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.
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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...


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!!

That was SO strange...
---
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.

^___^

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.
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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!
^__^