073. lost & found, tokyo

3rd March 2013, Sunday :

We had to get up extra early on Sunday because we were gonna change hotel and planned to go to Kamakura. We managed to reach Hamamatsucho station at about 11am and it took about an hour to get to there. We had to change the train at Shinagawa and there was a straight one right to Kamakura.

Touch screen vending machine. -_-

Since the journey was so long, little sis tried to catch a nap and I was just listening to lynch. looking out at the scenery. We passed by Yokohama (which we always wanted to go) and at Kita-Kamakura, there was a really huge Goddess of Mercy statue which was stunning. When we finally got to Kamakura, we went straight to the tourist information to asked for directions and get an all day bus pass around the area.

I've never taken a public bus in Japan before, so it was really new to me. It works so differently from other countries and if we didn't read the instructions, I think we would have been very confused. Bascially, you have to enter at the back of the bus and you don't pay for the fare until you have reached your stop. You had to pay at the front of the bus (where the driver is sitting) the fare amount once you want to get off the bus. But since we got the all day pass, all we had to do was show the driver our passes and it was easier too, saves time and worry if we had enough coins.

So, we decided to go to the Giant Buddha first since it was one of the recommended places to go. But seriously, once we saw the Buddha, the thing that came into my head was " Okay, so now what?" All I did was take photos and that was about it. -__-

Sitting at the bus stop.

We didn't spend a very long time there. All we did was visited some souvenir shops and went straight to the bus stop and look at map to decide where we should go next. Being the little genius Lydia is, we just hopped onto another bus and got lost somewhere up in the mountains. I panicked but she was so chill about it. -__- On the bus, we passed by Rai Tei, which was a famous restaurant for buckwheat noodles, which is soba. 

The bus dropped us off further down the road, so we had to walk back a little. I was still worried and little sis was all like "we can always take the bus back from the other side". I don't understand how she can stay so calm when we were lost and the place was so quiet and deserted. 

She just doesn't care that we are very lost.

There were a lot of houses around this area too. When we reached Rai Tei, we had to pay an entrance fee of 500 yen. We were given a map of the gardens and lakes around Rai Tei. So, we decided to have lunch first since the restaurant was just there. It was so cold up the area and it looked like it was going to rain. Thankfully it didn't, if not I would have froze to death.

The little stand is where the entrance.

Some Sakura were blooming! Yay!

It was fallen down?

In Rai Tei, I love the little pot.

I really love how traditional it looks.

For lunch, we both had the same. We ordered the set meal which came with soba, you could choose if you want it hot or cold, tofu with some spinach (the tofu was really fresh!), pumpkin, winter melon, carrots, pickled vegetables, tempura and some dessert which I'm not sure what it is but it was yummy. I loved the interior, it was really traditional and I thought it was cute too.

Once we were done with lunch, we just went to walk around the area. We were on top of a hill, so we slowly made our way down to the bamboo forest.

She was very happy with lunch?

I was obviously being an idiot.

It looks really bright in this picture but in actual fact, it was really dark.

There were these cute little statues around the forest. 

We basically didn't know where we were going or what we were doing. We just followed the path. To be honest, I was a little worried when we were in the forest. It was so quiet and I wouldn't say it was really dark, but it was... somewhat? That it gave off a creepy but calm feeling. Also, I got freaked out with some sudden noises which I think were birds or some other animal or demon... or yokai or human. I don't know.

Even more statues.

Little sis loves the picture because of the petals.

You can tell I was getting worried, haha.

Soon, we reached the end of the path and there was a restricted area, it looked even creepier than it already was, so little sis and I walked up the stairs and decided to take the bus back to the "city". I was relieved we made it out alive. Haha.

I thought this house was so cute.

Cute little train track that you normally see in anime.

Soon, we arrived back at the bus terminal and we saw a shopping street nearby. Also, you could see a huge gigantic Ghibli shop, actually the only reason why we skipped going to temples. Haha.

I love how they hung the dried roses.

We spent some time there. The shop was really big and it had 2 floors. I bought a Totoro display set and a Jiji hand puppet. Little sis went to stalk some little girl because she was too cute, there were some stuff that only could be found in this shop too. I haven't seen a Totoro phone charm having matcha and dango, it was so cute! I had to have it. Also, the Totoro display I got was packed nicely in a showcase shaped like an egg. I haven't seen it anywhere in Tokyo too, so I bought it for our home.

As usual, there were a lot of souvenir shops along this street. I've gone to Japan so many times there's really not a need to get souvenirs right? Little sis and I were searching for dango since we haven't tried it yet. There were also little stands that sold rice crackers, where they will fry it on the spot and you could eat it while it's hot. Seemed interesting but we were really fixed on having dango. 

