Day 14...Yokohama.. Day 15....Ginza

***UPDATE: Pictures******


We had lunch at Italian Restaurant at SakuraGicho, Yokohama. The food was around $10, and it was not really good. I ordered Seafood Pasta with Alfredo Sauce and Cheese...hmm.. I think I could make it better!! :P







Ah, here we are posing in front of the big wheel.. I dont know how to call it,but in Indonesian, we call it Kincir Angin, heiheiheie..I think if Im not mistaken, we paid 700 yen to ride that big wheel. I thought the wheel was going too slow! hmmm...oh well..














After a long walk, we stopped by at Starbuck to "cafeing"..haihaia...thats a new word made by Mony, ok?! In Indonesian, those gals call it..."yux, kita ngafe dulu" hiahiaha.. (Translation: "lets go cafeing now!) LOL

Ahhh...creme brulle! Those gals are crazy about Starbucks Creme Brulle!! But too bad I dont think we have it in Starbucks AMes. hehehee..I thought it tastes like a chocolate milk with vanilla and with coffee combined....heiheie yummy..



Dang...do I really look alike Pikachu or Raichu???? I know Pikachu or Raichu is cute..so I guess that will make me cute too, huh! ahiahiaha
Thank you!!! :P














*****End of Update******

Hello...
I dont know why but Im getting lazy and lazier to write my own blog, heehhehe..it's because Im still sick because of this flu..so when I got home, I was super tired and went to bed right away..hmphh..but I only have 1 more week left in Japan...bummer!!
Anyway, yesterday I and Putri and her cousins....6 of us, went to Yokohama...it's really far from Tokyo..I think the total travel time from Tokyo was around 45 minutes by train.
We went to SakuraGicho (dont know if I spell this right), it's like a beach. Really cool place..but really windy and super cold!!!We did nothing there but just taking pictures. However, I didnt bring my own camera, Iim got the pictures. She promised to give it to me when she has uploaded it. I guess she hasnt done it up until now. Sorry guys.
We spent the whole day in Yokohama...Cool place but I like Tokyo better! ;)

Enough said about yesterday, Today I and my beloved brother were planning to go Edo Tokyo Museum at Ryogoku. It takes around 20 minutes to get there by train. But....when we were walking toward the museum, we found out that the place was closed!! Bummer!!!!
My bro said that he checked the website before we went, but they didnt say that they are closing for today. But no worries..we had second plan! Go to Ginza!!!
You know what's Ginza??It's the place for high-class shopping! phewww...Coach, Gucci, you name it..it's all there! My brother managed to shop around for little bit, and we bought some too for my twin brother back home. hehehe...

Okey dokey...thats my journey for today. Im sorry no pictures are posted. I ll post it ASAP when I get it .

Ciaooo....

Day 13...Shopping Timeee...

Hellooooooooo...
today I woke up with stuffy nose and little bit coughing....But..that didnt stop me from travelling to Harajuku all by myself!!! heiehiehe...
I went to Harajuku with one purpose only : SHOPPING! hhahaha..
Thus..around 2pm I rode my bike and got to the train station. Got on the train and arrived at Harajuku. I was wandering around Takeshita Street. Oh boy...I wonder why there are always a lot of people there?? During weekdays or even weekend...you will see the street full of people!
Anyhow..I was window shopping at first..but then..not long after that..I bought a Jacket....it's really a cool jacket..I wish I had my camera here, but my bro brought the camera along with him to Yamagata, so I couldnt take picture of my stuffs today. I also bought 2 cute skirts, and 2 cute tops and 1 sunglass. The price was really affordable...around 1000 yen (more or less) each...so that will make it around $10. Not too bad, eh?!

My flu is getting better a bit...I hope the virus will be gone by Jan 2nd because I dont want to go to DisneySea with stuffy nose!! hmmphhh...
Anyhow...that's my journey for today...shopping at Harajuku. I actually enjoyed shopping alone this time, although usually I dont really like shopping all by myself. hehehe..but I guess..it's kinna fun too!
No picture for today...sorry guysss...

