hello everyone!! Here it is!! The long awaited super late JAPAN POST! whew. It would've been up earlier but I kept lagging on it and plus.. I discovered I had missed a bunch of photos when I was uploading, I have no idea what was wrong with me when I thought those were the only ones. Sarah sucks because she cheated and saw all the photos on my lil sis's facebook!! CHEATER CHEATER!!!
*WARNING* This post will be VERY picture heavy... like.. I got all the pictures from my camera, my little sister's camera, and my mother's camera.. and after plucking out which ones I like and leaving out a LOT.. I still managed to have over 300 pics that I just can't bring myself to NOT include.. oi vey!! So.. If you're into pictures of random stuff, yay!! LOL!! Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures of the night life, inside the shopping places and stuff.. as I enjoyed myself TOO MUCH to remember to take pictures!! And.. I tend to take forever to tell a story and stuff so.. just bear with it.. or just look at pictures.. but I recommend you read my stories.. some are quite.. HILARIOUS.
UMM.. I do wish the hairs were shorter on this brush.. I love it because it's perfect for my tiny crease but it's not as easy to handle as my Mac 224 brush.
So.. then we boarded.. I like how spacious the seats in business class are. This is my first time using ANA airlines so this was different, they put wooden boards up between the seats so you get more privacy. Some of you probably never seen this before so I'll explain. These seats are automated, so the seat is basically put in a wooden shell that you see in the picture below, and when you want to sleep or rest or put up your feet, the seat sinks down along the shell and there's a lot of leg room for it to roll out, kind of the way a fold out couch would. This way, you do not disturb the people behind you, which is the ONLY problem I have with economy class, The tables are usually attached to the back of the seats in economy so if they move their seat down while your table is down, you might spill your drink or it's jut uncomfortable to you.
Sisters, the time I finally have dark hair again, she goes light! ROFL! aww I love my sissy, isn't she pretty? I'm a proud oneesan!
So it's my theory that in business class, the airline basically keeps trying to feed you and giving you things every 10 minutes so that you won't have time to complain about anything yadig? Everytime I look up, someone's in front of me, asking me if I want water, hot tea, coffee, wine, vodka, Baileys, etc etc. With this flight, it came with 2 meals, lunch and dinner, and small any time meals that you can order.... anytime. All part of the package so you can order as much shit as you want, it's all free.
My sister and I both got the same appetizer.. salad with special sauce, smoked thinly sliced salmon, figs, bread with assortment of pepper, salt, bread, and olive oil.
My main dish, parmesan crusted roasted beef filet with mushroom gravy with veggies
we all had the same dessert! Chocolate brittle cookie, vanilla ice cream and a little whipped cream, cut up pieces of apricot and honey dew
We settle into our room and mother says to freshen up a little because we were going to meet our travel organizer/translator for a late night snack and cocktail, keep in mind we have been up for over 24 hours.. and I only had an hour nap on the plane since I found it hard to sleep for some reason.. anyways, our travel organizer met us outside of our hotel and we walked to the bbq/drinking place
Me on the bottom left walking, obviously taken by my little sister. YUP.. reminds me A LOT of the night life in Taiwan. Same crowded streets, lively shops, lots of neon signs, VERY VERY similar.
Second round for my sis and I, she got lychee cocktail (left), I had lychee with soda cocktail (right)
So after we ate, we went looking around for a pharmacy because when we were settling in the hotel before we left, I realized I had completely forgotten to bring my contact case and solution!! WASAI!!! WO HAO BEN!! Plus, remember how I said we have been up over 24 hours already?? My eyes were getting RED.. like zombie red.. and the smoke from the restaurant wasn't helping. Luckily we found a store before it closed and got my solution and spare case. Me and my lil sis were exhausted so we decided to just head back to the hotel and not explore our surroundings yet. We knocked out and guess what. My mom had slept so much on the plane that even though we all went to sleep at 12 AM.. she got up at like 3:30 AM.. messed around with her luggage and making a lot of noise.. went into the bathroom to make a phone call to my dad in America but my mom is like me.. she talks LOUD.. like.. bull horn loud. So obviously me and my sis were up and couldn't get back to sleep. IRRITATING. Mom came out and was all.. OH you guys are up? We were like.. well.. we could hear her even if we were in the next next room and she was like.. OOPS, didn't think you'd hear me in the bathroom. *SIGH* she doesn't know how loud she's talking sometimes. So she decides to go out to find a family mart so she can purchase minutes for her borrowed friends' cell phone and to also get some subway and metro cards so she left us for 2.5 hours so yay.. more sleep!!!! She got back around 6 AM and made us get up to get ready to go out.. so we were ready to go at 7:15 AM. We weren't too hungry because of jet lag but we went out to eat anyway!
If you are a baker and you know what a mont blanc is.. you're probably thinking WTF A MONT BLANC IN THE MORNING FOR BREAKFAST?? I couldn't help it, when I saw this hard to make cake that I don't find common in the states, I HAD to get it, my taste buds NEEDED to eat this. It used to be one of my life's wishes to go to culinary school in France.. as I personally believe it has the best pastry chefs in the WORLD.. I wanted to make beautiful pieces such as the Mont Blanc.. a DELICIOUS chestnut cream cake...... *drool*.... you girls are probably like.. what's so special about it? Just looks like frosting on cake right? WRONG. This french cake was created to look like the great mountain that it was named after.. it's very special. Sadly.. my wishes will just be wishes.. after all.. my parents dictate my life. No family as traditional as mine would want to risk having their child be a pastry chef.. unless I become famous and super successful.. it wouldn't make them proud.. and it's a big gamble on their part.. so I'm forced to take the stupid route they have planned for me. AHHH.. sorry I went off on a tangent there. Back to my trip!
