Tessa's · journal

Right now I'm waiting for the Sakura House people to come check the place and give me the 20.000 deposit back. After that I will catch a taxi to Shinjuku station (there goes my money >_> But walking uphill with my huge suitcase & heavy backpack isn't possible).

From Shinjuku I'm hoping to be able to get into the limousine bus to the airport. The bus is so much easier and more comfortable than the train. But I don't have a reservation (dunno the time I'll be at Shinjuku), so I hope there will be seats left :/

Then from the airport I gotta take a 5 minute ride on a shuttle bus to my hotel. Getting to the airport(/hotel) is so annoying! I hate it more than the long flight home.

My flight leaves around 11:00, so tomorrow morning I gotta get up early. I'm glad I booked an hotel near the aiport, cause I would have never made it in time if I had to get there from Meguro.

Last night in Tokyo... TT___TT

Today I went to Edo Tokyo Museum because two friends said it was great. It was nice, but personally I think even the Dutch Museum van Volkenkunde in Leiden is better ^^;
The objects on display weren't that spectacular and I've already seen similar once in a better state. I gues I'm spoiled though, when it comes to museums on Japan; I used to have college in the archives of the Museum of Volkendkunde, where we get to see the items not on display. We had an insane teachers too, he would even let us touch the prints XD

At Edo Tokyo Museum I liked the prints and boosk the most, but Leiden has an amazing collection on books & prints. By famous artists even, most of the ones at Edo Tokyo aren't that famous. It was great to see the woodblocks used for printing though! I knew how the prints where made, but to actually see the blocks was ncie :)

Tonight I wanna go to the cafe again, so now I'm trying to fill up my time until it opens. I'm in a very nosy cafe now where they have internet access. Opened my mailbox and saw a mail about a job, close to my house, which includes translating into Japanese. I'm gonna apply.. really hope it works out!

The last few days I can't sleep. I keep waking up around 2 am and can't sleep anymore. It's annoying, cause in the morning I'm too tired and don't wanna get out of bed.

Right now I can't sleep either. It's 1:30... :/ I don't wanna waste my last week in Japan sleeping during the day. But right now I have the feeling my last week is gonna be boring anyway. All my friends are too busy to meet up, they have school or work or are being Japanese (=taking too long to reply to emails). I don't mind spending the afternoon alone, but I actually wanna go out in the evening. But there is no one to go with :S

I can go to some cafes maybe once or twice on my own, but unless there are people there who I know (which you never know beforehand), it's not that fun on your own.

So not looking forward to leaving. Right now it's not even "leaving Japan" that's bothering me, it's the whole "clean my apartment - book a hotel for the last night - pack my suitcase - drag it across Tokyo, in the train to get to the airport" thing that bugs me :/
I already looked up an hotel. Should probably book it tomorrow, before I forget or it's full.

Short update only, 'cause me needs sleep~!

Yesterday I went to a concert, because I had to help at a reception desk and write a report. JaME organised a contest for foreigners, where they could win tickets for the concert. None of the winners showed op. It annoyes me a lot. Why do they even bother joining the contest??
The live was okay, a bit boring since I saw the band three times already. Afterwards I really wanted to go out, but I didn't wanna go alone. Eventually I did though ^^;

At first I regreted going alone, because the bar was way crowded and no one talked to me (even when I tried to talk to the people I knew, they didnt say much). But later I met a nice girl. She invited me to a shabushabu party with her friends...Which I actually already got invited to a week ago XD (See the last entry where I mention bowling & shabushabu)
The bowling got cancelled but they were still gonna have shabushabu.

So today was shabushabu~ I actually was very nervous about going, since I only knew one of the guys well, then a girl I saw a few times and the girl from last night who invited me. And some of their friends would come too. But it turned out fine. Most of them didnt knew eachother that well either, but they were all very nice and talked to me. I had a great time. It was a it difficult to mengle in the conversation since they spoke so fast, but they often tried to explain things.
Afterwards some of them invited me for dinner again and maybe drinks sometime. I wonder if it's going to happen though, cause they all work and I'm going home in about a week... T__T

Last week consisted mostly of being sick and staying in bed, then going out until the morning and staying in bed XD

It was crazy, but I also had a great time!

I also feel like I'm slowly turning Japanese... I sleep less and less but are completly fine. I just slept for 2 hours and woke up, and now I'm feeling very energetic.

