It was quite a surprise when I logged in this morning to find out that my blog had been featured on Blog All-Stars as the blog of the week on February 11th I don’t always get a chance to check my HK email but I was very excited when I read the kind comments and congratulations. it’s great to know that the things I’m interested in are actually of interest to others, lol! So, thank you for the moment in the spotlight…I really appreciate it!

Sadly, I’ve left Tokyo behind and returned home from my honeymoon. My hubby and I are already saving for another trip back to Japan.

There were a few things I never got a chance to post about. So, I guess i’ll give a little summary in this entry ~

Tokyo Tower

We took the trip over to Tokyo Tower the day before new Year’s Eve. On the way over we passed through the Zojoji Temple.

They were setting up for the gathering the next night.  When we reached the tower the admission lines were so long that we decided not to go to the observation deck or the Aquarium. I’m still a little confused as to where you would put an aquarium in a communications tower…Instead we wandered through the souvenir shops and the arcade.

On the way back to the station my husband required that we stop in at the Pokemon Center. Although I don’t really have any interest in Pokemon I was pretty disappointed at how small the store was. I didn’t even see an area where kids could battle together. I think the Pokemon Center in NYC had more stuff before it turned into the Nintendo Store.

Tokyo Disneyland

We spent New year’s Day at Tokyo Disney and I must say that it was a fantastic trip. It was only a 20min ride from Tokyo Station and we spent the whole day running around the park eating food and waiting online for rides, ha ha. In the morning there was a special New year’s Greeting Parade with Mickey and Minnie wearing traditional kimonos

Although it was freezing we stayed for the Electric Lights Parade and the fireworks at night.

I guess that those were really two of the most notable things that we did during our last days in  Tokyo…Oh yeah, I can’t forget about the crepes

We bought these in Harajuku and they were absolutely delicious. I wish i had one right now…mmmmmm

Shopping at Maruione was a lot of fun yesterday…strange that I didn’t take any pictures of the shop. Well, Marui (aka 0101) is a department store in Shinjuku. There are others around but I like the ones in Shinjuku the best because that’s where the rest of the Gothic Lolita shops are. Shinjuku has 3 Marui stores each is separated by only a few blocks…and Japan blocks are a lot shorter than NYC blocks! There’s Marui Young, Marui Men, and Marui City. I was able to find more great Vivienne Westwood goods at Marui City in the accessories section that I couldn’t find at the flagship store in Shibuya.

Not too far from Marui Young you can find a Hello Kitty Gift Gate. Outside the door is a big, HK statue and it’s right next to a Baskin Robbins.
In my opinion this Gift Gate wasn’t as nice as the one in Ginza. It was all pretty much the same stuff but I think because the shop at Ginza Nisha has 2 floors (w/ the Questina shop) it just makes i much more worth while to go there.

I’m definitely starting to feel a lot less jet lagged but I can’t seem to sleep past 7am, which is pretty frustration. My back as been hurting as well. I think the bed isn’t as comfortable as I first though…I feel like an old woman. *sigh*

Anyway…I couldn’t go to Shibuya and not visit the Vivienne Westwood boutique. Although, I don’t love her clothes as much as Betsey Johnson’s I still needed to see her shop in person because there isn’t one in NYC anymore.

You would never guess how expensive her products are by looking at the storefront and that neon sign but I almost fell over when I realized none of the bags were less than $1,000!

I was mainly there looking for a present for my best friend. She is absolutely in love with Westwood stuff and I can’t leave Japan without buying her something. I left the boutique empty handed but i realized that there are a few other stores around the city. Her Red Label shop is in the Parco in Shibuya as well and she has another shop in Shinjuku at Maruione that I still have to check out.

Yesterday my husband and I took a trip over to Harajuku. Takeshita-dori seemed much more crowded than I last remembered…so we skipped all the shops on the street and headed straight for Laforet.

If I was still interested in Gothic Loli fashion I would have been in heaven. But, that didn’t stop me from enjoying all the clothes and accessories.

One the way out we spotted Kiddy Land down the street. Kiddy Land is a multi-floored store dedicated to all sorts of toys. My husband was excited to check it out. The first floor had a few Hello Kitty items as well as electronics. There was a floor for SanX and Ghibli merchandise and another floor for anime related goods.

