Japan

 Saturday (or Day 6) was spent recovering in my sisters dorm from all the walking we did at Dsiney Sea the day before. We decided to go out Sunday for some breakfast and shopping in Harajuku before I returned home for the holidays on Monday. Despite the cold, the street were packed with tourists and younger people in amazing clothes. I tried to capture some of that in the photos I took.

Before even making our way down to Takeshita Street in Harajuku, we stopped by Kiddy Land. It was a 5 story toy store and my sister and I toured through each one. We spent a good chunk of our day here but it was worth it to see all the various stuffed animals of mascots and toys that were popular among the adults and kids. We made our way to Takeshita Street and the fashion scene still continues to blow my mind. I am not camera shy but I still find it daunting to ask someone if I can take their photo. I think on my next trip I will finally be able to articulate “May I take your photo?” in Japanese with more confidence. I did do some shopping after eating some delicious crepes and came home with 3 coats. As I mentioned in a previous post, Fur, real or faux, was everywhere and my 3 coats feature faux fur detail that is also removable. (The weather as of late in the Bay Area has been unseasonably warm so who knows when I’ll be able to wear them and style them.) They were perfect for the cold weather there and I recommend buying a coat when you travel somewhere that’s cold because it will be suited for the climate.

After our time in Harajuku, we made our way up to Ameyoko. I had done a search on Youtube for what to do in Japan and visiting Ameyoko was on the list. I was intrigued by the name. Ame means sweet in Japanese and can refer to all the candy stores that used to be located in this area. Ame is also short for America and can allude to the fact that this area was a type of underground market after WWII and even today sells imported and American goods at some pretty high prices. My sister was excited to spot pinto beans here, so she bought some from one of the vendors and resolved to bring her roommates next time in case they needed imported food.

There are a variety of stalls in Ameyoko, and it is near a bustling downtown area with large department stores. It is also known for its fish market and insane deals. My sister and I happened to witness a type of auction for about $10, you could get all the items being thrown into the bag. I thought it’d be best to share a video of what that looked like and you can recognize some parts of English words.

This last location with all of its import goods was a good way to end my time in Japan for the winter. Before heading out from Ameyoko my sister and I made sure to buy some sweets from a store and stocked up on a bunch of goodies to bring back as souveniers. If I learned anything from this trip is that it makes sense to bring an empty duffle bag so you can check in your suitcase on the way back and have the duffle bag be your carry on. Especially if you need to fit 3 coats  you had not planned on getting and extra sweets.

Hope you enjoyed my travel posts! Now back to business with my first beauty product review coming tomorrow and of course and outfit post coming soon.
Until next time Japan,Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

Nicole and I spent a rainy Friday with a couple of friends at Disney Sea. On our last trip we made our way to Tokyo Disneyland, but we didn’t get a chance to visit Disney Sea in the summer. It was such a difference due to the weather and since it was Christmas themed. It was less crowded and there were less people around towards the end of the day due the rain.

The park was decorated for Christmas and we spotted a bunch of different with Ariel’s being my favorite. While it rained heavily we spent our time going on rides and watching a show in Triton’s Kingdom. The show was interesting mixed with English Songs from the Little Mermaid but the dialogue was in Japanese.

We toured the streets of Agrabah, took a Journey to the Center of the Earth, went 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and toured the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull all while eating the various flavored popcorn in the park. I loved this park and would definitely want to visit again when it isn’t raining to enjoy more shows and attractions.
We are almost wrapping up with my travel segment. My final post will feature what my sister and I saw in Harajuku and Ameyoko, so stay tuned!

Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

I spent of my days in Japan out and about in Hachioji while my sister attended her last day of school. I arrived to the station and connected to it was a department store. The ground floor had all these yummy restaurants/food stalls and I decided to eat some breakfast at one of the small cafes.

Afterwards I decided to tour the entire department store. I lingered at the Basement Level of the Department store because there was a food court. So many yummy food for sale and I had already eaten breakfast. My favorite displays were for the cakes! Christmas cakes are a big deal and are advertised everywhere in Japan. Christmas is more of a date night and incomplete without some Christmas cake to share with your significant other.