Tomorrow, I think we are going to Yokohama..but we'll see..if they cancel the trip, I will go to Shibuya or Shinjuku to look around again. hehehee

Day 11..Day 12

Merry Xmas everyone!!!
I spent my xmas day just going to church....the rest of the day, I spent at home. I got sick on the night of Dec 24th...*sigh* what a way to celebrate xmas. Thus, I didnt go anywhere up until today, Im just resting at the apt. My bro and his roommies are all in Yamagata. They went to go skiing there. Now..I am home alone..hix hix.but no worries...I m fine because I have a great family who keep calling me eventhough they live far away from here. My dad and mom keeps calling me, asking if Im ok alone in the apt. My bro also calls me from Yamagata and my twin talks to me in msn and skype too hehehe...Im happy to have this beautiful family...and that's what I am grateful on this Xmas day.

Hopefully, tomorrow I can go out shopping hehehe..haiiiiii!Ganbatteeee! LOL

Day 10..

Hello helloo...
You might be wondering.....where is Day 9???
hehehe...I spent my Day 9 at home! Home sweet Home!! My brother has interview with Japanese company that day and I had guests coming over to the house to have drama rehearsal for the church on 25th Dec. Oh gosh...can you believe that Xmas is around the corner now??? Actually...tomorrow is Xmas Day!!!!!!!! Uh oh.....seriously, I think time really goes too fast this time. Please....I ll probably have to ask Doraemon to stop the time, or I might borrow his time machine so I could go back to 10 days ago. Soo....I spent the whole day 9 watching "Joey" and helping my new church friends to make some decorations for church. Pretty fun..

Anyhow...today we went to Ueno and Shinjuku! What is in Ueno?? Ameyoko is thereeee....

"Ameyoko is a busy market street along the Yamanote line tracks between Okachimachi and Ueno Station, the site of a black market after World War Two. The name "Ameyoko" is a short form for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store alley), as candies were traditionally sold there. Alternatively, "Ame" also stands for "America", because a lot of American products were available on the black market." http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3012.html

We saw lots of things there, such as, dried food, fish, meat, clothes, shoes, bla bla bla...Actually, Ameyoko is almost similar like Mangga Dua in Jakarta!!! heiheihe...so next time when my mom comes here, we will take her to Ameyoko to shop around !! LOL



I finally bought one puffy jacket today! I like it, but I hope I made the right decision. I havent felt a "buyer remorse" yet up until now...heiehieie..("Buyer remorse" is when you feel that you regret buying the thing you have bought). hehehee..
What else did we buy...hmmm...Ohh..my bro bought some fish today...fatty tuna fish, for sashimi. But, I wont eat it raw coz I dont really like to eat "sashimi", except on special occasions. Currently, my bro is at the kitchen cooking dinner for both of us. Yay...so nice, isnt he, ehehehe
I m feeling Im getting cold....my nose is running..and I feel cold!! *sigh*.
But I took vitamin C and Euchanasia and of course...the traditional medicine "Jamu Tolak Angin" . Yee haaa..hehe I believe, with plenty of sleep and food, I will get back to the original me tomorrow.
Amen.

By the way....I want to take this special moment to wish you a super Merry Christmas 2005 and Happy New Year 2006. Yay.....May God bless us abundantly and be with us wherever we go and let God's will and plan be realized in our lives. Amen...

****Japan Food****

Here are pictures of delicious-looking food from Ueno. I didnt try it because I just had dinner at the time I saw it. But, it sure looks super yummy, dont ya think? hehehe

Day 8..Azakuza...Akihabara...Shinjuku....

Today I and my bro went to Azakuza...looking at Kaninorimon Temple and strolling around Nakamise, a street that's full of little shops selling Japanese souvenirs.










