Today was our final goodbye :(. We pretty much had to get to the airport on our own since everyone had different flights, but it wasn’t bad at all. Me and Vincent had the same flight so we just took this train that goes directly to Narita. It was really easy and quick. Unfortunately our genius plan of getting to the airport early did not end up being great. This is because Singapore Airlines didn’t open their desk for giving them our checked bags until 3pm, we got there at 12pm. So we had a few hours to kill until we could ditch our bags and go to the airport.
So we did what every good american does and got McDonalds :). I finally tried the samurai burger, it was really good! After sitting next to the desk for 3 hours we were finally able to get in line to deposit our bags. Once we got rid of our checked bags we headed to our gate. The customs were super easy to get through, they didn’t even ask us abour the tax-free stuff we bought, which was the only thing I was really worried about. We got to our gate pretty easily and then waited to board our flight. I think I preffered ANA on the flight to Japan because their seats were nicer and I liked the food better. It was still a really good flying experience though.
After landing in LAX we got our checked bags and then Vincent’s dad picked us up. They were letting me stay with them overnight which was super helpful. Once we got to his place we watched an episode of Succession and then took a well deserved nap. After the nap we had dinner reservations with Vincent’s family, who were all really really nice. Some of them had actually just gotten back to Japan recently, so we got to compare experiences. We ate at this super good mexican food place, which was a nice change of palette from Japan. After dinner we went home, watched more Succession, then went to bed for the night. In the morning we loaded up our bags and went out to get pho for breakfast. It was, as expected, very good. After pho we went to the aiport, which is where Vincent and I were to part ways, since we didn’t have the same flight this time. I checked my bag and then headed to my gate to wait for my flight. I got some starbucks becuase I was hungry and then we took off for Rochester! This trip was amazing and easily the best 2 week period of my life. I can, with a full chest, say that it changed my life. Thank you Steve, KCG, Sten, and everyone else who made this trip possible. I will never forget it.
The dawn of the last day, and as sad as I am to leave, I’m happy to be able to go back home and rest for a change. The hustle and bustle of a trip like this is great, but there’s no place like home after all!
But first, souvenir time!
I had a good few plans for things to get my family, but some of them were a bit hard to get in Akihabara. You would imagine finding a model sailboat wouldn’t be hard, but at every model shop I went there was nothing but battleships!
I hiked up with Megan on a trip up to Okachimachi, where I had set up a small journey to look for some souvenirs.
I got a nice book and a daruma for my mother, a soccer Jersey (that might have been a bit too expensive, woops ?) for my brother, and a hat and a 3D puzzle for my dad, as well as some miscellaneous sweets and kit-kats!
I didn’t even know it, but I had found myself right in the middle of Ameyoko!!
Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to appreciate the intricacies of the market, or take a look in the really ornate looking temple in the middle of it all, since we had to head back to pick up our bags before the airport!
A short 2 minute train ride back to Akihabara, and we fetched our bags back from the hotel. We were able to say goodbye to a few more of our travel mates, and off we went!
Akihabara to Nippori, Nippori to Narita Airport via the Skyliner. A truly beautiful trip! What a way to end off the sights 🙂
Arriving at Terminal 1, I posted back my pocket Wi-Fi, and headed over to the South Wing. We spotted a McDonalds, and we both knew what we had to do. How hilarious would it be to make the last meal in Japan the most American thing possible?
Just like 4 years ago, I got me a shrimp burger!
The mall between the two terminals was massive, I’m talking absolutely insane here. Marvel Pop-Up store, Lego store, a place for stuff from Akihabara, sweet shops, souvenir shops, the whole deal. I heard there was even a Pokémon center in the second terminal.
Shuffling over through baggage claim and customs, we found our way to our gate, and were blessed with our final vending machines. Since we were both unable to return our IC cards on time, these were perfect for getting the last bit of value from them.
The apple juice here is like nectar of the gods.
Boarding the plane, and off we go! I ended up finishing the last Lord of the Rings movie, and rewatching Spiderverse to ready myself for the sequel back home!
