Tokyo Trip 2008 – Day 2

^ I look real terrible in this photo ORZ

Continuing with the documentation of my Tokyo trip. We look at Day 2 today.

Meeting new people was on my to-do list during this whole trip. And today, we meet up with Bangin, a Japanese who writes a blog on Japanese words and anime terminology in English and his English is really really good. If you’re learning Japanese or am interested in a couple of Japanese terms, do visit it.

Let me get back to the documentation ^^;

Having spent the whole day out the day before and also not getting enough sleep on the plane (All used up for looking at Japanese girls), we woke up at 11.30am, which was really late as we were to meet Bangin at Akihabara station at 12pm. We met up at around 12.30pm, and our day starts from there.

^ I really like how they have flat-panel monitors which displays the prices

Started off with visiting Animate and Toranoana where I tried to search for a couple of CDs but couldn’t find any ^^; Following that, we headed to Mister Donut for a simple meal where we had a couple of very interesting conversations with each other.

I still prefer Krispy Kreme (They have it in here over in Shinjuku!) but Mister Donut definitely tastes better compared to Donut Factory in Singapore.

After which, we headed to the main road of Akihabara which was closed as it was a Sunday. There were a couple of cosplayers there and photographers swarmed the nicer looking ones ^^;

Below’s a couple of cosplayers’ photos.

She’s apparently a meido-chan working a one of the meido cafes in Akihabara. Can’t really remember which one…

This Yoko cosplayer attracted a lot of photographers, probably because she’s wearing really skimpy clothes ^^ I really wonder how she can withstand the cold as it was really chilly on that day.

A group of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu cosplayers dancing to Hare Hare Yukai. They did a short dance before having to disperse when the police intercepted them. Darn those policemen!

Following which a street busker who seems to be promoting a CD of hers. She’s really pretty too!

I think she has a mixi account as well. Got to check.

Another girl giving out flyers to the people around.

Another pretty street busker. The girls here are all really pretty and cute. ほしいな！Her name’s 有希 「Yuuki」 and she’s also promoting her website by singing as well. She sings really well.

I like her smile very very much ^^

We were having a little debate on whether this cosplayer is actually a crossdresser, also known as 女装少年 「Josou Shounen」. It’s really hate to tell as her/him looks like her/him (You get the idea ^^;)

And this is an obvious 女装少年 「Josou Shounen」. He’s crossdressing as Kagami from Lucky Star. ORZ My tsundere kagami’s image got destroyed. We say “痛い” 「Itai!」, which means “It’s painful” whenever we see ‘terrible’ images like these.

This is Gee Store Akiba, a store where Bangin usually goes to grab his cosplay stuff. A 隠し撮り写真 「kakushitori shashin/secretly taken photo」 as they don’t allow people to photograph their stuff.

Another 隠し撮り写真 「kakushitori shashin/secretly taken photo」. Some of the costumes there are really costly. I remember one going for ￥10,000 or so… which is equivalent to the cost of an eroge. Unless ou can get a cute girl to cosplay in the uniform, I don’t really think it’s worth getting it ^^;

Started to drizzle a little in Akihabara and it got really chilly.

After spending some time in Akihabara, we headed to Ueno where Bangin bought us to karaoke.

Ueno station’s really crowded. Getting lost there is not an option.

A little shopping district in Ueno. Lots of people there as well!

Most of the karaoke places where full so we had a trouble searching for one that still had space available.

A really cool navigation karaoke system. Beats the ones in Singapore hands down.

Sang God knows ^^

Double at the controls and Bangin doing a victory pose.

Shot of one of the alleys in the shopping district.

An adult shop with many very very very interesting stuffs inside. There’s tenga there as well!

隠し撮り写真 「kakushitori shashin/secretly taken photo」 to bring some very interesting stuff to you guys. Interior of the Adult shop. Cover your eyes with your hands if you’re below 18! Or you could peek through your hands if you fancy ^^;

This is actually men’s bikini….. ^^;

More very interesting adult goods.

Lammtarra. Don’t be fooled by it’s clean appearance on the outside. It is actually an adult shop and the DVD, Video and Game on it’s signboard refers to Adult DVD, videos and games..

They do sell some normal anime DVDs but that’s just at the front of the store. I entered one by accident during my trip to Japan last year.

Dinner at a sushi restaurant where it’s all you can eat. Pay about 1000 yen and you get to order up to 15 items at a time per person. There were 3 of us so we could order up to 45 items at a time (!!!). Downside is, you do have to finish the ordered items before being able to order again.

The rice had limitation wasabi in it which gave a hot flavor. Had to gulp down tea after eating a couple of sushi.

Ending this post with a picture of a Japanese family who’s currently staying in the same hostel as we are. The man on the right stays in the same dorm as us and we had a lovely time conversing in Japanese. Adorable daughter!

Spent almost 2 hours chatting with him, discussing topics and sharing the differences in cultures and also the places he has traveled.

Will continue to push more and more of this articles each day. ^^;