Wanderlust V2 - Japan & Beyond

Deepest apologies! I have so many more Japan posts for you and tips! Unfortunately my life took a mega downturn: Car break in, phone breaking, tire went bad on the car, other car issues, catch up homework,  family issues... I couldn't believe how it just crashed. "It" being my life haha. I decided to put up a wistful Shiba inu. I wanted one of these types of dogs for a long time.
 I'm also so tired... Anyways I keep hoping to pop in some time. I still need to load my photos up. Hopefully soon!!!

Again I failed at keeping up with events and writing. Really this time it was a bit too hard to do. In the later part of our trip, we packed more into our days, so when we returned to our room, we basically flopped onto our beds and conked out. Well N conked out before I did because I took a shower every night no matter what since it was customary for me. So when I got out she would be lightly snoring and the lights would be out. By then I was pretty tired and didn't want to wake her up with typing. I was thinking of doing slightly less detailed accounts so that this time, my trip would be written up a little faster. I didn't get many pictures and mostly they were some city or flower pictures. I really regret that I lost any opportunities to do photos of my ball jointed doll, Cosette. I thought Ueno would of been a perfect place during the flowering. Unfortunately I will warn you that tourism has increased by 200% it felt like. More so that everywhere we went there were foreign people. Last trip, I hardly saw anyone. There was even one American at the Butler Cafe ( except she looked Asian so she blended rather well and I think she may have known Japanese to a greater extent).Otherwise, I really saw so many more people. I've gone to Japan the year before the big earthquake, so I can honestly say ( since I went around the same time in spring) that there were so many more people this year than the last two years COMBINED. Ueno was just massively packed. We sat for a few minutes on one of the Hanami mats to eat a snack, over behind Ueno zoo ( near the pond). Also make sure to get your Ghibli tickets early, they've been selling out fast, 3-4 weeks before hand. The amount of tourist and the addition of the Adult cat bus really cinched that there would be so many people!

Anyways! I'm going to load my pictures onto my computer, try not to feel like a zombie and make some posts! :)

So backtracking to the day after we arrived ( Thursday in Japan and possibly Wed in the USA), we went to Takarazuka Revue. If you don't know what it is, it's an all woman cast theater company. There are two main theaters, one in Takarazuka the town ( original one) and one in Tokyo. Otherwise there are also many other small revenues that also host some shows. We of course went to the Tokyo one. They do foreign plays and the men roles are played by women! They have to keep the illusion up for their fans even outside of the theater! They work extremely hard to be a Taka Star! They also have stage names reflecting really pretty things, like Star Glimmer or something like that. Unfortunately I have a sorry understanding of Kanji, so I can't help you with the subtle nuiances of Japanese names.
Well we went to Henry the 8th ( the love that almost lost him the crown) and it had a musical second half called Misty Station ( which was more like following your dreams and imagination).
The play was a bit confusing because it was one that started at the end, went to the beginning and showed you how they got to that part at the end. So for someone with limited Japanese understanding, you could get confused. Also it was lots of talking and very mellow. The year before last, when I went to Solferino, it was an action play and more mellow musical number. Misty Station was totally rocking. There were 5-6 audience clapping participation musical numbers! I think there was one or two in the Solferino set.
The show was really great and N seem to enjoy it alright. I really will always go to Takarazuka when I come here! I just really like it so much!! :) Unfortunately you can't photo the performance but I will put some pictures in this post ( I'll edit later) of the building and at least a photo of the inside before performance started!



Animate looks like a milk carton!

This butler cafe was a lovely place for primarily women to enjoy being totally pampered and having tea. They do have a dinner menu but you have to wait till a certain time when that is served. Otherwise there are some actually very filling tea sets for the afternoon. We both got the Victoria, which had 1 scone with 2 things to put on it, a quiche or sandwich, dessert, and tea. You got a whole mini pot of tea that had 3-4 cups, more than plenty. The butler poured mine completely out by the end and I wasn't even drinking fast. I guess years of practice made them realize the equation of what would work for one normal visit! The butlers are very cute there! And we also ran into another American from Ohio!

Self Piercers LOL!

I am linking you to a blog that even is linked to a video so you could see the cafe! No photos allowed so I can't show you my own personal experience, but check out the video definitely.
26 hours blog - Swallowtail Butler Cafe

Anyways I had great fun but sweating bullets from all the gorgeous food presentation and tea cups that were so utterly delicate. N got wild strawberry tea set with Earl Grey. I got the Roccoco tea set with Fairy Arrow tea. I couldn't tell you want kind of tea it was but it was an herbal blended. It was very mild and smooth ( not a spicey or tangy type of tea).

Haha some fragmented writing! I am slightly overwhelmed by everything.. Oh yah photo fail! I forgot my camera yesterday so the photos are terribly minimal! SO SAD.

So after Swallowtail we went to multiple fanshops on the road. I could not find the items T wanted. I'm guessing the series he likes is just too old or something. I am going to look for them again today in Akihabara. We were going to try for Ueno and Akihabara today, which admittedly is a bit ambitious but worth a try. I will do the bulk of my shopping today.

