BLOG -- My trip to Japan V.3 -- EXTRA -- My down time in the hotel

So... I'm not sure how interesting this entry will be, but I kinda wanted to document it for myself, and talk about some of the interesting things I experienced while in my hotel room. I mean, I wasn't just experiencing Japan whenever I was outdoors -- I was experiencing some of it as well indoors. As a general rule for myself, whenever I was in my hotel room, even if I was doing other things, I kept the TV on as often as possible. Even for those days I woke up at 4 AM, if I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, I turned on the TV. I didn't have access to a ton of channels, but it was enough.

This entry will cover some of the shows / things I watched / caught while in the hotel.

From the window of my hotel room. I think the sun was just starting to rise.

Infomercials

This was something I enjoyed watching if they were advertising interesting products. The first time I tuned in, they were selling a super sharp knife that could cut through an avocado pit. The assistant's impressed reaction was great. 

The next time I tuned in, they were selling a steam iron set and claimed it could iron your clothes quickly without damaging them. They even held up a blown balloon and whacked it against the iron's surface to demonstrate the iron's safety (the balloon didn't pop). I would kinda like a steam iron myself after watching this, hahaha.

Whenever the infomercial sold clothes or jewelry, though, I switched channels.

The steam iron set they were selling. Steam Q.

Music Station

In all my visits to Japan, I never tuned into Music Station, although I really should have. As mentioned in an earlier Japan blog, Music Station is a show that invites various artists to speak a little and then do a performance.

When this show started, I was still switching between channels to see what else was on. I missed the first performance, but was lucky to catch the rest. Below are a couple that I enjoyed.

Sakurako Ohara x Takeru's performance for "Nakitai Kurai".

The volume is really low so turn up to listen. 

It was this performance that drove me to buy the CD single. 

It was just sweet overall, and that guy can really move, hahaha. :3

A medley from Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra featuring Nargo.

Again, the volume is really low so turn up to listen.

I like some of the sounds here.

-Something- Bookarisuto Cup

(Karaoke battle competition)

I tuned into this partway. I really wished I watched it from the beginning. Pretty much a person sings and gets graded for each line they sing, based on if they used enough / right inflection, hit the right notes, etc. And then at the end of the song, they would receive a grade out of 100%. From when I started watching, they were down to the last three finalists.

It was a very interesting watch. Supposedly one of three finalists hit a 100% score in an earlier song, so she probably had lots of pressure to do well. Fortunately for her, she won in the end!

The winning song. She performed Sarah Brightman's "Stand Alone".

Again, please turn up the volume.

I think she sings really nicely.

The final scores.

The Goldbergs in Japanese dubbing

I was surprised to find episodes of The Goldbergs playing... in Japanese dubbing. BUT -- it was a good kind of surprised! In some ways, it doesn't surprise me that The Goldbergs made their way into Japanese TV. The show has a lot of wholesome themes, and the core always comes back to family (at least from what I've watched). 

What did surprise me was the quality of the Japanese dubbing. They didn't dub it based on their own interpretation of what the characters would sound like -- they dubbed it to be close to the original actors' voices. And they did a fantastic job! I recorded some clips, but I messed up and the volume came out really soft... even much softer than the videos I already uploaded. :( Maybe if it's still on the next time I visit Japan I'll try again.

Various anime series

So I was quite lucky to catch some anime series. Maybe I just didn't have the right channels, but anime does NOT play every hour of every day, despite all the new anime series that come out every year. From my experience, I would often catch anime playing starting from around 8-9 PM on weekdays and only on about few channels. On weekends I caught some anime playing in the morning, but series that were targeted more for kids. A few of the shows I caught during my channel surfings (that I could remember) were Hyaku Houshin Engi (I had no idea that they re-booted this series), Cardfight!! Vanguard, the opening credits to Steins;Gate 0 (It was around 1:30 AM when I saw those opening credits and thought 'I need to sleep!' Also, I still haven't played Stein;Gate 0 so I have to do that first!)

Just as a record for myself, the last time I visited Japan by myself, I caught an episode of 12-Sai: Chicca na Mune no Tokimeki. I thought the main character looked so much like Sana from Kodocha. This series is on my radar, lol. Hopefully I can watch it one day.

Arashi ni shiyagare

This is a variety show starring Arashi members and other celebrity guests. I'm not a huge Arashi fan, but I do like some of their songs, especially "Truth" (their outfits look so hot, lol).

It was kinda interesting. I had fun watching one of the Arashi members trying to beat another guest at a snowboarding arcade game.

One of the Arashi members making a face. 

A segment where various celebrities came out dressed like somebody else.

This one is dressed as Jackie Chan.

This one is dressed as Toshi from X-Japan.

Miscellaneous

Below are pics I took from various shows / news segments and other things.

A game show. This person was tasked with figuring out the 

monetary value of all the coins in 10 seconds.

A show where the hosts were going around Tokyo, looking for good curry.

I should try doing that next time!

Another place selling curry buns. Wahh, I want some!

A news segment reporting on crows flying about 

Shibuya station and stealing Suica cards.

Watch out for them!

The REAL Toshi from X-Japan singing "Forever Love" while playing on a keyboard. 

It was very lovely!

I recorded this just for Persona. I did not realize till later that it was 

a commercial for Puzzles & Dragons, lol.

Just like with other videos, this volume needs to be turned up.

