Cherry Blossom
I can never get enough of cherry blossom, even though I got spoiled with it in Tokyo. When the trees blossom in Kungsträdgården (King's Garden) it becomes the most beautiful place in Stockholm, I would not miss it for the world! So we had to repeat last year's visit. Repeat is really the right word, I was wearing pink again, the pictures looked almost the same and I had the same wonderful feeling of happiness since I could finally feel summer in the air!
Tokyo - Towers
The first cloud-free day in Tokyo we thought would be appropriate for visiting the tallest buildings and landmarks in the city. It was also our last day at the capsule hotel in Shinjuku, before we switched to another hostel in Asakusa.
Ace Inn was the name of our first hotel, I can recommend it if you ever want to live pretty cheap in Tokyo in a capsule hotel. I really wish we could have stayed here the entire time, not just for the cozy "capsules" but also for the location.
Although we would move to Asakusa the next day we went there anyway to check out the Tokyo Sky Tree (second building from left), which is Tokyo's new landmark and the world's second tallest building after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is 634 meters high and much further away than the other buildings in the picture so don't let the illusion fool you, hehe.
The golden turd raised many questions. What does it really represent? Is it weird or cool? Did the architect ever think of that people might associate it with a yellow piece of poo on the roof? It was certainly interesting, though.
Spontaneous image à la cool gang hanging on stairs (above) vs. non-spontaneous image à la forced class photo (below).
Even for us who were under it, it was difficult to grasp the scale of the Sky Tree. It is really large even in width, making it look shorter than it is. But imagine two Eiffel Towers on one another.
Then we went to Tokyo's well-known landmark Tokyo Tower, the Eiffel copy which surprisingly is a few meters taller than the Eiffel Tower itself, and Tokyo's second tallest building after Sky Tree. We went to the top for a fantastic panoramic view.
In the middle of the tower, the main observatory, at 150 meters - these floor windows are not for those afraid of heights. A guy came and started jumping on the glass while we were standing there and we were like DUDE, WTF!?
I could watch day turn into night at this height in Tokyo over and over again without getting tired of it. Being completely surrounded by this whichever way you look, no matter how far away you look, are among the most amazing things I've ever seen.
Afterwards we walked to Roppongi where we ate in a noodle kitchen, visited a hysterically noisy arcade with several floors of just slot machines and ended the evening with drinks at a place with chandeliers and zebra patterned sofas.
Dear Summer, my wardrobe is waiting
Tokyo - Harajuku
Harajuku was a very fun area to hang around in, especially on Sundays this time of year when an awful lot of people gather, especially young people, on the streets and in the huge Yoyogi park. I don't know really how to describe Harajuku. There is so much fun, unexpected and weird in whichever way you look. As I said earlier, the park is full of people who hang out, eat and drink (this is where the otherwise neat and organized Japanese freak out and drink until they pass out - literally) and does everything from playing badminton to tightrope walking, roleplay in sick costumes, playing bagpipes, jumping around on stilts, dancing dressed as rockabillys... The list is long on everything we saw.
The two main shopping streets, Omotesando and Takeshita-dori, really gave a great contrast to the area. Omotesando was full of luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada, while Takeshita-dori was the complete opposite.
On the bridge near the train station you could see gatherings of people who engage in cosplay, a Japanese form of masquerade. They are quite extreme with their costumes. Unfortunately we arrived a little late and only met a few cosplayers.
This picture was taken right at the beginning of the huge park. I don't have many photos from this park visit, because we knew we were going back there the following week when the cherry trees would blossom. They had just started to bloom...
This street, Takeshita-dori, is said to be one of Tokyo's most crowded places on weekends. For some reason I insisted on coming here at the weekends. I was here several times since I couldn't get enough of all the wacky and kitsch shops with all sorts of funny, cute and totally unnecessary things. I miss it already!
Sometimes I almost paniced when going into all these shops, you don't know what to look at first!
Purikura!!! I had heard about these Japanese photo booths and was quite excited when we found them, it was even funnier than I expected. The pictures make you look like a doll, and afterwards you can edit the images, apply makeup on yourself, write text, add icons, etc..
I thought our pictures were funny, until I saw the guys.
