The Rest of My Japan Trip

Lololol this is basically going to be a post composed of random pictures I took in Japan...nothing terribly detailed like my first post on my adventures in Japan, sorry! If you have any questions about a picture that you see feel free to leave a comment below.

Went to a museum...actually I got dropped off at the wrong museum T_T The one I wanted to go to was an hour away so I decided to just spend my afternoon here. It was actually kind of interesting so it wasn't a big deal.

Delicious matcha dessert my aunt and I got by Asakusa.

Bought ice cream at a booth in Asakua. There were so many tourists crowded around this ice cream store since they sold really unique flavors: vanilla, green tea, vanilla and strawbery, vanilla and chocolate, vanilla and green tea, grape, sweet red bean, chocolate, strawberry, black sesame, blue berry yogurt, marron, mango, custard pudding, cookies vanilla, rum raisin, white peach, fully ripened melon, chinese style almond jelly, chocolate and banana, purple potato, mandarin orange, buckwheat, pineapple, bean powder, and french vanilla. I went with red bean ice cream; it was really good!

Katsu: So. Freaking. Good.

Omurice.

Calpis! I drank this almost every day in Japan :P That and matcha green tea.

I forgot what this dish was called but in addition to this mystery dish we also ordered monjayaki, which I specifically ordered in honor of Tonari No Kaibtusu-Kun lol.

Chocolate and matcha green tea ice cream.

.

Went to some stained glass/church museum. It was boring.

Hot soba :D

Ghibli exhibit at the Nasu Teddy Bear Museum. SO GOOD. If you are a Miyazaki fan and in Japan, be sure to check out this special exhibit before it gets taken down!

Giant Totoro!

My aunt and uncle took me on a road trip and this is the hotel where we stayed at. They slept on two twin bds while I got to sleep on the tatami mat.

This hotel was super fancy and it must have been expensive...there was a buffet-styled breakfast/lunch/dinner offered there and the food was of the best quality possible. I had so many plates of sashimi!

My relatives also took me to a zoo where there weren't any cages for the animals. I love lions so I freaked out when I saw a bunch :) Look at how close I was to him!!!! Okay I used a pretty good lens and zoomed in but still....!!

I also got to feed a giraffe. It was overall a super fun experience.

Udon noodle soup with mochi.

!!!

The best thing I have ever had at Starbucks: a chocolate brownie matcha green tea cappuccino. Too bad it's only available in Japan :(

And on my second to last day in Japan I ate takoyaki. The two guys working there were SUPER cute..too bad I was too shy/embarrassed to ask for a picture with them >:(

Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

Japan Haul Part 2 of 2: Studio Ghibli!

This post is going to feature all the Studio Ghibli merchandise that I purchased in Japan! For those of you who don't know this, I am a HUGE Studio Ghibli fan. As a child, I watched Kiki's Delivery Service and Totoro all the time, and as a I grew older, I fell in love with the rest of the Studioi Ghibli films. Needless to say I was so excited when I found out I had the opportunity to go to Japan. I spent a ton of time researching the best places to purchase Studio Ghibli merchandise and so I hope this post will be useful to those who also want to buy all the Studio Ghibli merchandise they can get their hands on!

First of all, here is a little information on where to go for Studio Ghibli merchandise. I'm sure there are a lot of places in Japan that sell official Studio Ghibli merchandise, but this is just a list of where I personally went.

1. Studio Ghibli Museum. Of course, this is one of the best places to buy Studio Ghibli merchandise. They have a huge selection and sell some things that cannot be found in any other store. For example, I saw a box of cookies and jars filled with candy, which I didn't see at any other store. In addition, the prices are reasonable and the staff is pretty helpful.  
2. Donguri Garden located in Tokyo Skytree. This store turned out to be bigger than I thought and also had a nice selection of official Studio Ghibli merchandise. There were a ton of people on the day that I went, so it took a long time to make your way through the store. The staff was so incredibly helpful though! I really wanted to buy a specific mug (more on the mug later in this post) and didn't see any in the store. I left super disappointed and admittedly a bit upset, as this mug was one of the things I wanted to buy most from Japan. My aunt and I left the store and I couldn't stop thinking about the mug; it's a pretty iconic mug so I couldn't believe that the store doesn't sell it (then again, the Studio Ghibli Museum doesn't sell this mug at all. My aunt, who speaks fluent Japanese, asked a staff member there and she said they don't sell that particular mug). I'm pretty stubborn so I decided to go back to the store and ask one of the sales associate if they sell this mug. She says that they actually ran out of it a day or two ago and that they are still waiting for the stock to be refilled T~T I guess my disappointment showed on my face because she sweetly offered to call other branches and see if they have any left. Luckily the Donguri Garden in Tokyo Station had just a few left, and the sales associate requested that they reserve one for me! Honestly, this sales associate was so sweet and put a lot of time and effort in helping me track down this mug. Sadly I forgot her name and forgot to ask for a picture with her...I regret this so much!
3. Donguri Garden located in Tokyo Station. My aunt and I traveled for an hour just to go to this store haha. It's a lot smaller than the Donguri Garden located in Tokyo Skytree and the merchandise sold here was pretty much the same. If you have time, I still recommend coming here because Tokyo Station has a lot of great restaurants and of course the infamous Character Street. 
4. Gift shop in the Nasu Teddy Bear Museum. To my surprise, my aunt loves teddy bears and wanted to go to the Nasu Teddy Bear Museum. To my complete surprise, the museum actually had a special Studio Ghibli exhibit...and it was absolutely AMAZING. I'll post more details later, along with pictures, but it was breathtaking. The gift shop of course sold an incredible amount of teddy bears, but more importantly, sold a decent amount of Ghibli merchandise. I didn't buy too much from this gift shop but I still recommend stopping by to check out the Ghilbi exhibit (I think it's there for a limited time though).

