Chibified

It’s always interesting to wake up in another country. Though it’s always hard to adjust to the country’s time when there is more than 4 hours of difference lol. I had a hard time sleeping the night before but when I woke up I was pretty refreshed and wanted to start my first full day in Japan. Though I know most places that I want to go to don’t open until 9 or 10 at the earliest so I occupy my time by going online or watching TV. Watching Japanese television is usually a hit or a miss for me, depends if there’s something that interests me is on like news or weather for the day. Though it’s always interesting to see the late night showings. As I was hungry I decided to stop by the konbini down the street.

Along the way I noticed multiple vending machines around the corner and went to see if there was anything unusual to try out. Luck was on my side as I found a machine that sold cream corn soup in a can and happily popped in 120 yen to try it out.

First thing I noticed was that the can was very warm which felt sort of nice in the cold morning. I opened the can and the taste of creamy corn goodness splashed onto my tongue. Although it tasted exactly the same as if I warmed up cream corn at home, there’s just something about getting it from a vending machine that makes it special.

After that I went into the Family Mart konbini to see what I could fine. I would fine what would be my breakfast for the remainder of my trip. For 390 yen I got three onigiri’s (rice triangles/balls) in a package. Each had a different flavor, grilled salmon, ikura (salmon eggs) , and spicy cod roe (cod egg sacks).

The salmon was a bit dry but still had a nice flavor to it as I bit into it. The ikura wasn’t the freshest I’ve ever had, though who’s complaining at a cheap price and it being konbini food, but had a nice saltiness that went well with the rice. My favorite was the spicy cod roe which was not only salty but had a nice kick to it from the spice and made for a delicious meal. Surprisingly, this would fill me up the rest of the day and for the next couple of days as I was never hungry.

Though to be honest, I did also have a nikuman (meat bun) while I was there and it was OK when it comes to nikuman.

My first stop would be Akiba as a couple stores open at 10 am. Nothing had really changed since I was there though I did notice a couple changes on the next visit. I hit all the big stores like Gamers, Animate, K-Books, and more. I eventually was pretty tired so I went up to the 5th floor I believe in the same building as K-Books to grab a drink. After some deciding, I went with carbonated lemonade which hit the spot with a nice taste of lemonade on my tongue and bubbles of carbonated dioxide popping on top of it.

What was nice about the area where the vending machines were was not only were there seats to rest on but I watched Moyashimon the anime, Moyashimon Live Action Drama just started showing that I will review later, on a small TV the whole time I rested.

A interesting note, this sign was right outside a store in broad daylight. Only one I saw while I was in Japan.

I did some shopping for myself and made notes of other things I wanted to buy but would be too much for me to carry so I would come back later.

Afterwards I left for Shinjuku to go shopping for Tomoyo. Inside the Shinjuku train station I found this interesting display.

I think my professor told me it was for a New Year or good harvest. Can’t remember. But I have a picture of what I assume is an explanation for it.

Find a funny looking Hawaiian sign while I was in Shinjuku.

After finishing up in Shinjuku I left for Harajuku. Here’s the entrance to Takeshita-dōri street when exiting from Harajuku station.

Afterwards I was pretty tired for the day as I didn’t get much sleep the night before so I decided to retire early. Remember, those three onigiri filled me up for the day so I didn’t eat lunch or dinner. Here’s a picture of my room.

It was a business hotel and made for 1-2 people max. You can see my swag in the corner on the right. That’s my laptop on the table and it was nice to find a flat screen TV on the table too. Not pictured is the bathroom which is to the right of me, about half the size of the room, and the hallway which I’m standing in. I don’t need much comfort when it comes to staying in Japan, mostly a room to sleep in, internet, and a place to store my stuff.

One of the funnier things that I watched on TV was the show Alf, the funny brown and furry alien, who was speaking Japanese. But no matter what language Alf speaks in, he’s always funny. To show you how he sounds, I uploaded a clip of the show that I recorded for your comedic pleasure. You’ll have to turn up the volume to hear it.

What’s really nice about my room is being able to see Tokyo Tower right outside my window every time I return. Here it is during sunset. Nice isn’t it?

Tokyo Tower at night. Look how dark it is, everything around Tokyo Tower is now shrouded in darkness as if it weren’t there in my earlier picture; you can only see the outlines.

That’s it for today, oyasumi.

Related posts:

1. Japan Trip January 2010 Part 1
2. Japan Trip January 2010 Part 4
3. Japan Trip January 2010 Part 5
4. Japan Trip January 2010 Part 3
5. Japan Trip Update