157. pika pika, yokohama

Since little sis hasn't been to Yokohama, we decided to go today because again, the weather was nice (unlike yesterday, it was raining and humid) and there was a Pikachu event going on for the week. Once we arrived at Minato Mirai Station, everything was plastered with Pikachu, there was even a Pikachu inflatable float for kids to play on near the station. There were people handing out flyers and even a paper foldable hat for the event.

We went t Mark Is first and there was a stage and even more Pikachu stuff, there was even a gigantic balloon hanging in the middle of the mall.

We were getting a little hungry so we went to Afternoon Tea for their summer special. It was octopus with tomato base pasta which was actually weirdly nice. We heard some loud music coming outside, so we hurried to finish our drink and went outside to see what was going on. There were Pikachu-s dancing and entertaining the crowd. There were tons of children trying to catch a glimpse of the dancing yellow things so we didn't want to fight with them for a good view. Managed to watch a little of the performance. 

Once the performance was over, the both of us decided to walk around Minato Mirai and we went out of Mark Is, and slowly walked down to the amusement area, where all the rides were and even the ship near it was decked out in Pikachu. It's sail flags were all this little monster, and there was even an inflatable Pikachu on it.

While walking to the other side of the amusement area, one of the Pikachu mascots walked out and got on the ship. It was so cute. Everywhere you turn there was Pikachu... 

We slowly walked to the red brick buildings, there was a beer garden and a little Pikachu Cafe there as well, didn't really bother much about it and we just decided to head back to World Porters.

It was really fun to show little sis around since I was here with Yuri last winter. I also brought her to try the Taiyaki at World Porters, this time we shared the one with black sesame, vanilla ice cream and honey, it was so good. Towards the evening, we walked to Queen's Tower to go to the Pokemon Shop but we didn't get anything, instead I bought her a Naruto surprise box at the Jump Comics shop just opposite and she got the character she wanted. 

We ended the day at Mark Is again, looking at furniture, kittens and ferrets! I haven't seen so many ferrets in my life. They're my second pet option after cats. The last time I actually saw a ferret was in Osaka 4 years ago, the owner even had a leash for it. There wasn't much to do but shop so, we had dinner at a Hawaiian Cafe because we didn't feel like having any Japanese food today. We headed back early because tomorrow is going to be a loooonnnggg day.

I'm more excited about tomorrow because of Summer Sonic. There are so many bands I actually want to see this time, coldrain, Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas, My First Story, cinema staff, Crossfaith, Megadeth, Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold and Phoenix. Music man, going to see bands make me happier than more anything. 

156. moominvalley, saitama

Today's weather was perfect to go for a picnic in the park. Little sis and I decided to go to Moominvalley at あけぼの子供の森公園 in Saitama, before I move back to the old apartment because it is much nearer to the place I am currently staying at. We got up early, bought bento boxes at the supermarket and got on the train. We dropped off at Motokaji Station, and slowly walked to our destination.

It didn't take too long to get to Moominvalley but we got a little lost along the way, thanks to Google Maps once again, we managed to find the right path. We passed by a really pretty river, cute little houses and a baseball stadium before settling down at a Asu Sports Park to chow down on our food.

Mostly, it was going uphill and there were a ton of mountains in the area.

After lunch, we continued on our search for Moominvalley, it was a little confusing because Google Maps kept playing tricks on me but after a while, we managed to find あけぼの子供の森公園! I was getting excited because I've been wanting to come here since last winter, just didn't get the chance to. Luckily, it was still quiet when we arrived. Just a couple of families with their kids roaming around. There were three little houses and a small light house in the middle of the pound. I instantly fell in love.

All three houses were completely functional, and you could go into them. There was a living room, kitchen, bedroom and a study in one of the houses. It was really cute but hard to take photos because of all the kids running around. There was a small exhibition and library in one of the other houses too but you aren't allowed to take photos in that house. Everything was really cute and I was so happy because I love The Moomins so much, and by now, all my friends would know how much I love Little My. 

Little sis and I spent a little over an hour here taking photos and just exploring. I was telling her how I would love to come back in winter if it's snowing. Imagine how pretty and magical it would look? But she told me I'm crazy because it would probably be freezing. >< 

We left Moominvalley at about 2ishpm, and there was even a little shop that sold Moomin merchandise outside! I didn't get anything though, I have too much Moomin stuff already, lol. We sat down for a little bit and rested up as I took a smoke. We left at about almost 3pm and made our way back to the station. Since it was still too early to go home, we both decided to head to Ikebukuro to walk around to kill some time. 

We were both already tired before the sunset and too lazy to wait around some more for it to get darker, so we just bought bento boxes again at Seibu food department and went home. 

I'm really happy about going to Moominvalley, helped me get my mind off things for a little bit. I'm glad little sis is here with me now, to be honest. I haven't felt like myself in quite a while and her being here helps.

155. labyrinth labyrinthos

Rintaro's Labyrinth Labyrinthos (ラビリンス ラビリントス) 1987

Stumbled upon gifs of this short animation on tumblr and I just had to watch it. Labyrinth Labyrintho is part of the three part film, Neo Tokyo, it's about an exploration into the maze of a little girl's mind. I fell in love with it immediately, and I think some parts are rather eerie but the right kind. My obsession with entering another world never stops. I wish they actually made a full feature film of this because I would have liked to know where she went at the end of the film. It's only about 11 minutes long. ):

 Some parts also reminded me of Cool World, a little film Brad Pitt was in, way back when he wasn't as famous.

