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Tokyo (2) - Harajuku

Thursday, May 10, 2012
Went to Harajuku the next day! Harajuku is really a must-go to me; way more interesting than Shibuya unless you're a serious shopper I guess haha. Harajuku has more stuff to look at; kind of like a much bigger & more decorated version of Haji Lane. The stuff here is cheaper than at Shibuya too & there are eateries interspersed between the shops.

Today's post is mostly on the interesting shops!
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Anyway the metro station is Harajuku, but you actually come at Takeshita Street. You have to walk through this street (which is awesome) to get to the more indie (and thus more expensive) side of the Harajuku area.

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Tamagotchi bakery!
Ok actually it's quite cheat one lah, they just sell the mini donuts & Tamagotchi stuff in the same shop.

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P1020294

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Hahaha AYG.
And those are my comfy $30 boots! Woolen/furry interior. Very comfy.

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I know the one on the right is a Gloomy Bear outfit (because Alaric likes Gloomies too)!
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The crepes are nice!

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Dog clothes shop on the right.
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Saw quite a lot of these shops with their entrances plastered by pictures of what I assume are Japanese celebs. Not sure what the shops do. Make/sell paraphernalia like posters I suppose. Seemed popular!
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Super popular Calbee store!
Ridiculously long queue outside despite the cold.
Not sure what the hype is O.O

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^_^
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Rugby by Ralph Lauren!
Ok I have no idea what that is, just thought the shop was nice.
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There was a really long queue for this restaurant too!
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Oh yeah there are some 2nd-hand shops here but they're damn expensive lah!
Like more expensive than the new items selling at Takeshita Street.
And they're just old/2nd-hand, not particularly quirky vintage.
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Hahahaha lame OOTD pictures:
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And a random cute snack, which wasn't impressive taste-wise.

There was a 24-hour minimart in between our metro stop & the hotel so every night we'd just buy nonsense snacks on the way back. And there's a vending machine right outside our room too! Hotels should totally have more vending machines; but I guess then they wouldn't earn from exorbitant minibar prices.

P.S. You can't smoke in the streets except in designated smokers' squares! I'm not sure how far this rule applies, but I know it's the norm in the Shinjuku area (we stayed 2 stops away, at Yotsuya-Sanchome).

It'll be the weekend soon! :D Tata.

Tokyo (1) - Shibuya

Monday, May 07, 2012
Hello! I'm finally putting up my Tokyo photos, which were from... February.
So yep in February we have a one-week midterm break so we went up to Tokyo! 
Luckily I had no term tests (for Sociology we rarely do, whereas I hear of some students with up to 4 tests muahaha) so... pretty much a freetime holiday for me (Y)

Went to Shibuya on the first day (day after touchdown)!
Shibuya's one of the main shopping areas to go to in Tokyo but it's hella expensive.
Well all shopping in Tokyo is expensive, but Shibuya more so compared to Harajuku.


It was still pretty cold the first few days we were in Tokyo!
Wore a thermal sweater (can get them from Uniqlo) under my top every day.

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I think this is a pretty good idea.

Quite a long time ago I chanced upon a lot of news articles about how weak Japan's system is with regards to rape cases & so on... There's very little help in terms of recognition or support for a rape victim. And apparently even if people see a woman being taken advantage of, they'll assume it's a domestic squabble & just stay out of it. Ok lah I dunno why rape to me is a very particularly sick issue, it disgusts me so much more than it does the average person I think.

Here is an article from Reuters (2007), which mentions how a man dragged a woman off the train & raped her & no one helped. One elite Japanese university even had a students running a "rape club", which planned gang rapes... You can just Google "Japan rape" & a few articles will pop up already.

I dunno how the situation is like now since a few major international cases like the 2007 one, hopefully it's improved! But it just made me quite sad lah. So yeah every country has its problems.

I don't think it means that Japan is NOT safe or anything, but just be on your guard anywhere in the world ok! Don't go around alone if you're a girl. We were also never out late because cabfare is way too expensive hahahaha. So bohpian have to take the last train home (before midnight).

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Hachiko statue! 
Bloody crowded, not because tourists were taking pictures but because it's apparently a common meeting spot for the locals lol. Like, instead of "meet you at the MRT control station" it would be "meet you at the Hachiko statue". Lots of Japanese standing around waiting!

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This square is quite famous for how crowded it is!

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We came across Shibuya 109's Men first, which is a full 6-story building just for guys!
It's quite small though, but some of the stuff is pretty nice! Half the stores stock like... normal preppy guys' clothes & the other... the goth/punk look LOL.

Oh yes if girls are looking for the Navana Wig that I helped Miyake buy (at a whopping S$300 wtf), it's located at level 2! Impossible to miss, the floor design is the kind that makes you walk past all shops to take the escalator to the next floor lol. Oh & there are no snack shops in this mall!

