Monday, October 12, 2009

Getting Lost in Tokyo...

I have been here for the past 2/3 days and I have already gotten lost countless times.
Getting lost makes you extremely tired!
I usually leave the hotel around 11ish, sometimes 10. I end up being so exhausted at 4 or 5, so I come back to hotel to rest.
I do a lot of walking in tokyo, from wandering around the train stations, obviously lost, to walking around the city.
All those rice balls I have been eating...yeah burning all of that off QUICK.

Yesterday -
yesterday I ventured out to Akihabara, video game capital of the world. They have everything you could ever think of, video game wise. I had to physically restrain myself from buying all the japanese video game systems, seriously, it is that bad.
So instead I decided to try and find a replacement battery for my NINTENDO DS.
I asked a store employee, who spoke little english. Unfortunately the store didnt carry it so he offered to escorte me, and a fellow female employee, to other stores to help find one. I assumed she came along since she was a manager and knew more about Akihabara than he did.
45 mins went by and we couldn't find any.
WHAT THE HELL?!
it is NINTENDO! aka JAPANS GOLDMINE! how can I not find a nintendo DS replacement battery!?!

Alas I gave up, for now. I wandered around more and ended up at a HUGE shopping tower. Each floor was dedicated to something. One floor was manga books, another floor was video games.
I took the stairs, faster and easier to get to each floor.

I bought my favorite manga, all in Japanese, for a FRACTION of the US price. 30 USDs in japan and 80 at home for the lot.

I made one fatal mistake.
I went into the shop on the 4th floor...
What did I find?

NOTHING BUT PORN!
and not just ANY porn, Hentai porn!
Hentai porn is Japanese Animation porn.
Not live action.
Animated.

I was the only girl on that store...it was weird.
Then again, I look manly enough to pass as a dude, my only downfall is my boobs...
Although it was weird, it was actually interesting...to a point haha.
---
I have yet to conquer something in Akihabara...the UFO prize claw machines.
They aren't just stupid crappy stuffed toys. Most of the prizes are Japanese Animation [Anime] character statues.
But winning them is tricky.
The idea is that the two pincers would lock into the sides of the box, where there are two holes, the machine would then raise up and drop it in said prize winning slot.
But of course the claw pincer is extremely weak so it is hard to win. Most people just nudge it into the prize drop slot.

I almost had one...ALMOST! it picked it up but DROPPED IT! not only did it drop, but it was half on the prize section and half hanging over the prize slot!

WHAT THE HELL MAN!!!!!

I WILL DEFEAT THOSE MACHINES! I WILL WIN SOMETHING!!!!!
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Today.
Today I decided to take a trip to Harajuku, known for its amazing street fashion.
I was hoping to take some photos of the famous Harajuku fashion but alas, there were not many of them.
Maybe it is because I went early on a weekday...hmmm...

In order to get there, I had to transfer in Shinjuku Station.
Think of Penn Station then multiply that by 100. Seriously it is INSANE. I got LOST IN THE STATION!
There are multiple levels for different lines of the whole Japanese subway system.

After finally getting to Harajuku, I missed the stop because I was chatting with tourists from Holland, this is what I saw...
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It. was. PACKED. It was so bad you could hardly move.
after getting through this small shopping street, things cleared out some.

I saw a good amount of Harajuku fashion girls, but it was so crowded that it was impossible to ask for their picture.
What made my day was a store.
A common store, Forever 21.
But this was different...THIS HAD A QUE!
I mean red taped and all. Just like at a movie!
It was insane! People were lining up to go into this store?!

yeah see! the red tape! there was even a dude who was "directing traffic!" inside the store!!
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That was SO strange...
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Tomorrow I will...do something. I want to go back to Akihabara ^__^
Also I will face the metro and go to the waterfront to a museum.
OHH! maybe the aquarium! YAY!

Soon I will go to Hello Kitty Land...yes you heard me. A theme park for hello kitty.
ooh yeah.

^___^

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I can blog again! woo!

Well I have neglected this for way too long. Why? Meh, mainly because I could not access blogger in China.
So a recap.

The last few days in Trieste were depressing. I will miss Eva and her family. I miss them even more now :(

We spent most of the last few days with the family. I had so much pizza with them, haha.
The day I left was a sad day. It didnt help that it was POURING rain. Once I got through security, I called eva. She was crying her eyes out. The first week I was in china, she couldn't sleep or eat. I worried about her so much.
--
I arrived in Beijing and stayed there for a few days. It was the fanciest hotel I have ever been in, haha. No seriously, it was ridiculous.
After a few days, my aunt and I went to Sichuan Province, to a city called Chongqing, pronounced Chong-Ching.
My aunt had some business to do there before she retired, so I wandered around the city.
Seriously, Beijing traffic is bad, but if you can drive and survive in Chongqing traffic, then you are GOLDEN for anywhere else...well besides India.
Example. we were going to another part of Sichuan province, and the taxi driver missed the exit to the airport.
So during rush hour traffic, he BACKS UP INTO ON COMING TRAFFIC, and takes the exit.
I swear I thought I was going to die.

