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Asia Trip 2016
I went on a three and a half week (mid may - early june) vacation in Asia with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mukuro this last May/June! It was a lot of fun as well as my first time in Japan. ITS BEEN LITERALLY MONTHS and I still haven't finished this report. I don't rmb anything that happened anymore....but I'll do my best...
Hong Kong (I wrote this part in August.....)
Every time I talk about Hong Kong, the first thing I say is "I hate Hong Kong" but I always try to visit....which about sums up my complicated feelings about my birthplace ahaha.
The flight to HK wasn't too bad! Amy and I accidentally didn't book seats next to each other (??? why) so we asked the person sitting next to Amy to swap seats with me. It wasn't a full plane so we ended up with the whole aisle and we could spread out a little...we also had to keep bringing the special meals to the guy I swapped with because he was vegan or something and kept getting steamed kale delivered to his original seat.
Um I got my first nosebleed of the trip on this flight. It was pretty mild all things considered.....I reread BNHA on amy's tablet and kept making excited noises at her, but she wasn't caught up!!! So I wasn't allowed to get excited. 8'( Truly tragic experience...
But yea since we got the whole aisle of seats I laid down and took a nap at one point too lol.
It was a blur when we landed, Amy forgot her neck pillow on this flight. rip neck pillow. And then we tried to ZOOM down to luggage and customs bc the check in for our airBNB ended at 8:30pm and we landed at like 6:45pm LMFAO I MEAN WE WERENT GOING TO MAKE IT!!! but it was ok bc I got an email from the airBNB that said they left the key for us and it was all good. SO THAT WAS GOOD!
And also getting to the airBNB was a breeze bc my aunt sent us detailed instructions on which bus to take from the airport and even met us at the stop so we wouldn't get lost!!! MVP of HK was my aunt TAT.
The airBNB was....slightly sketchy looking LOL but I feel like that just the general HK aesthetic /closes my eyes/ it was the kind that only gave you power if you stuck the keycard into the holder WHICH IS THE MOST ANNOYING THING EVER, I hate this design 8'(
But I guess it was worth it bc the airbnb was in Jordan which is super convenient to go from, RIGHT NEXT TO MONG KOK!!!!! But after dinner with my aunt, amy and I just showered and clocked out LMFAO it was a long...flight.....
THE NEXT DAY!!! we had coupons from our airbnb for breakfast at a semi nearby cafe!! so we went there. it was good :')!
I'm gonna be stealing amy's photos LOL we went to mongkok bright and early, excited to start the trip. Ahaha big mistake. mongkok doesn't open until the afternoon....so amy and I were just like...oh. and went to find breakfast I think, I'm not sure its a blur but we defs went into every single makeup store open at that time, courtesy of Amy. 9__6;;; (how many Sasas did we go to? every last one of them)
But after that disappointing mongkok trip LOL we went down to tsimshatsui to see the skyline!!! it was nice!! *A* then we took the star ferry over to aberdeen. I honestly don't know aberdeen very well (aka I don't know anything bc I usually just stay in new territories)....idk what happened but we passed a flower shop by versaces or something AND WE WERE LIKE UH this is NOT our scene.....so we booked it out and went to mcD for wifi......and there....I had the second worst nosebleed of the trip. in the grossest washroom of the whole trip. Y E A 0/10 recommend this. THAT NOSEBLEED LASTED LIKE 20 MINS???? IT JUST KEPT BLEEDING??? everyone tried to give me advice and it was all conflicting advice!!! ladies kept giving me their packs of tissues, I had +3 packs by the time I was done bleeding....rip.
Yea I don't remember the rest of this day. I THINK IT WAS THE NIGHT OF THE COCKROACH which may explain why I don't rmb anything from it!!!
ARGH ok so our airbnb place had someone come in to take out the garbage and for some reason they also made our bed and folded our clothes??? (only for this day tho, they never did it again ?? LOL ) bUT OK THEY CAME AND???? opened the window in the washroom?? BIG MISTAKE!!!! when we came back that afternoon, we found....a cockroach....in our bathroom....YELLS it was literally the tiniest cockroach I've seen in my life, BUT I DID NOT WANT IT TO EXIST NEAR ME???? Amy also Did Not want to touch it??? so we just....sat down on the bed to go on twitter. JK I did not sit on the bed, I was lying down on the bed half in tears while reading fanfic and on twitter bc I so violently Did Not want to deal with the cockroach while amy sat on the bed and kept repeating "one of us has to kill it, why didn't I bring jenni on this trip, JENNI WOULD HAVE KILLED THE COCKROACH, why are you so useless nat" I think I cried my eyeliner off during this period LOL then Amy had enough I guess, bc she went to smack it with a slipper.....well. at least she tried to. she chickened out the first few times then she finally smacked it once and came out to make me check if it was dead AND OFC I WAS LIKE SCREAMING...NO.....DO NOT!!!!!! BUT WE COULD NOT FIND THE BODY??? (no one wanted to shower that night????) SO WE JUST SANITISED THE AREA IT WAS LYING IN WITH SCALDING HOT WATER and then went out in search of alcohol for it had been 2 WHOLE HOURS since we found the cockroach. we got some beer and then realised we didn't have a beer opener and then spent another 15 mins trying to find a store that sold one. RIP. then we also poured some on to the area where the cockroach was. Y E A
I hate this. I'm so tired from getting worked about REMEMBERING this night. jfc.
