If the Bluebirds Sing, I'm Out of Here
Aug. 2nd, 2010 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foolish_m0rtalSo because I've been getting stuff for other people and nothing for myself, I decided to spend the beginning of my last week in Japan in Ikebukuro becoming materialistic. I seriously spent about 5 hours in Sunshine City. (And theoretically more, since I went home to watch Durarara)
The mall is pretty huge, but I was able to ask in Japanese for a map in English, which is an important phrase for anyone to know. ("Eigo no chizu ga arimas ka?") I got some ridiculously cute Japanese earrings- I'd always wanted a pair. Something so adorable and girly that people would look at them and say, "You've gone to Tokyo, haven't you?" I think mission accomplished.
I was also debating getting a pair of geeky glasses (you know, giant horn-rimmed ones) just to wear for the hell of it. I'd seen them the first time I'd come to Sunshine City, so I was kind of coming back for them, I guess. But as I was just about to by them, I heard a voice in my ear, a tiny voice that sounded like my friend from university. "You goddamn hipster," it said fondly, like he always does when I do something disgustingly indie.
I put the glasses back.
Thanks, dude, for stopping me from making a frivolous completely goddamn hipster shopping choice.
I finally went to Namjatown, which I didn't do the first time because from what I perceived, it was just a food court where you had to pay 300 yen to get in and then more for food, which I thought was ridiculous.
But it's almost like...I don't want to say amusement park, but they've got different sections that are decorated according to a theme. There's a haunted shrine/village section, and ice cream city, a place that's decorated like outside vendors stalls that sell gyoza. It's actually really neat! Namjatown is basically a money sucking hole, but if you only spend money on admission and maybe ice cream and gyoza, you can make out okay. There are a whole lot of other arcade-ish things to do inside all the different sections, but of course I didn't spend money on any of those.
I DID spend money at Ice Cream City, where they have an ice cream museum with different random flavours and you can buy sample tubs. There were regular things like chocolate and strawberry and green tea as well as random things like crushed pearl, black ice, shark fin, and fried chicken wing. I got octopus, of course, though I was really tempted by the squid ink or the lavender.
Also, the commodes in the haunted house section are totally freaking weird.
Like, I sit down and wonder why there's a mirror on the door. Then in the reflection I see the giant decorative head behind the commode light up and start talking. And the lights in the stall flash and go dark, and suddenly there's black light with the head shouting all along in ominous Japanese about how I'm being welcomed to the scaaary Namjatown and who dares disturb his slumber.
And then, and THEN I finally get out of there to go wash my hands, and the sink starts making waterfall noises and singing at me. Like I haven't been traumatised enough for one day in my attempts at basic hygiene. I'm like, "Mr. Sink, this is all very nice, but I have to get going."
But in general it was pretty cool. I think it's worth going just to see how they've decorated the place. There's one section devoted to different types of breads, and they've decorated it like a little old French town with peeling paint houses and flowers in the windows. They even have a giant tree hung with lights, and the lights are in the shape of giant loaves of bread.
After I got out of there, I just wandered around Ikebukuro for a bit and headed back on the train. God, I'm going to miss being able to go around on the trains whenever I want to. And that voice on the train that says, (phonetically spelled) "Suni wa, Ikebukuro, Ikebukuro. Are nishi wa, migi gawa des."
[Next is Ikebukuro. The doors on the right side will open]
My favourite is Toro because they repeat the station name, so the voice says, "Toro! Toro!" XXD
And the one at the train station that says, "Mabonaku ichiban sen ni, kakuyaki densha, Omiya yuki na maerimas. Abunai des kara kiroi sen made osagire kudasai."
