So this past Thursday, I had a meet-up with my Japanese partner in crime Aki~ Our schedules rarely coincide, so our hangouts are pretty far between, but she's still one of my closest and best friends I've made since I moved to Japan.

Anyway, she was heading out to a Simple Plan show in Osaka, and invited me along, and I, never turning down an opportunity to listen to live music, eagerly agreed.

I feel bad for consciously neglecting to tell Shota until the last minute but I really just wanted it to be a ladies day/night type of thing, which Shota absolutely doesn't understand. He put up a little fight, but in the end agreed to remain at home. He still took my outfit photo for me though, for which I was grateful :) (he got his man-night this Saturday though, so we're even :P)


Since I knew we were probably going to end up walking a lot and jumping around, I opted out of any kind of elevated shoe and put on my trusty Dr. Martens. They also wear drink stains and foot prints so well..! :D

I kept it cute with the big, plastic bow. And surprisingly, most of all to me, I received a lot of compliments while we were out. That definitely helped reaffirmed my decision to stick with my street fashion roots :3 (though I still long to be tiny and cute like all the other tiny gurls here~~ lol). A lot of people form the shops like the black Micky and Minnie sweatshirt Lol






We started our day at March Masala, gorging on curry and nan until we felt like we would pass out.

I feel like the guys who run this place will eventually get sick of seeing my face and will one day just turn me away, but until that day.. more for meeee :)

←Aki messing around with my glasses~~ She's totally obsessed with union jack and skull items. She was also my partner in crime when JSG was still around. We both don't know what to do now that it's gone D:


Another awesome thing about Aki, she's as obsessed with karaoke as I am :DDD So after lunch and a little shopping, we tried out the newest karaoke place in Namba, カラオケ館 'karaoke kan' (karaoke building/hall/house. nice and straight to the point ;D).

This is my new number one for karaoke..!! No only is it brand new and completely lacking in the old man smell so rampant in most other karaoke dens, they got crazy-awesome stage lights and a laser box. LASER BOX. And the lights all coordinate with the music and singing. I think Karaoke Rainbow near Dotonbori is supposed to have the same thing, but it didn't work D:

This place was top notch. And relatively cheap at 80yen for 30 minutes, but you have to order an overpriced drink too. But even then, for our hour it was only 1080yen for both of us. Yeah, the drinks are really overpriced. I'm definitely going to try freetime next time I go..!!
The show was at Namba Hatch (excuse the God awful design of that site, the venue is really nice..!), which is located on the other side of the JR Namba station, away from the main streets. You can actually see it from the bridge near Dotonbori street (the opposite of Glico Man), but I thought it was some ice cream cone-shaped stadium. It's actually a radion station and concert venue, which admittedly makes more sense :x

Anyway, this pyramid isn't Namba Hatch. We just thought it looked nice and snapped photos of it. I didn't take any photos of Namba Hatch..!! 'Cuz I'm a dunce~ :/
I didn't bring my camera into the show either DD: But Aki said they weren't allowed, and I was NOT getting my brand new camera taken away. I should've used my smartphone, but of course that bright idea came along after I had already stuffed my things into a locker. Genius.

So I just snapped this photo while we were leaving. See how happy the people were?? It was a pretty good show, for a band I don't listen to. The three glasses of bourbon helped too (but they didn't have any else worth drinking D:). I sang the three songs I remembered from my angsty high school days, and just jumped around to the rest. They also broke out Black Eyed Peas and LMFAO covers in an effort to get the crowd dancing. HAHA that didn't work. The Japanese don't dance. But I did..!!
The band told the crowd, in English, that they were heading over to RockRock after the show for drinking and just hanging. I passed the info on to Aki, who didn't seem to have caught it even though her English level is pretty high. So I told her if she didn't catch it, most of the crowd probably missed it too, so we should head there if she wanted her photo opp. Aki, always eager for a photo opp and bar trips, eagerly agreed.

