In February, D’Ann got her first doll. She’d been wanting one for some time so I hit up Volks to see if they still had any in stock. Fortunately, they still had a Miu available after the DP event so I picked her up. Even though it was still a few months before D’Ann’s birthday, I let it slip that I already had the present. Here’s what happened…

Early birthday present

Of course, Miu wasn’t the only doll to join our family this year. I had also acquired the newly released Saber Lily as well as Reimu! On the custom front, we brought in an MDD and another DDS (Umi and Kitsune). With the new dolls, we had to rethink our strategy for displaying them all…

With all these new dolls, the logical thing to do would be to take pictures of them. What better way to do that by traveling with them? They went everywhere with us this year, including to Raleigh for Animazement and our road trip to Saratoga Springs, NY, Ithaca, NY, Niagara Falls, and Louisville, KY.

Of course, we had a good time too…

Maid of the Mist in Niagara Falls

Niagara at night

Lobby of the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, KY

Horse racing at Saratoga Race Course

Dolls weren’t the only thing we took into our home this year! We also adopted a a Flame Point Siamese cat from a local animal rescue. His name is Dakota and he is a total sweetheart! His mellow temper really lets him get along with Sophie.

On the photography front, I started dabbling in the world of film again. Since we have a few classic film SLRs laying around, I started shooting a few rolls of film here and there instead of using the D7000. I’m pleased with the results and I’ll keep doing it! Taking away the crutch of digital really forces me to be a better (and more frugal) photographer. XD

My two “new” cameras, Canon AE-1 (left) and Nikon FE (right)

So far I only have samples from the Canon, but I’m looking forward to shooting with the Nikon in 2012! It’s significantly more advanced than the Canon in terms of features and it’ll also take the majority of my lenses!

Finally, the big news of the year is that D’Ann and I got engaged. We found the perfect ring in Louisville while browsing the estate jewelry section and knew it was the one for us! It has some beautiful details and features leaf patterns around the diamond.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I know of that shows her wearing it… XD

That’s it for 2011… I hope 2012 brings us just as much excitement!

Happy New Year!

It’s a great little shopping center with plenty to see. Mandarake operates most of the stores in the 3rd and 4th floor and many of the other shops deal largely in second hand goods. It’s typically less crowded than Akihabara and is completely indoors. Since it’s a bit less traveled, you can often find some interesting little gems!

Before getting on the train and heading out, we had to stop for something to eat. We picked a little restaurant on the way to Ikebukuro station that served a variety of food. I settled on the lunch special.

It was all sorts of yummy with a little fried chicken, cream filled croquet, egg, and miso soup. The bowl of rice was rather large, though the whole meal really hit the spot! After food, it was off to Nakano.

Once out of the station, the Nakano Broadway shopping center is right across the street. There’s a great little Taiyaki stand on the right hand side as well as a lot of good little restaurants inside the shopping area. The actual part we were looking for was the second area. Some of the shop names are oddly specific though…

Very descriptive tag line! Though I don’t see too many socks at first glance…. XD I wonder if they have American-style socks? Nakano Broadway has several floors of otaku goodness. We started at the top on the 4th floor and worked our way down. I noticed that the closer we got to the bottom, the more “normal” stores there were. Coincidence? Probably not. There are several stores dealing in animation cels, production booklets, posters, dolls, figures, and books.

I was particularly interested in the Kenshin cel, but it was being sold for 52,500 yen! That’s a little too much for my blood, and I’ve been trying to keep my spending down on this trip… I’ve been pretty successful so far! So what kind of stuff have I wound up with so far? Well…

Lots of stuff so far! My favorite is the IdolM@ster 360 box, which includes all the extras that were sold with the special edition of the game. The game wasn’t included, but I’m perfectly OK with that!

Yep, that’s rain in the forecast all the way through Tuesday… I’m leaving on Thursday afternoon. >.> Hopefully we’ll find enough to do despite the weather, but it really hinders what I want to do with photography! At least it gives me plenty of time to do shopping…

The flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo was about 4 hours and it was my first experience with a non-American airline. The flight was operated by ANA and it took some getting used to. Firstly, the announcements came in Japanese first, followed by somewhat broken English. Service was excellent and the food was pretty good. I wasn’t expecting to be served a meal on such a short flight, since it’s not something you see with an American carrier.

