCHERR! BACK SCRATCHEERRR!

The next shop of note was perhaps the sock shop!

Now I don't know if it has been apparent in any previous posts but socks are kind of a thing here! You can always find special gift or theme socks whenever you visit a touristy place and character stores also usually have their own cute socks on sale!
In fact there are shops dedicated to just selling socks, tights and other inside-the-shoe related goods!

*Engrish warning!*
Anyone for some Sweet Masculine socks?

This shop had socks in more styles then anyone could possibly ask for!

From cute bunnies to toe-socks!

I personally liked the little piggy socks! 

Can you resist the cuteness?

After the sock shop there was an accessory shop called Paris Kids that we went into. It always seems to be busy in there. The prices in there are pretty low and it reminds me a bit of Claire's Accessories (although there are also Claire's Accessories stores in Japan).

There were rows and rows of adorable bow hair accessories. There were so many I would have liked to take home with me, but I have given myself a ban on buying hair accessories until I actually get round to using the ones I bought in China during my summer holiday! 

They even had bows similar to those found on Japanese school uniforms!

Now the next two accessories creeped me out. I'm not sure what they are supposed to be or what they are for! 

If you can enlighten me in any way on these weird spheres please do so in the comments below!

Why is this man trapped in a bubble on a patch of grass?? WHY??!!

There is a woman version too! I need answers!!!

Some more Engrish for you

We went to a clothes shop where Amy and Zoe tried some things on. We were particularly drawn to this lovely "slow swaying" jumper. Zoe entertained the idea of buying it for a while but eventually decided against it.

I thought these bunny hats were pretty nifty!

There are so many cool clothes shops in Harajuku selling things in a range of different styles. There are always so many things I want to buy!

You can find clothes and shoes in Harajuku starting from pretty low prices for Japan. There are shoes and tops starting at just over 1000 yen (around £6.50). Although don't be fooled into thinking everything in Harajuku is cheap! Clothes, in general, are unfortunately pretty expensive in Japan.

Wallets and Suica holders in a cute-style shop.
(Suica are similar to Oyster cards)

So cute!

Many of the shops in Japan put a lot of effort into the decoration and layout of the store!

Something that I really like about Japanese shops is how much effort is put into the feel of the store. This doesn't only include clothes shops but extends to other places such as restaurants. 

I find it really makes a big difference in how you feel while shopping!

My new friend - Snow white - now with blonde hair!

I found myself a new friend while walking down the street!
I couldn't miss the opportunity to get a picture so I ran back to ask to get a cheeky snap!

Of course a trip to Harajuku would not be complete without getting another of its famous crepes!

Not only did this one have cream and ice cream inside but they put a slice of cake in too for good measure!

Making our pumpkin crepes - and yes, that is a slice of pumpkin pie you see going into the crepe!

My pumpkin crepe - it was so delicious!

I couldn't resist ordering the seasonal Halloween crepe, it would only be available for the Halloween period only!! They even changed the wrapper to a special Halloween design!

After eating our crepes we went round the corner to have a look at Togo shrine which was built in 1940.
It was really beautiful and well-kept!

It looked so pretty with the lanterns glowing!

On the way back we saw this scool

After the shrine we looked around some more of Harajuku's shops!

A vintage shop

Anyone who has been to Camden may see some similarities in this shop! 

This was a costume shop found on the main street. It was packed full of elaborate costumes!

Anyone looking to store their ducks?

As promised in my last post on Harajuku, I returned to have a look at the Tamagotchi store!

I don't know about you but I remember how crazy everyone went for Tamagotchis when I was in primary school! I think my mum even bitterly remembers how she had to look after mine at work after they became banned at my school!

This shop was so cute! It had so much Tamagotchi merchandise from plushies to stationary and of course Tamagotchis themselves!

Being in this store really made me want to buy a Tamagotchi again! 

Kuchipatchi plushies, socks and even name stamps!

They had a section just for Kuchipatchi (the green one)!

After the quick look in the Tamagotchi shop we headed back home as it was getting late!

I had a really good day with Zoe and Amy in Harajuku and managed to buy somethings I really wanted - I may cover this in another post as I feel like it is a topic in itself!
However, there are still so many things left to see in Harajuku so don't think you've seen the last of it yet!

I hope you enjoyed this post!

See you for now!