And that is it for my Japan blogs for this year!

If you have read from the beginning all the way to the end, thank you soooooo much T___T *huuuugs* It was really hard for me to start blogging about Japan because every time I thought about it, I just wanted to be back there -- back on my vacation, back when I didn't have to worry much about my spending, back in the whole experience. So... thank you for all your patience!

Next time I go back, I'm really hoping to what I've been wanting since my first trip: to catch the cherry blossoms falling!

Now to rest up and ready myself for the walking / waiting / Cosplay fest that is Fan Expo.

Have a wonderful week and thanks again for reading!!

BLOG -- My trip to Japan V.3 -- RANDOM THOUGHTS + SWAG / PURCHASES

So in this blog, I'll be listing any miscellaneous thoughts or observations I had while in Japan. Then we'll go into my swag / purchases. That section will be sorta photo-heavy. If you want to jump straight to that section, do a search for "swag/purchases" (make sure there are no spaces between the "/"), though you probably won't need to since there aren't too many new thoughts / observations this time. I think this makes sense as I get more accustomed to Japan every time I visit.

I should note that some items I bought aren't shown here, since they were gifts. Annnd some items that are shown I don't have anymore, since they were given away as gifts, and I'm too lazy to do re-takes. I'll mention in the captions what I don't have anymore, lol.

If you wanna read my previous entries to see what thoughts / observations I had before, here they are:

2016 entry
2014 entry

MY MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS OR OBSERVATIONS

- Almost no questioning to what you are buying. If cashiers actually judge what you purchase, they must have great poker faces. From my experience, all transactions were treated professionally and efficiently -- no reactions of any sort. Granted, I didn't buy anything really worthy of a cringe or sneer or something, but -- it kinda surprised me, especially for times when I purchased a ton of stuff. The only time I got a reaction was when I was buying double of something -- it was usually to confirm that I did want to buy two of that thing, which I can appreciate.

- Wi-Fi works in the subways! To me, this was an amazing discovery. This allowed me to play FFBE while commuting or check Google maps or whatever else. It also allowed me, my sister, and her hubby to stay in contact while underground. We created a BBM group to send messages. My commuting experience has now been spoiled, hahaha.

MY SWAG/PURCHASES

Skirt from WEGO. I still like my pleated skirts, hahaha.

Things that I bought from Daiso (100 yen shop). A jar / bottle cap opener, 
a pack of pens, hairbands, a towel handkerchief, a black tie. 
I don't have the tie anymore.

More things from Daiso. Blank word cards (for whenever I start learning Kanji), washi memo pads, shikishi (autograph) boards.

The things I really needed to buy from Daiso: cheap, cheap earbuds, hahaha.
For its value, it lasts for a pretty long time!

Things I got from Namco Namjatown. Funwari (like chiffon) cakes, 
admission ticket, free stickers that came with the admission, washi tape, memo pad.

The funwari cakes. When I actually opened it, I read that one of the flavours 
was cheese. I gave all those to my sister, hahaha.

Takoyaki handkerchief. I got this from a small gift shop at the takoyaki museum.

I was so tempted to get more stuff from there...

there were so many tako (octopus) plushies, hahaha.

Stuff from the Ghibli museum gift shop. A clear folder featuring parts 

from the "Delicious! Animating Memorable Meals" exhibition, 

a blank greeting card with a pretty stained glass design.

More things from the Ghibli museum gift shop. Boro the caterpillar plushie, 
white bunny plushie from Totoro, soot plushie from Totoro, a tin of cookies.
I initially thought of buying those cookies as a gift, 
but that tin... that's a quality-looking tin!
I don't have the soot plushie anymore.

Inside the cookie tin. There were various flavours. From what I would read: sesame, chocolate, maple. My favourite was the sesame -- sooo delicious!! <3

Things I bought from the Capcom cafe gift shop. 
Two clear Monster Hunter-themed folders and one Okami-themed clear folder. 
One of the clear Monster Hunter folders was for my sister.

More things from the Capcom cafe gift shop. Pens featuring Okami, Mega Man, 
Monster Hunter; a hand towel featuring Resident Evil, a placemat for purchasing 
a certain value (I chose the Resident Evil one), a mini tote bag.
I don't have the hand towel nor the mini tote.

The Phoenix Wright stuff I got from the Capcom Cafe!! Kyaaa~~~ lol. 
Edgeworth-smelling perfume, Phoenix Wright-smelling perfume, 
bookmark / rulers, random character boards.
One of the bookmarks / rulers was given away.

A closer shot of the perfumes.
I can't wait to smell like Edgeworth some day! Hahaha xD

Some slime cookies and FFXIV job pins from Artnia.
I don't have the metallic slime cookies anymore.

Stuff I got from the Conan pop-up shop at The Loft. Two random character boards, 
a sleek-looking thermos, an accordion-style notebook 
(I thought it was a regular notebook until I opened it, hahaha), 
bookmarks, some gifts I got for purchasing a certain amount.
I really need to continue reading / watching this series...

Another thing I got from the Conan pop-up shop and a couple things I got from The Loft.
Conan-themed towel, a random Kirby figure, a mini 3D puzzle of a beef mug.
I gave the 3D puzzle away.

A couple things I got from Nakano Broadway. The shop sold a lot of 
fan-made goods (so many SMT goods! But so pricey ;___;) and some official collectibles. 
I got a Pixie keychain (from the SMT series), a character board of Shinichi and Ran.

