Kyojins, Harajuku and food!

Been a while since last post, and for that I apologize. The network we got at the Share House I live in is a bit flimsy at times, dropping out and dying whenever it feels like it. Probably doesn't help that whenever the network is up, my neighbor keeps blasting boring music that is just two or three beats that repeat over and over from the net, haha.

So, if you've seen my tumblr, I recently got some Shingeki no Kyojin loot with my drink at a 7-11. That series is immensely popular here, and you'll spot some stuff even at family restaurants or convenience stores. I also went to a big, eight floor store called Tokyo Hands, where I bought the Tiger Tank nanopuzzle model I'm working on in between studying and looking around.

Speaking of Kyojins, I've tried looking a bit on TV over here, but it's not that great when the only thing you manage to make sense from is baseball, haha. Did see a match between the Tokyo Kyojins and another team I can't remember where they were from, just that they were named Sparrows. Pretty good stuff. There's also a tv-show where they showed off a couple of Rube Goldberg machines though, that was pretty cool, and I saw one performance of Rakugo on the TV shortly before that. I find Rakugo fascinating, even if I don't get the jokes (yet).

I've also been lucky enough to meet a couple of people I can call friends! Been at some local bars and Izakayas with them, with more probably to come. Food and drinks here are great, both in taste and price. Lunch at a restaurant here costs about as much as a hot dog from a gas station in Norway! It's great!

Also tried taking the trip to Harajuku, as I was told that there's cosplays and stuff there. The weather wasn't too great (overcast, lots of clouds), and the entire area seemed to consist of foreigners, girls under 20 in groups shouting "kawaii" every two seconds, lots and lots of girl stores (clothes, phone accessories, outfits like school uniforms and such...), candy stores and the famous pancake/crepe stalls every 150 meters. It was nice to see it, but I think you need to have female company to fully enjoy what Harajuku has to offer.

However, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Taking the train to school is a bit of a pain. Those train-pushers you might've heard about? A real thing during rush-hours. A German friend of mine put it in a rather eloquent way: "You will never be as close to a woman, not even during sex, as you will be to the women on the train". It is crazy how many people they want to fit into one train...

I'm afraid that is it for this post, as I got some preparation to do before tomorrow. Tomorrow we begin with the Kanji characters, as well as some more grammar. Until next time, stay safe and have fun!

First school week!

My first week at school is over, and we seriously went through all of hiragana in that one week, along with some "survival-japanese" phrases (stuff like ordering at a restaurant, asking for directions, and shopping). We even had a test at Friday, which I think went really well. Tomorrow it's the same deal as this week, just with Katakana I bet. They really weren't kidding about it being an intensive course!

Also went to an Izakaya, which was great! Lots of drinks, food and happy people! We ate liver, the small intestine of chicken, shark-sushi and some kind of vegetable that I was told was similar to natto in texture. It all tasted really, really good! Until next post, stay safe and have fun!

Roppongi!

So I took a trip to Roppongi today. Lots of great things to see! Went to see Sakura-zaka, which is a road covered with cherry trees on both sides, then I went up on one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, not counting the towers. Also saw 3 girls in kimonos, and was lucky enough to be allowed to take a picture of them! ^_^ Remember, you can follow my tumblr to see all the photos I share. Adding a lot of photos on blogger is a pain, since I can't scroll on this page on my ipad... Anyway, pics at my tumblr!

Enjoy the pictures, and until next time, stay safe!

Cherry blossoms

It's raining, today. A lot. Because of the rain, I haven't done a lot, but I did take the chance to go and see the cherry blossoms! Even in the rain they looked great! I'll try to take some photos of them in the sun if the weather allows.

Tomorrow I gotta check in with the school for some paperwork, as well as the Ward Office... Doesn't sound like much fun to deal with paperworks, nor does it give any good pictures to share, so don't expect any. 

Stay safe!

A brand new adventure!

As of today, I've moved to the Suginami Ward in Tokyo! I'm still in the process of settling in, getting some paperwork in order and all the boring stuff you probably don't care about. Therefore, have a picture I took nine in the morning from the roof!