109-2 and the intersection that's usually PACKKKKKKED UP THE ASS at night full of people.
SO. I hope you all read this before you look down at the following pictures. I'm sure you are all familiar with the traditional kimono that the japanese wear. The real, AUTHENTIC kimonos, not the thin fake stuff, the ones where you're wrapped up in more layers than I can even count, and tied up so tight it makes a CORSET FEEL LIKE HEAVEN! Yes.. those. LOL. The BEAUTIFUL one. In present day Japan.. it's not everyday that a person has the opportunity to wear or try one on, in fact, to wear the real thing is actually an activity that mostly upper class girls who are learning the traditional ways of the japanese culture get to do and actually OWNING one... is very expensive.. like.. a couple THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS worth. That being said, it's considered a huge HONOR to wear one. You see, our trip organizer, Kiyomi, isn't just a trip organizer.. she mostly deals with VIPS and business people. My mother does business with a lot of international businessmen and her friend Tiger and his assistant recommended Kiyomi to us if we wanted to have an amazing time in Japan instead of the typical touristy type shit, which by the way, my family HATES WITH A PASSION. Kiyomi has a lot of connections and knows the ins and outs of Japan.. so when my mother told her she wanted something that my little sister and I wouldn't forget.. she called her friend who happens to be the head of a traditional family that teaches classes to those upper class japanese girls on how to be traditional women, how to arrange flowers, how to conduct tea ceremonies, how to eat, how to drink tea, how to speak, how to walk, how to wear the traditional kimono, how to dance, basically the strict lessons that prestigious women in the past had to learn.
That's right girls.. I got wrapped up and walked like a penguin.. that thing is SOOOOO RIDICULOUSLY TIGHT. I have a TON of pictures from there but I'll just post a few. LOL.. the ladies wrapping me up were telling my translator that I was too skinny (i didn't think so, in fact I'd love to shed another 10 lbs) and they had to turn me in soooo many more circles than my lil sis and mom, I almost FELL ON MY BUTT!
Ok so even before we entered the room, there was a specific way you had to show respect to the obaasan (elderly grandmother, the head) who was in the room. You had to position your fan a certain way and switch the way it positioned as you progressed. So when we were all successfully in and seated, we were presented with simple yet beautiful traditional japanese tea sweets and the girl you see below on the left made us tea by hand.. basically performing the traditional tea ceremony right before our eyes while the obaasan told us about the history behind the ceremony and how you should do this and that.. and basically talked to us about anything that came to her mind. She was soooooo sweet! AND.. she looks EXACTLY.. THE SPITTING IMAGE of my dad's mother, the one who's half japanese. oOO I found out about the rest of my family!! More about that at the end though!! Back to my story! Ignore my long shaggy hair with over grown bangs.. my haircut wasn't due until the third day! We tied up our hairs to keep make things easier and look less messy.
I'm like.. woah.. wait.. hold on there.. I'm not graceful... AT ALL.. and her attendants all thought it was a good idea.. so.. I was cornered and forced to do the tea ceremony!!!!! EEEEEEEK!!!!! It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, I had watched the girl pretty closely previously so I knew a lot of the steps!
mix mix mix!
Momma's turn!!
lil sissy's turn!!
HEHEHE.. so my mom was forced to drink both my lil sister and I's tea, we wanted to see who she thinks performed the best!
AND THE WINNER IS.....
Of course. LOL JK. NO really though, I did succeed, apparently you need a heavy and quick hand while mixing in a certain way, which I copied from the girl because I was watching and my tea mixed and foamed up just like hers, but my sister pretty much just stirred it so it didn't foam much at all, meaning it's not well mixed and uhh.. bitter.. failure. My mother did ok her's foamed a tiny bit but also.. slightly a failure, which I had to drink btw. Very.... bitter..... LOL. We can't all be pros like me right right? ;)
Us and the grandma! SERIOUSLY .. just like my own ah ma (grandmother in chinese)
ignore my badly tied hair
showing off the design on the sleeves
you girls have no idea how much I couldn't breathe.. I'd prefer a corset any day
my beautiful obi!!
us and the translator, lil sis wanted to take a pic with him.
When my lil sis asked him if we could take a pic with him, he got all red and asked the grandmother if he could and she said of course! Then he was all nervous and stuff ahhahaha!!!!
On the way back, jess fell asleep... yes that is her stuffed dog named Goldwynn.. he goes where she goes. Yes.. she bought that baby blanket for him.. yes.. to all your questions that you might have thought had a NO answer.
like a 7-11 we passed by
people eating cup ramen and stuff outside
to show you how narrow the streets are
bike shop!
book store and dvds!
on the way to lunch in the mountains... still in Tokyo but in the farther outer region
arrival! Beautiful scenic bbq restaurant.. you'd never think it was a restaurant! NO, that's not it!
lobby area where you check in and are guided to your private room
road we came up from
steps we climbed
umm.. big little sister.. little big sister!
on our way to our room believe it or not! Those are waitresses on the left
the surrounding man made stream that wrapped around the rooms/individual buildings
water mill!
had to make a stop at the bathroom.. lol.. lil sis.. is.. weird. Ok, I swear, those sinks are made for super short people. When I'm right up against it washing my hands, the table was at the middle of my thigh between my knees and pelvis.. what what??!?!?!
beautiful isn't it?? That room/building on the right is a single room for dining like ours.
still walking to get to our room, gorgeous views
sis took a pic of me taking a pic of her hehehehe!
