The beginning of a new chapter

Hello there :) I hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready for a new productive week. 

Mine kind of started on Friday - well, it was only one course where some introduction was done, so nothing particularly demanding. Next week, however, the real fun is going to start with all the 11 courses I will be taking ;) 

A night out with obstacles

 

Tokyo Tower during the night

To celebrate our first day of studies, Alizée, Essi, Tharshi and I went out for dinner and drinks. We were aiming for a particular bar which was located on the 28th floor of a hotel, promising live piano music a spectacular view over Tokyo. 45 minutes of walk from campus and we entered a totally new area - which was, as we found out, a financial district. Very high buildings and people in fancy clothing - of course, food there was not very cheap either. Nor was entering the bar: 1800 yen per person just to get seated! However, it did look very exclusive, so we have decided on going there dressed appropriately and maybe with some reason to celebrate ;)

A bit of Steampunk is never wrong

Dinner :)

     

A Kamikaze and a
 Tequila Sunrise,
onegaishimasu

At the end of the night, when it was just Essi and I left because the others were too tired, we still wanted something to drink. So we went on to explore Shinagawa - which was halfway home - and found it very difficult to even enter a bar. Either it was really full everywhere, or they didn't want us in because we are foreigners - who knows? Eventually, we managed to find a table at Virgin Café.

If you ever go out to a bar in Tokyo, be warned (we have been warned, but somehow didn't really expect it nevertheless), that there is a fixed table charge of which no one informs you in advance. So with each of us having just one drink, however good it was, we ended up paying over 2000 yen!

While we were sitting there, we missed our last train. Yep - trains in Tokyo go only until half past midnight or so. We were already worried we would have to spend the night in a capsule hotel, but in the end, we were able to catch a different line which stops just a couple of meters away from our usual station. Phew! 

Dolce vita at its finest

Such a long and fun night requires some sleep afterwards, and also because it was raining all day and I needed to get some work done, I didn't feel like going out on Saturday. Today, however, was the last day of the Tokyo Coffee Festival - we just had to drop by! Especially because it can be a challenge to find "real" coffee in Japan.

The festival was located at the United Nations University (which is indeed an autonomous organization within the United Nations), at the Farmer's Market. It was basically a large food market where they have everything, even falafels (I realised how much I missed them at this point). And, of course, lots of coffee. Expensive coffee, exotic coffee, beer coffee, cold pitch-black coffee in bottles... oh, and sweets, cups, books, and live music as well. We could try ourselves through a lot of things - or rather, we were almost forced to do so. Even some sake - which was the best one I ever had. Maybe I should give it a try, even though I didn't like sake back in Germany...

The University with a strange sculpture

Avocado curry at the Farmer's market. Yes, I always take a picture of my food

Purple sweet potato bagel 

The Lagerphones bringing very lively atmosphere to the crowd - as you can see in the following video

The second-darkest Matcha ice cream ever

Another place to visit nearby is the "Tea and Spoon", an ice cream parlour which offers seven different sorts of Matcha ice cream - from light to dark. You can't miss it because there is a long queue in front of it, consisting mostly of locals, so you can already see how popular this place is. And it is for a reason. My plan is now to try all the different sorts :P

Because Shibuya is one of the many shopping districts in Tokyo, it was an obvious thing that we also paid a visit to one of the giant malls named "Shibuya 109". While shopping, you can discover many characteristics of Japanese culture which you thought were just stereotypes - like super-cute clothing, loud high-pitched female voices and large crowds everywhere you go. But I was amazed how much really good, tasteful clothing they offer - and mostly for a reasonable price. 

Shibuya on a Sunday night - view from the train station (hence the dirty glass and reflections)

Now tomorrow, it's getting serious. I have to be at my first Japanese language class at 9am - rarely been to University that early! Have a good night and make it well through Monday. :)

Typhoons and heady heights

Welcome back :) Wow, the week is almost over, having brought a lot of experiences to share with you. I hope you enjoy!