I think we went to spend time with my aunt and uncle the next day. yea!! we finally went down part of women's street! and I haggled for some umbrellas for amy and I (WHICH SHE LEFT BEHIND IN TAIWAN BC SHE'S A FAKE FRIEND, DOESNT APPRECIATE THE EFFORT I BUT INTO HAGGLING FOR THOSE UMBRELLAS, HMPH!!!) we went to an old style yumcha place where there were trolleys BUT IT DOESNT MATTER!!! bc you still have to GET UP and FIGHT other people for food, its great. I love it 8')
then we went to visit my grandpa's grave, its very pretty there. and then I wanted to go to this nunnery bc one of my other relatives took me there before, and its also very pretty there!! the park nearby had a mini history museum of different temple designs! And also the nicest park washrooms I've been to ever LOL
It was actually my uncle's birthday that day, so we left him and my aunt to celebrate together while amy and I went to kowloon....the elements mall.....I don't actually recommend going there bc its a really really high end mall, I just go there bc they have an ice rink there LOL ITS PRETTY $$$ but I wanted....to skate for a bit 8D;;; took a mini bus back which was also an adventure LOL but it turned out ok bc I can speak the language well /closes eyes
I had a family dinner this night!! so we went to hang out close to the area my grandma lives in.....aka we stopped at sham shui po to try to look at fabric and trim LOL that was fun.......we got lost for a bit, etc etc. got to the mall we were supposed to meet my family at and then ate at pepper lunch!! WHICH WAS A MISTAKE, not bc it wasn't good, it was very good. BUT IT WAS BC THERE WAS A GUDETAMA CAFE IN THAT MALL AND WE DIDNT KNOW OMFG amy was so close to ditching my family dinner and going to it instead.
ALSO gudetama is SO POPULAR in asia??? it was insane
but family dinner went as well as it could have, the food was good :') then we zoomed back to our air bnb and packed bc the next day we were going to macau!!
Macau was a mistake. a bigger mistake than hk, bc I don't know macau very well and we got lost for 2 hours trying to look for our airbnb. BUT WE FOUND IT IN THE END and it was so Extra. SO EXTRA. it was a luxury apartment???
our host rented us a room and it was a tiny room but uhh the building itself was so extra LOL. AS A SIDE NOTE when we got to the apartment and went up, the household helper was there and she said her boss was taking a shower or something bc her son was having a nap?? it was kind of unclear but our room wasn't ready so we just loitered in the living room. then our host showed up and she was this caucasian lady who came out with her hair wet and wearing a black silkrobe and we were like UHHHHH BC WE WERE BOTH SIMULTANEOUSLY WONDERING IS SHE WAS SOMEONE'S MISTRESS??? IT WAS ALL VERY CONFUSING (we found out later that her husband was also very caucasian and her son was very cute and their cat also had a very Portuguese sounding name)
After that confusion we went to see the tourist spots in macau, aka the ruins of Saint Paul and the hill top fortress....
I DIDNT MENTION BEFORE, but amy brought her aoba/noiz nendos with her on vacation and made me hold them every where while she took pics, #1 EMBARRASSMENT!!!! I mention this now bc I have VIVID MEMORY of aoba's arm falling off and nearly falling off the overhead walkway we were on LOL. We ate paella at this old marketplace and then went to see the venetian hotel bc its pretty LOL also its close to the airbnb so we can just taxi up to it!! it was very hot in that airbnb bc the aircon wasn't fixed....but the fan they gave us helped a lot. so I guess They Tried.
The next day we just zoomed off back to HK, bye macau, I don't want to come back ever. amy and I loitered at like 3 malls this day bc we were staying our final night at my aunt and uncle's place!
she cooked such a big meal for us! it was so good!
the only downer was that we got bitten by fleas at her place bc she has a cat sob. it was p bad. I SUFFERED THOSE BITES ALL THROUGH TAIWAN, I hate this, I got bitten by so many mosquitoes too.
TAIWAN!!! (it is now october, will I remember anything???? ? I just dont know)
UNEVENTFUL FLIGHT??? I DID NOT get a nose bleed on this flight.....I felt like it was a near thing tho, I was getting both congested and slightly dehydrated....I liked the sausage bun they gave us on this flight. amy did not. I watched the first episode of Nirvana in Fire on this flight, and it was really really good....!!!! I will have to get around finishing the rest of the series, ITS SO BEAUTIFUL?
Ummmm IDK I rmb accidentally implying amy was fat sometime between disembarking and customs in the Taipei airport LOL (YOU ARE NOT FAT AMY!! JUST SO YOU KNOW) and we got stuck in customs for a bit bc we needed to figure out what Amy's grandparent's address was so customs would let us through, whoops. Amy's dad came to pick us up and also got us really good pocket Wifi, thank you amy's dad, MVP!!! He also took us to many places throughout the week!!
I don't rmb anything, so I'll just talk about what I rmb
Taiwan is so humid!!!! Sticky and hot the moment you step out of the air con! >B'(
Asia's 7elevens are so good, I want them in North America, why can't we have this one thing.....
OH YEA on like the second last day we were in taipei, amy and I found the taipei animate and went so hard??? IN PREPARATION FOR JAPAN??? IDK but her dad sat outside waiting for us for an hour as we.....went in......and went wild LASMDsjisjaifad
Then off we went to japan.........
JAPAN
heartbeatsThis is the first time I've been to Japan!!! I'm a fake weeb sorry, I went to S. Korea instead last time I did an Asia trip...
We landed in Tokyo, AND OH MY GOD CUSTOMS MADE ME UNPACK MY SUITCASE!!!!! IT WAS EMBARRASSING, BC.....I had to unpack......my cosplay prop....LFAMSFOAS
customs: is this a gift...?
me: no....
customs: ??
amy: its for cosplay.....
customs: Oh
SCREAMS!!! ANYWAYS our first leg was in Osaka, so we took a flight right away to Osaka....which was a mistake. LOL I was fine on the flight from Taipei --> Tokyo, but when we were flying from Tokyo --> Osaka, it was on a smaller plane? and the moment we started descending....I had a massive nosebleed from...air pressure or something? BUT YEA I WAS BLEEDING REALLY HARD, for like the 5 mins we were descending and landing and then I got blood all over the seatbelt, and myself.....the guy sitting in front of me stood up when he was disembarking, looked down at me and silently gave me two packs of tissues.... thanks....(he also realised he was on the same flight as an old high school classmate who was sitting several rows behind us and they walked off chatting and catching up and it was all very Shoujo, Japan was At It already). BUT YEA amy was looking at me dying and then after hurriedly apologising to the flight attendants I zoomed off to the washroom to bleed in peace.....I MEAN it finally stopped after a while but I was getting pretty light headed and amy was worried I was going to faint LMFASFOJa me too I was also worried for myself.....
then we had a 45min bus ride from kansai international airport to...osaka proper and then we got a taxi to take us to our airbnb TAT THERE WAS A LAWSON RIGHT ACROSS THE ROAD from our airbnb, bless.