Persona 5 original soundtrack and Sakurako Ohara's Nakitai Kurai CD single 
from Tower Records. Getting that CD single was like a mini-mission for me, hahaha.

Persona Super Live 2015 (music concert) Blu-ray, Ace and Sanji keychains, 
Kurama keychain (kyaaaa!!~~~ <3), Yu Yu Hakusho-themed pen, washi tape, 
and Conan washi tape. One day I'll blog about my anime guy crushes, hahaha.

All the things I bought from Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo. A tin of chocolate cookies, 
keychains of Mimikyu and Pikachu, two pens, Pikachu stickers, Ditto gacha, 
and a clear postcard they were giving away for free.
I gave the Pikachu stickers away.

I got this mainly for the tin, but the cookies were actually very good! 
If you visit a Pokemon Center and want a lightly crunchy chocolatey cookie, get this!!

I got this Vivi figure from one of those "shady" shops in Nakano Broadway. This figure is supposed to be a crane game prize, but I bought it outright from that shop.

I also bought this Boa Hancock figure from a "shady" shop, but in Akihabara.

I just think this outfit is really nice... and it's Boa Hancock! 

She must be so happy in this dress, hahaha. Watch out, Luffy!

Stuff from the One Piece gift shop at One Piece Tokyo Tower. I bought a lot of stuff! 
As you will soon see. Here are Ace mango gummies, Luffy grape gummies, 
Ace and Luffy cloths, a 2018 calendar. I know 2018 is already more than 
half gone... so I'll just use this another year when the dates line up to 2018, hahaha.
I don't have one of the Luffy gummies.
Ace's gummy, while good, has a slight kick!

An expensive Ace pen (I spent 2500 yen just on that pen...!), a tin of 
chocolatey crunchy snacks, another tin of snacks, a random figure, 
a 3D puzzle of the Gomu Gomu devil fruit.

Inside one of the tins. These were okay. I was surprised by 
how soft the nutty, crunchy-looking one was.

More stuffs, lol. Stickers I got from playing Franky's attraction at 
One Piece Tokyo Tower, a mini guide that came with purchasing admission to 
Live Attraction 3, pics of Nami, Sanji, Usopp. I got them from filling out their 
respective "shopping card". I explained this in my last blog, but here it is again:

At the store, they have a shopping card system where every 500 yen spent gets you a stamp on a character card. When you get 10 stamps (i.e. have spent 5000 yen), you get a pic of the character. The first character to fill out is always Luffy, and it goes in a specific order. When I went last time, there were only 10 character cards available, but since then there are more. I was a little afraid that this card system would have discontinued by now, so I'm glad that it's still going. I'm currently on the seventh character card, which is Robin's.

An Easter-themed cushion of Sanji (Zoro is on the other side), more random figures, 
a medal of Sanji, a chain for the medal, customized Ace stickers, a pic of Chopper. 
The medal and stickers you can buy from vending machines inside the shop.

A close-up shot of the Sanji medal.

For an extra 100 yen, I was able to get the medals engraved. 
The message was... "Still yours". Hahaha. ^-^'

An umbrella that I will probably never use. The designs are really nice.
I had to re-jig my packing to fit this in my luggage.

Law figure that I got from a limited-time game at One Piece Tokyo Tower. In the game there were a bunch of strings, and the ends of those strings led to various prize tiers. You could only pull one string. The Law figure was... A tier, I think? There were other figures among the A tier, but what you received would be random. The Sanji sticker card was B tier and my sister gave that to me. The Luffy card came with my order at Mugiwara cafe for ordering Luffy's burger. And then a pic of me, my sister, and her hubby and our score from doing Robin's attraction. If we pay 1000 yen, we could get a photo like this. We had the highest score that day. Can you guess who I am? **Please don't say the far left! Hahaha**

Souvenirs I bought from Haneda airport on our way back. Hello Kitty-themed Tokyo Banana, and melon-flavoured Kit Kats.

 The inside of the Hello Kitty-themed Tokyo Banana.
It tasted very apple and was so soft.

Cost of Swag / Purchases (in Yen) (NOT counting what I gave to friends)
WEGO (Skirt): 1990
Daiso: 1016
Namja Namjatown: 1224
Takoyaki handkerchief: 500
Ghibli Museum gift shop: 4700
Capcom Cafe gift shop: 18090 (Those perfumes really burned a whole in my wallet, hahaha)
Artnia gift shop: 2600
The Loft: 1400
Conan Pop-up shop: 6900
Nakano broadway shops: 2957
Tower Records: 5500
Animate: 9300
Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo: 4008
Akihabara "shady" shop (Boa Hancock figure): 1177 (It would definitely cost me more if I tried via crane game)
One Piece gift shop (at Tokyo Tower): 20600 (I definitely splurged a lot here, hahaha)
Airport gift shop: 2600
7-11 (PSN cards): 5000 (I have no pic of this because it looks like a regular PSN card)


Grand Total (excluding gifts for friends): 89562 yen

I mailed away some items and had my sister declare some of them to reduce my declaration value (thank goodness!!). Next time, though, I would like to stay within my limit. Shipping away items is getting more costly.

Thank you so much for reading!! If I can, there might be one more Japan blog and then I'll be entrenched in Fan Expo, which is happening this week. Oh my goodness -- I'll be so busy, hahaha... >__>!!

