London Heathrow Airport. Arrived 17 December 2010.

First dinner in London, Chinatown.

Which is located near where most of the theaters are. Above is a ticket box where you can get musical/show tickets for a discounted price. One of them being my favorites, Wicked.

A cafe near where I stayed, did not have a chance to try their full English breakfast but.

The next day I headed for Baker Street, been wanting to visit where Mr Holmes used to live.

First few lumps of snow I ever saw everrrr in my life!! 0.0

Sherlock Holmes statue right outside the Baker Street station.

This is 221b Baker Street, you can have a look inside by paying £6.

Sherlock’s dining table overlooking Baker Street.

The wall of Baker Street Station.

Was on my way to Buckingham Palace when it started snowing really hard and I couldn’t see anything, and I did not have any umbrella with me so decided to go back…

Went with my friend to Borough Market, and I got myself a huge bag of mixed honey nuts! Yum.

They’re real DEAD goose btw if you’re wondering.

The top of St Paul’s Cathedral from afar.

My friend booked an afternoon tea for us and actually we almost gave up finding the place, and the snow was pretty thick so it was quite a tiring walk to the place. But luckily we found it!

Dropped by the supermarket before going back to the inn. So many different types of milk, unlike in Tokyo…

And definitely bigger toothbrush.

Sherlock again…

Made of so many mini Sherlocks.

Met this funny guy on the train.

Off to Piccadilly Circus the next morning to buy some musical tickets.

I think there was some poster competition going on for the London Underground.

We were roaming around Camden’s Market when my friend suddenly said, “Look look!!” and I went, “What what what?” “There there!!”, and I saw this…

Cutest Starbucks ever.

Hopped on the bus for dinner.

The view from my inn window.

Wrote postcards for friends and families and myself!

Watched Wicked.

I don’t know why but I like this telephone box.

The sequel of Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies.

This squirrel was near Hyde Park and when it saw me instead of running away, it actually came closer!!!

This close!! I wish I could take it home… Been wanting a furry pet for quite a while, but I haven’t settled down yet – so I don’t know…

Hyde Park covered in snow.

I like taking photographs of my shoes heheheh.

I would recommend Lion King too if you like musicals, great props!

People stopped pushing their way into the train and it was only this full. In Tokyo people will keep pushing in even though there is obviously no more space between one person to another…

On the morning train to Belfast, Ireland. Longest transit ever, I boarded the train at 5am and arrived at 10pm at night…crazy. Train, train again, bus, ferry, bus, and taxi in the end to take me to the hotel. It was very tiring but a fun new experience. Though traveling alone can get very lonely, especially when it’s almost Christmas and you’re sitting there alone in a 3-hour ferry trip. And all you can see around you are families enjoying their togetherness…

Still had my tag strapped to the suitcase.

Welcome to Belfast!

The Crown, Belfast’s most famous bar.

Finished this beer in less than a minute! Yes I’m proud haha. It was very bitter and felt really sick after that – so no more.

All things Guinness.

I bought a tin whistle, the same note which Andrea Corr played her songs with.

Belfast on Christmas. Not a single moving car in sight! All stores were closed, including convenience stores! So that was not very convenient after all…

The trip to Dublin by bus was a lot better the day after Christmas. Met this woman on the bus who happened to sit next to me, and we chatted for a while. She was American – and she was on the way to Portugal I think with her husband. But decided to drop by Ireland for a while.

By now you can probably tell I’ve got a thing for shoes and cross light buttons.

My legs got so tired walking in slippery snow like this, I had to step really carefully. It was just a trip to the supermarket, yet it felt soooo long.

“Crime” in Irish?

The Spire. Sorry I can’t write much! I’ve got a test in two days and I haven’t studied at all!!

The Temple Bar is Dublin’s most famous bar. Same like Crown’s to Belfast.

Never ending statues in Dublin. They’re everywhere.

Entrance to Trinity College. Courtney Cox used to go there! And George Lucas once wanted to film one of the Star Wars scene here but was turned down by the college ppl.

On my way to visit The Temple Bar, many other bars in between.

And finally found it! I went in, just to borrow the toilet

I love Dubliners’ friendliness. This guy was waving at me when he saw me taking photos. So I waved back…

I wouldn’t mind living there with this kind of lights every afternoon.

Passed Trinity College again the next day so I took picture of it’s crest.

Sadly Dublin Castle was closed that day, 28th December I think…

“Police” in Irish?

The famous Guinness harp in “person”.

I purchased a Student ticket. And I asked the guy, “Do you need to see my Student ID?” he replied, “No it’s okay, I believe you.”
So if I took it as a compliment….that’s okay right? Maybe I looked young, and hopefully still do

Fresh right out from the brewery! Couldn’t tell the difference though haha.

Last picture I took of Dublin. Had a hot chocolate there and went straight back to the hotel, the next morning was my flight to Rome.

First meal in Rome – had it inside the airport, about to board the train to the city.

Chestnuts I think?

St Peter’s basilica at night.

Italian huge donuts! When I asked one of the guys selling these things, “What are those?”, he gave me a weird look and answered, “Err…donuts?”

Graffiti train.

The Colosseum. These pictures don’t do it justice. It was massive and so grand…

This guy was smiling at me when we passed him by.

Some scribbles on the Colosseum wall.

This pic was taken on 31st December 2010, my first visit to Italian supermarket and found a Nutella that big!

And these German cookies my friend once brought some for me. They’re yummy, but sinful of course like any other cookies.

Birthday, on the way to St Peters Basilica to attend the New Year’s mass. Trying to get there early for a seat.

And of course there was no seat for us coz apparently you have to book a seat way ahead of time… And we didn’t know that. So we ended up standing, but I still managed to catch a glimpse of the Pope at least.

Reminds me of Mr. Bean.

Got lost trying to find The Trevi Fountain.

So we got there, but it was packed, took a couple photos and headed back.

Was thinking to get the Spaghetti Ice Cream. But changed my mind and had the super thick hot chocolate instead.

Paris.

My mom would love these cherries…

It was chilly but nice weather at the Louvre.

Hundreds of statues like this.

I would probably have had this look on my face too if I were him.

Guess what these people were doing??

Tada!

Venus de Milo.

Some simple packaging I found in the Louvre canteen.

Had a healthy lunch. The girl asked me whether I would like some sweets for desserts, but she forgot the word for “desserts” so she just kept pointing to the puddings and ice creams, and finally asked me while smiling “how do you call these things in English?”. I told her, “Desserts?”, and she replied, “Ah of course!”
I love those kinds of trivial random talks between strangers, but haven’t had any lately…

This guy wouldn’t let anyone take pictures of the dogs unless we dropped some coins first for him, smart

Notredame church.

I never knew such a cool bookstore existed until my friend brought me there…

This journal was designed by a studio based in Vancouver, Working Format.

The Chandelier accident that once happened in this opera inspired Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera.

I didn’t know that there some Book Off branches in Paris too until I found this.

Last landmark of Paris I went to before going back to Tokyo.

Vandalism…?

Tokyo sky from Keio Skyliner back home.

It’s been a full week since Japan got hit by a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake (some source even said it was 9.0) followed by a tsunami, as well as episodes of nuclear plant meltdowns. Until now there are still thousands of people missing, families, friends and loved ones.

It was just a normal Friday afternoon. I was in Tokyo, sitting down listening to my teacher in class when the earthquake happened. Though it was nothing compared to what happened in Sendai, the epicentre; I thought that was the end of me. And now come to think of it, how silly life can be – literally minutes ago before it happened I was disappointed why I only scored 67% for my final semester exam. Legs shaking, I stood helpless underneath my school’s main entrance with my schoolmates and teachers. Luckily the teachers & staff were experienced enough with earthquakes to calm us down, and managed to evacuate all of us to the nearest park safely. Even then, the earth was still shaking.

So it was very scary for me as I never experienced earthquake first-hand. Tokyo got a magnitude 5 earthquake that day, a pretty big one even for a Japanese. Trains stopped running and hundreds of people were forced to go home on foot. I was lucky it only took me 40 minutes to get home, but some of my friends needed 4 hours, even 7. The cold wind was blowing hard that night. Some friends and teachers & staff spent the night at school because they live too far away to walk it.

I got home and quickly put all my important documents into one big bag, along with 4L of water & foods, first aid kit and my bicycle light, as well as moving my IKEA table closer to my futon bed in case I need to hide underneath (“Just this time I beg you…don’t fail me”, I think I said to my table.)

Long story short, I’m home now, safe and sound. Yes I got scared and managed to flee. (Well though I planned to go home anyway…but yeah I freaked out and moved my flight forward.) Thinking whether what I did was selfish, or cowardly maybe, I find myself guilty being able to get a peaceful 8-hour sleep — even more sometimes — each night now that I’m home, while a lot of people are devastated there knowing they might never see their loved ones anymore.

Maybe I did this to redeem that guilty feeling — which might make me even more selfish, or maybe because I experienced a taste of it, or maybe I simply want to help – I can’t put a finger on exactly what it is. But I thought I’d donate. So I did. After all, I still want to live there – it’s a beautiful country with rich culture and traditions.

If you’re in the same situation as I am, or maybe you just want to spare some change and give a hand, I’ve put together some links below to help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami victims by donating. There are many ways but I donated to Red Cross through iTunes, no reason why. As a note, I am by no means not affiliated with any of these organizations/people.

You can also donate to Global Giving, and International Medical Corps, if you live in the UK you can to Save The Children, or directly to Japan Red Cross’ bank account. If you want to get a neat ‘token of appreciation’, you can get these beautifully designed postcards by an Aussie designer, or her friend’s.

Or if you have pairs of new socks that have been sitting in that closet for so long and you forgot about them, go here.

And if you think you need more donation links, just go to Twitter’s Search and type ‘donate to japan’ or something similar, and you’ll find heaps of them! I got most of these links from there.

No matter what reason your donation is based on, know that you’ve done something special today and I’m pretty sure they will appreciate it.

Halo! おひさしぶり！(lama tak jumpa, dalam bahasa Jepang)
Akhir-akhir ini aku malas sibuk, banyak yang terjadi dalam 2 bulan terakhir ini sampai aku tidak begitu ingat lagi.
Jadi aku pakai foto-foto di bawah untuk mengingat kembali

Tokyo Sky in the afternoon from the window of the study room in my school. Took this a couple days ago with my phone – I just finished my 2nd semester final test, and I passed!! Yiippeee! We’re gonna celebrate by going to an event called Beer Garden, an event with all you can drink AND eat. Looks like someone’s gonna get heavier this weekend.

Langit Tokyo di sore hari dari jendela ruang belajar sekolahku. Aku jepret ini dua hari lalu dengan hp-ku. Aku baru menjalani ujian semester keduaku, dan lulus! Horeee! Kita akan merayakannya dengan pergi ke iven bernama Beer Garden, di mana kita bisa minum DAN makan sepuasnya. Sepertinya akan ada yang jadi semakin berat akhir minggu ini.

Been riding my bike more and more these days. I cannot really study in my bedroom, there are so many distractions (like the bed, foods, and the INTERNET!) I will never be productive. So I usually bike around to find a cheap cafe where I can stay in for hours and just sit there and stuff all the kanji and grammar points into my head. Guess which one my bike is! It’ll be easy to spot if you know what colour it is

Akhir-akhir ini aku semakin sering naik sepeda. Aku tidak bisa begitu konsentrasi belajar di kamarku, terlalu banyak gangguan seperti adanya tempat tidur, makanan dan INTERNET! Jadi aku biasanya naik sepeda untuk mencari kafe murah di mana aku bisa duduk berjam-jam lamanya untuk menghafalkan kanji dan grammar bahasa Jepang ke kepalaku. Tebak sepedaku yang mana! Kalau kamu tahu warnanya pasti gampang!

One of the cafes near my house where I usually study. This isn’t a rare sight in Tokyo. Lots of people just pass out everywhere, a quick power nap is often needed in this overworked city. I start to do it too lately :p

Salah satu kafe di mana aku biasanya belajar dekat rumah. Banyak orang tidur seperti ini di Tokyo, karena keadaan di Tokyo memaksa orang untuk bekerja terlalu keras terkadang sehingga mereka perlu sedikit waktu untuk mengisi energi kembali. Aku pun akhir-akhir ini juga mulai ketularan :p

A day after my final exam, I went to The Blue Man Group concert in Roppongi with a friend. At first I was skeptical coz we still could secure a good seat 2 weeks before the concert. But turned out I was wrong, this was actually one of the best performances I’ve ever been, other than Wicked of course managed to get a photo taken with one of the Blue Man, with a blue smudge on my cheek. I’m too shy to upload it here though ^^;

Sehari setelah ujian akhirku, aku pergi ke konser The Blue Man Group di Roppongi dengan seorang teman. Pertamanya aku ragu karena kita masih bisa mendapat kursi yang sangat bagus 2 minggu sebelum konsernya. Tapi ternyata aku salah, malah sebenarnya ini adalah satu performa terbaik yang pernah aku lihat, selain Wicked tentunya aku sempat berpose foto bersama salah satu membernya, dengan cat biru di pipiku tapi aku terlalu malu untuk memasukkannya di sini ^^;

If The Blue Man Group is playing near you, I recommend you to go and watch it! Very creative.

Kalau The Blue Man Group datang di tempat kamu tinggal, mereka sangat patut untuk ditonton! Sangat kreatif.

A festival (matsuri, in Japanese) around my neighborhood. The stuff they’re carrying on the back is called omikoshi, a small shrine that represents their God. It was my first time ever to see a matsuri this close – so that was certainly an experience.