me taking a pic of her taking a pic of me! That room behind her is another empty dining room! They were all individual and VERY private!
the cute lil kois
big mosquito we saw on the towel... eeek... well .. we ARE in the mountains after all...
at one of the tea stations used in the winter I believe
the water running at this place in the mountains is so clean there are fountains like this that provide ladles so you can DRINK IT
hells yes to clean water! Beats nasty LA water anyday!!
on one of the bridges we walked on. Believe it or not, I look more like my dad. Mom's shoes are one inch wedges! Pictures lie!
final bridge to our dining area!
view from our room, the large screen window slides open and it's like a little balcony you can lean out, you can see another private dining room next to ours!
view from our dining room/building
the table
first course, miso eggplant
second, tofu and my green grape shoju... ya I know.. alcohol with most my meals so far eh?
mother ordered fresh sashimi on iceeee
fried mackerel
the bbq grill
yummmmmm!! The chicken they use is NOT ordinary chicken. This place raises their own chickens in the wild on a certain part of the mountain so the meat is much more nutritious, tender, and DEEEEEEELICIOUS.. seriously.. never had anything like it.
I forgot to take a picture of the chicken wings and the jalapenos we grilled!!
dessert, red bean.. not mocchi.. very similar to mocchi but less sticky, more chewy.. umm.. I forgot what it's called in english.
so after we finished, we did some more sight seeing on the restaurant grounds and took more pictures. hehehehe.
little place where people can drink tea
mom at the little station where we ladled our own tea from the hot stone pot
the tea station
i think this is used for special purposes
i found a little boat in the stream! Turns out, they light up at night so people coming for dinner can see what's in the water!!! so cute!!!!
sculptures
pretty tree
sitting at yet another tea station
another boat!!!
owl sculpture
mom and lil sis in front of the check in place
glass chimes i found in a tree nearby
Ok, so now full and happy we said goodbye to Kiyomi and went with our driver on our 2 hour drive to the Kaneyamaen resort in Fujiyoshida!! oh... em...gee... this is my first time experiencing going to onsens (public hot springs/baths) in Japan (only been to Taiwan ones before) but it was amazing and SOOO relaxing!!
the front of the resort
we checked in and decided to walk around and see what they had going on, as they had little shops on the resort with things you can do, I suppose you can call it touristy things but it was all free and came with staying at the resort so woohoo! I don't care!
walking through the resort! It was soo hot and sticky our makeup were melting off our faces!!
First stop was at an old man's place, you give him your name in kanji and he tells you to draw a circle on a sheet of parchment, then he skillfully writes your name around it, and uses the circle to write a sort of fortune I suppose you'd call it, using the circle to draw something with another kanji word in the middle, which would be the fortune.
lil sis laughed and said I looked like a lil kid in the seat.
my beautiful artfully drawn circle
a fucking HUGE ASS ANT that my sis wanted to poke.
next stop, a place where people write their wishes up on these colored papers and tie them up on the lines. beautiful creek nearby
of course, we had to do it. LOL.
the gorgeous gorgeous creek nearby
Next, a little station where the lady served ice sweet rice wine!!
UMM.. not very good.. so.. no picture.
Ok, so into the resort now, sorry but I lost the brochure to this place.. so I can't remember the name!! a picture of the lobby
lady playing a koto... very beautifully might I add. You can see and hear her the minute you enter the lobby
View from the front of the room! It's a wooden gate in front of the actual door that you close.
Our room number
our own kotatsu!!!! I know I know.. it's summer wtf am I thinking right? EFF YOU!! I put this baby to use after my dinner! HEHEHE
view standing from the doorway, where's the beds you ask? I shall reveal soon! LOOK!! We have tatami mats on the floor!!!! How traditional!!
view from the room
we were provided with light summer kimono robes to wear, very different than the real traditional ones we wore earlier that day, PLUS, the lil toe socks.. yes.. we HAD to wear them around the resort with the provided sandals that were too big for me. LOL.
us looking as swanky as ever
getting ready to go downstairs to the hot springs for my bath!
entrance of the hot springs.. that's as far as my cam goes, couldn't take any more pics because that violates..... a lot of principles. obviously, you have to leave your shoes at the front
My god.. I wish I could've taken my camera in there with me.. it was so beautiful.. ok so this resort has a total of 7 springs. 5 indoor regular sized ones scattered around, 1 larger one that was half indoors and also flows outdoors, and the last one is the largest one that also goes indoors and outdoors but has a larger outdoors portion. We ended up going to the second largest one, the largest was too far of a walk. When you enter, it's a HUGE bath house.. OBVIOUSLY you shower on the side wall before you actually get in the bath, you don't want to contaminate the baths. I told this to my sister before we got in and she was all.. WHAAAAAT?? News to her apparently, she needs to read up on other cultures more. Anyways, we steamed in the hot springs inside for a while but it got too hot so we migrated outside where we sat on the large stones in the water... surrounded by trees and flowers.. WHILE LOOKING OUT INTO THE MOUNTAINS WITH A CLEAR VIEW OF MT. FUJI!!! SOOOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL.. I can't even express how gorgeous and breathtaking the site was.. it was one of the most relaxing moments of my life!! YOu will all have to make do with pictures I took off their site!
One of the two BIG indoor/outdoor baths, if you look through the window you can see the outdoor part kinda, it's SOOO beautiful, you look over the side of the mountain at the gorgeous scenery!!
Covered private slightly outdoor one
when you come out, there are massaging chairs for you to sit in after your nice hot bath to relax you eeeeeeven more! OMG.. these felt soooo good.. they even massaged my calves.