Until next time and take care! :)

BLOG -- My Trip to Japan V.3 -- JAPAN EATS

Well here is my photo-heavy blog on the foods I had while in Japan. Just like my previous Japan EATS entries, I've organized the places by region. Some of the places were re-visits so there won't be much on them if my impression hasn't changed. For more info on those places and about other foods I've had while in Japan, below are my Japan EATS entries from my last trips:

2016 Japan EATS
2014 Japan EATS

Just like how I was when I travelled to Japan by myself two years ago, I am still a bit uneasy / shy with eating at restaurants by myself. So... thank goodness I had company this time! Hahaha.

I'm just keeping this here because it is useful: One thing to note is that when ordering foods in Japan, if you don't know Japanese or enough Japanese, you can often point to what you want on the menu and show with your fingers how many of that item you want. Even though I was prepped beforehand how to order in Japanese, I would still often end up pointing at the menu and saying how many I'd want.

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ODAIBA

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"YAKISOBA PLACE" (IN DIVER CITY FOOD COURT)

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Yakisoba

Yen Spent: 950 (Yakisoba + drink set)
When/Where to Pay: At the counter before the meal

Restaurant Size: N/A

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

I can't read the name of this place (if anybody can, please let me know and I'll update this section!), but from the menu item images I could tell that they served yakisoba. Even though the menu on the board was all in Japanese, there was an English menu at the counter where you placed your order.

Now, a couple interesting things about the Diver City food court. This was actually the first time I dined in a food court in Japan so I don't know if this is actually standard procedure:

1. If you are dining in, each food stall provides their own tray and dishes. When you are done eating, you return the dishes and tray back to the stall you ordered food from. I think this is pretty neat for a couple reasons. For one, this would allow each stall to provide a more customized / themed food experience, depending on the food they are selling. This also allows each stall to be responsible for their own dishes, and not require an external party to wash and redistribute trays and dishes back to each stall.

2. In the center area of the food court were a couple stations where you could wash your hands or serve yourself water. I thought this was really nice! No more needing to go to the washroom just to wash your hands.

My yakisoba with Calpico drink. The yakisoba was yummy. 
The drink tasted kinda like cream soda.

TUKIJIKINDACO (IN DIVER CITY FOOD COURT)

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Takoyaki

Yen Spent: 550
When/Where to Pay: At the counter before the meal

Restaurant Size: N/A

Recommend? Standard

Brief Impression

If you are looking for quickly-made takoyaki, this is the place! While you're in line to make your order, you can pretty much see the whole takoyaki-making process... at least from the point the ready-made dough / mix is squished out as balls.

I think for how quickly it was made, the takoyaki tasted fine.

The takoyaki. I think we got it about a few minutes after ordering it.

TAKOYAKI MUSEUM

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Takoyaki

Yen Spent: 975 (half of the actual total; split with my sister)
When/Where to Pay: Pay via the vending machine

Restaurant Size: N/A

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

To get to the takoyaki museum, you have to walk through DECKS to the end. I love the colourful lanterns -- it gives the place a festival feeling. I'm not exactly sure why it's called a "museum" when it's actually a place made up of stalls selling various takoyaki. If there was actually information detailing the history of takoyaki anywhere, I missed it!

Anywho... this takoyaki museum is really spacious. And there are a bunch of stalls that sell different flavoured takoyaki. All the ordering is done via vending machine. Each stall has their own machine for you to select what you want. Once you put the money into the vending machine, you get a ticket to hand off to the person at the counter. You will then be handed a buzzer with a number. When your order is ready, the buzzer will vibrate and you go to pick up your order.

In the seating area, there are menus at each table listing what types of takoyaki are sold at each stall. Unfortunately this menu was a bit outdated and only in Japanese. I made do with my limited skills and was able to read out "cheese" (my "kryptonite") and "mayonnaise" (yum for takoyaki!) for some items. Fortunately some of the vending machines had English names under each menu item.

For the takoyaki that my sister and I ordered, they were hit and miss. But being a takoyaki fan, I will totally go back and try out other flavours!

This was a 3-style takoyaki set. One of them was cheese-flavoured which I avoided.
The other flavours were yummy.

This one was my attempt to order a "regular" style takoyaki. 

Unfortunately, it had too many onions and mayonnaise for my liking.

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HANEDA AIRPORT

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MOS CAFE

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Fast food

Yen Spent: 780 (360 teriyaki burger + 420 tiramisu cake)

When/Where to Pay: At the counter before the meal

Restaurant Size: Very small

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

Back when I was in high school and read manga scanlations of Hikaru no Go, I always used to think that Mos Burger joints were parodies of McDonalds. Little did I know...

Mos Burger is a fast food joint that offers burgers, but with an Asian "flair" to it. For example, I ordered a teriyaki burger, a burger that wouldn't be offered in any McDonalds in Canada. They also offer other items like rice burgers and hot dogs. I think Mos Cafe had a more limited menu selection, but was sufficient for a quick filling meal. The tiramisu cake was okay.

I would like to dine in at an actual Mos Burger one day.

The teriyaki burger. For some reason, this looks more "wholesome" than 
other burgers at fast food joints.