Festifal di sekitar tempat tinggalku. Rumah kecil yang mereka panggul adalah omikoshi, kuil kecil yang melambankan Tuhan yang mereka sembah. Ini pertama kalinya aku melihat matsuri (festifal, dalam bahasa Jepang) sedekat ini.

Another sleeping Japanese in the train. I think it’s so awesome how they can sleep in any position at all, it’s an indispensable skill worth obtaining! I’ll fall for sure and embarrass myself if I sleep like that. Though I’m pretty good at sleeping anywhere as long as I sit on a solid surface :p

Orang Jepang lainnya yang sedang tidur, kali ini di kereta. Aku takjub bingung melihat bagaimana mereka bisa tidur di mana saja dengan berbagai macam posisi, suatu kemampuan yang patut dipelajari :p kalau aku tidur seperti dia pasti jatuh dan ujung-ujungnya hanya mempermalukan diri sendiri. Walaupun sebenarnya aku bisa tidur di mana saja selama aku duduk.

Had this photo taken when I was biking around the Yanaka Cemetry. The weather lately has been quite weird, as weird as it was in Sydney. Yesterday it was around 30 something degrees, sunny and hot and quite sweaty, and today was 18º and raining and windy and cold and wet! But I didn’t really mind, it’s been a while since I biked without breaking a single drop of sweat :p

Aku ambil foto ini saat aku bersepeda sekitar Kuburan Yanaka. Cuacanya terakhir ini agak aneh, seperti di Sydney saja. Kemarin sekitar 30 derajat, cerah sekali dan panas dan agak berkeringat, dan hari ini 18º dan hujan dan berangin dan dingin dan basah! Walaupun sebenarnya tidak masalah karena sudah lama aku tidak bersepeda tanpa berkeringat sedikit pun :p

Another photo around the Yanaka area. I have another photo blog that I update more often and it compiles all the photos I take with my phone when I’m out, it’s here.

Foto lain yang di ambil di sekitar Yanaka. Aku membuat foto blog lainnya yang lebih sering aku update yang memuat semua foto yang kuambil pakai hpku saat jalan keluar, ini blognya.

My kanji practice sheet around 2 months ago. I got some of the kanjis above wrong. But right now I can proudly say I know at least 320 kanjis in total. At first I thought it was going to be impossible. My other Indonesian friend who’s very fluent in Japanese once told me that when it comes to Kanji study, you have to learn to love it, if you don’t love it enough you won’t get through it. That’s what she said. And I guess she’s right.

Kertas latihan kanjiku sekitar 2 bulan lalu. Beberapa kanji di atas salah. Tapi sekarang aku bisa berkata dengan bangga bahwa paling tidak aku sudah ingat 320 kanji mulanya aku pikir itu adalah suatu hal yang mustahil. Temanku yang sangat lancar berbahasa Jepang pernah berkata bahwa kalau belajar Kanji kamu harus paling tidak menyukainya, karena kalau tidak pasti berabe. Itu katanya. Dan menurutku dia benar.

Someone recommended me to go to this design event in Roppongi, in which Andy Cruz from the House Industries gave a brief talk about how he started out House Industries. I thought it was going to be a long talk for at least an hour or so, turned out it was only around 15 minutes. But the works he presented were just fabulous – I guess it really shows if you are passionate in what you’re doing. I see this all the time and it keeps reminding me to not waste time by doing things that I don’t like, coz I’ll only end up complaining all the time, waiting for the clock to hit 5PM, waiting for the weekend to arrive. I’m glad that I know by heart what I love, I just need to find how to make a living out of it. If you haven’t found the thing that you truly love, keep exploring, and never ever be afraid to try new things – no matter how crazy it may sound, you don’t know until you try. Even if you’ve found things that you do love, there are always new things to explore, so don’t stop. Friends, relatives, people might think you’re out of your mind and will set boundaries for you – I’m not saying that they’re always wrong, there are times when you should take their advice and listen to them, but if we always go by the book – we’ll just be the same as everybody else. It may sound cliche, but listen to what your heart says, because it rarely tells lies and it knows what you want.

Aku disuruh pergi ke iven di Roppongi ini oleh seseorang, di mana Andy Cruz dari House Industries berceramah pendek tentang bagaimana dia memulai House Industries. Aku kira dia bakal berbicara panjang sekitar sejam, tapi ternyata hanya sekitar 15 menit saja. Tapi karya yang dia tunjukkan sangat cantik – aku rasa kalau kita benar-benar mencintai apa yang kita kerjakan, pasti akan kelihatan. Aku sering diingatkan oleh hal ini, untuk tidak membuang waktu melakukan hal yang tidak kita sukai karena ujungnya hanya akan berakhir dengan tumpukan keluhan, menunggu jam untuk menunjukkan pukul 5 sore, menunggu akhir pekan untuk datang. Untungnya aku sudah menemukan hal yang aku tahu aku suka, sekarang aku hanya perlu tahu bagaimana hidup dari hal tersebut. Jika kamu belum menemukan hal yang kamu cintai, jangan pernah berhenti untuk mencari dan mencoba hal-hal baru – meskipun kadang kedengarannya gila, tapi kamu tidak akan tahu sampai kamu mencoba kan? Meski jika kamu sudah menemukan hal yang kamu cintai pun, selalu ada hal baru yang patut dicoba – maka cobalah dan jangan pernah berhenti. Temanmu, famili, dan orang lain mungkin berpikir kamu gila dan mencoba untuk menghentikanmu – bukannya aku bilang mereka selalu salah, ada juga saat di mana kamu harus berhenti dan mendengar nasehat mereka, tapi kalau kita selalu mengikuti jalur lurus, kita akan sama saja dengan orang lain. Mungkin kedengaran sangat klise, tapi dengarkan kata hatimu karena dia jarang bohong – dan dia tahu apa yang kau mau (memangnya Sprite?).

Some of other works that Andy Cruz has done. The original photo was sooooo dark – I don’t have a tripod with me, I should get a gorilla pod soon…

Karya Andy Cruz lainnya. Foto aslinya sangat gelap – aku belum punya tripod, mungkin aku perlu beli gorilla pod…

Was going to grab this t-shirt, but I’m strapped for cash now so I didn’t

Aku ingin kaos ini, tapi karena dompet sedang tipis jadi tidak beli deh

Yum yum letters.

Huruf-huruf enak *slurp*.

Found this cheap guitar for in a 2nd hand store in Kawagoe – so I brought it home with me
I can only play songs without the F and B keys hahaha. At least for now.

Aku ketemu gitar ini yang sangat murah di toko bekas Kawagoe – jadi aku bawa pulang deh
Untuk sementara ini aku cuma bisa memainkan lagu tanpa kunci F dan B hahaha. Sementara ini saja.

And the long awaited event, Tokyo Game Show 2010! It was held in Makuhari Messe, in Chiba. To get there it takes around an hour or so from Tokyo Station on the Yamanote Line, and costs ¥540 one way.

Dan iven yang sudah ditungu-tunggu, Tokyo Game Show 2010! Tempatnya di Makuhari Messe, di Chiba. Untuk ke sana kamu perlu pergi dari stasiun Tokyo, ambil jalur Yamanote yang memakan biaya sekitar ¥540 sekali jalan.

People were lining up to buy the tickets, luckily we bought our tickets early in 7Eleven.

Orang-orang mengantri panjang untuk membeli karcis masuk, untuk kami sudah membeli karcis lebih awal di 7Eleven.

A friend told me that they’re going to take the tickets away – so better to take photos of them before.

Kata temanku mereka akan mengambil karcisnya – jadi lebih baik aku foto dulu sebelumnya.

The grand entrance.

Pintu masuk utamanya.

And the show girl(s), more down below. They smiled ALL DAY LONG. I bet their cheeks got really stiff that day.

SPG. Mereka terus senyum SEPANJANG HARI. Pasti pipinya pegal-pegal hari itu.

KONAMI booth. Saw the preview for the new MGS: Rising, starring Raiden. I don’t play that much games lately since my PSP is broken, and the TV I have here is a 1996 TV lol.

Booth KONAMI. Sempat lihat video untuk seri MGS baru MGS: Rising, dengan Raiden sebagai peran utama. Terakhir ini aku tidak lagi main banyak video game karena PSP ku rusak dan TV yang aku miliki sekarang versi tahun 1996 hehe.

A router made specially to promote FF14, which is the latest online FF installment from SquareEnix. Which by the way was (with no doubt) the most crowded booth that day.

Router yang khusus dibuat untuk mempromosikan FF14, game online FF terbaru dari SquareEnix, yang pastinya booth paling ramai hari itu.

The cosplayers were awesome too. They really put so much effort into the costumes, and make ups. I even saw 3 girlfriends roaming around as Paine, Rikku and Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2, but I was too slow so I didn’t take their pic.

Para cosplayernya hari itu juga keren-keren. Mereka benar-benar niat merias muka mereka dan membuat kostumnya. Aku bahkan melihat 3 cewek yang berlalu-lalang sebagai Paine, Rikku dan Yuna dari Final Fantasy X-2, tapi aku terlalu pelan jadi tidak sempat mengambil foto mereka.

It was seriously packed that day – and a bit hot. I really couldn’t get to try so many games as to try one (hit) game required you to wait for at least 60 minutes, and I just couldn’t be bothered.

Hari itu benar-benar ramai – dan agak panas. Aku tidak begitu bisa mencoba banyak game populer karena mereka mengharuskanmu untuk menunggu paling tidak sekitar 60 menit untuk mencoba satu game, jadi lupakan saja.

The XBOX 360 booth.

My lunch. It looks healthy, but actually I was hiding a portion of chicken katsu curry there in the background haha.

Makan siangku. Kelihatannya sehat, tapi sebenarnya aku menyembunyikan sepiring ayam katsu di background haha.

More cosplays, this is from Dragon Quest, another game by SquareEnix, which previously was called Squaresoft, until few years ago it merged with Enix which is famous for its Star Ocean franchise, alongside Dragon Quest.

Cosplay lainnya, yang ini dari Dragon Quest, game lain dari SquareEnix, yang dahulunya bernamanya Squaresoft sampai mereka merger dengan Enix yang terkenal karena game Star Ocean mereka, selain Dragon Quest.

Friends trying out this new One Piece fighting game on the NDS. I gave it a try too for a while but lost, the only fighting game I can (usually) win is Tekken. The Japanese spend hours in arcades playing Tekken, Street Fighters, Virtua Fighters, and their fingers move in lightning speed for the special moves combinations.

Teman-temanku mencoba game fighting One Piece baru ini di NDS. Aku juga sempat mencoba tapi kalah, game figting satu-satunya yang aku (biasanya) bisa menangkan adalah Tekken. Orang-orang Jepang biasanya main Tekken, Street Fighters, Virtua Fighters, dan jari-jari mereka bergerak seperti angin untuk jurus-jurus spesialnya.

Awards of best games, I think.

Penghargaan untuk game terbaik, kalau tidak salah.

The AR Drone – which is seriously cool.

AR Drone – keren sekali.

I don’t know who they are but they were cool.

Aku tidak tahu nama karakter ini, tapi mereka cukup keren untuk difoto.

People playing Monster Hunter in LAN network.

Gamers bermain Monster Hunter lewat LAN.

And a zombie came too. Her make up was a lot scarier than those ones in FujiQ’s haunted hospital, but the environment killed the suspense, thankfully.

“Seorang” zombie juga datang. Make-up yang dia pakai jauh lebih mengerikan daripada rumah sakit hantu di FujiQ, tapi karena untungnya suasananya tidak mendukung aku tidak begitu takut.

10 minutes before the event ended, all the show girls got together and stood in lines for a picture session.

Ok time to hit the sack, will go to Edo-Tokyo Museum tomorrow near Akihabara, my teacher told me they’ll waive the entrance free just for tomorrow – I forget why though.

10 menit sebelum ivennya berakhir, semua SPGnya berbaris untuk sesi foto.

Oke, waktu untuk tidur, sekarang jam 2.21 pagi, besok aku berencana pergi ke Museum Edo-Tokyo dekat Akihabara, yang kata guruku karcis masuknya gratis hanya untuk besok – walau aku lupa kenapa.

So today’s post is Kawagoe! I wanted to post about Nikko as well, but somehow Kawagoe won
Kawagoe is only around 40 min train ride from Ikebukuro Station, you need to take the Tobu Tojo Line to get to Hon-Kawagoe station, it only costs ¥450, which is a fair price to pay I should say.

Ya ampun! Di luar 32º dan cerah pula! Aku terbangun hari ini karena nggak tahan dengan lembabnya. Aku tau aku seharusnya sudah terbiasa karena aku orang Indonesia, tapi ternyata tidak. Terima kasih untuk siapa pun itu yang menciptakan AC. Anyway, hari ini adalah “Umi no Hi” atau arti harafiahnya “Hari Laut”, jadi hari ini hari libur nasional.

Ok postingan hari ini adalah Kawagoe! Aku sebenarnya ingin posting tentang Nikko juga, tapi Kawagoe menang
Kawagoe hanya sejauh 40 menit dengan kereta dari Stasiun Ikebukuro, kamu perlu naik Tobu Tojo Line untuk pergi ke stasiun Hon-Kawagoe, harganya hanya ¥450, yang menurutku harga yang cukup wajar.

Went there around 2 weeks ago in the morning so I still managed to spot some fresh tomatoes being stacked ready to start the day. I like the bright red.

Pergi ke sana 2 minggu lalu di pagi hari jadi aku masih bisa sempat melihat tomat segar yang ditumpuk siap untuk memulai harinya. Aku suka warna merah terangnya.

