The day after Akihabara we didn't really do anything except for packing our stuff, enjoying our new manga, watching anime, (i know, i know, but we needed to rest because our feet and backs killed us!) and we ate at a nice ramenshop!
The next day we were all powered up again and we left for our new hotel. After dropping our bags off, we decided to walk a bit in the neighbourhood which turned out to be the Korean district! after we got to a metro station we decided to go to Shinjuku, where we went into the Forever 21, but after walking a bit we decided that Harajuku was better for shopping and when we arrived at the Takeshita-dori we found a lot of awesome shops. We'll go back here on monday because we haven't got enough of this awesome street! But first we went to meet Aya-chan today, who has been an awesome penpal to me and who I've met last year too. She showed us around Yokohama, we went to China town at first, where we we're almost thrown to death with pandas. We ate delicious Chinese manju, and then we headed towards the Yokohama Marine Tower. While we were on our way, we saw a Purikura sign (which are these special machines where you can take pictures in awesome poses, decorate them afterwards and then get them on stickers. We had to do that with Aya-chan so we went in!
So after this we went on to the Marine tower, where we got a very pretty view all over Yokohama, the sea, and we could even see the Tokyo tower! It's almost 100m high, so we could take a lot of pretty pictures.
Then we went on to go do some Karaoke! we decided to go in for about 1,5 hours. The microphones didn't work so when they fixed it, we got anothet 10 minutes for free! We sang our hearts out and it was lots of fun!
Becaue of this, we got a little hungry, so we decided to find something to eat. Too bad everything in Chinatown was so expensive, so we went to a curry-house instead. It was very delicious!
Then it was time to get back to our hotel, it was sad to say goodbye again, but it was very nice to spend the day again with Aya-chan!
Tomorrow our plans are to go to Shibuya, (after we go get my shoes at the other hotel, because I was dumb enough to forget them!) and soon it will already be tuesday, the day for going home again!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
long update!
First of, we went to Kawaguchiko after our stay in Kyoto.
We traveled by train, which took us about 5 hours, then according to Google maps we had to go out of the train, and it should only be about a 5 minute walk. we ended up somewhere in the middle of nowhere, where we couldnt even see mount Fuji very well. We found out that we had to travel for about an hour or so further away to get to Kawaguchiko. It turned dark while we were on the train so we couldnt see Fuji-san when we got off. We found our hotel which was across the station, hence called Kawaguchiko-station inn. We got some food from the 7/11 end went to sleep.
The next morning, we went downstairs, looked out of the glass doors, and there it was. Fuji-san. It was HUGE and close. That was more like it! we had a very busy day ahead of us, we had a boat tour planned, and the rest of the day in Fuji Q Highland. While waiting for the boat, we found some coupons for Fuji Q, we were quite lucky. While on the boat, the boatsman was very interested in us and asked us all kinds of questions, when all we did was look at Fuji-san and took a whole lot of pictures. After that it was time for Fuji Q!
When we payed for our tickets, the cashier said Fuji-yama was closed. It was the ride which was the tallest in the world (in 1997) so we were pretty bummed.
But after we went in, we saw hamtaro land! Oh my god! It was awesome! so we went in the first rollercoaster. It was the hamtaro coaster! so it wasnt very thrilling. nonetheless we had a lot of fun! the boys in front of us (4 teenagers) were really tough for going in there so we laughed at them when they had to sit like father child, in between the others legs xD so when they noticed us laughing at them they started laughing as well because it was quite a silly sight. After that every time we saw them we had to laugh again xD The next ride was a wild water ride. Two huge statues of manekineko (lucky cats) stood there staring and smiling at us. So when we were in the ride and came to the back of the statues we were shocked! they were Evil! but luckily because it is winter we didnt get wet.
We walked some further after the cats and saw a huge swing thing, whatever its called xD It spins round and youre in a seat and it went up. We had a great view of Fujisan! then we went in something that was more like a game. You got a card at the entrance with which you had to collect arms. If you got the full armour set you were allowed to battle Nobunaga! However only one was allowed to battle. We went in with 20 people and were the unlucky ones who didnt even complete the set. We were in a dark maze like castle, in which we had to find slots that would give us a stamp. It took us a while to figure out that some didnt have an opening and were fakes xD so after half a minute which was like one fourth of the time we got on the first floor we found some slot that had openings. But for some reason all we got was Shit! they were totally faking us! It wasnt until after the game that we realised there was a certain amount of time needed in between people to make it more difficult. so after a while you could go to the same slot again. Floor 2 didnt get us anything either so we were wiped out and had to leave the castle.
