Walk Through the Crystal Universe | LED展示

It's been a while since my last blog post!

I've just been so busy getting used to my classes, so I'm so sorry for the late update!

The Pola Annex Museum, located in downtown Ginza, is home to different exhibitions every month, so if you come to Japan, I highly recommend checking out their website to see if there's any new exhibitions going on.

After you get to Ginza 1-chome Station, go out of exit 7 and it should be right there.  Go up to the 3rd floor for the exhibition room.

XOXO,
Meowko

Japanese Convenience Store Snacks | コンビニ食べ物味見

Hey guys!

Some people were asking me to introduce some of my friends in my videos more so here is one of the first videos I made with one of my best friends, Hannah!

While I was back in America for summer vacation we decided to film this together so I hope you love our dorky and semi-obnoxious reactions :P

Foods:
Goose Eggs
Ume (plum) flavored dried seaweed
Ume (plum) flavored rice crackers
Salmon flavored Puccho (kind of like hi-chew)
Hitoguchi Mochi (bite sized rice cakes)
Kiddyland themed chocolate dipped cookies
Chupa Chups soda gummies

What are your favorite Japanese snacks? Leave a comment below!

XOXO,

Meowko

Reverse Culture Shock

Long time no post!

I had to wait to get wi-fi in my room and then my blog that I set up earlier started glitching so here is my new site!

For those who have yet to see the video, it is pretty self-explanatory haha.

Anybody who has gone from Japan back to America, what were your experiences? Did you notice the same things I did or not at all?  Leave a comment down below!

XOXO,

Meowko

7 Minutes at Disneyland | ディズニーランドで７分

Hey guys!

It's been a long time since my last video/blog post and the reason is ... I transferred colleges!!!!

More on that later....

This video today is actually more geared towards my Japanese viewers and those who are trying to learn Japanese.  As you might have guessed (or already watched the video), everything is in (really bad) Japanese!!

Yes, I realized there are many mistakes in my Japanese.

Yes, I was too lazy to edit them.

Yes, if it bothers you, then you should mute the video or just not watch it :)

There are also English subtitles to this so for those of you who do not speak Japanese, but then again this is in California's Disneyland... so if you live in California/have been there before this video is kind of irrelevant unless you just want to watch me and my friends fooling around haha.

Thanks alway sand much love! 

お久しぶりです！

ビデオアップロードは本当に久しぶりですね。それは大学変えましたからです！

後それについてブログポストを作るつもりです。

 

このビデオには、アメリカのディズニーと日本のディズニーの違いが見せたかったです。

このビデオは、初めて日本語で話しようとしましたけど。。。。まぁ。。。たくさん間違えてしまいましたね。。。

私のビデオは全部英語で話していますから、日本人友達はたくさんもんくしました。

それから、このビデオ出ました！

 

間違えがたくさんありますから、わからなかったら、本当にすみません。

これからも日本語が上手になるように頑張ります。

よろしくお願いします

XOXO,

Meowko

Enoshima | 江ノ島

Hey guys! Sorry for this late blog update!

Being honest, I've been attempting to translate all my videos into Japanese because some of my Japanese friends were complaining that they're all in English, but I'm sure the subtitles are full of mistakes anyways.  I'm also going to start slowly working to translate my blog posts to Japanese, as well as start translating Japanese places and such at the bottom of each of my posts so that people can more easily navigate my site and blog even if they do not know Japanese or make it easier for them to find places I mentioned when coming to Japan.

FIRST I'll talk a bit about what you saw in my video(if you watched it...which you should), so if you just want information about Enoshima, how to get there, things to do, etc. skip to the bottom of this blog post.

WHAT HAPPENED IN MY VLOG?:
So walking on the long straight street to Enoshima, make sure to stay on the LEFT HAND SIDE of the walking area.  Since there is only one street for both people going to and leaving the island, it is common Japanese courtesy for all of the people moving the same direction to not swerve in and out of people, but to stay on one side of a street.