Kawagoe is called Koedo (Old Edo) because you can feel the Old Tokyo atmosphere in this area (Tokyo was previously called Edo). I personally like Kawagoe better than Nikko, as it not only offers old temples, but it takes you back to Edo few hundreds years ago. The only thing that fails the old atmosphere is the cars and buses lol, but you can’t help it. Otherwise – I could perfectly imagine women in kimonos and samurais walking past me…

Kawagoe dinamai Koedo (Edo Tua) karena kamu bisa merasakan atmosfir Tokyo Tua di area ini (dulu nama Tokyo adalah Edo). Aku sendiri lebih suka Kawagoe dibanding Nikko karena selain berbagai macam kuil, kamu juga bisa merasa dibawa kembali ke Edo beberapa ratus tahun silam. Satu-satunya yang terlihat sangat modern adalah banyaknya mobil dan bis yang berlalulalang, tapi apa boleh buat hehe. Seandainya tak ada, aku pasti bisa membayangkan dengan sempurna perempuan berkimono dan para samurai berkeliaran di jalan-jalannya…

Kawagoe is famous for its Sweet Potatoes, called Satsumaimo in Japanese. They even made it into an ice cream – I gave it a try for ¥260 and it wasn’t that bad! Could have some more though with that amount of money

Kawagoe terkenal akan Kentang Manis (Ubi) nya yang dalam bahasa Jepang disebut Satsumaimo. Mereka bahkan punya versi es krimnya – aku sempat mencoba untuk dengan membayar ¥260 dan ternyata rasanya cukup enak! Walaupun sebenarnya menurutku agak mahal.

The middle one is Satsumaimo. Oh! Japanese somehow call these swirling type of ice cream Soft Cream instead of just a normal ice cream.

Yang ditengah adalah Satsumaimo. Oh ya! Orang Jepang menyebut tipe es krim yang berolek-olek ini soft krim, bukan es krim.

You will see lots of old houses lining up beside each other like this on the streets of Kawagoe – I seriously don’t mind living there, if only it wasn’t so far from where I go to study. Tokyo is cool with all the modern things, but often times I need to get away and bask myself either in full nature or breathe the traditional air like this.

Kamu akan melihat banyak rumah-rumah tua yang berbaris jejer satu sama lain seperti ini di Kawagoe – aku sebenarnya ingin tinggal di tempat seperti itu kalau saja sekolahku tidak terlalu jauh. Tokyo memang keren dan sangat metropolitan, tapi sering kali aku perlu pergi dari kehidupan kota dan menghirup alam lengkap dengan udara tradisionalnya seperti ini.

More and more houses. I’m not gonna write much since I haven’t done my piling homework (0.0) So I’ll let the pictures explain for themselves

Berbagai rumah lagi. Aku tidak akan menulis banyak karena aku belum mengerjakan PR ku yang sudah semakin menumpuk, jadi biarkan foto-foto ini berbicara dengan sendirinya

Oh! An area in Kawagoe you have to totally explore is Kaziya Yokocho, a small street inside the alleys that sells sweets and candies like these. I don’t fancy candies much, but I did try the sweet strawberry dango which was okay.

Oh! Satu area di Kawagoe yang tidak boleh kamu lewatkan adalah Kaziya Yokocho, sebuah jalan kecil penuh dengan permen dan jajanan manis yang tersembunyi di antara lorong-lorong. Aku tidak terlalu suka permen, tapi aku sempat mencoba dango stroberinya yang rasanya lumayan.

You can spot temples/shrines too along the way.

Kamu juga akan menjumpai beberapa kuil sepanjang jalan.

This I think is the Kashiya Yokocho alley.

Aku rasa ini lorong Kashiya Yokocho.

I don’t know what these are, but from the purple color I think it’s taro? Hmmm… I should have asked.

Aku tidak tahu apa bola-bola ini, tapi kalau dilihat dari warna ungunya mungkin talas? Hmmm… Seharusnya aku tanya.

This is the strawberry dango I tried. The white balls did not taste anything basically, they were very chewy.

Ini adalah dango stroberi yang aku coba. Bola-bola putihnya agak terasa hambar, tapi sangat kenyal.

My dream dog since I was still a kid… I want a golden retriever so bad! I’ve even made a list of names I will give to him/her when I get one. The problem is I don’t know where I’ll settle in yet for the rest of my life – and having a pet will be a hassle.

Anjing impianku sejak aku masih kecil… Aku ingin golden retriever banget! Bahkan aku sudah menulis daftar nama untuk anjingku kalau suatu hari ada satu. Masalahnya sekarang aku masih belum tahu di mana aku akan menetap – jadi sangat susah dan bakal repot kalau punya binatang piaraan.

Looking at this picture – don’t you feel like you’ve been transported to a Rurouni Kenshin anime?

Kalau melihat foto ini apakah kamu merasa seperti sedang berada di anime Rurouni Kenshin?

The tall building on the right is called Toki no Kane, The Bell of Time, one of the most popular landmarks in Kawagoe.

Bangunan tinggi di kanan adalah Toki no Kane, Lonceng Waktu, salah satu tempat terkenal di Kawagoe.

Toki no Kane up close. It looks like one of those towers in Dynasty Warriors where the annoying archers always hide :p

Toki no Kane dari dekat. Mirip seperti menara-menara di Dynasty Warrior di mana para pemanahnya selalu bersembunyi :p

Someone was having a wedding in this temple, hence the red carpet (I think).

I don’t know what this round thing is called, anybody does? All I know is it tastes good (just like any other Japanese traditional snacks) and filled with azuki inside.

Aku tidak tahu apa nama makanan ini, ada yang tahu? Pokoknya rasanya enak (seperti makanan tradisional Jepang lainnya) dan isinya azuki.

Go Hyaku Rakan statues inside Kitakain temple. Another famous spot you have to visit.

Patung Go Hyaku Rakan di dalam kuil Kitakain. Tempat terkenal lainnya yang harus kamu kunjungi.

Last, but not least, this Tsukemen (dipping noodles) restaurant is VERY famous. Earlier, I bumped into a foreigner who has been living in Japan for 5 years and he said I HAVE TO try the tsukemen there as it has been featured in TV numerous times and you can always see people lining up like this. So once the previous group finished eating inside, the next lot of guests waiting outside will go in, and so on. And while waiting outside a waiter usually comes out and take your orders so it won’t take long to be served when you get inside.

The restaurant may not look grandeur/expensive, but a lot of famous restaurants in Tokyo look like this, and you’ll know that it’s a good one from the long line of people waiting outside…

Terakhir, restoran Tsukemen (mi celup) ini SANGAT terkenal. Awalan aku sempat bertemu seorang bule yang sudah tinggal di Jepang selama 5 tahzun dan dia bilang aku HARUS mencoba tsukemennya karena sudah sering masuk TV dan kamu bisa selalu melihat antrian panjang di luar. Begitu orang-orang di dalam selesai makan, grup berikutnya yang menunggu di luar akan dipersilahkan masuk, dan seterusnya. Saat menunggu di luar, pelayannya akan keluar untuk menulis pesananmu agar tidak memakan waktu terlalu lama untuk disajikan saat kamu di dalam.

Restorannya memang tidak terlihat mewah/mahal, tapi banyak restoran terkenal di Tokyo tampangnya seperti ini, dan biasanya kamu bisa tahu taraf kelarisannya dari panjang tidaknya antrian di luar…

Looks yummy right? It was yummy. A tad more expensive than a normal tsukemen: ¥1,100; but you’ll come out from that little restaurant fully satisfied!

OK! Kanji time!!!

Terlihat enak bukan? Memang enak. Sedikit lebih mahal dari tsukemen biasanya: ¥1.100; tapi kamu tidak akan menyesal saat keluar dari restoran itu!

OK! Waktunya belajar Kanji!!!

2 minggu telah berlalu sejak aku mengupdate blogku. Karena sekarang sedang libur semester, aku berencana untuk menjelajahi Tokyo sebanyak mungkin dan belajar Bahasa Jepang setiap hari. Yang terakhir sepertinya agak tak mungkin dengan cuaca yang sangat panas seperti sekarang, aku rasanya hanya ingin kipas-kipas saja pakai uchiwa. Pokoknya – di bawah ini adalah kilas balik akan apa yang telah terjadi 2 minggu terakhir ini.

If you don’t know MUJI, it’s a shop that sells consumer goods with wide variety, which you can in the pictures below. I like MUJI because its design is simple and minimalistic. As for price, it depends on what you’re looking for – some are pretty okay some are a bit pricey.

Kalau kamu belum tahu, MUJI adalah toko yang menjual berbagai macam barang untuk konsumer yang bisa kamu lihat pada foto-foto di bawah ini. Aku suka MUJI karena desainnya yang sederhana dan minimalis. Kalau harganya memang tergantung dari apa yang kamu cari, terkadang cukup murah terkadang agak mahal.

This MUJI branch I visited is in Roppongi. I actually went there around a month ago – but forgot to upload the pictures on the previous entries so here they are.

Cabang MUJI yang aku kunjungi ini terletak di Roppongi. Sebenarnya aku pergi ke sana lebih dari sebulan lalu – tapi lupa untuk mengupload foto-fotonya di entri sebelumnya.

Went there with no agenda at all, but when I saw the white slippers I got reminded that I needed a pair to walk around at home. They looked really nice, and thankfully they were only ¥500! I am still wearing them up until now – very soft and comfy. I almost got the closed-ended ones, but since summer is coming soon, I thought my feet would need a lot of ventilation lol.

Pergi ke sana tanpa merencanakan untuk membeli apapun, tapi saat aku melihat sandal putih ini aku jadi ingat bahwa aku perlu sepasang untuk berjalan-jalan di dalam rumah. Mereka terlihat sangat nyaman dan untungnya harganya hanya ¥500! Sampai sekarang aku masih memakainya. Hampir saja aku beli yang ujungnya tertutup, tapi karena sebentar lagi musim panas aku rasa kakiku akan memerlukan banyak ventilasi hehe.

Been planning to go to Pokemon Centre for quite some time, and we finally did. Went there with a couple friends from school. At first I had this image of a huge building with several levels full of Pokemon characters/games/whatnots. Turns out the centre is just an ordinary block of store selling Pokemon merchandise. The nearest JR station was Hamamatsucho – you’ll see a huge signage saying “POKEMON CENTRE” with an arrow that points to the building, pretty sure won’t miss it.

Aku pergi ke Pokemon Centre dengan beberapa teman dari sekolah. Pertama-tamanya aku kira aku akan menjumpai bangunan besar yang terdiri dari berlantai-lantai penuh dengan karakter Pokemon dll. Ternyata bangunannya hanyalah satu blok biasa yang menjual pernak-pernik Pokemon. Stasiun JR yang paling dekat adalah Hamamatsucho – kamu akan melihat plang besar bertuliskan “POKEMON CENTRE” berikut panah yang mengarah ke bangunannya, kamu pasti tak akan melewatkannya.

Pikachu, Charmander and I think it’s Piplup – if I recall correctly.

Pikachu, Charmander dan kalau tidak salah ingat; Pinlup.

Some handkerchiefs, which in Japanese is pronounced just like how it’s written in katakana: han-ka-chi.

Sapu tangan, yang dalam Bahasa Jepang dibaca seperti cara tulisnya dalam katakana: han-ka-chi.

Zoroark in hard figure form.

Boneka resin Zoroark.

And in plush form.

Almost everything that was in the store was plushies/figures.

Hampir semua yang ada di dalam toko adalah boneka/figurin.

A pool of Pikachu – say goodbye to your electricity provider.

Satu gentong penuh akan Pikachu – selamat tinggal PLN.

The signatures of the creators of Pokemon, all I know Ken Sugimori is the character designer, I don’t know about the others.

Tanda tangan pencipta Pokemon, yang aku tahu hanyalah bahwa Ken Sugimori adalah karakter desainernya, sisanya aku tidak tahu.

Walked to the sides of Hamamatsucho area and found this beautiful bay with lots of ships docked. No wonder we kinda smelled the sea by the time we stepped out of Pokemon Centre.

Kami berjalan ke pinggiran area Hamamatsucho dan menemukan pelabuhan lengkap dengan kapal-kapalnya yang terparkir. Pantas saja kita agak mencium bau laut di udara saat keluar dari Pokemon Centre.

Okay – now this is a whole different story. I was so bored on the first day of semester break – so I decided to take my bike for a ride around Ueno. And reading from the CLASKA book I got – there is a National Children Museum nearby. Might as well give it a go I thought. That day was pretty humid, but not too sunny thankfully.

Pada hari pertama libur semester aku sangat bosan – jadi aku memutuskan untuk pergi bersepeda di sekitar Ueno. Dari buku CLASKA yang aku dapat – katanya ada National Children Museum di dekat sana. Jadi aku ingin coba mengunjunginya. Hari itu udaranya agak lembab, tapi untungnya matahari tidak bersinar terlalu terang.

The building does not resemble any “children museum” at all – it looks more like a parliament building or some kind to me. Right? Nonetheless, very nicely built.

Jujur saja menurutku bangunannya tidak terlihat seperti “museum anak-anak” sama sekali – di mataku lebih terlihat seperti gedung pemerintahan. Iya tidak? Meskipun begitu, bentuknya sangat indah.

The museum has 3 floors, and this was the 1st floor with story-telling rooms and a cafe.

Museumnya berlantai tiga dan ini adalah lantai satu, di mana terletak ruangan untuk bercerita dan sebuah kafe.

If you know Ghibli’s famous Kiki’s Delivery Service, this poster promotes the story of Kiki’s in different languages all over the world.

Kalau kamu tahu Kiki’s Delivery Service-nya Ghibli, poster ini mempromosikan cerita si Kiki dalam berbagai macam bahasa ke segala penjuru dunia.

Same story, different languages.

Cerita yang sama, bahasa yang berbeda.