This place is pretty famous in Japan. I saw lots of bule here buying Japanese stuffs. The shops sell many kinds of souvenirs, from Japanese rice crackers, cakes, mochis, Japanese purse, flag, coin purse, fan, origami art...bla bla bla. You could also buy Kimono and all the accesorries here. The price is pretty fair...not too expensive,
not too cheap either. I bought a purse for my boss and for my officemate, and my bro bought lil' something something for his someone special. I cant spoil the surprise now because I know she reads my blog. hahhahhha....(to whom it may concern, you gotta wait until I give it to you, ok! LOL)








Here we can see that people were reading their fortune. Im not really sure how they do it, but they have to pay and they pick the fortune papers from the wooden glass...maybe similar like lucky draw! heiheiheie...











Look at this pics. It surely gave me a Japanese atmosphere when we walked around that area. People riding bicycles, little sakura hang unto every little shops, people wearing kimonos, the Japanese-style shops.....gives you the feeling "yeah...I am indeed in Japan...tee..heee..hee"






























Anyhow, after walking around in Azakuza, we continued our journey to Akihabara where I finally found the grand request from my twin brother!! Mond, if you are reading this.....congratulations!!! We have found your dearest Strike Freedom Gundam!!!! The size of this thing is hugeeeeee....so I have to carry it as my hand-carry item when Im going back home!!! You owe me one pork-chop! hehehehe...

Then...before heading back home, we stopped at Shinjuku to have dinner! Sushi time!!! yayy..It's not too bad..but I wish the sushi chef would be a little bit nicer to us...or even better..he should smile more! hehehehe...He is nice but he just looks super gloomy...hmmm...

Picture Break!!!

Moshi..Moshi...It's picture timeeee!! Yay.. we took this pics when we went to Harajuku...Enjoy...and Let me know which one is your fav pic!

Day 7...Roponggi..Sayuri Time!!

Oh gosh!! Look how time goes by so fast!!It's day 7 already???? I ve been here in Tokyo for a week??? Goodness!!! It surely doesnt feel like it!!! I dont like how time goes really fast because that means I have to go back to Ames to live a life as a geek again! *sigh* I especially dread this coming Spring semester because we will have tougher classes and a case competition in the end of the semester. Imagine this...one of the professor who will teach my class next semester has sent us email, telling us that we will have our first assignment due on the first day of class!!!!!!
Danggggg.....*sigh* Oh well...life goes on!!! I ll just have to think that I will graduate soon enough!! Hmmphh..and I believe God will help me..amen..

Anyhow,back to my life in Tokyo. Today we went to Roponggi Hills to watch "the memoirs of Geisha". However, here in Tokyo, they dont name the movie as Geisha, but Sayuri (the name of the geisha). For those of you who havent watched the movie, I strongly recommend you to watch it. It is a very cool movie. I think it runs for about 2.5 hours.

After the movie, we walked around Roponggi Hills and took few pictures there. They had a very cool and "suigooooneee" light along the street. Bluish-silverish light!!!!















Hahahaha...Look at us trying to pretend to pose as
a manekin but without face, LOL.


















Here is the three lovely gals inside the Virgin Toho Cinema where we watched Sayuri!! Look at the cool platform and Ipod ad! By the way, the price of watching movie here is around 1000 yen. It usually costs about 1500 yen, but because Wednesday is special ladies night, we got discount!! Yay..

Update-..Waseda University

Here are some pictures that I took with my cousin, Mike's camera phone when I visited Waseda University on my 2nd day.
Have I told you that this private university has a beautiful Japanese garden? It's located in the middle of the university area. This university also located directly besides a five-star-hotel. I think the garden is the hub between the hotel and the university. Thus, lots of visitors and guests come to the garden. I also saw quite a lot of couples being lovey dovey in the garden.hihihih

Day 6..Shibuya

hohohoho....Welcome to Day 6 of Life in Tokyo with Mony!
I thought I could post some pics today because I brought back utie's memory disk to download the picture to my comp, but what a bummer, it turned out we didnt have the thing to dl it. Hmphh..ok ok..next time I should bring my own camera, hehehee
Sorry guys!
Anyhow, today we went to Shibuya!!! I (alone without my bro) met Utie and Mba Yati there. We shopped around and I bought one cool shoes! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Let's see how it looks and you should tell me if I should regret buying it or should be happy. haihaihai

What do u think??? The shoes has attached matching socks with it. It looks like a boot because of the long socks but really, it s more like a sporty-funky-shoes.