There is also a station that gives you either water or cold sake when you come out so that you aren't too dehydrated from staying in too long!
So then we head back upstairs for dinner time!!
our own personal rice cooker, yes, iron pot, fire below, very old school
first up, our menu rolled up next to the peach sake, you drink the sake first to cleanse your palette before you start!
still first course, little jar on the bottom contains a steamed fish, middle contains another steamed fish, mini daikon radish, mini salted crab, grilled mackerel piece, and a vegetable gelatin at the left, then on top is a plum jelly that you eat after the seafood to get rid of the fishy taste, yum yum!
look how tiny he is! and my fingers are tiny so... ya!!!
mom and lil sis eating second course
second course left to right, cucumber shaped like a well containing roe (fish egg), very expensive yellow tail sashimi (the good stuff, FRESH), white rock fish sashimi on cucumber, salmon sashimi, forgot what the right is. bottom left is the sauce, right is a soup with broiled fish, i think sea bass?
the pretty menu!
third course, individual hot pot
vegetables to put in, look how cute the cut outs of tofu carrots and sweet potato are! maple leaves, butterflies, and cherry blossoms
fourth course, plate of seared fish... sorry.. it was all so much fish i kept forgetting what was what.
Sorry.. I forgot to take a pic of the fifth course, it was a delicious house salad with AMAZING dressing and our rice finally finished cooking, and umm.. what was it.. I think we had eel or something....
sixth course, dessert! hot gree tea, strawberries and melon, cherry blossom sugar mocchi, tiramisu custard/gelatin
My mom was tired so we left her in the room to sleep while me and my lil sister went back down to the springs one more time to take a bath! There was a Taiko drumming event going on in the main lobby which we stopped by briefly but since we noticed all the people were THERE, we quickly left and went to the baths!
There was only ONE other person there so it was like.. free reign!!!! woohoo!!! No more seeing Mt. Fuji.. too dark.. poop!
So we get back from our bath and in come the stampede of elderly women since the Taiko drum show has ended! We got back to our room and noticed the attendant had already moved our tables and laid out our futons for us! Mother had already claimed hers LMAO!!!!
Next day we had to go.. BOOHOO!!!! I SOOOO WANTED TO STAY ANOTHER DAY!!!! I didn't want to leave this gorgeous place!! Mom said not to be sad because this place was only mediocre compared to the ones she's been at before and that when we come back next year she'll take me to an even better one. :) yay! She knows just what to say to cheer me up!
Anyway, we had some time to kill so we went to check out the souvenir shop down the hall from the lobby and I decided to take pictures!
cute owl cups!
HEHEHE.. lots of MT FUJIS!!!!!
sweets and stuff they were selling.
cigarette machine, just for you babe. LOL.
So we left pretty early in the morning.. again.. and drove about an hour to get closer to Mt. Fuji to check out a more country like place that was more in tune with nature. Mom wanted to purchase some food stuff and miss wang wanted to show us the springs of Mt. Fuji.
An ice cream shop that sold soft serve made from the grapes of the mountain!! coming back for that later!!
lil shop that sold stuff my mom wanted
this stuff, hehehehe, mmm i spy lotus root, my fav!
our driver miss wang, my mom, then me. Why do my legs look... broken? LOL
mom and miss wang walking through the shops
heheheh mommy
more drink machines, I'm infatuated with them
mmmmm FRESH RICE CRACKERS!!!!!!!!!
yup, when made, look like this below, I took it off google, you should all recognize it though, sometimes there's seaweed in the middle or around it.
where we'll be walking
UMM.. grilled.. something.. looked like mocchi to me but who knows.
some stuff
sister is more afraid of mosquitos and bugs so she stayed on the higher paved path, I'm more woodsy so I took the dirt trail that was less used! HEHEHEHEHE!
i crouched down to make her look like a GIANT! HEHEHEHEHEHE
the first spring! Small but SUPER CLEAR, water seeps in from under ground straight from the glaciers of mt fuji!
lil sis, mom, me. My thighs are rather.. big.. or muscular looking here.. I kinda sorta HATE them, lol, it's been 3 years since I last worked out *cries* no self motivation i tell you
drying corn above the springs! Do you see how clear the water is!!?!
map of the springs!
water is churned from the springs into this lil fountain! The sign dares you to put your hand in the water for more than 30 seconds, as it is straight from the glaciers and VERY VERY COLD.. they're chilling beer cans in the same water behind the fountain
SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD. This place served peach flavored tea and were serving SAMPLES of the tea mixture with the ice cold water from the mountain.. DELICIOUS!!
hehehe a lil thing I saw on one of the carts
i spotted one lil blue fish in the midst of all the black fishies!!!! they were HUGE BTW!!
the sign hehehehe
I saw two geese sleeping together on the side of the springs!!
I TOLD YOU, I'd be back for that ice cream!! hehehehehee!! mmm.. Vanilla on top of ice cream made from the mountain grapes!!
the cart of lil toys
mom buying food stuff
just to show you what our car looked like
Ok so after my mom bought a lot of stuff like.. tofu made from the waters of mt fuji and organic mountain soy beans and a bunch of other things.. we headed off to go to the "museum" of owls and botanical garden! OMG.. this place had EVERY SINGLE SPECIES OF OWL THERE!!!! My lil sis took a pic of every single one but I'm only posting up a few.
This one reminded me of my daddy
and this is me!
this one reminds me of my bf!! HEHEHEHE!! so cute!
this.. reminds me of my lil sister. why? watch.
stranger: HEY YOU!
*TOTALLY IGNORED* oh yes, my little sister alright
ok.. this one was hilarious.. there was water on the floor of this room.. looks like someone had a very UNWANTED BATH!!!!