Getting into Tokyo was a breeze, immigration was quick, baggage claim was slow, and immigration was quick. Once on the outside though, the reality of how expensive the trip would be set in. The currency exchange was trading at 78 Yen per USD. Fortunately, travelers cheques were trading at 80 Yen to the dollar, so it wasn’t as bad. After a little problem with the hotel (they didn’t actually have the room we reserved), we got settled in to an upgraded room with an amazing view of the Tokyo skyline.

Off in the distance is Shinjuku and the DoCoMo clock tower. It truly was a spectacular view! Unfortunately, the weather wouldn’t hold and that turned into clouds the following day. No bother, we would be shopping most of the day in Ikebukuro and the Otaku mecca of Akihabara! We actually found a couple interesting shops in Ikebukuro, including several K-Books locations that dealt in second hand items. I managed to pick up a few artbooks and some CDs as well as browse a shop that handled doll clothing.

I also ran in to Darth Vader, who was looking for Droids, as well as an interesting kind of bar… I want to know what kind of drinks they specialize in!

The walk around Ikebukuro took a bit longer than expected, so we headed out to Akihabara around 3pm. By that time, the trains were starting to get crowded with all the students getting out of school and going to various places. 20 minutes later on the Yamanote train line and we arrived in Akihabara!

The rain didn’t let up at all while we were out there, so photo coverage was extremely limited. We’re definitely planning a second (maybe third?) trip!

First order of business was to get to my relative’s place from the airport. Hong Kong International Airport is huge and very modern. Since it’s on an island outside of the city, it’s connected to the mainland via a very large bridge. Unfortunately, I was *on* the bridge so there aren’t any pictures…

First stop, my home away from home in Hong Kong. I’m staying with relatives in Kwun Tong for the few days I head to Tokyo. It’s a nice quiet area but is a bit smaller than what I’m used to for so many people. The view isn’t terrible, but it’s by no means spectacular… XD

Now would also be a decent time to talk about the camera gear I took on this trip. I recently picked up the new Canon S95 compact digital camera. It’s extremely full featured and slots in well for when I don’t want to lug around the full SLR kit. It fits easily into my pocket and features all the shooting modes I use the most (Program Auto, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority), does HD video, and has some other pretty nifty shooting modes!

This is my personal favorite… the so called “miniature mode.” It’s pretty much a faux tilt-shift effect, which gives the objects a miniaturized look. I’ve been using that extensively where the situation fits… In addition to the S95, I also have the Nikon D50 with me (since the D7000 hasn’t arrived yet) and an array of lenses. For standard shooting, I’ll be sticking mostly to my 18-200VR and 50mm Nikkors, but brought the 70-300 and 100mm macro with me as well. I’m especially looking forward to running the 70-300 through it’s paces!

Enough about camera equipment, it’s time for some sightseeing! Hong Kong is filled with interesting sights. It is home to several “themed” areas, where folks can buy stuff related to specific hobbies. Entire streets are dedicated to things like fish, birds, jade, and electronics!

Jade Market

“Goldfish street”

“Bird street”

I also managed to get myself to the super awesome Dollfie World shop in Mong Kok. I already knew what I wanted to buy, but that didn’t stop me from browsing their stock in person! The shop itself was a bit smaller than I thought it would be though… I guess the pictures on the internet made it look bigger than in person.

Also on the agenda for the trip was an excursion out to Dai O, which is a quaint area on Lantau Island. It has the air of an old fishing village and features a lot of interesting architecture. A lot of the houses are built on the water and supported on stilts.

For more pictures, be sure to check out the rest of the uploads up on Flickr!

Moving on now to the main event! A couple weeks ago, I made a trip to the gorgeous state of Hawaii. This was purely for vacation, so I tried to leave work mostly behind. A trip wouldn’t be complete without a ton of photos and I’m happy to provide!

Starting with this wonderful wide angle panorama of the Waikiki area from the top of Diamond Head crater. The hike was about an hour in each direction and offered some of the most spectacular views of downtown Honolulu. For this trip, we limited ourselves to staying on Oahu. Even though it’s an island, there was plenty to explore!

One of the most amazing things about Hawaii was the diversity of flora and fauna. Oahu itself is home to about a dozen microclimates, from tropical rainforest to dry. One of the things I wanted to do above all else was just get in the car and explore. That lead us to seeing all sorts of interesting things that you’d be hard pressed to find on a map.