Plans for this week so far:
- Tomorrow Kay and I are gonna eat shabushabu together with the guys we toured with. I'm really looking forward to it! *meat*
- Wednesday me, Kay and Polina might go to a club. The place sounded really great, so I might go, even if they won't.
- Friday I'm going to a concert, which I actually don't want to go to ^^;
- Saturday, maybe bowling and shabushabu again? Someone invited me along to the party. It's most likely gonna be cancelled, but I hope they won't, it's a great opportunity to meet people and I've seen pics of previous parties, it seemed like a lot of fun.

The other day Kay mentioned she wanted to eat sushi, but sushi is kind of hard to find in Japan... XD It's mostly really expensive places, where you get a plate with mixed sushi. So lot's of fish, not my thing. There are the conveyer-belt-sushi places, but I only saw a few and they were "standing sushi bars". I knew there was one in Harajuku, but I was too scared to go in alone, so I had no idea if it was good.
We went there and it was great. Pretty quiet too. The sushi is cheap and they have a lot of non-fish things. The drinks are cheap too.
I'm so going there again.

The earpain is back and aspirins and wet towels don't seem to work. The cold wind outside its making the pain worse, so I bought this huge earwarmer-thingies XD They look weird, covering my entire head but I don't care.

I bought them at this amazing store close to my apartment. They have these great random stuff, some cheap, some expensive. I bought a Carebears blanket there, because it made me feel all nostalgic and it was cheap. And it keeps me warm in the cold apartment.

( Carebears!! )

( Today I got this. )

I bought way too much... I should ship some stuff home again. 2 days ago I went shopping with Anna and later Heidi joined us. Bought a shirt and they took me to a cheap shopping mall where I bought two sweaters for like 5 euro in total XD

Kay will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow, will meet her for dinner. And the big and small leaders will probably take us out for dinner on the 25th. Shabushabu... finally some meat. I'm craving meat...
And chocolate.... Anna told me about Willy Wonka chocolate which is supposed to be amazingly tasty... I need to get some.

XD

Since I came back in Tokyo I'm feeling sick again. It started with my ear hurting, and now I have a cold and my head hurts. I'm already taking aspirins and I bought a bunch of vitamin-shot-drinks. I hope they will help soon!

I also miss my comfy bed from Osaka. Now I'm being poked by the bedsrpings again. I even had a bruise yesterday.

Sorry for the complaining, my heaad hurts to much to actually think and write a normal update. (^_^;)

Gonna go shopping with Anna in about an hour~

Yesterday I came back to Tokyo. The shinkansen passed Mt. Fuji, so I got to see that. I first had thought about taking a daytrip to Fuji, but after seeing it... I think I'd get bored really quickly XD It was funny though, everyone on the train got up and started taking pictures.

Back at my apartment, the first thing I found was a note about the garbage >> Some people at the apartment comple disposed of their trash in the wrong way, so they send us a "warning" note. The also inserted the instructions again, but these are completly different from the other 2 instruction pages I got!
On 2, plastics are considered as burnable, and on one as non-burnable. It's so confusing!
And you also need special bags for the trash, but at the supermarket, they refuse to tell me which ones. (why would you even sell bags that are forbidden??) Japan can be so confusing...

The weather is confusing me too! Yesterday I was cold, and now it was hot. Tomorrow it's gonna be cold again. And my apartment is freezing.

I think I got an ear-infection. My ear really hurts and every now and then it feels like needles are sticking in my ear :/
Tried aspirines, but they only help for 2 hours or so.

... and now I actually feel kind of sad about leaving XD
When I first arrived, I'd never thought I'd say that because I didn't like the city much. But now I felt kind of said, because last night (/this morning XD) I had to say goodbye to the friend I made here :/

Actually, I was kind of nervous about meeting him again yesterday, because there had been some misunderstandings/miscommunications, so I didn't know how the situation was. But everything was fine :)

Also, before I went to the cafe to meet him, I went to starbucks for tea (It's getting cold!). There I was studying for a bit when suddenly this Japanese guy next to me started a conersation in English. His English was perfect and he had just come back from a trip to Europe.

Why didn't I meet these nice people the first day I arrived in Osaka?? I bet I would have enjoyed the city from the start then. But my first week only consisted of people gossipping about me and salaryman breathing down my neck :S

I hope I will meet them again sometime. I wish I could stay in Japan longer...

Since I went to a bar last night and didn't get home until 6 in the morning, I spend most of my last day sleeping XD Might do some shopping and I want to eat Okonomiyaki before I leave. Then I gotta go pack my stuff because I have to be out of my room before 11 and this place is a mess! XD

Today I went to Himeji. I actually wanted to got to Nara, but I had looked it up and I needed to change trains atleast 2 times and change stations too. That's too much hassle for me XD So I decided to go to Himeji which is easily reached by Shinkansen.