What else was at this place you ask? OSTRIDGE!!!! VERY... furry ones.
Then a pond nearby had some beautiful swans, kois, ducks, and geese!
look how close the goose got!!
Mother walking through the woods, hehehehe not a sight i see everyday
The botanical garden was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. Our driver says that she heard this place was also used for scientific research on plants so they perform experiments here to try and make hybrids of more beautiful and larger flowers
flowers surrounding a man made pond inside. BEAUTIFUL ISN'T IT??!! My grandmother would love this place.. her favorite things is flowers.. *sigh* I miss her mischievous ways.. apparently I take after her, looks-wise and peronality-wise.
rows upon rows of beautiful flowers line the ceiling..
this one is currently my desktop wallpaper
See how big the flowers were??!?!?!?
Wow mister ostridge, you're so hot.. i hope your baby takes after you.
my sis got bit by a mosquito!! looks like hawaii. At least i got a play boy bunny!
So then we wrapped it up, got back in the car, and headed off to lunch at the Prince Hotel in Hakone!
sign at the front door lol, the dog was soo cute!
Part of the hallway we had to walk through to get to the buffet, lil sis says she wants to have her wedding right here.
view from our table
the buffet
When we finished eating, we headed off to go on this.. uhh.. pirate cruise I guess you'd call it, it was only 30 minutes long but it was pretty soothing and relaxing. Why the cruise? Because driving's overrated. LOL JK. Mom wanted to go check out golf stores at a certain city.
yo
off to Togendai-ko!
This guy in a weird non-convincing pirate outfit came around to play with kids and tourists, so naturally he came to us HAHAHAH! We weren't allowed to use OUR cameras to take pics with him so his assistant took pics with her camera and we ended up buying one.
What a crappy beard!!!!
So we spent a few hours with our mom while she shopped around the golf stores and stuff, it started to drizzle a little but not too bad! When my mom found what she was looking for we got back into the car and off we went to go meet up with Kiyomi for dinner at a shabu shabu/sukiyaki place, since we were out all day we didn't get to change and were a little underdressed for this pricey place but hey, when you're dishing out money, people can't say anything to you about how you're dressed, except in America, where they can be fairly rude. I don't have pics of the hallway we walked down or pics of the outside of our private room but it was gorgeous and pretty traditional, you had to take off your shoes and leave them outside the door.
mommy, me, jessica
from the doorway
no pictures while cooking, we were too hungry and the food was tooo good.
mmmmm Melon ice cream, BOMB
So when we left it was raining like crazy so our shopping plans were ruined!! Oh well, we headed back to our hotel to get some shut eye. Then the next day we got up early again to meet Kiyomi outside of our hotel, today's the day of my haircut and our trip to Harijuku!! We got on the subway and went to Omotesando first which is like.. basically the Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive of Japan. It's the city where the emperor resides in, at least that's what Kiyomi said! Anyway, why Omotesando? FOR MY HAIR CUT OF COURSE! I'm really picky about who cuts my hair and how it's cut, even here in the states I only trust two hairdressers, one named Cindy who usually charges $75 a cut and wash and Tina who usually charges $65 a cut and wash. Nowadays I prefer Tina as she isn't afraid to do what I tell her, Cindy is usually hesitant when I tell her to do something different from how I usually style my hair.
Us first meeting up outside the hotel
waiting for the subway
hehehehe look at the left
inside the subway
HM!
Kiyomi stayed with us long enough to tell them what I wanted and the basic instructions but then her other VIP client named Tiger was downstairs at the cafe waiting for her to run errands with them. Tiger also happens to be one of my mom's biggest customers and when they found out that they both knew tiger, all hell broke loose and they GOSSIPED LIKE CRAZYYYYYY. This Tiger is the same Tiger that produces many of the toys you see in Toys R Us and Walmart and Target, if you go to Toys R Us and see the Tiger brand, that's him. LOL. Yea, big cheese I guess you could call him. I overheard them gossiping and you won't believe what this guy is doing!
He's spending only 2 days in Japan since he's transitioning to another city from there but he asked Kiyomi to find him 3 of the most beautiful prostitutes that she can find and have them sent to his hotel but says that's just in case he feels in the mood, if they arrive and he ends up not wanting to use them, he'll send them back, BUT he will pay for the ride over and back, AND pay them in FULL, ALL THREE, just for coming, even if he doesn't use them. The ride to and from for all three will cost $300 alone, plus with THEIR services, Kiyomi said he's willing to pay the estimated $3500 total for his "JUST IN CASE" feeling!! He might not even do it! OMG! So she calls her friend who runs an escort service place and tells her to choose 3 of her best, then she had to go and personally see if the girls her friend chose would be to his liking, then send all three to his hotel. Crazy bastard!
OH. This guy is also obviously married and has 3 kids. His kids had asked him to bring back pokemon figurines for them. He told Kiyomi to find as many kinds as she could but in the end, she could only find 150 different kinds, so he tells her to buy 3 of each, so his children each have their own so they don't have to share, AND they were meeting with her while I was getting my haircut so that they could go FIND SOME MORE. LMAO!!!!!! Kiyomi was rolling her eyes the whoooole time
They first led me into a changing room where I basically had to take off my clothes and put on a robe so that my clothes wouldn't get wet or dirty, then they led me to my station to get my hair washed. I LOOOOOVED the chair they put you in when you're getting your hair washed. It's all mechanical and based on how tall you are you slide smoothly into place, they put a blanket over your legs to keep you from getting cold as it was a little chilly in there, then they put this huge weird shaped pillow on my stomach to place my arms on! It was soo comfortable and soft!!