After this we found a real exciting rollercoaster at the exit of the last one. It turned out to be the steepest coaster in the world at this moment, with a 121 degree drop. At the beginning we were like Yay! but at the top before the drop it was like: no no no no NO! It was very awesome though!
On the picture we all looked kinda goofy so we didnt take this one. We went on to the next rollercoaster, which turned out to be one of the fastest coasters, with a top speed of 172km/h. It was such a thrill to be launched and it felt like our faces were gonna be blown off. The wind turned out to have settled down, because we found out that the Fujiyama was opened! We quickly went in line and we turned out to be one of the last people to ride it. During all of our waiting lines, we had some TVs with the fujiQ power rangers! (heroes) they were so cool! The red one was cocky and not much like a hero at all, actually they all sucked big time at being a hero! The blue one was a skirt chaser and was actually dating the pink one but kept flirting with other girls. The pink one was jealous crybaby. The green one had to clean every little thing in the park, and was the biggest pussy of them all. (he was bullied by the red one all the time) And the yellow one was a stupid clumsy dork. While in the last line we actually saw them running around the park. The red one sat on a bench rubbing his tummy, while people were taking pictures with him. after a while he got up and went to the food machine but found out he didnt have any money on him. so he looked really sad. The yellow one went in the carousel not far away from the line. He sat on the horse and after a while he was so bored he fell asleep until the ride was over. We saw the pink one and the green one walk past, but they were quickly out of sight. we didnt see the blue one :( After fujiyama the park closed already so we had to go back to the hotel, but we were very hungry, and decided to find some place to eat. We decided to go to a Teriyaki bar, and we had a teriyakiset for 2, which had all kinds of delicious meat. Then we went back to the hotel and decided to take a bath, which turned out to be a really really relaxing bath. The bathroom there was so luxurious! it was like a sentou with one big bath and we were all alone! so we spent 2 hours in there xD
the 8th we had to travel towards Niigata, Nagaoka, to Floor her friends. Yoko-san and Suzuki-san were waiting for us at the station, where our minds where blown because of the snow. There was like 3000 meters of snow! Unlike in the Netherlands though, they were able to keep all the roads snow-free. so we were surrounded by huge walls of snow at each side of the road. Once at Yoko-san her house, we were soon invited for dinner. Meanwhile MuuChan, yoko-sans toy poodle kept running around and wouldnt stop barking, and jumping and acting way to big for its actual size. Plates and bowls of all kinds of different food then kept being served. While we were sitting in the kitchen we heard a fancy tune, and a voice said that the bath was ready. We were in awe, and it turned out you could turn on the bath with one push on the button in the kitchen, and then you just had to wait! It was really fancy! After our bath it was time to go to sleep because we had a very big day ahead of us.
Our seijinshiki (coming of age day)
Yoko-san had a lot of things planned for us, even though in Nagaoka seijinshiki isnt held in January because of the cold weather and snow. Lots of people kept coming over, with kimonos to put us in, and people to help us getting dressed. Layer after layer, towel after towel and strap after strap were being put around us, before we actually got the top layer with beautiful prints. then the photo session began, and didnt end! nah... at four when we took of the kimonos they were done taking pictures. Yoko-san her 5 year old grandchild HiroChan came over and was a bit shy at first. But then he wanted to play trump, which is the japanese name for card game. after a while he got bored and found out angry birds on Anientas phone. So he was draped all over her lap after a while. He was so cute! We took some pictures together with him too. After we got out of our straightjackets, we quickly dressed to impress! We had a party to go to! the Lions club which is a Club that supports exchanges, gave us a special japanese style party, with dinner and all. they kept pouring us beer, because we were dutch, and they thought it was funny. (drinking is allowed at the age of 20 in japan) And because it was our seijinshiki they couldnt let all that beer go to waste. after a while we had to switch places and got to talk to everyone, who by then got so drunk they started asking us the strangest questions. We got one of them to sing and dance for us xD After the party some of the members took us to a Karaoke bar, and because we were already really tipsy we sang our lungs out without shame.
the next day Yoko-san and Suzuki-san took us to an exhibition of the Ghibli movie Arietty. The movie was about little people, and the exhibition had their house completely made in our normal size. So we went inside the drain of the big house where their home was and found stamps as paintings, chesspieces as statues, huge flowers, a flower pot as a hearth and the biggest sugar cube ever! some of the bugs like ants and beetles were moving and because they were so big, they were also quite scary which made us think we were glad we werent their size.
