Day 18

 

We didn’t make it to Disney Sea but we did make it to food and Shibuya! I got more pancakes and at night we ate sushi and did karaoke. Saturday was alright 

Day 17

 

I love a boat! We went to Odaiba Island for our group excursion. The Tokyo Trick Art Museum brought back nostalgia from state fairs. Hollister still didn’t have anything that i could fit :(

Day 14 & 16

 

teamLab Borderless was amazing and unexpected. Shoutout to Epson! I forgot to add Tuesday but we also went to the Sunshine City Mall and I like Hawaiian food so that’s what we ended up eating while we were there. Back to Thursday night. I bought $30 luggage because i ended up buying too many big things.

Day 15

 The Fake Food workshop was fun. Even though we didn’t make the burgers it’s interesting how it only takes wax and water to make something. We ate halal ramen again and even ended up interviewing the owner. We were one of his first customers apparently.

Day 14

 

We went to Yokohama for our excursion. The air cabin to the noodle museum was great since we didn’t have to walk. The cup noodle museum was interesting because i didn’t realize how big the brand was, Shin Black noodles being my favorite too. We visited the mall and I still didn’t buy anything. After that we went to Nissan Headquarters. I went to Shibuya and Harajuku. I went to Tower Records and got my grandma three vinyl records.

Day 13

 

We went to Kitchentown which was cool. I didn’t want anything. I found a restaurant in Akihabara that served pancakes. Mine were caramel banana but they still weren’t sweet enough 

Day 12

 

We ended up going to the Asakusa Festival but before that we went to Ameyoko Street. I don’t know why i was craving Korean food more but the festival was partly fun. We did get to see some of the people carrying the shrines

Day 19 -- Ashlee Bailey

Today was our last full day in Tokyo. All in all, this was a VERY enjoyable trip and I have learned a lot, met a lot of new people, and gained a great experience. My roommate and I had intended to go to Disney Sea today because we have heard so much about it and our classmates planned to go but we got out too late. We couldn't find our way there via train and by time we were close it was cold and would only have 4 hours. All of the lines at Disney Sea were over an hour so we would not be getting our moneys worth. With this being said, we decided to just go eat instead. We went to a Hawaiian restaurant that was pretty good! After this we came back to the hostel and my other two roommates were on their way out for sushi.
We went to karaoke and we missed the last train out of Shibuya so we had to Uber. Once we got back we decided to go to more karaoke and somehow that lasted for the rest of the night. When we came out of karaoke it was 5 am and the sun had risen. Safe to say we enjoyed our last night to the fullest! 

Day 19

 It is the day before we leave Japan so I decided to do something exciting. I reserved my ticket to go to a capybara cafe! This is extremely exciting for me since my favorite animals are cows and capybaras. Apple maps said I would have to transfer from the metro to the Tobu skytree line but I had no idea what that was. After some research, I was convinced that I couldn’t get a ticket so I decided to walk 30 min from Asakusa to the cafe. When I got to Asakusa, I found the ticket office for the Tobu line and decided to go through that route since the walk would only be 7 minutes from that station. I was a bit late since the train station was confusing but when I arrived it was all worth it. I was still in Tokyo but the city that the cafe was in was so much better than the busy cities. The city is called Higashimukojima and it was so quiet and small. There weren’t as many people walking around and you could tell from the train station that it was a quaint town. At cafe capyba, they give you a locker to put away your belongings and then you are allowed into the area with the capybaras. There are two capybaras named Kohaku and Pisuke. You have to buy a drink in this cafe but buying the capybaras food is optional. Of course I bought some snacks for them and I was allowed to feed them directly. I got some pictures and played with the capybaras for a while then left after 30 minutes. On the way back from Higashimukojima, I missed my train stop and got off at the wrong place. Luckily I realized that the line is just the Z line on the metro and went back to the correct stop and found my way back. My roommates and I went to get sushi for dinner and went to karaoke after we all finished our work for the semester. 

Day 18

Today was the last group excursion of the trip. We rode the train to Asakusa, where we stood in line to get on a boat. The boat is called a water taxi and was pretty big. On the water taxi, they sold drinks and later throughout the ride allowed us to go on top of the boat to take in the view. It was extremely windy but thankfully the weather was nice. I took some pictures and went back down to the main floor to enjoy the rest of the ride. When we docked, the class walked to our first destination which was the trick art museum.

When we got there we were allowed 30 minutes to grab some food and get back. My roommates and I got karaage and fries and headed back to the meet up spot. In the trick museum we saw pieces of art that reminded me of a museum like this at home. There were rooms that made you big or small and interacted with the wall art. 

The trick museum was short but sweet. Afterwards I did some shopping and found cute stickers and new KitKat flavors to bring home for friends and family to try. When we regrouped we walked through a different mall where the Unicorn Gundam stands. It was gigantic but I wish we were able to see the one that moved before it was taken down. We took a group photo and then we were allowed to do whatever we wanted. I went to the Mugiwara store where I picked up a one piece art book and stickers. At the register I saw a mug that I wanted but it was only a prize for kuji. I played about 4 or 5 times and gave up since I spent too much money on the raffle. In another store, I found some cute jewelry and a souvenir for my grandma, then we left to go back to the hostel. 

I ordered some dominos, which tastes similar to American dominos but something is slightly off. I finished some elements of my final paper then ended the night. 

Day 17

 My favorite hobby is crochet and knitting, so I decided to check out a craft store in Japan before the excursion for today. I looked at so much new yarn and found yarn brands that are new to me. The yarn here is pretty cheap because of the conversion rate. The store I went to also had cheaper prices and deals for members. I bought some knitting needles, heart shaped stitch markers, and snoopy craft scissors for the plane ride back to Atlanta. The sign up fee for becoming a member was only 550 yen and I would get the membership deals for the yarn and supplies that I bought. When I returned from the store we made our way to TeamLabs Borderless. Borderless is a museum that uses art to symbolize that the world is borderless. We took many pictures and the rooms were interesting yet beautiful. When it was time to leave, it was hard to find our way out. Around the area there were many cafes and restaurants so I decided to stop by one that sold my favorite cake. I got the strawberry shortcake and decided to try the mango cheesecake parfait too. Later my roommate and I left the hostel to find extra luggage to carry back home. We went to Ameyoko to find suitcases since that’s where it’s cheapest. When we made it over there everything was closing but we found one more shop just in time. My luggage was about $30 for a medium hard case luggage with a lock. For dinner we found a 24/7 gyudon restaurant. I wish I had known about it sooner, I would’ve been a much more frequent customer.