Guess how much it costed me!
Hmmm.... It should be around $40 if I buy it in USA, but here in Shibuya..it only costs me 1500 yen!!!
But wait..the original price plus the tax was 1575 yen,but Mba Yati successfully talked to the store owner to give us more discounts because that is the last pair of shoes! The only one!!! We saw a little stain on the socks, which I am sure that I can wash it off pretty easily. But we used that as an excuse to get more discount for the shoes. Hihihihhi....
So, the owner told us that we could buy it for only 1500 yen (without the tax price). haihaihaa... happy!!

Utie managed to get a pair of shoes too. Her shoes look like princess's shoes. Super sweet! It is a pearl-color-shoe. Yummyyyy...

Ok..thats all for today. I am so beat and exhausted...Next time I will bring my own camera so I can post more pics here!
Arigato Godaimazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Day 5...Back To Harajuku

Good evening all,
I spent my 5th day at Harajuku with my best friend, UTie and her friend, Iim, who is now become my new friend.. :) She is such a nice gal!
Anyhow, I dont have any pics to post because I have posted some pics of Harajuku previously...We were just strolling down Harajuku street, having fun window shopping. The interesting part of the trip was when we went to the photo booth place. For 300 yen, we could take photo sticker for 6 photos..Iim said, normally it costs around 400 yen, but today we got extra deal! Yay!!
I tried to take picture of our photo stickers, but I kept getting blury images. However, dont worry, Iim said that she would scan the picture and send it to all of us. Yay..
So I will post it as soon as I get it from her.

Today was my first time I went out without my brother too! That means, no guide to go back home! I had to take the subway by myself, and had to ride my bike from Takadanobaba station to the apartment. The subway part was pretty easy because I have the map for every station. Going back from the station to the apartment was the challenging part. hihihihi. By the way, it takes maybe around 10-15 mins of bike trip from station to the apt. Im really thankful that we have bike in Tokyo, otherwise it would be long walk from home to the station. Anyway, after few times of going the wrong way, I finally could figure out the right way to my home sweet home. hihihi...Thank God!!!

After a long day at Harajuku, I spent my whole evening at home. Checking emails, chatting with my friends, listening to music, watching tv, and cooking for dinner are my usual activities at home.

Hmm..Im not sure where Im going tomorrow..maybe just stay at home? LOL

Anyhow, I just got a bad news from Destri that Mr.Wright was put into the hospital because there was something wrong with his lung or heart. Geezz.. I m so scared! She said it's nothing serious, but let's hope that everything is ok. Would you please pray for Mr.Wright's health?
Arigato Godaimaz...

The Last Waltz --(in Indonesian)

Mohon duduk manis, masalahnya mang Ucup mo ngedongeng neh, dan sebaiknya
disediakan tisue & ember buat air mata

The Last Waltz

Nama saya Lily , kami tinggal di sebuah kota kecil di Menado. Sejak muda
Ibu saya senang sekali menari, oleh sebab itulah ketika hari
perkawinannya ayah memohon agar tarian yang terakhir diberikan hanya
untuk dia seorang, maka dari itulah lagu pertama pada saat mereka menari
adalah "The Last Waltz"
dari Engelbert Humperdinck, dan rupanya ini benar-benar menjadi
kenyataan, karena beberapa bulan kemudian pada saat ibu melahirkan saya,
ibu meninggal dunia.

