Ari and Nici in Japan: Amazing Shibuya ☆

Hey guys (^-^)v

when we stayed in Tokyo, we went to Shibuya nearly as often as to Harajuku.

I have to admit Shibuya is really amazing, especially when it is getting dark *-*

All these neonlights and sign and so many people everywhere.

But let's start at the beginning:

When we first entered the district of Shibuya,

we were literally overwhelmed by this huge amount of people.

At famous Shibuya crossing (the one right in front of Shibuya Station)

we just stood there and filmed and took pictures for nearly 10 minutes xD

standing there felt like a wall of death x'DD

Then we had the heart to try ourself walking over the crossing

without bumping randomly into people... and it really worked!

No matter how many people are there, you can just pass the street like every other.

As you can see, the sun already set when we stood at Shibuya crossing.
And looking back, almost every time we went to Shibuya it was already dark or getting dark.
But that did not matter at all as Shibuya is really amazing in the dark *-*

happy and excited \(*-*)/

there was Tanabata festival in Tokyo when we stayed there

Of course, we did not just went to Shinuya for sightseeing
but also for shopping xD
Especially in Shibuya 109 !

a bit blurry but with Optimus Prime !

fancy mirror at Shibuya 109 toilets xD

There is so much music everywhere in Shibuya, it is just amazing *-*
Music in every store, music trucks on the streets,
and huge monitors at the buildings playing music.
And nearly on every monitor One Ok Rock's new single was shown xD

this is at Tower Records

After shopping, we were hungry and went to Family Mart,
a chain of conbini stores, and bought dinner:

the right one is mine ^.^ I ate it a lot xD it is not completely vegetarian, but I just picked the fish out

fancy frozen yoghurt dessert ♥ you could completely mix it yourself with whatever you wanted *o*

For eating, we just sat down at a corner of the street.
There a very very few cars in the shopping streets of Shibuya,
so you basically can walk on the streets all the time.
It was really cool to see all these different people passing by.
At some point it somehow felt really unreal to me to actually be there xD

I would have loved to visit some concerts in Shibuya's life houses,
but our vacations were so poorly planned that the bands we wanted to see
eighter were in Osaka when we were in Tokyo and played in Tokyo when we 
were in Osaka or didn't tour at all -.-'' (Next time, we will definetely plan better...)
But nevertheless, we visited some life houses in Shibuya (by accident x'D)

 

The second time we went to Shibuya was a very spontaneous decision.
In the first place, we wanted to visit Mt. Fuji that day,
but since it was a kind of holiday in Japan, the trains were terribly crowded that day.
This is also the reason why I look really shitty in the picutre I took with Ann Chirisu:

please forgive me my ungliness >.<

Ann Chirisu is a very cool and funny youtuber.
Check out her channel, if you don't already know her !
Her first channel
Her second channel (where she also uploaded her vlogs from Japan)

She lives in London, but since I follow her on facebook and instagram, too
I knew she and her boyfriend were in Japan that time,
but I never imagined to meet her in such a big city !
I was really surprised and too scared to talk to her first.
But Nici encouraged me to ask if she really was who I thought she was
and she herself seemed to be surprised someone recognised her there.

We also went in the same train and she talked a lot to us.
She is very very nice ^.^

While strolling through Shibuya, we also took a photo with famous Hachiko ♥

It was so much fun and this district is just amazing *-*
I wish we had more time to explore Shibuya and other Tokyo districts.
It seems like every part of the town has it's own unique character.

Fortunately we arrived two days before the big 'final bargains' ended xD

so crowded O.O

all these lights *o*

Tokyo Disney store ^.^

some train stations really have low ceilings...

We love Shibuya ! ♥
I hope we can see you again ! ^.^

Ari & Nici in Japan: Harajuku, a dream coming true ♥

Hey guys (^-^)v

One of the biggest goales in my life has always been visiting Harajuku one day..

When we have been in Japan this summer a long dreamt dream had become true!

All the time, I have been seeing so many pictures of this district,

but to be there yourself is totally different.

I've waited so long for this and it was so so so amazing *-*

 We went to Harajuku several times during our stay.

The first time was just on our second day.

I couldn't wait to finally see it with my own eyes *o*

So we dressed up a bit (what was really hard at 35°C....) and took the train ^-^
You could already see Takeshita Dori entrance from the platform x3

happy me xD (sorry for my weird gaze but I had to look directly in the sun >.<)

OMG! Finally at Takeshita Dori \(*-*)/

At the entrance we also met two Japanese girls with 'Free Hug' signs ^-^

(although it was a tuesday and they are said to be only there on sundays.. )

on the right you can see Nici and the girls with free hug signs ^.^

We did not take many photos of Takeshita Dori itself

because also during the week it was very very crowded..