It feels so nice to watch this types of films again, I always feel the most of myself when I do.

154. nyan

Went to a Cat Cafe called てまりのおうちTemari no Ouchi today with someone new in Kichijoji!♡

The atmosphere here was really warm compared to the one in Odaiba, the entrance fee was 1200yen and you could just chill there for as long as you want, they also served nice drinks and food with additional cost. The cats would occasionally come to your table and sniff around which I thought of course, was super cute. You could pay 300yen for some cat food to feed them, which I did and oh my god, there were like 4 cats attacking me at one go. But I was happy, gonna be a cat lady in the future for sure. 

We stayed there for about 2 hours, had ice chai, talked and would occasionally play with the cats. Anything with cats make me happy! ^^

153. not shy of a spark

Yesterday was really really hot and humid, August is here and in Japan which means, me - dying and melting from the heat for the rest of the month or at until it decides to cools down. The past couple of days have been really hectic. Yuri has gone back to California on Thursday and I can't help but to feel a little lonely, but it's okay because I know we'll meet again next year when she returns to Japan.

I met up with Nana yesterday in the afternoon for late lunch, she found a really good sushi place at the basement of Tokyu Hands in Shibuya. Since she hasn't had any good sushi in Tokyo just yet, she really wanted to try and so I accompanied her and I'm glad I did. The fish was so fresh, the tuna literally melts in your mouth. She got the special of the day and I just got a Maguro Chirashi.

 

After lunch, we decided to go to Daikanyama because Hajime was telling me how much he loved it the last time we met. First thing I did when we got off Daikanyama station was, buy an oraganic berry and soymilk smoothie. I've been craving for so much fruits lately, probably because of the heat. We just aimlessly walked around, and explored Daikanyama. There were a couple of cute boutiques and western cafes. There were a lot of vintage, furniture and clothing shops there too. I got a set of vintage Alice in Wonderland stickers, so cute. Such a sucker for anything Alice.

There were a couple of really cute shops along the street where I got the Alice stickers, but I didn't buy anything other than that  because nothing else tickled my fancy. We slowly walked back and to the other side of Daikanyama, and somehow got to T-Site Daikanyama. There were more furniture shops, restaurants and a really nice Tsutaya. I've read online that this Tsutaya is especially for "grown ups" and theme for it is "A Library in the Woods". The architecture for it was really pretty and I would have spent a long time there but I didn't want to waste Nana's time so I just browsed through and plan on coming back with little sis when she gets here. 

We just walked around T-Site for a bit and ended up being on some other street where there were more vintage clothing boutiques which we didn't spend much time at, and decided to walk back to Shibuya. It only took about 15 minutes to get to Shibuya, we got on the Yamanote line and headed to Shin-Okubo for some Korean barbacue for dinner. Once we got into the restaurant, we both ordered a pint of beer and set meal, meat with rice. I love Japanese food but once in a while, I get tired of it and will lose appetite, that's when I always decide to go to Shin-Okubo. 

After dinner, I brought Nana to the dessert place I went with Yuri the last time. Frozen yogurt in summer is my saviour. I got the yuzu and blueberry flavour topped it with cornflakes. Nana was so cute taking photos of the framed idol pictures next to our table. We spent quite a while there talking and all of a sudden, she told me she wanted to go to Karaoke. I'm not a fan of it because like I've already said in previous entries, its hard to sing to the music I listen to. But I thought, this would be an exception because we used to go to Karaoke back in Singapore all the time when we were much younger with other friends and it was always so fun.

We actually spent the entire night singing Karaoke lol Since it was cheap from 11pm - 5am. She was mostly singing Korean songs and thankfully, there were some good songs for me to listen to or watch, I only sang EVILLY by lynch. She chose some Ayumi Hamasaki, Koda Kumi and other J-pop songs that I don't know of but it was still fun. We stopped singing at about 3am and just chilled in the karaoke lounge, talking and waiting for it to be 5 to get on the first train. 

Since she was hungry, we went to McDonalds which was just across the road of the Karaoke place. We were so tired but still talked about a ton of personal stuff till almost 7am, we only realized we needed to go back because the sun was so bright and shining on us. We parted ways at the station and I think I'm meeting her again next week!

††††††

I'm so happy it's already August. I just want to put all the things that happened earlier in the year aside and enjoy the summer with baby sis. Though I probably won't enjoy it as much as I want to because of the heat, August has always been my favourite month. We've planned out some things to do already and are going for SummerSonic! I'm actually more excited about travelling around but some live music is always good. 

Lately, I've been cooking a lot at home and am really enjoying it. I can't wait till baby sis gets here and we'll cook together because she makes some of my favorite food, and she told me she wants to bake as well once we move back to my old apartment. I'm so glad I'm moving back there because out of all the 3 neighbourhoods  I've lived in Tokyo, Kami-Itabashi is still my favourite, plus my place will be much bigger, so there will be more space for me to draw. Can't wait!

Also, this song has been stuck in my head for the last week. It's been on repeat, so happy it is because that means I'm actually excited to see Arctic Monkeys in exactly two weeks. :)

Not Shy Of A Spark
A Knife Twists At The Thought
That I Should Fall Short Of The Mark
Frightened By The Bite
Though It's No Harsher Than The Bark
Middle Of Adventure
Such A Perfect Place To Start