Double Up
It was a birthday celebration x 2 last night when both Melisa and Hanna celebrated their 20th birthday this weekend and had a party together. It was a very enjoyable evening with plenty of singing and dancing. People were in a really good mood yesterday, including me! Thank you hostesses for a successful party!
The evening ended like this for me... No, not really, but as the veterans we are we found ourselves on the dance floor from beginning to end and felt like the annoying guests who never go home when we were among the last at the party. That's a sign of a good evening.
Last days
Back to everyday life this week. Although I laid in bed for a few days after I returned from Tokyo, I still felt tender and unrested when I came to school on Tuesday, as if I've been on a very long holiday, but without any rest. Everything has not quite returned to the usual after the trip. My mind is still influenced by all the impressions, experiences and inspiration and it is only after I got home that I slowly started to melt it. I also got a new sleeping rhythm, something between my old and the Japanese, which resulted in a normal rhythm for the first time since before my teens. I've woken up very early by myself and fallen asleep like a baby before nine. Now, after little more than a week I've managed to shake it, it obviously didn't suit me to sleep normally.
I have a lot to do in school but I'm still trying to squeeze in friends in my schedule, if not after school then before. Samra and I began yesterday with a "healthy brunch" before we went together to our universities.
These weeks in school we will work with engineering and building construction. These days we have, among other things, built models of existing buildings' construction. Yesterday me and Josephine as usual ended up last in class finishing our model, tired and singing to our favorite songs.
Friday, today, meant presentation and then quickly home to escape the rain and bury me under the covers. I've only watched series, done my nails, eaten cookies and made no effort whatsoever. Works well since I tomorrow have three(!) birthdays to celebrate.
Tokyo - WOMB
The first and the best party night. We went to WOMB since we had read that it has been voted one of the top nightclubs in the world. If true or not, I don't know, but we met many wonderful people and had great fun that night!
For the first time in my life I was one of the tallest girls in the whole place! With high heel shoes of course... It was a bit funny that we were always able to find each other only by looking for heads sticking out in the croud haha!
Japan, the country with the best toilets in the world. Not only are most toilets heated, with anus washing and drying, and in rare cases with massage too (I didn't dare to try though), you find roses, sanitary protection and cotton swabs in the female toilet, in a nightclub! What does Sweden's nightclub toilets got? Pee on the floor!!!
DANCE BATTLE! The japanese loved our dance rings. Mary took the price when she began to spin on her back.
My Japanese buddies! Really cute girls, but our communication was not the best.
On our way back to the hotel sometime after five. Sure, I felt tall for an evening, but I don't know if it was worth the pain after the whole night. I at all don't know how we had the energy for everything, but it was a really good night!
Tokyo - Shinjuku
The first day. It was rainy and windy but the weather didn't affect our moods. We decided to start exploring the area where we lived, Shinjuku, which is one of Tokyo's major commercial and administrative centre.
Of course my umbrella broke two minutes after I bought it.
We went to this shrine, Hanazono Shrine, which is a bit hidden between all the houses.
Nearby is Golden Gai, an area of about 200 tiny bars.
Sompo Japan Building, we went up here to take a tour in the Sompo Japan Museum of Art.
Problems with someone always stealing your beloved umbrella? Not in Tokyo!
First view of Tokyo, and Cocoon Tower.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, in both towers there's observation floors with panoramic views, we went up.
Since it was raining, we walked from skyscraper to skyscraper, the next was this one in the picture - Shinjuku Park Tower. We sat at the top, in the luxurious New York Bar with a fantastic view and felt extremely good.
We sat there until it got dark and the view in front of us turned into this.
Then we went back to our hotel to cheer up for our first party night in Tokyo!
Tokyo - Arrival
The journey, arrival and first impressions. After a long flight we made a stop in Beijing and waited there for a few hours to get on the plane to Tokyo. We went straight from school and I had not had time to recover myself after the project nor had I understood that we were going. Everything was just very surreal. We were eight people who went in advance, the rest would come together with the teachers a few days later. I am very happy that we decided to go earlier, that period was very much more like a holiday with friends than a field trip and we had a lot of fun and did an awful lot during those first days. I think that I wouldn't have got as much out of the trip without that extra week, it was really perfect.
First sight when we came out of the plane in Beijing's cool airport. I swear you could eat off the floor.
