Sunday in Shibuya

Hey! ^^

Ok, so on Sunday we went to Shibuya to meet up with Hide! We woke up pretty late, so the plan was basically to eat & drink and to go sing Karaoke.

Yannick & Jonas on the subway.

Hide & Rebecca at the restaurant.  

 

Minestrone soup & salad. 

Quite good! Even though I prefer Japanese food. 

 

Fun at the Karaoke. 

Jonas performed a wonderful rendition of the Tarako song. 

Ok, well - after Karaoke Agnes & Nathalie returned to the guesthouse while we tried to find any fun club to go to. Since it was Sunday it was quite difficult. Oh, and of course I got a headache and had to rest at an Internet cafe in the middle of the night. Typical me. After feeling better we all ended up at an izakaya.

Everything was blurry. Literary.

It was around 4-5 am, waiting for the first train to take us home to Ueno. 

Well, that pretty much summarized our Sunday.  Cheers!

Dramatic Saturday

Our return in Tokyo couldn't have been worse.

We were dead-tired after a horrible bus trip overnight, and the heat & humidity was really intense that day. We carried our luggage to the place where our guesthouse were supposed to be and sure - we found our guesthouse - but it wasn't at all as we thought it would be. They advertise themself as the cheapest guesthouse in Tokyo (which might be true) but it's by quite a small margin so we thought the acommodation would be good enough. We have stayed at plenty of other places before at around the same price margin, and they've been good!

A little tight space, but didn't look too bad from the outside.... err well.

The guesthouse I am talking about is JGH Hostel. Upon arrival we met the owner (I don't know his name, since he didn't introduce himself), which was really arrogant towards us. We asked some questions politely, and got the reply "Don't complain. I am Japanese, I am no cheater. So don't come here and complain" and everytime we questioned his behavior he said "Don't talk here, people are sleeping you know! You cant talk here!" which was quite odd, since he was the one who brought us there. I'll quote their information online "If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask us."

This was one of the private Double Bedrooms. It's not private, since the walls are not even real walls - and the room is not really a room - just a bed! The one Air Condition there was were used for the whole guesthouse - and turned off during daytime.

Another "Double Room" with "Privacy". The problem is that it's a bunk bed over the other one! Notice the so-called "walls".

 We left the guesthouse to go to an Internet cafe to try to find a solution. The weird thing is that this guesthouse has such high rating on Hostels.com. Looking around the net it seems like they offer you lodging and other stuff for FREE if you in favor give them high ratings. It wouldn't surprise me. Well, be careful when choosing where to stay!

Everything went fine from then on - as we discovered there were still rooms left at the guesthouse where Yannick & Natto stayed - at the excellent Hostel Komatsu in Ueno. For just a margin of more money we got two spacious Double Bedrooms with AC.

Last day in Osaka - Nipponbashi

Friday - the last day in Osaka before heading back to Tokyo.

Jonas, Yannick & me went from Shinsaibashi to Nipponbashi, also known as Den-Den Town. It's like a miniature Akihabara! Unfortunately I have no good photos of the area.

A valuable break at a cafe. Such a hot day. 

Jonas & a full-scale Beatmania controller!

In Dotonbori later in evening we ate okonomiyaki again. In the picture is kimchi okonomiyaki & gyoza okonomiyaki. 

Dotonbori, by the river. 

Same place. =P

In Shinsaibashi. 

I miss Osaka already. I wish I had the opportunity to visit Kyoto also, but since I was sick and we stayed for such a short time in Osaka we decided to not go there. Once I go to Kyoto I want to stay there for a few days, and not just spend time there on a daytrip. 

See you! ^^

Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan)

On Wednesday Rebecca & I stayed in central Osaka while the others went to Universal Studios. I was sick so I slept most of the day, while Rebecca went around in the Shinsaibashi area.

Later in evening after taking some painkillers I had some energy to also spend some time in the area.

Rebecca with two gyaru girls.

