Work smart, not hard - don't be a fool, buy cheap! Latest Japanese fashion trends

Guys, I’ve had it with Tokyo. No, seriously. I’ve had it.

What, no hello, no hi how have you been? No, none of that. I became too much of a Tokyoite, looking fresh and oh so cool from outside but being bitter on the inside. Besides, who the hell even says hello here? Right, only people who study Japanese. Or store attendants.

By now I’ve just been in Tokyo way too long. And it’s true what they say, after the 4th, 5th, 6th or at least after the 7th year you will start hating Tokyo. Or grow bored with it. Or it’s a mix of hate, boredom and disgust, like in my case. Or you already gave in to everything and accepted it, then congrats. Or you lost your brain somewhere among the zombie crowds, in which case I feel sincerely sorry for your loss.

Either way, hey, I finally got out of the drained state (tokyo vampire lemonade hah) for a second, and lately I have been thinking of restarting this blog. There was so much I wanted to write about the last few weeks and finally, finally after watching 3 seasons of Sex and the City (yeah, I actually never properly watched it) I thought: hey, I should write! I should share all the things I have to say! Maybe there’s something useful in what I have to say.

Let’s start with all the cool stuff about Tokyo that’s still actually rocking, besides food (which will make you get stomach or another form of cancer sooner or later but let’s save that for next time):

Fashion

The fashion is still freaking awesome and cheap considering the not too bad quality (I am not even being sarcastic I can’t help sounding like that even when I want to praise Japan).

Yes, Gyaru fashion toned down and everything became really onee-san-y or leaning towards Kyabajo/Agejo-ish fashion because let’s be honest, those girls are basically the only group left wearing that fashion. Those or the freeters, NEETs and maybe some of the high school/universtiy students.

With the identity crisis among the Japanese and the rush of working women who are stressing through managing their household chores as well as their office (lady) jobs that demand more and more overtime hours, what time is there left for fashion? Actually if you look more or less decent after finishing a 50 hour work week plus additional unpaid work at home, you will be happy to just throw on anything and go out to have fun, if you still have the energy that is.

No idea where women like Sayo Hayakawa take the energy &time to raise a child alone on top of all of that work

(I swear I am not being sarcastic)

Where, I ask you, is the time to find your own identity or fashion sense? Or fashion, for that matter?

And hence, what you see these days is either the old gyaru-ish toned down, the childish-sweet inspired or the foreign inspired fashion. And by foreign I mean mainly European/American or Korean. I’ve mostly really seen a raise in Korean fashion (hence I probably don’t go out much anymore haha). There’s nothing much to see besides that. But at least it has become cheap!

Since the wages are dropping while taxes are rising (I feel like half of what I am writing should be put in a paper about Japanese culture), we can see that ‘I will buy it all as long as it is cheap & cute’ attitude. Fabric, quality, size? Yeah, don’t care too much about that, it just gotta be cheap.

There there, girls, now let me introduce you to the shop that every girl and there Japanese mom is already shopping at: Puci Puri (actually: puchi pri taken from the french petit prix) / Qoo10

Let me tell you one thing, I have seen these sandals a lot and even in Shinjuku already... last summer! And they’re still going strong.

Also, want one of those trending mini Furla style bags but not spend all that $$? Save that money for your next trip out of Japan and go with this one!

I have bought these cool bags myself and they were cheap considering they look exactly like in the picture! Of course the quality isn’t that amazing but how amazing do they look?! The design is just art! This art smells quite a bit of plastic though, so be warned. But then again, I've seen one of the other versions hanging on the shoulder of a young woman in Kabukicho just 2 days ago!

If you’re like me and love the mere feeling of collecting and owning beautiful shoes and bags, this store is for you! However, don’t forget to notify the seller you buy from once your item arrived or else they won’t get the money you paid. For Japan it’s a quite new shop system to buy from other countries, directly from foreigner sellers and this has been heavily promoted since at least last year (I found it by chance through a purikura sales promotion mail).

The awesome comfy shoes that I bought, rarely wear because of the super thin heels but nevertheless needed to possess

Though be warned, that stuff is still cheap and that means cheaply made. Besides the bags, I have bought 2 pairs of shoes of which one was quite awesome and the other one rubs against my feet until they bleed but they also look quite awesome. I’ve also bought a shirt that I wasn’t very satisfied with, it had a way more unflattering cut than expected. So be sure to always check the reviews!