Above ground, the extremely colorful birds caught my eye. At Waimea park, there was even a group of peacocks and peahens hanging out! In addition to these more “tropical” birds, wild chickens and roosters were everywhere. They seemed to be alongside all the roads, in parking lots, and even on the beaches! This one in particular decided to make use of a van’s rear window… Hopefully no presents were left behind!

In the water, the word color took on a whole new meaning. I did plenty of snorkeling at several points, including Hanamau Bay, Shark’s Cove, and places along North Shore. If you remained still, the fish would just swim around you and pay little attention to you. It was pretty amazing. There were even big sea turtles!

Unfortunately, I was at the whim of the water conditions when it came to picture clarity. When the water was calm and the sun was out, pictures came out extremely sharp. When the water got choppy or sand was stirred up, clarity suffered somewhat. I also took plenty of video, which I managed to cut together and put to music!

Snorkeling in Oahu–Music by Jake Shimabukuro

But enough about the birds and the fish. Now on to the food! Hawaii is rich in culinary delights, from island fare all the way to the best Asian Cuisine in the United States. The latter is due to the large Asian immigrant population (mostly Japanese) and whole sections of the island are dedicated to these.

Plate lunches are incredibly popular and typically feature a meat (in this case hamburger steak), two scoops of rice, some veggies, and gravy. This particular mean was at the Dole Pineapple Plantation and was accompanied by fresh pineapple juice.

Other popular local fare includes barbeque chicken and pork served along side island corn and cole slaw. This was at a restaurant on a side street in Waikiki, but I could smell it from the main road!

Don’t be confused, by this picture! Despite the Japanese text on the sign, bottle of Oi-ocha, and convenience store onigiri, this was actually taken one morning at the hotel in Oahu. Coincidentally, I stayed at the Hotel New Otani, a Japanese chain.

Some more evidence of the Japanese influence in Hawaii. This was probably some of the best cold soba I’ve ever had outside of Japan. Even the restaurant itself had a nice atmosphere!

One thing to keep an eye for in the North Shore area are the numerous shirmp farms. Most will have a small restaurant attached, serving up a variety of dishes ranging from boiled shrimp in garlic sauce to deep fried coconut shrimp (pictured above). Yet another example of a plate lunch!

Of course, no trip to the islands would be complete without a buffet style luau. Even though most are extremely tourist-ized, the food is still amazing and delicious!

No trip would be complete without loot. With the large Japanese population, there was bound to be somewhere I could pick up some nice items. Sure enough, there was a large Japanese department store called Shirokiya in the Ala Moana shopping center. In addition to being two floors of Japanese goods (electronics, appliances, and clothing), there was also a full service food court offering up freshly made crepes (stand was named in reference to the Harajuku district in Tokyo), bento boxes, taiyaki, takoyaki, sushi, and drinks galore. There was also a bakery with fresh goods downstairs. For the otaku in me, the real gem was the Book-Off that was nestled in the corner. Just like the Japanese counterpart, it featured used DVDs, CDs, and books. I landed myself several CDs, including a couple Mika Nakashima albums, Satsuki Ami disks, and Do As Infinity. I also managed to find a set of the first 13 volumes of Aa! Megami-sama for $6.50!

For those of you that are curious about the equipment used on this trip, it was actually quite simple. I brought two cameras with me and a couple accessories. First was the Nikon D50 with Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens. Most of the outdoor and scenery shots were done with this. The versatile range of the lens meant I only had to have the one lens and not have to worry about changing. The second was a Canon SD1100 IS. This served as my pocket camera for going around town and when I didn’t feel like bringing the SLR. I also did all the underwater shots with this camera, with the aid of a $30 DiCaPak underwater enclosure.

In all, it was a pretty amazing trip. Thank you Hawaii, for all the wonderful memories. As the song goes, “Aloha’oe, until we meet again!”

For more pictures and videos, be sure to check out the full set on Flickr!

Beware, lots of multimedia ahead!

