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My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 8 (Friday)

Today was my last full day in Japan, so I decided to go to Tokyo DisneySea.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 7 (Thursday)

Woke up, today was a national holiday in Japan (Culture Day) so I expected things to be crowded. Today my plan was to hit El Torito in Shinjuku then go to @JAM in the afternoon.

Did a few things then headed to Shinjuku. I remember seeing signs on our last trip to Japan, but I know there are so many exits out of Shinjuku station it's easy to get lost.

I walked around outside for a while and found Yodobashi. I then walked around some more and found it. Promised I'd take pictures of it for my friends at the local El Torito.

Had lunch there, then headed back. I then looked up the route and headed to Shinkiba for the @JAM concert.

It was easy getting there, it just took a while.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 6 (Wednesday)

Woke up, went and tried Caffe Veloce for breakfast. Interesting, but didn't like it anywhere near as much as Doutor.

Due to friends chatter on twitter, I decided to go try the Madoka Magica/Good Smile Cafe in Akiba. I was thinking with money being tight this trip, I should look for a good used cd/DVD shop. I remember K-Books from my last trip, but that building was damaged during the quake and everything had been shut down. I asked on irc and only knew of the other one in ikebukuro.

So I went to try some kyuubey curry and found out the two lower floors of the building where this cafe I was going to are now K-Books! Sweet. So I ate then did some shopping. Went back to the hotel for a while to do some stuff.

I wanted to go check out Dear Stage briefly, then get some dinner, then rest for a big show that night ("I Love Tokyo for Anime Music Lovers" CD release party, featuring Julie Watai, RAM Rider, Kalapattar, Omodaka, etc.). I ended up spending too much time at Dear Stage without eating (too polite to find someone to just give me my check so I could leave), so I quickly went to McDonalds to try that Korean BBQ burger (bleh, big mistake) they kept advertising. I went back to my hotel around 10:30 and was going to rest then head to Shibuya for this 11:30pm-5am concert so I'd have some energy, but I fell asleep until 1am and woke up more tired than I was when I went to bed! I figured I could last until maybe 3am... but... so I chatted on IRC with friends and ended up just going back to bed so I'd have energy for the next day. I regret missing out on that show... but...

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 5 (Tuesday)

Took VLOXY shopping one last time, went to DonQi, Mister Donut, helped him find some Menma sake (AnoHana). Helped him get to the Keisei Skyliner and saw him off.

Walked around Ueno's shopping district for a bit by myself. I tried GoGoCurry for the first time & really liked it. I went to Starbucks and bought Amor's gift that she asked for.

I came up empty looking for some other gifts, such as for Jessica.

Hit another MOS Burger, they microwaved this burger too. Sigh. I realized I like Freshness Burger so much more.

I headed to MOGRA for Oshare night. I finally got to meet Kalapattar (I've been watching his DJ sets on ustream for a while). Met a girl from ZANEEDS, saw Sakage again, all in all, had a great time.

I ended the night by talking to SkirtDISCO for a while, then walking from MOGRA to the main JR Akihabara station with her. It was a good evening.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 4 (Monday)

We got up on Monday, had breakfast and took Yujiko to the Keisei Skyliner station in Ueno to see him off.

I decided to go see what Costco looks like in Japan. There was one in Saitama, so I looked up the directions on getting there, and I headed to a mall there. Stopped at Soup Stock Tokyo in Ueno station to get some lunch (French Onion soup). Walked through first an outdoor then an indoor mall. Costco was on the other end past the mall (across a walkway). It was similar in layout to the US Costcos, but just more Japan-specific items/inventory. After leaving Costco, I walked around Round One for a bit, then headed back to my hotel.

We met up with eelica & choroyama for dinner on VLOXY's last night in Japan. They took us to their favorite Izakaya not far from MOGRA.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 3 (Sunday)

Slept in, did some stuff, then headed to Shinjuku to meet up with VLOXY & Yujiko at some music event. Got a little lost, but finally found them.

