Day 2 in Tokyo Yuri!!! on Ice Cafe

The plan for day 2 (Saturday) was to attend the Shrine festival. This was one of the reasons we had picked the dates we had picked. The plan was to watch the parade and then follow it to the shrine where there was a big festival. We wanted to immerse ourselves in Japanese culture and really experience a proper festival. However the plans changed as the weather was not on our side!

The forecast was much cooler than Friday and rain, so much rain. We ate breakfast before we left again and then headed out. I checked where the parade was meant to be at the time we were arriving and we headed there. I suggested Matt take one of the many umbrellas that were in the air bnb but he said he was ok and I had my little foldable one. However once we got out the station we became very aware that it was not a light shower. Now I am British so I am plenty used to rain its second nature to us over here on our little island. But this rain was unrelenting and so heavy. It was literally bucketing down and it did so all day. Matt was soaked through in minutes so we made a dash to a convenience store to get ourselves more sturdy bigger umbrellas. It’s amazing that they literally sell umbrellas everywhere and they are cheap and amazing quality! Once we were suitably protected we headed out towards the parade.

We found it quickly and followed it along where it stopped for a break. That gave us the opportunity to find a nice spot to stand and watch it go past so Matt could get some pictures. After a half an hour rest the parade started up again, unfortunately though due to the weather everything was covered in plastic wrap as well as the people. I don’t blame them, they would be soaked through and their outfits looked beautiful and full of intricate details which would be ruined in the rain. We watched everyone go past which I did enjoy and once they had gone we debated if we should follow and go the shrine or take shelter inside somewhere. Akihabara was just 10 minute walk away and we decided to go and have look round the shops there than stand outside in the rain. I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to do the full festival experience but the rain just wasn’t letting up!

I was really looking forward to going to Akihabara as it is the anime and manga shopping central. It is full of maid cafes and more anime related shops than you can shake a stick at. I was also very aware that there was a Yuri!!! On Ice café in Anime Plaza and I was also very aware from my research that getting into said café was quite difficult. From what I understood you had to queue early in the morning to get a lottery ticket to get a time slot to go to the café. I had come to terms with the fact that I mostly likely wouldn’t be able to get in but as I was there I wanted to go and have a look. 

We found Anime Plaza pretty easily and they had a stand outside for the café. Using google translate (seriously portable wifi and google saved me so many times) there were two slots in the day that still had spaces. I of course freaked out and after some confusion with going to the wrong floor and then a slight language barrier with a lovely and helpful cashier we had two tickets to the café and only 40minutes to wait. I was so excited and I seriously couldn’t believe that we had gotten tickets there.

We queued up just before our time and were let in I think it was around 13:40 and took our seats at our reserved table. It was amazing inside, from the minute you stepped into the 4^th floor the walls were decorated in Yuri!!! On Ice artwork. Yuuri, Viktor and Yurio each had their own wall and they had the first 2 episodes playing on loop in the back ground. 

The menu was all themed with Yuri!!! On Ice food and drinks but it was all in Japanese and google translate came to save the day again. I ordered Viktor’s drink ‘Living Legend: Apple Juice’ and Matt went for Yuuri’s drink “Glass Heart : Blue Soda’. Of course we ordered a Pork Cutlet bowl each and then pancakes to finish it off. People had said that it was expensive in there and they just ordered a drink and dessert but we went for full course off the entire menu because hey when will I ever get to do this again!

The drinks came first and they were so pretty and delicious and then the food and desserts came out. It all tasted really good and just sitting in a Yuri!!! On Ice café eating Yuuri’s pork cutlet bowl my heart was so content!

I think you had an hour to an hour and a half and we stayed there most the time. To be honest with you I was so fixated on watching the show on the TV I kept forgetting to finish my food. The atmosphere was great and I really enjoyed all the food and drink.

Much to my dismay the time to leave came around and we made our way over to the counter to pay. The front desk was decorated in more artwork and cute trinkets and posters. We got to take home some drinks coasters that came with the drinks and also 2 posters each. Even the lift was decorated with Instagram style pictures! We then headed back to the 3^rd floor where I bought a few limited bits including a blind packet badge (I got Viktor yay!) .

After that we had a look around Akihabara and that is when I got my first idea of the shops there. They are huge and vary between 2 to 10 floors tall. The Animate there I think was about 8 floor high packed full of Anime and Manga merchandise. It was a dream world! We decided to call it a day after a small selection of shops as it was still pouring down and my converse were rubbing really badly my poor pinky toes.

