welcome to my diary/blog thing

intro/context
Hello. For about eight days leading up to Christmas I went to Japan with my family and a few family friends. It was really fun and I want to share the trip (or at least summary/review of the trip) here on my website. I thought it would be a good idea since I haven’t really been working on the website since I made it (which was a couple months ago (⚆- ⚆")), and it would be a great way to start the new year. For context we stayed in Tokyo and Osaka and did little day trips to Kyoto and Mt. Fuji. Anyway it was super fun and I hope you enjoy reading about it :D.

tokyo
The moment we stepped outside the airport, the air felt so good. It was fresh, it was crisp, and it was clean. And while the drive to Tokyo was super long, it was also gorgeous. What I liked about visiting Japan (or just a new country in general) is that obviously you were seeing normal stuff, but bc you were in a different country it was all just slightly different. Like slightly different in a way that made you appreciate everything. For instance all the trees looked different, like I’m assuming they were different types of trees. Or the houses have a very distinct architectural style. And I liked observing what was basically Japan’s take on stuff I was already familiar with.
The apartment we were staying in was so nice. It had a view of the Skytree (which at first I thought was the same as the Tokyo Tower (it's not)). The beds were kinda meh though. I slept on a futon and there were two futons. But for some reason the one I was sleeping on kinda sucked. Like I could totally feel the floor. But the other futon didn’t suck. So idk what that was about. Nice decor though. And this is also where I used my first bidet.
There was also a 7/11 literally right next to our apartment and that was super convenient. And I think we spent like 99% of our time at 7/11’s and other convenience stores. Legit like we went to the one next door like, I think, once a day. The food there was too good. I had so many salmon onigiri’s, and my parents had so many of those egg and chicken sandos. I kinda wish I tried more food though, like natto. But also I weirdly see natto here in the states all the time so I was like ‘I’ll just try it back home’. They also had so much matcha stuff. I tried matcha, white chocolate chip cookies and some matcha ice cream. The cookie was good but the ice cream MM MM MMMMM. I’ve never tasted matcha ice cream that good. Like the matcha flavor was so potent which was great because I feel like most matcha ice creams (and even lattes) don’t really get the actual matcha flavor across. But yeah, if you like matcha and ever find yourself in a Japanese 7/11, GET THE MATCHA ICE CREAM. They also had these really cool smoothie machines. You simply grab this cup full of ice and smoothie ingredients from the freezer and then insert it into the machine, and it blends it for you. Saur convenient and also really fun to do. I got a strawberry smoothie and it was yummers. Not too sweet and you could still taste the strawberry. It’s kinda crazy how easy it was. But ya they also had a similar machine for coffee but I didn’t try that one. Another thing in the 7/11’s that I thought were cool was that they served hot drinks in the same way they serve cold drinks. Like there’s just bottled hot water or bottled tea. This was perfect since we were there in December, so you could just have a cup of warm water without having to go into a restaurant. Also there were SO MANY of them, convenience stores, that is. Like truly every corner had either a 7/11, or a family mart, or a lawson. I know this is common knowledge but it was still crazy how many of them there were.
Aside from convenience stores, we visited other places like Asakusa. Asakusa is a district in Tokyo. It has a giant buddhist temple (Sensō-ji) and a bunch of shops and eating spots. There was like this row of stalls leading up to the temple and it really just has a bunch of shops clearly catered specifically to tourists. But it was still fun to see what they were offering. I bought a bag. It’s covered in this pretty flower pattern and colored brown and blue. Besides shopping, I enjoyed walking around because the temple was beautiful and there was also just like greenery surrounding the temple. Like there was a koi pond and that was really pretty. There was also some pretty good food here. Idk what it’s called but there was a stand selling melon bread and it was super similar to pan dulce/conchas and it was filled with ice cream. I didn’t get one but my mom let me have a bite and it did pretty much taste like an ice-cream filled concha (meaning it was good). But I think my favorite thing I got here was my matcha kit and this matcha cream puff. I bought it from some random matcha shop, but HOLY FREAKING MOLY THAT CREAM PUFF. It literally was filled with this matcha paste which was so green and flavorful. I want another one so bad but sadly it's now like a thousand miles a way >:(.