When we got to the island, there was a summer festival and a wedding going on, so I'm not completely sure if the island is always that crowded.

On the island there is an ATM that we saw, however I am unsure if it works with international cards.

We bought shave ice because we were melting, but there was a huge line for one of the most famous snacks on the island, octopus crackers.  There are many other famous foods that you'll see along the road, but I recommend waiting until you go back down the street so you can scout out the cheapest prices.

Once we got up the tourist-filled street, you get to the top, where you can buy tickets to go up the escalators to see the top of the island.  The pieces of paper tied to the fence on my left side were fortunes that people either wanted to come true, or people wanted to ward off bad luck from.  The pink charms that I passed by were love charms.  For those who go to Enoshima with a significant other, you can buy those charms for 500 yen, or the equivalent of about $4.75, and write both your names on it, then hang it for good luck in love.

There are a few more escalators up, and when you get to the top there is a park that you can enter if you paid the extra fees at the bottom, and after walking through the beautiful garden, you reach the tall tower called the Enoshima Sea Candle.  From this tower, you can see the entire Kanagawa Prefecture.

Although you can take the escalators up, you have to walk all the way down.

Once we got down, we headed to Yuigahama beach, spent a few hours there, and then went home.

Ultimately had an amazing day :) Sorry I didn't take too much footage at the beach, I was too terrified of getting sand in my camera!


INFORMATION ON ENOSHIMA:

Enoshima is an island in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan.  In order to get there, most people going by train get of at Katase-Enoshima Station and walk the long conjoining bridge to reach the island.

HOW TO GET THERE:

TO ENOSHIMA ISLAND: For people who want to get to Katase-Enoshima Station, first you need to take the Yamanote Line to Shinjuku Station.  Unfortunately, although Shinjuku Station is really confusing (even Japanese people dislike going through Shinjuku Station and often get lost) this is the only way I have gone to Enoshima by.  After you arrive at Shinjuku Station, you can either try to find yourself, or ask a station attendant about where the Odakyu Line is.

Once reaching the Odakyu Line, I highly recommend boarding an express train and riding it until Sagami-Ono Station, and then transfer to a local train to get to Katase-Enoshima Station.  Once there, we just followed the crowd to the long straight road that led to the island.

TO THE SEA CANDLE: I DIDNT ACTUALLY MENTION THIS IN MY VIDEO BUT...
if you see the part where I give a ticket to a lady and then walk into a tropical garden setting with the large tower, that would be the Enoshima Sea Candle, which overlooks the entire Kanagawa Prefecture.  If you follow the instructions above to get to Enoshima the island, keep walking straight through the traditional Japanese gate and walk all the way straight up through the street full of street food, souvenir shops, etc.  At the top, there will be a giant, red traditional gate, that leads to picturesque temples.  Head to your right, and there should be a place to pay for tickets to go up an escalator (yes, an escalator inside a temple).  I don't quite remember, but I do believe you have to pay for Sea Candle entrance fees while paying for the entrance too (it should be a fee for Samuel Cocking Garden).  When you finish making your way through all the temples and sightseeing on the way up, give your escalator ticket to the worker in front of the Samuel Cocking Garden, go to the entrance of the Sea Candle, and wait in line to take the elevator up to the top or be ambitious and take the stairs to the top.

TO YUIGAHAMA BEACH: We were sightseeing when we went, so we looked around a bit, but if you go back down the straight street all the way back and keep walking past all the street stores and tourist shops all the way down, you should see some people heading to yet another train station, Enoshima Station, on the Enoshima Electric Railway.  This train station only makes stops at some of the more popular stops around the coast, one of which being Yuigahama Station.  Again, if you follow the line of people after getting off at the station, you should pretty easily be able to find the beach.


FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO VISIT ENOSHIMA (WHAT TO BRING):

-     A TRAIN PASS (IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE OF THESE ALREADY, MAKE ONE AT SHINJUKU STATION)

-     Sunscreen
-     Beach Towels
-     Swimsuit
-     Change of clothes (you have to get back on the train to get back, so make sure you're considerate of other passengers and don't make the train seats wet)
-     Money (to pay for luggage lockers if you so choose to use those, food costs, renting an umbrella for the beach, etc.)
-     A bag with zippers (so sand can't get in)
-     FOOD (if you can, make your own and bring it or buy food at your local convenience store, because food is so much more expensive in Enoshima)
-     Water Bottles
-     Ice Wipe Sheets (they're alcohol sheets you can buy in most Japanese convenience stores that, when you wipe with them, make you feel cooler and cleaner.  Highly recommended if you plan on going to the beach.)


REMEMBER: there are so many things to do while in Enoshima!!!! These are just the things my friends and I did when we went!  Don't be afraid to try new things and explore!

XOXO,

Meowko

Tour of Tokyo International University

Hey guys!

It's been a while since my last post!

I actually filmed this video a while ago but never got around to uploading it.  Since it was summer and I am officially leaving Tokyo International, I decided to film a long overdue school tour video!!!

Since it was already the last day of school when I filmed this, many of the buildings such as the E-plaza and the cafeterias were already closed by the time I got out of class, so unfortunately, I was only able to get footage of the outside areas of the school.

Sorry for this super short video, but I hope you guys like it anyways!!

XOXO,
Meowko

ROBOT RESTAURANT!

Hey guys! 

Recently a ton of tourists coming to Japan have been raving about the Robot Restaurant, located in the Kabukicho district of Shinjuku.

It honestly is not too hard to find, if you get to Kabukicho, you can just ask anybody there and they should know exactly where you're talking about.

BEFORE ANYTHING, NOTE THAT YOU MUST RESERVE YOUR TICKETS AHEAD OF TIME.

Since the Robot Restaurant is so unique, tickets go quick!  Once you reserve your ticket, when you get to the venue you can either pay by card, or pay by cash.  I highly recommend paying by cash if you can, because most of the visitors there will be paying by card, so the card line is out the door while my friends and I were one group of about four that were paying by cash.

If you don't speak Japanese, don't worry.  They have workers there that are fluent in English.

the ticket is pretty cute too!

While paying for your ticket, they will ask you if you would like to purchase food tickets.  These food tickets are the only way you can buy food/drinks during the show, as the vendors will not accept real money.

Although my friends and I chose not to purchase tickets, I do recommend purchasing a couple, as most people do and are eating around you... and people eating around you while you have no food is basically torture.

After you finish buying your tickets, which are about ¥7000, or the current equivalent of about $56, they will have you walk around to another building, which is the actual venue of the restaurant.

They first have everybody gather in a gaudy and over-decorated waiting room, with flashing lights and projectors showing previews of the show.  You also get to enjoy a robot jazz band while you wait.  In this room, you may also order alcohol at the drink bar.

the waiting room

Once the previous show is over, you are lead down very colorful stairs to the basement where the show is.  Before the show starts you can purchase drinks and snacks, and there is also one or two breaks in the middle of the show, so make sure to use up all your food coupons before the show is over because then they become worthless.

I saw a couple of blog posts online stating that kids under the age of 18 were not allowed to come watch the show, which is untrue.  There were many kids there ranging from around 10 years old to 15, but I'm not completely sure if there is an age limit lower than 18.

There were a few other posts that said the food there wasn't that good.  The bento provided were sushi, however as I did not order one, I do not know whether the sushi was good or not, or what the price was, but just from looking it seemed decent.

Also, if you are prone to seizures, sensitive to lights or sound, or do not like other people's body exposure, I do not recommend coming to see this show.

If you are coming to Japan, I highly recommend coming to see the Robot Restaurant, as it was really an amazing experience.  The overall show was pretty corny, but it was still an interesting performance, and if I had the time or money, it is definitely something that I would go to watch again.

XOXO,

Meowko