The castle was nice. Atleast this one is still original, even inside! The stairs inside sucked though :/ When my legs hurt, it's difficult for me to descend stairs (climbing is no problem). And the stairs in Himeji Castle are very.. straight? (steil in het Nederlands) So I had problems going down. Even the old Japanese grandpa's walked more easily than me XD

( Castle )

After visiting the castle I sat down on a bench in the park nearby, to get a drink. But as soon as I sat down this cat jumped into my lap and curled up, half crawling into my bag XD It wouldn't move and fell asleep.

( Cat in a bag~ )

Close to the castle is a Japanese style garden, Kokoen. I got a discount ticket and visited both. I love Japanese gardens. They're so quiet, it always makes me feel relaxed. Unfortunately this one didn't have benches, so I couldn't sit down for a while.

( Kokoen )

Afterwards I wwandered throuugh the shopping street for a while. I like Himeji, it's a nice city that has a relaxed and "clean" atmosphere. It kinda felt the same as Mito, last year.

I'm leaving on Thursday morning, so I only got two days left here. Before I came here I wanted to do more sightseeing (visit Nara and Kobe), but right now I don't really feel like going there.

Japan is getting cold! 3 days ago it was still 22 degrees and you could easily walk around without a coat on. Now it's around 12 degrees outside :S It dropped so fast! Normally, I don't mind cold weather... but since all my clothes are getting too big and some are dirty (can't do laundry here), I don't have anytthing to wear ^^;

Visited Kinkakuji (the golden pavilion) in Kyoto today. The weather forcast said it was gonna rain all day in both Kyoto and Osaka, but thank god it didn't. The bus from Kyoto station to Kinkakuji took ages and it was so crowded. Kinkakuji was nice, but I always thought it was bigger.. it looks bigger on photo's.

( Kinkakuji )

There were some small shops around and I bought a choco-dango (rice-paste-candy-thingy), which was really tasty!

The other day I had a special type of okonomiyaki (even the Japanese people I met ddidn't knew what it was), with noodles in it and it has a bit of a normal Dutch pannekoek taste. It was very good and I almost finished it and just thought that it was the best okonomiyaki I had so far, but then...

( I found this!! )

Since I've come to Japan I've lost a lot of weight. I just looked in the mirror, and my hipbones are starting to stick out! First I was happy I lost weight, but now.. all my pants are getting too big and will drop to my knees. My clothes are getting to wide and it looks kind of ugly. But I still don't fit in Japanese pants. Even if they would be wide enough, my legs are probably too long XD
It's slowly getting colder, so skirts are getting too cold. What to wear now?

There was supposed to be a techno party tonight. I thought I'd go and hopefully meet some new people. But they moved it to next week :S

Uploaded the pictures I took at Osaka castle and Kyoto the other day.

( Osaka castle )

In Kyoto I visited the Inari shrine. I wasn't interested in the shrine itself, but in the tunnel of tori's. I actually wanted to walk the entire path, but at a certain point it went to much straight up the mountain for me. My leg started to ache and I figured I also had to walk back, so I turned around.

( Tori pics )

I also went to a Buddhist temple, because there was supposed to be this awesome park around it with a great autumn view. But most leafs hadn't turned red yet and the whole temple layout was just kind of... dissappointing. The other temples I've visited so far were much prettier.

Tomorrow I'm going back to Kyoto to check out the Golden pavilion. Have to take the bus :S I don't like busses.

Sorry for the crappy English, but I just arrived at my hotel (6am).

Today I finally got to know the nicer part of Osaka! It's like I ran into all the unkind and rude people who talked about me during my first week (I've been here a week already...), and today I ran into all the nice ones XD

Had some random people talking to me today and saying nice stuff. In the evening I planned on going to the cafe I looked up, but I was kind of nervous about going alone and having know idea who I would find there. The cafe didn't open until 23:00, so I first went for dinner. The waiter was nice and ctually started a conversation. He also gave me a free drink and a disccount XD

After I wandered through Shinsaibashi. Two Belgium guys came up to me and they apparantly saw me today in a park and recognized me. They wanted to go out but also had no idea where to go. I so knew how they felt, because it's really difficult to find the clubs and bars in Osaka. They're all hidden in buidlings and have weird (kanji!) names. And since there are also a lot of hostess clubs around, you're never sure what kind of club it is.
But atleast the Belgium guys were together and they had more friends, so they could go to Shirokiya. After pointing them to Shirokiya I went to the bar. And I'm so glad I did! When I arrived there was no one but the bartender. He was very nice and immediatly started a conversation. He also told me there were a lot of bars and clubs in the neighboorhood. One club played nice pop/dance music, but today there were only 5 people inside XD And the music was a bit too loud for my taste. The bar he informed me about looked really classy and I first thought it was a host-bar or something XD Champagne everywhere and guys in suits. But it is just a really classy "dining" bar, but more intended for couples or private parties.