(If it’s not obvious yet) we did a lot of shopping while in Tokyo. We were in a lot of malls and shopping areas. For instance when we visited the skytree, I did not expect for there to literally be like a mall underneath the tower. There was a whole christmas market + food court + row of shops just underneath it. And if you're wondering why I’m not talking about the tower itself, it's because I refuse(d) to be elevated more than like four floors off the ground (yes I’m scared of heights).
We also went to Harajuku. I seriously regret not being able to stay longer there. We were only there for like a few hours and I did not buy anything. But for whatever reason, everyone else I was traveling with bought shoes. But I wish I bought something, like literally anything. Everyone there was so fashionable. Like I saw a bunch of people with cool outfits throughout the city but you especially noticed it in Harajuku. It was my pinterest board come to life. Now Harajuku is sort of set up so that there is like a main street where all the luxury brands reside, but once you go to the smaller streets/alleys there are lesser known/smaller shops. I honestly forgot a lot of what I saw because all I can really remember was a BLYTHE DOLL STORE. I’ve been seeing blythe dolls everywhere and I want one so bad. They reignite my same childhood desire of getting an American Girl Doll. Like I want one that looks just like me so I can dress it in super cute outfits. Sadly this store was closed, and I probably couldn’t even afford anything anyway, but it was still cool to see it in person.
At some point, we also visited Akihabara. Before coming here I literally had no clue about this place. Definitely had heard the name before but nothing about what it was. If you don’t know what it is (which I doubt, I think I'm the only one who wasn’t in the know) it's a weeb’s wet dream. It's like this giant shopping district full of anime stuff. In particular we went to Akihabara Radio Kaikan. It's basically this 8 floor building loaded with merch. There's like different shops but they're all selling similar stuff. Figures and keychains and toys and trinkets. Surprisingly, I was not interested. A lot of it was from animes and franchises I hadn’t even heard of. But there was always at least like one area on each floor that did have stuff I liked: monchhichi, sonny angels, tomadachi, etc. I got a couple of key chains for my friends, but for the most part I was miserable there. I thought I would like it more BUT OMIGOd. My feet hurt so much because I was already walking the whole day and for some reason it was so hot in there?? I mean I get it bc it was so cold outside but we were just going up floor by floor, walking around, and sweating. It was not a fun experience physically. And, visually, I was getting overwhelmed. Like I would see super cute monochichi stuff and then all of a sudden, tities. Like no joke, there was so much pervy stuff in there. At some point I legit had to take a breather and leave the premises.
Anyway, after that I do not know where we went. It was like some shopping center(which, I mean the whole city feels like a shopping center). But it was full of luxury brands and stuff and like a huge apple store. But the place I was most excited about was Itoya. It's basically the same thing as the Akihabara Radio Kaikan but instead of it being filled with anime girls with gravity-defying tities, it was filled with stationary. Similarly, it was eight floors and so hot (my pits were drenched), but this place was basically heaven to me because, again, stationary. This shop was one of the highlights of Tokyo for me because I bought a PLANNER. YAY. I got my 2026 planner there and I love it. It's like this cute pink planner and it has a clear case on the front. I’ll try to link it because I can’t really describe it. But I really love this planner because it's the exact format I want (weekly, with the days on one page and a memo page on the other), it's the perfect size, and it's pink. Also because of the case, it allows you to put cutouts on the front and decorate the planner.
Anyway, before I move on from Tokyo, the last thing I want to mention is the Shibuya crossing. We went there. That’s it. It was cool, but also it was literally just an overcrowded street crossing. Like the most glorified intersection in the world. I thought it was gonna be cooler, and yeah it was pretty, but once we were there I was like: meh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. No hate to Ms. Shibuya Crossing though, because I'd still recommend going, but don’t expect it to be mind blowing.
mt. fuji
While we were in Tokyo, we also took a day trip to Mt. Fuji. I’m ngl the day started out rough. We woke up late and missed the train. And I was still super tired and was like I don’t even wanna go anymore, but everyone else still wanted to go. And we went on this train but all the seats were reserved. So I was just standing on the train for like 2 hours straight and the ride was so bumpy and my feet hurt. There were also like two crying babies on the train and that sucked. BUT eventually we got there. We stopped at this train station located near (I think?) a shrine. And we got some ice cream (well I actually got a matcha latte at an ice cream stand but anyway) you could see Mt Fuji and it was really pretty. I want to say that seeing the mountain made the train ride worth it, but honestly that shit lowkey ruined the day so by the time we got there my reaction was like “but it's just a mountain”. Again a really beautiful mountain, genuinely breathtaking to look at, but I don’t think it was worth probably the worst train ride of my life. HOWEVER, the one highlight of this day trip was (the matcha latte and) we visited this village and supposedly it has the cleanest water in the world and the average age that everyone there lives up to is like 91 yrs old. I got to taste the water and it tasted just so crisp. And it legit came out of a pond with like fish in it and somehow it didn’t taste like fish pee?? Also I bought my monchhichi key chain at the souvenir shop there. Definitely not the best day of the trip, but it had its moments.