Do you have any experiences with that site? I would be glad to hear about your experiences. To everyone else happy shopping~

dark star skies: tokyo winter adventures pt. 2 [departure/arrival, the spooky shrine visit, more nights out & new year's eve]

Oh, here am I back with one more entry because I actually do not have much to do besides recovering from my cold and I still have a lot of pictures.

First of all, I missed the departure pictures because they were in a different folder (the iOS camera seems to create them randomly...). So here is a quick outfit shot I managed to take before heading to the airport in the early morning (oh the weight you gain when being at your parents' place...) and some pictures from inside the plane~

I always praise Aeroflot and think they really have a bad reputation (a lot of people give Russia/Russian people a bad reputation but really f you, they can do a lot of think essentially right... never heard of any cancelled flight because of snow or people who want more money, unlike in uh, Germany!).  
But the food on the flight there was not too nice. Last time I had marvelous dinner that looked like out of a restaurant. Regret not taking pictures. However the food was better on the flight back. The service is A++, as good as JAL, if not better. Never late, never impolite. Just because they don't always give you that overly fake smile, doesn't mean people aren't nice!

Random impressions from my first days spent in Shinjuku. The guy who handed out the tissues to me was actually taking care to give them to younger girls only haha

But let's skip again to the night when I met my friend Kana. We first of all met at the station of the city where she lives (she said it's really inaka but it turns out it's still one of the bigger cities in Saitama!). Then we took purikura that actually turned out alright~

 

We actually wanted to do the shrine visit during daytime but since I had that appointment and my friend Kana is usually busy on other days, we only had time to meet in the evening. It seems like on usual days, no one really goes to shrines at night though. Especially not in the more country-sided places I suppose.

One of the ways to the shrine. You get why nobody goes there at night, right?

I was glad this area was a bit brighter. I actually threw in a 5-yen-coin and made a wish. Kana had to first tell me the order on how to do it properly.
I think I did it wrong anyway LMAO. If you insist on knowing what I remember, it was something like, throw in the coin .... spin around yourself five times, jump on one leg thrice, then somewhere inbetween ring that bell and clap your hands, close your eyes and make the wish. Then bow? And also bow before? Well I think I did things in the wrong order and maybe forgot some actions (like the bowing one million times). Maybe I didn't though, I don't remember. Anyhow! The wish I made sort of came true. I think. The Japanese Gods were like: We'll let that pass, it's okay, she's a foreigner lol

One very scary path (left) where Kana later told me something like a murder actually happened there a month ago at night. From what she told it seems it was just two people arguing and then it escalated. Well, then we saw someone coming through the gate and Kana somehow stopped talking because she got a little scared. So we actually decided to leave.

We left to the main gate and got out to a little side street, where we waited for the cab. You could actually see the stars out there. さすが Saitama haha

We went to an izakaya! Actually Kana's boyfriend works there (also worked there that night) and came to say hello. The atmosphere was really nice! One of Kana's friends came by and we drank until really late. When I had to leave for my last train, I ended up not leaving because talking was too much fun :<

We looked at that punch bowl in the menu and Kana was like: I am going to drink that all alone! (Though it said it was for three people). When they served it, everyone was like: ... . Then Kana looked at the waiter and was like: So huge! And he was like: Yeah, well, it's for three people! Me and the friend just stared at them while they were talking and then laughed haha.

I stayed at Kana's place that night and instead of sleeping we basically talked all night while sitting under the kotatsu (unfortunately it was still sort of cold haha). Her cats distacted us. Especially me! I am supposed to have a very mild cat allergy but never noticed it. This time I did though and I started sneezing a lot. Also the ginger cat (hime) was evil and hurt my finger when I held it out to her D:

I then went home in the morning. It was really damn cold and I was so happy to be back at my home where the heating in the common area is almost always on <3

Another day I met up with adorable Jasmin (blog) & adorable Ramona (blog) and their friends/boyfriend. We did not do too much but hang out at an izakaya and then at the game center. 

 

I did not take many pictures because I was somewhat tired that day. But actually there wasn't anything very exciting happening either.

Later I bought cigarettes at the conbini that were advertized all over. The brand I usually always smoke (Kool) released two special versions called Miami Breeze and Bali Sunset. Actually now they came out as regular versions it seems. With this brand you really can do nothing wrong! I am really in love with the Bali Sunset one, it tastes berry-ish but still contains menthol.

