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[jamabroad]

Day 70: Koiwa and Harajuks Bro

It was a rainy day and I went to meet with Yuji again to eat. This time we didn’t really have a restaurant in mind, but he needed to go to Harajuku to buy souvenir for his girlfriend so I decided to accompany him. When we went there we decided to eat at a burger shop not far from the station and we got a black-bun burger. It was Y950 and not as filling as Shake-Shack. After that, we checked the neighboring dense ice cream shop where Aimee and Chlarise went to the day before and we decided to walk around more. We passed by Takeshita street to go to Line Friends where he bought specific souvenirs. After that, we headed back and I was bored so I decided to explore by myself in Koiwa especially since there’s a cool lily garden that Google Map recommended was nearby.

When I arrived in Koiwa, it was raining very heavily. I had to walk 22 minutes to the gardens under the strong breeze and raging rain which was very uncomfortable. There was not a minute that went by that made me regret going there as my shoes were soaked to the ground. I managed to go to the garden and saw a bus that had many old Japanese people sprawling around the gardens and hurriedly returning. I was the lone person there with another old dude and a bunch of workers. I took some pictures to remember this experience and walked to the nearest station. The next stop was apparently Koiwa station but when I exited it was a farther station further north called Keisei-Koiwa. Walking back to Koiwa station was 17 minutes which was pain - I basically paid for nothing and the rain was still storming. I walked a straight path down, bought some food in a grocery, and finally arrived at Koiwa Sta. Then I arrived at Shinkoiwa, bought some food at Seiyu as my reward, and gone home. I stayed home and had to meet with Minh to finalize some Hokkaido stuff then settled everything. After that, I just watched Terrace House and had a much needed rest for this exhausting day.

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[jamabroad]

Day 60 - Lunch in the Philippines

After class I went to gym again at Sophia for my triceps and back. I also went to reserve seats in the Halal cafe but I bought a beef bento in a food truck. I stayed for a bit and then got approached by Aimee and Chlarise then later the rest of the Filipinos started showing up, it was my first time meeting Jeanne and Francis (formally). We ended up eating at the outside where it was a bit sunny. There they talked in Tagalog and we had fun. We then went to the library afterwards where I separated from them to study IB.

After that, I was bored so I went to Kinshicho to look for food. There I walked around looking for new places but I knew in my heart I wanted to try the soba noodle place that I saw in my previous visit there in the mall at the south of Kinshicho. There I enjoyed a Y960 meal which was very filling I couldn’t even finish it. After that I went to a Dotour Coffee shop to do more reading for IB. Here after, I left to go back home and just chilled for the day after.  

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[jamabroad]

Day 7 - Penis Festival

I managed to wake up early enough to travel with 15 other DK House residents to Kawasaki to witness the yearly Kanmanari Festival, better known as the penis festival. We commuted from our dorm all the way to Kawasaki and arrived at 11 AM. The crowds were filled with people, mainly tourists, and it was near impossible for the DK House residents to clump together in one pile. I managed to climb up to the temple gates which led to a domino effect of others going up as well, and I was able to see inside the temple that was celebrating the festival. There were dick snacks and dick-shaped statues around the area, which sadly I didn’t want to spend on. We got separated for a while with many of our group but after some time we managed to reunite outside the temple. Once we met up, we walked farther away from the crowd and into an alley that had restaurants and shops surrounding us. Farther up ahead was a crowd forming and a majestic, fabulous figure shone its light upon us. A pink, true-to-form penis statue was being carried around as part of the festivities. There were also nicely-dressed geishas following the parade. I initially thought that the penis ceremony was over with since we arrived a bit late, so being able to see one made me joyous. 

We followed it and took a short break up close to it. Many residents also bought some dick-sickles which was priced at around Y500. After that, we walked to a beautiful garden with an overlooking view of a pond and cherry blossoms. After this, we walked, spotted the penis up close again, and entered an area with a large temple and pagoda. We entered the pagoda, which felt really cramped but sacred. There was a top floor with some Buddhist statues and a basement with a bigger Buddha. Outside, I bought some Yakisoba for lunch and just stayed there until we left the area. I bought some milk tea, we visited another temple just to wait for the other companions and decided to head back to the station.

On the way back though we got separated again from the big crowd. So 6 of us, which turned to 5 in Akihabara (sorry Minh), then 4 (James went back) in Shin-Koiwa, and finally 3 (Emma went to the grocery) to the dorm made our way back to DK House. Me, Brian, and Daniel were walking together and decided to eat dinner together - and despite my bento from yesterday still in my fridge, I decided it was fine.

Come 7:30 - I met up with the two of them and we went to find dinner. We decided to eat at a Menya Itto which was a famous ramen spot in Shinkoiwa. We were surprised to know that we had to wait until 9:15 PM for our spot to open up in the shop. So while waiting, we went shopping for windows and just stayed in the park to chill. After that, we went back to the restaurant at around 9 PM and got seated. I ordered a tonkotsu ramen and it was very delicious. I’d rate it a tad below the first ramen I tried in Tokyo but I still thoroughly enjoyed it, especially with company this time around. After that, we headed back to our dorm and rested up for the day. Today was long - but it was satisfying as I managed to socialize with many people from my dorm and got to see a huge penis being waved around in public.

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