By the next morning, a melancholic mood had spread throughout the group as people slowly left for the airport. Sten and I spent the early afternoon doing some last-minute shopping at Mandarake. was staying in Japan for a few extra days. I waved farewell to everyone who left with Sten and Steve and then took my bags to my hotel nearby in Akihabara. Because I had to wait to check in, I went to a nearby 9-story tall bookstore and was impressed at their selection of 3D books. I bought some books there and the best clear file.
After returning and checking in, I went to see the Gridman Universe movie in the Japanese cinema. This was an interesting experience because each seat was in its own cubicle and the trailers before the movie were mixed in Japanese and English. The movie was also completely in Japanese and I was able to understand the gist of most of it.
I walked around Akihabara at night and went to the Kanda Myojin shrine. This was a really beautiful night. Also, I was surprised to still see the maids on the street at 12 to 1 in the morning.
The next day I went with my dad to Mt. Takao where there were many shrines along the way. There was also a monkey park along the way where we watched a feeding.
The view from the top of Mt. Takao. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji
Later that night, I went for a walk around Roppongi and found a Harry Potter themed hallway. Apparently, there was a Harry Potter cafe in the area.
The next day, I went with my dad to the airport. My dad, who is a pilot, and I went with the crew bus to the airport and I was able to look up front and see my Dad do the preflight checks with the other pilots. This was a fun experience as I’ve only flown with my dad on his trips once before this was my first time getting a detailed tour of the cockpit.
The American Airlines crew busCaptain Dittmar and Co-Pilot Dittmar
What a trip! This was an incredible experience and I look forward to more travels in the future!
The classic breakfast photo! Today we’re leaving Kyoto and heading back to Tokyo. I’ll miss Anteroom Kyoto…..their beds were comfy and the breakfast every morning felt so healthy and tasted delicious….!
I had iced my leg after getting back to the hotel yesterday, and here you can see a fresh bag of half-melted ice ontop of my luggage as we all waited to board the shinkansen back to Tokyo (about 2 hours travel time).
Our next hotel is in Akihabara, called REMM Akihabara! It was actually located directly next to one of the station exits which was extremely convenient. While my leg was in slight pain the entire time we walked around, I was so excited to see all the merch in sight. Genshin billboards and hololive collabs…..dreamy sigh.
For dinner, Jess, Chloe and I went straight to a maid cafe (Akiba Zettai)! Judging by the name, I assumed it was just thigh-high themed but it was actually a cat girl maid cafe……but! The girls were super sweet and we still had a great time. The food was cute, and we had fun conversations with each of the girls before we made Jess choose a maid to take a polaroid with. We’ll treasure this photo forever!
We explored animate afterwards (where I promised myself to come back as soon as I could) before heading back to the hotel to crash for the night after a long day of travel.
Sadly, the trip is finally coming to its conclusion. I loved Japan and definitely did not want to leave, but after the amount of excitement from the past 2 weeks, I wasn’t entirely dreading getting to go back home.
Thankfully, Esther was on the same flight as me! The two of us headed to Haneda airport around 11 am in preparation for our 3pm flight from Tokyo to Washington DC. We had to do a bit of waiting around at the airport for baggage check to open, but once we were through security and had checked our (very heavy and merch-filled) luggage, we could relax a bit.
The flight itself went very smoothly and I was able to get some cool pics of clouds and mountains 🙂
We landed in DC after 13 hours of sleeping and listening to music. Unfortunately our layover did not leave us with a lot of time to get through customs and recheck our luggage and we thought we were going to miss our connecting flight. Thankful, Esther was able to make her flight to Rochester on time and I successfully made my flight to Albany! Crisis averted.
I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again, but I can’t wait to go back to Japan! It was definitely the experience of a lifetime and one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited.
June 3rd: Finally it’s time to go home. Liam and I were on the same flight so we planned the whole day out. We both checked out around 10:30am and left our luggage at the hotel for a bit to do some final shopping.
We went to BookOff first where Liam got a book for his Mom and I found 2 DS games ( Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers Of Time/Darkness) for like 990 yen!!! In the US these games are worth like $300. Since I’ve come home I have played them and I realized DS games don’t have language options so the whole game is in Japanese… the summer of immersion!
After BookOff we walked to 2 other stores where Liam was looking for gifts. We ended up walking to Ueno and walking through a popular street so that was cool! After shopping it was about 12 and we took the train back to Akihabara. This is where we found out our JR passes as well weren’t working through the scanner.
We also saw some ads for the new Spiderverse movie on the trains! We grabbed our luggage and headed back to the station to head to Narita airport. We took the train to Nippori then transferred to the Skyliner straight to Narita Airport. It was about an hour train ride.