Hmm it was cloudy the first day we were in osaka, we went to shinsaibashi shopping arcade and went into WEGO, ITS SO Aesthetic, I love WEGO!!! I WISH I GOT AN ITABAG, I KNOW my indecisiveness STRIKES AGAIN. sob,,,, then we went to nanbai area to find, lol, the animate...and the arcades :') hmmm I bought nearly every single piece of merch with Ushijima in it and umm yea idk we took sticker photos at some point LOL
IT STARTED RAINING REALLY HARD, but Amy was a Fool and didn't bring an umbrella, while me, a rational person who worried about clouds, brought an umbrella. In the end it didn't even matter bc we shared it and it was all very shoujo but disgusting bc A) it was amy, B) the umbrella wasn't big enough for two people, C) it was REALLY WET and raining REALLY HARD, D) no one won bc we were both soaked when we got home. At least the ramen was really good......
IDK what happened next, but I remember dragging Amy into a lingerie store because ASIAN BRAS ARE SO CUTE??? I don't know where I was going with this paragraph. uh.
Anyways we met up with Maria to go to the Osaka Aquarium to see Soukun!!!! SOU KUN!!! WHALE SHARK!!! *A* *A* IT WAS AMAZING! I LOVE THE AQUARIUM!!! I went crazy in the gift store, but this is fine!! LOL the mola mola are so dumb. I wanted to go on the ferris wheel too!!! but it was kind of expensive TAT also we were getting hungry....so we left and got random takoyaki? IT WAS CHEAP!!! 20 whole takoyaki for 5 bucks!!! HOLY SHIT! I burnt my tongue on the takoyaki. I remember this very vividly.
hmmm What else did we do today.....WE WENT TO THE POKEMON CENTRE!!!! then to dinner where I literally ordered a bowl of spinich bc there were very few veggies in Japan, wtf....LETTUCE IS BARELY A VEGETABLE GUYS. OH we went to...track down another animate LMFAO typical!!! also we kidnapped maria to stay with us at our airbnb for the night since it was getting late lol also we wanted to make her translate our doujin, thanks maria 8D
I'm pretty sure we went to Kyoto the next day! we said bye to maria and we zoomed to osaka station to take the train to kyoto!! WE WENT TO SEE FUSHIMI INARI!!!! Iconic! we got there at midday and the convenience store in front of the shrine was completely ransacked by hungry tourists, LOL it was a disaster.
I think it was too busy the first time we were there, so we kind of left and went to find gion instead! JK WE FOUND THE KYOTO ANIMATE FIRST. dont' ask why, it was a mistake, it was the busiest animate we've been to all trip??? idk. but we found gion eventually! it was really pretty there!! And amy and I ate riceballs while we sat next to the riverbank.......Very Anime. We went back to Inari later in the day and it was loads quieter! we tried to hike up the mountain a bit, and I was FOOLED. I thought we were on the hike already and was like oh this isn't too bad.....??? then I looked at the map. LMFAO??? we were at the foot of the mountain.....TRUE DISAPPOINTMENT LMFAO but the shrine is gorgeous in the sunset...!! *A* we probably should have also done nara on this day, but alas it was getting dark and I was getting hungry so we went back to osaka ;w; oh yea bc we had to pack up to leave the next day. right,
THE NEXT DAY!! we took the taxi to shin osaka station and took the shinkansen to hiroshima!!! WE WERE GOING TO MIYAJIMA!! *A* the floating shrine!!! FATAL FRAME 5!!!! (yes before you ask, amy and I brought our fatal frame cosplays just for this, stop judging) It was raining and wet and miserable the day we got into miyajima! which....is Aesthetic for fatal frame I guess.
I was so cold LMFAO also stores on miyajima close so early....! We got the specialty eel tempura tho! it was so good
I should have grabbed riceballs from the 711 before we got on the ferry....
There are deer there and they are also little shits, hmmm there was a bath in the hostel? airbnb? place we were at! so that was fun, it warmed me up LOL then amy went to the torii by herself while I....stayed in bc I didn't want to go outside anymore LOL Our room was pretty nice! I have a video of it, but I wonder how I'll host it on this blog...hmmm well anyways the room was TATAMI MATS!!! and really big with the low table and cushion set up!!! I ROLLED ACROSS THE ROOM!!! and it also had this veranda balcony thing? well its not a veranda bc it was enclosed by glass LOL but it was like a mini sun room!! I wish we hiked around on miyajima, hmmmm mb next time!. We actually nearly didn't go to miyajima bc it was so far from Tokyo, but then we realised that we wanted to go to Osaka and Kyoto....and Hiroshima isn't too far from there...SO!!!! nyooooooom.
We stopped to explore Hiroshima on our way back to Osaka, the coin locker BARELY fit my suitcase LMFAO there was a free tour bus for tourists holding the JRrail pass!! so we hopped on and visited the atomic bomb memorial site.
Then we jokingly looked up the animate in hiroshima............it was only 5 mins away. SO guess what we did. (we went to animate, again.) There was this Enstars photo booth that I didn't let Amy go to, then we went to get HIROSHIMA STYLE OKONOMIYAKI!!!!!!! ! ! IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I love. we also ran into a couple also from Vancouver???? so amy chatted them up bc they were sitting next to us.... I HAD UDON IN MY OKONOMIYAKI!!! Amy had soba....(udon is superior)
After that we wanted to go to this shrine? But by the time the tour bus came we were running a little late and had to book it back to the station to catch our shinkansen back to Osaka TAT blah blah blah it was a short trip!!! we got back to Osaka and found our hotel WHICH WAS THE TINIEST AND MOST CRAMPED PLACE WE STAYED AT ALL TRIP LMFAO there were two beds in the room but they were....pushed up against each other, so in the end it was just one giant bed? LOL There was a weird Jackie Chan movie playing. We actually wanted to go to Nara on this day but we never made it over there TAT we just got to our hotel and collapsed....Then went back to Shinsaibashi for a bit I think? We went to see..uhh the giant crab? I don't rmb what the area was called LOL
Then the next day we were going on the shinkansen to go to Tokyo!!
Our Tokyo airbnb was right nearly Ebisu which made getting to it from the shinkasen station REALLY EASY I'm so glad, 10/10 will stay there again!! it was also really cute and had Totoro deco...!