I stayed at the cafe until closing time, all the time talking to the bartender. Sometimes it was kind of difficult because he didn't speak English, but I managed mostly with my Japanese ^^
It was sos easy to talk to him, felt like I had known him for years. He was very kind and offered to show me around and tell me about good cafes etc. We exchanged numbers and he made me promise to call him and meet up soon. It's good to finally know someone around here who you can meet up with ^_^

I should go to bars alone more often XD I'm always scared but the last 3 times I did, I actually had a good time and met nice people. No offense to the people I went to bars together with in Japan, because I also had a great time with you guys. But if you really wanna meet Japanese people or want to practice your Japanese, it's so much better to be alone and at a bar with only Japanese people.

I should go sleep now... No sight-seeing today, just sleeping XD might go to Kyoto tomorrow to check the Golden pavilion.

Osaka castle was beautiful from the outside. There was a museum inside so I thought I would check that out too. What a waste of money >_> The inside is completly modern and the museum consisted mainly of letters and a few paintings. The view from the topfloor was nice, but since it was a sunday it was crowded.

The park surrounding Osaka castle is really nice though. The weather was good again so I just sat in the sun for a while and studied a bit. Atleast now I have a place in Osaka where I can hang out if I don't feel like doing much.

Went to PureSound after. They had a sale... which is bad, 'cause I'm broke XD And they had all these old magazines on sale for 100 yen, with PENICILLIN on the cover. I can't took too many magazines with me, since they're heavy. So I only choose two.

Today I had planned on going to Kyoto, to the Inari shrine (tori tunnel thing). Planned the entire trip. But I didn't sleep all night and my coughing is getting worse. So I think I'll stay in Osaka.
This morning I checked some live house websites, to see if there is anything to do in the evening. No concerts. But I discovered a club that will have a techno party on friday. Turns out there was a techno party on both saturday and sunday as well :/
I wish I had known that before. Then I would have had something to do and maybe met some people. I think I'll try going to the one on friday though.

Also, yesterday I wandered around my hotel for a bit and I discovered a Shirokiya and a shabushabu restaurant. Shirokiya is a great place. It's like a restaurant where you ccan sit as long as you want and order food and drinks. The food comes in small portions and is really great. Someone took me to the Shirokiya in Tokyo and I really wanna go again. But it's a place you only go to as a group :S
The shabushabu restaurant seemed really tempting. It was all you can eat and drink for an OK price. But the shabushabu restaurant I've been to before was also kind of "group-only". Maybe I'll just check if I can go alone and if I go early, there is probably no one there.

Today I went to Shinsaibashi and Amemura. It was okay, but not that great. It was pretty quiet. Life seems to be a lot more quiet and "slow" in Osaka, than it is in Tokyo. And I love the fast paced life and chaos of Tokyo, so I don't feel that well here.

Had Okonomiyaki today, which was really good. Afterwards I wondered around Amemura for a while. It took me ages to find that place though. I asked a few Japanese people, but they just ignored me >_<
Then this American woman came up to me and started rambling about God. I just let her talk for a while so that she would think I was actually interested, and then got her to show me where Amemura is XD

I saw some really cool shoes, but they only had them in S size. I think even L would be to small for me ^^; My feet are huge. So I didn't buy anything, except for another studybook.
Amemura itself seemed to be a maze too. I passed a starbucks, so later during the day I wanted to get a cup of tea, but I couldn't find it anymore... And later I also couldn't find my trainstation anymore, so I just went to a different one.
Things are really hard to find in Osaka. In Tokyo there are huge signs everywhere. In Osaka I can't even find the exits at stations! If they have signs, they're really small.

Tomorrow I think I'll head to the aquarium. If I understood the flyer correctly, they will do the yearly measurement of the whalesharks tomorrow, so I might go as well check that out!