So we carried out tipsy behinds down the street to Ame-mura and RockRock :)

We had to pay a cover charge of 1000yen, but we did get a drink ticket, so it wasn't so bad a deal. I don't remember what I ordered.. maybe something with gin, while Aki went with a Tequila Sunrise (she ALWAYS has one of those when we go drinking. Strong girl~~). It was already after 10pm when we'd arrived, and it was still pretty empty, but we ordered some french fries and decided to wait until 10:30 before heading home.
We ate our fries as slowly as humanly possibly, complaining about the fatness we were gaining in winter and planning future barbeques for warmer seasons, when both our drinks and fries ran out. I went back for a kaluha and milk, and we checked our watches. By now it was nearing 11pm, and Aki lives out in Nara. But I was sure the band was coming, so I told her to just crash at my place tonight, and if they didn't show, we could just go to karaoke (AGAIN), after the bar. She agreed (karaoke fiend), and was about to order her next drink when Simple Plan and 10 Second Epic (their opening act), walked in, followed by a meager, but boisterous crowd.
I've never seen Aki's face light up as much as it did af that moment. It was adorable..!! :3
So we lined up behind a couple others for some photos. All the members were really gracious about it, though it was obvious that they really wanted to just drink and hang out.
My favorite photo from Simple Plan was this one with the bassist. He was super friendly and approached us while we were just drinking off to the side, giving out kisses, hugs and compliments.

Us married women surely do appreciate the compliments when we can get them..!♥ (husbands really don't do it often enough D:)

Or Maybe he was just really drunk already?? The world may never know~~

We also chatted with a couple members from 10 Second Epic, and they were all just really cool people. This photo I snapped with the bassist (AGAIN. I think I see a trend), who is literally the chill-est band dude I've ever met~

It was a little after 12am, and a couple more drinks later, before we decided to make our exit.

And headed over to karaoke.

We go hard. All day. And night :D
But seriously, after all the excitement and drinking, we were not ready to go home. We had to just go scream it all out.

This time we went to 804 Karaoke, which you can find all along the Ebisubashi and Shinsaibashi shopping streets. They all look really nice on the outside, but the rooms are really dirty and the equipment kind of old and ...janky LOL




But we were too high off of life to care..!! We sang our little hearts out for 2 hours before finally catching a cab back home around 2am. We would've stayed all night if I didn't have to work 11 to 8 the next day DD:

SO!! Here's the break-down  (in yen) of what a night like this will cost you in Osaka. I think this is one of those really important things you should keep in mind, especially if you're trying to be financially responsible and all. And as much fun as it was, I could probably only do this once a month. At the most :/

Maybe some of the ballers out there are like "pfft, pocket change~~" but I think for average young person, buried in student loans, that's a lot of money to just fart around with in just ONE DAY. I just can't ball like that~~ Lol You do just have to let yourself go and have fun sometimes though :D

So I hope this was informative or even a little entertaining to read. I think going to concerts and bars like this are quite unique to Japan, or at the very least, different from D.C., where I did my party-ing. I hope you guys get to try it out sometime..! :)

★Peaces★

Exhibit A: An eraser shaped after a post box.. Just sitting on my desk..

I want to take a moment to address a serious problem in Japan. It's called the 'komono' or 小物 in kanji. It literally means small things but I think it would be better defined at knick-knacks or small-crap-you-don't-really-need.

And in Japan, it's an endemic with no end in sight. With all the Sanrio, Snoopy, One Piece, Please, Village/Vanguard, 100 yen Shops etc. propagating the habit, how can it???

And I wouldn't be a good gaijin if I didn't try to fit in just a little ;) So here's my thankfully small collection of pretty useless 'komono.'
Exhibit A: an eraser. It's also shaped after a post box, but the important thing to note is that it's a fully functional eraser. That is not being erased with. Just collecting dust.
Here's exbibit B. It maybe just look like a tiny figure of a gundam modeled after the ANA airline company, but it is, in fact, a USB drive.

I've never used it. I set it up on my desk because.. well... it's too cute to use :< Why use it when I could randomly notice it throughout the day!?
And then be distracted by something else seconds later..


Any Pirates of the Caribbean fans will recognize this bad boy..! :D
Jack Sparrow's full-not-really functioning compass. Except this is the version that.. actually doesn't work..

BUT it is cool :3

This is usually sitting on the shelf keeping the gundam company...

I got that Batman ver. of that skirt! :D

Finally!! I've been thinking about writing this post for.. about a week now. :)

But I needed to put the video together first, which unfortunately takes forever on my poor, old computer.

So a couple weeks back, we traveled all the way back to Nabari (in Mie Prefecture) to visit Shota's family for a little shogatu fun times. Mostly exchanging otoshidama (new years money..?) and eat food. Eating a LOT of food. And of course, eating mochi..! :3


Nabari is a little over an hour away from Osaka by sub-rapid express train, but when usually go, we have to use the Express, which takes closer to an hour and twenty. Not really much of a difference except when it's 9pm and you're just dying to get home D:


As you can see, after the train station and some cram school businesses and bars.. there's just mountains. So many mountains..
That also means it's really cold :<

This is a photo of Shota and his brother-in-law. They both got their hair in similar styles without knowing it~ I think his brother's cut is a little cooler, but don't tell Shota that :x








Here's a shot of the rice used to make mochi. It's a little different from normal rice, probably a little shorter and fatter. It actually reminded me of popcorn :D Or that might just be my tummy growling now..