We met up withheartbeats heartbeats at Hachiko in Shibuya right away!! TAT QM WAS THE MVP OF OUR TOKYO LEG!!! she can speak the most Japanese out of the three of us, and knew her way around!!! *A*
She brought us to this udon place for lunch and LMFAO the server was asking I wanted my noodles in Japanese and I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HIM, this noodle terms are not in my vocabulary omg and I was like TURNS TO QM IN PANIC AND CONFUSION?!??!?! QM had to zoom over and translate and answer for me......then the same thing happened with Amy LOL picture two asian girls with this white girl and both looking over to the white girl for japanese translations aSDKOsajgiasf THANK U QM, YOU'RE THE BEST LOL we met up with our friend Yingie too!! all four of us went to izayaka and then to karaoke
I don't rmb what happens for ahahaha.....we went to Harajuku at some point where QM showed us GIANT BILLBOARD posters of King of Prism (this is before I watched KoP.....) and then Odaiba for the GIANT GUNDAM!!!! and rainbow bridge (di-digimon...), we checked out the fuji TV tower thing? ONE PIECE!!! and went to the weeb onsen omg. THERE WERE GIRLS WITH GIANT ITABAGS OF THEIR FAVORITE MATSU, they were going so hard I'm so very proud of them LOL
QM, AMY AND I WENT TO TOKYO DISNEY SEA!!!! I love Disney Sea. To be honest, I'm not actually that big of a Disney fan LOL I just like rides.......ITS SO BEAUTIFUL THERE, I was wondering at some points if I was not in Italy??? am I truly in japan or did I teleport to venice?
Also we went on Indiana Jones like 3 times bc I have no chill LOL First with fast pass, then we just lined up....then again bc it was 9 pm and during fireworks and no one was lining up so we just ZOOMED through to the ride.....and Oh Boy. do I have a story about this one ride at Tokyo Disney Sea. SO OK fast pass, after our first ride on indiana jones, we were like oh lets get another fast pass for a ride that would take the longest?? SO WE JUST WENT AROUND looking for a ride that sounded interesting...! THEN we saw one called Journey to the Centre of the Earth.......ok I vaguely know of the book but none of knew what to expect...so we got a fast pass and did our thing until we could go on the ride....then we were in the fast pass line, waiting for our turn, we walk pass this sign and I'm squinting at it trying to translate it and its like "please be careful of your glasses and belongings, this ride may get rough" AND I WAS ???? what is this ride going to be like??? ? ? but I didn't think about it too much...BIG MISTAKE!!! we got on the ride, an attendant gestures to me and amy about our glasses but we were too confused to we left them on....the ride starts, its all very peaceful and calming, we're going through a mushroom forest, then a room with some alien looking creatures who are calm and just chilling....THEn we are met with a OH NO THE TUNNEL HAS COLLAPSED!! we have to detour!!! and we take a sharp turn....theres large thumping noises throughout this tunnel...."we may have disturbed the ruler of this colony...!" WHAT COLONY, WHATS GOING ON!!!! and then we see it. the ruler...of the colony. ITS SO BIG AND ITS KIND OF SCARY AND THE RIDE ZOOMS AWAY AND I'M LIKE "yes good, take us away" but then we start accelerating upwards??? and theres....light? at the end of the tunnel? then I'm like SHIIIIITTTT we zoom out and then WE DROP AND QM WAS SCREAMING EVERYONE ONE WAS SCREAMING!!!! except for.....me and amy....WHO WERE SITTING THERE IN MUTE TERROR, I thought I was going to die at disney asFJAsfo wheeze. we rolled into the landing dock in silence.....amy is tearing up bc wind got into her eye or something (sounds fake but ok) and I'm like....lets....go again :').
I love death.
I mean I was wondering why none of us cued in on the drop and the people screaming and stuff....but then I realised we were on the wrong side of the wind the whole time...THATS WHY WE COULDNT HEAR THE SCREAMS??? LMFAO I HATE THIS.
yea in the end we went on it again 8D at 9 pm when there were no lines LOL
Also at the end I went on ALL the kiddie rides ,,, mostly by myself bc QM and amy wouldn't do the tea cups with me, hmph. I really liked Disney Sea TAT
I think the next day amy and I went to a shrine near by Shibuya?
then met up with our friend Kaori!! and she took us around Akihabara and we went to Nozomi's shrine LOL
And Of course QM took us to Ikebukuro and we went wild in Otome road and...ofc Animate LOLOL also QM took us to this really good sushi place and I think longingly about that restaurant a lot TAT I WANT THEIR SALMON AGAIN AND ENGAWA.....
hmmm we also met up with Karu to go to Yokohama to see the CUP NOODLE MUSEUM!!! THE FERRIS WHEEL!!! ANOTHER POKEMON CENTRE! actually there was this really well dressed guy we saw in ebisu one day and we SAW HIM AGAIN IN YOKOHAMA??? we only recognised him bc he was so beautiful and well dressed and tall.
also desserts!!! I was so broke by the end of this trip, I used to last yen to buy my train ticket back to the narita airport LOL RIP Japan is expensive.
It was so much fun TAT I wish I could go again, but preferably without the bleeding and dying asodjasi also the flea bites...
Thanks Amy for not murdering me, tho it could have went both ways. SALDPA At one point Amy was like "sorry I was so mean in Taiwan, I was hormonal" and I was like "I couldn't tell, you're always mean to me :'("
aSDKosad I hate this THANK YOU QM FOR PUTTING UP WITH US IN TOKYO!!! AND MARIA!!! AND YINGIE!!!! AND KARUCCHI!! AND KAORI!!! TAT also shout out to Amy's dad and grandparents sob. and my family too I guess..
mukuro this last May/June! It was a lot of fun as well as my first time in Japan. ITS BEEN LITERALLY MONTHS and I still haven't finished this report. I don't rmb anything that happened anymore....but I'll do my best...Hong Kong (I wrote this part in August.....)
Every time I talk about Hong Kong, the first thing I say is "I hate Hong Kong" but I always try to visit....which about sums up my complicated feelings about my birthplace ahaha.