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IKEBUKURO

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NAMJATOWN -- GYOZA AREA

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Gyoza

Yen Spent: 375 (half of the actual total; split with my sister)

When/Where to Pay: At the counter before the meal
"Restaurant" Size: Very small

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

So this place required admission into Namco Namjatown. If you were planning on checking out Namjatown anyway, don't miss out on this area! It kinda looks like a long alleyway of various food stalls selling gyoza. From what my sister and I tried, the gyoza were good. Many of the menus were English-friendly.

One drawback was seating. I don't think there was really enough seating to accommodate everybody -- at least in the alleyway setting. Some makeshift tables were set up so you could eat while standing, but most of the seating was in another area of Namjatown. I think that takes away a bit of the immersive experience.

If I went to Namjatown again I would definitely wander around this alleyway again. 

One of the stalls we ordered gyoza from.

Left: 3-style set; right: Okonomiyaki gyoza.
Of the two, we both liked the okonomiyaki gyoza the best.

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SHIBUYA

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MATSUYA

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Fast food rice dishes

Yen Spent: 1040 (550 pork set + 330 small beef + 160 potato salad)
When/Where to Pay: Pay via the vending machine

Restaurant Size: Small

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

Matsuya is like fast food, but for rice dishes. From what I had, the food was decent, cheap, and filling. I don't think the dishes are mind-blowing, but are good for what they are. And for the cost, you get a lot of food!

The first thing you do when you enter Matsuya is go to a vending machine to make your order. The nice thing is that the vending machine has English language options. Once you select your order and pay for it, a ticket comes out. Then you sit down at an empty seat and give your ticket. Then food magically appears in front of you in about 5-10 minutes.

We checked out two locations for Matsuya: one at Shibuya (picture above), and then a smaller one at Shinjuku. The first time we checked out the Shinjuku location, the vending machine wasn't working so we were seated and were given laminated menus to make our order. We still had to pay before being served the food.

I would definitely go back to this place and try out their other menu items.

This is the pork set. For 550 yen, I think this is a lot of food!

This is the small beef bowl that I ordered.
To me, this doesn't look small at all!

KRISPY KREME

Type(s) of Cuisine: Western

Specialty (if any): Donuts (Japanese style)

Yen Spent: 378 (half of the actual total; split with my sister)
When/Where to Pay: At the counter before the meal

Restaurant Size: Small

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

The last time I went to Japan, I put Krispy Kreme donuts under the "snack" section of this entry. This time, though, I dined in with my sister, so it gets its small "spotlight", haha. The atmosphere was really nice -- it kinda reminds me of a Starbucks or Second Cup. Really laidback, quiet, and warm.

For me, I really enjoy the Krispy Kreme donuts in Japan. The selection is larger and I kinda like the overall make of the donuts as well. At least from my experience, none of the donuts are overly sweet nor have too much of anything, as I've experienced from some of the Krispy Kreme donuts in Canada. I highly recommend checking this place out if you want some donuts in Japan!

Left to right: Uji Green Tea, Mango Kreme, Watermelon Ring.
My sister and I split the watermelon ring donut while 
I ate the mango kreme and my sister ate the uji green tea.
Between the mango kreme and the watermelon ring, 
I enjoyed the mango kreme the best.

The inside. So nice and inviting, hahaha.

The various donuts on sale at the time.
If you check out the Krispy Kreme donuts Japanese site, 
the menu has changed since then.

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AKIHABARA

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EORZEA CAFE **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Final Fantasy XIV-themed

Yen Spent: 2942 (1972 reservation fee [partially covered my sister and her hubby's fee]; food breakdown below)
When/Where to Pay: At the front desk after the meal

Restaurant Size: Medium

Recommend? Yes!! (reservations recommended)

Reservation / No Reservation Experience

This time we went to Eorzea Cafe with reservations. If you are curious about my experience with Eorzea Cafe with no reservations, you can read about it in my Japan EATS blog from 2016. Please note that the process may have changed from the time of that posting.

Making reservations online

So, this time I followed this blog to make my reservations and it was going well up until... just like last time, the final confirmation page. Maybe I missed something, but I was forced to sign up for some kind of e-mail newsletter before being allowed to confirm my reservation. Besides that, the rest of the reservation process was smooth, thanks to that blog entry. Even picking up the tickets from the Loppi machine at Lawson was smooth, so... kudos to that blog for giving all the necessary information / resources! :) *tips hat*

Keeping this here because it is useful: Just take note that seating availability will NOT show for at least the next two days from when you try to make reservations. For example, if you try to make reservations on August 22nd, seating availability for August 23rd and 24th will show up as completely unavailable, even if in reality there could be empty seats. If you just have to eat at Eorzea Cafe the next day and you didn't make reservations early enough, try going without reservations and hope there is availability.

Brief Impression

Two years ago, I claimed that Eorzea Cafe was the best themed cafe I had experienced so far -- and it still is! :)

Most of the next two paragraphs are lifted from my old blog:

The decor is lovely. The food is lovely. There are PCs and PS4s available for you to log onto FFXIV while you are in the cafe! And the seating limit is 2 hours. You can leave earlier, but if you want, you can definitely relax and get immersed into the atmosphere and food.

Before entering the cafe, every customer was given an iPad with the menu, a drink order sheet if you made reservations, a list of seating / eating / ordering etiquette / rules, and a "gold saucer ticket" with three numbers. Once we were all seated inside, a staff member welcomed us in Japanese and probably went over the etiquette / rules. Then they did the "gold saucer" drawing. If they call out the number on your "gold saucer ticket", then you win. The 1st prize was a ridiculously huge dessert. I don't remember what the 2nd and 3rd prizes were.