The rice is then put into this fancy little machine. It actually cooks the rice (the same as a normal rice cooker would) before pulverizing (?) it. Total cooking time from kernels to gooey mochi form is about forty minutes.


That means we have to kill time while we wait..




So we tried a little shichinarabe (I don't know what it's called in English D: but it's a card game) while waiting.

Danju, who is only 4, was having none of that rules nonsense so he made up his own game and forced everyone else to play.


I love how happy Danju looks and how confused Shota's bro looks..! Lol


Meina prefers to wait patiently at the table for her mochi.

Maybe she's thinking first dibs?


Or she just wants to play in the flour..





After being pulvarized into the gooey ball shape (up top), it's time to take it out (while it's hot) and separate it (while it's hot). I tried it last year. This year I just took a video. ;D









First dibs indeed! Look at that happy face :]









Happy faces after bellies full of mochi. I think Danju was holding back from his 100% smile, but that's better than the running in fear he was doing earlier. Meina, as you can see, loves the camera. She does hate, however, wearing pants.






These mochi have red bean paste in them, though you can't really see it. That type of mochi is usually referred to as 'daifuku.'

I don't like the taste of red bean so much, so I usually eat mochi with 'kinako' which is soy bean powder. It doesn't sound delicious, but it is..!! You can buy it in warabi-mochi snacks from the super market. Try it sometime!♪

See the Spotaka sign? Yea, you know where this is.

Whoa, just get hit with a whirlwind of work, and I am pooped :/ But it's much better to be busy then bored out of your mind I suppose. I do wish I had more gaming time (I just got Playstation PLUS so I want sum free gaming!! :<)

Anyway, I finally took some time out today (Sunday) for a little Indian food and some shopping for Shota. He's not really a shopper, he also seems to hate spending money, but I think every now and again, we all get an urge to spend a little. There's definitely a euphoric and satisfying feeling to be gained. So shop we did!!

NOOOooOOooo!

The mission: New jeans (the old pair had a hole in the crotch) and a black Mickey M. sweatershirt (more on that later). The result: a big fat bag of awesome, definitely not 2 items. But you can't beat an outlet that's having a 50% off sale.








Trying on a skirt in the fitting room. I didn't want to buy anything, but if you ask me if I want anything.. I'll find something to buy. Bad, bad habit. I do really like that skirt though and I think my old one is shrinking and my booty is showing *rationalizing purchases*

Anyone in Osaka now should definitely hit up this WEGO (in Ame-mura) because it's closing at the end of January (the 29th I think?), and everything is ridiculously cheap. Like seriously. Go there. NOW.





ALSO! Here's a teaser of the Indian food. I've been meaning to write up about this place. It's cheap and really good, but depending on who's working, your curry will be a little different. But who can complain with 690 yen free curry and nan refill lunch sets? No one, that's who~







Ame-mura is full or shady looking buildings. It's like they built up Shinsaibashi and Namba around these decrepit buildings because they couldn't buy them from the owners. But I think that's gives the otherwise bling-y downtown a little old school flavor.

But the reason we were all up in this building was for this vintage shop! It's super tiny (like smaller than my apartment, and that's only 35m squared), but has some of the coolest clothes. Ever. Period. And the owner knows that too because they are not cheap (but most vintage stuff in Japan isn't).
But they still had my Lennon/Cereal Killer glasses, which I promptly purchased and wore for the rest of the day (until 7pm, when it was dark and I was in my apartment :o ). The lady working there said these aren't from America, because sunglasses tend to break during transit, so they're a vintage Japanese pair. Loooove them~~










Also, my outfit from Sunday. Wearing items from my lucky bags..! I feel kind of awkward having Japanese girl on my shirt. I don't know if it's referring to the tiger or me..?? And why 1984? My sister was born that year, but other than that... Maybe that's the year Wakatsuki Chinatsu was born too? Sorry, I don't really get it.. :x

Sorry this wasn't filled with info or anything. I'm not setting enough time to finish things (hence me writing at 3:40am.. oops), but I do have some things I want to share from new years. I hope you'll stick around for that :)

No other outings planned for January, but hopefully something exciting will happen in February so I can write about something other than walking around Namba/Shinsaibashi again.