After pulling myself away from the basement floor. I went up each floor in this department store. It felt like it took up most of my day but I enjoyed seeing all the items available for sale in this one location. This store is definitely a one stop shop since it had clothes, home decor, and a grocery store in one building right next to the train station.

Believe it or not, I ended up going to another department store a block away to see if there were any other interesting stores. I spotted the Krispy Kreme donuts and had to take a photo! The snowman donut looks too cute to eat. This department store seemed to have a lot more floors and included a craft store, a vintage boutique, children’s play area, and at the top floor there was a kitchen classroom. I was peaking in and one of the instructors came out to give me a few recipe cards and information of the next class. I was a little surprised and my mind went blank as I tried to remember how to say I was just visiting briefly. I did say Thank You and that the cake in the recipe she gave me looked delicious.

It was raining outside so I enjoyed being able to spend most of my day inside the two department stores. I toured the streets and enjoyed some Takoyaki for lunch from a chain called Gindaco. So far, every time I’ve been to Japan I have enjoyed Takoyaki and I will continue upholding that tradition.

I headed out a little bit early since the rain wasn’t letting up and to have dinner at the dorm. I went to bed early that night in preparation for the fun in store for Friday. My next post will feature the magic of Disney Sea, so see you next time!Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

My sister lives about an hour away from the center of Tokyo, but she is only a 20 minute bus ride away from Tama Center, which is where we spent our Monday morning and where we bought Starbucks for breakfast. We did some shopping that morning at the department store my sister had visited previously and had only frequented the Daiso (a 100 yen store). We went through each floor admiring the presentation of possible Christmas gifts. Everywhere we looked it was decorated with Christmas decorations.

We visited Nicole’s school after we did some shopping for lunch using the Monorail and it was about a 10 minute trip. We then returned to Tama Center to visit Sanrio Puroland. Along the way we were distracted and played a quick game of Taiko Drums at a Game Center called Taito Station.

We made our way over to the entrance and it was so cute! I grew up loving items and toys from Sanrio, so visiting Puroland in Japan was like a dream come true (Even though I had only heard about it a few months ago!)

The park had three floors, downstairs there were ride, theater and the wisdom tree. We arrived in time to see tutus and tiaras distributed to little girls and witnessed a mini ballet lesson taught by a host and mascot Bonbon Ribbon. 

Admission to Sanrio Puroland is not free and you do have to pay extra for a few things like the rides and theater. But one of the attractions we did visit was the Wisdom Tree. We climbed up and spotted a cute little shrine where people could make wishes on bells and tie them to a tree. 

After we finished touring the attractions area, we went upstairs to the second floor to visit the Sanrio Store. Nicole spotted one of her favorite mascots, Cinnamaroll as a plushie. While she didn’t go home with that she did buy some cookies in a Cinnamaroll tin and a tiny towel with his face. We thought we would have been able to find some item featuring Pochacco,but apparently he is hard to find in Japan. (You would think it’d be easy.)

We spotted trees decorated with Sanrio plushies and if we had more time we would have visited the third floor where there is a restaurant where you can eat with the characters and possibly take photos with them. (At least, that”s what it looked like on the directory.) We needed to head back to my sister’s dorm so she could work on a presentation for the next day. Maybe next time we will spend more time to go on the rides and visit the thrid floor.
Hope you enjoyed details from my trip to Tama Center and Sanrio Puroland. Stay tuned for my time in the Roppongi hills at night.Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER | 

(Disclaimer:This post is photo heavy of the campus and landscape.) I spent a couple of days of my trip to Japan visiting the my sister’s college. She is a student at CSUMB, but is studying abroad for a year at Chuo University. The campus is gorgeous and reminded me of the UC Berkeley campus because it is located on a hill, has all these trees everywhere and has great views of the city in the distance. The sign above is what you see when you get off the monorail from Tama Center, so I avoided having to climb uphill from the bus stop. The air was crisp and as I’ve said a number of times in my other two outfit posts, it was cold! That might explain why there aren’t too many people in my photos, but it was the week before a holiday.

This building above is the Hilltop Building and it has about 4 floors and has cafeterias/bakeries in each one. Plenty of tables and room to sit. I shared what I ate there on my first day on Instagram here.

Brandy| BLOGLOVIN | FACEBOOK |  INSTAGRAM |TUMBLR | TWITTER |