Today we took a really fun trip out to Osaka -- more specifically, the shopping district of Shinsaibashi. This time, it was a gaijin (foreigner) event! We went with our then-roommate Nikki and her friend Sarah. They've already been here for a semester, so they know where cool things are. Hopefully we'll be traveling around together a lot!
We woke up early and hitched the bus to the Hirakata train station. This time, we asked them to tell us properly how you figure out how much your tickets cost and that kind of thing. I think I'm getting sort of the hang of it, but I think it's still best if I travel with people who know what they're doing for awhile. We had to take two trains to get to our destination with a total cost of about $5.40 each way.
On the train, I talked to Sarah, Nikki's friend, about Visual Kei type things. Turns out she's planning on going to a few lives this semester! She invited me to come to two bands' lives -- Alice Nine and LM.C -- two of my favorites! I'm so very excited that this is even a possibility. I'm filled with the needed to put together a cute concert outfit.
We surfaced into yet another hugely huge city full of of overwhelming things. Our destination? Food. Nikki knew of this restaurant called Sweets Paradise. It was pretty much a dessert buffet! They had some normal food -- curry rice, udon, pasta, cocktail sandwhiches. But as Nikki put it so delicately, "This is where Japanese girls come to get fat." This paradise of a restaurant cost about $14.00, but it was nice to have some sweet things!
Here's the entrance. The girls are gathered around a ticket machine. You buy your ticket there and present it to the waitress, where she sits you. You have a certain time allotted to you for how long you can stay at your table, but it's more than enough to time to get some good food and have a nice long chat!
The decor in here was so cute! It was very mod, with little hearts and plenty of pink. This place is definitely for the girls!
Giant chocolate fountain, and lots of desserts!
After we were done eating, we went off to go shop. The first shop we entered had some really nice Engrish shirts. I got a good picture of one! I thought about buying this particular one for a friend at home for a souvenir, but I think I can still find better!
Ahh...I love it! XD
We then found a Lolita store, Bodyline. They're known for their cheap prices and larger sizes. I think I still need to lose a bit of weight before I fit into their sizes, but I'll keep on trying! They didn't let you take pictures inside the store, so you'll just have to be satisfied with the knowledge that I found a Lolita store! I bought cute things to complete my lolita outfit that I have a home, namely socks and head things. I'll post everything I bought at the end of this entry!
And if you don't know what lolita is, it's a Japanese street fashion. I'll let the next few images speak for themselves:
It's pretty much one of my favorite things ever ~ Anyway, next was one of the things that has been on my mental checklist of things to do in Japan -- Purikura! I mentioned it last blog entry, but I guess I'll explain more in depth what it's like. It's a super advanced photo booth! Very roomy inside -- you can fit around 8 people if you really wanted to. The way they have the lighting is extremely flattering to your face as well. Anyway, you select frames and suggestions for poses, and you just go crazy! When you're all done taking pictures, you get to decorate the photos.
Nikki and Sarah decorating our photos~ I'm pretty bad at decorating them because I'm a new at it. I'd really like to go again and take some more sometime! :D I have one of the pictures from here ready -- Kaylie will be putting up some more, so I'm going to steal them from her and add them later.
Cute! ^-^ I felt so Japanese.
After that, we almost got Japanese nail art done -- but the place couldn't fit us in on time before we had to head back to Hirakata for karaoke. Next time maybe!
It was apparently vital that I have a parfait here. So I did:
It was good! :P
Here's just a photo of how busy the shopping district was! I know it's stupid to complain about feeling claustrophobic going to Japan....but you never really have any personal space. I always feel like I'm in the way all of the time. The stores are super tiny and it's quite a task to not knock shelves down and things with skills unparalleled by non-gaijin.
This was off the bridge leading to Nanba, which is where there are lot of Yakuza and clubs :)
The Glico man! Glico is the company that makes Pocky and other delicious foods. They're based in Osaka, so there's all kinds of Glico stuff all over the place.
A street :)
Another kabuki theatre! I still want to go D:
Osaka is also famous for takoyaki and crab. Here's a giant moving crab that I was made to take a picture of, because apparently, everyone who comes here has to take a picture of it.
Looking down the street to the left of the crab.
This was a little thing by the Glico store -- you ring the bell, rub the gold guy, and then have good luck I guess. We did it.