Mother took a picture of my hair when he was almost done styling it
You like? My hair's black so I don't know why it looks red brown.... maybe just the flash/lighting.
I thought the name of the salon was cute
outside Omotesando
we got hungry since we were in the salon for 2 hours so we went to grub!
my salad, bread, and tea
so we walked and walked and walked until finally! The entrance to Harijuku!
Of course, we had to go to the biggest hello kitty/other cute things store that I've ever been to, 3 floors chalk full of adoooooorable things!
that's juice in there btw
I wanted this fan so much!!!!
I bought like.. 2 things.. my sis bought.. uhh.. $300 worth of crap! OMG!! LMAO!! So we kept shopping at random places along the street and I kept saying how I wanted to experience some crepes from Japan! Mother spotted this crepe station so yay!!!!!! My dream come true!!
The display in front!
My slightly eaten grepe!! Banana chocolate with custard and vanilla ice cream!! ORGASM IN MY MOTHER FUCKING MOUTH!! OH.. MY........ I can't even tell you. Is it different than the crepes from US? YES. HELL YES. So soft.. so light.. so sweet yet not disgustingly sweet.. you can barely taste the butter or sugar!
the day draws to an end as we wait for the subway again
me on the left, boarding!
We dropped off everything back at the hotel so we have less stuff to carry, then we went out to shop around (me for makeup, jess for junk, mom for skin care) we got hungry afterwards so we went to eat at one of the ramen places that Tiger loves.
The ordering machine, you put your money in, select what you want, print out your meal ticket
then you sit at your own station and give them your ticket, they give you a paper to fill out how you want them to cook your ramen and what to put in it. You have your own water dispenser!
My ramen!
YO! OH, hangers behind you to put your jackets
We ended up not going out to shop because it was raining.... again.
Next day we got on the subway to go to Ueno, it's a city known for capturing the essence from the Edo period! Again.. early in the morning.. some places weren't even open yet or were just starting to open.
hahahaha I dunno what's up with my lil sis's face. I think some school were on a field trip because we saw a lot of kids in uniforms there
MMMMMM YUMMY!!!!!!! I missed these.. lots of these in Taiwan too.. but uhh.. shaped like guns for some reason..
PUWAHAHAHAHAH!! Mother caught chewing
The temple!!
HMM what's this? People were waving the burning incense at themselves like.. washing themselves with it.. I must inspect closer!
If you look closer.. these incense had the swastika symbol on them. HMMM.. ok.
we went inside the temple as they were holding a service and you aren't supposed to take a picture but... hehehehehe?
HAHAHAH i had to take a picture of this for my bf. If any of you are into Naruto, you'll know what I'm thinking.
I bought a charm! Now whenever I'm walking with my purse, I jingle!
on our way back to the subway we passed by this moving ramen sign, you can't tell by the pic but the chopsticks go up and down with the noodles!!
on the subway! me on the left checking out my sis's sushi keychains and my mom next to me of course
Next stop was Mitsukoshi!! A lovely lovely huge shopping center with levels upon levels of goodies!! They have a level dedicated to sweets chocolates and cakes! And another level dedicated to foods! It's like.. levels and levels of food courts! LOL
fruit! Mango costs an arm and a leg though.. I believe one little mango is $18.
we bought 5 boxes of this, candied mochi with green grapes inside... YUMMYY!!!!
buying chocolate
sisters!
stopping for lunch at Shiki San Sai
my lunch set, tempura soba.. omg my tempura was HUGE like... TIGER SHRIMP HUGE
we shopped around sooo much.. then suddenly it was DINNER TIME?? LOL! Top floor of Mitsukoshi at a japanese-french fusion restaurant!
SOOOOO GOOOOOOD
on the way back to the hotel in the subway
OMG.. when we were walking to the subway, we saw that it was already there and people were already boarding! So my mom and sis started running to catch it but I thought that was stupid since the next one would come in 5 minutes so what's the point in running? my mom made it on board just fine but as my sister was trying to get on, the doors were already closing and I didn't even try since I knew I wouldn't make it but she tried to force her way on because SHE THOUGHT the doors worked the way an elevator door would, if it closes on you it'll open back up? HELL NO, who the hell taught her that dumb notion???? LOL. If subways worked that way, it would never leave their stop in time to get to the next stop. Anyway, she had lots of bags in both arms and when the doors closed on her she was like.. AHHHHH!!!! and everyone was just staring at her like she was retarded for even trying but it was sooo funny because she was crammed between all her bags!! My mom shoved her out and and forced the doors open to jump out and omg.. it was kind of embarassing. My sis was all.. why didn't it open for me?? .... sigh.. they can't be related to me. I'm just surprised the subway conductor didn't see and yell at them for it. LOL.
more shopping and walking! We hit up Ginza, Ozeki, and Shinjuku... WHEW!
You don't see TOO many of these.. out of all 4.5 days I've only seen them 3 times but the infamous gyaru style! A couple too!
mother and I
At the end of the day, me and Jessica wanted to shop around Shibuya but mom was WAYYY too tired so we went by ourselves to check out the places around the hotel PLUS 109 and 109-2! Apparently 109 is a like.. wow.. umm..well a lot of floors full of women's clothing. 109-2 is full of women's clothes, shoes, accessories, except the top 4 floors are for men. LMAO!! what a difference. hahahaha! See the black hats those two are wearing in the picture? SOOOO popular, everyone wears them, I got one too, DUH, at first I wasn't going to buy one because all the ones I tried on looked STUPID on me.. but then I found one at the last store I went to in 109 and it looked AMAZING on me! YAY!!!!! size matters girls, size matters.
me on the left, I look modded lol.
after a lot of shopping, it's back to the hotel to rest up, I don't know if you can tell by the pics, but our room had 3 individual beds in it.
my evian came with it's own pouch!