I can't remember now alas if we went out to try another ramen place that night or went to Wendy's (they had loads of American chain shops and fast food restaurants out there!). What I do remember though is that I was still totally on a high of going to the YoI cafe and my feet were super duper sore!

I do remember the rain finally started to let up though and day 2 came to an end! 

Day 1 in Tokyo Studio Ghibli Musem

So our first full day was Friday and we had tickets to go to the Studio Ghibli museum. Tickets are hard to get hold of outside of Japan and only a small number are available. When the dates were announced for the time of our trip I was gutted to find out that the museum was shut for maintenance for most of our trip so that only left Friday, Saturday and Sunday to apply for tickets ahhh! I was lucky enough to get tickets for the Friday though.

Our Air BnB had free portable Wifi and can I just say that it was a GOD SEND for the whole trip. I used google maps to plan the train journey and how to get to the places we needed to go. We woke up and ate the breakfast we had bought the night before and headed off to the train station. Our location in Shibuya was perfect and only 5 minute walk to the train station. The train ride was quiet and we arrived at Kichijoji Station. Using google maps we then took a 20 minute walk through a beautiful park and town and made our way to the museum. It was a crazy hot day (about 28 degrees but felt like 32 apparently!)

 The park we walked through was beautiful and we took a leisurely stroll. The museum was easy to spot with its coloured walls and fantasy shaped buildings. As it was Friday it we arrived quite early the queues were short to get in. We queued and went through into a little reception area with stain glasses windows in the doors of scenes and characters from the movies. They have a very strict no photo policy inside the building so I only got photos outside but it really was stunning inside. Because of this rule it meant that everything inside was a complete surprise and a new experience.

We started by having a look around inside and after looking at some of the beautiful displays we went outside onto the sundeck area where there was a snack area and the ‘Straw Hat café’. Both feeling a little peckish we ordered some hot dogs from the snack area and ate those before exploring the rest of the museum. There was so much in there, lots of sets with so much detail and original sketches and drawings. Everything was set out like you were living inside a Ghibli movie. There were 3 outside areas too. They had a roof top garden which you had to get to via an iron staircase, the main deck area with the food vendors and two areas downstairs one out the front with just a small area and seating and then a courtyard type area which had a working water pump. It was made to look like a courtyard to a little house, with beautiful flowers and logs.

After exploring the whole place we decided to try our first proper Japanese food (not McDonalds or Hot dogs) and went to the Straw Hat Café. There was a pretty big queue and they let people in, in batches. However they had a lovely seating area outside and although the day started to get a little cooler it was still beautiful and warm so sitting outside was lovely.

We got in within 45 minutes max and the inside was super spacious and cute. We picked to have the ‘Straw Hat Omelette Filled with Fried Rice’ and choose to have an iced coffee. The food came out on the cutest Totoro themed plate which I wanted to steal so badly and the food was super cute and super tasty too!

After we ate we took a look round the shop where I bought far too many pins for my jacket and a few other bits. The shop just like the rest of the museum was cute and just like being inside a Ghibli movie. I then dragged Matt all over again in search of the giant Totoro I had seen in peoples photos and I COULD NOT find him! We left shortly after that feeling defeated as we left we went round the opposite way we had come in and TOTORO was there outside! 

As it was still quite early (I think it was around 3/4pm) we decided to go and explore the park a little more. We found a lake and shrine and walked along there. Also I forgot to mention before now about the vending machines. I knew they had a lot in Japan BUT SERIOUSLY they were everywhere and they were amazing too! I bought so many drinks while we were out there and SO many sugary drinks… they have amazing flavours and Matt and I started to refer to them as fizzle drinks.

The weather started to change and it started getting quite cool and the Jet Lag and lack of sleep started to catch up on us so we headed back to Shibuya. We dropped our stuff off to our room and then after relaxing for a little bit and few phone calls home we headed out to a Ramen place to get some dinner. There was a big queue and loads of people were out partying as it was Friday night. We got in within an hour though and ordered out food via a machine. Then you go inside and sit at individual booths where the people making the food open up a little hatch take your ticket and then give your food back through the hatch.

The Ramen was SOOOOOO good it really was delicious. I really enjoyed it! We ate pretty quickly and headed out to explore more of Shibuya played on some arcade machines (if you like arcade places you are in luck in Tokyo they are everywhere!). A quick stop of at 7Eleven again and we headed back to get a good nights sleep! Before I knew it day 1 was done!

