Tina in Japan

I kind of think it’s hilarious that the first time I try Hard Rock Cafe in my life was in Japan. There’s one in San Francisco at Pier 39, there’s one in Hollywood and several in general in Los Angeles, but I never have eaten there ever.

Regardless, it was  yummy and it was for Jamie’s birthday, so it was allgood. It was also kind of nice to have american food since I’ve been good and not have had it in so long ( not that I was really torn about it anyway). We went to the one in Sakuragicho in Yokohama Japan.

Lately I’ve been doing a thing where I make a card for a person’s birthday, and get everyone to sign it. For Jamie’s I kind of went the extra mile because she was expecting it and I wanted to blow her away the best I could with the time I had =P. I made it a 2 pager. The first page is a Pop up with a few signatures, and the next page was everyone else’s signatures all happy in a bunch.

The food was yummy, lots of fun laughs and good times.

Totally gonna go try to see it this weekend

http://i.gizmodo.com/5284821/tokyos-life+sized-gundam-is-just-about-finished

GEEKED OUT <3

MIX SPEAKERS INC., The Script, and LM.C. in a span of a month or so. Not deaf. Yeah!

MIX SPEAKERS INC. I watched with Yilan in Saitama, Tokyo. Yilan sent me some of their stuff a little before she came here so I could get an idea of their stuff. They’re a very fun band. Very catchy stuff . At the concert it was so insane with the audience since everyone did para-para like hand motions with the band, headbangs, running across the room, all IN SYNC. It was so amazing and fun. XD

The Script I watched with Jamie and Junki in Shibuya, Tokyo. They’re a band from Dublin Ireland and they were amazing. Jamie sent me some of their stuff a while prior to going and they were great, but after hearing them live/in person I am moreso in love with their stuff now. Very very nice <3

LM.C (Lovely Moco-Chang) I watched in Hibiya, Tokyo with Jamie. It was very fun and very hot pink and black striped. Maya and Aiji were adorable<3 They played songs from both of their albums (Super Glitter Loud Box and Gimmical Impact!) There were giant LM.C balls thrown into the audience so everyone can throw them around like beach balls. Maya and one of the Denki-Man went around the middle of the auduience with a walking stand while Maya was singing. Very entertaining concert <3

I snuck a picture with my cellphone from afar of the stage before performence started :X

This was when Yilan and I were in Osaka for lunch. 600-700 yen a piece. The taste just sticked with you after you eat it, and it’s very delicious.  Melty in your mouth goodness.

This adorable baby deer here next to me is what Yilan dubbed as the cutest one of all the ones we’ve seen. She named it “Shikako” and it got the taste of senbei now in its tastebuds. Shikako is going to grow up into a scary deer snatching senbei away from people hands and nibbling on our clothes.

I swear when I went again to Nara the Deer were more vicious. When I went with Leslie back in January the worst thing they did was nibble my hand and get it soggy. This time around they actually bit my leg and side wanting senbei. It hurt D:. They are scary. Still cute. Just scarier. Maybe it’s a sign to not go during March.

I love how in Japan, you see something as simple as like say, a cat sleeping on a tree, a group if not hordes of people crowd around that tree to take pictures of the cat(s) sleeping like the paparazzi. What’s great is that this has happened more than just a few times since I’ve been here. Kind of makes me feel happy to know I’m not the only one around that’s easily amused by these things.

When Yilan and I were walking in Ueno Park during the Sakura Festival there were these really cute cats in a pack of three sleeping on one of the Sakura tree branch. It was a huugge crowd of people just wanting to take a picture of them sleeping with their cellphones and cameras. It actually took me a while to just get to the front to take a picture myself! It was indeed really cute though, it was worth it =P

Here you can see some of the other cameras and cellphones before I was able to get a pic of just the cats lol.

Osaka is known for their Takoyaki, when Yilan and I went to see Osaka Castle we both order some. It was incredibly yummy, the batter used tasted really different that we couldn’t put our finger on. =3

Osaka Castle was really modernized and redone. It’s more of a museum than a castle, which isn’t bad necessarily. Awesome displays with artsy sliding doors and walls.  The walk over up to the castle was very scenic as well.

ugh, the placement test is tomorrow therefore school is starting soon. I don’t want to start, I want a vacation from my vacation =p

Yilan has been here for the past two weeks. One of the highlights was going to Kansai region, to Kobe, to try out the infamous Kobe Beef.

We ate at very nice restaurant and both ordered the Chef’s Course ( if that is the correct term). This was a 6-7 course meal including two steaks of Kobe Beef

The starting soup. It was a chowder soup. It was very light. very nice

The Salad :3 I even ate the cherry tomatoes, and I don’t like cherry tomatoes.

Scallops and Greens <3

And the Kobe Beef!!!!<3 Sirloin style. It was so tender and juicy. Melted in your mouth gooooooood.

The Kobe Styled Pasta.

And lastly, Sakura Blossom ice cream, Creme Brulee, fruits, and coffee.

Yilan ordered a Champagne while we were at it. We both finished the bottle at the end, got a bit tipsy XD;

The entire meal for one person (excluding the Champagne) was under 10,000 yen which was really not bad at all considering we both were figuring to pay more for this meal. It was definitely one of the best ones I’ve had. Great stuff, it’s so worth it to try authentic Kobe Beef at least once.

Went to visit Peace Park to see the A-Dome and the other memorials around the park like the Childrens Memorial. The A-Dome was preserved in its original condition from the blast with some fix uppers to stay intact as a memorial.

The Children’s Memorial was about the girl who died from Lukemia from the radiation aftermath of the blast. The death inspired many children  to make paper cranes reaching 1000 in hope of peace. Chains of the complete cranes were displayed.

Of course I gotta try some Hiroshima Okonomiyaki being in Hiroshima! The Hiroshima version is the one with Yaki Soba inside the Okonomiyaki.

A whole bunch of us got it. It was super yummy. I personally like having the Yaki Soba inside. It feels more filling and complete.

Here’s mine, it got kinda squished. haha