After this they took us to an onsen (hot spring) in yuzawa, which was an hour away from nagaoka, had even more snow and lots of skiing resorts. It was also closer to Tokyo so we were able to stay a little bit longer. The onsen was very pretty and had all kinds of baths. There was a normal hot spring, a sulphur bath, a bath inside a cave, a hot steambath inside another cave, and a very cold bath. We were surrounded by snow so at first it was so cold! but after we had been in one of the baths it wasnt cold at all anymore.
at 4 it was time to have a meal, which was very very colourful. It kept being served on our too small tables, and some dishes were looking at us. Specially the shrimp in the little icy iglo. It looked pretty, but not something we dared to eat. Then we got a souplike structure, which turned out to house half a crab. luckily this one didnt have eyes. Some things were edible and quite tasty too, so we didnt starve. We were a little bit late for our train to Tokyo, but we were still on time for rush hour. It was a little bit of a hassle with our luggage but we survived and arrived at the station where we needed to be, but were a little bit lost and stared at the map. Luckily Japanese people are so helpful and kind, and came to our rescue. They helped us a lot and even called the hotel for us for directions. It turned out to be pretty easy and we arrived on time for check in.
Today we went to Akihabara, Which is known for its amazing electronics stores and Otaku (nerd) stuff. Even before we got out of the station, we saw a commercial board for a book-off. This is what Martines dad called manga heaven. This turned out to be true with all kinds of manga for 105 ¥ (about 1 euro) and Shoujo manga (girl manga) were at half price because of ladies day. After we finally got ourselves out of this store, we tried to look for denshi jishos (electronical dictionaries) we went in a lot of game halls on the way, trying to find a DDR machine (dancing game)
We finally found one and we were doing our best to dance our asses off. We got very hungry because of it and we were catnapped into a maidcafe where every maid talked like a cat and were overexcitedly happy. It turned out to be quite expensive and had all kinds of rules, but it was totally worth it, as all girls were supercute and it got us all energetic, and we got our food. After the cafe it got quite late and we decided to walk back towards the metrostation. we got in some more shops on the way. While we waited outside for Jeroen and Floor, we got into a conversation with an old man who was very interested in the Netherlands, and told us all about our hidden history with Japan, though half of it we already knew. He wanted to take us for a coffee, and we talked for more than an hour with Ken-san. We exchanged mails and it was very interesting. Which brings us to right now, writing this very very long blog, which made us tired, so now we are off to bed.
Oyasumi nasai,
Anienta and Martine
We traveled by train, which took us about 5 hours, then according to Google maps we had to go out of the train, and it should only be about a 5 minute walk. we ended up somewhere in the middle of nowhere, where we couldnt even see mount Fuji very well. We found out that we had to travel for about an hour or so further away to get to Kawaguchiko. It turned dark while we were on the train so we couldnt see Fuji-san when we got off. We found our hotel which was across the station, hence called Kawaguchiko-station inn. We got some food from the 7/11 end went to sleep.
The next morning, we went downstairs, looked out of the glass doors, and there it was. Fuji-san. It was HUGE and close. That was more like it! we had a very busy day ahead of us, we had a boat tour planned, and the rest of the day in Fuji Q Highland. While waiting for the boat, we found some coupons for Fuji Q, we were quite lucky. While on the boat, the boatsman was very interested in us and asked us all kinds of questions, when all we did was look at Fuji-san and took a whole lot of pictures. After that it was time for Fuji Q!
When we payed for our tickets, the cashier said Fuji-yama was closed. It was the ride which was the tallest in the world (in 1997) so we were pretty bummed.
But after we went in, we saw hamtaro land! Oh my god! It was awesome! so we went in the first rollercoaster. It was the hamtaro coaster! so it wasnt very thrilling. nonetheless we had a lot of fun! the boys in front of us (4 teenagers) were really tough for going in there so we laughed at them when they had to sit like father child, in between the others legs xD so when they noticed us laughing at them they started laughing as well because it was quite a silly sight. After that every time we saw them we had to laugh again xD The next ride was a wild water ride. Two huge statues of manekineko (lucky cats) stood there staring and smiling at us. So when we were in the ride and came to the back of the statues we were shocked! they were Evil! but luckily because it is winter we didnt get wet.