Daddy - begitulah panggilan saya terhadap ayah. Karena kasihnya kepada
ibu, Daddy tidak pernah mau menikah lagi. Saya dibesarkan hanya oleh
Daddy dan nenek saya, dan setiap malam Natal sudah merupakan tradisi
bagi Daddy untuk selalu mengalunkan lagu kesayangannya "The Last Waltz",
sambil mengingat ibu. Ketika saya berusia lima tahun, Daddy mengajar
saya menari waltz.

Sejak saat itu, setiap malam Natal, kami menari waltz berdua. Pada hari
ulang tahun saya yang kedua belas, yang bertepatan dengan malam tahun
baru, Daddy memberikan kepada saya hadiah berupa long dress warna merah,
dan kami berdua menari waltz bersama.

Pada saat tersebut, saya benar-benar merasa seperti juga Sang Putri
dalam kisah Cinderella yang sedang menari dengan Sang Pangeran. Daddy
mengasihi saya sehingga hampir semua permohonan saya selalu dikabulkan
olehnya, ia benar-benar mengabdikan hidupnya hanya untuk saya seorang.

Seharian Daddy harus bekerja di kantor, jadi satu-satunya yang
membimbing saya di rumah adalah Nenek, hal ini mengakibatkan saya
terlibat pergaulan bebas, dan akhirnya mulai ketagihan narkoba. Hampir
setiap hari saya pulang ke rumah setelah jauh malam.

Walaupun demikian Daddy selalu menunggu kedatangan saya dengan sabar, ia
baru bisa tidur setelah saya berada di rumah kembali. Bahkan pada malam
Natal yang terakhirpun, saya lebih senang merayakannya di diskotik
bersama dengan anak-anak muda lainnya daripada bersama dengan Daddy, di
situlah untuk pertama kalinya saya melihat Daddy mengeluarkan air mata.

Karena kebutuhan saya akan narkoba semakin meningkat, maka akhirnya saya
mencuri uang tabungan yang seyogianya untuk masa tuanya Daddy, dan
melarikan diri ke Jakarta dengan harapan di sana saya bisa mendapatkan
pekerjaan dan bisa hidup mandiri.

Pada hari-hari pertama saya tinggal numpang di rumah Om saya, dan
ternyata mencari pekerjaan di Jakarta itu tidaklah mudah, sehingga
akhirnya saya terpaksa melamar bekerja di Klab Malam "Blue Ocean"
sebagai pramuria. Kalau dahulu saya menari dengan Daddy, di sana saya
terpaksa harus menari dengan pria yang sebaya dengan Daddy, bahkan tidak
jarang di mana akhirnya saya bersedia untuk menemani mereka tidur di
hotel.

Setelah satu bulan saya berada di Jakarta, saya menerima surat dari
Daddy yang dialamatkan ke tempat kost saya, rupanya Daddy mengetahui
alamat kost saya dari Om. Dalam seminggu saya menerima tiga surat bahkan
terkadang lebih, tetapi tidak satu surat pun yang pernah saya balas,
boro-boro dibalas, dibukapun tidak. Masalahnya saya merasa malu dan
tidak berani membaca surat dari Daddy, saya merasa berdosa terhadap
Daddy, bahkan saya merasa jijik terhadap diri saya sendiri.

Sudah lebih dari satu tahun saya di Jakarta, tumpukan surat yang
dikumpulkan sudah ada beberapa dus. Semuanya ini saya simpan dengan
rapi, hanya sayangnya ini hanya sekedar pajangan saja bagi saya, karena
saya tidak berani dan mau membukanya. Saya tidak ingin mengetahui bahwa
gadis kesayangannya Daddy, gadis yang sedemikian ia banggakannya, telah
menjadi seorang pramuria, seorang prostitusi, bahkan sudah menjadi
pencandu berat narkoba.