I also managed to catch a few Z’s, which was definitely necessary. I take off at 5:00PM and arrive at 4:40PM the same day!
I get picked up at Newark Airport and, the trip has concluded.
If one of you are reading this, I hope we can join up again, on campus or elsewhere!
This time, we had to wake up a little earlier! Meeting up at 10 in the lobby, our day had two plans: head to Unrealfest nearby, and tour the Tokyo headquarters of Cyber Connect 2!
Luckily, Unrealfest was just a few minutes walk away from our hotel, at the Akihabara Sumitobo Fudosan building. Right next to Mandarake! It was quite a small venue for a convention, but since it was marketed specifically towards a Japanese audience, it was very understandable.
There, I walked around the expo floor and took a look at a few games. My personal favorite was the Cyberpunk inspired game called Ukiyo! Although the frame rate was certainly low, the visuals and background art were absolutely stunning. Very neat! There was also a small games competition going on with the theme of the Japanese word “かける”, kakeru. It’s a word with so many meanings that I think it’s perfect for a game jam theme!
Stephen was also kind enough to introduce me to a company that specializes in a lot of Tech Art related fields. Perfect for what I’m looking at! I’ll definitely look into it a bit more.
Right after, I went to a panel on the visual style of Hi-Fi Rush, and the technical artistry that went into the game. It was even a bit hard to understand for me, and I know the language! Nevertheless, it was really interesting, and I was able to talk to the presenters afterwards and introduce myself. My first time introducing myself professionally in Japanese! Words came out of my mouth so fast I could barely believe it, haha.
Afterwards was a small lunch break before we were all headed to Akihabara station. Wandering around, I stumbled into a Tully’s Coffee, where I had some pasta and some banana cheesecake! You can tell I’ve become addicted to Japanese sweets, as I got a glazed croissant donut immediately after. Best donut I ever had.
Finally, to the station! Headed back to Ōimachi station (Hey! That’s where I met my host family!), we were hit with absolutely torrential weather. After all, a typhoon was headed its way to the country. Still, lots of inside out umbrellas and soaked shoes later, we finally made it to the company headquarters.
It was quite a fashionable office, and we were immediately introduced to the titles lined up in the center! We were them led to a little presentation about their company, and what they did. It was quite interesting how they made an effort to assign people to the projects they’re truly passionate about, or the franchises they love. Their encouragement to engage with media and fiction was also very admirable! You can tell the people there had passion. Nevertheless, I’m always wary with crunch and worker treatment. There were a few reddish flags, but nothing that would completely put me off of working there. In the end, I think it would be a really neat place to work! Everyone was very kind, and I’m glad I was able to see the insides of a place like that.
Welp! Back to typhoon weather, haha. Originally, I had planned to go to the Jojo Bar in Nakano today, however with the fatigue and train delays, we decided on retiring the day early. Plus, an evening to process the trip was definitely in order.
After a small nap at the hotel, a few of us arranged to go to a Rotating Sushi place nearby! The Sushiro just a few minutes away seemed good, and I was excited to go to a place like this again!
Sadly though, my hopes were just slightly dashed when I saw that there was no sushi up for grabs on the conveyor belt any more. Turns out there was an incident a while ago of some complete idiot deciding to wipe his saliva all over some sushi and the table’s utensils, and it caused such a public stir that now the only option is made-to-order. The main conveyor belt was now nothing but a stream of salt, wasabi, and ads.
Nevertheless, everyone else seemed to be having fun, which I guess is all I could ask for in a trip I suggested. Turns out I REALLY like tuna sushi here! I also really enjoyed the small little melon sorbet that they offered. Was a pleasant time overall, with only the occasional mishap. (They really should keep towels at each table if there’s a water dispenser for each booth!)
I decided to get some ice cream that was near our hotel afterwards. They had a Hokkaido milk flavor, which really interested me! The ice cream was very heavy, but also moldable. Really neat!
Afterwards, we headed back to our rooms. I personally found the rainy, night-shone Akihabara to be super atmospheric and photogenic, so I took a few videos along the way.
Since we had the rest of the D&D movie to watch, the others came over to finish it up! I’m glad that everyone enjoyed it in the end.