We walked some further after the cats and saw a huge swing thing, whatever its called xD It spins round and youre in a seat and it went up. We had a great view of Fujisan! then we went in something that was more like a game. You got a card at the entrance with which you had to collect arms. If you got the full armour set you were allowed to battle Nobunaga! However only one was allowed to battle. We went in with 20 people and were the unlucky ones who didnt even complete the set. We were in a dark maze like castle, in which we had to find slots that would give us a stamp. It took us a while to figure out that some didnt have an opening and were fakes xD so after half a minute which was like one fourth of the time we got on the first floor we found some slot that had openings. But for some reason all we got was Shit! they were totally faking us! It wasnt until after the game that we realised there was a certain amount of time needed in between people to make it more difficult. so after a while you could go to the same slot again. Floor 2 didnt get us anything either so we were wiped out and had to leave the castle.
After this we found a real exciting rollercoaster at the exit of the last one. It turned out to be the steepest coaster in the world at this moment, with a 121 degree drop. At the beginning we were like Yay! but at the top before the drop it was like: no no no no NO! It was very awesome though!
On the picture we all looked kinda goofy so we didnt take this one. We went on to the next rollercoaster, which turned out to be one of the fastest coasters, with a top speed of 172km/h. It was such a thrill to be launched and it felt like our faces were gonna be blown off. The wind turned out to have settled down, because we found out that the Fujiyama was opened! We quickly went in line and we turned out to be one of the last people to ride it. During all of our waiting lines, we had some TVs with the fujiQ power rangers! (heroes) they were so cool! The red one was cocky and not much like a hero at all, actually they all sucked big time at being a hero! The blue one was a skirt chaser and was actually dating the pink one but kept flirting with other girls. The pink one was jealous crybaby. The green one had to clean every little thing in the park, and was the biggest pussy of them all. (he was bullied by the red one all the time) And the yellow one was a stupid clumsy dork. While in the last line we actually saw them running around the park. The red one sat on a bench rubbing his tummy, while people were taking pictures with him. after a while he got up and went to the food machine but found out he didnt have any money on him. so he looked really sad. The yellow one went in the carousel not far away from the line. He sat on the horse and after a while he was so bored he fell asleep until the ride was over. We saw the pink one and the green one walk past, but they were quickly out of sight. we didnt see the blue one :( After fujiyama the park closed already so we had to go back to the hotel, but we were very hungry, and decided to find some place to eat. We decided to go to a Teriyaki bar, and we had a teriyakiset for 2, which had all kinds of delicious meat. Then we went back to the hotel and decided to take a bath, which turned out to be a really really relaxing bath. The bathroom there was so luxurious! it was like a sentou with one big bath and we were all alone! so we spent 2 hours in there xD
the 8th we had to travel towards Niigata, Nagaoka, to Floor her friends. Yoko-san and Suzuki-san were waiting for us at the station, where our minds where blown because of the snow. There was like 3000 meters of snow! Unlike in the Netherlands though, they were able to keep all the roads snow-free. so we were surrounded by huge walls of snow at each side of the road. Once at Yoko-san her house, we were soon invited for dinner. Meanwhile MuuChan, yoko-sans toy poodle kept running around and wouldnt stop barking, and jumping and acting way to big for its actual size. Plates and bowls of all kinds of different food then kept being served. While we were sitting in the kitchen we heard a fancy tune, and a voice said that the bath was ready. We were in awe, and it turned out you could turn on the bath with one push on the button in the kitchen, and then you just had to wait! It was really fancy! After our bath it was time to go to sleep because we had a very big day ahead of us.
Our seijinshiki (coming of age day)
Yoko-san had a lot of things planned for us, even though in Nagaoka seijinshiki isnt held in January because of the cold weather and snow. Lots of people kept coming over, with kimonos to put us in, and people to help us getting dressed. Layer after layer, towel after towel and strap after strap were being put around us, before we actually got the top layer with beautiful prints. then the photo session began, and didnt end! nah... at four when we took of the kimonos they were done taking pictures. Yoko-san her 5 year old grandchild HiroChan came over and was a bit shy at first. But then he wanted to play trump, which is the japanese name for card game. after a while he got bored and found out angry birds on Anientas phone. So he was draped all over her lap after a while. He was so cute! We took some pictures together with him too. After we got out of our straightjackets, we quickly dressed to impress! We had a party to go to! the Lions club which is a Club that supports exchanges, gave us a special japanese style party, with dinner and all. they kept pouring us beer, because we were dutch, and they thought it was funny. (drinking is allowed at the age of 20 in japan) And because it was our seijinshiki they couldnt let all that beer go to waste. after a while we had to switch places and got to talk to everyone, who by then got so drunk they started asking us the strangest questions. We got one of them to sing and dance for us xD After the party some of the members took us to a Karaoke bar, and because we were already really tipsy we sang our lungs out without shame.