Once we arrived at the airport we took a walk around. This airport is crazy it’s like a mall plus an airport. We saw a Marvel pop up store, Lego store, Gucci, Versace, Chanel, and many other high end stores plus souvenir stores. We went to McDonalds for our last meal in Japan. I got some nuggets and Liam got a shrimp burger.
After eating, we attempted to find where security and bag check was. I was nervous because of my tax free goods but it ended up not mattering in the long run. We checked out bags, saw some Pokémon, went through security ( which was very relaxed compared to the rush in the US with shoes and putting things in Bins), and looked for our gate.
On the way to our gate we saw a store with Pokémon merch, Ghibli merch, some gunpla, and souvenirs. I had some extra yen so I got some sake KitKats, a magnet for my parents, a snow globe for my grandmother, and a crystal puzzle of JiJi from KiKi’s delivery service! We also stopped by a vending machine to get so much apple juice before leaving the country.
We sat at the gate for about an hour before boarding the plane. We were lucky that the storm was south of Narita so we had no delays. I was surprised that the bathroom in the airport ( I only know the women’s room) had a little holder in the stall for a baby and a sink with handrails. It was really interesting to see that.
We got on the plane and while Liam and I weren’t next to each other, we were the same row at least. The flight was about 12 hours so we got a couple meals. Most of the flight I watched movies like Le Mis, Soul, and Spiderverse. Meal 1 was some chicken and rice with chocolate chip mochi as a dessert. I skipped the middle meal as I was trying to nap, and breakfast was an omelet with tomato sauce, a sausage, and hashbrown. Meals were overall ok.
We landed in the states to see Newark NJ, what a grey city. We deplaned and headed to customs with took FOREVER. I don’t understand how you can have 9 booths to move people through and only have 3 open for a couple planes worth of people. It took probably an hour to get through customs and to get our bags. It was about 5pm EST and we left Japan at 5pm JST which was fun.
Liam and I split at baggage check as my parents were in the airport looking for me. I grabbed my bags ( all safe and sound ) and headed to meet my parents. I gave them a hug and we headed back to my hometown.
I got home, had a pork roll and egg on an English muffin, took a quick shower, and passed out. Since then my sleep schedule has been messed up and I’ve been trying to fix it. I’ve also been telling stories of my trip to my friends and parents.
Overall this trip has been a life changing experience for me and I’m so happy to have been able to experience everything with a fantastic group of people. I will always look back on this trip with pride, joy, and happiness. It has even inspired me to apply to the Fullbright program and have to chance to live in Japan for 10 months for research.
Thank you everyone for making this trip amazing. Love you all!!!
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.
Today was another big day for us. I started the day by getting breakfast with the gang and then shopping at this used figures store called Radio Kaiken, which was insane. They had so much cool stuff there and I really wish I had millions of dollars to buy all the figures :(. I got some stuff for me and some gifts for friends before we needed to go back to the hotel and head for Daiba City. We took a train over to Daiba to see a giant Gundam statue and do some shopping at the Daiba mall. The Gundam was so cool and we stayed for when it “transformed” into a different gundam (its head thing moved). I got some japanese manga books in a store in the mall of volumes I’ve already read, which were cool collectibles.
Big Earth
After the Gundam figure we went to Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. It was really cool and had lots of interesting exhibits, and robots. There was this giant earth ball that you could walk around on a spiral staircase which was sick. They also had a this game thing that let you create an earth to try and get to survive 50 years by giving it a path to take and hoping it wouldn’t be destroyed by bad events. I got my earth through all the bad stuff :). There were some cool AI exhibits that learned from the people that interacted with them, but they were so scary to look at. Uncanny valley was doing its work for those robots.
Then we went to teamLABs, which was another highligh of the trip. This place was so cool I was surprised. They had LED light shows in giant mirror rooms, water exhibits with interactive fish holograms, procedural flower projector domes, floating flower gardens, and a room full of giant balls. Each exhibit was unique and interesting, which made for some really cool photos.
Today we travel from Kyoto to Tokyo for the second half of our time in Japan. Morning gets off to a slow start as we pack up and head to Kyoto Station to board the Shinkansen bullet train. Train ride goes smoothly as I doze off listening to music.
As much as I love Kyoto, Tokyo is definitely my favorite place I’ve visited, and I am very excited to be able to spend more time here. I’m extra excited as I’ve yet to visit Akihabara district. Once at Akihabara, we make our way to the hotel which is conveniently right next to Akihabara station. While it’s not as unique as the design of the Kyoto Anteroom Hotel, the shower has a window that looks over the city for an amazing view.