As a bonus for this short post, have a picture of my breakfast/morning snack.

It's Melon Bread! It tastes amazing! 

Until next post, stay safe!

Recommendation: Dr. Koto & Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

I figured that today would be a good day to write about two of the things I wish more people knew about, because of how great these things are, in my eyes. The first to be mentioned is Dr. Koto's Clinic. I haven't read the manga version of it, but the live action TV show is amazing, and highly recommended. Do be warned though, as it may give you a severe case of the feels.

Dr. Koto is a series about a small village somewhere in the southern part of Japan, which the new doctor Kensuke Goto has just arrived to. A lot of the people don't trust him, because he's an outsider and a doctor. They've previously had good-for-nothing doctors who would either get drunk or give them wrong medicine and other malpractices. Nevertheless, he works diligently to help the villagers and improve the reputation doctors have on the island. It's a great story, with amazing characters, and I really wish more people knew of this series. 

Even if you're normally not a fan of live-action TV shows, do give this one a try. I did, with no prior experience to Japanese TV-shows, and I'm extremely happy I gave it a chance. It also has a pretty amazing ending song. 

The other series I want to talk about is Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Some may recognize it as the current banner on my blog. It's an anime series made by SHAFT that parodies everything and anything you could possibly come up with. A few of the running gags include attempted suicide which always fails followed by the line "What if I had died?!", stalking, blissful ignorance, preciseness, despair and tropes that are popular. 

It's something of a skit-comedy, meaning there isn't a particular strong story to follow. It's a series made to entertain with jokes. Because of this it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but give it a fair chance and you too might end up a fan of this amazing series.

Please give these two series a shot if you got the time. My next blog post might be a while, as my trip to Japan is coming up. Once I get settled in, you can expect content on this blog right from Tokyo! Until next time, stay safe!

The Big "What's Going On?" Update

Holy carp, it's been a long time since my previous post, and a lot has happened since last time! I've kind of struggled with making a post because of this. I also have a super-special announcement at the end of this post! Anyway, let's start of with something recent...

Holy Magicarp, the Demigod of Time

I went to the US, to Florida for the Daytona 500. For those not in the know, it's a big 200 lap race, with amazingly fast cars that are LOUD. We had tickets that allowed us on the in-field, and take a look at the pre-race checks and such. Got to see 30-something laps, then it started to rain heavily, they issued a tornado warning and shit, so we decided to go back to our rental house. The race continued on later in the evening, so we watched it on TV...

The Great American Race

I also got the chance to fire a gun for the first time at a gun range. That was amazing! I tried a Glock 20 (which had a helluva recoil, being made of plastic and firing 10mm bullets), and a .357 Magnum (which I felt had less recoil, maybe because of the weight an the heavy barrel). Definitely an experience to remember.

I bought a 3DS, Pokemon Y and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. So far I've only played Pokemon, and it's just been a big old Nostalgia trip for me. It's a great game, the new Exp. Share makes it easier to have your entire team at about the same level, reducing grinding time to almost nothing. Might make a more detailed post about these games later on in a different post.

So, for something a bit more exciting, that will have a big impact on this blog... I'm leaving for Japan by the end of the month. My housing arrangements should be in order, during these next two weeks my Visa application should hopefully be done and dealt with, and happy, scary times will be here! An ENTIRE YEAR in Japan! With no one I know on beforehand!

My feels. Nervous? Not at all! Looking forward to it though!

On to the super-special announcement: absolutelyanime (previously known as Blackragdoll), my friend Marius and I, made a podcast where we talk bullshit about anime! I would have it embed in here, but it's impossibly hard to find via the tools blogger has. Instead, have a link to it! Anime Talkathon's first episode!

As a bonus note, I recently watched the OVAs of Valkyria Chronicles 3 (all two of 'em). It's really, really great, but you kind of need to have played the PSP-game to know the relationships the people have, and a healthy dose of the first Valkyria Chronicles game (for PS3) to know who Squad 7 is would also be helpful. A really great OVA though, which I would recommend even so.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun!