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

Ari & Nici in Japan: beautiful Kanazawa

Hey guys (^.^)v

today a more traditional entry of my holidays in Japan.

While staying in Tokyo we chose one day to visit Kanazawa.

It is said to still be a very traditional city.

Here is the Kanazawa city homepage:

 www.city.kanazawa.ishikawa.jp

Since we have already ordered the Japan Rail Pass on beforehand,

we could freely choose a train to go there; and even the two

slowliest Shinkansen were included in the pass ^-^

So of course, we chose Shinkansen x3

It's amazing how much space you have on each seat
for your legs and stuff O.O
(never want to ride German trains again >.<)

When we moved to Osaka, we could even place our suitcases in front of us x3

We took the Hikari Super-Express

 On Shinkansen you usually have three seats in a row,
so the place next to Nici and me was free at first.
But after riding for one or two stations, an elderly gentlemen
seated next to us and after a moment asked me in English where we came from.
When I aswered "We are from Germany", he suddenly started  
speaking German to me O.O And really really good German ^-^
He told me, he once studied in Bremen and lived in Germany for some time.
When we told him, we were on the way to Kanazawa,
he replied it was the city of his birth and he recommended
us some beautiful places we should visit ^.^
It was so nice to talk to him and I am really impressed
that he still could speak German so well after so many years.
But already at the next station, we had to change trains
and the wished us a nice day ^.^
After some more time of train riding, we finally reached Kanazawa
and when we left the train station, the city welcomed us ^.^

this is the Main Station

We decided to first go to visit Kanazawa Castle.
Just alone the way to it was very pretty.

Sadly, it became very cloudy when we reached the castle..

After this, we strolled through a beautiful parc,
which we had to pay entrance fee for (this seems
to be very common in Japan though..) 

I think Japan's nature and architecture is really beautiful.
It also surprised me, how closely old and modern Japan are coexisting.
To visit Kanazawa was so nice. It has not been made such a
glamorous tourist attraction, but is much more traditional.
  
After our visit in the parc, we decided to leave because we 
had to go for a few hours by train and it was already getting dark.
But before leaving, we met Detective Conan with Ran and Kogoro Mori at the station x3

Good bye, Kanazawa! ♥

And good bye to my dear readers ^.^
I hope to see you next time again x3