カラオケ～！

皆さん～！！　歌うことが上手なの？いつも歌いたいの？カラオケによく行くの？懐かしいな～　カラオケが大好きなんだよ！でもね。。。うたうのが上手じゃない。。。笑　　まあーいいか？ とにかく、カラオケは楽しいでしょう？日本に行った時に友達とよく行ったんだけど、今。。。なんか、歌いたかったら、出来ない！！悲しい！（T_T）今住んでる所でカラオケ館など全然ないんだ！どうしよう？？取り合えず待たなきゃね。。。




One aspect of Japan that I enjoyed was カラオケ (Karaoke)! When I was in Japan, I loved to get my friends together and go hit up a Karaoke bar! What fun times! There are a bijillion karaoke places in Japan! Singing is one way many teens let loose and relax after a hard week of school. It's like having a drinking party and then making a complete ass of yourself while singing along to your favorite song... the best part is... you don't have to be able to sing!



I've been to a range of karaoke places, from the glorious neatly kept to the run down-possibly-homeless-men-living-headquarters type of building... Never the less, all of them have been pleasant experiences. Some of the front desks have interesting English phrases expressing the fun times while singing karaoke... この写真の英語わかる？面白いって思う！笑

The rooms are usually just big enough to fit the amount of people you came with... You first order something to eat or drink before singing! You have to order by phone to the front desk and I found that to be so much fun to do! The picture on the left is of one of the rooms which had a black light in it!


The range of songs and genres of music avaiable is vast! I loved the fact that you could find Japanese and English songs to sing along too! Singing in Japanese, for me, is me letting go and allowing my mind to use my skills in the Japanese language as if I was a native speaker... I do miss it terribly!

The longest time I've stayed at a karaoke bar was 8 hours... yes! A night of mayhem singing from midnight to 8am! To think, people will go until their lungs are sore to sing all night long! I sure did! It was soooooo much fun! I could have stayed even longer! I wish we had places like this in America! (Yes... that's me singing to an Orange Range song... I think embarrassing myself in this blog will happen more often than I want... hahaha)


Well I think I've talked enough about カラオケ! If you travel to Japan, I recommend going at least one, but go with some Japanese people as well so you can experience that specific subculture!



Until Next Time! (^_^)
またね～
Chao, Tokyo
~<3>

原宿 (Harajuku): Underground Fashion at it's BEST!!

Well I can't talk about anything else before I talk about my favorite place in Japan; 原宿 (Harajuku).

原宿が大好き～！！！（＾＿＾）日本に行った時に原宿でよく買い物に行ったんだよ！

I love fashion and the underground fashion capital of the world I think is in Japan. Harajuku has some of the most diverse and outstanding fashion I have ever seen. The genres that are covered through fashion in Harajuku alone are amazing! From gothic lolita to hip hop, every person is dressed to impress and express themselves through a way that many wouldn't consider to be a loud statement. I feel it's much more of a loud statement then what any words could describe! It crosses borders that language cannot!

Let me just start out by saying, if you love fashion... you will LOVE Harajuku. Every other weekend while I lived in Japan, I would travel to 原宿 and shop for the fashion styles I looooove! 竹下通り (Takeshita Street) was the street I usually went to shop, since it was so trendy and crowded with tons of people all dying to be part of the fashion scene in Harajuku.

Sundays are usually the fun day to visit Harajuku because of all the cosplay and people dressed up in unique fashion! I would try to look my best, but I could never compete with some of these guys and gals of the Harajuku fashion world!

My favorite store that I shopped at pretty much everytime I went to Harajuku is Elle Me. I'm a tall girl and Elle Me had a lot of clothing that fit me with room to spare, and most of the clothing is really cute and trendy! One time I found a shirt that was 2 sizes too big and I almost died from a heart attack! I couldn't believe it!

Jeans Mate is another fun store, for both guys and girls! Jeans Mate even will customize fit your clothing if it is too big. I actually got pants made into shorts at this store! Can you even do that in America?

Socks are a major fashion accessory in Japan, I think it's still #1 actually! TuTu Anna is probably the best store to find your sock needs! Mighty Soxer is another great store to buy socks, leg warmers, anything in that area! There are a couple other sock-like stores on this street.



You want girly? Liz Lisa is the place to go! I never really bothered going in there because I am not the size of a japanese girl...

Body Line is the top on this street for Lolita fashion! The ladies are this store are so helpful and nice, I had a nice 20 minute conversation with one of them who was... well 1, amazed that I spoke Japanese... but also that I loved this kind of fashion!

For two tiny stores with an explosion of wacky fashion, check out ACDC and RAG STORES! They are right next to each other and the squeeze inside might shock you... but the fashion is so unique and awesome, I just had to buy something!



Off a corner street, Sexy Dynamite London is hidden down an alley way... but boy is the punk fashion awesome there! Another "From London" Favorite is Vivienne Westwood! I loooooooove LOVE LOVE Vivienne Westwood, just about everything she designs, I want! However, on the expensive side... That's why 竹下通り is the place to buy cheap(er) Vivienne Westwood products! I bought my favorite piece of jewelry (seen in my picture below) in Closet Child, another great gothic lolita/punk/AWESOME store!　

You certainly can't miss the flashy outfits from Takenoko, clearly visable as you walk down 竹下通り. I was almost afraid to walk into this store because of how crazy some of the costumes were!

Honestly, you can't walk down this street without getting a delicious crepe from one of the many vendors! They have so many kinds and they are soooooooo good!!! すごくおいしい～！！　いいな～　食べたいな～～～

There are so many other stores I'm forgetting, but I just wanted to give you a little taste of my love for Japan, and for 原宿! (^__^) I focused on 竹下通り because that's where I shopped most of the time and I'm very familiar with that area!

戻りたいな～　また竹下通りで買い物に行きたいな～　一緒に買い物に行こうか？？　（＾＿＾）

Until Next Time

またね～
Chao, Tokyo!

~<3>

Back to Attitude

こんにちは～！！！（＾＿＾）

Hello Everyone! This is my introduction to the world of blogging!

My name is Julie Maxwell, which is my pen name, but I don't mind being known as Julie! Nice to meet you!

This blog will be like a documentary toward my life, Japan, and everything in between! I'll give my views, opinions, and arguments about what ever comes to mind! You can enjoy, comment, criticize, whatever you like... nothing bothers me!



I love Japan, I have been there twice already! The first was a 5 week tourist/homestay adventure and the second was my study abroad for 11 months. I will be returning to Japan in August, so I would love to get this blog ready for the world before I leave again! I will try to use mostly my own images I have taken of Japan as well, to give everyone a nice view! I will be typing in Japanese as well, since I want this to be more international!

はじめまして！カオルと申します！カオルっていうのはペンネームですよ！このブログは私にとって日本や生活について話です！よろしくお願いします！（＾＿＾）

Next Blog I will start my journey through this crazy stroll of life, it's time for me to start telling my story and whether one, ten, a million or no one reads this blog... my story will live on through this blog!

Ciao, Tokyo
~<3
Julie