Tokyo trip, travelling and arriving in a crazy city.

I can't believe I am writing this blog post it makes me so sad. Mostly because I'm writing this means that my trip is over. Well almost as I currently write this I am 34002ft in the air on my way back to Paris to ran like crazy people to get our connecting flight back to London!

Although when I post this I no doubt will be back at work feeling very sorry for myself (which I am we got home a few weeks ago!). I posted a while ago that Matt and I booked our first real big trip together, Tokyo! I cannot believe how quickly 5 months flew by and before we knew it, it was time to leave for the airport.

I will write a post for each day, but I will start with a big bit of news. On the Sunday Matt asked me to marry him. So I am flying back a fiancé with a beautiful ring on my finger!! I will write all about it when I write about Sundays day but I felt like that news was too important to wait, but for now I will start at day one!

I would be lying if I said I was excited for the trip. To be honest with you I was terrified and so nervous. I had so many worries and fears, having never travelled to another country with a different language without people there to guide me was terrifying and although I wasn't on my own, Matt had even less experience with travelling than I did. I think I had gotten myself a little worked up about lots of things, such as taking to people, eating out (again communication barrier and I'm such a picker eater), how to we use the trains. How do we find the air bnb, what if the air bnb was a scam as everyone kept telling me about..... so many worries.....

However before I knew it Wednesday rolled around and my Dad being the champaign that he is offered to drive us to the airport. We headed off before 7pm up the M25 to Heathrow airport. We ended up being so early that we had to wait an hour before we could even check in our baggage but it flew by and before we knew it we were in Paris waiting for the connecting flight. It was quite a long stop over (around 3 hours) and then time to board the big plane to Tokyo. The flight was truly awful. Matt being 6ft6" did NOT fit in the seats. We were crammed into the seats and it was just awful. I was stuck and squish in and by the time we finally landed mysteries poor feet had ballooned up. 12 hours coped up on a plane with very little sleep the night before I truly felt terrible.

I felt as bad as I looked but I couldn't believe we were in Japan!

However the fun after that soon started. We got ourselves a Pasmo card (a bit like a oyster travel card) and headed to the train platform with my big A3 printed instructions and maps. So the first things I was worrying about was the trains, but hey presto unnecessary worry as they were easy to navigate especially as I am used to the London Underground and it was quite similar.

Funny little illustration telling you to mind your hands in the doors!

After one train change we arrived at Shibuya and walked outside to be hit by a wall of heat!! Straight away we saw Shibuya crossing and it was a real sight to see, and just as busy as you can imagine it. My second fear after the train was finding the air bnb and seeing it was ok... another unnecessary fear as we found it fairly easily and it was easy to get into and we were immediately pleased with the room! It was just like the photos although even smaller than the photos. I didn't mind that at all as I know apartments in Tokyo are tiny and this was far bigger than a hotel room.

Shibuya Crossing

We started our trip off with collapsing on the bed and sleeping for a while as the journey had really taken its toll on me. We woke up I think early evening and headed out into Shibuya to explore and find some dinner. Although I was feeling a little more relaxed..... we were still both quite over whelmed and cheated by going to McDonald's for dinner! That was our first proper interaction with someone who spoke Japanese! We guessed if all else failed we know McDonalds menu so we can just point and know what we were getting. And hey presto that also ended up not being as bad as I had imagined! Matt even managed to order a crepe too and I managed to find an animate straight away too (massive anime chain in Japan)! AND OH MY GOODNESS it was like heaven in there. Just surrounded by all the things I love and soooo much Yuri!!! On Ice. I managed to pick up some Doujinshi for my favourite ships as well as some badges and pins in blind packets!

Some of the MANY blind packs I bought.

Shibuya at night

Matt and I just after Matt bought his first of many Crepes

After a little exploring we headed to a 7eleven and picked up some green tea Kit Kats, I had been SO excited to try these as well as some breakfast for the morning and snacks and then headed back to the Air BnB. We planned our day out for Friday and went to bed for some much needed rest. However I need to also just say that OH MY GOODNESS Green Tea Kit Kats are out of this world. I LOVE them.

And that was out first day, well half a day in Tokyo. I fell in love immediately and to be honest with you it was all so surreal and amazing that I couldn’t even believe I was really there.