Be aware that all these stores seemed to mainly feature Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service merchandise. There was also a smaller selection of Princess Mononoke, Sprited Away, and Castle in the Sky merchandise. To my surprise there was hardly any Howl's Moving Castle and Nausicca merchandise. As for all the other Studio Ghibli films, I didn't see any of their merchandise :(

In any case, on to the purchases!

 I'm not sure what these are called...film cells maybe? Or plastic posters?  In any case, I pretty much bought one of each kind. Two Japanese students kept on staring at me because I had so many in my hand! I bought a total of 5 large ones and 12 small ones. I believe the large ones were $3 each and the small ones were $2 each. I bought these at the Studio Ghibli Museum.

 I bought this mini stamp set for $8 or $12 (I can't remember...) at the gift shop in the Nasu Teddy  Bear Museum. Yes, it's overpriced, but look at how cute it is!

 This pair of socks was also purchased at the gift shop in the Nasu Teddy Bear Museum. These were about $5. I didn't see this particular pattern anywhere else.

 The packaging is so cute! :O

I bought a face towel and a pocket towel thing (not sure how to describe this; there is a pocket inside and you can put things like makeup or female hygiene products in it) at the Donguri Garden store located in Tokyo Skytree. Both items were a gift from my aunt so I don't know how exactly how much they cost. However, I would guess that the face towel is somewhere around $6 and the pocket towel thing is around $4.

 I love these plush magnets so much! I think they were about $2-3 each. I bought the Jiji and Totoro magnet at the Studio Ghibli Museum and the Catbus and the Susuwatari magnet at the Donguri Garden store in Tokyo Skytree.

 I purchased the white chibi-Totoro plush for $8 and the Kodama plush for $10. both items were purchased from the Studio Ghibli Museum. When you shake the Kodama plush, its head moves back and forth and makes a ringing bell sound!

The Radish Spirit plush and the Yakul plush were both $12 each. I bought the Radish Spirit plush from the Donguri Garden store located in Tokyo Skytree and the Yakul plush at the Studio Ghibli Museum.

When I was doing "research" on Studio Ghibli merchandise, I flipped out when I saw pictures of this particular merchandise. I immediately knew that I HAD to buy it haha. This was $20 and purchased at the Studio Ghibli Museum. Oh, and for those who are wondering, I do have a couple of Studio Ghibli artbooks but they were all purchased from online.

My display of the Studio Ghibli merchandise! I added more photos onto the walls so it doesn't look so bare now.

This is THE mug that I traveled an hour for. I know it's silly but ever since I was a little girl I desperately wanted to own this mug. I don't regret anything :P I fulfilled a childhood dream and I could not be happier. This mug was about $10 and purchased at the Donguri Garden store located in Tokyo Station.

I bought this cup at the Donguri Garden store in Tokyo Station. I didn't see this anywhere else. This was about $10-12.

I bought this bowl for about $13 at one of the Donguri Garden stores...I can't remember which one. They also sell these bowls at the Studio Ghibli Museum.

I bought this Chicken Spirit soap dispenser. I bought this at the Donguri Garden store in Tokyo Skytree for about $8. I wanted to keep it in my room so I filled it up with mango vera lotion.

I'm not sure what this is for...maybe a shower headband? In any case, I thought it looked cute and of course looks like the red headband Kiki wears. This was purchased at the Donguri Garden store in Tokyo Station for about $10.

And finally, I bought this Jiji mirror at the Donguri Garden store in Tokyo Skytree for about $13. I love the design!

I hope this post was helpful! Overall, if you are going to Japan anytime soon, I highly recommend visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum. It was an amazing experience and I definitely want to go back again :)

Japan Haul Part 1 of 2

Don't forget to enter my Thank You giveaway here! :)

I'm not done with my Taiwan Haul posts yet (I still have to finish editing some pictures) but I've been so behind on my posts that I am trying to get one up every two or three days...emphasis on the word "trying" haha.

