japanese shrining pt 2

MEIJI

This place was just at Harajuku station so we thought what the hell huh. it's supposed to be really famous and big. Harajuku was the shit. Great shopping and heaps of cosplay people on Sundays. That deserves its own post. These r shrine entrances. The 1st is quite a wee way away from the building. (right at the beginning of the park. nice park.) the 2nd is in front of the group of shriney buildings.

the 6 pics show the courtyard of the shrine..1st is entrance to the courtyard, the 2nd is the door.. 3rd is the shop. 4 is right, 5 is straight ahead, 6 is left views from courtyard.

This is an example of what u can buy at the shop. ohmigokoro. if they think i'm gona pay 100 yen for a poem by the emperor they've got another thing coming.

These are the inner shrine... there was this crazy boy dancing karate like at the entrance.. and also.. there was a wedding.. this is the bride~

japanese shrining.

We went 2 a few shrines.. tho i hate shrines. so freakin boring its like a museum eh. a history lesson on ur holiday. but i was guilted into doin it u no. like u go 2 japan, u gotta c a few shrines. so. yeah. we did. oh and by we i mean me and ling~

She's drinkin in her bunk here (which is next 2 mine..i took this in mine). she's quite an alcy. thats ume flavoured. japanese plum thing. its really good.. i had a few myself...

there's a couple i didnt get on film.. i remember a peach one on the 1st night and the rest kinda a blur now. so from the left thats mango&peach, ume, grapefruit, regular grape, and that ume was the night b4 i left. they wer pretty lax with id checking hence the binge (im not 21 (thats their drinking age.. ah good ol' NZ i can do it legally. tho u dont feel as naughty :P))(Just nod if they ask whether ur 21 and they let u go). so anyway shrining; in the order we went 2 them in.

ASAKUSA

The 1st pic is the entrance.. then u walk past a bunch of small traditional shops and get 2 the 2nd picture (the 2nd entrance) and to the left u c the 3rd picture. Once u walk past the 2nd entrance and turn around the 4th picture shows the other side of the 2nd entrance. Now that you're past the 2nd entrance, straight on u c pic 5 (the shrine) and to the left is pic 6. The last pic is what one of those huge red lanterns at the entraces look like from underneath. The pics below r a few of the traditional shops i mentioned~

You can c the snakeskin geta (japanese sandals) cost 18900 Yen (about $395 NZD)... must be real eh. The last 2 are food- quite pretty and pretty delicious.

By the actual shrine there's an orange tree (i thought that would hav some religious meaning but who knows... well lotsa ppl. but not me.) and a clock shaped like a.. temple? The other 2 show the ceiling of the shrine building with 2 maidens on either side of the dragon.

Next post= other 2 shrines. I'm beat.

TOKYO

thats right TOKYO. 10 days. Jan 26-Feb 5 for some hard out shopping.

stayin at this craphole YADOYA Guesthouse Maruman branch, Nakano. You can check them out at their website. And i thought Rainbow Hotel was bad.. 4th floor..no elevator...bed bugs.....skidmarks...god. its ok. its ok. its over.

on the other hand if ur staying less than 10 days then that place is good. it's cheap and ur not gona spend much time in it anyway. it's close to the train station too.

Day 1

Took the N'EX (Narita Express) from Narita Airport to Shinjuku (one station away from Nakano). It's the fastest way 2 travel from the airport tho it can b pricy. Not when ur a foreigner tho! U show ur passport at the Travel Center at the station and they give u an N'EX ticket that u can use to get out either at the designated station or a local one like Nakano without having to pay a cent yen AND a metro card topped up with 1500yen called Suica. This costs 3500yen and if u return ur card u get a 500yen card deposit bak. 

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Right so i was gona do this in days but i dont thnk thats gona work eh. that is because. we did shopping pretty much everyday and u dont really take photos. and well i  cant remember that far bak eh. I'll do it locationwise i think. thats a bit easier. u dont need to know when..just where and what.. or whatever. ok.. i'll do that tomorrow. shopping can come last.. yess i like organising things. categorising yay!

thats tmr's activities sorted

vacation.