There were a couple big differences between my current visit and my visit to Eorzea Cafe two years ago:

1. iPad menu: Two years ago, this did not exist at all. We were given laminated menus with an order sheet. The iPad menu was neat, but it was all in Japanese. Thankfully, the servers were kind to give us a laminated English menu, and English instructions on how to make orders from the iPad. One nice thing about the iPad menu was that sold out menu items could be updated live.

2. The menu changed drastically! It makes a lot of sense, given how far Final Fantasy XIV has come in two years, but still... no more Titan Burger. *weeps* ;___;

We were seated in the bar area, and just like last time, I chatted with another traveller. What I think this means, is... if you ever want a random encounter with me, just come by yourself and sit in the bar seats in Eorzea Cafe whenever I visit. Next random encounter should pop up in two years if things go well, hahahaha xD **in all seriousness, though -- the chance of this random encounter actually happening is super slim when considering reservation times and when I'd be in Japan again, so please do NOT ever really try for it! It would make me sad for all the effort involved :<**

Overall, Eorzea Cafe was still enjoyable and is highly recommended, even if you don't play FFXIV. One suggestion I would make, though, is to make reservations for an earlier time slot if possible. We went to Eorzea Cafe at 2 PM and many of the menu items were sold out. If you want a full menu selection, get there early!

What I Ate / Drank ...

Fish and chips (680 yen) -- This came with three different dips, and it was really good!

Creme brulee (290 yen) -- This was split with my sister. It was very good.

Machinist drink (free with reservation) -- I already had a Bard drink last time. I... don't remember what this tasted like, but I remember enjoying it!

The machinist drink.

The fish and chips. I'd probably have this again if they'll still have it in two years. 

The creme brulee. This was a little tough to split with my sister.

I don't remember seeing this weapon two years ago.

Fat cat plushie. It was on sale in their small merch shop that was outside the cafe.

I still love the warmth of these windows.

Mini standees of some of the later NPCs. 

Another weapon I don't remember seeing two years ago.

This looks so nice. 

All the coasters I got! My sister gave me her coasters, whee!
I traded away my red mage for the carpenter coaster.

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TOKYO

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CAFE MUGIWARA **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): One Piece-themed

Yen Spent: 4900 (2 visits -- breakdown below)
When/Where to Pay: At the counter after the meal

Restaurant Size: Large

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

This was located inside Tokyo Tower, but you don't need admission to eat inside. Inside are various manga volumes of One Piece and you are encouraged to take a volumne and read while waiting for your food. They even have English versions of One Piece! xD

As I said two years ago, I would totally recommend this place, especially to One Piece fans.

What I Ate / Drank ...

Franky's burger (800 yen) -- This had a pink bun and sauced meat and egg inside. It was really good!

Ace Round Cake (900 yen) -- It's Ace -- I just had to order it. I liked that it was not overly sweet.

Vivi Drink (1000 yen) -- This was very delicious.

Luffy Burger (1600 yen) -- This was totally a burger made for Luffy. It was very filling.

Zero Drink (600 yen) -- This was okay, but I preferred Vivi's drink.

The Franky burger. Really yummy!

Ace round cake.

Vivi drink. I let the cake mix with the drink.

Luffy burger. This originally came with cheese but I said no to it.

Zoro drink. The three straws were a nice touch.

Some manga that you can pick up and read!

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SAITAMA

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CAPCOM CAFE **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Video game-themed

Yen Spent: 3380 (breakdown below)
When/Where to Pay: At the counter after the meal

Restaurant Size: Medium

Recommend? Yes!

Brief Impression

From my old blog: My biggest gripe with this cafe is its location. To me, it is located in the middle of nowhere, and it takes about an hour of subway commutes and multiple transfers to get there. Because of this, I visited Capcom Cafe by myself.

Capcom Cafe is still the same as it was two years ago, except for the change in the cafe's theme, which I expected. At the time of my visit, it was Okami-themed. The menu was all in Japanese, which doesn't surprise me. It'll be a while before this cafe that is located in the middle of nowhere will draw enough foreigners to warrant an English-friendly menu.

One thing that really floored me this time was the merch shop right outside the cafe. It contained pretty much all the leftover goods from the cafe's previous themes! That meant I got to look at some goods for Phoenix Wright! Yayyyyyy! xD

I would love to encourage more people to visit Capcom Cafe. Because of its location, it almost feels like a hidden gem for nerds, hahaha. And I say "nerds" with affection, of course. I mean -- I am one, too! :)

What I Ate / Drank ...

Monster Hunter Classic (1480 yen) -- This was a nice surprise to see on the menu. It was cute and tasted decent. I know if they served a life-sized version of the meal from Monster Hunter World, I wouldn't be able to finish it!

Okami Sweets dessert (1100 yen) -- It was good... but I did not like the petals. I'm not sure if I was supposed to eat them, but I didn't want to waste the food, so I ate them... some of the petals were tasteless but other petals were a bit bitter... and so dry.

Okami-themed drink (800 yen) -- This was okay.

The Monster Hunter Classic. They had a slightly larger version of this, 
but I didn't want to get too full.

The Okami-themed dessert. If those flower petals weren't there 
I would have enjoyed this a lot more. ;_;

The Okami-themed drink.