As we all shuffled into our separate rooms, it all really dawned on us that it was the last night together!! Hugs were exchanged, goodbyes as well, and thanks for a wonderful trip together (just in case we couldn’t say goodbye the next day)
I’ll never forget this trip nor group for as long as I live 🙂
Today started like yesterday, with the group meeting up at noon to head our for the day. But since I woke up a little bit earlier than that, I decided to head back go Yarou Ramen for another taste. It was just so good—I couldn’t resist!
On top of that good morning, I wandered into the giant red GIGO building. It’s such an icon of Akihabara (although sadly, it’s rebranded from its SEGA roots), that I wanted to give some of the games a try (also, to get rid of some coins, haha) After seeing a machine with 大放出 (big payout) plastered all over it, I couldn’t help it and… THEY WEREN’T KIDDING! Netted 2 plushies in a single play!! This morning’s already going great!
Finally, back at the hotel, we all met up to start our journey to Odaiba. The set of small islands in the center south of Tokyo that the Yurikamome line runs through. It’s home to a lot of big, flashy buildings. On our schedule today was the Miraikan (Future) Museum and TeamLabs, an interactive art exhibit. Before heading there, however, we first went to Diver City Tokyo Plaza!
Diver City Tokyo Plaza is a massive mall/entertainment complex that has lots of different stores, restaurants, sports, etc! There’s even a giant Gundam at the very front. Take a look!
Upon walking in, I was immediately lured in by this store that sells a GIANT bundle of cotton candy. And I mean like absolutely giant. A stupid amount of cotton candy. I got the rainbow one. Good way to start pride month, eh? There was also an expansive crane game section, but I think my win earlier today satisfied me enough to keep me from throwing 100 yen coins into the machines. I mostly wandered around and tried to counteract that intense sugar high from the aforementioned cotton candy.
We made it out just in tome to see the Gundam Statue move! Sadly, it wasn’t anything all that impressive, but it wasn’t disappointing either. Not overwhelming or underwhelming—it was whelming. Only the head opened and closed, some lights flashed, and one of the knee sections moved, and that was about it. Absolutely don’t regret stating to watch it, though. Will say though, feels quintessentially Japan! Can’t wait to see where we’ll be in 30 years with all this stuff.
Speaking of the future, we next headed to the Miraikan! It was absolutely massive, the outside under construction, yet still a behemoth to behold.
Inside was quite spacious and modern, fitting for a facility meant to display ideas of the future. In my opinion, however, a lot of what I expected about it was pretty much confirmed. I think it’s a great place for ideas and introducing people to topics they might not have considered, but it was mostly uncritical of our current system and the way we do things. Things such as plastic pollution were instead just addressed as “Oh! More innovation”, with or protesting as a form of change never really introduced. Great ideas, but ultimately half the story. It feels enough to leave some people inspired, but also a lot of people pessimistic.
Overall, the museum had many artistic interpretations of things, such as future progress, microbes, incorporation of technology with nature, etc. I personally found the giant light up globe to be pretty interesting.
Upon exiting, we then took the Yurikamome line over to Toyosu station, where TeamLabs was a minute walk away! We were cutting it close, but luckily the line was nowhere near as bad as expected. Given how tired my legs were from so much walking the past two weeks, I had thought “how cool could this actually be.”
Turns out, VERY cool! I was not expecting it to be that immersive or visually entertaining. In my opinion, a must-go. I’ll let the gallery below do the talking, but really, it’s a you-have-to-be-there sort of thing.
Afterwards, it was getting dark, and we all went our separate ways back home. I managed to exit around the same time as both Sten and Stephen, so we accompanied each other back to the hotel. Had some great talk with Sten about the co-op process, getting myself out there in the game industry. It was filled with a lot of flattery, but ultimately, I’m glad I now have someone I can talk to about all this. “So when are you moving here?”
No idea, but I’m certainly open to the idea 🙂
Finally getting back home after around 40 minutes on two different train lines, I decided, you know what? Screw it!
Let’s do some Karaoke!