On Thursday we visited the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. .

Going upstars the escalator in Kaiyukan. You begin the tour at the top floor.

Very cute.

Not cute, but sure impressive.

Yannick recording a video...

Beautiful I must admit!

Penguins! So cute.

 Ahhh... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have nightmares.

Wow. Ah, well. This is not a fish. It is our meal after finishing our tour at Kaiyukan. Kansai style Okonomiyaki! A must-try!

Osaka castle

Hey! We have had alot of trouble with Internet connection in Osaka so that's why there's been so few updates lately. I will catch up with it these next days, since we're all back in Tokyo now!

Ok, so we arrived by night bus early morning in Osaka on Monday. Jonas, Agnes, Yannick & Natto stayed at a hotel close to Shinsaibashi (I think it more speciically was in Amemura. The "Harajuku" of Osaka). Rebecca & I stayed in another hotel not far away from there.

The first day we mostly strolled around downtown Osaka. We were all very tired from the long bus trip, so we fell asleep pretty early.

The next day (Tuesday) we went to Osaka castle! Very cool and exciting!

Me & Rebecca. In the background is a smaller building in the Osaka castle area. 

Flavored crushed ice were sold in the area. Very appreciated since it was a really, really hot & humid day! (Yes, that's towels at the display).

We had lots of fun!

In front of the Osaka castle. 

 

The castle!

 

 Rebecca. At the top of Osaka castle. 

 Later we ate a meal at a restaurant in the area. Tasty, as always. In the evening we went to shop at the 100 yen shop Daiso, and to play some games at the game centre.

Unfortunately I got sick that evening. I will write more about it in the next post, and update more about the rest of our stay in Osaka. See you! ^^

The day before leaving for Osaka

On Sunday we were still in Tokyo - leaving for the nightbus taking us to Osaka the night to Monday.

While storing our luggage in lockers in the Shinjuku station we spent time around the area. There's so much to do in Shinjuku so you never get bored. 

To spend some time, we went to a really nice Internet comic cafe. You can read manga & magazines there, watch anime, surf around on the internet, or rest if you'd like. You even get the opportunity to drink as much beverage as you'd like (alcohol-free).

 Kaiten-sushi in Shinjuku. Inexpensive, but to be honest - not that very good. Nonetheless, better than most sushi found in Sweden.

We are pirates! ARGH! This game in the game centre was really fun! Sadly I don't remember its name, neither do I have any photo of the game itself. 

 

Jonas in his natural habitat. 

 

Rebecca!

Me!

My dear friend, Mr. Tonkatsu. Basically pork cutlet coated with Japanese bread crums (panko). Delicious!

At the Love sculpture in Shinjuku. As I remember it from Densha Otoko! :P

 See you soon, Tokyo! <3

Izakaya, Karaoke & Club Atom

On Friday all of us and many of our friends met up in Shibuya at Hachiko.

We were about... 13 people. Quite a problem, but still lots of fun.

Crazy coincidence! We met our friend Adam, which we got to know in Korea! He sat outside a konbini with some friends. Haha. 

 

My long time childhood friend - Robin.

Rebecca.

Me, Agnes, Jonas, Robin & Anna.

 Hide!!!! Missed that guy. 

Tsuyoshi, Yuki & Hide at the izakaya. Nomihodai!

Lots of people huh.. 

Me, Robin.

Mmh..

 Hide at the Karaoke place! Nomihodai again!

After the Karaoke, when the train already had stopped going, we all went to Club Atom. Unfortunately I have no photos from there, since it was prohibited to take any photos there. It was so-so, since the floors kinda played the same music.

After we had left Club Atom we went around for a while, ate at Yoshinoya, and shopped at Don Quijote. 

 Don Quijote during closing time.

Today we obviously rested for most of the day, and now we're cleaning the house a bit before leaving tomorow. We are going by night bus to Osaka so we'll arrive there on Monday. See you then!!!