The placemat. If you want, you can pay to have the placemat laminated.
I don't remember the cost of the lamination service.

I took a pic of this mainly 'cuz of Phoenix Wright -- and Leon, haha.

Some of the Okami goods.

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SHINJUKU

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KFC **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Western

Specialty (if any): Fried chicken

Yen Spent: 670
When/Where to Pay: At the cashier before the food comes

Restaurant Size: Medium

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

This hasn't changed since the last two times I visited KFC in Japan. From the old blog: The KFCs in Japan are different from the KFCs in Canada. The menu items are slightly different and the chicken is more breaded in Japan.

My combo. I think I shared this with my sister. I find the chicken a bit 
spicier than the KFC chicken in Canada.

I got this just 'cuz it had the Colonel's face on it.
It says in "banira" (Vanilla) and "kaanerumonaka" (Colonel monaka).

The Colonel's face! It's a bit hard to see the details.
It had an ice cream filling and was quite good. 

ROYAL HOST **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Various

Specialty (if any): None

Yen Spent: 842
When/Where to Pay: At the counter after the meal

Restaurant Size: Large

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

So this hasn't changed since the last visit. I think if you are looking for food variety, this is a good place to check out. Next time I would like to have their curry.

I had fried chicken and fries. Both items were decent.

MCDONALD'S **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Western

Specialty (if any): Fast food

Yen Spent: 660
When/Where to Pay: At the counter before the food comes

Restaurant Size: Not applicable

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

McDonald's is McDonald's. Just be mindful of where to throw your trash if you are dining in. I'd suggest observing how others are doing it. That's what I had to do, hahaha. I'll have to make notes next time!

My combo. I had a teriyaki burger, yummy!

CURRY HOUSE COCO ICHIBANYA

Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Curry

Yen Spent: 499
When/Where to Pay: At the counter after the meal

Restaurant Size: Small

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

This place was small, the but food was decent. The neat thing about this place was you could customize your curry dish from rice portion to spice level to mildness of the curry sauce to the toppings. Here's some information about customizing your curry dish in English.

I was a little weary on the spiciness of the curry (even at mild level), so I ordered a mini curry dish ("half order curry") that came with a drink. When we received our orders, we concluded that my order was best value-wise because it included a drink... but I guess it would depend on if more curry is valued over the drink and vice-versa.

Regardless, it was a good value. I would like to visit this place again.

My half order curry that came with a drink. For the price, 
this is a decent amount of food.
The curry was just enough for me and the drink was nice, too.
I had tomato juice, yum! Lol.

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SNACKS & VENDING DRINKS

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This section is just to list what miscellaneous snacks / foods and flavoured vending machine drinks that I bought or got and ate while in Japan.

What I Ate / Drank ...

Shrimp chips (108 yen) -- Wow... this is the first time I had shrimp chips I did NOT like! :( It was tangy and I just did not like it. I couldn't finish it in the end.

Chocolate marshmallows (108 yen) -- This was okay.

Choco breads (108 yen) -- This was okay.

Sakura gummies x2 (216 yen) -- I didn't like this. I was hoping to send it to a friend, but couldn't after tasting it, hahaha.

Melon bread (108 yen) -- This was pretty good.

Sakeru gummy x11 (some long; some short) (1156 yen) -- After my friend sent me this YouTube video for Sakeru gummy, I had to find some in Japan! As you can see, I was very successful, hahahaha. No dice on the mango gummy, though. :(

Potage rice crackers x2 (578 yen) -- We searched for these for a friend and they are actually quite yummy! The bags we got contained five different flavours. Aside from the cheese flavoured one (bleh!), I liked them!

Tokyo Banana Tree (515 yen) -- I tried this out because we kept seeing huge ads for them after getting off the plane in Haneda airport. So yeah -- ads can work on me sometimes... but only if I let them! :x

MaRuCoRo sand cookies (324 yen) -- This was okay.

Takoyaki candy (324 yen) -- I actually didn't eat this, but wanted to.

Ghibli Museum's Spring Roll (500 yen) -- This was my lunch at Ghibli museum. I would have liked something more filling but it was too crowded.

Calbee+ Okonomiyaki flavour potato sticks (108 yen) -- This was subtle and nice. It didn't really taste like okonomiyaki, though.

Calbee+ Takoyaki flavour potato sticks (108 yen) -- This was also subtle and nice, but didn't really taste like takoyaki.

Calbee+ Lemon flavour potato chips (145 yen) -- I could really taste the lemon!

Calbee+ Consomme flavour potato chips (540 yen) -- This was subtle and nice -- but in a good way! It really had an elegant flavour.

Calbee+ Edo Jaga Sea flavour potato chips (785 yen) -- This was nice and seaweedy.

Vending machine drink: Peach-flavoured (130 yen) -- I do like my peach-flavoured things.

Vending machine drink: Peach-flavoured Coca-Cola (130 yen) -- This, well... it tasted like a light cream soda.

The chocolate buns, sakura gummies (bleh), 
melon bread, chocolate marshmallows, shrimp chips (bleh!)

Potage rice crackers. I highly recommend you find these if you enjoy rice crackers!

Tokyo Banana Tree. Supposedly this is a popular souvenir item.

Tokyo Banana Tree unwrapped. I enjoyed the softness and the chocolate filling.