Beberapa hari sebelum Natal, saya menerima surat lagi yang ditulis
dengan tulisan tangan yang sama, dan bentuk sampul yang sama, tetapi
kali ini tidak dikirim melalui pos maupun ke alamat kost saya, melainkan
dikirim dan dititipkan secara langsung ke klab malam tempat di mana saya
bekerja. Dan ketika saya menanyakan siapa yang menitipkan surat
tersebut, ternyata dari gambaran yang diberikan adalah Daddy sendiri
yang telah khusus datang ke Jakarta untuk mengantarkan surat tersebut.

Ini kali saya sudah tidak tahan lagi untuk membukanya, dengan air mata
yang turun berlinang saya baca surat tersebut, yang isinya sebagai
berikut: "Lily my dearest beloved princess, Daddy sudah sejak lama tahu
di mana kamu bekerja, permohonan Daddy hanya satu saja: "Maukah kamu
pulang kembali ke rumah untuk menari bersama dengan Daddy ?"

Setelah membaca surat tersebut, saya langsung pulang ke tempat kost
untuk membaca ratusan surat - surat lainnya yang belum saya buka,
ternyata semua surat isinya sama, di mana hanya tertulis satu pertanyaan
saja yang ditulis dengan tangan: "Maukah Lily menari kembali bersama
dengan Daddy ?"

Hari itu juga saya langsung mengambil keputusan untuk pulang ke rumah.
Karena menjelang Natal, maka hampir semua pesawat fully book, sehingga
terpaksa saya membeli tiket dengan harga yang berkali lipat lebih
tinggi, hanya dengan satu harapan saja agar saya bisa tiba di rumah
sebelum malam Natal nanti.

Setibanya saya dirumah, saya langsung dipeluk dengan erat oleh Daddy,
air matanya turun berlinang dengan deras membasahi kepala saya. Dengan
suara terisak-isak Daddy bertanya sekali lagi: "Maukah Lily menari
kembali bersama dgn Daddy ?" Saya mengangguk sambil menjawab: "YA, tapi
apakah Daddy tahu, bahwa Lily yang sekarang ini bukanlah princess Daddy
yang dahulu lagi ? Saya adalah seorang prostitusi yang kotor, bahkan
yang telah mengidap penyakit AIDS, apakah Daddy tidak malu menerima saya
kembali, apakah Daddy tidak takut ketularan penyakit saya ?"

Daddy tidak berkata sepatah katapun juga, ia hanya pergi memutar lagu
kesayangannya "My Last Waltz", dan memeluk saya dgn penuh kasih untuk
mengajak saya menari seperti pada hari-hari Natal sebelumnya , hanya ini
kali selainnya diiringi oleh irama lagu, juga oleh tetesan air mata
yang turun berderai.

Tanpa saya ketahui, sejak Daddy ditinggal oleh saya, ia sering begadang
menunggu dan mengharapkan kedatangan saya kembali, di samping itu karena
rasa duka yang sedemikian mendalamnya, sehingga akhirnya ia jatuh sakit
kanker, dua minggu setelah Natal Daddy menghembuskan nafasnya yang
terakhir.

Rupanya ia mengetahui bahwa bahwa hari-hari terakhirnya telah mendekati,
oleh sebab itulah ia telah memaksakan diri, walaupun dalam keadaan sakit
sekalipun juga khusus untuk mengantarkan surat bagi saya ke Jakarta,
hanya untuk mewujudkan keinginannya yang terakhir dimana ia bisa
mendapatkan kesempatan sekali lagi menari dengan putri kesayangannya.
Masih terngiang-ngiang dikuping saya lirik dari lagu kesayangannya "The
Last Waltz"
.....
A little girl alone and so shy
I had the last waltz with you
Two lonely people together
I fell in love with you
The last waltz should last forever
But the love we had was goin' strong