I gathered up a few friends willing, and headed to the Big Echo just a minute from our hotel. Once again a situation where I’m very glad I was able to speak Japanese, haha. The receptionists couldnt speak any English, and we needed to be led to another building.
But once we were there, a completely other story! We all kicked it off and had a ton of fun. The little tablet they had for ordering things was a bit confusing at first, but we soon got used to it. I had a ton of songs cued up in my head, and enjoyed everyone else’s picks. The drinks and food they had there were great for the occasion, and I greatly enjoyed the fancy mustard they had.
I don’t greatly enjoy my singing voice, but if you’re curious, here’s a bit of it. I’m singing Brain Fluid Explosion Girl, a notoriously fast song.
Afterwards, it was around midnight, so we all headed back home, and to bed we went! Lights out, for another day tomorrow.
Soooo I might have fallen behind on my blogs a little bit… oops. I would rather wait and put out a good blog making sure that I cover everything rather than skipping things to get them out on time, but I promise that I’ll still be covering every day until I leave! I’ve done sooo much since my last post and I’m so excited to share everything!!
To start the day, I woke up early and explored Akihabara with Fabian to see if we could find any more merchandise that we could snatch up as we were preparing to pack all our things again. I personally was looking to find some Pokemon cards as they’re basically sold out of everything in stores, and I stumbled across a card shop that had what I considered to be a LOT of good deals. I only bought some single cards because I didn’t want to chance my luck with the packs, and I’m really happy with the few that I got! We also went to a figure store called Tamashii Nations so Fabian could look at their Gunpla (a term for model kits… i think?) and he got a cool exclusive Iron Man figure.
We met up with the rest of the class at noon to head to Diver City, a place well known for its giant mall and giant Unicorn Gundam statue. While I don’t know much about the anime or the model kit community surrounding Gundam, the giant statue was really awesome and we even got to see it change forms (it basically just played some lights and music for 30 seconds and it’s horns closed together to become a single horn, like a unicorn). I don’t think I picked up anything from this mall, but there was a Mister Donut that I was finally able to try and MAN are those donuts good!!
Once we were finished at Diver City around 3, we went to the Miraikan Museum (“Mirai” means future) which had a lot of cool interactive exhibits that ended up being super depressing and existential. The entire thing was basically just “humanity is ruining Earth, we should fix it” and while I enjoyed seeing a lot of the exhibits they had it was kind of a mood killer. They did have this giant spherical Earth display that you could walk around that was really cool though!
The last group thing we did that day was by far my favorite. We finally got to visit TeamLab Planets, which has become really iconic online for its fantastic photoshoot potential. It’s basically an “interactive” art exhibition where you’re walking into these giant artsy scenes that make for some really good photos. I did already make my Instagram post about this because I just couldn’t wait, but I’ll put my photos here too because I’m really proud of them. The experience was really awesome and I think it’s especially fun as a couple or a group going through it together.
my personal favorite 🙂
they got mad at us after this 🙁
could not tell you what fabian was doing in this picture, but it’s hilarious
Once the school-sanctioned portion was over, Liam, Megan, Skyler, Fabian, Cameron and I decided to rent a karaoke room together for a couple hours because we felt like it was a quintessential Japan experience that we needed to have. Because I’m not one for singing with others (and a couple of the people I was with were MILES better than me) I didn’t sing much, but it was fun to look at all of the songs they had, both English and Japanese, and see how different the experience was compared to karaoke in America. We were in our own private room with couches, a massive screen, and two mics, and overall we had a great time! This was also, however, when the rain began.
Something interesting about our time in Tokyo is that there was actually a typhoon (Typhoon Mawar – though I’m pretty sure it was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached us) dancing along the coast of Tokyo over the last couple days, writing this in retrospect. From Thursday night until Saturday morning, a majority of the country (including where we were staying) faced a LOT of rain and wind. While it was never too bad for us rain-wise, the wind definitely broke a good chunk of our umbrellas and left me wishing I had brought a rain coat instead. We didn’t see any damage or severe flooding though, so I don’t think it was that bad!