Takoyaki candy thing, takoyaki handkerchief, and MaRuCoRo sand cookies.
This image will also be in my next blog.

What the sand cookies look like.

Sakeru gummies galore!
I brought some of them home and mailed some away.
Out of these flavours, the melon one is the my favourite.

More Sakeru gummies! There is also some mini-gummies which weren't as good.

All the chips from the Calbee+ store.
From left to right, top to bottom: Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Consomme, Lemon, Edo Jaga.

Peach drink!

Peach Coca-cola!

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SUPERMARKETS

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MARUETSU **RE-VISIT**

Type(s) of Cuisine: Various

Specialty (if any): Unsure

Yen Spent: N/A
When/Where to Pay: At the cashier

Restaurant Size: Not applicable

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

I'm just keeping this here so you know there is another, possibly cheaper alternative to buying foods from convenience stores. I didn't really buy anything from Maruetsu this time, though the beer shelf tempted me.

Lifted from the last blog:

Overall, Maruetsu is slightly cheaper than convenience stores. They also carry their own pre-made meals and pastries, but I personally like the meals in convenience stores more. Maruetsu's beer shelf is very colourful and fun to look at, lol.

If you are close to a supermarket, it may be worth balancing what to buy from there to save a little yen. It all adds up. :)

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CONVENIENCE STORES

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Type(s) of Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty (if any): Unsure

Yen Spent: 6508 (breakdown below)

Restaurant Size: Not applicable

Recommend? YES!

Brief Impression

I will always have a deep love for 7-11s in Japan for all its foods. You just have to set foot in one and you will understand... I think, hahaha. :)

I checked out Lawson's a few times, but I mainly stuck with 7-11s for my convenience store purchasings.

What I Ate / Drank ...

Ready-made meals x4 (1844 yen) -- Some of the meals I liked and some were just okay.

Onigiri x3 (235 yen) -- These were good.

Fried rice ball thing (130 yen) -- This was kinda like fried rice in onigiri portion. I liked it.

Sausage rice thing (140 yen) -- This was okay.

Strawberry puff bun (108 yen) -- This had wayyy too much butter for me to enjoy fully.

Crab bread (85 yen) -- This was plain bread that was shaped like a crab.

Curry bun (100 yen) -- I do like curry.

Cutlet bun (100 yen) -- This was okay.

Calorie Mate x3 (540 yen) -- These would be my cheap, cheap breakfast substitutions.

SoyJoy x2 (246 yen) -- This was okay. These were also cheap breakfast substitutions.

Granola bar (130 yen) -- Ditto for this one.

Cup Noodles x2 (416 yen) -- I found a tea kettle in the hotel so I took the opportunity to have some cup noodles! Hahaha.

Soft banana snack (108 yen) -- This was okay.

Kirby snack (280 yen) -- It just looked so cute I had to try it out.

Manju (130 yen) -- This was okay.

UHA's mini gummies (138 yen) -- I mentioned this already, but it doesn't beat Sakeru gummy.

Tiramisu ice cream bar (138 yen) -- So... I didn't really get a chance to eat this. Unfortunately the mini-fridge in the hotel didn't have a freezer section so the bar melted completely. Thankfully it was still contained in its wrapping, but *sigh* I really wanted to try it out. :(

Seaweed-flavoured chips x3 (543 yen) -- This is still one of my favourite chip flavours in Japan.

Death Mix Nuts (130 yen) -- I got this for my sister's hubby who likes spicy foods every now and then. This was too spicy for him.

Kagome vegetable drink (110 yen) -- I just wanted to make sure I had something healthy.

Bottled Water x5 (514 yen) -- Mmmm, water... <3

Dango (108 yen) -- This was yummy, as usual. Next time I'd like to try having some from a stall... if dango stalls exist!

This Kirby dessert thing. Kirby had a yellow cream filling 
while the "M" had a chocolate cream filling. I enjoyed the "M" more.

Some granola bar, dango, and a soft banana thing.

My first dinner from 7-11. I believe this will be my tradition every time I visit Japan -- 
that my first dinner will be something from 7-11, hahaha :)

Another dinner. I really enjoyed this one.

This was good, too.

And this one, too.

Left to right, top to bottom: Kagome vegetable drink, SoyJoy chocolate, 
SoyJoy banana, chocolate, manju, tiramisu ice cream bar, curry bun, cutlet bun.

Left to right, top to bottom: seaweed chips, strawberry bread, Calorie Mate.
The chips on the left were great.

Curry cup noodles, crab bread, Calbee seaweed chips.
I still prefer the chips in the image above.

So yummy! The big cup was too much for me, though, hahaha.

Water (yum!), Seafood cup noodles, onigiri.

Sakeru gummy! Calorie Mate, death mix nuts, fried rice ball thing, sausage rice thing.

I think this was my last breakfast in Japan. *sniffle*

Here is the total yen that I spent on food: 31424 yen.

For comparison's sake, here is what I spent on food back in 2016: 42685 yen.

And then... here is what I spent on food back in 2014: 28729 yen.

Thanks for reading! If you read to the end... oh my goodness, thank you very muchhhh!!! xD If you have any comments or want to know more about anything, feel free to say something! :)

My next Japan blog (fingers crossed that I'll be able to get it out in a timely manner!) will be on any miscellaneous thoughts / observations PLUS all my "swag" purchases (wheee!).

Take care everybody and thanks again! :)