Menjelang Natal ini, banyak sekali orang tua yang mengharapkan dan
menunggu kedatangan dari anak-anaknya. Bagaimanapun keadaan dan situasi
Anda pada saat sekarang ini, orang tua kita bisa menerima kita apa
adanya, dengan segala kelemahan maupun kelebihan kita, terlebih lagi
mereka tidak mau mengingat kesalahan-kesalahan kita di masa lampau, yang
mereka inginkan hanya satu saja ialah dapat melihat dan memeluk putera
dan puterinya kembali. Berapa lama lagi Anda akan menyuruh mereka
menunggu ? Datang dan kembalilah sebelumnya terlambat ! Kalau keadaan
tidak memungkinkan, telponlah mereka sambil mengatakan:

I love you Mom & Dad
Merry Christmast

Renungkanlah: Apabila kita manusia yang penuh dosa bisa mengasihi
sedemikian rupa, betapa lebih besar kasih Allah, sang Bapa yang tanpa
dosa dan yang tidak pernah memikirkan diri sendiri, mengasihi kita ?
(Matius 7:11)

Ya, Bayi Suci di Betlehem,
belailah kami dengan tangan-Mu yang mungil, peluklah kami dengan
lengan-Mu yang kecil, tembuslah hati kami dengan tangis-Mu yang lembut
dan manis.
Datanglah kepada kami, tinggallah bersama kami, Ya Tuhan Emmanuel Amin

PS: Apabila Anda merasa senang membaca artikel ini dan ingin men-fwd
kepada sobat-sobat lainnya, dalam hal ini mang Ucup memiliki versi
dimana artikel tersebut diatas ini, telah dibubuhi dengan background
gambar yang bagus maupun alunan musiknya, bagi mereka yang tertarik
silahkan hubungi mang Ucup per japri

Ancient Japanese Proverb..

Day 4..Tokyo Dome - Roponggi

We started the day by going to church at 10:15 am at Suidobashi. It was pretty far from where we live (Takadanobaba Station). Anyhow, I met with lots of Indonesian people at the church. The church also reminds me of my old church back home in Jakarta (Gepembri)..hehehe. The message was pretty good too, the pastor talked about how we should not limit God's work by doubting His power. Always trust Him no matter how bad the situation may seem. Amen..
Then, we had lunch somewhere around the church with my new friends. It is really interesting how Japanese people run their restaurant. We buy the food exactly like we buy drink from the vending machine. We put the money inside the machine which has lots of pictures of the food with the price. Then, we select which meal we want. We will get a ticket from the machine which then it should be given to the waiter. Ta..daa...10-15 mins later, the food is ready!! Amazing, huh? I know.. I know.. I should have taken the picture of the machine. Maybe next time! :)


After eating, I and some of the gals, Lenny (she went to the same highschool as I did! Go SMUK1!!), Tira, and Shelly, and of course with my bro too, went to Tokyo Dome. It is a place where people watch sport games. But, they also have rides like roller coaster, merry-go-round, and carrousel.



















We did not ride any of these cool ride coz we just had our lunch. Didnt want the food to be a waste! :)
We went to the Tokyo City Mall (next to Tokyo Dome), window shopping for a while, then we decided to go to Roponggi to watch a movie called "Geisha". But, in Japan, they changed the movie title to "Sayuri" instead of "Geisha". Interesting..



Awww..look at these cute dolls!!! They were really soft!! I almost bought one because it was really super cute. Hmm...But I didnt buy it. Im still thinking about buying it actually..We'll see..







Anyway, we rode the train for 1 hour going to Roponggi from Suidobashi!!! Oh goodness...soo tired!!!I think today is the most inefficient day ever. We wanted to watch Sayuri, but when we got there, the tickets were completely sold out! Bummer!!! The next show would be at 8 pm. That means, we had 4 hours to go before the next show! Dang...So we decided to just walk around the Roponggi Hills and see what they got. Then, after 2 hours of walking around the Roponggi Hills, suddenly we got a call from my cousin telling us that he wanted to come to Roponggi to watch Harry Potter. Then, we thought the gals could watch Sayuri at 8pm while the boys watched Harry Potter.