In Korean.

Bahasa Korea.

And Indonesian.

Dan Indonesia.

This is the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. No, not The Ring’s Sadako. I didn’t know before that this book was written by an American instead of a Japanese. The story takes place in Japan during World War II – and if you want to know the rest, just ask Mr Google or Ms Wikipedia, they’ll tell the story better than I do.

Yang ini adalah cerita tentang Sadako dan Seribu Burung Kertas. Bukan, bukan Sadako dari The Ring tapinya. Awalnya aku tidak tahu bahwa buku ini ditulis oleh orang Amerika bukan Jepang. Ceritanya bersetting di Jepang saat Perang Dunia II – dan kalau kamu mau tahu sisa ceritanya, silahkan tanya Mr Google atau Ms Wikipedia, aku yakin mereka lebih tahu daripada aku.

Looking down to the cafe underneath.

Melihat ke kafe di bawah.

This was the 2nd floor.

Ini adalah lantai 2.

Just checking if my bike is still there – yes it is, that red one is mine!

Mengintip ke bawah untuk mengecek apakah sepedaku masih aman terparkir – dan untungnya masih, sepedaku yang warna merah itu lho!

A couple postcards collected from the museum.

Sepasang kartu pos yang aku ambil di museum.

This glass building is the entrance gate to the museum.

Bangunan kaca ini adalah pintu masuk menuju ke museum.

My bike taking a rest with me. We’ve been biking for more than an hour so I had to stop for lunch in Ueno park.

Sepedaku yang sedang beristirahat bersamaku. Kita sudah berkeliling selama satu jam lebih jadi kita berhenti sebentar untuk makan siang di taman Ueno.

Lots of people were taking a rest too – it was a nice sunny almost-summer day.

Banyak orang yang sedang beristirahat juga – hari yang cerah mendekati musim panas.

My lunch. Made it myself.

No, that was a lie (of course) – I bought it from a supermarket.

Makan siangku. Buatan sendiri.

Nggak kok, jelas bohong – aku beli di supermarket.

Visited Yodobashi Camera too and saw iPhone 4 for the first time. Being able to switch between one application to another is certainly handy, but I prefer the old curvy side design. This starts to look like a Sony Ericsson.

Sempat mampir ke Yodobashi Camera juga dan melihat iPhone 4 untuk pertama kalinya. Memang enak bisa pindah dari satu aplikasi ke aplikasi lainnya, tapi aku lebih suka model iPhone lama yang pinggirannya membengkok ke dalam. Yang ini mulai terlihat mirip seperti Sony Ericsson.

The camera that I want. Am thinking to sell the one that I have and get this one – but do I really need it? Hmmm… Need to sleep on it for few nights. A friend of mine is thinking to get this camera as well – so maybe I’m going to wait until she has hers to tell me whether it’s worth getting.

Kamera yang aku inginkan. Aku berpikir “Apa aku jual saja ya kamera yang sekarang aku punya? Tapi apa aku benar-benar butuh kamera baru ini?” Hmm… Perlu aku pikirkan untuk beberapa hari lagi. Temanku berencana untuk membeli kamera yang sama, jadi mungkin aku akan tunggu sampai dia sudah membelinya untuk tahu apa kamera itu pantas untuk kubeli.

The Friday I went to an event called Beer Garden (ビールガーデン) with some friends. Was my first time ever going to an all you can eat and drink event. Took place in Shinanomachi, which is close to Shinjuku. The weather was really humid and hot, the mosquitoes were swirling around so I didn’t wanna risk getting bitten – I had to wear long pants and a cardigan. The heat was killing me but at least I was safe from mosquito bites. Mind you, the mosquitoes here looooove foreigner’s blood^^; A friend of mine got bitten all over and she was itching like crazy.

Hari Jumatnya aku pergi ke ivent bernama Beer Garden (ビールガーデン) dengan beberapa teman. Baru pertama kali itu aku pergi ke ivent all you can eat & drink. Daerahnya bernama Shinanomachi, dekat dengan Shinjuku. Udaranya sangat lembab dan panas, nyamuk juga berterbangan di mana-mana jadi aku tidak mau ambil resiko untuk digigit – aku harus pakai celana dan lengan panjang. Sebenarnya aku tidak tahan dengan panasnya, tapi paling tidak aku aman dari gigitan nyamuk-nyamuk itu. Nyamuk di sini sangat suka darah orang asing ^^; temanku digigit di mana-mana dan sepanjang malam itu dia gatal-gatal.

We had to wait for 40 minutes or so to get in because the place was booked out. The time limit for each party was 2 hours, I think that’s more than enough to satisfy your tummy. The left lane was for the ones who had a table booked already, the right one is for people like us.

Kita harus menunggu selama sekitar 40 menit untuk masuk karena tempatnya penuh. Batas waktu untuk setiap rombongan adalah 2 jam, tapi aku rasa itu cukup untuk memuaskan perut kami. Jalur kiri untuk orang-orang yang sudah memesan tempat, yang kanan adalah untuk orang-orang seperti kita.

Sausage and all kinds of meat! Yummy!

Sosis dan berbagai macam daging lainnya! Enaknya!

These things are called Edamame, to eat you need to put it just at the brim of your lips and pinch the side of the edamame to throw the inside into your mouth. It’s kind of salty.

Nama makanan ini adalah Edamame, untuk memakannya kamu harus menyangganya dengan pinggiran bibirmu dan dorong isi kacangnya dengan mencubit pinggiran kulitnya. Agak asin.

And on Saturday was a farewell party for people who are leaving back to their countries for good. Had this Dry Asahi beer for the first time, can’t say I like it. It’s bitter – just like any other beers, I can’t tell the difference between one another really.

Dan hari Sabtu ada pesta perpisahan untuk orang-orang yang kembali ke negara mereka. Aku sempat mencoba bir Dry Asahi ini untuk pertama kalinya, tidak begitu suka sih. Pahit – seperti bir lainnya, aku benar-benar tidak bisa membedakan satu sama lainnya.

The only healthy meal is the one in the middle.

Satu-satunya makanan sehat hanyalah yang di tengah.

On Sunday I went for a whole day of detoxification. Been eating oily meats (though they were really good) and too much alcohol intake. Eugh… Can’t imagine blocks of fat building inside 0.0

Hari Minggu-nya aku berusaha untuk membilas bersih isi badanku dari segala macam daging berminyak (walaupun memang enak sekali) dan alkohol yang telah masuk ke dalam 2 hari lalu. Nggak bisa bayangin deh berlapis-lapis lemak yang akan tertumpuk di dalam.

Someone’s camera that I stole for a while. Did not know how to operate it since it’s analog and was afraid I was going to break it.

I think that’s all for now. Today I went to Nikko – will do a post on that sometime next week maybe. But if you like temples/shrines, Nikko is a place you have to visit!

Kamera seseorang yang aku “curi” untuk sementara waktu. Aku tidak tahu bagaimana memakainya karena ini kamera analog dan aku takut aku akan merusaknya.

Aku rasa segitu saja untuk sekarang. Hari ini aku pergi ke Nikko – akan aku tulis post sendiri untuk itu minggu depan. Tapi kalau kamu memang suka melihat-lihat kuil, Nikko adalah tempat yang harus kamu kunjungi!

I never thought I would actually miss it this much. I guess it’s true what Craig David says, you don’t miss your water until the well runs dry. We (I’m generalizing here) tend to take things we have for granted. Movies, songs, proverbs, books and so many other things have often reminded me not to, but I think it’s human nature to take things for granted and to regret only later. Hey hey but don’t get me wrong, I’m not regretting I’m in Tokyo now, in fact I love it lol. I was just painting the general idea about how it usually works.

I miss how the twilight sky looks from my balcony when the sun sets. Especially during winter – it’s beautiful.

This was taken sometime during spring I think.

I miss the place I used to work at.

I miss the people, the work, and the short 3-minute walk it took me to get to there from home keke. If work started at 9.30, I usually got up at 8.45 or sometimes 9 if I was super tired. Even sometimes went home during lunch time to get a quick nap before getting back to work lol – that was when I was still juggling both work and uni stuff together. When I first worked there I didn’t think I would last there that long, a total of almost 3 years. I learned a lot from the job, I made mistakes, some were small, some big  – but the experience I got was invaluable. In fact, it was so invaluable this blog wouldn’t be here if I didn’t learn how to set it up when I was there. Most importantly I had a lot of fun too and got to know a great team of talented people, if you want to know them, here’s the link to their website.

I miss Ryo Ramen.

This ramen shop is small, yet you can always find a long line outside – yes it’s that good. The broth of the oily pork ramen, yum. I heard they import their ingredients right from the main shop in Tokyo.

The price though is a lot higher compared to most ramen shops here. But I guess that’s only normal? Here you can get a proper fulfillingly tasty bowl for as low as around A$6.

And Calpis is only ¥100 – ¥130 here (about A$1.70).

The big menu banner outside the shop – so you can save time by picking what you want while queuing outside.

I also miss the view from the bus stop I usually waited at if I wanted to go to the city.

The building underneath the tower clock is the post office I usually went to. I still remember the first time I went to a post office here in Tokyo; was trying to open a bank account. In Japan you can have a post office bank account or a normal bank account. A post office account is easier to apply for for newcomers/aliens like me, the downside is, it does not allow you to receive money from outside Japan, at least that’s how I deciphered it with my limited Japanese knowledge. Opening an account was one of the painful hurdles I had to go through when first arriving here. But I’m glad that now it’s over.

I miss Melbourne too.

Went there a few times during my 5-year stay in Sydney. Personally I like this city more, it’s less metropolitan compared to Sydney, and accommodates the design field better than Sydney.

Melbourne CBD at dusk.

I miss my desk.

The desk I have now is probably half the size of what I got from IKEA in Sydney. I used to be able to get by without tidying up for a couple of weeks or so, but here I have to tidy up at least every other day, otherwise it’ll all be cluttered and I’ll get annoyed easily =_=

I miss Darling Harbour.

And its liveliness, where you can easily spot drunk carefree people on Saturday nights ^^; but most of all I miss Hurricane steak! Yum yum. Oh now that I just mentioned it I miss it even more.

I believe this is one of the shots I took in Darling Harbour while walking to Hurricane for dinner a few months ago.

Last but not least, I miss my friends.

I miss the time we spent talking about numerous trivial things for hours while having lunch. This photo was taken in Sushi Tei in Martin Place (I think), the only Sushi Tei branch in Sydney.

2 weeks before I left Sydney we went to IKEA to buy few things – and to eat their tasty meatballs too of course I remember that time my friend read the schedule wrong and we ended up in the wrong platform at the wrong time. So we got to IKEA 2 hours later after the planned time… I’m kinda glad we got at the wrong train and had the schedule messed up actually, otherwise it wouldn’t be etched so deeply in my brain.

Oh, and I miss Sydney buses too. And the Travel 10 ticket

My last supper with a friend of mine in Darling Harbour, a couple days before I left.

All stuffs packed and taped, ready to be shipped over.

The night before the morning of my departure we managed to get together one last time to have try this Thai food in the city. The restaurant just opened and the food was great too. Don’t remember the name of this dish though.

Goodbye Sydney sky.

The desk looked so much bigger after I packed all my stuff away.

Dropped by Singapore for a few hours for transit, so I decided to explore the area a bit before catching the next flight to Indonesia. The layout of the train looks pretty much the same as it is in Japan, but Singapore’s has more poles planted on the aisle.

Got home safe and sound. And this is not a rare sight if you live in Jakarta.

Brought this doll a friend of mine gave me all the way to Tokyo. Very Japanese indeed right? Her name is Seiko hehe.

The area of where I live now. It’s very close to the supermarket thankfully. But since that supermarket is so expensive, I had to go all the way to the supermarket in front of the station. Their foods are usually less expensive.

Lots of bikes are parked freely in front of buildings. I like Japan’s biking culture. You can easily spot people from all ages riding their bikes in the morning on the way to work, supermarket, school, or just aimlessly pedaling around.

Common Japanese signage and buildings. That pyramid looks a bit like Louvre.

And coin lockers where you can store your belongings for few hours or even a day for a certain amount of price, I don’t know how much, never tried before. There is a great Japanese movie named Ahiru to Kamo to Koinrokka (アヒルと鴨のコインロッカー / The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker) which I think is worth watching. It starred one of my favourite Japanese actors, Eita. He played one of the main roles in the drama I currently watch too, Sunao ni Narenakute.

Ramen shop equipped with a small TV you can watch while slurping your ramen.

Blooming Sakura during the last days of Sakura season before it withered and died.

The Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.

View of Tokyo from Roppongi Hills.

Movie posters, those two on the right are Japanese while the rest I believe are Hollywoods. Have only watched Avatar among those movies – fell asleep ^^;

Shibuya JR station. Here you can find the famous statue of Hachiko, the loyal dog, a famous meeting point.

Huge banana/chocolate pancake. It was so good, totally worth the 1,000 calories I gained afterwards. Lol.

Pecha Kucha Night in Roppongi. An event in which you can showcase 20 slides of anything creative at all for 20 seconds each before the next speaker comes up. This one was about hafu(s), people who were born half Japanese half something else.

This guy carved each of these Buddha individually out of normal crackers!

He also farmed! 0.0 That’s real plants btw.

Some architecture dude.

Even Papyrus came too.

This British guy presented his collection of Japanese mascots which he compiled into a book. Totally cool! Check his website out here.

And the highlight of 2 weeks ago! The bike I got online came! Yaaaayy! So happy. A Doppleganger folding bike, love the red!

It’s small and easy to carry around.

And that’s how I’ve been stressing out every time I study Kanji. Ended up doodling instead. But believe it or not, I start to like Kanji a bit. Just a bit for now hehe.

