J A P A N ♡ Part two, first impressions + Harajuku

This post will begin where it all begun.

In other words - I will not write about day 10+ the first (or in this case second) thing I do, completely out of the blue, without even dedicating a single word to my first impression and the rollercoaster of feelings I went through over the course of two weeks. I must admit I kind of regret that decision now.

I just really wanted to share all of my Disneyland pictures. 

I am the worst blogger in the history of the universe. Forgive me.

♡

f i r s t  i m p r e s s i o n s

Despite taking three sleeping pills in Denmark and literally falling asleep the exact same second the plane left the ground, and still being very, very drowsy, twelve hours later, I remember very clearly the very first thought I had when I stepped off the plane and headed for customs at Narita Airport; "Holy fuckaroo, if the air is this heavy in the city I am going to suffocate within ten minutes."

Not "oh my god, I am in Japan", no, "holy fuckaroo." Lovely, right?

Fortunately, the air felt lighter past security, and I soon fell asleep again on the train to Shinjuku station. I must have been heaps of fun those first few hours. Note to self; Saga Malva, one pill is enough, I do not care how scared you are of flying. One is enough.

Anyway.

You know how things are often much better in your imagination, and then when you experience it for real, it feels like a major disappointment? This is not the case with Tokyo. It was much better than I could have ever imagined it to be. I realized this about an hour after leaving Narita Airport, which says a lot, I think.

This is Shin-Okubo station and the colorful entrance of Hanabi Hotel, which was our home for two weeks. Now, I will actually end right here, because our hotel is the one thing I still find myself whining about, half a year later. I was cold, got no sleep, and do not get me started on the futons, my back still hurts a little.

I suppose it was a fun experience, though, because it is one of those cultural things.
But once is enough, I will do whatever it takes to find myself a bed in a quiet, warm hotel.

Hotel aside, Shin-Okubo is a really cozy area. There was a K-pop dance studio at the end of our street, as well as a 7-Eleven and a supermarket where a tiny old man hung out with a bunch of cats late at night and early in the morning. I always woke up before everyone else and ran down to get coffee from the vending machine by the hotel parking lot, then got some fruit and eggs from 7-Eleven and took a walk and boy, do I miss it.

Shin-Okubo felt like home almost immediately. ♪

However on the first day, we did not stay in the area very long, predictable as we are we simply threw our luggage into our rooms and left for, you know.

h a r a j u k u

That is Bea with the amazing hair winning the race to Takeshita Street.

As you can see, we arrived on a rather grey and rainy day. Well. "Rainy", not really, at least not literally - it did not actually rain, which was fortunate, but the atmosphere was rainy. And humid. Remember the heavy air inside the airport? As I wrote up there, the air was not as heavy as I feared, but Japan is still very humid. Write that down. It did wonders for my horribly dry arms. Anyway.

I was embarrassingly excited. I was practically jumping of joy, on the inside, that is. I think I managed to at least remain cool on the surface. Harajuku, my friends. 

Emilia, Emma and Amanda waiting outside Closet Child. Not sure if this is actually from the very first day, but hey. This part is about Harajuku and this is from Harajuku. ♪

If you ever go to Harajuku, run as fast as you can to this Closet Child and do not look back. When you get out, probably euphoric, buy yourself a crepe. You deserve it.

During my two weeks, I did not have enough time to explore all of Harajuku. Above mentioned Takeshita Street is the "main street", you could say, but Harajuku is huge. At least it felt that way. SEX POT ReVeNGe, LISTEN FLAVOR, Closet Child, off to Laforet, Monomania, SUPER LOVERS, Algonquins. Full on fangirl mode for me.
My favorite shops were definitely Closet Child, Monomania and Spinns. Spinns in particular, as I have not seen anything from their shop online. If you want false eyelashes, there are plenty of shops along Takeshita street, but I bought most of mine at Donki - which is heaven on earth, they have everything. Literally. Weird socks, sex toys, hair color, eyelash glue. Their makeup is great, and fairly cheap.

Look at me, being a good fashion blogger!
Now here is an outfit with some finds from the first day, to make it even better.

         

Do I look a little drowsy? Well, that is because I was.

Outfit rundown; Some of this I brought from home, mostly Taobao junk and as you can see, the SUPER LOVERS bag I have been dragging around for years now. But the sweater is (I have to run and check the tag now) from HELLCATPUNKS, found at Closet Child, and the headband is from Spinns, lashes from Donki. The more you know!

I think I went to Harajuku on seven out of our fourteen days, at least for half an hour or so. Not even ashamed, Harajuku is awesome, and there are so many cute chokers to buy and strange little shops to see, one visit will simply not cover them all.

♡

Now, my friend told me "listen, you shouldn't just write everything in one post, I know you want to but come on, it'll get messy. Do you like messy?" and I thought no, I do not like messy. Messy makes me anxious.

So, I will make a separate post about concerts and events, exploring other areas, and end this one right here.

I have to share a memory real quick though, Harajuku related, here goes;
About a week in, I was walking from Shibuya to Harajuku, after spending the day with Sofia doing... well, you will have to wait until I write about the food. Anyway. It was raining a tiny bit, and I was listening to my Japan playlist. In other words, these two songs on repeat.







Whenever I listen to them I remember literally everything, from the scents I picked up, the temperature, people, and so on for all eternity. It is probably the most insignificant memory one can have, but I was truly happy walking down the street, even though I tripped over my own feet once or twice.

I love the little things. ♪

Good bye for now! Next post is in my drafts, will continue when I get my new laptop on Monday. It literally died as I was putting it down on my desk, writing this on my dad's old Toshiba now. Technology, not my friend.