Someone I know might be in Osaka, so I send her a message to ask if she wants to meet up. I also asked on mixi if people could please tell me about interesting places. I hope I will find stuff to do here, specially in the evening. Right now this city seems so boring and the people are rude (they keep talking about me and pointing) so even though I've only been here one day, I sort of start to feel depressed. I'm so glad I didn't go here for 3 weeks! Honestly, I wonder what I'm gonna do these 2 weeks. I can't go sightseeing in other towns everyday, because of my legs. I need days where I don't walk too much. And even if I would sghtsee most of my days, the evenings would still be broing. I dont want to spent every evening in my hotelroom >>

Arrived in Osaka a couple of hours ago. So far I'm not liking this city...

My hotel was actually pretty easy to find. There is a supermarket, drugstore and konbini close by, but that's it. There isn't much else in the neighboorhood. So I thought I would go to Umeda to check out the city and have dinner. Some people told me that Umeda is the center of Osaka and the place to be.

... It's boring! Umeda station is huge with a shopping mall and restaurants. The station has a ton of exits and I tried about 7, but once I got outside it was just offices, offices and more offices >_< There is nothing in Umeda!

Also, they say people are nicer in Osaka. Well, not to me. 2 actually called me a "stupid foreigner" and most of them stare at you.

I've emailed a friend who has been to Osaka before to send me the names of good stations/areas in Osaka. I really hope Osaka is more than offices and skycrapers, because I can't go sightseeing every day.

My room is great. I'm staying in a fancy hotel so my room is pretty luxiourus. I hope the bed is as comfy as it looks XD The neighboorhood is boring, but it looks very safe, so that's good. This is probably a business hotel. Lots of people in suits, so I feel a bit uncomfortable in jeans ^^;

I'm gonna try to look up good places in Osaka online. Tomorrow I planned on exploring the city, but if I can't find anything, I might go to aquarium and watch whalesharks :D

In two days I will go to Osaka. Since I only have my huge suitcase with me and really don't feel like dragging that to Osaka, I went shopping for a smaller one today. I found a big bag, which isn't too huge, but still easily fits all the things I need to bring.

( Bag for Osaka )

Talking about bags, the first day I arrived, my bag started to hurt my shoulder, because the strap was too thin. So I wanted a new bag. I bought a pretty good one at Shibuya 109. I love it, because it looks small but even my laptop fits in it. It was pretty expensive, and I'd normally never spend this much money on a bag like this. But I needed it ^^;

( Bag )

After getting the bag for Osaka I had lunch at an Italian restaurant. Have been there 3 times already XD Their salads are actually much better than the pizza's & spaghetti's. Later I walked to Shibuya and hanged around there for a bit. Did some studying and I finished the studybook :)
The rest of the day I just did my laundry, cleaned the room and am making a list of what I need for Osaka. Tommorrow I need to go pay my rent, and I just saw the yen is so bad that this month it's gonna be even 70 euro's more than last month! >_<

( Food pic, because everyone posts these~~ )

Yesterday I went to an interview for JaME together with Polina. It was kind of difficult, because the band didn't speak any English and the place we did the interview at was crowded. I haven't checked my recording yet, but I'm afraid they talked way too soft and we can't hear anything. Afterwards we went to Shinjuku Holiday, because the band invited us to the event they played at. The event was nice, I was surprised because one of he bandmembers turned out to be supportguitarist that evening. So there were four people I toured with and it kind of felt like a big reunion.

Afterwards I got to say hi to the people I knew and we ran into the camera-man. we wanted to get a drink, so I asked him if it would be okay if we ent to the cafe. He actually walked us there XD The cafe was.. empty. Ony the bartender and 3 girls. So it felt okay be there. We actually planned on taking the last train home, but we missed it, so we stayed until 6 am XD (It seems like I'm going out for drinks a lot in Japan...)
Afterwards we wandered around Kabukicho for a bit, got tea and sat down, looking at people and staring at Plastic Tree everytime their video came on on the huge screen. Later we got breakfast too, but after a while we thought it waas probably better to actually get some sleep ^^;

So, I slept for 6 hours now, and it's 2 PM. My throat hurt qand I think I catched a cold. Last night Polin was trying to get me to drink vodka because "It's good for my throat" >> I'm still tired, so I don't think I'll do much today. I have 3 livereports to finish and now the interview too. SO I think I'll use today to catch up on that. And maybe plan my time in Osaka. I'm actually kind of nervous to go there alone, because I've never been there before. So I dunno where to go and which places to avoid.
I also still have to find a small suitcase or big bag >> I don't wanna carry my big suitcase with me. I hope the 100 yen store might have something.

For the interview I actually took my laptop with me, and it fits in my bag! I didn't realise it was this small...

Maybe later today I'll make an update about yesterday and earlier this week. Overall this week had been great, did fun things and discovered some nice restaurants and bars in Japan :)