the next day Yoko-san and Suzuki-san took us to an exhibition of the Ghibli movie Arietty. The movie was about little people, and the exhibition had their house completely made in our normal size. So we went inside the drain of the big house where their home was and found stamps as paintings, chesspieces as statues, huge flowers, a flower pot as a hearth and the biggest sugar cube ever! some of the bugs like ants and beetles were moving and because they were so big, they were also quite scary which made us think we were glad we werent their size.
After this they took us to an onsen (hot spring) in yuzawa, which was an hour away from nagaoka, had even more snow and lots of skiing resorts. It was also closer to Tokyo so we were able to stay a little bit longer. The onsen was very pretty and had all kinds of baths. There was a normal hot spring, a sulphur bath, a bath inside a cave, a hot steambath inside another cave, and a very cold bath. We were surrounded by snow so at first it was so cold! but after we had been in one of the baths it wasnt cold at all anymore.
at 4 it was time to have a meal, which was very very colourful. It kept being served on our too small tables, and some dishes were looking at us. Specially the shrimp in the little icy iglo. It looked pretty, but not something we dared to eat. Then we got a souplike structure, which turned out to house half a crab. luckily this one didnt have eyes. Some things were edible and quite tasty too, so we didnt starve. We were a little bit late for our train to Tokyo, but we were still on time for rush hour. It was a little bit of a hassle with our luggage but we survived and arrived at the station where we needed to be, but were a little bit lost and stared at the map. Luckily Japanese people are so helpful and kind, and came to our rescue. They helped us a lot and even called the hotel for us for directions. It turned out to be pretty easy and we arrived on time for check in.
Today we went to Akihabara, Which is known for its amazing electronics stores and Otaku (nerd) stuff. Even before we got out of the station, we saw a commercial board for a book-off. This is what Martines dad called manga heaven. This turned out to be true with all kinds of manga for 105 ¥ (about 1 euro) and Shoujo manga (girl manga) were at half price because of ladies day. After we finally got ourselves out of this store, we tried to look for denshi jishos (electronical dictionaries) we went in a lot of game halls on the way, trying to find a DDR machine (dancing game)
We finally found one and we were doing our best to dance our asses off. We got very hungry because of it and we were catnapped into a maidcafe where every maid talked like a cat and were overexcitedly happy. It turned out to be quite expensive and had all kinds of rules, but it was totally worth it, as all girls were supercute and it got us all energetic, and we got our food. After the cafe it got quite late and we decided to walk back towards the metrostation. we got in some more shops on the way. While we waited outside for Jeroen and Floor, we got into a conversation with an old man who was very interested in the Netherlands, and told us all about our hidden history with Japan, though half of it we already knew. He wanted to take us for a coffee, and we talked for more than an hour with Ken-san. We exchanged mails and it was very interesting. Which brings us to right now, writing this very very long blog, which made us tired, so now we are off to bed.
Oyasumi nasai,
Anienta and Martine
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Hi again!