in taiwan atm... closing in on the end of my holiday.. i had intended 2 be blogging during this ... 3 MONTH holiday as i have no job. ha.
but yeah.. forgot bout it til now.. but not completely! been taking tonnes of photos and videos that can be shared with the world!
going back 2 aucks next tues.. arrivin on the wed woooo (cuz i am actually bored as here.. friends all gone..some didnt even come bak. and i finished ma shoppin. suitcase is full.. so like nothing 2 do now.)
my days consist of.. watching everybody loves raymond a lot.
but sometimes i like 2 mix it up a bit and watch two and a half men or movies and smallville (shhhh)
i also embarrass my parents filming every little thing.. well. in their opinion its every little thing. but they don't understand its artistic man. i'm trying 2 capture the essence of taiwan. only after living here a while can u understand it.. but i plan 2 edit my videos into a short film that is the jist of taiwan. well taipei at least.
anyway.. god.
just thought of all the photos and shit i have 2 sort thru...ok little at a time
i'll start tomorrow...
i'll hav that trusty titanium and some other metal macbook of my uncle's..
that shud make it more bareable
gotta get crackin with uni startin eh. awooo.
i have a superhuman thirst to learnnnnnnnnnn!!!

my quarters

5th floor paradise

absolutely exquisite shower pressure! and yes one of those mirror/cabinets from scary movies where oh dear god there's something right behind u that wasn't there before u opened it

DO NOT STAY AT THE RAINBOW HOTEL

it was horrible.....

me ma n i arrived at the hotel round.. 9am. cept (and i knew this already) u aren't allowed to check in til afternoon. no exceptions. so we mucked round town... got coffee and muffin (extreme toffee latte +  apple crumble muffin [heated] MMMM!) got food etc and it was all pleasant la deeda so u dont need to know bout that eh :P

oh btw this is in auckland in the wind and fucking rain and the goddamn sloping streets and shit. so not in a good mood >:(

went back to check in. still high hopes. i saw computers in a little room in the corner. dim lighting with computer screens brighter than the actual light and a window facing a wall but with a plant in between. but still good!

3 computers, 1 out of order and 1 in use. a sign on each primitive monitor saying '20mins free'. so i thought, 'better hurry! but still good!' k. so.  surfin time... only one window allowed... understandable... hmm then what can i do... ebuddy? nope... bebo. yes.. hotmail yes..

20 minutes later... off to my room eh..

open the door.. it's not too bad.. a bit old and dingy though.. 2 single beds, a tv, a bathroom, closet and fridge. look out the window.. nope can't. the glass are those frosted thick bumpy windows often used as bathroom windows so no one can see thru and there's wire netting in the middle to avoid break-ins.. or outs. but there is an openable part at the top so i got up on a chair and looked out... our window is ground level.. interesting.. i guess it doesn't make much of a difference.. 

but what is that on the carpet.. ooh! it's drops of blood leading to a hand-sized stain.. hmm that's.. great.. i might just keep my shoes on..

hmm can't really remember how that day was spent... but i walked round town a lot.. had some lunch/dinner.. umm tv and looked for an unprotected wireless connection

but.. i do remember the parts in the hotel room vividly...

so i wanted a shower but i have to take my shoes off.... dilemma.. i think i shall sacrifice my feet. mm.. soap.. shampoo and shoe shine.. yay... but once u get in the shower there is a wee surprise. hot is cold and cold is hot.. mostly.. pretty unstable.. and temperature is more easily controlled by the pressure control.. so if u don't wana be boiled u have to wash with quite low pressure..mostly... but then it just slowly gets hotter and hotter.. so it's just easier having a cold shower.

there are no shelves to put ur stuff on so u just have to put it beside the sink... and just get in and out of the shower to get ur soap and stuff. only thing is the shower door must be operated by 2 hands as it is a magnetised thing that u have to pull open..but anyway.. they give you to bath towels and 1 hand towel. 1 was discolored with a black mark on top.. and 1 was white. but wait.. there is a hair on it... :'( i wanted to go home so badly.. no towel on the floor so i just have to stand on the germ infested floor and drip.. i brushed my teeth [everytime u use the water in the sink tap u hear this gurgling sound in the toilet tank.. so u're just wondering.. where is this water coming from!?] i sat on the bed, not feeling adventurous enough to explore under the covers.

However I had to sleep some time... so I lift the covers and get in.. but upon closer inspection... the mattress sheet cover is kinda see-through thin linen and you can see hairs underneath.... like... 20.. some curly some straight..some black some brown. some under the pillow some near the middle....why.....

did not sleep well that night. or the next. i usually put my arm/s under my pillow to sleep.. so i had to make a conscious effort to keep them outa there. i'd jump up in the middle of the night when i realize they had sneaked under my pillow and just huddle in a ball.. trying to get back to sleep but not really wanting to..

anyway.. i don't have to think about that anymore. i've moved into UniLodge and it's pretty great here. Tune in next time for more...