Of course, we also went eating some 
of the famous Harajuku crêpes ♥

mine was with cheesecake, strawberries and chocolaate sauce ^-^

yummi~ ♥

We already shoped a lot at our first visit xD

I will show you all my shopping haul in another post ^-^

having some meronpan ♥

  We also visited some stores not located on Takeshita Dori
such as:

hide-sama's LEMONeD Shop ♥

The main reason I went there was to go shopping for my mom x3
She is a huge fan of hide and really wanted one of these parkers
he wore sometimes during his shows:

Of course, I did not only buy this one,
but a lot more stuff x'D

Next, we went on to 6%dokidoki store ♥

Nearby, we also found a store that sells popcorn only x3

It smelled soo delicious outside *o*

After shopping at Laforet in Harajuku where I finally could
visit a 'swimmer' store, we strolled down famous Cat Street !
 キャットストリート

Webpages like 'tokyo fashion' often take street snaps in Cat Street,
but we did not met any photographer there.
Generally the street was very empty when we went there.

On our first day at Harajuku, we left the district quite early
and went on to Shinjuku station to meet some friends.
I got to know them at the university where we had a weekly meet up
of exchange students from Japan and German students that were learning Japanese.
Most of them returned to Japan a year ago and so I haven't seen them for a long time.
When I announced I was going to visit Japan and also because another friend of them
was returning at the same time, they decided to have a meet up and invited Nici and me.

As Shinjuku station is one of the biggest stations in Tokyo,
it was really difficult to find the entrance we wanted to meet at.
But a friendly Japanese businessman helped us
and even congratulated us on winning the soccer worldcup
although we did not say anything about being from Germany xD
He showed us the entrance we were searching for and we met our friends.

They invited us for a 'nomikai' (飲み会),
 a kind of Japanese drinking party.
The name consists of the kanji for 'drinking' and 'meeting'.
They usually take place in restaurants with seperated areas
where you can sit together with your group without being disturbed
or disturbing the other costumers.
It was also something like a flatrate-drinking:
you pay a certain amount of money and can drink as much as you want x3
And you don't only get drinks but also a lot of food *-*

This is very unusual in Germany. 
Here you either go drinking or dinning but not both things together.
Germany is so boring in contrast, as the nomikai was much more fun ^-^
and the food was soo good ♥
We got Japanese Salad, fries, karaage (a fried chicken),
snacks, and a very delicious dessert.

Snacks and salad

waffle with strawberry and chocolate sauce *o*

I was really great to experience this part of Japanese culture
which you usually can't encounter when you are a turist.
Thank you again for this! ^-^

I hope we can meet somewhen somewhere again! ^.^

While writing these entries, I really miss the time in Japan.
It was a great experience and I highly recommend you
to also go over there if you get the chance ^.^
I hope I can visit Japan again in the near future x3

Thank you all for reading (^.^)v
I will be very happy if you also leave a comment ♥
And see you soon for the post about Shibuya !

Ari & Nici in Japan: Akihabara!

Hey guys,

I'm happy you are back!

This is the fifth entry on holidays in Japan x3

This time's topic:

Akihabara!

Isn't that awesome?!

To finally be able to visit a place you saw so many photos of?

It was so so cool to be in Akihabara myself ♥ 

 

Of course we did some shopping and played Ufo-catcher xD

And we also had the chance to visit a Maid Cafe ♥

One of the maids in the streets of Akihabara spoke to us and

invited us to her cafe Maidreamin' ^.^

In the end, she also showed us the way ^.^

Sadly, it was not allowed to take photos inside..
I would have loved to take a pic of my super-cute
chocolate-bear icecream x3
It was so delicious ♥
And all the maids have been so nice and tried
their best to talk to us in English.
They were pretty good at it and at the time we've been there,
most of the costumers were foreigners.
One of the maids even did a show for us with singing and dancing *-*
And as we had ordered a menue,  we were 
allowed to take a photo with one of them in the end ^.^

Of course Nici tried once again to catch 
the figure she wanted so badly.. 

 

Look how close it was!
The machines are really mean and weak..
But instead she managed to catch a keychain for me \(^-^)/

It still is attached to my bag ^.^
I even lost it one evening in Japan, but some people passing by
were so nice as to hand it back to me ♥

Before we left Akiba, we took a small look at the Gundam Cafe:

I have loved the season of 'Gundam Wing' 
and I'm still searching for figures of some gundams
but I have not found any until now q.q

But yeah, it was not late yet
so we made our way to visit Tokyo Skytree x3

It is really huge O.O
but it was so expensive to go up..
But the scenery in front of the tower also
became beautiful when the sun set..

After watching the fountains for some time
and doing some shopping at the souvenir's store,
we went back to the station to go home to our host family.

I really miss Tokyo and Akihabara already 
and wished I would have had more time there..
But I hope I can visit it again in the future ♥

So, that's it for today x3
Thank you for reading and see you next time (^.^)v