How messy my table looked like a day before final semester exam 4 days ago. I think I did pretty well – got a few Kanjis wrong though. Will only know the result next week. This week actually, since it’s now Monday 00.40.

The t-shirt I got from Design Fiesta the other day. It says: “Make me a sandwich” (or I’ll eat you instead).

From Seibei.

Anyway, Design Fiesta is a design event (d’oh) that is held in Tokyo Big Sight, just near Odaiba. This one was vol. 31, held on May 16 and 17, but I only went on the 16th. Inside the huge Tokyo Big Sight hall were around 2,000+ different booths selling so many different things, and what I mean by different is DIFFERENT. It’s no wonder I got out from there broke… Ok enough babbling, here are the photos!

Aku seharusnya meng-upload foto-foto ini 2 minggu yang lalu, tapi karena jadwal sekolah yang gila-gilaan (ditambah dengan semua tes dan revisi kanji setiap dua hari sekali!) aku harus terus menunda sampai hari ini. Tidak banyak foto yang aku ambil kali ini karena kameraku mati setelah hanya satu jam berada di ivennya. Yah ok memang aku seharusnya mengecek baterainya semalam sebelumnya, tapi aku lupa.

Intinya, Design Fiesta adalah sebuah iven design (ya iya lah!) yang diadakan di Tokyo Big Sight, dekat Odaiba. Yang kali ini adalah yang ke 31 kalinya, diadakan tanggal 16 & 17 Mei, tapi aku hanya pergi tanggal 16. Di dalam hall Tokyo Big Sight yang besar banget ada sekitar 2000 lebih stand berjualan berbagai macam barang, dan yang aku maksud dengan berbagai macam itu benar-benar berbagai macam! Nggak heran aku keluar dari situ dengan kantong kosong. Ok cukup ngocehnya, ini dia foto-fotonya!

To get to Tokyo Big Sight, needed to go to Shimbashi on JR line and then change line to another train (I forget the name) to get to Kokusai Tenjijo Seimon station. From Shimbashi to Kokusai TS took around 30 minutes, but it didn’t feel like such a long travel because the view was just stunning! The train was not a subway or the normal train, we took the monorail and I just loved all the views all the way to Odaiba. Odaiba is a big place and I will go there again one day to explore the malls, etc.

Untuk ke Tokyo Big sight, aku harus ke Shimbashi dulu naik jalur JR dan pindah jalur ke kereta lain, yang aku lupa namanya, untuk ke stasiun Kokusai Tenjijo Seimon. Dari Shimbashi ke Kokusai TS memakan waktu sekitar 30 menit, meskipun agak lama tapi tidak terasa lama karena pemandangannya bagus sekali! Keretanya bukan kereta bawah tanah atau kereta biasa tapi kita naik monorel, dan aku suka sekali dengan pemandangan Odaiba. Odaiba adalah area yang sangat besar dan aku akan ke sana lagi suatu hari untuk menjelajahi malnya, dll.

Got there pretty early. There was a LOOOONNGGGG line up outside the event hall of people trying to get the “at door” ticket. Luckily we purchased our tickets few days earlier so we didn’t have to waste an hour just trying to get in.

Kita sampai di sana lumayan awal. Ada antrian yang PANJAAAAANNNGGGGG banget di luar area iven nya karena banyak orang mengantri untuk membeli tiket masuk “di pintu”. Untungnya kita membeli tiket beberapa hari lebih awal jadi kita tidak harus membuang satu jam hanya untuk masuk ke dalam.

This guy (I think he was Korean) was selling mushroom necklaces and rings. I personally loved the necklaces! But somehow I didn’t end up getting one – I don’t know why lol.

Cowo ini (aku rasa dia orang Korea) berjualan kalung dan cincin berbentuk jamur. Aku suka banget sama kalungnya! Tapi entah mengapa ujung-ujungnya aku tidak membeli satupun.

Doubutsu (animals) magnets.

Magnet doubutsu (binatang).

And there were few parades going on too throughout the show, people were wearing weird costumes and doing weird things, but for me they were really entertaining. I never saw this kind of thing back in my country or Sydney so I definitely enjoyed it. I think Tokyo is a cool city to live in if you want to express yourself freely, wear whatever you want and it’s still regarded as normal (well maybe people like me will give you the “what the heck” look, because a lot of things I see here I see for the first time…and they just amaze me 0.0 ).

Ada juga beberapa parade yang berkeliling selama acaranya, orang-orang ini berkostum aneh dan melakukan hal-hal yang aneh juga, tapi bagiku mereka sangat menghibur. Aku tidak pernah melihat hal-hal seperti ini di Indonesia ataupun Sydney jadi aku sangat menikmatinya. Menurutku Tokyo adalah kota yang asik sebagai tempat tinggal kalau kamu mau mengekspresikan dirimu dengan bebas, pakai baju apapun yang kamu mau dan kamu akan masih dianggap normal (yah mungkin orang-orang seperti aku akan melihatmu dengan pandangan aneh, karena banyak sekali hal-hal yang aku lihat di sini, aku lihat untuk pertama kalinya 0.0 ).

These cute little statues poses remind me of FF’s Cactuar, only this time it’s in brown.

Patung-patung kecil ini bergaya yang mengingatkanku seperti Cactuar-nya FF, hanya saja kali ini dia berwarna coklat.

They kindly posed for me when I asked them to take their photo. I find the right one a bit scary… Maybe because of the tilted head.

Mereka dengan baiknya mengijinkan aku untuk mengambil foto mereka. Sejujurnya menurutku yang kanan agak mengerikan… Mungkin karena kepalanya yang miring.

I’m a total sucker when it comes to t-shirts. I just could not resist, “I had to at least buy one!!” was the thought I had in my mind seeing so many tees stands. I did get one hehee~ just one. Really.

Aku benar-benar nggak tahan kalau sudah melihat kaos. “Pokoknya paling nggak harus beli satu!!” itu pikiranku saat melihat banyak stand yang berjualan kaos. Aku akhirnya beli satu hehee~ hanya satu. Beneran.

The store guy was coming up to me to stop me taking photo when he saw me looking for a good angle of his store to be photographed. Luckily my camera was faster. Kekeke.

Penjaga toko ini langsung jalan menghampiriku saat dia melihatku mengeker sudut bagus untuk mengambil foto tokonya. Untungnya kameraku lebih cepat hehehe.

Throughout the show there were both indoor and outdoor events happening. This was one of the outdoor ones – their music was not bad at all. I don’t remember the band’s name though. Honestly we thought the singer was a guy dressed in a dress! But no, it was a she, phew.

Di luar dan di dalam gedung banyak sekali band yang bermain selama iven berlangsung. Yang ini ada di luar – musik yang mereka mainkan lumayan enak. Aku tidak ingat nama band nya. Tadinya kita kira vokalisnya adalah seorang cowok yang memakai rok! Tapi ternyata dia cewek kok, untungnya.

This girl in bright orange was doing a one-legged stand while watching the band. I watched her from the distance with a weird look. I mean she was just standing there, lifting her leg up, and down when she is about to lose balance. And then she tries again, up and down up and down, her gaze was set to the stage – a blank gaze though. Meditating perhaps?

And she was the last object I photographed on my camera that day.

Ada cewe yang pakai baju oranye terang ini sedang berdiri dengan satu kaki sambil menonton bandnya. Aku memperhatikan dia dari kejauhan dengan tampang heran. Soalnya dia hanya berdiri di sana dengan pandangan kosong yang terarah ke panggung, sambil berusaha untuk menaikkan kakinya, dan menurunkannya kalau dia sudah mau jatuh, begitu terus. Naik turun, naik turun. Untuk apa ya kira-kira? Meditasi mungkin?

Once I got home that night I straight away rushed to my room and pasted the Typography poster I got from the event. This was a super good deal! I got an A0 poster for a mere ¥500!! And even though the featured typefaces are standard ones, they look beautiful! And it would be great to be greeted by them each morning when I open my eyes.

Saat aku sampai rumah malam itu, aku langsung menuju ke kamarku dan menempel poster Tipografi yang aku beli dari iven tadi. Harganya murah sekali! Poster berukuran A0 seharga ¥500!! Dan walaupun typeface yang terpampang adalah standar, mereka terlihat sangat indah! Dan asik sekali kalau bangun pagi-pagi dan mereka ada di depanmu untuk menyambutmu.

The next Design Fiesta is coming in November 2010, here is their website. If you happen to be in Tokyo, I think it’s worth a visit!

Design Fiesta berikutnya akan diselenggarakan November 2010, ini website mereka. Kalau kamu kebetulan sedang berada di Tokyo, aku rasa tidak ada salahnya untuk mampir!

Dari dulu aku ingin sekali pergi ke Yokohama, tempat paling dekat dari Tokyo di mana kamu bisa menemukan Chinatown. Untuk ke Chinatown di Sydney biasanya hanya memakan waktu 20 menit dari tempat aku tinggal, tapi sekarang aku memerlukan paling tidak 45 menit dengan kereta untuk ke Yokohama yang terletak di selatan Tokyo. Sebelum aku bercerita tentang Yokohama aku mau mengulas sedikit apa yang terjadi minggu lalu.

An acquaintance celebrated his 23rd birthday so we thought of throwing him a little birthday dinner, but unfortunately after waiting for more than an hour he failed to come so we enjoyed the Takoyaki we made for him ourselves! Takoyaki is made of some flour and pieces of fresh octopus that are put inside, see attached pic above and you’ll get the idea. My friend has this Takoyaki frying pan, which I think is really cool – I’d never seen one so close before! It even has a cute takoyaki character engraved on it.

Seorang kenalan merayakan ultahnya yang ke23 jadi kita merencanakan untuk merayakannya kecil-kecilan lewat makan malam, tapi ternyata setelah lebih dari satu jam dia tidak jadi datang jadi kita makan Takoyaki yang sudah kita buat untuk diri sendiri! Takoyaki terbuat dari tepung dan potongan gurita segar, silahkan lihat foto di atas dan kamu akan mengerti apa yang aku maksud. Temanku memiliki panci khusus untuk membuat Takoyaki yang menurutku sangat keren – aku belum pernah melihat sebegitu dekatnya! Bahkan ada karakter takoyaki lucu yang diukir khusus di atasnya.

Some chopped shallots will boost the taste! So yummy.

Sedikit potongan bawang hijau akan menambah rasanya! Enak banget.

Never seen octopus looks so real like this.

Belum pernah melihat gurita senyata ini.

The look of our final product, I think we did pretty well making it looking professional Cooking takoyaki is very fun indeed. But they take a long time to cool down, I waited for a minute or two while blowing them and when I put it into my mouth, it still burned my tongue so I had no choice other than to swallow it down my throat. Turns out Japanese people call people with heat-intolerant tongues “cat’s tongue” as well. Nekoshita I think? I forget, but somewhere along that line. Anyway, takoyaki is usually eaten with some mayonnaise as dressing on top, and some fish skin (the brown thin layers) which wiggles if your tako is still hot, and BBQ sauce too. Takoyaki originally comes from Osaka, the same city Okonomiyaki originates from.

Tampang hasil akhir masakan kami, lumayan professional kan? Memasak takoyaki sangat menyenangkan walaupun mereka memakan waktu agak lama untuk dingin, aku menunggu sekitar satu/dua menit sambil meniup-niup bola-bola kecil itu dan saat aku masukkan ke mulut ternyata mereka masih panas dan membakar lidahku jadi aku terpaksa langsung menelannya. Ternyata orang Jepang juga menamai orang-orang yang tidak tahan panas “lidah kucing”. Nekoshita kalau tidak salah? Aku lupa, tapi mirip-mirip itu deh. Anyway, takoyaki biasanya dimakan dengan mayonnaise sebagai bumbu di atasnya, dan beberapa lapis tipis kulit ikan yang akan mengeliat-geliat lucu saat ditaruh di atas takoyaki yang masih panas, dan saus BBQ juga. Takoyaki berasal dari Osaka, kota sama yang melahirkan Okonomiyaki.

The ingredients we used that night. And some side snacks: almonds, strawberries (ichigo), Pringles!! (how I missed them…so much), and no that’s not beer, it’s green tea! And of course a friend’s Lumix GF1, a lot cooler than mine, which is a version older.

Bahan-bahan yang kita pakai malam itu. Dan beberapa snack sampingan: kacang almon, strawberi (ichigo), Pringles!! (duh kangen banget…), dan nggak kok itu bukan bir, itu teh hijau! Dan tentu saja kamera Lumix GF1 temanku, yang jauh lebih keren daripada punyaku yang keluar satu generasi sebelumnya.

I and another friend also made this cake, which by the way was only my 2nd time baking a cake lol. I don’t bake, but that does not necessarily mean I can’t right :p it tasted quite decent too. A friend helped us to smear the melted chocolate all over – he kinda knew how to do it since his mom is a baker.

Aku dan temanku juga membuat kue ini, yang omong-omong kue kedua yang aku buat seumur hidup hehe. Salah satu teman kami membantu untuk meratakan coklat yang sudah dilelehkan di permukaan kuenya – dia tau benar caranya karena ibunya adalah seorang tukang roti.