AHHH the last day.. view from our hotel
the famous intersection.. you'd be amazed if you saw it at night... beyond packed.
we had some time so we went to this underground food dept store place? LOL that's me behind my mom. rice balls!
very much like the Mitsukoshi levels of food only this one was underground if that makes sense.
CHECK OUT THAT BIG SUSHI ROLL!!!!!
We met up with our aunt Caroline in the lobby of our hotel for a little while, talked and exchanged stories, then when they went to check into their hotel, we left on our 1.5 hour bus ride back to the airport. We got there, checked in, then headed up to the lounge to kill time and eat (we've been doing that a lot during this trip lol)
first meal, hot soba with stir fried vege tempura mmmmmm
next, my favorite here in the states AND especially in japan, MELON BREAD
open wide!
yummy fillinggggg
assorted rice crackers next
my sister's minestrone soup, she had special sushi and some bread before that.
delicious chocolate... so..... good
the spread and my sis. lol.
I was showing my mother something and my sis self timed her camera. LOL at her expression.
So after chillin at the VIP lounge for about.. I'd say an hour and a half, we boarded the plane, finally on the way back into the arms of my babeee!! Once boarded, I took a quick nap and was woken up by the flight attendant asking me what I'd like for dinner. Here's what I ordered!
First course, steamed edamame on the top left, broiled sliced pork top right, sushi, bacon wrapped asparagus, shrimp, broiled mackeral, vegetables, a huge lima bean (wtf)
rice, pickled something (forgot), fish and miso soup, slice of abalone, steamed red white fish filet and stuffed meat balls
my sister eating! hehehe! Forgot what she got though!
Dessert! Peppermint candy brittle on top of whipped cream and balls of two flavored ice cream smashed together: vanilla and melon! Also had pieces of melon and lychee at the bottom
Out flight to LAX arrived just in time, my mom's phone had died so we were afraid that our father (who was picking us up) wouldn't be able to know if we got there on time, where to find us, etc etc! So we were planning on digging through our luggage after we got out through the crowds but the minute we came through the flight entrance.. all of our eyes just IMMEDIATELY gravitate to this man that was behind the gates but right at the entrance.... he was wearing a NEON LIME GREEN SHIRT with contrasting black dress pants and he was rather dark.
OH HEY.
HI DADDY!
LMAO!!!! My mom was like... WTF why are you wearing THAT?!?!?!? And my daddy said that he knew my mom probably forgot her charger and her phone probably died and since there was no way to reach us and he didn't want to miss us, he wanted to make DAMN sure that we saw him first, so he got as close to the front of the arrivals entrance as he could and wore the brightest most eyecatching shirt he owned. Oh.. it worked alright.. it worked. In fact, my mother was slightly embarassed by the sheer fluorescent POWER of the shirt. hahahahah~!
SO, onwards! By the time I got home.. it was only like.. 1 PM Thursday. I had been up for WELL OVER 24 hours.. and I still had about 11 hours left until Thursday ended. That my friends, was one of the LONGEST Thursdays of my life. Now.. I was wayy too tired to go out and do anything other than wash my clothes, sort out my purchases, and watch tv!
Then the next day, bf came over to visit me and gave me my long awaited second part to my anniversary present!!
I present to you................
My own customized....
BB case cover!!!!!!!!!! BLINNNNNGIN!! I've wanted this crown tattooed on my back for a long time and bf knew that and I've shown this case on my blog before but I didn't think my bf remembered what I wanted!! But he did!!
Natural lighting
With flash
Front!
Ok so on to the presents I got the bf!!!! So I got him that $250 bracelet for our anniversary pressie a while back and to match it, I got him this $30 ring from Japan!! Isn't it cute!!??
5 kinds of Japan cigarettes, an Evangelion anime torch lighter, Option 2 magazine, came with a cute folder he can use when he goes back to school.
This shirt SCREAMED my bf's name. LOL.
The back
This was the wild card I picked out for him, I want him to look GOOD. He was like.. he likes it but it wouldn't be something he choses himself. WHATEVER!! IT LOOKS GOOD FAG!
The back
Another wildcard outfit, I LOVE IT!!!! heheh love dressing him up! The vest is seperate and has a hoodie!
Bape, baby milo shirt, since my baby likes soccer! hehehehe! it kinda looks like him anyway.
the back
Stussy shirt, totally something he'd get himself, that's the point I guess
new wallet and wet black chrome colored wallet tri-chain
the lighter!
Now.. MY purchases!!!! Samples towards the left, hello kitty wallet, bumble bee flower post-it (THAT'S FOR YOU PEN!!), kiss me heroine mascara, two kate palettes, one visee palette, one maquillage palette, hello kitty flash card reader, two shiseido oil blotting paper packs, maquillage lipstick, majorica majolica mascara, eyeshadow sponge applicator sticks, ducky paper clips (also for you Pen!!), lil fan, two pairs of over knee socks
Ok obviously I didn't buy that fan, the grandma from the tea ceremony and kimono experience gave it to us remember?
Kiss Me Heroine Mascara, Maquillage purple palette, Visee brown palette, Kate purple palette, Kate brown palette, Maquillage BE231 lipstick, Majolica Majorca mascara
When I bought the palettes, they gave me a sample of Maquillage lipsticks and lipglosses!
close-ups of the palettes
the gorgeous lippy! It was this one or some other one I swatched.