The flight to HK wasn't too bad! Amy and I accidentally didn't book seats next to each other (??? why) so we asked the person sitting next to Amy to swap seats with me. It wasn't a full plane so we ended up with the whole aisle and we could spread out a little...we also had to keep bringing the special meals to the guy I swapped with because he was vegan or something and kept getting steamed kale delivered to his original seat.
Um I got my first nosebleed of the trip on this flight. It was pretty mild all things considered.....I reread BNHA on amy's tablet and kept making excited noises at her, but she wasn't caught up!!! So I wasn't allowed to get excited. 8'( Truly tragic experience...
But yea since we got the whole aisle of seats I laid down and took a nap at one point too lol.
It was a blur when we landed, Amy forgot her neck pillow on this flight. rip neck pillow. And then we tried to ZOOM down to luggage and customs bc the check in for our airBNB ended at 8:30pm and we landed at like 6:45pm LMFAO I MEAN WE WERENT GOING TO MAKE IT!!! but it was ok bc I got an email from the airBNB that said they left the key for us and it was all good. SO THAT WAS GOOD!
And also getting to the airBNB was a breeze bc my aunt sent us detailed instructions on which bus to take from the airport and even met us at the stop so we wouldn't get lost!!! MVP of HK was my aunt TAT.
The airBNB was....slightly sketchy looking LOL but I feel like that just the general HK aesthetic /closes my eyes/ it was the kind that only gave you power if you stuck the keycard into the holder WHICH IS THE MOST ANNOYING THING EVER, I hate this design 8'(
But I guess it was worth it bc the airbnb was in Jordan which is super convenient to go from, RIGHT NEXT TO MONG KOK!!!!! But after dinner with my aunt, amy and I just showered and clocked out LMFAO it was a long...flight.....
THE NEXT DAY!!! we had coupons from our airbnb for breakfast at a semi nearby cafe!! so we went there. it was good :')!
I'm gonna be stealing amy's photos LOL we went to mongkok bright and early, excited to start the trip. Ahaha big mistake. mongkok doesn't open until the afternoon....so amy and I were just like...oh. and went to find breakfast I think, I'm not sure its a blur but we defs went into every single makeup store open at that time, courtesy of Amy. 9__6;;; (how many Sasas did we go to? every last one of them)
But after that disappointing mongkok trip LOL we went down to tsimshatsui to see the skyline!!! it was nice!! *A* then we took the star ferry over to aberdeen. I honestly don't know aberdeen very well (aka I don't know anything bc I usually just stay in new territories)....idk what happened but we passed a flower shop by versaces or something AND WE WERE LIKE UH this is NOT our scene.....so we booked it out and went to mcD for wifi......and there....I had the second worst nosebleed of the trip. in the grossest washroom of the whole trip. Y E A 0/10 recommend this. THAT NOSEBLEED LASTED LIKE 20 MINS???? IT JUST KEPT BLEEDING??? everyone tried to give me advice and it was all conflicting advice!!! ladies kept giving me their packs of tissues, I had +3 packs by the time I was done bleeding....rip.
Yea I don't remember the rest of this day. I THINK IT WAS THE NIGHT OF THE COCKROACH which may explain why I don't rmb anything from it!!!
ARGH ok so our airbnb place had someone come in to take out the garbage and for some reason they also made our bed and folded our clothes??? (only for this day tho, they never did it again ?? LOL ) bUT OK THEY CAME AND???? opened the window in the washroom?? BIG MISTAKE!!!! when we came back that afternoon, we found....a cockroach....in our bathroom....YELLS it was literally the tiniest cockroach I've seen in my life, BUT I DID NOT WANT IT TO EXIST NEAR ME???? Amy also Did Not want to touch it??? so we just....sat down on the bed to go on twitter. JK I did not sit on the bed, I was lying down on the bed half in tears while reading fanfic and on twitter bc I so violently Did Not want to deal with the cockroach while amy sat on the bed and kept repeating "one of us has to kill it, why didn't I bring jenni on this trip, JENNI WOULD HAVE KILLED THE COCKROACH, why are you so useless nat" I think I cried my eyeliner off during this period LOL then Amy had enough I guess, bc she went to smack it with a slipper.....well. at least she tried to. she chickened out the first few times then she finally smacked it once and came out to make me check if it was dead AND OFC I WAS LIKE SCREAMING...NO.....DO NOT!!!!!! BUT WE COULD NOT FIND THE BODY??? (no one wanted to shower that night????) SO WE JUST SANITISED THE AREA IT WAS LYING IN WITH SCALDING HOT WATER and then went out in search of alcohol for it had been 2 WHOLE HOURS since we found the cockroach. we got some beer and then realised we didn't have a beer opener and then spent another 15 mins trying to find a store that sold one. RIP. then we also poured some on to the area where the cockroach was. Y E A
I hate this. I'm so tired from getting worked about REMEMBERING this night. jfc.
I think we went to spend time with my aunt and uncle the next day. yea!! we finally went down part of women's street! and I haggled for some umbrellas for amy and I (WHICH SHE LEFT BEHIND IN TAIWAN BC SHE'S A FAKE FRIEND, DOESNT APPRECIATE THE EFFORT I BUT INTO HAGGLING FOR THOSE UMBRELLAS, HMPH!!!) we went to an old style yumcha place where there were trolleys BUT IT DOESNT MATTER!!! bc you still have to GET UP and FIGHT other people for food, its great. I love it 8')
then we went to visit my grandpa's grave, its very pretty there. and then I wanted to go to this nunnery bc one of my other relatives took me there before, and its also very pretty there!! the park nearby had a mini history museum of different temple designs! And also the nicest park washrooms I've been to ever LOL
It was actually my uncle's birthday that day, so we left him and my aunt to celebrate together while amy and I went to kowloon....the elements mall.....I don't actually recommend going there bc its a really really high end mall, I just go there bc they have an ice rink there LOL ITS PRETTY $$$ but I wanted....to skate for a bit 8D;;; took a mini bus back which was also an adventure LOL but it turned out ok bc I can speak the language well /closes eyes
I had a family dinner this night!! so we went to hang out close to the area my grandma lives in.....aka we stopped at sham shui po to try to look at fabric and trim LOL that was fun.......we got lost for a bit, etc etc. got to the mall we were supposed to meet my family at and then ate at pepper lunch!! WHICH WAS A MISTAKE, not bc it wasn't good, it was very good. BUT IT WAS BC THERE WAS A GUDETAMA CAFE IN THAT MALL AND WE DIDNT KNOW OMFG amy was so close to ditching my family dinner and going to it instead.