Dropped by Ueno few days ago to have dinner in an izakaya, and on the way home we visited an action figure store that sells game/anime collectibles. I just couldn’t help buying at least one figure – so I randomly chose a Final Fantasy collection box and got Sephiroth, the main antagonist in Final Fantasy VII with his masamune sword (FFVII was released in 1997, gosh I’m old…). I’m actually currently playing FFVII all over again, so I was so happy when I got Sephiroth. Other FF figures were Yuna, Yuffie, Vivi, and Zidane. Okay now onto Yokohama post…

Aku mampir ke Ueno beberapa hari lalu untuk makan malam di izakaya, dan dalam perjalan pulang kita mampir ke toko action figure yang menjual koleksi game/anime. Aku tidak bisa menahan untuk tidak beli paling tidak satu mainan – jadi aku dengan sekenanya memilih salah satu kotak dan dapat Sephiroth, antagonis utama di Final Fantasy VII dengan pedang masamunenya (FFVII dirilis tahun 1997 lalu, duh aku sudah tua sekarang…). Sebenarnya sekarang aku sedang main ulang FFVII, jadi aku sangat senang saat dapat Sephiroth. Mainan FF lainnya adalah Yuna, Yuffie, Vivi dan Zidane. Ok sekarang cerita tentang Yokohama…

Arrived in Yokohama around 11.15am, the weather was very nice, just a little tiny bit hot. I initially planned the trip using this train planner, very reliable I must say. There are some more websites that provide similar services, but I usually use that one to go around Japan. But turns out my friend already planned the whole trip along with what we’re going to visit so I just sat back and followed him around

Sampai di Yokohama sekitar jam 11.15 pagi, cuacanya sangat cerah, sedikit panas. Awalnya aku merencanakan trip ini pakai train planner ini, sangat dapat diandalkan. Ada beberapa website lain yang menyediakan servis sama, tapi biasanya itu yang aku pakai untuk jalan-jalan di Jepang. Tapi ternyata temanku sudah merencanakan semua tripnya dari awal sampai akhir jadi aku tinggal tenang-tenang saja sambil mengikuti ke mana pun dia pergi

Our first stop was the Italian Garden, which used to be a house of a Diplomat, don’t know which one though.

Pemberhentian pertama kita adalah Italian Garden, yang dulu dipakai untuk rumah seorang Diplomat, aku nggak tahu siapa tapinya.

Overlooking the houses in Yokohama from the side of the garden.

Pemandangan rumah-rumah di Yokohama dari samping taman.

I kept spotting people sitting here and there drawing landscapes in front of them. Yokohama is a less busy city compared to Tokyo and I could really feel the carefree feeling in the air. More greenery on the side roads, though most houses are still standing very closely to each other.

Aku terus-terusan bertemu orang-orang yang duduk untuk menggambar pemandangan di depan mereka. Yokohama tidak sesibuk Tokyo dan aku benar-benar bisa merasakan suasananya yang riang dan nyaman. Banyak tanaman hijauh di pinggiran jalan, meskipun kebanyakan rumah masih berdiri berdempetan satu sama lain.

Lots of European/Western style houses along the way – my senpai (senior) told me that it’s because Yokohama is very close to the bay and seaports, there used to be a lot of foreigners coming in to Japan (traders, etc.), Yokohama would be the first city they set their feet on.

Banyak rumah yang dibangun dengan model Eropa/Barat di sepanjang jalan – senpai (senior) ku bilang itu disebabkan karena Yokohama sangat dekat dengan air dan banyak pelabuhan di sekitarnya, jadi dulu ada banyak orang barat yang datang ke Jepang (pedagang, dsb.), dan Yokohama adalah kota pertama di mana mereka menginjakkan kaki.

A Catholic church.

Gereja Katolik.

I don’t know the name of this flower, anybody does? It smelled REALLY REALLY good! I could really buy the Body Shop bath soap if they have any…

Aku nggak tahu nama bunga ini, adayang tahu? Wanginya SANGAT SANGAT enak! Kalau ada produk sabun Body Shopnya aku pasti beli deh…

That flower again…

Bunga itu lagi…

Cute looking cafe.

Cafe yang lucu.

From afar I thought this was just an ordinary apartment, but looking closer it turned out to be a French restaurant, the rest is just apartment units I think…

Dari jauh aku kira ini hanya apartemen biasa, tapi setelah mendekat ternyata ini adalah restoran Perancis, tapi sisanya memang hanya apartemen biasa.

Menu of the day.

Menu hari itu.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think Japan’s Vitamin Water has more vivid and thicker colours?

Mungkin cuma aku, tapi aku rasa Vitamin Water keluaran Jepang warnanya lebih berat dan terang?

In Japan you can spot vending machines (jidohanbaiki) everywhere! But strangely enough we only came across this one after walking for about an hour or so – I was so dead thirsty so decided to get a bottle of cold water for ¥100.

Di Jepang kamu akan menemukan banyak vending machine (jidohanbaiki) di mana-mana! Tapi anehnya kita baru menemukan satu ini setelah bejalan lebih dari satu jam – dan aku sangat haus jadi aku beli satu botol air putih seharga ¥100.

Yokohama city. You can see the famous Bay Bridge far away – which looks a lot more beautiful at night.

Kota Yokohama. Kamu bisa melihat Bay Bridge yang terkenal dari jauh – yang akan terlihat lebih indah saat malam hari.

My favourite sneakers which I always wear every time I set out to walk a long distance.

Sepatu kets favoritku yang selalu aku pakai setiap kali akan berjalan jauh.

It was past 1 in the afternoon and we were starving so decided to head down to the nearest shopping street called Motomachi Shopping Street. According to Wikipedia, it was initially called Motomura, but changed its name to Motomachi a year after. To me this street looks very European? More like little shopping streets in Paris (not that I’ve been there), or maybe Boston; only narrower.

Saat itu sudah lebih dari jam 1 siang dan kita sangat lapar jadi kita memutuskan untuk ke pusat perbelanjaan terdekat yang dinamakan Motomachi Shopping Street. Menurut Wikipedia, nama asalnya adalah Motomura, tapi diubah ke Motomachi setahun berikutnya. Di mataku jalanan ini terlihat sangat Eropa? Seperti jejeran toko-toko kecil di Paris (walaupun aku belum pernah ke sana), atau mungkin di Boston, hanya saja ini lebih sempit.

This store was called “Kutsushitaya”, which in Japanese means Socks Shop. And they did indeed sell socks.

Toko ini dinamai “Kutsushitaya”, yang di dalam Bahasa Jepang berarti Toko Kaus Kaki. Dan memang benar mereka berjualan kaus kaki.

Went for a katsu restaurant for lunch.

Makan siang hari itu adalah katsu.

Entree was a bowl of salad with some chopped tomatoes on the side. I forgot to take the picture of the main course (katsu don), when I realized that I had not snapped a photo it was already gone, I was that hungry yeah…

Semangkok salad dan potongan tomat di samping disajikan sebagi makanan pembuka. Aku lupa untuk memotret makanan utamanya (katsu don), saat aku sadar aku belum memotret makanannya sudah lenyap, yup aku lapar sekali saat itu…

The main gate to Chinatown.
I’m not sure what “China Parking” means :p Parking for Chinese people? Parking with Chinese style? China rate parking?

Pintu utama menuju Chinatown.
Aku tidak begitu yakin apa yang dimaksud dengan “China Parking” :p Parkir untuk orang Cina? Parking dengan gaya Cina? Parker dengan harga Cina?

I never saw a Police Box (koban) this cool with detailed engraving on top of the entrance.

Aku belum pernah melihat Posko Polisi (koban) sebegitu kerennya dengan ukiran detil di atas pintu masuknya.

First impression of walking through Chinatown in Yokohama is, it’s super clean! I hardly saw any rubbish scattered on the pavement, just like any other streets in Tokyo. Which I find a little weird because not many rubbish bins are provided! The usual place that I can find a rubbish bin is beside a vending machine – not always though.

Impresi pertama yang aku dapat saat berjalan di Chinatown di Yokohama adalah, bersih sekali! Jarang terlihat sampah di jalannya, seperti jalanan di Tokyo. Yang menurutku sangat aneh karena tidak begitu banyak tong sampah tersedia! Biasanya tempat di mana kamu bisa menemukan tong sampah adalah di sebelah vending machine - tidak selalu sih.

There were lots of roasted chestnuts vendors on the side of the road. I actually had no idea what it was first time I saw them but out of curiosity I moved closer and the Chinese guy cracked one open for me to taste and it was SSOOOOOO delicious! It tasted like sweet potato. Seeing the expression on my face, he knew I was going to buy some if he persuaded me so he said something in Japanese, and I went blank because it was long and fast, so again I said “I don’t understand”. He then changed to Chinese! So again I said, “Pu ce tao…” (I don’t understand), which apparently worked like a magic word because he started offering me a huge bag of roasted chestnuts with half price! And me being me, I went for it straight away, and that made him happy, so he added some more chestnuts into it, so I’m happy too! I said “xie xie” continuously just like he did before we parted. So if you want to get a good deal, practice your “Pu ce tao…”

Banyak penjual kacang kenari (aku nggak yakin namanya kenari dalam bahasa Indonesia, pokoknya makanannya Kiki & Koko di Donal Bebek deh) di pinggir jalan. Aku sebenarnya tidak tau apa yang mereka jual sampai aku memutuskan untuk mendekat dan penjualnya membuka satu kacang untuk aku coba, ternyata rasanya sangat enak! Seperti kentang manis/ubi manis. Melihat ekspresi yang tergambar di wajahku, dia tau aku pasti akan membeli kalau saja dia membujukku sedikit lagi, jadi dia mulai berbicara dalam bahasa Jepang, dan aku hanya bisa bengong saja. Jadi aku jelaskan kalau aku belum mengerti Bahasa Jepang, dan dia mulai berbiaca dalam Bahasa Mandarin, dan lagi-lagi aku bilang, “pu ce tao…” yang berarti “aku tidak mengerti”, yang ternyata bekerja seperti sulap karena dia mulai menawarkan aku satu kantong kacang besar dengan setengah harga. Dan aku tidak bisa menolaknya jadi aku beli deh, karena dia sangat senang dia menambahkan beberapa kacang lagi ke dalam tasku. Aku pergi sambil terus-terusan mengucapkan “xie xie” padanya. Jadi kalau kamu mau dapat harga bagus, latihan bicara “pu ce tao…” dulu.

I really wanted to get this too but I had a huge bag of chestnuts already so I didn’t want to look so greedy :p

Aku sangat ingin beli ini tapi karena aku sudah punya satu tas besar berisi kacang aku tidak beli nanti dikiranya tamak :p

Keychain vendor in one of the alleys.

Penjual gantungan kunci di salah satu lorong.

Just outside Chinatown there was one gyudon (beef bowl) place called Sukiya that sold a bowl of beef rice only for a mere ¥280! That’s pretty cheap I think. And the writing above the price says “itsudemo” which basically means “always”. A good option if you find foods in Chinatown are too expensive. Other famous gyudon chain restaurant is Yoshinoya.

Di luar Chinatown ada satu tempat gyudon (mangkok isi daging sapi) yang bernama Sukiya yang menjual satu mangkok nasi daing sapi hanya seharga ¥280! Menurutku sangat murah. Dan tertulis “itsudemo” di atasnya yang berarti “selalu”. Pilihan yang patut dipertimbankan kalau menurutmu makan di Chinatown terlalu mahal. Tempat gyudon terkenal lainnya adalah Yoshinoya.

Also went to the baseball stadium, home of Yokohama’s team – BayStars. When we got there a match just ended so I saw lots of baseball players coming out of the stadium with their towel hanging down their neck.

Kita juga pergi ke stadiun baseballnya, rumah dari tim Yokohama – BayStars. Saat kita sampai di situ ada pertandingan yang baru saja tuntas jadi aku melihat banyak pemain baseball keluar dari stadiun dengan handuk yang tergantung di leher mereka.

Couldn’t help noticing this girl’s pants – so cute! It’s Anpanman by the way, a very famous superhero for Japanese kids.

Aku tak sengaja melihat celana anak kecil ini – lucu sekali! Itu Anpanman, tokoh pahlawan yang sangat terkenal untuk anak-anak kecil di Jepang.

Heading for the pier near the famous Yokohama landmark, Cosmo Ferris Wheel. If only my school was not so far away I wouldn’t mind living in Yokohama really. It’s got this soothing atmosphere and less metropolitan than Tokyo.

Jalan menuju ke pinggiran pantai dekat bianglala Yokohama yang terkenal, Cosmo Ferris Wheel. Kalau saja sekolahku tidak terlalu jauh aku ingin tinggal di Yokohama karena atmosfirnya sangat menenangkan dan tidak sesibuk Tokyo.

Nice ride. I like round cars.

Keren, aku suka mobil yang bulat.

Can you see the ferris wheel over there? To get a nice shot we had to wait until night came as the clock in the middle of the wheel would shoot different beautiful rainbow colours.

Kamu bisa lihat bianglalanya tidak? Untuk dapat pemandangan yang bagus kita harus menunggu sampai malam datang karena jam yang terpasang di tengah bianglalanya akan menembakkan berbagi macam warna pelangi.

Walking around killing 1.5 hours.

Berjalan-jalan untuk menghabiskan 1.5 jam.

There was a car exhibition just outside another famous tourist spot, Yokohama Red Brickhouse (Yokohama Akarenga Souko).

Saat itu ada pameran mobil persis di luar tempat turis terkenal lainnya yaitu Rumah Batu Bata Yokohama (Yokohama Akarenga Souko).

I personally love this one best.

Aku paling suka yang ini.

Exterior of the brick house, which basically is a shopping mall – sometimes used for events too.

Rumah bata tampak luar, yang sebenarnya dipakai untuk pusat perbelanjaan – kadang-kadang untuk ivent-ivent lainnya.

The Cosmo Ferris Wheel is located inside CosmoWorld Theme Park just across this shopping mall. The sun was already gone that time and we managed to see the lights on the ferris wheel.