Arriving in Tokyo:

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TGS2009:

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Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, and Shibuya:

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Washinomiya Shrine:

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Ghibli Museum and Okonomiyaki:

Tokyo Tower:

Going to Kyoto:

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Shrine visits in Kyoto (Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu, and Kinakuji):

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Photosynth of Washinomiya Shrine:

View from atop Tokyo Tower:

The neatest part about the festival was that it was for the locals, by the locals. We were probably the only tourists around, so there were a lot of really interesting things to look at.

This particular stand was selling okonomiyaki. This was more of a mass production and made to order. Still pretty tasty! I settled for a couple other items that night, including some grilled chicken giblets, a “Jell-O coffee” drink, some chicken skewers, and a helping of dango. I also came across what I can only describe as tofu donuts. It’s made from the outer skin of the tofu curds (which is usually discarded before packaging) that is ground up and deep fried. It has the look and consistency of a cider donut. Since the skin is naturally sweet, it made for a great dessert!

The grilled squid on a stick also looked pretty interesting, however I didn’t quite feel in the mood to try it. We did see a couple kids running around holding them and munching as they went. I love coming across things like this, as it’s more of a real taste of local culture.

The day was filled with walking. To make sure we didn’t run out of steam, we stopped at the bottom of Fushimi Inari Shrine for some breakfast. Since we were in the presence of the fox god, I thought it would be fitting to have two kinds of food that bear his namesake: kitsune udon and inari sushi. The restaurant itself was a small shop with about a dozen tables. It also looked like it had a small banquet room in the back and a quaint little garden.

Since we were the only ones in the restaurant, the food came out pretty quick. For the main course, I decided to try my hands at kitsune udon. It’s served with some sweet deep fried tofu (called Aburaage) and broth. The cup next to the bowl is actually tea, which was served chilled. I really enjoyed the difference in texture between the tofu and noodles, and ended up drinking most of the broth as well.

We also shared an order of inari sushi, which (in it’s simplest form) a stuffed sushi. The outer wrapping is fried tofu and is filled with sushi rice. Like the Aburaage used in the udon, the wrapping has a slightly sweet taste that compliments the sliced ginger quite well.

Fortunately, the early day meal did keep us going on the full day of walking and temple visits. By the time dinner rolled around, we were ready for more. Our native Japanese speaker got us reservations at a pretty well known tofu restaurant in the area. While this doesn’t sound particularly interesting (especially to Westerners), tofu is made into a variety of things. We each ordered the the recommended five course meal and got a wide variety of things at the table! Once again, I only had my cell phone, so picture quality suffered a bit…

The restaurant itself was in a little alleyway and featured traditional-style seating.

There was also a lot of “I’m not quite sure what it is, but it is tasty!” feel that night. I think I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves!

As a part of our meal, we got boiled tofu to share. Fresh tofu (middle) was put into an electric hotpot (left) and left to warm for about 10 minutes. There was also some spinach in the boiler, which made for a nice contrast in flavors (right).

Chilled tofu with cucumbers, seaweed, and greens. The stuff underneath it is actually shaved ice.

A sweet soy drink with pieces of tofu in it. Yummy!

Tofu on a stick, because everything tastes better on a stick!

This is actually fried tofu skin (served tempura style), similar to what was used in the aforementioned tofu donut.

The “main course",” consisting of rice, miso soup tea, poached egg, and veggies. The egg was meant to be mixed in with the rice and eaten along with the veggies.

Here’s dessert. I don’t remember what kind of ice cream this was, but it certainly wasn’t tofu flavored!

At long last, my culinary adventure in Japan had come to an end. After our healthy meal of tofu, it was time to pack up and get on a plane to fly back to the United States. The airline food was OK (Continental airlines still does some decent in-flight cuisine!) and picked up some chicken nuggets when I got into Newark. Looking back, it seems like that was a pretty big departure of what I experience in Japan.

Why do I suddenly crave some good ramen and miso soup?

In addition to getting sodas, water, and bottles of tea, many vending machines in Japan also sell coffee in a can. This particular serving was cold, however some machines also offer a selection of hot beverages. I did have a chance to try one in Nakano and it was pretty tasty! Breakfast that day consisted of some taiyaki that I’d bought the day before in Nakano. This particular one was matcha-flavored, or green tea flavored.

The Japanese really do like their pastries though. Before boarding the train to Mitaka, we stopped at a small bakery for some food. For the first time, I tried something called karē pan, or curry bread. Essentially, it is a piece of fried dough filled with a small serving of Japanese curry (chicken, veggies, and sauce). Since I was on the train and enjoying the bread far too much, I didn’t get around to taking pictures.

