I know, I know. I’m about two weeks late for this post! There’s just so much going on simultaneously – mostly school work and chores; but I finally had the time to sit down and re-tell my week 3 (here’s to hoping that memory will serve me right)!

Day 1: April 18

Today marks the first “week-sary” of going to Sophia University! Even if we literally started just a week ago, the workload is already pretty heavy. In Japanese classes, we have exams every day so studying and memorizing grammar rules and words and such take time. I went straight to the dorm after classes.

By the way, may I introduce you to the best cookie ever (sold in Japan / Japanese stores in the Philippines) – that’s manufactured, of course (nothing beats a homemade cookie!):

Country Ma’am Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I finally took some time to try the KFC here in Japan and:

It’s pretty much amazing. The chicken is so good – so tender and just the right amount. The homemade biscuits came with maple syrup and the coleslaw is so good! Even if it didn’t have any rice, this meal made me so full. I had such a hard time finishing it. Wow.

Day 2: April 19

I literally didn’t sleep a wink today (well, tonight). I was too busy studying and reading for classes! This is my first all-nighter (in my collegiate life, that is). Wow.

I didn’t have time to cook, so I bought something from the convenience store:

Day 3: April 20

Today, I decided (and figured out) that I’ve been stressing myself out too much over the past few days, so what better way to relax than to go to a museum? My aunt recently informed me of a huge Pixar exhibit happening at the Museum of Contemporary Art so my friends (Winona, Pam, and – a new friend, Tiffany!) and I went after school!

Unfortunately, pictures weren’t allowed in the museum so I don’t have anything to show BUT I bought the collection catalogue book so I have basically the entire collection in a book.

This exhibit is a must-go ESPECIALLY if you’re a Pixar fan! There were original sketches of the different films under Pixar – my personal favorite was the Toy Story collection. The most memorable part for me during the entire exhibit was the Toy Story zoetrope! I’ve learned about it from film class and other museums (and personal research) and I was so delighted to be able to finally see one in person! It was so amazing; I literally stood there for ten minutes watching it again and again!

Here’s a video of the zoetrope (and other info) if you’re curious to find out (or see what I saw):
click me!

Aside from the Pixar exhibit, there was also the main exhibit of the museum which featured different mediums of art; this being one of my personal favorites:

It’s like a display of different types of turntables placed in different areas of the room and wired to play at random times in random sequences. It’s basically showing that (in my interpretation): life is like that, one moment that you miss and it’s gone forever – just like the songs played in this art piece; no song is ever the same.

Day 4: April 21

Another regular school day! I found out how to order from Amazon Japan and, boy, did I order.

I just got my package from Amazon today and here’s what I got!

Oh, and Winona and I went to the supermarket and did something pretty stupid.
There was a sale on water so we bought a box each (6 bottles of water and each of them contained 2L) and remember when I said that the walk from the supermarket to the dorm would take five minutes? Well, it took us twenty-five minutes. We didn’t expect it to be THAT difficult to carry 12L of water (AHAHA, oh well. Never making that same mistake again.)

Day 5: April 22

Happy Earth Day!

Today – thank goodness – I am dismissed after second period, so Winona and I went to Shinjuku after and did some errands / chores / necessary shopping that I had to do.

This was on my list:

1. Don Quijote (for a thermos and other things)

After much debate (and returning to the store twice) I finally bought a power bank:

ALSO –

2. Kinokuniya (to hunt for textbooks / necessary readings)
[Which we weren’t able to do]

3. ABC Mart or any other place that sells shoes (to look for waterproof boots or shoes)
[Which I just looked at because everything was so expensive!]

4. Bic Camera (to thoroughly explore it, since I’ve only browsed the first floor so far!)
[Didn’t go anymore since it was a little out of the way – or we ran out of time…]

Well I wasn’t able to eat lunch yet and I was hungry, so I told Winona, “Hey! Can we stop by someplace – somewhere cheap hopefully – for a quick bite?”. We wandered around Shinjuku, looking for a place to eat when I saw this place: Renior Ginza, Coffee Room.

I saw the sign outside that there was this promotion for sandwiches for around ¥400 for breakfast so I thought, “Wow! Then the other things must be quite affordable then.”

Never have I been so wrong before. (Or how the clichè narrator of my life would say: “Little did she know”) We went in, all confident in ourselves…and walked out with an empty wallet (but with a full stomach).

Here’s what happened:

– Winona and I went in, suprised at once that there were no people of our age inside.
– “Oh well” we thought, and we were greeted by the host who sat us down on sofa chairs.
– (That’s when I panicked; I mean, what kind of a cheap cafè would have a host and sofa chairs?!)
– I was thinking about leaving, BUT THEN a waiter arrives and serves us water and warm towels. (WARM TOWELS!)
– “Oh no” we thought, because I could see what will happen next.
– We were given the menu and my eyes widened (just a little bit). I planned to order a sandwich, and Winona planned to order a cup of black coffee.
– I said “sumimasen” and started my order of a sandwich – when the waiter asked “what drink I would like”, I said “Oh, I don’t want a drink”.
– He said, “Oh, you need to buy a drink / It’s required for a meal.”
– I panicked, but looked calmly at him and said, “Oh, in that case, I’ll have an iced cafè latte please”.
– When he got our orders, he left.
– I looked over at Winona who was laughing at my face.

ANYWAYS. Here are photos of my quite expensive meal:

In fairness, the serving is really large and the coffee is just so good. So MAYBE one day I’ll come back IF I have the budget for it.

Day 6: April 23

Today marks the official opening of the Snoopy Museum in Roppongi! Unfortunately, I was not able to grab tickets for the opening date BUT I did get ones for May 1, so that’s close enough!

Today, Pam and I went to the Railway Museum in Saitama (which was about an hour and thirty minutes away from Shinjuku) and wow, I was just so surprised at the deep history Japan has with railways that made it into what it is today!

ordered my usual: the almond pretzel and it’s really good – of course. As compared to the ones in the Philippines – these ones are fluffier and chewier, but the ones back at home have more flavor.

Day 7: April 24

Today, I stayed in the dorm and tried to catch up on all my work! Yesterday was so fun and I learned so many new things from the museum. I learned about the processes of the train and the ins and outs of the station; which is something that most people are not fully aware of.

Well, that was my week (sorry again for the late post)! I hope you had a fun time reading it as I had a fun time writing it! 🙂 Do you have any museums or places that you would like to recommend me to go to?

Thank you for reading!