We headed to a bike shop to see some friends of VLOXY whom he watches stream music, then headed to Nakano for an event at Club HeavySickZero to see SkirtDISCO perform. We stopped at Freshness Burger on the way & had lunch. Made a bunch of friends there, leeched their free wifi and had a great time.

My friend Selvin was also visiting relatives in Japan so we met up at the Gundam Cafe in Akiba for dinner. Watching Gundam since the Zeta days taped off Japanese tv it's amazing to see how far it's all come. We hung out for a bit, then we left. I did some shopping at one place, then headed back for the night.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 2 (Saturday)

Slept for a while, then headed to Akiba station to meet up with my friend Rick whom I haven't seen in years. I wanted to go to a Kotone Mai mini concert, but it sold out just as quickly as it was announced.

Rick took me to a retro arcade which was cool, then we went to meet someone (I met through twitter) to get a Mary's Blood cd from. On the way to meet this person in front of radio kaikan, we ran into Darold Higa, which was a nice surprise. We finally met the person with the cd in front of Club Sega. We had lunch with this person, then we went shopping - hit the linux cafe, Yellow Submarine, Yodobashi Akiba, Tower Records and so on. Later, we went back to my hotel & just hung out/got caught up on the last 5 years.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 1 (Friday)

Got up, got dressed, met up with VLOXY & Yujiko and we headed to Radio Kaikan, where the Steins;Gate event was taking place to meet some fellow Momoists. I asked coverman to pick up a ticket for @JAM for me (in case it sold out), and so we met at the event and he gave me the ticket as well as Momoi's latest CD & the DreamParty CD. I was really touched by it. I wanted to check out the Steins;Gate stuff but the event was long sold out. There was a free opening event you could attend and there was a chance Momoi could be there, so I went to that. Only the voice actor for Okarin was there, though...

Afterwards, I met up with VLOXY & Yujiko again at this event and we walked around the main strip of Akiba, then headed to Curry House Coco Ichibanya for lunch where I had some Hirekatsu Curry (while it was the first time either of them had a chance to try Japanese curry!). We found where MOGRA was located. After lunch, we walked back to Ueno and the crazy toy store there, but only looked around for a few minutes before the others were bored. We split off and headed back to the hotel.

I rested for a bit as we had a long night ahead of us - Halloween Elemog at MOGRA which lasted from 11PM until 5AM! I decided to try Freshness Burger and I really liked it! I had a standard cheeseburger, fries and a strawberry shake.

After resting for a bit, I changed into my Ghostbusters costume. On the subway ride to MOGRA, not a single person acknowledged it. I thought maybe people didn't know Ghostbusters in Japan. As soon as I set foot in MOGRA though, everyone knew it instantly.

My 2011 Japan Trip – Day 0

Arrived in Japan on Thursday afternoon. Paid for a Keisei Skyliner ticket, almost went to the wrong gate but got help. Such a long flight, my butt was numb halfway through the trip. Did get to see Richard Ayodade's "Submarine" though, on the flight (which was decent). I also had really good BiBimBop on the plane.

Arrived at Ueno station, took a taxi to my "Weekly Mansion" hotel there. I went up to my room and turned on the TV while I started to unpack and the channel the TV was some news show that was doing a special on Japanese Burger places in the US, including Fukuburger, Umami Burger and Bento Burger. Interesting special to stumble across.

So I got settled in and wanted something to eat. I walked down to the MOS Burger off the main road, a few blocks down. Right next to it I found a Lawson 100, which I'd never seen/been in before. I had the Tonkatsu sandwich which was good, but they microwaved it. The fries and drink were fresh, but I just don't like the taste of a Microwaved sandwich, so that turned me off.

I finished my meal, went to Lawson, stocked up for my 9 days in the Weekly Mansion and went back to rest.

I was HOPING to find MOGRA that night as from 6-11 they were having Oldies night and considering I know so much anime/music from the 80's and early 90's, I thought it would be a blast but instead I stayed in and rested early for the next day (only to be woken up at 12:30am arranging a meetup at the Steins;Gate event I was unaware of occuring the next day!)