Casually stumbling into Japan

Today I went (somewhat spontaneously) (and all alone) to Harajuku!!
It's school for most japanese students (=most of Harajuku's visitors) today, so it's wasn't crowded at all.

Nearly empty.

I didn't initially go to Harajuku for shopping - I thought I'd spend my first day in Harajuku with friends. Since it's such a big deal. I mean, Harajuku.
So initially I was looking for a good library, since I like being in libraries. Not for borrowing books or anything, just for enjoying the athmosphere... So anyway one of Tokyo's better libraries (they say) was coincidentally in Harajuku, so I went there. However it was quite horrible (closed-in, unventilated, dull, claustrophobic and dark Dx But they had nice toilets!!) ...so I simply had to take the very difficult decision to go around exploring Harajuku instead ☆
So the first thing I discovered in Harajuku was... A Shinto shrine!! (And swedes) :D
I didn't even dare to take photos of the actual huge shrine, it all seemed so holy and there was miko priestesses walking around and I didn't know what or where to bow so I felt horribly disrespectful. Omg, I entered that amazing wonderful shrine with accompanying garden and had a great time and I DIDN'T EVEN SAY THANK YOU?!?! Ahhhh I will most definitely offer the gods something the next time I'm around. I feel soooo horrible for not bowing 3'x
Anyways!! The shrine was hhuuuggge!! And beautiful!!
And it had a wonderful garden!! It really gave me inner peace.

And these turtles. They were ALIVE. *0* (thought they were statues, srsly, I jumped)

Very scary Zombieturtles xD

Oh, and I saw a golden koi (that was eating Sakura flower petals). It was very beautiful and shiny. I think it's a sign. Maybe the god's forgave me for not bowing. I feel blessed, anyway.

*sparkle sparkle*

And swedes!! (No photo sry xD) I met a Swedish family they were super nice :DDD I was just casually watching koi when I heard a voice saying "Titta den är ute ock simmar!!" (=look it's out swimming!! (Regarding the turtle)) in Stockholms-dialect x'''D So I waited a minute or two and then suddenly spun around and said "Hej jag är från Norje!" (=Hi I'm from Norway! In Swedish) they were quite surprised ahaha x'D They were there on holiday... But that's dull to read about let's move on~

THEN I went to a Harajuku shopping street :D Or maybe THE Harajuku shopping street. Idk, it was the only street I found and it looked very Harajuku xD
There were soooo many cute shops :D But today I'm feeling very Edwardian, so I didn't find so much to match my time period xD But it was great to get an overview. I walked about for about 4 hours, just observing :D A day very well spent!! :D
A few super short notes!

I saw lots of lolitas, swedes (??), HEAPS of tourists... So the people was interesting enough :D
There was lots of gothic clothes *U*

This is only one of many!! :D

I visited three lolita shops. Liz Liza is kind of casual, and slightly high prizes but good quality. Baby the Stars Shine Bright was very dissappointing, it's very cheap but the quality is reaaally bad 3x Ugh!! And they had signs that said "no try, no change, no return" x'D Not great service exactly.
BUT Innocent World was amazing!! The prices are sky high ahaha, but the quality is soooo great *U* Look here, it's like THICK RUGH PROPER COTTON *0*

And the bonneeeets *0* And the clothes are so pretty!! And the shopkeeper was super nice!! :D I really love that shop omg :'D But it's very hard to find hahah xD I was walking past a smelly kebab shop when I absentmindedly noticed the simple, A4-size signboard, and then I had to walk through a dark, narrow hallway (leading to a convenience store) and take the elevator 7 floors up x'D It was like a hidden treasure ☆
Also, I met an elderly British couple :D We had a chat at a coffee bar :D They were sooo sweet omg I love British tourists x'D

And btw, my outfit gave me lots of funny looks ahaha xD

(Changing room)

At the library there was this little girl, who silently stared at me in the staircase. And then later on on the way out of the library she saw me again, and then she ran over to her mother and tugged at her sleeve and pointed at me super excitedly and shouted "ano hito! Ano hito!!" (= that person! that person!!) xD (apparently she'd told her mother about me after seeing me in the stairs x'''3 I'm super flattered) It was a really funny situation! She was so adorable!! :'D

Tomorrow school is starting. However, yesterday was the entrance ceremony, so I got to wear my (winter) uniform :D

(More documentation on Instagram)

I'm planning to write a (requested) post about school once it starts for real. About clubs and the school system and the level of math and stuffff x3
...And btw, my Instagram works as my second blog ahahah xD There are lots of exclusive extra photos and little stories there @U@
For example:

Reading project

Udon noodles

Japanese snacks

...