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Wooly thing from my mom's old boots, taken off & worn with my wedges!

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PhotobucketEr not sure who they are but their photos were all over the mall!
Some kind of celeb mall-ambassadors I think?

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Pikachu sweater!

No pictures of the main Shibuya 109 (for girls). 
Huge, full of lots of pretty shops but freaking expensive!
I bought one top at... S$80. 
Lots of nice shoes but omg I really can't justify paying S$100+ for one pair T_T

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Big Forever 21! The Forever 21 prices are normal (same as Singapore's) so I always wonder how the Japanese feel about it! I mean... comparatively it's like... dirt cheap to them. It wasn't particularly crowded though, so we figured maybe F21's a bit "uncool" there hahahaha.

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Went up to the floor section because my feet were dying.
My wedges are comfy but they're still tiring after a full day of walking.
Most of the shoes at Shibuya were heels though (or $100+++ flats).

Luckily I found a random (a bit heartland-ish) shoe shop opposite F21, from which I bought comfy low, flat boots for S$30! I didn't like them then, but came to love them by the end of the trip lol.
You'll see them in the pictures for the other days!
They became SO dirty though (beige colour) so I've thrown them away :(

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Ramen dinner!
All the restaurants serve good food really, didn't come across any of lousy quality!
So you can pretty much pick any random restaurant & food should be good!

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Huge Starbucks!
The Japanese really seem into the whole lifestyle-coffee-joint thing.
There are some really pretty cafes around!

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Hachiko wall.
Haha I realise the picture looks like the guy is posing for me but no, dunno him lol.

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Some of my shopping that day!
Only one item in each bag lah haha.
Oh & the green bag was some promo bag  -_-

Japanese shops really package their image very well!
They do up their shop very nicely, make lookbooks & have their own shopping bags.
That's what allows them to have such high prices I suppose.

Cecil McBee' prices were slightly lower than the rest's, so you can try there! Level 2 I think.

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Some of the lookbooks!
Majority still featuring Caucasian models...
With the exception of Navana Wig's, which obviously is for Asian girls to "wear" brown hair lol.
All the pictures are really nice though!

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Japanese snacks... so pink one!
It makes me happy to look at their snacks wtf haha.
All the snacks in this picture are nice!

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Heart-shaped strawberry Pocky!
(really was)

Took some pictures of the lookbooks:
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Nice hor.
When I look at these I also feel like buying things hahaha.
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Okay I'll have a total of 5 Parts to my Tokyo trip!

Gotta rush out now, bye!

TGIF

Friday, May 04, 2012
Hello! I ended exams yesterday but didn't get to play/rest much because I had an internship interview today at 10am! T_T But I think it went well though, everything should be fine but I'm a bit of the kiasu sort so I don't wanna count my chickens till they grow & lay their own eggs O.O

Going out in a bit to meet Kaykay, Yutaki & Miyake!

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Wow I haven't worn contact lens in a whole week! 
That's the longest I've gone continuously in spectacles since I first started wearing lenses (mid-2005).

Lipstick: MAC's Angel

And because one reader asked to see how my NUS Matric Card looks like:

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Haha I always find my mushroom hair here funny. 
Unfortunately this is the same picture used for my EZlink & driver's license as well!

The zebra & heart are obviously my own additions.
Here's what the card will say:

Student No:
U09_______
U is for undergraduates; they have a different alphabet for graduate & exchange students. The 09 will indicate which cohort you're in. I enrolled in NUS in 2009 & hence am the 09 cohort.

Sophie Estelle Willocq
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

Yeah that's pretty much it. 
You use your matric card to enter places like the Central Library & uh... to get discounts at the bookshop, on-campus Burger King, Starbucks, Pepper Lunch etc etc.
Oh yes & you need to display this during exams for them to take your attendance. That's all!

Ok I'm gonna head to town now.
Promise to blog when I get back!

Swimming

Tuesday, May 01, 2012
I may or may not have mentioned in sufficient detail that... I can't really swim. Sure I can muck around in the water & not drown, but I can't... swim, swim. Like if I fell overboard I'd probably drown in 10 minutes. Please give me the plank if we find ourselves in the situation à la Titanic. And I think we can share, because I'm skinnier than Rose & she was a selfish cow.

I never took actual swimming lessons; was pretty much taught by my mom. So my technique is all wrong. And I have shitty (no) stamina. I can't even remember the last time I swam (not muck around) properly, like down the length of the pool, because it's really quite boring.

So when I do get into the water, I muck around:

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Front rolls, handstands, back rolls (that's a back roll)... That's about it I guess.
My nautical adventures will have to wait.

P.S. I have more underwater snaps! Will upload another time.