Japan and South Korea are incredible countries and I want to go there again as soon as I can. I enjoyed the food, the people, the contrast between old and new and much more.


Like I said in my first travel post, it was my first time being on an airplane and I can say that I like the feeling of being in the air but flying around 15 hours sucks hard. It's super duper exhausting to sit and not being able to move like you usually would. Thanks god the plane to Rome had a nice variety of movies to watch. For example The Beauty Inside, which I really enjoyed. It had very funny scenes but also sad ones. I also watched Rio and The Revenant on the way back and tried to sleep the remaining hours.

To be more detailed, we took the train from Nishiarai to Narita. At Narita Airport we took the plane to Rome. The food sucked, to be honest. We had around 2 hours in Rome before taking the flight to Düsseldorf and from there we took the train back home. It was very late when we arrived and we were really tired from all the traveling, plus jet lag is annoying. Thanks to my friend's parents that picked us up and brought me back home. I missed my bed, my bathtub, my coach and my cats so much.

But I noticed one thing being back home - GERMANY IS FUCKING COLD!

Last day in Japan before departing back home. We decided to check Takeshita Street in Harajuku once again for some souvenir shopping and then ate some crêpes. There are three crêpe stores at Takeshita Street, I believe. Angel Heart, Marion Crepes and Santa Monica Crepes. I seriously have no idea where we bought ours but it was very good. Let's be honest, they all taste pretty similar so there's no need to look for the most perfect crêpe store.


We met with the guys in Shibuya and since we haven't tried Karaoke yet we desperately wanted to try that... and failed, haha. I guess we should have bought more drinks in order to get drunk. That makes things easier. The main problem was that we couldn't read Kanji, so we had to choose either English or Korean songs. Back then we couldn't read Hangul as well but we tried memorizing the lyrics which didn't really work, duh~ Nevertheless, Karaoke is fun. Once you get used to your voice through the loudspeakers.

It's usually a small room that includes a television screen, microphones (two of them) and a touch pad on which you can choose between the songs you want to sing. You can change the language to English if you can't read Japanese. When you pick your favorite song make sure to turn your microphone on. We had to order one drink per person at least. You can use the phone inside the room to place your order. In our case an employee took the order directly. Once your time is up, you get a phone call, telling you that your time is almost up. You can then tell the employee to add more time and pay the fee.

Japan is a paradise for every Otaku and Cosplayer. We heard in Akihabara are some Cosplay shops and since we were quite curious, we wanted to check them out.

We found ACos that sells new costumes but also a variety of Cosplay goods like wigs, contact lenses, make-up and much more. The costumes seem to have a very good quality but were kind of expensive. I am not sure if you're allowed to try them on, I guess not since there were no changing rooms. I heard they have a second store in Ikebukuro.

We also checked Cospa with it's high quality wigs, as well as various kinds of Cosplay goods. However, it was even more expensive that ACos.

If you want second hand costumes then you should check out Mandarake. We found some really good ones there but you better pay attention. There might be some cosmetic defects since they are already used. It's very useful to have someone who can speak and read Japanese since some of the costumes are in big baskets where you cant clearly see the whole thing.

We got hungry and bought some ice cream with red bean paste, fruits and something slimy we actually didn't like very much. We prefer the traditional ice cream with green tea flavor, hell yes! Red bean paste was good, though.


In the evening we met the friend of my friend in Meguro who actually lives and studies in Tokyo and took a nice walk through the area. Meguro is a district in southwest Tokyo, named after the Meguro River. Talking about the river, it's definitively worth it to take a walk alongside. We were lucky that the cherry blossoms were blooming and they had beautiful lampions along the whole way. We saw many couples there during that time.

The world's tallest free-standing broadcasting tower with a height of 634m - the Tokyo Skytree. It was built as a radio and television tower to broadcast throughout the Kanto region.

To get there it requires a bit of walking. You can either go to Tokyo Skytree Station or Oshiage Skytree Station and then walk following the signs. If you get lost, just look up and search for the Skytree. It's so tall, you cannot miss it.

The entrance was fully crowded so it took us a while to buy the tickets. We bought a same day ticket to the Tembo Galleria, which was around 3.000 Yen, I believe. Yes, that's a bit pricy but the view is amazing.


It's difficult to describe the emotions of the view at such a height, overlooking a city of over 13 million people. We were all like "ooh" and "aww". Sometimes you could feel the tower moving underneath your feet, which made me think I am actually being on a living thing.