Japan's natural phenomenons - part two

Full of motivation, Essi, Laurien and I stood up early on Monday to get to the ward office and finally complete our student discount request (you have to pay only 30% of the National Health Insurance fee if you are a student, so it's definitely worth it). But we had made our plans without the Japanese calendar. While waiting at the bus station, we were kindly informed by a lady that it was a national holiday - Respect for the Aged Day! So, of course, the office was closed and we had to return home.

Because we still needed to pay the rent for our rooms, we went to Hiyoshi campus later for the first time. It was surprising how many shops there are in the school building, so it actually looks more like a shopping mall than a university. Having successfully fulfilled at least this one task, we also visited a so-called "mini mini bazaar" for students, held in a dormitory near the campus, where you could buy dishes, cutlery, towels and so on for very low prices. Well, I did not expect THAT small a bazaar. However, it was also holding a treasure: You could get kimonos for up to 500 yen (that's less than 5 euro). REAL kimonos with obi (the wide belt) and other accessories. Where they actually cost tens or hundreds of thousands of yen. Wow!

The next day we finally managed to get things done at the ward office (third time lucky!) - despite the heavy rain, which, as we found out later, was actually a typhoon. While this storm called Malakas caused lots of flood and landslide in Taiwan and southern Japan, it passed Tokyo in the form of just more rain and wind than usual. Still, I was very glad to be able to stay at home the rest of that day...

Not for those with a fear of heights

As quickly as it had appeared, the scary typhoon disappeared the next day. So nothing stood in the way of a meeting with the Tomodachi program group on Wednesday. After having lunch in the Keio University cafeteria, we visited the Mita Kasuga Shrine just next to the campus. Everyone had the chance to ring the bell at the entrance :)

The entrance to Mita Kasuga shrine - photos of the shrine will follow when it is less crowded

The highlight of the day was a visit to Tokyo Tower. For 900 yen, you can go up to the Main Observatory, which is 150 meters high. It also has the Special Observatory 250 meters above ground (which is apparently not worth the extra money, especially when there are places which offer a similar view for free), and for One Piece fans, there is even a special One Piece Tower! :) Here are some views from outside and inside

A warm welcome at the entrance

There was even a small shrine inside

Looks more like an expensive hotel

A lookdown window - my Tomodachi buddy Jenaida took this photo for me because it was too scary to even approach it. Thank you :D

With all the nice and (finally!) cool weather, I decided to go for a run in the evening. Of course, as soon as I was outside, it started to rain again. But enjoying the view of nightly Yagami river was definitely worth it.

Because high is not high enough...

... fellow Siegen student Tharshi and her friends, Brianne and Jessica, invited me to join them on a trip to Tokyo Skytree today - the world's tallest broadcasting tower and second-tallest structure with its height of 634 meters.

It's huge!

I hope you will not be too disappointed to hear that we didn't go up, because it is very expensive and the weather was too rainy and foggy, as you can probably see in the photos. I still need to do that some day with better conditions. So be prepared for startling pictures!

At the Skytree base, you will find a large shopping mall on 9 floors (the Skytree restaurant is on 31st floor, by the way ;)). You could even see a bit of rainy Tokyo from above:

Also, the area called Skytree Town bears lots of designer shops, character cafés (Moomins!), a variety of Disney and other cartoon stores and gourmet restaurants... there is even an aquarium (with baby turtles!) we wanted to visit, but the line in front of it was just ridiculously long. Maybe that was because today was yet another national holiday (Autumn Equinox). But that was fine with us, because exploring all the cuteness and craziness of this place was fun and adventure enough!

Just a sculpture outside of Skytree Town

What else did you expect?