With all the various pastries and things we ate early on in the day, we pretty much skipped lunch and went straight on to dinner in the evening. We’d decided on okonomiyaki for that evening, which is a form of Japanese pancake. At many restaurants, you make it yourself on a hotplate that is built into the table. Each “order” comes in a small bowl filled with whatever ingredients you want along with a a helping of batter. You then pour it onto the hotplate and cook it to your taste. Sauces and other toppings are provided, with mayonnaise being a popular addition.

I’d also managed to take some video of the cooking action, the first of which was our appetizer. Followed by the finishing touches on the main course.

It may not look like much in the pictures, but it was very filling. By the time we got through it, none of us were particularly hungry and were quite content with calling it a night.

With such a filling dinner the night before, I went light on breakfast. In addition to the curry bread, I also picked up a choco coronet to go with my morning coffee. This was particularly fitting, as we were making the pilgrimage to Washinomiya Shrine that day (a choco coronet was featured in the very first scene of the first episode of Lucky Star).

Fortunately, I didn’t have any of the same difficulties that Konata had while eating hers. I also determined that the best way to eat it is fat end first. That way, the chocolate doesn’t go all over the place… The bread itself was extremely soft, even despite the fact that I’d bought it the day before. The chocolate also wasn’t super sweet or bitter, making it go well with the chilled coffee. A lovely combination!

Once at the shrine, we decided to stop for snacks at a small cafe. Much of the town has embraced the otaku culture, and the cafe was no exception. It had a special “character menu,” with items that were specific to each Lucky Star character. While I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the choices, they were pretty neat to look at. I went for something off the normal menu, getting one of the tea sets that they offered. Today’s cake of the day was marron cake, or chestnut cake. The bowl next to the cake is actually filled with freshly made tea (still frothy from being whisked). It was a pretty small portion, but the cake was extremely rich and savory. The tea was the perfect companion and the atmosphere at the little cafe was perfect for relaxing. It featured traditional seating, so all shoes had to come off before entering and the floors were lined with cushions. As with most other food I came across, this wasn’t cheap either, coming to 590 yen.

As a side note, I discovered that the Japanese really like random Western food chains, like KFC. Pizza Hut also has a foothold there, as does the globally recognized McDonalds. But what would a KFC be without a statue of the Colonel?

Moving on… Dinner that night was in a small restaurant in Ginza. From what I could tell, it was a seafood restaurant, featuring all sorts of dishes from shellfish to grilled salmon.

The dish on the left was some sort of grilled whitefish (which name escapes me at the moment) and the dish on the right is something called ochazuke. It is essentially cooked rice in a green tea broth with various toppings (mine had salmon, seaweed, and some other veggies). As simple as it sounds, it was extremely good and filling. If it weren’t for the other food we ordered, I may have gone for a second round… I really must find out how to make this one!

The following morning, it was off to Kyoto. After a quick breakfast consisting of melonpan and juice, it was time to hit the station. Since Akihabara was on the way to Tokyo station, we did make a brief stop for some snacks. We’d discovered a wonderful little stand that made fresh onigiri and served croquets. I couldn’t leave Tokyo without having another one of those fried croquets!

Food is actually pretty commonplace on the high-speed train network. There are usually various vending machines on the train, along with attendants that sell food from a cart. There are also stands at the station where you can buy various boxed lunches to take with you. I chose a chicken teriyaki bento.

While it may be considered a social faux pas to eat on a regular train or subway, it’s perfectly OK to do it on the shinkansen. The attendants on the train sell a variety of items, from drinks (soda, tea, beer) to ice cream, to little boxes of sandwiches…

It’s almost better than airline food! Then again, it cost significantly more than airline food… the above cost me somewhere around 450 yen for some sandwiches and a coke.

Stay tuned for part 3… where I explore food in Kyoto!

Of course, neither of the above actually qualify as food in Japan, as I was in the air over North America when I was served these. First was some lovely grilled shrimp served with a tomato bisque and greens. It was then followed by a delicious beef stir fry with cashews, and veggies. First class, FTW!