There are dozens of shops and restaurants inside, like Hello Kitty and clothing outlets. You won't get bored checking all the things they have to offer. Oh, and there is a Ghibli shop nearby the Skytree that you might want to check out before leaving. We did and spent a lot of time inside.

My Japanese friend said Tokyo Skytree is especially beautiful around Christmas, when all of the tower is illuminated in Christmas themed lights. However, it's a fun experience throughout the whole year.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the neighborhood and playing games inside those damn game centers, which are way too much fun.

Young people and their latest fashion statements everywhere. That's what I thought when we arrived at Harajuku Station. Here is what you might see about modern Japan when watching TV. Maid outfits, multi-colored hair and contact lenses just to name a few.

If you plan to go shopping like we did, then you should probably go to the Takeshita street since it has many trendy shops. It's very crowded though, so you might want to avoid weekends. Trust me. Your visit to Takeshita Street won't be official as long as you haven't tried the delicious crepe there. I would have bought thousands of them if one doesn't make me feel so full already. Ungh.

Tip: If you want to see Cosplayers gathering around the Harajuku Station, then come here on a Sunday.


The shopping tour continued in the evening. We went to Shibuya 109. With it's eight floors and two basement levels you'll find almost everything inside. A true shopping paradise, plus it's an easy 5-minute-walk from Shibuya Station, Hachiko's exit (Just follow the dog footprints). The building is right next to the famous pedestrian crossing you might know from movies.

The top two floors hold cafés, so whenever you get exhausted from all the shopping you might want to take a break at one of those cafés. However, it's not that cheap and usually very crowded.

You might feel a bit overstrained, especially since each store blasts loud music and the staff call to every customer walking by in high-pitch voices, which is a bit arduous. Anyway, I would suggest you to take a walk around all the stores before buying something, since many outfits look similiar and you might be able to save some money seeing the whole selection first.

Shopping makes me feel hungry, so we were searching for some nice Okonomiyaki restaurant and found Wahaha, which was located on the 3rd floor of a tall building. We were shown to a small room with a grill inset into the table. While we perused the menu, we ordered some drinks: Soju and beer and regretted it right away. Well, the beer was good but the Soju was way too strong for us. We had troubles drinking this, haha. It was completely different from the ones we had in South Korea.

The waitress was a young and cute girl with no english speaking ability but she was so eager to talk with us that it took us around 20 minutes to order something. It was fine though, since it was very entertaining to talk with her. We told her that she's cute and she giggled happily thanking us over and over again.
The Okonomiyaki was the best we had so far. We even tried one with mochi inside and were very surprised that it tasted THAT good.

Overall my friend and me had a great time at Wahaha. The food tastes very good and the service is very friendly and exerted to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. I'd like to go there again once I am back in Japan.

Details
1-15-19 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 330-9111, JAPAN
Futaba building, 3 Floor

We headed to Odaiba, a man made island in Tokyo Bay. It's popular for it's shopping and entertainment district but also has plenty of green spaces. There are some indoor theme parks too, like Tokyo Joypolis. Too bad we were quite late and the queue was sooo long, so we didn't check it out but my friend said it's totally worth it. Next time for sure!

Make sure you go there by Yurikamome, an automated, elevated train. It crosses the Rainbow Bridge and offers some nice views of the waterfront. Or go there by boat. The Tokyo Water Bus takes 20 minutes and costs around 480 Yen. Or you could simply take a walk over the Rainbow Bridge and enjoy the view from there.

We found a game center later on that day and spent one or two hours inside killing zombies and making Purikura. I can see why some people are so addicted to this. Such a game center is really fun but be aware that it's kind of pricy and you spent soooo much money in such a short amount of time.

They sell delicious ice drinks at Odaiba's beach with chocolate, mango or whatever you like. We bought some and chilled a while at the beach watching the waves and other people having fun. It was a bit fresh but still crowded. I can't imagine how it will be like in summer.


In the evening we met with some Japanese friends and had dinner together. Afterwards one of them showed us the Tokyo Tower, that actually looked like Eiffel Tower but is taller. We went to the main observatory at 150 meters to have a look at Tokyo's nightlife from above and what should I say? It was somewhat magical. They played some nice music in the background which made it more mystical and they had nice light installing to enjoy. So, if you plan to go there, do it as soon as it gets dark.