Bianglala Cosmo terletak di dalam CosmoWorld Theme Park di seberang mall ini. Saat itu matahari sudah terbenam dan kita berhasil melihat lampu-lampu di bianglalanya.

You can ride too for ¥700, a bit too expensive for me. It takes around 20-30 minutes to have one full rotation, and the wind was blowing so hard that night so we decided just to go home. We spent more than 8 hours that day going around and my ankles were killing me.

Kamu bisa naik bianglalanya dengan harga ¥700, yang menurutku agak terlalu mahal. Untuk memenuhi satu putaran diperlukan waktu sekitar 20-30 menit, dan anginnya saat itu bertiup sangat keras jadi kita memutuskan untuk pulang saja. Kita sudah berkeliling selama lebih dari 8 jam saat itu, lagipula pergelangan kakiku sudah tidak kuat lagi.

A nice night time view of Yokohama pier.
That concludes my Yokohama trip last Saturday.

Pinggiran sungai Yokohama saat malam.
Dan itu menutup petualanganku ke Yokohama Sabtu lalu.

A good friend of mine just got back from visiting Hiroshima a couple days ago and brought me this omiyage (souvenir) containing Momiji Manju, which is a popular dessert from Hiroshima.

Salah satu teman baikku baru kembali dari Hiroshima 2 hari lalu dan dia membawakan aku omiyage (suvenir) yang berisi Momiji Manju, makanan penutup terkenal dari Hiroshima.

Red and white packaging inside.

Ada paket merah dan putih di dalam.

The red one was filled with azuki (read bean paste) but the white one was a normal bean paste I guess? Both tasted very soft and chewy, I don’t mind having some more lol.

Yang merah berisikan azuki (selai kacang merah) tapi yang putih aku rasa berisi selai kacang hijau biasa? Dua-duanya sangat empuk dan kenyal.

Also got this Tokyo by Tokyo book that compiles a couple hundreds of Tokyo famous spots to visit by tourists or some other curious minds out there. Been looking for this book for a while and was so happy when I got it from my friend! Thank you! (so that adds to my long to-read list which now has become…30? Oh no…)

Aku juga dapat buku TOKYO BY TOKYO ini yang memuat sekitar 200 tempat terkenal di Tokyo yang patut dikunjungi turis atau orang-orang penasaran lainnya. Aku sudah mencari-cari buku ini sejak beberapa bulan lalu dan sangat senang saat akhirnya aku dapat dari temanku! Thank you! (jadi nambah deh antrian panjang buku yang harus aku baca yang sekarang jadi…30? Gawat…)

This is Ueno. In the Tokyo Subway map, Ueno is located on the upper right, not too close to shopping places like Shinjuku or Shibuya, but Ueno has its own gem, Ueno Zoo! That’s where I went last Saturday. I thought I was too old for looking at animals, but I really wanted to go so I went.

You cannot really see Sakura anymore now but there are very few that are still in bloom like this one.

My friend bought some Ningyo-yaki, basically is a Japanese street snack of “fried dolls”. This one is shaped as Hello Kitty and Doraemon – they were yummy! And only ¥200 for 20 pieces, not bad at all. Though some more expensive Ningyo-yaki are usually filled with red bean paste (azuki) or other fillings, the one we had was just flour.

The March of the Penguins in the zoo. Was so much looking forward to see the penguins and when we found them they were standing like this for minutes without moving at all! And I don’t understand why the guys at the back row are facing the other side – looks like they’re mourning or something 0.0

Sharp sharp porcupine! (is it really a porcupine? or hedgehog? or echidna?)

Elephant! (d’oh!) The word for elephant in Japanese is zou. I was just memorizing some animal names the other day and thought this would be the right moment to revise it and at the same time share with you guys

“Hmmm, I smell fish…”

Bumped into this guy with cool earring, so Final Fantasy like somehow. Japanese men are so dandy.

A mugshots of the gorillas they have, along with the names lol.

This sign was pasted on the ticket booth window. I just learned from a friend that Ueno Zoo used to have a giant panda few years ago until he died of chronic failure in 2008. Despite his sex, he was named “Ling-Ling” which means something like “little girl” in Chinese if I’m not mistaken. Apparently a lot of people (one of them was me) was not aware of the news that he died, and was disappointed when the visited the zoo, that’s why they posted up this sign. Now most all the pandas in Ueno Zoo are borrowed from China.

A small theme park for children just outside the zoo.

I almost changed my mind when I saw the ticket fee to get in, I know ¥600 is not much at all – but since it’s Golden Week holidays here I can’t go to the bank and retrieve money! And the ATMs here will charge you some amount of fee during holidays, even if it’s your own bank! How weird is that…

Next stop was Akihabara – or Akiba for short. The heaven of all Otaku (a person who spends A LOT of time watching anime/collecting anime figurines, etc.) I used to watch a lot of anime, but now not anymore – I just can’t follow, too many anime are released each season – and I have plenty of other things I must prioritize first. Though right now I’m still watching Tsubasa Chronicles not a new series, but one of my favorites.

Whoa just realized I need to go soon – so I’ll just write short explanations okay! >.<

A new Hatsune Miku game. Hatsune Miku is a virtual singer – something like Gorillaz I guess?

A new Metal Gear Solid installment is coming up soon in PSP called Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, I soooo am gonna get it! But this Snake figurine is not for Peace Walker since he’s old – so I think he’s for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot, which I haven’t played so much yet.

Japanese arcades are so full of smoking people, they smoke while playing some of these popular games such as Tekken 6 and Virtua Fighter 5. I am no fan of fighting games, I suck actually, but my favourite character in Tekken is Hwoarang with his famous TaeKwonDo style. One tip, if you are up against Hwoarang, pick Eddy as your character – he’ll beat Hwoarang’s ass like there’s no tomorrow. (or maybe I just truly suck)

Rows and rows of manga.

I thought Easy Way was a Sydney thing – and I spotted this!

I even tried going to a Maid Cafe. All the waitresses are dressed up as cute maids and they call you “master” instead of “customer”. This is to mimic the anime style girls who usually are kinda devoted to their masters (eg. Chobits). I personally find this a bit weird and creepy^^;; but it has a market, especially in Japan – so I guess it’s a good business so far.

An online gaming exhibition. They literally have A LOT of different games, I think I saw more than 15 games on display and we can try for free.

Resident Evil is called Bio Hazard in Japan. I was never a huge fan of Resident Evil, but now I just love RE (5), especially when someone is playing with you it makes the game a lot more interactive with all the shootings and what nots. I once played this with a friend on PS3 from 9pm until 6am the next morning non-stop…

And now they come with 3D glasses. I tried World of Warcraft (I think) in 3D, it was just so cool, but too bad my eyes are damaged enough already they can’t stand 3D too long.

Next stop was Shinjuku. Saw this whimsical decoration outside a department store – as Mother’s Day is coming soon (May 9th). In Japan Mother’s Day is celebrated on the same date as almost the rest of the world, in Indonesia we celebrate it on the December 22nd instead.

Shinjuku is always busy.

A lonely Ramen shop.

Capricorns all the way!

UNIQLO is a Japanese casual-wear chain store, equivalent to Giordano maybe? The stuff they have is very affordable and the quality isn’t bad either. Found a lot of jeans priced below ¥2,000! UNIQLO is opening up in Shanghai soon I think…

Went to Harajuku the next day to Takeshita-Dori shopping street. SO PACKED!!! and not to mention it was quite sunny, so you can imagine how hot it was.

If only they were priced lower than ¥100 each (instead of a pricey ¥158!!) I would have bought one at least. But as I said it’s Golden Week holiday here and I’m strapped for cash =_=

Entrance to the shopping street.

One Piece “WANTED” posters.

I was so excited to know that KINOKUNIYA was nearby – but turns out it was KINOKUNIYA the supermarket, not the book store =_=

Omotesando/Harajuku. Some kind of demonstration protest? I can’t really read yet so I don’t know what it was. Should ask a friend…

There were people from Red Cross on the street coming up to me, probably asking me to donate blood? I would love to but I don’t understand what they were saying so I just said “Nihon go chotto wakarimasen” (I don’t really understand Japanese). Used to donate blood every 3 months or so when I was in Sydney – and the best part was when they gave me free milkshake after donating :p But now since I’m allergic to milk, I’m trying my best to stay away from dairy stuffs.

Omotesando is a luxurious area full of branded stores like Armani here. Heard that a new Armani hotel just opened in Dubai, and the branding was done by Pentagram, one of the most well-known design studios.

ARASHI, a Japanese boyband, very popular.

Japan does not have street names, instead they use numbers to identify their streets. I find this very confusing, and got lost so many times already because of this naming system. But maybe I just need to get to used to it to find it convenient? We’ll see in a year… ^^

Dropped by a nearby family restaurant to fill my rumbling stomach. Dining in a family restaurant is a lot cheaper compared to other restaurants and they have pretty good foods too.

And Japanese menu always (most of the time at least) tells you how much calories it has in each food, so you can carefully choose your meals and avoid feeling guilty afterward :p This steak comes from Australia apparently?

Saizeriya was the name of the restaurant.

Went to Aoyama Gakuin university, and this hallway was creeping me out.

In Japan you’re not allowed to smoke while walking, so there are “smoking stations” like this one that allows you to stop for a while, and smoke.

Cheap yet aesthetically pleasing headphones! Don’t know about quality though. I want to get the orange one!

The “Who is My Boss” campaign for DOCOMO, cellphone provider. Yes that’s Darth Vader.

K-ON! Soundtrack, one of the most-in anime right now.

*grab grab grab!!* Final Fantasy Soundtracks.

24 figurine (Jack Bauer) selling for around ¥7,000, not bad! Which reminds me…24 Season 8 is almost done, 4 episodes left. My dad told me that this will be the final season of 24, he read it somewhere. I think it’s a good idea to end it now – or close it with a movie, similar like 24: Redemption? Jack is too old anyway, even if they make the next season it might be titled “12″ instead, Jack can’t run too much anymore.

Planning to get a bike sometime soon. This one would be nice, though I don’t fancy the price… Looking for a second hand folding bike that is priced below ¥10,000.

Sunray protection hat. I need one, but usually these hats are worn by middle-aged women^^;;

John Mayer is coming to Tokyo next week, I’m pretty sure he plays in Sydney too, don’t remember whether it’s after or before though. I like his music, but I don’t really like his attitude to be frank.

Girls taking photo of this big ARASHI truck.

And KAT-TUN as well.

One of the promotions for MGS: Peace Walker. I don’t drink softdrinks (it hurts when you burp!), but I just had to buy this one. It’s a Mountain Dew can, which now has become my pen basket

Put some double tape around it so it won’t scratch me. Which reminds me…I need to buy masking tape too.
Ok need to go now!

Dua minggu lalu aku pergi ke Roppongi untuk melihat-lihat areanya dan foto-foto, tapi sebelum aku sempat untuk mengupload fotonya aku terlanjur pergi ke tempat lain – jadi daripada aku menulis beberapa artikel berbeda, akan jauh lebih gampang kalau dijadikan satu saja.

Roppongi is known for its night clubs and also for its luxurious environment. However I noticed that there are also a few museums as well as design exhibitions going on in Roppongi area – so I thought just might as well take a look. Roppongi contains many well-known Japanese companies such as Fujifilm, Xerox, UNIQLO, Rakuten (Japanese online shopping company) and to gamers out there, Konami’s head office is also located in Roppongi.

Roppongi dikenal akan kehidupan malamnya dan juga daerahnya yang mewah. Tapi aku lihat juga ada beberapa museum dan pameran desain yang sedang berjalan di daerah Roppongi – jadi aku pikir sekalian mampir saja. Ada banyak perusahaan terkenal Jepang yang berlokasi di Roppongi seperti Fujifilm, Xerox, UNIQLO, Rakuten (perusahaan belanja online Jepang) dan untuk para gamer, kantor utama Konami juga terletak di Roppongi.

One day is not enough to explore Roppongi properly – especially someone like me who wastes a lot of time by getting lost. There are a lot of different things to see, good thing is Roppongi is one of the main tourist’s spots in Tokyo, so you’ll find a lot of helpful signage like this to direct you around. (too bad I don’t read directions well…). Anyway that day I was heading for The National Art Center after going around in Tokyo Midtown, allegedly the tallest building in Tokyo.

Satu hari saja tidak cukup untuk benar-benar menjelajahi Roppongi – apalagi untuk orang seperti aku yang sering membuang waktu karena nyasar terus. Ada banyak hal yang bisa dilihat di sini, untungnya Roppongi adalah salah satu tempat terkenal untuk para turis jadi akan banyak penunjuk jalan seperti ini yang bisa membantumu. (sayangnya aku kurang jago kalau dalam hal membaca petunjuk jalan…) Anyway, hari itu aku sedang menuju The National Art Center setelah jalan-jalan di Tokyo Midtown, yang katanya adalah gedung tertinggi di Tokyo.

These photos were all taken around Tokyo Midtown area, and when I spotted this Tsutaya book shop (hon-ya in Japanese) I just couldn’t resist peeking inside…

Foto-foto ini semuanya diambil di daerah Tokyo Midtown, dan saat aku melihat toko buku Tsutaya ini (hon-ya dalam bahasa Jepang) aku tidak bisa menolak untuk tidak ngintip ke dalam…

…especially when it has this Where The Wild Things Are sign at the front – I really wanted to watch the movie when it was released in Sydney – but I didn’t have time so I still haven’t seen it now. Any good? I read the book though, in 5 minutes^^;; they were just mainly pictures so I just went flip, flip, flip… I would have taken me half an hour if it was in Japanese I’m sure. I still have to spell each letter when reading Japanese alphabet, this is taking sometime.