First and foremost, the Japanese love to eat and really enjoy variety. On some streets, you can count a dozen restaurants in each direction. Furthermore, each department store features a food area filled with smaller cafes that specialize in a variety of cuisine. From noodles to sushi, and culinary delights from all over the world, you’ll certainly find something you fancy.

My first real taste of Japanese food came late Friday evening after checking in. We went in search of a restaurant and wound up in Takashimaya Times Square, which housed Tokyu Hands, HMV, and Takashimaya. After browsing two floors worth of restaurants, we eventually settled on a tempura shop.

I ended up ordering one of the various dinner sets on the menu. While a la carte is available, most restaurants also offer set menus, which combine several smaller dishes into a full meal. Dinner consisted of some assorted tempura (small shrimp, giant prawns, squash, onion, and okra), rice, miso soup, and a little salad. One thing that was particularly interesting with eating tempura was that there are a variety of things to dip the tempura in beyond the standard tempura sauce. There were two types of shaved daikon radish that could be used as a topping as well as several different types of salts that could be used to enhance the flavor. Trying these different things out (apparently it is bad form to combine the toppings) and I’ll say I’m going to miss using the sauce when I have tempura in the states.

The next morning, we settled into a small cafe inside Shinjuku station. I’d had a craving for onigiri (rice balls), so we went to a place that made it fresh and served it with a variety of items.

As with dinner the previous night, this was an onigiri set. It came with my choice of onigiri (I picked salmon), a soup/broth (miso with sesame) and a small salad. For a little extra, I added a glass of orange juice. The American in me just couldn’t resist having a little OJ with my breakfast. Despite this being considered more of a fast food place, it was still plenty delicious. However, it was probably a bit pricey by American standards. This breakfast cost me in the neighborhood of 740 yen. A neat thing about this particular restaurant is the placemat it is sitting on. The rules for this establishment are clearly printed on it:

There is a place for you to hang your bag under the table, so it doesn’t have to sit on the floor. Pretty cool!

After a long day at TGS, it was back to Shinjuku for dinner. Eric brought us to one of his favorite restaurants in the area, which specialized in udon noodles. Skipping the traditional udon in broth, I went straight for what is called kare katsu udon, or udon noodles with breaded pork strips in curry sauce. It had some fresh sliced lettuce on the side to counter the soupy texture of the noodles and also served to balance out the mild spiciness of the sauce. It wasn’t overly hot, but rather just right to enhance the flavor. The pork cutlets also weren’t soggy, despite being soaked in sauce. Of all the meals I ate in Tokyo, this was probably one of the best. It was very simple, filling, and delicious.

Conveniences stores (or convi, for short), are a great place to get a quick bite to eat. They’ll typically sell everything from breads to instant ramen to premade sandwiches to onigiri. Most will also have a microwave and hot water pot for you to heat up your food and some will even have a small hot food counter that sells simple finger foods like chicken skewers, hot dogs, and steamed buns. I decided one morning to venture out by myself to pick up some onigiri and tea. Not being able to read Japanese, I grabbed two off the shelf, praying that I wouldn’t find anything extremely odd inside them. I managed to get one with salmon and one with some sort of veggie inside it. Both were delicious and I washed it down with some green tea. There are several major convi chains, including 7-eleven, AM/PM, and Family Mart.

Another thing that impressed me about the Japanese was their ability to take food from other cultures and adapt it to their own tastes. The crepe is a perfect example of something more European that has been given a Japanese twist.

This is one of the older stands in Harajuku. Each shop (and most restaurants in general) will have displays like this showing off their wares. They sell everything from more traditional types with fruit, whipped cream, and sprinkles, to more exotic types like curry chicken or tuna, cheese, and lettuce. The shop made it easy to order by having numbers next to them.

I went with something more normal: peaches with whipped cream and strawberry ice cream. Mmm!

Dinner that night consisted of going to what amounts to a drinking hall. These are typically places where people go to meet up for drinks after a long day at work. Each table is separated by dividers, giving each group some privacy. Since it is pseudo-traditional seating, shoes must be taken off prior to sitting down.

There was no formal wait staff at this particular place, as all ordering was handled via a touch screen that communicated with the main system wirelessly. It had several categories of food, including appetizers, light fare, fish, meals, and drinks. Some of the items came with pictures, though for the most part we just guessed at what we thought would be good. The screen also kept track of our tab and even split out the total if there were several people at the table.

