Time to come home

So my trip to Japan has come to an end, but that doesn't mean you should stop reading. I still have lot's of adventures to tell you including Mt. Fuji, how to hide your tattoos at an Onsen, festivals, and more. I am also going to be road-tripping from Atlantic coast to Pacific coast. Massachusetts to Oregon. So please keep coming back and seeing my mishaps and adventures. Thanks for your readership so far I hope you will subscribe. Maybe you can help me decide where I should backpack next.

Gaijin in a Yukata

So Gaijin is the Japanese word for foreigner. Sometimes it is an insult and sometimes it can be endearing. Anyway, Gaijin don't typically wear Yukata in Japan. Maybe at an anime convention in the US, but at a Matsuri (festival) not really. I didn't know this till after I purchased and was wearing my yukata at the Hanabi Matsuri (Fireworks Festival) at Asakusu when I received a lot of stares. But that's a later part of the story. I want to tell you now how to buy a Yukata.

Yukata's are everywhere. Seriously you can go into a Donki store and find some cheap ones. They are nice looking and if you just want to say you bought a Yukata in Japan that might do it for you. I however wanted something nice and beautiful. Something that I would probably give my daughter to wear when she went to Japan...it's not like these things really go out of style.

So I did look at the cheaper ones, they run about $60 or so. And they were nice but none of them really called to me. None of them made me want to spend my hard earned cash. So Kayo took me to a store in Shinjuku, a nice department store with a lovely Yukata store at the top level. As soon as I walked in I was in love. I wanted to buy the whole store. Seriously.
Then I saw it. The One. It was black with cherry blossom and butterflies. I don't think it could have been better even if it were designed for me. But then doubt started sinking in. I'm not a skinny Japanese girl. I'm not skinny by American standards either. I'm just average. Curvy, maybe a little too soft, All American Average. Would they have a Yukata that would fit my tall and slightly more round Gaijin Stature? Luckily they did...if I had been any bigger I would have been out of luck...and my big booty is what made it a really close call.

As soon as we established that it fit I was like a kid in a candy shop! I wanted the obi decoration to match. I wanted a flower for my hair. I started looking at bags and geta when Kayo said, "Katie, stop. See how much you have already?"
"Oh yeah...." I turned to the store keep, "So how much is everything I have picked out already?"
"25,000 Yen"
"Yikes! Yep, I'm done. Let's buy this and go before I spend my entire trips budget." lol
So now, I have this beautiful Yukata with almost all the fixings. I did get a bag later at a cheaper store and I have geta at home. It is a more modern style that doesn't get all complicated to tie as it is pre-set. There isn't any velcro, but isn't old fashioned either.

I'm in LOVE!

Maid Cafe's

Akihabara is filled with Maid Cafe's and the streets are filled with girls advertising them. First thing I learned....you are not allowed to take their photos on the street. This is because you pay money in the cafe for the privilege to have your picture taken with them or for a fancy one of them. This first pic is of one with a maid trying to show me a sign that says "Do not take our pictures." I don't know how she expected me to understand. It was in Japanese. And the high pitched voice talking at me sounded like she was advertising not admonishing. You can see how Kayo noticed I was being yelled at while I was completely oblivious.

 This gave me a challenge. ^-^
Taking pictures of Maids on the street without them noticing. Yes, that is my boob in some of the shots. I couldn't look like I was taking their picture. So I tried to look like an eager tourist with my camera at the ready for anything interesting.

 I think I did a good job and captured some good pics while we walked around trying to decide on which cafe we should try. There are many different types of maids ranging from conservative long skirts to neko-maids (cat girls) and vampire maids. It pretty much depends on your preference. We went with a typical cute short skirt pink maid. Called Pinky Maid Cafe.

 The floor was filthy, their shoes were scuffed, skirts were wrinkled and slightly stained. The decorations were overly cheesy and their speech was so high pitched dogs would howl. It reeked of smoke and cuteness.

 Not only is the menu expensive but you pay a fee just for walking in the door. You also get cheap food with drawings done by the maids. It's cute that's for sure and I can totally see why Japanese men would like it. You are given a lot of attention by cute girls with the idea of demure saturated in each girl.

 They feed you and if you are a man you are called Master. If you are a girl you are called Princess. It's an interesting arrangement. You can even pay for them to play a game with you. If you win you get a free picture.

 Maid cafes offer memberships which makes it cheaper for the frequent visitor. You also have to pic a maid to become a fan of, but you can not change your fandom until you reach a certain amount of points/spend enough money. This is true even if the maid "graduates" aka leave.

 Every cafe is different and I really only had time for one, but from what I understand the experience is pretty typical. My favorite part was trying to sneak pictures of them on the street. I love a good challenge.