Tomorrow is the last school-planned day of our trip! Which makes me really sad, because everyone leaves on Saturday 🙁 but I’m happy that I have a few extra days to get some final bucket list items out of the way!
Today was Unreal Fest and a Cyber connect tour. Unreal fest was definitely interesting but most of it was lectures and I think I need to take more Japanese classes before I’m ready for that. Other than that we got to play a bunch of mini games that game designers were working on which was really interesting. It felt a bit like the end of the game jam if we had more time to work on the games and were all professionals.
The one thing about today that really stood out was the TYPHOON. The casual typhoon. My poor little vending machine umbrella couldn’t handle it. Not to mention Jasmine and I was trying to share this tiny umbrella the whole time. We were basically on top of each-other.
After that we grabbed lunch at Mcdonald’s (mid) and headed back to the hotel to say goodbye to Toshi Sensei ??????.
I managed to not cry (for now) and then we headed to Cyber Connect. It was really interesting to learn about the scale of a gaming company that well established. They had only about 250 people across Japan. They created the Naruto, Demon Slayer, and JoJo games. They also had more indie games not based off of anime. These were interesting because they explained how they must not only make a game, but a comic and maybe even a show to boost the games presence. The studio was pretty small but very informational.
After that the school trip was officially over. We were free to do anything. So obviously we went to a chain family restaurant for American steak. It was pretty good besides the fact we all ended up soaked by the time we got back to the hotel
The garlic bread was good
Then we stopped at Baskin Robins as a reward for our typhoon adventure. I’ll let the photo speak for itself.
I’m the morning I forced myself to wake up early enough to do laundry as I had no socks left and almost no pants. I ran into Emma at the Coin Laundry though so that made me feel less annoyed about being awake. I even discovered that they have delicious latte drinks in boba esc containers. And they are GOOD.
Because I didn’t have socks I walked about a mile in my Adidas slide and then my feet hurt for the rest of the day.
Next was mini shopping time at the Gundam mall! I got a really cool drink with the best melon cotton candy I’ve ever had wrapped around the top. I also did lots of souvenir shopping.
I drank a Red Bull on the subway because I was falling asleep. Stupid laundry.
I didn’t get any pictures as I was half asleep the entire time but we went to a science museum. Honestly I don’t remember most of it I just remember most of the topics being very deep and calling to the smallness of humans and how we are ruining the earth. Jasmine said “I’m scared” at least 10 times.
BUT AFTER THAT. We went to teamLab Planets and lived the influencer life. My favorite part of the interactive experience was the water pool with the projected koi or the led infinite crystal universe. I also really enjoyed the very beginning having to walk up a slope with water running down it. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves though. A lot of it felt like squid games because we were being corralled into these small room and there was like a mini adventure. Obviously less fatal but you understand what I mean.
I hate Denny’s but I also am not a big fan of Wendy’s and Japanese Wendy’s was awesome. I thought it would be the same for Dennys in Japan. I think it’s because I got a dessert item for lunch (pancakes) but I SWEAR hear me out ok. Imagine how old people smell. That’s how the pancakes tasted. It was so off putting. I do have to say that the options for Dennys here are much much broader and they had a lot of noodles that looked good. So I think I just made a bad choice.
After that we rushed to meet with the rest of the group. We headed towards the Imperial gardens to look at beautiful landscaping and lots of koi. The biggest thing that interested me though were the huge stone walls. Each stone was the side of a car or bigger.
The weather was perfect to walk around outside, it was cool and the pathways of the Meji Shrine we went to next made the best canopy to walk under. It was a very spread out shrine and a far-ish walk to the main shrine building. I even bought a charm to bring me “victory and perseverance”. The best part about this shrine was talking with everyone during the walk and getting even closer.
After that with the little energy I had left Chloe convinced me to go to another One Piece store in Shibuya. I was so glad I went I got to see Shibuya Scramble Crossing from all the videos and photos I’ve seen in magazines and movies and anime. It is super chaotic and everyone really is scrambling.
I got a great video of the crossing but I have issues uploading videos so just imagine it.
Overall one of my farthest walking distance days but was so relaxing and fun I didn’t even notice.