We wound up with quite a bit of food. I can’t exactly describe it all, though the thing with the little rice cakes in it (center bowl) was pretty tasty. We also ordered a variety of tofu (far left), some fish (far right), soba (top) and risotto (not pictured). As we ate, we realized we wanted some other stuff and continued adding to the tab. Pretty convenient!

Another convenient type of food is ramen. This isn’t exactly your $0.19 pack of noodles, but rather a 1000 yen bowl of pure deliciousness.

We stopped for lunch on Tuesday in a noodle shop outside Nakano station. This particular bowl was called the “special ramen” on the menu (which, by the way, was a ticket vending machine). It had all manners of good things in it, including corn, shaved lettuce, a boiled egg, sesame seeds, sliced pork, super tasty broth, and some ramen buried underneath. I’m sure this was more terrible for me than anything I’d eaten so far, but I put it all down anyway. It had been a long morning of walking, and I really needed the nourishment. I’m actually going to miss having good ramen now, though I think there’s a place in Charlotte that actually will do it well.

Stay tuned for part 2!

Before I go any further, yes, I did spend way too much money on toys when I was overseas. Fortunately, my plane ticket back was already paid for, so I couldn’t have wound up like Piro and Largo. Now, after some wait time, here’s the unveiling of the loot from Japan!

And what a pile of loot it is! Going from top to bottom, left to right, here’s what’s in that juicy picture:

• Suzumiya Haruhi no Yutsu PS2 game, with SP Haruhi Figma
• Figma Drossel
• Fujibayashi Kyo, from Clannad
• Figma Konata Izumi – Summer uniform version
• Fate/Unlimited Codes PS2 game, with SP Saber Lily Figma
• Natsuki Kuga, from Mai-HiME
• Saber Lily, by Good Smile Company (new release!)
• Yoko Dollfie
• Narusegawa Naru, from Love Hina
• Tales of Vesperia ~The First Strike~ 2010 calendar (from TGS)
• Original set of production notes from Mai-HiME, Episode 18
• Original set of production notes from Aa! Megami-sama II, Episode 9
• Original set of production notes from ARIA (unknown episode)
• Original set of production notes from ARIA the Natural, Episode 10
• Original set of drawing instructions for Karin (presumably used by artists working on the series)
• Production sketches for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
• Original sketches, backgrounds, and animation frames for Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou ~Quiet Country Cafe~ OVA 2

Not pictured:

• AQUA vol. 1 (Japanese language manga)
• Lucky Star walking guide 2009 ed. for sights around Washinomiya (obtained from cafe at Washinomiya Shrine)
• Various swag from TGS
• Various swag from Microsoft Japan company store
• Do As Infinity’s new album, Eternal Flame
• Kuraki Mai’s new compilation album, All My Best
• Charms from all the shrines I visited
• Snacks (all of which have been eaten)

While most of the stuff I picked up is pretty standard fare (figures and such), a couple things in this pile really stand out as unique. First and foremost, Yoko. She was made available earlier this year as a limited item, and I managed to score a brand new one from one of the various Mandarake stores inside Nakano Broadway. She did cost me a pretty penny though…

My absolute favorite pickups though, were the various original storyboards and production sketches. These truly are one-of-a-kind items. Even with those as photocopies, there is evidence they were actually used in the creation of the show, as most of them carry doodles from their owners (the one for Aa! Megami-sama, for example, has “I want steak” written above Peorth’s head).

If you zoom in on the image on the right, you’ll see it’s for this scene… Pretty cool, huh?

I’d also picked up similar packets for ARIA and Karin.

Of all the ones I got, my favorite is the set of concept sketches for the Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou OVA. While the others were photocopies, these are all original pencil drawings from (presumably) the original artist, Ashinano Hitoshi. When I first saw the packet sitting in the display case, I thought to myself “I know who she is, but why?” Upon asking the shopkeeper, he started to say “Yokohama…” and my eyes immediately lit up. There were two sets of drawings here, both for different shots in the same scene out of Quiet Country Cafe OVA2.

These are relatively cheap collectibles, considering how much other things like figures and dolls cost. Each set of production notes cost around 1000-1500 yen and the YKK production sketches cost 4000 yen (it came with a lot of pages). For one-of-a-kind items, that’s a steal!

For more loot pictures, hit up the full gallery!

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