I didn't buy that many things in Japan because things were a bit more expensive in Japan than in Taiwan. I of course bought some matcha flavored snacks. The matcha flavored Pocky was ehhh. It wasn't anything amazing. The matcha flavored chocolate wafer snacks were pretty good though. The purple packets on the right are chocolate covered grape flavored gummies are divine...but I actually got them in Taiwan and not Japan :P My bad.

I haven't tried most of the snacks pictured here so I can't comment on their taste. However, the milk tea mushrooms are absolutely amazing and I totally regret buying just one box :/

My aunt bought a ton of Japanese curry for me to take back to the States. This isn't even all of it -_-"

If I remember correctly, I got these bento making supplies at Tokyu Hands. I already tried making the panda rice balls and they actually do end up looking like what's pictured! I also bought 3 sakura shaped carrot cutters and a bunny shaped cookie cutter.

I believe I got these at Daiso. They were too cute to pass up. I'm not sure if I'll ever use it though...I think these are meant to be used for little girls and not college students like me haha.

I also got these stationary supplies at Daiso. Just one dollar for lace tape?! Yes please :)

I can't remember if I got these from Taiwan or Japan =_=" I know for a fact that I got all the pouches on the left at Daiso, and I think the pens are actually from Taiwan...but I'm not sure. I am definitely getting old.

Finally, I bought these super cute bookmarks at Asakusa. I don't know if I'll ever use them but I thought these were pretty unique.

Have you ever tried matcha green tea flavored snacks? If so, did you like it? If not, is it something you want to try?

Japan Day 1 and 2

I' nthinking of just throwing a bunch of pictures together for my Taiwan posts because I don't remember anything anymore haha. So while I still remember some of the things I did in Japan, here is a brief outline of what I did!

June 19: Arrival
-waited at the Narita Airport for two hours until my aunt and my uncle came to pick me up
-went directly to a large mall, where we ate sashimi. Left my phone and camera in the car so no pictures :(
-Bought some green tea Kit Kats and curry at a small grocery store. Also went to Daiso, where I bought a few things (mainly stationary; will be revealed soon)

-Went to another grocery store and picked up some aloe vera yogurt

Source

-Bought some donuts at Mister Donut. I picked out a calpis flavored donut :O I forgot to take a picture, hence the stock photo. I got the blue star one.

-Went back to their house, where I then ate some fruit and a donut. Note: yellow kiwis are freaking amazing!

June 20: Ghibli Museum
-Drove for about an hour to visit my aunt's friend. Ate two donuts on the way there

-Didn't realize my aunt's friend was going to prepare a huge breakfast for us to eat. Even though I was already full from eating two donuts (I usually eat one...), I couldn't NOT eat the food that she got up at 5 am to make T_T It was really good but I definitely ate wayyy too much. In addition to the Japanese soup thing, a thick slice of toast, a giant piece of chiffon cake, and an apple tart, she also made me a cup of coffee; she roasts the coffee beans herself and sells them to other people. The coffee was so freaking amazing. I'm not a coffee person at all (I love matcha green tea to death) but I honestly could not stop drinking the coffee that she made. It was the first time I was able to drink black coffee without cringing :O

:)

-My aunt then went to work while my aunt's friend and I headed off to the Ghibli Museum~!

Side note: Honestly, the Ghibli Museum was freaking amazing. Photography isn't allowed inside the museum, but trust me- if you ever find yourself in Japan, make sure you go to the Ghibli Museum. It was an unbelievable experience  and I plan on going to the Ghibli Museum every single time I travel to Japan. My love for Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki grew a thousand time stronger, which I didn't think was possible since I was already a Ghibli fanatic prior to visiting the Ghibli Museum. I spent about an hour and a half exploring the museum (it's sort of small so an hour and a half was more than enough time) and taking pictures outside, and then about half an hour looking through the gift shop. I'll reveal my purchases in a separate post.

-Went to eat a mini lunch at a cafe near the Ghibli Museum; I ordered a cup of coffee and a quiche while my aunt's friend ordered a cup of coffee and toast
-Then we headed off to a large mall. We went to a few different stores but didn't buy anything

So good...wish I used my DSLR instead of my iPhone to capture its utter perfection

This cappuccino was surprisingly really really good

-Stopped by a crepe/ice cream store inside the mall. I ordered a cup of cappuccino and the most amazing crepe in the world! It was filled with sliced bananas, whipped cream, drizzled chocolate sauce, and matcha green tea ice cream ^^ My aunt's friend also had her very fist crepe and loved it to death haha. We stayed in the store for a while and just talked
-Then we went to a different department store/mall and walked around some more

Beard Papa!!!

-On our way out off the station my aunt's friend stopped by Beard Papa's and bought me some delicious cream puffs
-As we waited for my aunt to pick us up, we went to a grocery store and my aunt's friend bought a few groceries
-My aunt dropped off her friend at her house and then we went back home

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this! Thank you for being so patient and putting up with my late posts :) And I promise, the giveaway post will be up soon!