My leather hello kitty wallet and my swarvoski crystal hello kitty flash card reader!
Now MY clothes!!!!
You might've seen this above in the photos, I wore this! I loved it soo much I HAD to wear it.. I know.. I'm kinda fobby. Babe makes fun of me sometimes.. meany!! He always says I'm the typical Taiwanese girl.. but if I really was I'd be a stick!! As much as I'd love to be a stick, my body isn't built that way. LOL. Strangely my cousins are... hmmmm.. what's their secret??
So while shopping I made some friends who love america and they could tell I was obviously not from Japan and they started shopping with me! I chose this and one of the girl was wearing something really similar to it and she was like.. BUY IT! So.. I did. LOL.
EEEEEEEEEveryone wears these types of skirts in all diff colors, swear to god.
Totally my style, yadiggin it? My fav J brand of all, Cecil Mcbee
Look plain to you? It is, but it fits me very nicely and it's a long tunic which is why I bought it!
Clothes in japan are NOT CHEAP YO.. like.. a top will probably cost $38 cheapest from what I've seen up to $60!! I would've bought a lot more but sadly.. I put a limit on my spending there.. which is about at $550 or so.. I spent more on the bf than on myself.. kinda.. lol.
So while shopping in Shibuya, I ran into these girls who love america and could tell I wasn't from Japan. We talked a lil with my broken japanese and their broken english and LOTS of body language.. and then I asked if they wanted to shop with me and show me what they liked and they were like HELL YA! WEEEEEEEEEEE!!
I saw this and was like.. ooo.. but wasn't sure if I should get it and one of the girls named Ayumi was like GET GET! "TOTEMO SEKUSHI!!" Hells yes I understand you and AGREE! it was this one or a black outter layer with neon yellow inside but she said the black will fade.
back
I asked the girls to find a dress that would look cute on me and they chose this one!! Sooo cute with my leggings or my over knee socks! and my biege hat you'll see below!
I got this one in Harajuku too, me loves!
Everyone, men and women alike all wear these hats, and of course, I fell in LOVE and HAD TO GET ONE!!!! I can see where celebs here in the USA copied some of their styles from. I was getting a lil sad because a lot that I tried on in diff cities and stores were too big and looked weird on me.. but then on the night of the day before we left, I went to Bumblebees and found this PERFECT FIT!!!! OMG, SOOOOOOOOO in love!!
I wore this with my biege dress above with my black leggings and steve madden cognac boots to the bank and while standing in line with my bf, this lil HANNAH MONTANA WANNABE girl was like.. STARING AT ME.. not sure if that was good or bad, not that I cared since I knew I looked DAMN GOOD, and she was asking her mom about my fit, and her mom looked at me, she was one of those typical messy trailer-trash looking mom's with a TYE DIE SHIRT and nasty ass jeans that looked WAYYYY TO WORN AND WAYYYY TOO HIGH on her waist and her hair was all pube-like and nappy.. and she was like "OH! That's Britney Spears style! She's trying to be like britney spears!" I gave her a WTF look. Excuse me lady, what part of my outfit even remotely resembles Britney Spears? I don't see Britney Spears wearing black leggings, cognac boots, my biege dress EVER, or even my hat, she wears CAPS and WIGS. This is J-style, I say that because my new found friends there totally helped me and agreed with all my purchases and ideas. STUPID LADY, don't tell your daughter shit that YOU DON'T KNOW. And don't TALK SO LOUD about other people, it's RUDE. GOD.. this is why I dislike certain types of people.
Back to the story, we started playing around with the hats and one of the girls named Nagi.. or was it Nami.. I dunno.. she knodded her head indicating I was saying correctly when I pronounced it both ways so... oh well.. anyway she was like "kore kore!" and I was like *gasppp* you're right!! I LOVED the hat she found, the lettering looks black but it's more of a deep navy blue sequines! Yes I said sequines!
Another hat I got from Cecil McBee!! I picked this one out myself and Ayumi wanted to get it too but it turns out I had gotten the last one LOL!! But she was like.. it's ok since I don't live here and she could just come back next week to see if they have more you know?
Now.. finally.. my most prized purchase.. my cute cute cute Samantha Vega purse!!!! Almost $300!! Everyone puts these chains like that one on their purses to kind of customize it, Nagi and Ayumi said they change the ones on their purses like every 3 days to match their outfits and stuff! When we were at the register, the lady was like wow you made a really good choice that's one of the more popular ones and we're almost sold out! I was like... YAY!!! I HAVE GOOD TASTE!!
It's soooo cute, sooo roomy and ahhhh!! I love it!
So while I was in that lil city near Mt Fugi, I went into this little store and they sold couple phone chains! I was like.. OMG I HAVE TO GET ONE FOR ME AND BUBBY!! This is the kind my bubby would totally rock so I got this pair! Unfortunately, my Blackberry doesn't have a hole for it so it went on my key chain!
My babe was sooo excited about his new outfits that he was trying them ALL on right then and there. SOOO.. I asked if he wanted to model them for my blog and he actually said YES! I like to think that I dressed him up pretty damn well, I love my men slightly fobby, stylish, GQ clean yet a lil street.
Fit 1!! My choice
Fit 2, his choice (he asked for stussy)
Fit 3, my choice
Fit 4, my choice
Fit 2 again
PHEW.. Ok, I totally missed a much of stories that I wanted to tell but I've forgotten a lot and my hands are tired from typing now, but I hope you all enjoyed this entry! I really hope you guys read what I wrote instead of skimmed.. because it's really entertaining but if not.. oh well. :) buhbye!! I'll blog again soon!
Katie
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