After that, we walked back to the train station and returned to Hirakata for karaoke times! We met up with a group of 6 or so people and made our way over to Ring, known for it's cheap rates for rooms. We had to make membership cards there, but it ended up costing about $10.00 for three hours of karaoke! It was totally fun!
Name that tune! XD
YMCA!
There were about 5 Japanese girls who came with us. I was so excited that my knowledge of Japanese pop music paid off! I was able to sing some really popular songs, and they all thought it was cool that I did such a good job. Plus...I'm not that bad of a singer ^^;. One of the girls is involved in the chorus club, and think she might have an eye out for me to join up! We'll see~
The day was fun, and we were exhausted by the end. We took the bus home and then I proceeded to take pictures of all the stuff I bought. Here we go!
Souvenirs from Osaka -- Phone strap with Chopperman on takoyaki and a mechanical pencil with Chopperman on the Osaka tower!
Hime Gyaru Hello Kitty phone strap! This this is HUGE too. I can't wait to go around with it on my phone.
h.Naoto (famous punk/goth designer) Hello Kitty!
Cute hair clip :3
Scarves! Japanese scarves are the coolest things. The purple one is for me, and the one on the right is a little something I got for my boyfriend. He loves scarves soo what better gift could there be!? :3
My headphones broke when I got to Japan, so I needed some new ones. I saw these at Kiddy Land at the train station and almost had a heart attack. I've seen Jrockers wearing these in photoshoots, and I've wanted them for quite a long time. The sound quality is really awesome too! I'm so in love with them!
Lolita bonnet -- only $5!!!
Lolita Alice bow -- $3.00!!
Cute Loli socks ^-^
Eyelashes! They were super cheap and I've always wanted to try them. I plan on wearing these to concerts when I go to them.
Adorable suspenders! $2.00!
Blurry picture of all of our purikura :x
It was such a fun day -- I'm sort of relieved that today is such a laid-back one. We did so many things and I love all the stuff I bought! Plus I got to make a few more friends~
Until next time -- peace! :P
We woke up early and hitched the bus to the Hirakata train station. This time, we asked them to tell us properly how you figure out how much your tickets cost and that kind of thing. I think I'm getting sort of the hang of it, but I think it's still best if I travel with people who know what they're doing for awhile. We had to take two trains to get to our destination with a total cost of about $5.40 each way.
On the train, I talked to Sarah, Nikki's friend, about Visual Kei type things. Turns out she's planning on going to a few lives this semester! She invited me to come to two bands' lives -- Alice Nine and LM.C -- two of my favorites! I'm so very excited that this is even a possibility. I'm filled with the needed to put together a cute concert outfit.
We surfaced into yet another hugely huge city full of of overwhelming things. Our destination? Food. Nikki knew of this restaurant called Sweets Paradise. It was pretty much a dessert buffet! They had some normal food -- curry rice, udon, pasta, cocktail sandwhiches. But as Nikki put it so delicately, "This is where Japanese girls come to get fat." This paradise of a restaurant cost about $14.00, but it was nice to have some sweet things!
Here's the entrance. The girls are gathered around a ticket machine. You buy your ticket there and present it to the waitress, where she sits you. You have a certain time allotted to you for how long you can stay at your table, but it's more than enough to time to get some good food and have a nice long chat!
The decor in here was so cute! It was very mod, with little hearts and plenty of pink. This place is definitely for the girls!
Giant chocolate fountain, and lots of desserts!After we were done eating, we went off to go shop. The first shop we entered had some really nice Engrish shirts. I got a good picture of one! I thought about buying this particular one for a friend at home for a souvenir, but I think I can still find better!
Ahh...I love it! XDWe then found a Lolita store, Bodyline. They're known for their cheap prices and larger sizes. I think I still need to lose a bit of weight before I fit into their sizes, but I'll keep on trying! They didn't let you take pictures inside the store, so you'll just have to be satisfied with the knowledge that I found a Lolita store! I bought cute things to complete my lolita outfit that I have a home, namely socks and head things. I'll post everything I bought at the end of this entry!