Once we left Kiddy Land we decided to spend some time wading through the crowds on Takeshita-dori. The street is full of punk, gothic lolita, music, and accessory shops. You can definitely find a lot of great things down there. However, it was such a cold and windy day we couldn’t spend as much time as we would have liked looking around…so we’ll have to head back there next week.

Yesterday I celebrated Christmas in Tokyo. I was actually pretty surprised at the lack of decorations around the city. Granted, we have only been to Ginza and Shibuya but I figured Shibuya would at least be in the Christmas spirit. There have been a few decorated Christmas trees around but nothing in the traditional sense. I think many I’ve been so overloaded by Christmas in the US that it seems so empty here in Tokyo. Of course, Christmas isn’t a national holiday here, so I couldn’t expect them to be going all out for a holiday that has little significance besides presents.

My hubby and I stopped by a little dessert shop in Tokyo Station on the way home last night and picked up some delicious cakes to eat. It was our little Christmas treat.

We left America on the 22nd and arrived in Japan on the 23rd. It was about a 13 hour flight and then it took another hour on the N’EX to get to Tokyo Station from Narita. We got a little lost at the station but once we were outside it was easy to find our apartment. I’m still battling the jet lag.
The apartment is in a business district so there aren’t many grocery stores or shopping areas but there are plenty of coffee shops and convenient stores.

The day after we arrived we decided to take it easy and walk around the area to get used to everything.The Imperial palace isn’t far from where we are staying so we walked over there and took some pictures before heading for Nisha Ginza and the Hello Kitty stores. Two floors of HK cuteness. The first floor is Questina, a store that has more grown up items. I found an adorable purse but for $300 I had to pass. There were also plenty of sparkly cases for ipods, and cell phones. The upstairs was the Gift Gate. This sections was dedicated to a younger audience..as well a more Sanrio characters. Yesterday when we were in Shibuya we also checked out the 109-2 Sanrio store…but it wasn’t nearly as cool as the Ginza stores.

I definitely won’t be able to finish the Christmas event quest now…

I was so excited about the HKO reunion but I’ve had barely any time to play. There was about enough time just to get all the quest information. I was all set to go collect all the items, but it looks like I’ll have to wait for the next open session to play. Hopefully that won’t be too far off in the future.

Well, I’m packed and ready to get this honeymoon going. We definitely need it. There’s been a lot of stress lately and even a death in the family so a nice, exciting trip away from home is well deserved. I know my hubby really deserves it. He’s been working very hard these past few months.

Our flight leaves at noon tomorrow and we’ll be up bright and early. I would much rather spend my extra time in the airport than in a taxi frantic about the possibility of missing the flight. I can’t wait to experience JAL’s  premium economy class. I’ve never flown in anything but economy so even this little upgrade will be a big treat. I think they should bump us up to business class instead…we are on our honeymoon after all. lol

I hope everyone has fun on the last day of HKO and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

I can’t believe that it is already mid-December. Time really does seem to fly by. This time next week I’ll be on a place to Tokyo.

This will be the very first “Chrismakkuh” (my hubby is Jewish) that my husband and I share as a married couple. This will also be the first holiday season that we won’t be spending with our friends and family. It will be a whole new experience.

I’ve been thinking back to when I was small and my mom and I used to bake all sorts of goodies for Christmas.  I remember waking up in the middle of the night and sneaking half way down the stairs to see if there was anything in the stockings. Then I would venture further to see if anything was under the tree.  I definitely miss being that carefree.

But, this year my husband and I are giving each other a great present and taking a well deserved vacation. We will always have next year to do all the traditional things…maybe next year we’ll even have our very own home to decorate and a real tree to put up.

I’ve been so busy lately that I just haven’t had time to update.  I’m very excited because my hubby and I are leaving soon for our honeymoon. We’re taking a trip to Tokyo, Japan and spending the holiday season there. I’m really looking forward to seeing Tokyo all lit up and decorated for the holidays.

We are renting an apartment right in the heart of Tokyo. It was amazing how expensive it could be to book a nice hotel room for the whole trip. Renting a fully serviced apartment was a much better option for us. We’ll even have out own little kitchen and washer/dryer!

Both my husband and I have been to japan before but that was a separate times. I went right out of high school with my best friend and we spent the summer there. It was like one big shopping trip with a whole bunch of concerts thrown in./ We had great fun and I’m really looking forward to all of that again. Although this time I think we will do a few more tourist type things. We even plan on taking a trip to Tokyo Disney.