Lovely interior of the Moomin café - sadly, another long queue prevented us from entering

Very stylish banana sweets, indeed

           

For those who missed the real view, probably

Tomorrow, my tourist weeks will be over: The semester is officially starting and I am going to attend my first class at Keio University. I'm already excited and will make sure to keep you up to date! Take care and hopefully see you soon :)

Noodles in cups and potatoes in space

Hello and welcome back :) the weekend is over, more than 33,000 steps have been walked and much new stuff discovered, to be presented here just for you. No, it's not all about food, but let's start with...

...Cup noodles

On Saturday, Francesca, Alizée and me had been exploring Yokohama. Our main objective was to visit the bamboo lantern (taketa) festival in the evening, but we didn't make it as you will see later ^^'. However, we left in the morning to take the train for just one station, then found our first target - the art museum. Unfortunately, it is currently closed for a change of exhibitions :( so plan B had to come into action - the Cup Noodles Museum. 

What sounds like a rather uninspiring place, turned out to be a very fun experience. It shows the story of cup noodles from the idea to the various sort you can find all over the world today, using interesting art installations. Sadly, most of the explanations were only in Japanese...

Momofuku Ando, the father of cup noodles

Ramen, ramen and more ramen

Chicken ramen factory, where children learn to make their own noodles

Do you recognise (some of) these guys?

You could even create your own cup of noodles, design it and mix together any ingredients you like. Then it will be sealed for you and you place it in an inflatable plastic bag, to take home as a souvenir. 

Our creations - photo by Francesca

   

Am I really supposed to eat that?

   

Hungry visitors head for the small bazaar, where you can try noodles from different countries. This is the spicy Malaysian version:

On our way to Yamashita Park, where we needed a rest, we could enjoy a few views of Yokohama and its port.

 

In front of the park, we stumbled onto this American conjurer's performance. He delivered a very good show and lured innocent children into being his devoted servants.

At the time we arrived at Yamashita and finally sat down on the soft grass, it was already too late to go to the festival, since it was almost an hour away, plus we were already really exhausted. So we decided just to visit Chinatown nearby, before we headed home. There were some really good steamed buns with different fillings to try!

Chinatown entrance

Holy potatoes! We're in Tokyo

Today, on Sunday, was the last day of Tokyo Game Show, an exhibition or convention for the newest video game releases at the Matsuhari Messe in Chiba. Although you may not know me as the greatest gamer, I had one main reason for going: Two games were presented there in whose production my favourite German game studio, Daedalic Entertainment, had been involved. In addition, I have never actually been to a real convention and I enjoy being around people in costumes (especially adding the Japanese craziness), so I decided to take this opportunity for only 1200 yen. Sadly, no one was fit or motivated enough to accompany me, or had already been there, so I just checked this out on my own.

There were 11 halls in total (although I have seen only 1-9), and each of them was well-frequented, as you can see here:

Getting in was faster than I expected

Resting area from above

Hall 9, for indie games and merch, was no less crowded

Food court - you eat your meal up there in the theatre seats, feeling like you are watching a play

Although there were not too many people showing up in cosplay, many game booths had their own models posing for photos.

 

 

After a long search, I found the two games I was talking about. One of them, which was some kind of space adventure/strategy/fighting game, I could even try - and it was lots of fun! Too bad that none of the Daedelic guys was there though.

"Holy Potatoes! We're in Space?!" - With 3000 real potatoes from a Japanese farm

The second one was already busy, but looked awesome

For the larger games, there were booths which you could enter, letting you experience the game on a different level. Most of them looked exciting, but 60 minutes of standing in a queue didn't seem worth it... the same goes for the numerous virtual reality booths. At the indie game area, however, there were plenty opportunities to try humourous, experimental and beautifully designed games.

A controllable robot

Move it!

VR really is a thing here

This one looked so beatiful - such a shame that it was all in Japanese so I don't even have an idea what it is about :(

Sculpture outside the Matsuhari Messe halls

Now that my feet still hurt from all the walking done the last days, I doubt that there will be much adventure in the next few days. ^^' Have an awesome week start!