And if you don't know what lolita is, it's a Japanese street fashion. I'll let the next few images speak for themselves:
It's pretty much one of my favorite things ever ~ Anyway, next was one of the things that has been on my mental checklist of things to do in Japan -- Purikura! I mentioned it last blog entry, but I guess I'll explain more in depth what it's like. It's a super advanced photo booth! Very roomy inside -- you can fit around 8 people if you really wanted to. The way they have the lighting is extremely flattering to your face as well. Anyway, you select frames and suggestions for poses, and you just go crazy! When you're all done taking pictures, you get to decorate the photos. 
Nikki and Sarah decorating our photos~ I'm pretty bad at decorating them because I'm a new at it. I'd really like to go again and take some more sometime! :D I have one of the pictures from here ready -- Kaylie will be putting up some more, so I'm going to steal them from her and add them later.
Cute! ^-^ I felt so Japanese.After that, we almost got Japanese nail art done -- but the place couldn't fit us in on time before we had to head back to Hirakata for karaoke. Next time maybe!
It was apparently vital that I have a parfait here. So I did:
It was good! :P
Here's just a photo of how busy the shopping district was! I know it's stupid to complain about feeling claustrophobic going to Japan....but you never really have any personal space. I always feel like I'm in the way all of the time. The stores are super tiny and it's quite a task to not knock shelves down and things with skills unparalleled by non-gaijin.
This was off the bridge leading to Nanba, which is where there are lot of Yakuza and clubs :)
The Glico man! Glico is the company that makes Pocky and other delicious foods. They're based in Osaka, so there's all kinds of Glico stuff all over the place.
A street :)
Another kabuki theatre! I still want to go D:
Osaka is also famous for takoyaki and crab. Here's a giant moving crab that I was made to take a picture of, because apparently, everyone who comes here has to take a picture of it.
Looking down the street to the left of the crab.
This was a little thing by the Glico store -- you ring the bell, rub the gold guy, and then have good luck I guess. We did it.After that, we walked back to the train station and returned to Hirakata for karaoke times! We met up with a group of 6 or so people and made our way over to Ring, known for it's cheap rates for rooms. We had to make membership cards there, but it ended up costing about $10.00 for three hours of karaoke! It was totally fun!
Name that tune! XD
YMCA!There were about 5 Japanese girls who came with us. I was so excited that my knowledge of Japanese pop music paid off! I was able to sing some really popular songs, and they all thought it was cool that I did such a good job. Plus...I'm not that bad of a singer ^^;. One of the girls is involved in the chorus club, and think she might have an eye out for me to join up! We'll see~
The day was fun, and we were exhausted by the end. We took the bus home and then I proceeded to take pictures of all the stuff I bought. Here we go!
Souvenirs from Osaka -- Phone strap with Chopperman on takoyaki and a mechanical pencil with Chopperman on the Osaka tower!
Hime Gyaru Hello Kitty phone strap! This this is HUGE too. I can't wait to go around with it on my phone.
h.Naoto (famous punk/goth designer) Hello Kitty!
Cute hair clip :3
Scarves! Japanese scarves are the coolest things. The purple one is for me, and the one on the right is a little something I got for my boyfriend. He loves scarves soo what better gift could there be!? :3
My headphones broke when I got to Japan, so I needed some new ones. I saw these at Kiddy Land at the train station and almost had a heart attack. I've seen Jrockers wearing these in photoshoots, and I've wanted them for quite a long time. The sound quality is really awesome too! I'm so in love with them!
Lolita bonnet -- only $5!!!
Lolita Alice bow -- $3.00!!
Cute Loli socks ^-^
Eyelashes! They were super cheap and I've always wanted to try them. I plan on wearing these to concerts when I go to them.
Adorable suspenders! $2.00!
Blurry picture of all of our purikura :xIt was such a fun day -- I'm sort of relieved that today is such a laid-back one. We did so many things and I love all the stuff I bought! Plus I got to make a few more friends~
Until next time -- peace! :P
Don't worry too much about not understanding the train station yet... it takes a little while to figure out but once you get it it's really easy and you can get anywhere you want with no problem. :) It's especially fun 'cause google directions will tell you what line to take and where to transfer to get to anywhere in Japan! haha. It's awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous you got to go to Sweets Paradise. Most of my friends did, but I never got the chance. I'll have to go back sometime. *plots*
And yeah, Ring is uber-popular among Gaidai people. Awesome place. :) and the unlimited melon soda makes it even better! XD
Karaoke ~ <3 xD
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