Something like [The number one train is arriving. Destined towards Omiya. Please keep behind the yellow line]
Tell it, lady. (Sometimes it's a guy. I think it's when two trains are arriving at both sides of the same platform at the same time. My favourite is when the music used for when the train is boarding starts on both sides of the platform and it becomes kind of like a round. The music at Hanamatsucho is very pretty. My friend told me that the station near the guy who created Astroboy has Astroboy boarding music. SWEET)
The mall is pretty huge, but I was able to ask in Japanese for a map in English, which is an important phrase for anyone to know. ("Eigo no chizu ga arimas ka?") I got some ridiculously cute Japanese earrings- I'd always wanted a pair. Something so adorable and girly that people would look at them and say, "You've gone to Tokyo, haven't you?" I think mission accomplished.
I was also debating getting a pair of geeky glasses (you know, giant horn-rimmed ones) just to wear for the hell of it. I'd seen them the first time I'd come to Sunshine City, so I was kind of coming back for them, I guess. But as I was just about to by them, I heard a voice in my ear, a tiny voice that sounded like my friend from university. "You goddamn hipster," it said fondly, like he always does when I do something disgustingly indie.
I put the glasses back.
Thanks, dude, for stopping me from making a frivolous completely goddamn hipster shopping choice.
I finally went to Namjatown, which I didn't do the first time because from what I perceived, it was just a food court where you had to pay 300 yen to get in and then more for food, which I thought was ridiculous.
But it's almost like...I don't want to say amusement park, but they've got different sections that are decorated according to a theme. There's a haunted shrine/village section, and ice cream city, a place that's decorated like outside vendors stalls that sell gyoza. It's actually really neat! Namjatown is basically a money sucking hole, but if you only spend money on admission and maybe ice cream and gyoza, you can make out okay. There are a whole lot of other arcade-ish things to do inside all the different sections, but of course I didn't spend money on any of those.
I DID spend money at Ice Cream City, where they have an ice cream museum with different random flavours and you can buy sample tubs. There were regular things like chocolate and strawberry and green tea as well as random things like crushed pearl, black ice, shark fin, and fried chicken wing. I got octopus, of course, though I was really tempted by the squid ink or the lavender.
Also, the commodes in the haunted house section are totally freaking weird.
Like, I sit down and wonder why there's a mirror on the door. Then in the reflection I see the giant decorative head behind the commode light up and start talking. And the lights in the stall flash and go dark, and suddenly there's black light with the head shouting all along in ominous Japanese about how I'm being welcomed to the scaaary Namjatown and who dares disturb his slumber.
And then, and THEN I finally get out of there to go wash my hands, and the sink starts making waterfall noises and singing at me. Like I haven't been traumatised enough for one day in my attempts at basic hygiene. I'm like, "Mr. Sink, this is all very nice, but I have to get going."
But in general it was pretty cool. I think it's worth going just to see how they've decorated the place. There's one section devoted to different types of breads, and they've decorated it like a little old French town with peeling paint houses and flowers in the windows. They even have a giant tree hung with lights, and the lights are in the shape of giant loaves of bread.
After I got out of there, I just wandered around Ikebukuro for a bit and headed back on the train. God, I'm going to miss being able to go around on the trains whenever I want to. And that voice on the train that says, (phonetically spelled) "Suni wa, Ikebukuro, Ikebukuro. Are nishi wa, migi gawa des."
[Next is Ikebukuro. The doors on the right side will open]
My favourite is Toro because they repeat the station name, so the voice says, "Toro! Toro!" XXD
And the one at the train station that says, "Mabonaku ichiban sen ni, kakuyaki densha, Omiya yuki na maerimas. Abunai des kara kiroi sen made osagire kudasai."
Something like [The number one train is arriving. Destined towards Omiya. Please keep behind the yellow line]
Tell it, lady. (Sometimes it's a guy. I think it's when two trains are arriving at both sides of the same platform at the same time. My favourite is when the music used for when the train is boarding starts on both sides of the platform and it becomes kind of like a round. The music at Hanamatsucho is very pretty. My friend told me that the station near the guy who created Astroboy has Astroboy boarding music. SWEET)