Fancy windows

My username is Japancorny :D

Posted with Blogsy

(Switching to English haha)
Ok, so the other day I was going to finally post all my magnificent (not-phone-or-iPad) photographs, for which I need my computer, but apparently my computer has a somewhat turbulent relationship with foreign electricity, because it's refusing to charge!! >~<"" So the moment after I'd MOVED all my photographs from my camera to my computer, my dear laptop just died!! (Aka went out of battery) So now aaalllll my photos are trapped inside my dead, presently-non-chargable computer!! Argh!! 3x
So sadly enough, you'll have to wait even longer for photos of strawberry cheesecake, me with Handsome Samurai Man in Japanese Garden, video of strange Japanese traditional music, and, uh.... Whatever I photographed. I don't remember but it was a lot.
Anyways!!
I thought I'd post my phone photos instead, yay!
They have worse resolution, but are more spontaneous, haha.
So the other day, I went on a AFS day trip kinda thing!
We were in a tatami room

And had a picnic, with onigiri

And Japanese strawberries ♥︎♥︎♥︎

Then we went out in Ikebukuro! Sooo many people!
I've written a super-long post about Shibuya and crowds... But I need my photos before I can post it =~="
Anyways! Is it that a boy's love manga advertisement I see upon that skyscraper!? xD

And they say Japan is a homophobic place! Hah! x3

Also, I found Kakashi yay xD

...I mean, if you want proffessional, astounding photos of Ikebukuro, google it! My photos are unusual and exclusive! xD aka only fangirling and weird stuff x33 👍
Also, we found a sweets shop. And I found something I most definitely do not want to eat.

...yummy...

Also, we went to karaoke and did/took purikura!! ^U^
....buuuut somebody else has the purikura right now! I'm trying to find out who! :3
Today, I wandered about Shinjuku, another part of Tokyo City, all by myself! It was like you'd imagine Tokyo, incredibly crowded, towering skyscrapers everywhere. x3
It's embarrassing to take photos in crowds... xD
Well anyways, I went to this nice cafe to eat lunch (all alone) and at first I couldn't find out whether I should pay at the counter first or wait outside - I tried to ask the waiters but my Japanese failed epically - thennn I misunderstood the menu - Japanese failed again - and THEN I ended up getting the wrong dish!! xD (that last one wasn't my fault though. The waiters messed up on their own ^^")
However! It was a wonderful place, hardly crowded at all and well outside the claustrophobic walls of the station, and that dish I was served, whatever it was, tasted DELICIOUS!! :D

Rice with egg and some very delicious sauce. It tasted, and looked, much more delicious than the dull pasta I'd ordered! Very nice!! :3
Also, I sat close to two Norwegian businessmen xD Of all the 13,282,271 people in Tokyo, I end up between two Norwegians!! (Probably because I was sitting outdoors in the shadow in only 20 warm degrees. Only Norwegians prefer that.)

Btw, about Japanese coins. They have
1 yen coin (0.05 NOK)
5 yen coin (0.1 NOK)
10 yen coin (0.5 NOK)
50 yen coin (2.5 NOK)
And 100 yen coin (5 NOK)
It's like, in this box of smurf candy

One single candy might cost 1 yen!
It's so insanely little! What's the point!!
But anyways! I've ended up with a huge amount of coins, and every time I'm paying something I end up using a 1000-yen-bill because it takes so much time to scavenge through my hundreds of coins.
So I found a new way to handle my coins!!