Saturday, January 26, 2013

Pokemon Center and Sakae

So, Sakae is the Tokyo of Nagoya.  It has all the main shopping and high end stuff one could want.  First off, the Pokemon Center.  Though no as big as the one in Tokyo, it stills offers a lot of the same stuff and is an awesome place for anything Pokemon. I spent waaay too much there.

Then, to my delight, there is a Ghibli store next to the Pokemon Center! I an a Ghibli addict, I cannot leave a Ghibli store without buying something. My goal is to fill my house with as much Ghibli as I can, much to the dismay of my suitcases.  Today I bought a Spirited Away water fountain, simply because it was awesome.

Then for the thrifty, there is Book-Off. I love Book-off for two reasons. 1. Everything is used and thus cheap, but still is good shape (especially the games, some look like they're new!) 2. You can find some pretty rare, old manga and games there. I bought a Japanese Pokemon Silver version for the GameBoy Color for a mere $3.  I was also lucky to find a good collection of Tales of the Abyss manga, hoping to read it for good Japanese practice since I already know the story line from the game.

Then there's shoes.  Sadly, my normal sized American feet (size 7-8) are HUGE for Japanese women's feet.  So I often find cute shoes that I cant wear, which is depressing.  But, I did find some cute leather moccasins with leopard print that did fit.  Basically I need a large, which can be hard to find sometimes, but they do exist!

Clothes, tons of clothes. But the best place I found was what I like to call "Little Harajuku".  Basically I was wondering inside this mall. Until I reached a floor FULL of lolita, goth lolita, and other very niche styles of clothes! It was super cool! Most of the stuff is uber expensive, but if you browse around you can find some reasonable stuff, considering that lolita clothes always run high in prices.

So far those are my favorite places in Sakae

Friday, January 18, 2013

Nagoya Castle and my first dance club

So now classes have started and I'm finally settling down into my new home and town.  Nagoya is much smaller than Tokyo, but it has it's charms.  I do like the less people thing, and thus less crowded trains.

For a class field trip we went to Nagoya Castle, which was beautiful.  The only downfall is that it's winter so the grounds weren't very green.  However, I hope to go again during the cherry blossom season - it'll be gorgeous then!

This Friday I joined a large group from my dorm to a dance club in Sakae.  This was my first time ever going to a club, and I had a blast!  I was a bit nervous at first. With the scary looking bouncers peering down at my small, mortal being.  But ladies got in for free, which was nice. We put our belongings in a coin locker, and hit the first of the five floors of the club.  The club was very nice, since I've never been to one before I have nothing to compare it with, but I'd say it was a very nice place.  Each floor played different music, so you could find one you liked and stayed, or switch it up throughout the night. I explored every floor and stuck with 3rd floor as my favorite.  It played rap/hip-hop, which is the best music for dancing in my opinion. And so I danced the night away for a solid 3 hours. By the time I left by body was crying on the inside.  But it was so much fun, everyone had a good time I think.  I will likely go again.  The only downfall was the smoke, I'm allergic to cigarette smoke so once it got thick my eyes were burning and my throat was sore.  But I ignored it as best as I could.

Today I'm going to the Pokemon Center in Nagoya, and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!


Friday, January 11, 2013

New Places and New Faces

Hello everyone!

It has been awhile since I posted, being home for the holidays was great.  But now I'm back in Japan.

I now live in the city of Nagoya, attending school at Nanzan University.

So far I find Nagoya to be much quieter than Tokyo, though I miss the Tokyo excitement   But I'm sure I'll find fun things in Nagoya as well.

I live in a dorm now and it seems very fun and lively; lots of international students from all over the world!

Class starts on Wednesday, so I'm still in the adjusting stage.

Trying to find the train station, grocery store, and all that good stuff.

I'll keep you posted!