We took a trip to Jiuzhaigou Valley, which is in the mountains of Sichuan province. That means we had to drive 10 hours through rocky terrain and uneven roads. We went through the center of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. The center of the earthquake was in a town called Wenchuan, and it is still trying to rebuild everything.

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Although I was unsure about going to Jiuzhaigou Valley, it was actually quite beautiful...and COLD. The cold was awesome since Sichuan province was extremely hot for mid September.
Of course, I loved the food, nice and spicy!

After Jiuzhaigou Valley and another mountain, it was time to head back to beijing.
I stayed at the same hotel in Beijing. I wandered around the city, buying gifts and eating lots of food. I planned on going to some of the big famous places in beijing, but it was Golden Week.

Oct 1st is Chinese National Day. China's birthday so to speak. But this National Day was special. This was 60 years. Each 10 year interval is always huge. The Chinese citizens get one week of holiday to visit family and things like that.
But that means everyone from the countryside flocks to Beijing and all the Beijing citizens flock to the countryside.

In lamest terms. Beijing was PACKED. it was INSANE. So to save my sanity and my money, I opted out of those places.
I still had a blast.
---
I am currently in Tokyo, I arrived around 5ish.
Tomorrow I will explore! YAY!

I have realized a few things.
1. I will have to live off of rice balls, meat buns and ramen since Tokyo is very expensive.
2. Tokyo Toilets are frakkin awesome! seriously! there is no need for toilet paper!
A control pad is on the side of the toilet. It sprays 2 different jets of water to, ahem, clean the area. Once you are satisfied with your bum, you pat it dry with specific towels. I so want one for my house. haha.
3. I will spend a lot of time on subways, since the places I wish to go are pretty far out, haha.
A huuge aquarium is pretty far away and so it HELLO KITTY LAND!!
That is right! they have a hello kitty land!
I cannot WAIT!
^__^

Saturday, September 12, 2009

I leave monday morning...

Well tomorrow is my final day in Italy. I will be packing most of the time.
I cannot believe how fast this summer went...it makes me so sad.

:( it is a sad day.

Friday, September 11, 2009

UPDATE!

Ok I am going to update this now.
HA!

I leave on monday for China.

I am so sad. I really want to stay with Eva and her family forever. But alas, I must visit family and return home.

Over the past couple months we went to Venice and generally stayed in Trieste. People always ask me why I do not visit other cities in Italy.
Honestly, I don't really want to.
Rome doesnt really interest me, neither does the vatican. Milan, maybe. I want to visit their Chinatown.

I am totally happy with staying in Trieste, even though it is very small, and visiting venice.

We had such a blast. It was FRAKKIN expensive, but whatever. I caved.

We ate and had loads up fun. Pictures are under the links section.
I love the canals. They were my favorite.
The first day we got TOTALLY lost. Mainly since we didn't have a map. But we were staying near the Rialto bridge, so it was very easy to get back even without a map. Come to think of it, we didnt use the map. haha.
We ate yummy seafood, I have been craving clams for months, and I cannot live without pizza and gelato.

Seriously. My need for gelato and pizza is so bad. haha.
We went to the glass island, and I bought a little glass ball with two retarded looking fish in it.
I named them after Blinky and Winky.
My two dead stupid fishies.

Monday I leave for China.
On sept. 16th I will leave with my aunt to Chongqing. Depending on how long we stay, I will return to beijing in sept or early oct.
If we return in early oct, I will stay in china for longer, so I can spend time in the city.

Sorry this update isnt as detailed as it should be.
I will keep updating more when I get to china!
Since there isnt a pretty italian girl to occupy my time there :D

I miss you all!
I will return soon!

I am hoping to return to Italy for christmas, which means I need to come home for thanksgiving.

<3

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

A little something...

Ok so I am SUPER lame and havent updated...I will make a post after I get all my china visa stuff done.

here is a video from Venice.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

YAY TOYS!

The most awesome picture ever.
Italian toystore, with play knight costumes!

My head was a little too round...haha.
hence the pained expression under the helmet.

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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

There is no sand on the beach...

Well Monday we went to the "beach"
But in trieste there is no sand. Its rocks, so the city has made elevated walkways that you can lay on.
The place we went to is only for families of the military and police departments so it was quiet and nice.
I, being the smart person I am, forgot to pack my bathing suit...

Brilliant...but eva has a million so I borrowed a set.
It didnt match, but who gives a shit.
---
On the drive to the beach thing, eva wanted to go to Slovenia and check out a store, but of course, I had to have my passport...which I didnt bring.
Slovenia is amazingly close to Trieste. Its like 45 mins from the city. It is kind of awesome...its like going to canada!

The beach was nice....they had a pool too!
But this was no ordinary pool, it used salt water instead of chlorine.
Also we had to wear swim caps...why? fuck f I know.
it was kind of irritating lol
and unusual.

Did I mention I pierced my cartilage on my ear?
Eva keeps bumping it, so it hurts lol

I am now tanned....hahaha.
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yesterday we went hiking...kinda. we went to an amazingly scary catholic church...I swear I was about to burst into flames just by walking inside.

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The scary church.

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Trieste is down there...

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Eva and Me ^_^

aany who. more later

Evas friends are awesome and the food is amazing.