The animate store, on the upper floors, I want to say 6 and 7 have cute little toys, and sets from series. So take a look there. We also went into the Sunshine city, and looked around. I recommend Moe Garden in the B1 ( Basement). It is near the escalators near the Hello Kitty store. They have massive Ghibli stuff and a giant Ghibli inside a fake hollowed out tree.

Lots of Ghibli stuff!!

Finally we popped over to Tokyu hands ( has just tons and tons and tons of stuff!) and then hit a Karaokeken. We sang for 2 HOURS! :) I was so happy. I have been jonesing for a good dose of Karaoke. The interesting thing also is that the time we went and two options, where you paid less but didn't have to buy a drink and where you paid more , but were not required to get a drink.Even karaoke is so much more expensive than afternoon karaoke!

Then we got lost in the train station a bit and made our way wearly home. I do have to say there was a funny hotel attendant, who was dancing a bit when we got on the elevator. Must of a been a good night for him:)

One last eclectic add to this entry... We also went through the redlight district without noticing. It just seem to have a lot of people trying to get people to go into hostess clubs... ;p

I'm here in Japan with my Best Friend Nicole! :)
So getting here was very iffy. When I went to transfer they left me at the wrong gate and I ran across to the otherside of LAX to get to my plane. They were calling my name over the intercom and I was running breathlessly, barreling through humans till I reached the terminal. Oh I wish I could of taken a picture or video when I was running! You would of died!
The airlines put us in different seats without consent!  We found out about 3 days before the trip and the site wouldn't really change anything! I was stuck in an aisle seat and N was in economy plus! So I was really sad, but then I had the gaul to ask for a different seat that was a window seat. The ticket guy aggreed! He said since I worked so hard to get there ( was hunched over and dying on the desk, gasping out last wishes), that he would change my seat. I was seated one row up from N and in a window seat. Really fabulous!
Then we were well on our way and attached to the hip! We dragged our bodies to the hotel in Ikebukuro! I ended up going out and getting us something to drink, like water and tea. I was feeling horribly naseaus, maybe from the food or maybe air sickness, since the turbulence was a bit bad.
We slept very early and woke early!
More later! Oh yah we took Nex + Suica! It is a good deal. I dont' know why I never took it before.. Weird.

Anyways pictures on their way and such! :)

Photopassjapan.com

  I did promise a Ghibli Ticket buying guide. I wish it was more comprehensive like pictures of me at lawsons and the machine, but if you are bold enough to consider buying your own tickets thus far, then you can do this too!
I went to Ghibli Museum twice. I loved it both times. Some people say they've seen it already and decline after one time, but if you love Ghibli, go again and again. They have a special exhibit room for new projects that always changes! And they change out the special screenings of Ghibli film shorts. You can only view these once per visit and they change, so it's worth seeing. Oh and you can't watch them outside of the museum!

So if you've visited their site you may have noticed that there's two options for the average Ghibli goer who is on vacation. Otherwise you can have someone in Japan buy it for you and this guide is a moot point for you! The two options tend to be buy it through a service ( sometimes with double markup) or buy it at a lawson's convience store! Lawson's are everywhere really so it's not so hard to buy there! Also if you worry about lack of Japanese, I will recommend a few things:

1. Say G-bli or Jee-bli when referring to the museum.
2. Locate and write down the L-code ( you can put this in and get straight to tickets on the machine)
3. They have the guide to buy on the machine on the site: http://www.lawson.co.jp/ghibli/museum/ticket/english.html
4. If all else fails, go to the clerk at Lawsons, say G-bli to the store clerkand they will help you through the process!

Remember when buying from the machine, you take the little reciept back to the clerks at the counter to pay and get the REAL tickets. The machine is just a way to reserve them, but you have to pay for them and get the real tickets at the register. ( ALL within LAWSON's Convience store).
YOU CANNOT BUY TICKETS AT THE GHIBLI MUSEUM!  
You then show those tickets at the museum and they give you the souvenir tickets with a piece of film at the museum.

So what I will cover in the guide is how to check what tickets are available so that you have an idea of when you want to go and what time ( you have to buy them before you go). That will make it easier to buy your tickets at Lawson's.

Click into the Screenshots to see what I'm doing!

Search for Ghibli, copy Japanese characters.

Search for Lawson's tickets site.

Paste Japanese Ghibli into search.

L-codes should pop up and click into your month.

Check times and Dates. X- no tickets available, O- tickets available.

Oh and the red character at the beginning of the week is Sunday. So the weeks start with Sunday! :) 
So if you see x there are no tickets available at that time. If there is an O, that means tickets are still available. If there is neither, it means tickets are not purchasable. Example would be a date that already passed or one too far in the future ( such as April at this point).

So once you plan you can even screen shot that calendar and write down your L-code to take with you to Lawson's. The clerk should recognize it and the code will make it faster so you don't have to type in Japanese to search. Do not be shy to ask the clerk by showing them the paper or saying a one word G-bli. They understand that there are tourists and are accommodating. I have yet to find one turn me away or act anything but awesome. I even had a gentleman who wanted to use the machine, help speed up the process since I was having a hard time typing my name in lol. You won't have to do that if you ask the clerk. It'll be a lot faster.
I do have a Ghibli post coming up! :)