ALSO gudetama is SO POPULAR in asia??? it was insane
but family dinner went as well as it could have, the food was good :') then we zoomed back to our air bnb and packed bc the next day we were going to macau!!
Macau was a mistake. a bigger mistake than hk, bc I don't know macau very well and we got lost for 2 hours trying to look for our airbnb. BUT WE FOUND IT IN THE END and it was so Extra. SO EXTRA. it was a luxury apartment???
our host rented us a room and it was a tiny room but uhh the building itself was so extra LOL. AS A SIDE NOTE when we got to the apartment and went up, the household helper was there and she said her boss was taking a shower or something bc her son was having a nap?? it was kind of unclear but our room wasn't ready so we just loitered in the living room. then our host showed up and she was this caucasian lady who came out with her hair wet and wearing a black silkrobe and we were like UHHHHH BC WE WERE BOTH SIMULTANEOUSLY WONDERING IS SHE WAS SOMEONE'S MISTRESS??? IT WAS ALL VERY CONFUSING (we found out later that her husband was also very caucasian and her son was very cute and their cat also had a very Portuguese sounding name)
After that confusion we went to see the tourist spots in macau, aka the ruins of Saint Paul and the hill top fortress....
I DIDNT MENTION BEFORE, but amy brought her aoba/noiz nendos with her on vacation and made me hold them every where while she took pics, #1 EMBARRASSMENT!!!! I mention this now bc I have VIVID MEMORY of aoba's arm falling off and nearly falling off the overhead walkway we were on LOL. We ate paella at this old marketplace and then went to see the venetian hotel bc its pretty LOL also its close to the airbnb so we can just taxi up to it!! it was very hot in that airbnb bc the aircon wasn't fixed....but the fan they gave us helped a lot. so I guess They Tried.
The next day we just zoomed off back to HK, bye macau, I don't want to come back ever. amy and I loitered at like 3 malls this day bc we were staying our final night at my aunt and uncle's place!
she cooked such a big meal for us! it was so good!
the only downer was that we got bitten by fleas at her place bc she has a cat sob. it was p bad. I SUFFERED THOSE BITES ALL THROUGH TAIWAN, I hate this, I got bitten by so many mosquitoes too.
TAIWAN!!! (it is now october, will I remember anything???? ? I just dont know)
UNEVENTFUL FLIGHT??? I DID NOT get a nose bleed on this flight.....I felt like it was a near thing tho, I was getting both congested and slightly dehydrated....I liked the sausage bun they gave us on this flight. amy did not. I watched the first episode of Nirvana in Fire on this flight, and it was really really good....!!!! I will have to get around finishing the rest of the series, ITS SO BEAUTIFUL?
Ummmm IDK I rmb accidentally implying amy was fat sometime between disembarking and customs in the Taipei airport LOL (YOU ARE NOT FAT AMY!! JUST SO YOU KNOW) and we got stuck in customs for a bit bc we needed to figure out what Amy's grandparent's address was so customs would let us through, whoops. Amy's dad came to pick us up and also got us really good pocket Wifi, thank you amy's dad, MVP!!! He also took us to many places throughout the week!!
I don't rmb anything, so I'll just talk about what I rmb
- amy's grandparents kept giving us fruit, I love fruit this was great!!!
- the very first thing we did after dropping off our stuff is run off to the fabric market LOL TYPICAL
- went to see an international sand scupting competition?
- we went to jiu fen bc I love going there, its always like spirited away
- WE SET OFF LANTERNS IN JUU FEN!!!! it was a lot of fun!!!
- we went shopping.....I kept doing the indecisive thing and not getting something and always REGRETTING!!!
- eat
- we ate so much, I love taiwan
- Oh yea we did go to a nightmarket, but it was raining and a little miserable that night, rip. we did our best
- THERE WAS THIS ONE STORE, it was a women's store? IT HAD EVERYTHING A GIRL WOULD EVER WANT it was so good. face masks are also so cheap there
- ANIME!!!! amy and I dropped so much money at this one anime/magazine place it was so embarrassing, we were there for like 20mins and by the time we finished we had more than half of the VIP stamp card filled out!!
- Amy and I also kept going to arcades and having battles there!!! WHO CAN SHOOT MORE HOOPS!!!!! there was this really intense game of air hockey where amy nearly killed me with a flying puck. rip
- I got a new suitcase bc it was SO CHEAP and also really cute!
- we doused ourselves in insect repellent this leg of the trip
Taiwan is so humid!!!! Sticky and hot the moment you step out of the air con! >B'(
Asia's 7elevens are so good, I want them in North America, why can't we have this one thing.....
OH YEA on like the second last day we were in taipei, amy and I found the taipei animate and went so hard??? IN PREPARATION FOR JAPAN??? IDK but her dad sat outside waiting for us for an hour as we.....went in......and went wild LASMDsjisjaifad
Then off we went to japan.........
JAPAN
heartbeatsThis is the first time I've been to Japan!!! I'm a fake weeb sorry, I went to S. Korea instead last time I did an Asia trip...We landed in Tokyo, AND OH MY GOD CUSTOMS MADE ME UNPACK MY SUITCASE!!!!! IT WAS EMBARRASSING, BC.....I had to unpack......my cosplay prop....LFAMSFOAS
customs: is this a gift...?
me: no....
customs: ??
amy: its for cosplay.....
customs: Oh
SCREAMS!!! ANYWAYS our first leg was in Osaka, so we took a flight right away to Osaka....which was a mistake. LOL I was fine on the flight from Taipei --> Tokyo, but when we were flying from Tokyo --> Osaka, it was on a smaller plane? and the moment we started descending....I had a massive nosebleed from...air pressure or something? BUT YEA I WAS BLEEDING REALLY HARD, for like the 5 mins we were descending and landing and then I got blood all over the seatbelt, and myself.....the guy sitting in front of me stood up when he was disembarking, looked down at me and silently gave me two packs of tissues.... thanks....(he also realised he was on the same flight as an old high school classmate who was sitting several rows behind us and they walked off chatting and catching up and it was all very Shoujo, Japan was At It already). BUT YEA amy was looking at me dying and then after hurriedly apologising to the flight attendants I zoomed off to the washroom to bleed in peace.....I MEAN it finally stopped after a while but I was getting pretty light headed and amy was worried I was going to faint LMFASFOJa me too I was also worried for myself.....
then we had a 45min bus ride from kansai international airport to...osaka proper and then we got a taxi to take us to our airbnb TAT THERE WAS A LAWSON RIGHT ACROSS THE ROAD from our airbnb, bless.
Hmm it was cloudy the first day we were in osaka, we went to shinsaibashi shopping arcade and went into WEGO, ITS SO Aesthetic, I love WEGO!!! I WISH I GOT AN ITABAG, I KNOW my indecisiveness STRIKES AGAIN. sob,,,, then we went to nanbai area to find, lol, the animate...and the arcades :') hmmm I bought nearly every single piece of merch with Ushijima in it and umm yea idk we took sticker photos at some point LOL
IT STARTED RAINING REALLY HARD, but Amy was a Fool and didn't bring an umbrella, while me, a rational person who worried about clouds, brought an umbrella. In the end it didn't even matter bc we shared it and it was all very shoujo but disgusting bc A) it was amy, B) the umbrella wasn't big enough for two people, C) it was REALLY WET and raining REALLY HARD, D) no one won bc we were both soaked when we got home. At least the ramen was really good......
IDK what happened next, but I remember dragging Amy into a lingerie store because ASIAN BRAS ARE SO CUTE??? I don't know where I was going with this paragraph. uh.
Anyways we met up with Maria to go to the Osaka Aquarium to see Soukun!!!! SOU KUN!!! WHALE SHARK!!! *A* *A* IT WAS AMAZING! I LOVE THE AQUARIUM!!! I went crazy in the gift store, but this is fine!! LOL the mola mola are so dumb. I wanted to go on the ferris wheel too!!! but it was kind of expensive TAT also we were getting hungry....so we left and got random takoyaki? IT WAS CHEAP!!! 20 whole takoyaki for 5 bucks!!! HOLY SHIT! I burnt my tongue on the takoyaki. I remember this very vividly.
hmmm What else did we do today.....WE WENT TO THE POKEMON CENTRE!!!! then to dinner where I literally ordered a bowl of spinich bc there were very few veggies in Japan, wtf....LETTUCE IS BARELY A VEGETABLE GUYS. OH we went to...track down another animate LMFAO typical!!! also we kidnapped maria to stay with us at our airbnb for the night since it was getting late lol also we wanted to make her translate our doujin, thanks maria 8D
I'm pretty sure we went to Kyoto the next day! we said bye to maria and we zoomed to osaka station to take the train to kyoto!! WE WENT TO SEE FUSHIMI INARI!!!! Iconic! we got there at midday and the convenience store in front of the shrine was completely ransacked by hungry tourists, LOL it was a disaster.
I think it was too busy the first time we were there, so we kind of left and went to find gion instead! JK WE FOUND THE KYOTO ANIMATE FIRST. dont' ask why, it was a mistake, it was the busiest animate we've been to all trip??? idk. but we found gion eventually! it was really pretty there!! And amy and I ate riceballs while we sat next to the riverbank.......Very Anime. We went back to Inari later in the day and it was loads quieter! we tried to hike up the mountain a bit, and I was FOOLED. I thought we were on the hike already and was like oh this isn't too bad.....??? then I looked at the map. LMFAO??? we were at the foot of the mountain.....TRUE DISAPPOINTMENT LMFAO but the shrine is gorgeous in the sunset...!! *A* we probably should have also done nara on this day, but alas it was getting dark and I was getting hungry so we went back to osaka ;w; oh yea bc we had to pack up to leave the next day. right,
THE NEXT DAY!! we took the taxi to shin osaka station and took the shinkansen to hiroshima!!! WE WERE GOING TO MIYAJIMA!! *A* the floating shrine!!! FATAL FRAME 5!!!! (yes before you ask, amy and I brought our fatal frame cosplays just for this, stop judging) It was raining and wet and miserable the day we got into miyajima! which....is Aesthetic for fatal frame I guess.
I was so cold LMFAO also stores on miyajima close so early....! We got the specialty eel tempura tho! it was so good
I should have grabbed riceballs from the 711 before we got on the ferry....
There are deer there and they are also little shits, hmmm there was a bath in the hostel? airbnb? place we were at! so that was fun, it warmed me up LOL then amy went to the torii by herself while I....stayed in bc I didn't want to go outside anymore LOL Our room was pretty nice! I have a video of it, but I wonder how I'll host it on this blog...hmmm well anyways the room was TATAMI MATS!!! and really big with the low table and cushion set up!!! I ROLLED ACROSS THE ROOM!!! and it also had this veranda balcony thing? well its not a veranda bc it was enclosed by glass LOL but it was like a mini sun room!! I wish we hiked around on miyajima, hmmmm mb next time!. We actually nearly didn't go to miyajima bc it was so far from Tokyo, but then we realised that we wanted to go to Osaka and Kyoto....and Hiroshima isn't too far from there...SO!!!! nyooooooom.
We stopped to explore Hiroshima on our way back to Osaka, the coin locker BARELY fit my suitcase LMFAO there was a free tour bus for tourists holding the JRrail pass!! so we hopped on and visited the atomic bomb memorial site.
Then we jokingly looked up the animate in hiroshima............it was only 5 mins away. SO guess what we did. (we went to animate, again.) There was this Enstars photo booth that I didn't let Amy go to, then we went to get HIROSHIMA STYLE OKONOMIYAKI!!!!!!! ! ! IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I love. we also ran into a couple also from Vancouver???? so amy chatted them up bc they were sitting next to us.... I HAD UDON IN MY OKONOMIYAKI!!! Amy had soba....(udon is superior)
After that we wanted to go to this shrine? But by the time the tour bus came we were running a little late and had to book it back to the station to catch our shinkansen back to Osaka TAT blah blah blah it was a short trip!!! we got back to Osaka and found our hotel WHICH WAS THE TINIEST AND MOST CRAMPED PLACE WE STAYED AT ALL TRIP LMFAO there were two beds in the room but they were....pushed up against each other, so in the end it was just one giant bed? LOL There was a weird Jackie Chan movie playing. We actually wanted to go to Nara on this day but we never made it over there TAT we just got to our hotel and collapsed....Then went back to Shinsaibashi for a bit I think? We went to see..uhh the giant crab? I don't rmb what the area was called LOL
Then the next day we were going on the shinkansen to go to Tokyo!!