Transportation in Tokyo

So we all know the trains are infamous for being over crowded in Japan. We may even think of the trains as expensive. But for the most part the trains are only crowded during rush hour and not very expensive. I didn't buy the JR pass against the advice of many travel guides and online blogs. I have about 4 days left in Tokyo and have only spent 8,000 yen with money still on my card to last the final days on transportation. This is roughly $90-$100 depending on the exchange. The 14 day JR pass was about $400 so it was cheaper for me to just pay like the locals do.
Now, if I had to pay for the trip to Nikko or Fujiyama it would have definitely been cheaper to buy the JR pass by a lot. A trip to Fujiyama would have cost about $250 on top of what I spent in Tokyo. But my advice to those who are staying in Tokyo and don't plan on leaving the city at all is to just buy the Suica card and fill it with money. Suica cards can also be used to buy locker space and at most convenience stores.

As for crowding on the train, I can say as an American I can't stand it. Just when you think no one else can fit 5 more squeeze in. It's hot, stuffy and invasive. If you can avoid taking the trains early in the morning and after 6 I would. It has been my least favorite experience of Japan by far.

Taking a taxi is very expensive in Tokyo. Do NOT miss the last train or wait for the first train at 4:30 am. It can easily cost $200 on a trip that would have cost about $10 by train.

Driving in Tokyo can be faster than the train or it can be two hours slower depending on construction and traffic. Unless you have a Japanese license or International license. Honestly the train is truly the best way to go about Tokyo.

12 hour long flights are inhumane

So I knew flying would be rough, but there is no way you can mentally prepare yourself for 12 hours of sitting in a cramped space with a baby crying almost the whole time. My entire body ached and the two melatonin pills I took did nothing. Seriously...how can taking a double dose of sleeping pills not put you to sleep??
Anyway, the movies on the flight were okay, but it was hard to enjoy them with all the discomfort combined with uncontrollable excitement.

 I landed in Japan very eager and happy. Quarantine and Customs wasn't that bad especially considering the food I had tried to bring was taken. Kayo met me at the airport, it was amazing being reconnected with her. We got some juice and snacks for the two hour drive to her house. I got the freshest, most delicious peach juice I have ever had. I also had a beef and egg rice ball, which was weird. It tasted like it should be hot, but was cold. Very tasty, but way to heavy.
We went to Roponggi to meet with some of Kayo's friends. This was the best introduction to Japan that I could have never imagined. We went to a traditional Japanese resturant complete with tatami mats, sitting on the floor and taking your shoes off before you go to your room. We were in our own room and that was a good thing because things got noisy fast once everyone arrived. Everyone was excited to have an American amongst them and wasted no time to practice any english they had learned.
 Then things went rolling fast. Booze was ordered...lots of it. I honestly have no idea how much I drank and the only reason why I am not horribly hung over was the fact that they all drank a large amount of water with as well. Then food was ordered. Lot's of that too. Rare, expensive sashimi was brought into the room. I tried a fish that was in season and very expensive, I wish I had learned the name of it. I also and I still can't believe I did it. I ate horse sashimi....I ate raw horse meat, raw horse liver, and you know the part of the neck where the mane grows out? Yep, I ate that raw too. It is very popular and expensive in Japan. My hosts were happy to make me try something that is almost a taboo in our culture. I have to say if you ever get the chance to try it, you should. It was actually very tasty as long as you didn't think about it. There were 14 people total and the bill was well over $1,000. I was terrified when I saw it. Did I really spend $100 in my first couple of hours? Then the men said, "Katie-chan, welcome to Japan we are buying this meal." I couldn't believe it. So I said, "Mina-sama Arigato Gozaimasu" I can't tell you how many times I said thank you. I bowed very low and just as many times as my horrible Japanese allowed it I showed that I was very grateful and humble.

"Now, let's do kaoroke." They said. And we went right across the street where I had been able to see people doing kaoroke. Here too much wine was ordered. We sang american and Japanese songs, though it was most entaining hearing them sing american songs. Some was awful and some was surprisingly good. We had some desert, I have no idea what it was...maybe icecream. By 3 am I was drunk...very drunk. One of the guys paid for us to take a cab home as we had missed the last train. We got home and I passed out.

I am in Japan

So I have made it to Japan. The internet is a little tricky and my laptop is low on battery. I have to buy an adapter and I will hopefully have a post up by tomorrow. I have been writing, but I have to sort through a zillion pics and edit before you lovely people get to know of my adventures. But know that there are adventures taking place.

Ayumi Hamasaki makes me wanna pack

As I type this I am listening to my Pandora under the artist Ayumi Hamasaki. I freaking love Ayumi Hamasaki. Seriously, I once spent $60 on a special edition album. I love her that much. Anyway, I have done a lot of errands and such getting ready and then procrastinated the actual packing until now. The only way I could get myself into the mundane task was by listening to as much J-pop and J-rock as possible. Oh and I totally had a break watching Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Inuyasha. My anime fandom has become slightly less since I graduated high school, but there are the classics and the new ones that remind you of why you ever fell in love.
Confession time. I was totally going to take pictures of my packing process and may still...using my crappy iPhone camera, but because my camera is weird it doesn't take SD cards larger than 2 gigs...I only have 4 gigs. Good thing I'm doing this blog otherwise I'd get to Japan and be pissed, "What do you mean you can't read 4 gigs? Stupid camera!" And then I would have to go on a long search to find an SD card that can be read and isn't an arm and a leg...and with exchange rate I'd be screwed. But luckily I still have one more day to remedy the situation
So what did I do today to get ready? Well, I got my nails did. It was awesome getting all pampered. I accidentally ended up with rounded nails, so I'm just pulling a '60s retro-chic look which with Mad Men being all the rage and showing in places like Banana Republic I can be the super fashionable American who is ahead of the trends....right...