Take care everyone!!
★Peaces★

New Years celebrations in Japan last for a pretty long. And when I say celebrations, I really mean bargains!! :D

Bargains in Japan usually run for one week (from Jan. 2nd - Jan. 9th) but I've also seen post-bargain bargains go on until the end of the month. But I'm not really one to wait, and got most of my bargain shopping done on the first of the year..!★

The two bags I picked up on the first were from the brands W♥C and Glad News. These styles look like they're completely opposite of one another (bright yellow bag with a bear and the dark skull covered one :>) but you can actually wear them together easily, yay :D

Lucky bags that start around 100USD can have anywhere from 5 items to 9 items inside, while smaller bags like the GN one run for around 50USD and usually have one complete outfit.


To the right, a sweater from the W♥C (Wakatsuki Chinatsu) bag. That bag was actually pretty random. You could even end up with shoes, but thank goodness I didn't..! I can't fit into Japanese shoe sizes D: But I did get two sweaters (one was guaranteed I think), some jeans, a t-shirt, a hat, headband, and underwear.





An item from the Glad News bag. This is my second time with a GN bag. Their items aren't so random I think (maybe only the t-shirt?) so I guess GN is the constant in the sea of lucky bags. :p
Awesome-ly, I was able to get a leather skirt out of the bag, which I'd been on the look-out for anyway. Woot :]






A few days later, I was shopping with a friend in OPA, and Monkey Bite had a few left-over lucky bags, but this time they were advertising what was inside. I've passed by this shop a couple times, and I've always kind of liked their stuff but felt like it was too expensive and probably not worth it quality wise.
But since they were advertising what was inside and making the outerwear optional (you can have too many jackets), I figured it would be a good deal. :>

This year was a pretty good for lucky bags, and I think I should be able to wear everything I got. There's nothing worse than getting a lucky bag and hardly wearing anything from it (I'm looking at you Cecil McBee), but I guess that's where secondhand shops come in :D

After clothing shopping, it was time to get to business though. I headed over to Nipponbashi (the "Akihabara" of Osaka) in search either a tablet PC or a DSLR to replace my point and shoot. It being the equivalent of the Christmas season in terms of sales in Japan, I thought it would be eaaasy.

It was not. D: Nipponbashi is sometimes frustratingly complicated to navigate through. All the shops on the main street are either PC/electronic hardware, used video games/manga, or toys, but finding used computers or electronic devices is surprisingly hard. Most of them are near Doguyasuiji, so eventually we made it that way to hover in a few shops. PC selections are pretty slim, but they did have a nice display of cameras, including the three that I had my eyes on (Nikon J1, Olympus PEN EPL3 and the Pentax Q). Is that lucky? Or some kind of omen?? I'm not sure..

All three of these cameras function like lightweight DSLRs. They have interchangeable lenses with similar manual focus options, RAW support (like I'll ever use it :/), HD video, shake reduction, etc. But the thing that was really drawing me toward Olympus and Pentax were the optional filters set-up inside the cameras. Jenny from Sushi Cat has an awesome Olympus, and that almost forced my hand, but I waited a little more, and found a booklet on the Pentax Q. It has similar filters, but, from what I'd read review wise, the video quality was better and plus it was a little lighter. Downside?? Pentax was newer and therefore, not going to be dropping in price anytime soon while Olympus had several camera in the PEN series to choose from, each offer more reasonable prices.

But in the end..
I ended up with the Pentax. When I found all three at the small used shop, they were about the same in price, but I was really drawn to the Pentax (it ended up around 540USD which is much better than the original of 750USD). I like the retro design, it's compact and light like a point-and-shoot but with the power of a DSLR. Plus, a little bonus I found out when reading up on it later, I transfer files from the camera to my phone via infrared, which is useful if I want to do some on the spot editing and uploading. Here's a few shots from the past few days:

I think the flash was on in this one :] Snacking with my best friend while.. watching something? I think BBC's Merlin.
I think this was shot on Blur Control with a filter... I don't remember which one though..!
I looove controlling the focus on the foreground. Makes this coke look delicious :D
This is another Blur control shot. It doesn't seem to be focusing on anything, but I like how it blurred that guys face.

Unfortunately, this means I might have to drop my addiction to camera apps on my phone.. Naah, I probably won't :p But it'll be nice to actually take some decent photos and videos for all my projects I'd like to work on for this year.

So I got the wardrobe, I got the camera. Just one more piece and I'm gonna be a fashionable, photo snapping, digital animating traveler..? Person of the world..? I don't even know, but now that I've got the means, there's gotta be a way. :)

★Peaces★