Finally we found a dango shop where we could sit and have matcha too! Amazingly, the matcha is much more expensive than the dango. I think the dango was only 100 yen per stick and the matcha was 300 yen.

We tried the Mitarashi dango (covered with syrup made from shoyu, sugar and starch). It was weird but strangely yummy? Also, we had the Anko dango with strawberry which is red bean paste. I really loved the strawberries in Japan, they are so sweet. :3 The matcha was really good too. It was really really thick.

So we walked down the street and there were some little cute cafes and even more souvenir shops. There were a lot of eagles circling the area, first time I've seen so many eagles. There were some weird shops too. There was one that sold African stuff (why though?). And we passed by this cute little cafe. The owl mugs are so cute! ^^

And another shop with cute Japanese masks.

When we decided to visit the other parts of Kamakura, it was already 4ish. Temples in Japan close at 4, so it was really no point going around anymore. Anyways, Kamakura is so big I didn't even think we could finish looking at everything, plus, you have Kita-Kamakura too. T_T So... we took the train to Shibuya, it was really crowded and took more than an hour to arrive back in the city. 

It was still a little too early to have dinner, so we just wandered around Shibuya where we found a cute little pet shop, they sold puppies and kittens!!!! I melted. 

omg I want her. ;___;

So precious!!!

And found Alice in Wonderland Cafe. I didn't know they had one in Shibuya?

Nope, we didn't have dinner there. Only took photos. 

lynch. at Tsutaya. <3

Tower Records, haha, she cracks me up.

Believe it or not, Lydia is the one who took this.

We found the One Piece shop at Parco! Everything was so cute!

Tony Tony Chopper and Luffy!

Love the little flags!

Can't believe they actually built the ship. T_T

Luffy's hats as lamps! How cute!

I love Chopper's hat, wish I bought it. ><

Capsule machines!

We walked around Shibuya for almost 2 hours before going having dinner at Silkream. I had pasta and my gigantic parfait! The pasta was surprisingly good. I love Silkream. After dinner, we still walked around  Shibuya for another hour.

When we were at Tower Records, there was a group of guys looking at me that little sis thought was funny. I don't get it. In Japan, it's like I'm a princess? I'm not being self-absorbed but a lot of guys look or turn their heads to look at me and most of them will say "kirei (pretty)" or "kawaii (cute) or they even tell their friends to look at me but here, I'm like this ugly piece of shit that guys treat me like I'm invisible. Also, the whole time I was so happy in Tokyo because some of the guys that hit on me were cute. /sigh Take me back please. 

Anyways, when we got out of Tower Records, the group of guys were still there and this guy with long hair told his friends that I'm there and they looked at me again. I was like ehhh. Then, the guy with the long hair approached me and asked me for my number and I said IN ENGLISH "Sorry, I don't live here." It was funny because he didn't believe me and thought I was just saying it to get away. -_- He spoke back to me back in English and finally believed me until I showed him my passport. I've never met anyone so persistent. To be honest, I would have given my number to him if I was living there because he was cute and he was carrying a guitar and he had tattoos and nice piercings. ;___; huhuhu, totally my type. I swear I'm doomed to me alone unless I move to Japan. -.- Anyways, he was cute and he told me he was sad because he really wanted to know me and I was cute plus I listened to metal. 

LOL I WAS LIKE OH YOU STALKED ME AT THE METAL SECTION? LMAO. 

Never met a guy like this. If only. Now I'm sad.

Carrying on... after that, little sis and I walked to the train station and was shouting rubbish because we just felt like it. Hahaha, we were shouting YEAHHH!!!! And running down the street. Honestly, it was the most liberating feeling. It really felt good doing that. Haha, I swear people thought we were drunk. I had so much fun.

When we reached the Prince Park Tower Hotel, it was already 10ish and we still haven't checked in. I almost had a panic attack when the receptionist told me the hotel was full but... they said since I've paid for the room already, they upgraded us to the Superior Suite room. Honestly, I have no idea what it meant but when little sis and I saw our room, we went crazy. There were 2 gigantic beds waiting for us and there was a jacuzzi in the bathroom. 

Happy dances in the room.

Obviously I used the jacuzzi, my body was so tired from the whole week of walking and walking and walking. It was honestly, the best thing ever. We hit the hay at about 12 midnight because we were so sad it was our last in Tokyo. We just lay in bed talking and talking about how amazing the trip was. 

I love you Prince Park Tower, Tokyo.