I also got my toes done in blue which according to Instyle is the color to do for the summer. (Because you all really cared about how exactly I got my nails done right?) But I'm really excited about this whole shellac nails thing. We'll see if it can withstand backpacking.

Walmart is a time sucker as always. I went in there to get the mini-travel toiletries and ended up looking at shoes and a hostess gift for my big sis. I ended up getting some salsa made in San Antonio and I will also be giving her a jar of jelly my family canned. According to everything I read a hostess gift should be food or small. Something that would not impose on the household or take up space because of how small spaces tend to be in Japan. They should also be unique to your area. I figured you couldn't get more Texan than salsa and I couldn't be more unique than jelly canned from the farm with wild berries.
Now, if you are traveling outside of the country you have to take some precautions with your money. I went to the bank and discussed the best options with my banker, who is awesome by the way. She set up an identity theft protection, which is $1 for the first month at Wells Fargo and you can cancel any time. Considering I'll only be gone a two weeks it's not a bad gig. I also decided to use a combo of cash and debit card. I did consider traveler's checks but when I went to Europe it was a huge pain to find a place to exchange them into cash. It was also better exchange rate to use the atm. The fees were much smaller than the kiosks. This is my personal preference I know some people prefer the traveler's checks.
Anyway, tomorrow I get my precious yen and finish getting all packed up. O-O craziness yo!

 PS I did end up taking pics with my iPhone...in case you didn't notice.

Itinerary, huh?

So I leave for Japan on Wednesday...I LEAVE FOR JAPAN IN TWO DAYS?!! When did this happen? I bought my ticket back in March, my backpack in May and now all of a sudden I gotta do things like pack! Holy Toledo Batman!
So, I have a lot of friends in Japan thanks to a nifty exchange program with my college. I will be staying with my 'older sister' from my Freshman year. And like a good big sis she is ready to take care of me and has planned out a lot. I will also be in care of one of my best friends Satoshi, who I met one drunk night at a bar....another story for another time.

So here is my rough itinerary for Japan, you folks ready?

Wednesday, August 24th
Fly out from DFW Internation Airport on All Nippon Airways at 7:20 am. (sleep on flight because that's crazy early)
Land in Washington DC 11:29 (wait a second did I just get further away from Japan?)
Eat some food in the Airport because it's better than scary airline food.
Leave Washingon DC 12:20 and fly straight to Japan. That is 14 hours of sitting the same spot...cramped...tiny spot...with tasteless food...I'm pretty sure there are laws against this.

Thursday, August 25th
Land in Narita at 3:20pm.
Meet my big sis, Kayo. Drive to Tokyo and go see a baseball game at Tokyo Dome
SLEEP!

Friday, August 26th
Go Shopping!! Goal of the day: Buy a Yukata (summer kimono)
Go do Karaoke

Saturday, August 27th
Go to a fireworks festival wearing brand new Yukata!

The rest of the itinerary was e-mailed to me by Kayo.
28 Sendai ship matsushima
29 sendai to Tokyo
30 free shopping harajuku?
31 free. Odaiba?
1 free asakusa?
2 Disney see with everyone
3 Japanese Fashion Show with Satoshi
4 Fuji mt and p/l
5 Fuji mt to tokyo good bye party night club or gay club??
6 narita airport


And that is it. That is the plan and it is very exciting!!


So as the trip gets nearer there is a lot for me to do. 
TO DO:
Get nails done
Decide outfits and the accessories that go with them
Pack all that
Pack toiletries (this includes: shampoo, conditioner, styling product, make up, tooth brush, toothpaste, razor, lotion)
Make copies of Passport, debit cards, drivers license.
Exchange Dollars into Yens and get travelers checks 
Establish Power of Attorney (you never know what could happen, so Sis you're in charge if something happens to me)
Check, double check and triple check everything. 
Read some travel sites to make sure you have absolutely everything


And that is it. That is what I have to do...I think...there may be more.


So two whole days left to get everything done. I think I can be ready. 

My start into backpacking

I had my first trip backpacking when I was 18 traveling to three different countries in Europe. I got a Eu-rail pass and stayed in Hostels it was amazing. I met so many cool people while staying hostels and even cooler places. I became addicted to traveling. Amsterdam taught me about freedom and gluttony, Spain taught me to slow down, enjoy life and enjoy beauty. And France...food. Oh god was there beautiful, wonderful food.

So now I am getting ready to go to a whole different world. I am going east. To Japan. I will spend two weeks in Japan backpacking. Originally it was going to be a month hitting the entire island but because of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami I shortened my trip and changed my itinerary.Safety first ya'll!