…apalagi ada plang Where The Wild Things Are ini di depannya – aku benar-benar ingin nonton filmnya saat dirilis di Sydney – tapi aku tidak ada waktu jadi sampai sekarang aku masih belum nonton. Bagus kah? Aku sudah baca bukunya sih, dalam 5 menit^^;; soalnya banyak isinya hanyalah gambar jadi aku hanya balik, balik, balik… Kalau saja bukunya dalam bahasa Jepang pasti aku baru selesai baca dalam 30 menit. Aku masih harus mengeja karakter Jepang satu-satu saat membaca, ini benar-benar memakan waktu yang tidak sedikit.

Japanese and their never-ending cute products. I just had to take picture of this giraffe when I saw it – but was so scared of getting busted by the staff, and I should have known better – the staff DID spot me when I took the picture. Thankfully she just gave me a weird stare…phew. I once took picture in one of the book shops in Sydney and the staff who pretended to be a customer literally approached me and pulled his badge out of his pocket, “Delete…NOW.” was what he said, while staring straight into my eyes. That only was enough to scare me – he was scary as hell.

Orang Jepang dan kreasinya yang selalu lucu. Aku takut sekali saat mengambil foto jerapah ini karena takut ketahuan oleh salah satu penjaga tokonya, dan seharusnya aku mendengarkan kata hatiku – karena salah satu penjaganya benar-benar menangkap basah aku saat memotret. Untungnya dia hanya memelototi aku sedikit…fiuh. Dulu di salah satu toko buku di Sydney aku pernah mengambil foto dan salah satu penjaganya yang berpura-pura menjadi pelanggan mendatangi aku, mengeluarkan tanda pengenalnya dari kantung celananya, dan berkata “Hapus…SEKARANG.” sambil melihat tajam ke mataku. Itu saja sudah cukup untuk bikin aku ketakutan – dia benar-benar seram.

You want cute books? Go to a Japanese book shop. Good thing I can’t speak Japanese yet (is that a good thing?) I would have at least bought a book and add it to my long line of 25-books-to-read in my room. And that 25 are just books, I haven’t even included the magazines and comics… How could I resist if they were all so colourful and not to mention quite affordable as well…

Kamu mau buku-buku lucu? Pergilah ke toko buku Jepang. Untungnya aku belum bisa berbahasa Jepang (untungnya?) kalau tidak paling nggak aku pasti beli satu buku, dan bertambahlah barisan panjang 25-buku-yang-harus-dibaca di kamarku. Dan 25 buah itu hanya buku, belum termasuk semua majalah dan komik-komik lainnya… Bagaimana bisa menolak beli kalau mereka semua warna-warni dan harganya sangat terjangkau…

Looking for the way to The National Art Center felt like being in The Amazing Race, I had to look for signs like these all the time otherwise I would have got lost again.

Mencari jalan untuk ke The National Art Center seperti sedang ikut The Amazing Race saja, aku harus cari petunjuk seperti ini terus-terusan, kalau tidak aku pasti nyasar lagi.

Finally I found it! It was a really sunny and nice day to be out – I spotted lots of tourists around the museum too.

Akhirnya ketemu juga! Hari itu sangat cerah dan hari yang bagus untuk jalan-jalan keluar – aku melihat banyak turis di sekitar museum juga.

One of the posters of the exhibition that was hung in front of the main entrance. All exhibitions that were on that day were paid exhibitions, so I didn’t end up going into any of them. Too bad… It’s not because they were expensive, they were only around ¥500 for a student like me (around $5.00) Lol call me a cheapskate but I need to watch my spending here! Everything is expensive…well almost everything.

Salah satu poster dari pameran yang digantung di depan pintu masuk. Semua pameran hari itu tidak gratis jadi aku tidak masuk ke salah satu pun. Sayang sekali… Sebenarnya bukan karena mereka mahal, tiket masuknya sekitar ¥500 untuk seorang murid seperti aku (sekitar $5.00) Hehe bukannya aku pelit, tapi aku harus irit di sini karena semuanya (hampir semuanya) mahal.

More posters plastered on the wall of the hang-out room.

Beberapa poster lagi yang dipajang di tembok ruangan duduk-duduk.

Looking down from the 2nd floor.

Pemandangan tampak atas dari lantai 2.

When going down the escalator I spotted this camera hanging in front of me – so…I took a picture of it, certainly a different colour.

Saat turun di eskalator aku melihat kamera yang tergantung di depanku ini – jadi…aku potret saja sebab warnanya cukup berbeda dengan kamera lainnya.

Interior of the museum.

Interior dari museum.

The pebbles on the road + my shadow looked a bit like snow don’t you think?

Kerikil di jalan + bayanganku terlihat seperti salju, ya nggak sih?

If you’re hungry, Roppongi has tons of restaurants and cafes so no need to worry…

Kalau kamu kelaparan, di Roppongi ada banyak restoran dan kafe jadi jangan khawatir…

Been wanting to try Mos Burger for quite sometime but never really got a chance to, maybe next time. I read somewhere that Mos Burger’s burger is one of the most expensive ones in the world because it’s “healthy”? I don’t know if burgers can be healthy^^ but looking at how trimmed Japanese people are, maybe that statement holds some truth.

Aku dari dulu ingin mencoba Mos Burger tapi belum sempat-sempat juga, mungkin lain kali. Aku pernah baca kalau burger nya Mos Burger adalah salah satu burger termahal di dunia karena “sehat”? Aku tidak pernah tahu kalau ada burger sehat^^ tapi kalau melihat sebagaimana kurusnya orang Jepang, mungkin betul juga pernyataan itu.

The view of Roppongi area before the subway tunnel to go home.

Pemandangan dari daerah Roppongi sebelum turun ke kereta bawah tanah untuk pulang.

A few days later I had to pick up my Alien Card (yes they literally refer people who aren’t Japanese and living in Japan as alien, at least in English) in the City Ward of where I live. I got lost (again) looking for the right bus to get there. This Alien Card must tag along with you wherever you go, they serve as a proper ID card that is often asked by police/authorities. There are a few cases in Japan where police just picked out random westerners on the street and demanded to see their alien ID card, if not their passport with valid visa (if they’re in Japan purely for holiday purposes).

Beberapa hari sesudahnya aku harus mengambil Kartu Alienku (yep mereka menamai orang-orang asing yang tinggal di Jepang sebagai alien, dalam Bahasa Inggris) di Kantor Pusat di mana aku tinggal. Aku nyasar (lagi) saat mencari bis yang benar untuk ke sana. Kartu Alien ini harus kamu bawa ke mana pun kamu pergi, karena kartu ini sering ditanyakan oleh polisi/pihak berwajib lainnya sebagai tanda pengenal. Ada beberapa kasus di Jepang di mana polisi mendatangi beberapa orang asing di jalan dan menuntut untuk melihat kartu alien ini, kalau bukan passport mereka dengan visa yang jelas (kalau mereka di Jepang hanya untuk berlibur).

Remember what I said about Japanese and their extra attention to details? This is another example of it. Each umbrella has its own temporary storage while its rightful owner settles his/her business inside the building. It certainly did get the umbrella out of my way, you know how annoying umbrella can be when you’re in a hurry…

Ingat pas aku bilang tentang bagaimana orang Jepang sangat perhatian ke hal-hal kecil? Ini adalah contoh lainnya. Masing-masing payung mempunyai tempat penitipan sementara selagi sang pemiliknya menyelsaikan urusannya di dalam gedung. Sebenarnya tempat penitipan ini sangat membantu, karena kamu tau kan serepot apa kalau harus membawa payung ke mana-mana saat kamu sedang terburu-buru…

Inside of the City Ward office, waiting for the staff fetching my card.

Kantor Pusat tampak dalam, selagi menunggu petugas untuk mengambilkan kartuku.

Was wearing boots that day because the weather was surprisingly cold, and it was raining as well.

Hari itu aku pakai sepatu boots karena cuacanya sangat dingin dan hujan pula.

Excuse me for being so FOB (“Fresh Off the Boat”) this thing is just one of the coolest things I’ve seen in Japan. See how the bus pictogram is getting larger as it moves from right to left? The larger it is the closer the bus gets to this particular stop – so that the passengers have that “peace of mind” that their bus is going to come, for sure.

FOB…first time I’ve used that term ever. I didn’t know that word until maybe early this year when my colleagues at work in Sydney mentioned it a couple times. Anyway back to topic…

Sori aku bakal sedikit udik dan gatek, tapi ini adalah salah satu hal terkeren yang aku pernah liat di Jepang sejauh ini. Semakin besar gambar bis yang ada di monitor atas, berarti semakin dekat bis untuk sampai ke tempat pemberhentian ini – jadi para penumpang paling tidak bisa menunggu dengan tenang dan tahu bahwa pasti bis mereka akan datang.

The ticket machine for Japanese buses is so cool too – you can either beep your Suica/Pasmo card (some kind of card you can keep recharging money into) on the blue thing on the right, or if you’re new to Japan like me, you can put normal coins in into the big coin-eater in the middle. Any change will be disposed from the other side of the machine.

Mesin tiket di dalam bis-bis Jepang juga tidak kalah canggih – kamu bisa meng-scan kartu Suica/Pasmo (semacam kartu yang bisa kamu isi ulang) di atas mesin biru di kanan, atau kalau kamu baru di Jepang seperti aku, kamu bisa memasukkan koin biasa ke dalam lubang pemakan koin di tengah dan kembaliannya akan keluar dengan otomatis dari sisi mesin satunya.

How the inside of the bus looked like from where I was seated. Not much difference than any other buses I’ve been on, only that none of the ads makes sense to me (yet).

Pemandangan dalam bis dari tempat di mana aku duduk. Tidak jauh berbeda dibanding bis lain yang pernah aku naiki, hanya saja kali ini aku tidak mengerti iklan-iklannya sama sekali (belum mengerti paling tidak).

Except for this one of course. One weird thing I don’t get is Japan has this bus etiquette rule in which you cannot talk on the phone while you’re on the bus or train. Which means you always need to have your phone on silent, if not turned off. However, you can still text and talk freely with your friends if they’re there riding the train/bus with you. Weird eh? Two people talking with each other is fine, but one people talking over the phone with someone whose voice we can’t hear is frowned upon. The reason why still remains as a mystery… My friend told me that you are not supposed to have your phone on near the priority seat section where elderly sits because it might interfere with their pacemaker if they are wearing one. Well that makes sense, but what about the other sections?

Kecuali yang ini tentunya. Satu hal yang aneh adalah di Jepang ada peraturan di mana kamu tidak diperbolehkan untuk berbicara di telpon saat kamu di dalam bis atau kereta. Yang berarti kamu harus selalu mengeset handphone mu dalam mode silent kalau tidak dimatikan. Tapi kamu masih boleh ber-sms dan berbicara bebas dengan temanmu kalau dia berada di satu kereta/bis bersamamu. Aneh kan? Dua orang diperbolehkan berbicara satu sama lain, tapi berbicara lewat telpon dengan orang yang suaranya tidak terdengar dianggap tidak sopan. Alasannya masih menjadi sebuah misteri… Temanku bilang kalau memang kita tidak diperbolehkan menyalakan handphone di daerah tempat duduk untuk orang tua karena bisa mengganggu alat pemacu jantung yang terkadang dipakai oleh orang tua. Kalau itu masuk akal, tapi bagaimana dengan area kereta/bis yang lain?

My Crumpler bag… Has been with me for the past 2 years and yet it’s still as strong and as red as I first held it in my arms.

Tas Crumpler-ku… Sudah bersamaku sejak 2 tahun yang lalu, tapi masih kuat dan semerah saat pertama kali aku memegangnya.

First time going to an izakaya, a Japanese style restaurant where you can drink and eat great foods with low price. I recommend everyone who visits Japan to try one of these. The food was really good, seriously, they were not only very affordable (compared to other Japanese foods) but also in high quality. One of the rare chances where I could try many different types of Japanese foods without blowing my wallet off.

Pengalaman pertama ku pergi ke izakaya, restoran ala Jepang di mana kamu bisa minum dan makan makanan enak dengan harga yang terjangkau. Aku merekomen semua yang liburan ke Jepang untuk mencoba izakaya. Makanannya sangat enak dan harganya murah dibanding restoran Jepang lainnya, dan kualitasnya pun bisa diandalkan. Jarang-jarang aku bisa makan berbagai macam makanan Jepang tanpa pulang dengan dompet kosong.

Who wants some chewy squids?

Ada yang mau cumi kenyal?

Or deep-fried Karaage with mayonnaise on the side?

Atau Karaage goreng dengan mayonnaise?

And the nice thing about this izakaya I went to is they have curtains between each table to provide privacy for customers. Though of course you can still hear what the neighbors are saying but at least you won’t be able to see if they have celery stuck in between their teeth ^^;

Dan enaknya pergi ke izakaya ini adalah mereka memasang pembatas antara satu meja dengan lainnya untuk menjaga privasi pelanggannya. Tentunya kamu masih bisa mendengar pembicaraan mereka dengan jelas tapi paling tidak kamu tidak akan bisa melihat kalau ada selada yang nyangkut di antara gigi mereka ^^;

Some of the foods served in the izakaya.

Beberapa makanan yang disajikan di izakaya.

On the way home dropped by in a discount book store and purchased some old manga (Japanese comics) such as Chibi Maruko Chan and Doraemon here to help me improve my Japanese reading bit by bit each day.

Dalam perjalanan pulang aku mampir di salah satu toko buku diskon dan beli beberapa manga (komik Jepang) lama seperti Chibi Maruko Chan dan Doraemon untuk membantuku memperlancar membaca karakter Jepang sedikit demi sedikit.

And they all only cost me less than around $5

Dan total semuanya kurang dari $5