Sorry for the late update! The third of january we went to the Sanjuusangendo Temple. In that temple, there are 1000 statues of the bodhisattva Kannon. Actually 1001 if you count the huge statue in the middle. We had to take of our shoes again and after that we entered a huge hall. After quite a long walk we finally got to the middle part. We thought we were already finished but a 1000 statues is way more than we thought xD So we reached the middle with the huge statue of Kannon. We burnt a candle there and went on to the second part of the temple. In front of all the kannon statues, were the 28 guardian statues, beginning with the god of lightning, and ending with the god of the wind. It was such a beautiful sight. Unfortunatly we weren't allowed to take pictures, so you're just gonna have to go see them for yourself :3 After the Sanjuusangendo we went to a small shrine across. There we saw a shinto priest ring a bell and play the drums. We thought it was some awesome ritual, but it turned out to be 2 o'clock xD After that we still had a lot of time left before we had to check in so we went for a walk. We discovered another shrine, so we did the usual. Bow to the deity, look at the charms and then we decided to go back to Kyou mizu dera for some more presents! After that we went to the guesthouse kazariya to check in. After we had a light meal we went to the bathhouse (sentou) again! this time it was much larger than the other one and we even had an outside bath! the usual baths were there, the hot tub, hot tub with turbo water thrusters xD, cold tub with awesome lion statues and the elecric bath we had in the other sentou as wel. But instead of ozon we had another strange coloured bath this time. We only found out after we got back that the orange coulour was caused by something my dictionary translated as: The Chameleon plant! So I've no idea what it's supposed to do, but it was awesome. The outside bath smelled so bad when we went out! It turned out to be a sulphur bath xD My skin has never felt so soft before! But we had to pay the price for our silky smooth skin. We ended up smelling like sulphur for 2 days xD and martine's bracelet, which was silver, is now orange xD We forgot our highschool chemisty that silver reacts to sulphur!
On january the 4th we went shopping! We went all the way to Namba Oosaka. The shopping center was huge! At 9 pm we weren't even halfway yet! But we ended up buying really cool stuff! First we bought some clothes and then found a manga shop! Omg it was huge! every kind of manga they had! Even the ones we really didn't want to see xD But everything was so cheap! Even the couloured versions that are 12 euro's in Holland were only 6! Clothes are just as expensive though. But the underwear! So cheap! and Cute! And fluffy! Well, we found a bra that was pink and very fluffy xD but most are nice! After a while we came to some shoes shops. Some were 20 euro's and some over a 100! But I ended up buying a pair for 40 because they were so nice and half price xD And then we found it... the shop with cosplay outfits :O The Japanese goth shop basically xD Me and floor both bought something there. After that I ran out of money xD so we were still looking for some shoes for martine but we ended up with nothing for her :( Jeroen bought some CD's. He didn't like the shopping at all xD But we warned him when he was going with us three girls! We were gonna shop 'till we drop! After the shopping we found an Okonomiyaki bar, where we had our dinner. Floor said it was like a pancake with whatever you want to put on, so me and martine were excited! unfortunatly it tasted nothing like a pancake but like potatoe salad :( which we both find very disgusting... So we secretly snuck our "pancake" over to floors plate so we wouldn't have to eat it. xD After we went back to Kyoto and we were back at 12 am xD
Today the 5th we're gonna spend our day washing our clothes and preparing for our trip to Kawaguchiko tomorrow! So our next update will probably be tomorrow after we have traveled cross country xD
Bye bye!
xxx Anienta
Sorry for the late update! The third of january we went to the Sanjuusangendo Temple. In that temple, there are 1000 statues of the bodhisattva Kannon. Actually 1001 if you count the huge statue in the middle. We had to take of our shoes again and after that we entered a huge hall. After quite a long walk we finally got to the middle part. We thought we were already finished but a 1000 statues is way more than we thought xD So we reached the middle with the huge statue of Kannon. We burnt a candle there and went on to the second part of the temple. In front of all the kannon statues, were the 28 guardian statues, beginning with the god of lightning, and ending with the god of the wind. It was such a beautiful sight. Unfortunatly we weren't allowed to take pictures, so you're just gonna have to go see them for yourself :3 After the Sanjuusangendo we went to a small shrine across. There we saw a shinto priest ring a bell and play the drums. We thought it was some awesome ritual, but it turned out to be 2 o'clock xD After that we still had a lot of time left before we had to check in so we went for a walk. We discovered another shrine, so we did the usual. Bow to the deity, look at the charms and then we decided to go back to Kyou mizu dera for some more presents! After that we went to the guesthouse kazariya to check in. After we had a light meal we went to the bathhouse (sentou) again! this time it was much larger than the other one and we even had an outside bath! the usual baths were there, the hot tub, hot tub with turbo water thrusters xD, cold tub with awesome lion statues and the elecric bath we had in the other sentou as wel. But instead of ozon we had another strange coloured bath this time. We only found out after we got back that the orange coulour was caused by something my dictionary translated as: The Chameleon plant! So I've no idea what it's supposed to do, but it was awesome. The outside bath smelled so bad when we went out! It turned out to be a sulphur bath xD My skin has never felt so soft before! But we had to pay the price for our silky smooth skin. We ended up smelling like sulphur for 2 days xD and martine's bracelet, which was silver, is now orange xD We forgot our highschool chemisty that silver reacts to sulphur!
