Sorry for the late post. Didn't have plans for the day either except there was a Waseda International Students Welcome Party. I'm seriously feeling like royalty with all these parties and welcomes and such. Anyways, Joanna met me in the lounge as I skyped my parents and just wanted to go out somewhere but didn't know where. Luckily for her I have a small list of local places that I've been wanting to go to so we decided to go to BOOKOFF. For those who don't know BOOKOFF is a used "bookstore" but they also have other used items such as games, software, and possibly other things.
First we decided to pick up our inka (or personal seal used for banks and other official documents).
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| FOUND A CAT |
Joanna forgot her inka pickup sheet so we had to back track... I waited with the cat for a little bit but it seemed stressed out by my stalking so I left it. I will come back with treats soon! Wait for me!
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| Cat bum |
Joanna was really hungry so we headed to get some Tsukemen again. I got something different this time. It was some kind of potato tsukemen? That's what the white stuff was I think. I got the large size again but I couldn't finish it because I had just eaten a few hours ago. Should have stuck to medium. This place wasn't as good as the Tsukemen in Harajuku though. And it was expensive.... Joanna's was the same price as mine the other day (780JPY) but because I got something special mine was like 980JPY... way too expensive but there's really no point if I got the exact same thing I got last time.
So I was certain there was a BOOKOFF right by Takadanobaba Station near the BIG BOX but... I was grossly mistaken. We looked around for a good 10 minutes but to no avail. I must have mistaken the big red signs and saw a BOOKOFF right by another station... But there was a 3 story regular bookstore so we dropped in.
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| I kind of wanted this book but it was 3000JPY! |
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| Naturally I wandered off to the 5th floor. Also this store started at the 3rd floor. |
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| PEN/CIL PARADISE |
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| Kuroshitsuji.... somehow already up to book 15. |
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| So many BL comics... like.... Jesus how are there so many BL authors. |
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| Hand-drawn art by the manga artists themselves |
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| All Shonen Jump comics. Can you find BLEACH and Naruto? |
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| I haven't read manga in a very long time but there were 2 volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist I wanted to get... then I decided to wait until BOOKOFF cause they're prolly half the price or less. 1 volume of FMA was 400JPY here, still dirt cheap, but why not go cheaper? |
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| Awesome very convincing paper beetles. Makes me think of Animal Crossing. |
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| DINOSAURS |
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| Colorful train underpass at Takadanobaba Station |
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| Stopped by a pharmacy on the way back home... |
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| REAL LASTING TEARS TANK |
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| Oddly colourful cranes... maybe from a specific company? |
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Dropped by My Basket and Santoku coming back!
I got the Pokemon chupa and Apple "maple melon bread" from My Basket, the rest from Santoku.
Yes I bought cat food. Yes I will feed stray/possibly not stray cats.
Also I've seen so many people have Garigari-kun popsicles I wanted to try them! |
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| SO GOOD! Seriously tastes like soda.. It even has like sugar crystals inside or something. |
Finally it was time for the welcome party held by Waseda.
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| A little excited there Anne? |
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| Okuma Auditorium... the clock tower is gorgeous at night. |
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| It was at the Okuma Garden House... I think. I don't know the official name of the building but this path ran parallel to the Okuma garden. Really great setting. |
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| See something Joanna? |
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| The building from outside. I think it's actually a cafeteria normally. |
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| Fairly classy looking setting |
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| Photobombing Anne |
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| Guys in skirts... more on that later. |
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| This party was for ALL international students so this includes SILS, Double-degrees, JLP, .... everyone. |
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| Fairly crowded |
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| member of WIC (pink shirt) |
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| KANPAI! We had tea in our glasses. |
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| Alison (America) and Eda (Denmark) |
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| I didn't take too many photos of the food but man was it high-end looking and tasting. Our international students back home would never get this kind of hospitality. |
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| currrrrrryyyyyyy |
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| Okay so the reason these guys are in skirts is because they were performing for our welcome party by doing a dance cover of a song form the very popular and famous girl group AKB48. ...They weren't wearing shorts under those skirts. (video below) |
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| After that we had a much more "tame" dance performance of a traditional Okinawan (I think?) fisherman's dance... or something haha. It was very fun and we chanted "Dokkoisho" and "So-ran" with them. |
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| Really fantastic food. |
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| Excuse my gruesome face... But this is me and my awesome friend Marina from Belarus. I dunno what it is but we just kind of click and get along very well. She lives in the dorm across from me on the right... so very very close. |
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| Joanna, the sweets maniac, was the only one who got these cute and delicious sweets before everyone else took them. But, being the kind sharing caretaker she is, she gave everyone a taste. |
So when we walked into the party we had to had our "ticket" (a paper that was stuck into our orientation folders) and they gave us a small paper with a number on it. This number is your lottery ticket and they raffled off some university merchandise that Waseda donated for us. At first they said you had to do a small interview when you win your prize and everyone started freaking out like "Oh god I don't want to win, I'll just buy my Waseda merch!!" But it turns out the interview was only for people who got like the top tier prizes, such as a towel, shirt, sweatshirt, but the lower tier just had to stand at the front for a while.
I usually don't have much luck with things like these but I won a prize! It was kind of a middle-tier prize, but after winning that hot water boiler from bingo at the dorm party I really didn't think I would get anything. Sasha (Russia) was the first one to win a prize. Congratulations!
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Masami (left-most) photobombed us!
from left to right
Masami (Japan), Eda (Denmark), Joanna (Australia), Anne (Canada), Sasha (Russia), Me!, Marina (Belarus), Can't remember, sorry! (England), Zoe (England) |
After the party we kind of split up. Marina, Eda, and I wanted to head home and on our way back I found a friend!!
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| tell your friends |
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| i have more!! |
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This was what I won:
A pink Waseda pen and a Waseda cover file? File cover? Can't remember what it's called. Apparently you put your documents in a folder and then you stick the whole folder into this thing. |
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| But I just use it as a glove. Gotta keep those hands warm for winter! |
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