Theeeeen we met for clubbing on New Year's eve! The streets of Shibuya were really crowded and FULL of foreigners. I guess we are so used to going out on these days that it seems like Tokyo consists of foreigners only. We bought something at the crowded conbini like everyone else and then started drinking in front of it and later moved closer to the club and drank more before we got in. I only got one drink for myself because I usually get drunk easily but then asked around for more sips from others haha.
Then I got drunk really fast and started taking pictures! Hence the pictures above haha.

 I am glad we got inside before the countdown went down to 0!

Overall it was really fun and I enjoy myself so much when I can dance and let everything out, I calm down inwardly after that and forget all my stress! But... it was really crowded and there was quite a bunch of strange people. Getting to know interesting new people wasn't really what you could expect that night... still I am happy I was with my friends and could spent a great time!

On New year's day I just did some relaxing things at home since almost everything was closed anyway. The next day I went shopping and bought something at MA*RS (unfortunately something that was not on sale). I also bough those shoes I wear in the picture on sale for just 880yen!

Everyone being really tired of the last year... a whole family sleeping together on the train haha.

Theeeen Kana wanted to meet some of my friends so before the Ramona/Jasmin friends group went back, we met up all together for casual drinking/dining in Shinjuku and then also went for karaoke there.

It was very fun to meet up as bigger group on these days! Unfortunately that was rather rare for me later.

But that's all for now! I have some more adventures to tell you about the next time ☆

Since it's still cold outside, stay warm and healthy everyone~

as promised, you never came back again [cry while you can]

Long absence again. Being busy with three presentations that I all had to prepare for last week, I had already pretty much forgotten what blogs are. I had also forgotten what it is like to feel bored. But on the other hand, once you start 'working' on something, it is not as hard to get motivated to do more for it as you keep going. Once you stop, you fall into that hole of 'I have no motivation to do anything'...

Winter has been rough and it seems the mornings are the only bright things these days (that get ruined by class ugh). I hope you all live in a brighter and warmer area! - Speaking of that, it already got terribly cold and as I went to the local christmas market here in Bonn with a Japanese exchange student after all of my exams, I realize that I am really needing another coat for winter.

 

I have been hunting down a warm yet stylish coat for at least one year already though. There was one coat in NewYorker that I saw and got because I had a coupon to get 30% off. I had been eyeing it for one or two weeks and there were only 2 left in the military green colour. Of course it's not very warm so I am still not sure whether I want to wear it or not :< It reminds me totally of SLY coats that I often spot in Japan. It has the same kind of fur-ish lining but you can't take it off on my coat. I have to admit though - it is a bit cheap-looking on the inside and I had to remove several loose threads but for 50€ (!) I think I will keep it.

left: SLY (25,200yen) right: NewYorker (~49€ discount price - regular price 69,99€)

Strangely on the website the inner lining of my coat is beige instead of green as it is on the one I have (actually it looks like in this one from VENCE) and also - it looks quite ugly on the picture. Must be the models fault because it looks better on me haha. No, well, when coats are buttoned up they just don't look as cool as when they are open.
I am still debating though... ! The arms have no warm inner lining, so that my arms actually look slim because I took a smaller size rather than a bigger one... but... I get cold on my arms!!。(´д｀lll)
I can still wear my thinner coat from Ghost of Harlem beneath but that will make me look like... a fat military penguin... 。(´д｀lll)  But, I am freezing no matter what coat I buy (unless it is a ski jacket but hell no) so maybe this debating all makes no sense.

What about you guys though? Would you rather freeze and cry through winter and look stylish or is your priority to stay warm 24/7?
Of course there is peole who always feel cold (like me) and people who do not really get cold... also depends on the area you live in. And - on how much outgoing you are haha. For example I get the feeling that in Japan all the buildings and trains are heated really well so it is way easier to get through winter with a not super-extremely warm coat. One more thing that Japan does terribly right.

I think that is all for now. Overall, as negative as I might (?) sound, the good experiences are still overwhelming the bad ones. I want to rant a lot about things but I am quite happy with myself and once I get through the next few months, I can prepare my future life after graduation~ (Still dreaming though because I can't believe it will come true! haha)

For now I am praying to get through winter~ And also I am praying that my iPod that I need for several things will not break because I really can't afford to buy anything new like an electronic Japanese dictionary that I need for my Japanese exam(x_x；)

With that I am wishing you all a good start into this winter~ ☆