Our Tokyo airbnb was right nearly Ebisu which made getting to it from the shinkasen station REALLY EASY I'm so glad, 10/10 will stay there again!! it was also really cute and had Totoro deco...!
We met up with
heartbeats heartbeats at Hachiko in Shibuya right away!! TAT QM WAS THE MVP OF OUR TOKYO LEG!!! she can speak the most Japanese out of the three of us, and knew her way around!!! *A*She brought us to this udon place for lunch and LMFAO the server was asking I wanted my noodles in Japanese and I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HIM, this noodle terms are not in my vocabulary omg and I was like TURNS TO QM IN PANIC AND CONFUSION?!??!?! QM had to zoom over and translate and answer for me......then the same thing happened with Amy LOL picture two asian girls with this white girl and both looking over to the white girl for japanese translations aSDKOsajgiasf THANK U QM, YOU'RE THE BEST LOL we met up with our friend Yingie too!! all four of us went to izayaka and then to karaoke
I don't rmb what happens for ahahaha.....we went to Harajuku at some point where QM showed us GIANT BILLBOARD posters of King of Prism (this is before I watched KoP.....) and then Odaiba for the GIANT GUNDAM!!!! and rainbow bridge (di-digimon...), we checked out the fuji TV tower thing? ONE PIECE!!! and went to the weeb onsen omg. THERE WERE GIRLS WITH GIANT ITABAGS OF THEIR FAVORITE MATSU, they were going so hard I'm so very proud of them LOL
QM, AMY AND I WENT TO TOKYO DISNEY SEA!!!! I love Disney Sea. To be honest, I'm not actually that big of a Disney fan LOL I just like rides.......ITS SO BEAUTIFUL THERE, I was wondering at some points if I was not in Italy??? am I truly in japan or did I teleport to venice?
Also we went on Indiana Jones like 3 times bc I have no chill LOL First with fast pass, then we just lined up....then again bc it was 9 pm and during fireworks and no one was lining up so we just ZOOMED through to the ride.....and Oh Boy. do I have a story about this one ride at Tokyo Disney Sea. SO OK fast pass, after our first ride on indiana jones, we were like oh lets get another fast pass for a ride that would take the longest?? SO WE JUST WENT AROUND looking for a ride that sounded interesting...! THEN we saw one called Journey to the Centre of the Earth.......ok I vaguely know of the book but none of knew what to expect...so we got a fast pass and did our thing until we could go on the ride....then we were in the fast pass line, waiting for our turn, we walk pass this sign and I'm squinting at it trying to translate it and its like "please be careful of your glasses and belongings, this ride may get rough" AND I WAS ???? what is this ride going to be like??? ? ? but I didn't think about it too much...BIG MISTAKE!!! we got on the ride, an attendant gestures to me and amy about our glasses but we were too confused to we left them on....the ride starts, its all very peaceful and calming, we're going through a mushroom forest, then a room with some alien looking creatures who are calm and just chilling....THEn we are met with a OH NO THE TUNNEL HAS COLLAPSED!! we have to detour!!! and we take a sharp turn....theres large thumping noises throughout this tunnel...."we may have disturbed the ruler of this colony...!" WHAT COLONY, WHATS GOING ON!!!! and then we see it. the ruler...of the colony. ITS SO BIG AND ITS KIND OF SCARY AND THE RIDE ZOOMS AWAY AND I'M LIKE "yes good, take us away" but then we start accelerating upwards??? and theres....light? at the end of the tunnel? then I'm like SHIIIIITTTT we zoom out and then WE DROP AND QM WAS SCREAMING EVERYONE ONE WAS SCREAMING!!!! except for.....me and amy....WHO WERE SITTING THERE IN MUTE TERROR, I thought I was going to die at disney asFJAsfo wheeze. we rolled into the landing dock in silence.....amy is tearing up bc wind got into her eye or something (sounds fake but ok) and I'm like....lets....go again :').
I love death.
I mean I was wondering why none of us cued in on the drop and the people screaming and stuff....but then I realised we were on the wrong side of the wind the whole time...THATS WHY WE COULDNT HEAR THE SCREAMS??? LMFAO I HATE THIS.
yea in the end we went on it again 8D at 9 pm when there were no lines LOL
Also at the end I went on ALL the kiddie rides ,,, mostly by myself bc QM and amy wouldn't do the tea cups with me, hmph. I really liked Disney Sea TAT
I think the next day amy and I went to a shrine near by Shibuya?
then met up with our friend Kaori!! and she took us around Akihabara and we went to Nozomi's shrine LOL
And Of course QM took us to Ikebukuro and we went wild in Otome road and...ofc Animate LOLOL also QM took us to this really good sushi place and I think longingly about that restaurant a lot TAT I WANT THEIR SALMON AGAIN AND ENGAWA.....
hmmm we also met up with Karu to go to Yokohama to see the CUP NOODLE MUSEUM!!! THE FERRIS WHEEL!!! ANOTHER POKEMON CENTRE! actually there was this really well dressed guy we saw in ebisu one day and we SAW HIM AGAIN IN YOKOHAMA??? we only recognised him bc he was so beautiful and well dressed and tall.
also desserts!!! I was so broke by the end of this trip, I used to last yen to buy my train ticket back to the narita airport LOL RIP Japan is expensive.
It was so much fun TAT I wish I could go again, but preferably without the bleeding and dying asodjasi also the flea bites...
Thanks Amy for not murdering me, tho it could have went both ways. SALDPA At one point Amy was like "sorry I was so mean in Taiwan, I was hormonal" and I was like "I couldn't tell, you're always mean to me :'("
aSDKosad I hate this THANK YOU QM FOR PUTTING UP WITH US IN TOKYO!!! AND MARIA!!! AND YINGIE!!!! AND KARUCCHI!! AND KAORI!!! TAT also shout out to Amy's dad and grandparents sob. and my family too I guess..