We passed the time by playing cards, doing long jump and sleeping on the benches.
Then we got on the plane that was my worst flight experience ever. It was a really bad turbulence from the start that lasted for what seemed like half an hour. Everything shook, creaked, and the plane went down again and again. Felt really bad.
Tired, but happy, gang arrived in Tokyo!
We felt a little lost when we got down into the subway, trying to find our way through the maze of aisles. But we learned pretty fast and they actually have a fairly simple system for having as many different train lines.
We stayed at a capsule hotel in Shinjuku. I expected the worst - small, claustrophobic capsules - and was very pleasantly surprised when I saw that our capsules were as large huts made of wood, spacious enough for two and so cozy! Would easily choose this again, before a regular hotel. The hotel had nine floors, the top floor was a common room where we ate, chilled and talked with other young people from different countries.
I do not understand the combination of rice and chopsticks, but okay. It took some time but I got really good at it eventually.
It's difficult to capture the feeling in a photo, the feeling of standing there and seeing all the lights, blinking and sounding. It felt incredible. I jumped around yelling "omg we are in Tokyo, Aaaaah!"
We did something that can be very unwise, and followed with a barker who offered us discount "in the rooftop ". I, the mom of the group, protested, but the others didn't care. It turned out to be okay and we got our discount, haha.
We met some lovely Japanese people there, drunk and really funny, and like any other Japaneses very eager to take pictures with us!
Then we went to bed in our cabins , very tired and full of impressions after only one night!
Japanese Souvenirs
I have never bought so many clothes, gadgets, souvenirs and gifts abroad. Ironically, I have never had so little money for it, but I have justified the shopping with the fact that I don't go to Japan often. It's not easy to control yourself when it's all small, cute, Japanese and so much me. I wanted everything! And the cloth shopping... I will come to that later, but now I understand why Tokyo is known as one of the world's top fashion cities. All shopping will be so boring in comparison. But I can at least die happy. Happy and broke.
I loved all the fun vending and gaming machines located in every corner of the city, where you can win or buy small figures like these! We found a machine that took your photo, then you could choose a character you wanted to have your face on. How fun is that?? And all those cute manga characters *I die*...
Back from Japan
What a city, what a experience, what a journey! It's among the best I've ever done and worth every penny, visiting Tokyo is something everyone should do at some point in their life! It's difficult to say how it was with just a few words, I myself have not had time to digest it all. It mostly has felt unreal. I could not digest a days experiences before tomorrow offered many new ones. I've tried to make sure to do everything I wanted during those two weeks, even though it has cost me a lot of money and energy. I can't remember when I felt this exhausted. It has been very nice to just lie in my bed ever since I got home, I have decided to do absolutely nothing, but it's easy to become restless and bored after such a intense and eventful period. Since it is impossible to summarize everything, I will share with you my experiences and photos on the blog bit by bit, when I have the energy to go through my thousands of pictures!
Enjoying Tokyo!
I have way too much fun here in Japan for not doing a little post about it for those don't have Instagram. I have...
... been shocked, dazzled and fascinated by everything that flashes, blinks and sounds, wherever you go! Warning for epileptic seizures.
... been sleeping in a capsule hotel where the capsules are as large huts! So cozy!
... experienced an earthquake while we were in our capsules! Everyone thought that someone under/over was having sex until we realized that it was an earthquake, haha.
... eaten food that I dont know what it is because the menus are in Japanese and the Japanese understand what I say just as little as I understand them.
... felt so luxurious when we drank cocktails in New York Bar at the top of a skyscraper.
... been to an art museum in another skyscraper.
... gone to high-tech toilets with massage, anus washing and drying.
... felt like an amish for the first time in my life because I don't understand all the high tech.
... partying crazy with cute Japanese in what should be one of Tokyo's best clubs.
... been in a hysterical game arcade where the music was louder than in a nightclub, even more epilepsy warning.
... photographed in a Japanese photobooth that enlarges your eyes and makes you look like a doll.
... been in a huge park full of drinking Japanese people who do random stuff, anything from sports to tightrope walking, playing role play in sick costumes and playing bagpipes.
... fallen in love with Tokyo and the overly nice and kind the Japanese.
... had crazy fun and seen and experienced more than I ever have in just three days! I LOVE IT!
