Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Top 3 sushi I've ever eaten. Maybe #2.
Sick Nissan Skyline GTR
In the evening I met up with my hosts Ruri and Haruka. We went to a cool restaurant and talked a lot about various things. 100% in Japanese, so I got some good practice =)
The next day Ruri and Haruka had to go to work, so I met up with someone I had practiced speaking English and Japanese with on Skype before coming to Japan. He's a real 'Otaku'. Knows every single anime and is very much into video games. I was very impressed by the fact that he was CEO of his own computer company. Together we went to Osaka's version of Akihabara. Walked around a lot, went to some arcades.
Video game... 'forever with you'... so true and so sad...
In the evening I went back to meet up with Ruri and Haruka. We played a card game together, talked a lot more and they made me the most delicious Okonomiyaki I've ever had!!! 美味しかったーー！！！
SUPER SUPER delicious Okonomiyaki!!!
The next day I met up with my last host. Lan Fan. A chinese girl who's lived in Japan since she was 5 and thus speaks fluent Japanese. We went on a day-trip to Nara together.
In the evening we went to Namba, which is the busiest district in Osaka and quite possibly the biggest district in all of Japan. We went there on a Monday evening and it was busy as hell. Remind me to never ever go here on a Friday or Saturday night.
Apparently 'Randstad'(big dutch company) is popular in Japan too!
Takoyaki
I LOVE this cartoon!!!
Shin Chan!!
The next day I left fairly early to go to Tokyo. It took a little over 4 hours to get to my hotel in Tokyo. I spent the evening at my hotel.
The next day, was my 2nd to last day in Japan. I went to eat lunch in Marunouchi and afterwards did some exploring in Shibuya and went to see Yoyogi park properly. Last time it was dark and I didn't get to see much of it. Afterwards I had an appointment with a lawyer to discuss the options of living in Japan. More on what he told me later on in this blog. For dinner I met up with Robert again. The Dutch guy living in Tokyo and working at JP Morgan. This time he brought a colleague, James. We ate some good quality sushi and talked about a variety of topics.
Hakata Ramen in Tokyo
James' delicious looking Sashimi
Me and Robert just ordered the most expensive set on the menu. Good choice!
My last day in Japan was a busy one! First of all I went to Shibuya to do some shopping. I wanted to buy an eye mask so it'd be easier to sleep on the plane. I brought one with me, but ended up forgetting it at my host in Fukuoka, Maya's house.
After buying a new eye mask I met up for drinks with Emi, whom I had met at one of the international parties. We talked for 2 hours before I had to leave for my next appointment.
At 4PM I met up with Shunsuke, whom I had also met at one of the international parties. First we went to a maid cafe, which was the first time for both of us. Unfortunately enough we were not allowed to take pictures inside. Overall it was not what I had expected at all. Maid cafes are actually very similar to regular cafes. You go in, order a drink and/or food and that's it. The difference is that, there's girls dressed up as maids walking around, they do some weird interesting dance with you when they make your drink for you and you can talk to the maids if you ask them to come over. It also looked like you could play very childish games with them and take a picture with them, but I think you had to pay extra for that and we weren't really into it. Overall a fun experience and slightly more entertaining than a regular cafe, but pretty similar and also slightly more expensive, so not a place I'll go too often. But a fun place to show to people who've never been.
Afterwards me and Shunsuke went to some arcades to play music games before meeting up with Toru for dinner. Toru is the friend of someone I had met at an international party. A month before I had eaten Ramen with him and his friend. This time we went for Tenpura, which was quite うまい!
After dinner we met up with Satomi, whom I had also met at an international party and had been to Tokyo Tower with. We all went to Karaoke together, which was a blast. They were all sick badasses at Karaoke, especially Shunsuke I wouldn't be surprised if he could get a record deal. That guy has skillz!!!
After Karaoke I got my bags from my hotel and was driven to the airport by Emi, because the trains weren't running anymore. Again thank you so much for driving me, Emi!!!
Driving over the Rainbow Bridge
The ride back on the airplane was both good and bad. The good was I slept for 5 hours and then another 3. The bad was that inbetween my naps, I passed out for the 2nd time in my life and got supernauseous for an hour. Fortunately enough British Airways is a very good airline company and the crew took great care of me!
After landing in London I met up with my friends, ate some much needed lunch after 26 hours of no food and hung out with Marty, whom I'm letting stay at my place till x-mas while he has an internship in London.
Today I met up with Aimi, a Japanese girl who's travelling in London for 1 month. So I finally got to talk some Japanese again. I was really starting to miss speaking Japanese, so I'm happy I got to talk to her today!
Overall Japan was EPIC!!! And I want to go back supersuper badly, for the following reasons:
1) Japanese people are superduper friendly!
2) The food in Japan is SO MUCH better and cheaper than in London!
3) Talking and learning Japanese is LOTS of fun and I want to speak Japanese every day!
4) Japanese culture is awesome!
5) Tokyo is EPIC. London's a great place to live, but it doesn't even compare to how awesome Tokyo is.
Basically I'm back in London and every time I go out on the street, I'm sad I'm not in Japan... That's why I would very much like to live there, which is why I went to a lawyer in Tokyo to see what my options are. He said I most likely have 2 options. A work visa will be hard since I have no college degree.
1) Student Visa. I don't want to go to university, but apparently you can also get a student visa if you go to Japanese language school. I by far prefer studying on my own, but as long as I don't have to go too many hours per week, this could be a decent option.
2) Investor Visa. I'd need 5 million yen(50kEUR, little under 40kGBP) and 1 full time employee living in Japan. This'd probably be ideal as it potentially costs the least time or potentially is something very fun and profitable. But it's also harder and more complicated to set up.
Either way, I'll most likely be back in Japan very soon. I'm guessing I'll go back somewhere inbetween mid-January and the start of April and then stay for a few months. Mostly just in Tokyo with a few small trips to probably Nagoya and maybe a city I haven't been to yet.
I'll be back!!
I'll finish this blog with a picture of the Yukata I bought in Nagoya!