Once settled in a bit, we took a group trip to Mandarake, a massive 7 floor store with retro anime, games, television and movie merch.
Afterwards, me Brody, Esther, and Vincent got some delicious sushi! This restaurant was recommended to us and it was right next to the hotel. I tried eel for the first time and actually really liked it!
We then went out for a little more shopping where I got a bilingual copy of The Ghost in the Shell manga, and saw some cool zelda posters 🙂
For our free day in Tokyo, Brody and I went to Shibuya and planned to do a lot of shopping. We knew we wanted to hit the three-floored UNIQLO there, but we found so much more.
We did some research and found ourselves initially in Shibuya109, which we then realized was a female clothing store, but still thought was interesting enough to walk through because the designs and fashion were really cool. However, I didn’t come out empty handed as there was a place where I could get a very good matcha latte.
Brody and I in the Shibuya109 elevator
After leaving Shibuya109, we went to MAGNET, which was the male equivelent of Shibuya109 under the same company, however much smaller. Brody and I found some very expensive places, but eventually hit one of the many places I would become a costumer at: RECOfan, a record shop. Here, I bought two Studio Ghibli records as Joe Hisaishi is one of my favorite composers of all time, and they were much cheaper than if I bought them in the United States.
After that, we went towards the Parco mall which holds the famous Nintendo Store and Pokémon Center, as well as a Jump store (which covers most shonen anime). Of course, I spent some more money at these places, acquiring many stickers and even a painted manga panel, as well as some plushy gifts for my friends back at home.
Next, Brody and I went to UNIQLO, where we bought even more clothes (this being our third time to a UNIQLO in Japan). Lastly, we hit the Converse store, where we got some Japan-only kicks.
Everything I bought in Shibuya
After the massacre of our wallets and the encumbrance of our spoils, we went back to Akhihabara to meet with Maddy and Esther for a hot pot dinner. It was delicious and, surprisingly, empty. It was also connected right next to our hotel, which made it convenient. We ended the night with an attempt to go to karaoke, but after Maddy’s unfortunately late birthday ruining our plan to get drinks, we abandoned the plan and called it a night.
Before long, the day to return to Tokyo had arrived. I woke up slightly later than intended, ate a quick buffet breakfast, and boarded the bus for the station. Before long we were on our way playing games with our headphones in.
Upon arriving at the hotel in Akihabara, we spent some time inspecting the various oddities included in the room. Ranging from the massage chair, in room massages, a rain shower, the interesting shower setup, and a tv where one cannot watch regular tv. We spent some time recharging before leaving the hotel for Mandarake. At Mandarake, we speedran from the top floor to the bottom floor in 30 minutes. From there, we split and I explored some of my favorite shops on my own. I found a giant EVA statue for $1000 at Japan’s Hobby Lobby. No purchases made though…
The streets at night were very cyberpunk with the rain
Later that night, I met with Belle and Megan for crane games and arcade games. I spent way too much money getting my favorite vtuber, Mori Calliope and had to use a “sumimasen” for help multiple times before the staff made it nearly impossible to lose. Afterwards, my luck turned around and I won a Ruby plush from Oshi no Ko in 4 tries.
We got Megan’s RWBY to do a headstand. Unfortunately, no one else won any crane games…
i’m writing the mandatory travel blog post. i’m doing it. i’m gonna stop staring at my screen and i’m gonna write the mandatory travel blog post. we’ll get through this. it’ll be fine.
i spent most of that morning packing, dropped down to the breakfast room to get a few rolls to sustain me, not much happened until it was train time.
the first crisis of the day was that i very quickly discovered that i had lost yet another train ticket. not the pass, just the ticket this time but that did mean that i didn’t know where i was sitting and that stressed me out for the whole trip. it was a nice view though, as always.
after we arrived at the hotel everyone very quickly realized the… choices that were made with the room’s design and tv content. since i’m the only person in this room i didn’t really notice and was mostly pleased with the place. just wish the desk had a better chair :’)
[mine as i found it.]
events transpired on this day. we went to two stores that everyone was really excited about but to be honest it didn’t appeal to me and in a few cases was pretty uncomfortable. i went to a restaurant and there’s a funny anecdote there that on another day i might have written about but due to my mental state just made me sad. it was a relief to get back to the room.
i like the view from my window. seeing the train platform enlightened as it slices the otherwise typical city. it’s very loud and crowded here which contributed to the day being overwhelming, but seeing it at a distance made it seem a lot more manageable. we’ll see.
[i think it looks like cake here. train cake.]
i went straight to bed after this. gnight y’all :2