Here is how Roponggi Hills look from the inside. It's really a tall building, full of clothes boutiques, restaurants, cafes, etc.

I met Doraemon there! hihihih














HAhahah...my brother was trying to be a rock star.

Day 3 continued...Harajuku

After going back from the temple, we then walked around to the real Harajuku area!! Shopping center!!! There were a lot of people!! Oh gosh...super crowded.
But before that, we bought Takoyaki from the street..












For 500 yen, we got 10 takoyakis!!! It was yummy..Wait..do you know what Takoyaki means? Let me tell you what my bro told me.
Tako means Squid, Yaki means Fried...soooo..it is a fried squid!!! There was a brown sauce for it and also mayonese to make it more yummy...Bottom line, it was super yummy!!!








OK...continued our journey to Takeshita street in Harajuku. Do you see how crowded that street was?? Oh goodness.. I had to hold my bro's hand so I wont get lost there!











There are lots of small stores that sell second-hand clothes..but of course there are many stores that sell all kind of things, from gothic-style clothes, sexy clothes, costumes, shoes, accessories like purse, belts, hats, socks, bla bla bla bla.








Look at my bro!! He's wearing a hologram glasses that's supposed to make his eyes look prettier, ahahahahaha...
What do you think? LOL

After a long day in Harajuku, I managed to get only 1 pair of black socks, hahhaha...and my bro bought a sunglass.
My shoes were killing me so bad!! That's why we had to cut the day short...we only walked around Harajuku for 3-4 hours..(non-stop). I dont know how Japanese gals do it,but I couldnt walk around that long with high-heel boot!!!
Phew...I guess next time I'll go back to wearing my old comfortable shoes! LOL

Day 3...Harajuku..Meiji-Jinggu Temple

Ah...today we went to Harajuku. First, we stopped by at a Meiji-Jinggu temple there. That's the front gate of the temple. We had to walk for about 15-20 minutes to the shrine. Oh gosh..my shoes were killing me too...I wore my high-heel boot today since I wanted to try to be more like Japanese gals who always wear high heels shoes no matter what!!! Oh well..I guess Im not ready yet to be a Japanese gal! :P
We stopped at the nearest restroom to get a drink before go further..



ahhh...in front of the restaurant/restroom, there are lots of huge sake drums.. ( i m not sure if I call this right) hehehe..hmmm..
Im not sure why they put this inside the temple..




OK...so then we continued our journey to the shrine...taadaaa. Here I was, standing infront of the front gate of the shrine.














But wait..before we go inside, we have to cleanse our mouth and hands...but we didnt do it since we just wanted to look around..







Inside the temple, we could write our wishes in one wooden tablet and for 500 yen the priests will pray for whatever the written wishes that were hung on the wall. Look at the people writting their wishes on the tables. I read few wishes on the wall..Generally, people wrote "I wish for happiness and health for my parent, uncle, bla bla bla" I wonder, why people didnt write " I wish I could get richer in the future." hehehehe...(j/k)



Anyhow...this temple also could be used as a wedding ceremony. I was lucky today because there was one couple getting married inside the temple!!! Yay.. look at the picture..they were wearing a traditional Japanese wedding gown. Interesting, huh?








I dont know what this guy is, but I think he is some kind of a priest?? Hmm...maybee he is guarding the shrine....He looks kinna cute, but too bad he is a priest, we cant date priests!!! LOL









This is where people toss a coin and clap their hands twice before praying. Not really a good picture, eh? Sorry..I was too nervous to take the pic because I didnt want to bother people praying.

Now..can you guess what do they sell???
Cookies maybe?? yummyy...but nope nope.. People! remember, I was inside of the temple!! No cookies are sold!! hihihi..
For those of you who think that they are selling talisman or good luck charm, yeahh, you are 100% correct!!!
The talisman or good luck charms were pretty colorful..I thought at first they were candies, hahahaha..