On january the 4th we went shopping! We went all the way to Namba Oosaka. The shopping center was huge! At 9 pm we weren't even halfway yet! But we ended up buying really cool stuff! First we bought some clothes and then found a manga shop! Omg it was huge! every kind of manga they had! Even the ones we really didn't want to see xD But everything was so cheap! Even the couloured versions that are 12 euro's in Holland were only 6! Clothes are just as expensive though. But the underwear! So cheap! and Cute! And fluffy! Well, we found a bra that was pink and very fluffy xD but most are nice! After a while we came to some shoes shops. Some were 20 euro's and some over a 100! But I ended up buying a pair for 40 because they were so nice and half price xD And then we found it... the shop with cosplay outfits :O The Japanese goth shop basically xD Me and floor both bought something there. After that I ran out of money xD so we were still looking for some shoes for martine but we ended up with nothing for her :( Jeroen bought some CD's. He didn't like the shopping at all xD But we warned him when he was going with us three girls! We were gonna shop 'till we drop! After the shopping we found an Okonomiyaki bar, where we had our dinner. Floor said it was like a pancake with whatever you want to put on, so me and martine were excited! unfortunatly it tasted nothing like a pancake but like potatoe salad :( which we both find very disgusting... So we secretly snuck our "pancake" over to floors plate so we wouldn't have to eat it. xD After we went back to Kyoto and we were back at 12 am xD
Today the 5th we're gonna spend our day washing our clothes and preparing for our trip to Kawaguchiko tomorrow! So our next update will probably be tomorrow after we have traveled cross country xD
Bye bye!
xxx Anienta
Monday, January 2, 2012
Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavillion)
Yesterday we slept in till about noon, and went out at like 2:45, after we saw the news of the Earthquake.
We didn't feel a thing, for people who want to know!
We went to Kiyomizu-dera, primarily to the souvenirshops around the temple.
Anienta bought a verrrrryy pretty Yukata :D after the shops we went back to the hotel and took a bath and flew back in bed to sleep early as well.
Today we shifted to Waraku-an, where we will be staying for only one
night, though we would've liked to stay for a longer time. ( http://gh-project.com/e/home.html )
We went to Kinkaku-ji after dropping off our bags, which is the very pretty golden pavillion:
We ate at a curry house tonight, and it was so very yummy! we would love to come back here to be able to eat more of those delicious dishes, but we're going to Kazari-ya tomorrow, so that would be a very long walk! ( http://kazari-ya.com/index-e.html )
We tried to go to the public bath house tonight, but because the first, second and third of January are holidays, lots of things are closed, including the bath house and all the post offices.
Post offices are very needed because those are about the only places where we get our cash.
This is a bit too bad, but we wont die from lack of money, as two of us have enough to share until the fourth :)
Well, we will come back later with more updates!
To read more about our trip to Japan, and some more pretty pictures, you should check out Floor's blog here:
http://mitsukineko.wordpress.com/
As she's got the biggest and prettiest camera, most pictures come from her (and us taking pictures with her camera).
xx
We didn't feel a thing, for people who want to know!
We went to Kiyomizu-dera, primarily to the souvenirshops around the temple.
Anienta bought a verrrrryy pretty Yukata :D after the shops we went back to the hotel and took a bath and flew back in bed to sleep early as well.
Today we shifted to Waraku-an, where we will be staying for only one
night, though we would've liked to stay for a longer time. ( http://gh-project.com/e/home.html )We went to Kinkaku-ji after dropping off our bags, which is the very pretty golden pavillion:
We ate at a curry house tonight, and it was so very yummy! we would love to come back here to be able to eat more of those delicious dishes, but we're going to Kazari-ya tomorrow, so that would be a very long walk! ( http://kazari-ya.com/index-e.html )
We tried to go to the public bath house tonight, but because the first, second and third of January are holidays, lots of things are closed, including the bath house and all the post offices.
Post offices are very needed because those are about the only places where we get our cash.
This is a bit too bad, but we wont die from lack of money, as two of us have enough to share until the fourth :)
Well, we will come back later with more updates!
To read more about our trip to Japan, and some more pretty pictures, you should check out Floor's blog here:
http://mitsukineko.wordpress.com/
As she's got the biggest and prettiest camera, most pictures come from her (and us taking pictures with her camera).
xx
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