Now before I talk about Osaka I just want to mention that we went on a bullet train to get there from Tokyo, and I just wanna say that the sights were pretty and I had a bento box while on the train.

osaka
Osaka was fun. Our airbnb was a lot more spacious here. Like multiple bedrooms and an actual dining table. We were also only like a ten minute walk away from Dotonbori street. All you really have to know about it is that it has a bridge and shopping, and it’s where the glico man sign is.
A lot of our time was spent in this area. I think the most significant thing that we did here was shop at Don Quijote. Actually Don Quijotes (plural). Because for some reason they decided to put two in like a five minute walking distance within each other even though both are ginormous. In hindsight, I should have come PREPARED. Both are eight floors of the most random stuff. There was makeup, there was stationary, there was food, there was also an adult section. I was way too overwhelmed. Very similar experience to the Akihabara anime shopping mall. My feet hurt and I was covered in sweat. Also the lights were way so bright and the music was so loud. It was overall a very interesting sensory experience. And that sort of detracted from my ability to shop. I had absolutely no plan, unlike my mother who had already seen enough instagram posts advising her on what to buy. I was just sort of wandering aimlessly hoping I’d find something cool. And I did. I bought some matcha kit kats, a cute monchhichi memo pad, and some shampoo. I honestly can’t remember what else I bought because walking around a donki at like 12 am was/is such a disorienting and fever-dreamish experience. I wish I could do it over, because now I’m seeing all the cool stuff on the internet I should’ve bought but obviously I can’t anymore. Also tips: if you want to shop at donki 1) come with a plan of what you want to buy bc now I regret not taking advantage of that trip as much and 2) bc its open pretty much 24 hrs, go early in the morning so it isn’t as crowded and overwhelming. Also a funny moment while at the donki: I saw some dude slap his gf’s booty and we made eye contact right after and the vibes felt disturbed; I could tell he saw me see him and he just tried to smile/laugh it off but like huh? You're a freak. That actually wasn’t funny. But something good that happened was when the guy in front of me on the escalator was singing along to the donki jingle playing on the speakers, which was cute. Okay, moving on.
Around Dotonbori, we also had some delicious food. We went to a wagyu restaurant. It was similar to Korean bbq where they give you some raw meat. But instead of like a grill they basically give you a really hot cube. And then you just put the meat on that? I know the cube is technically a grill but I’ve never seen anything like it. We also tried ichiran ramen. Its a ramen restaurant (if you couldn’t tell) but holyyyyyy shiiite. Like this was probably some of the best ramen I’ve ever had. I might just be saying that bc i’ve only really had instant ramen. But I’ve just never tried noodles like this. They were nice and chewy but not too chewy. It's hard to describe but I really liked it. I also had this delicious soft serve, matcha parfait at a cafe. I’m still thinking about it to this day. It was vanilla soft serve with I think red bean? And they added rice krispy cereal things. And it was topped with matcha powder sprinkled on top. PLUS hanami dango (rice balls) with one of those fish waffle cone things (ifykyk). It was delicious. It was simple but delicious. Also I got to try cheese coin. CHEESE COIN.

kyoto
So in the middle of us staying in Osaka we took a little day trip to Kyoto.
And before I actually talk about the stuff that I liked, I just want to get out/purge all my negative thoughts about this day right here:
Like the Mt Fuji day, transportation was a bigggg issue here. We had to get up super early and we were walking around osaka confused as balls trying to figure out where the hell the station was. The first station we went to was empty (not necessarily inaccessible to the public but closed) and there was just a random drunk guy passed out on the stairs. We went to several wrong stations and even when we got to the right station we were super confused about which line we were gonna go on (like we knew which line but like it we were like where is it? And then we also had to determine whether we were going in the right direction or not). And also when we actually got to Kyoto, there were a bunch of different spots within kyoto that we were TRYING to visit, STRUGGLING to visit bc for some reason we decided to go to like a MILLION different shrines and temples on a RAINY day and literally at one point we were waiting for a bus for half an hour that WASN’T EVEN SCHEDULED for that day. LIKE WHY.
That being said, this was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. Like I am genuinely so pissed that this lasted only one day.
The moment we stepped off the subway, even with the rain (which honestly added to the atmosphere), the environment just felt right. First of all, architecture? This might not be the right/correct word but it felt very traditional. The houses/buildings felt very old. Of course there were more modern-looking spots, like shopping centers, but other parts of the city felt preserved in time. Like I felt like I was walking through a whole different era plus hello kitty merch used to rope in tourists. As I mentioned, we also visited a few temples like Kinkaku-ji. It’s basically a golden castle, very cool, but honestly I think what was more breathtaking was the nature. I have so many photos from this day (that I’m not going to be able to upload in full, bc I’m LAZY). Like everything was so green. And this wasn’t just at that specific temple but everywhere. I’m just gonna let the photos speak for themselves.

Another thing I loved about visiting Kyoto was the MATCHAAAA. Literally matcha haven. Like everywhere you looked it was matcha matcha matcha. Sadly I only had like one latte and it was pretty meh. And I also got rly angry cuz I realized I should've just waited until I came to kyoto to buy my first matcha set/kit. But it was pretty cool to see how much matcha there was. Since we only had like one day with an itinerary jam packed with temples, we kept passing stores where their entire specialty was matcha and i was just super sad the whole time cuz i didn’t even get the chance to windowshop. THe amount of cute chawans i saw that i just COULDN’T GET MY HANDS ON. Like whyyyyyyyy. I do not want to dwell on this topic bc it makes me sad but loved Kyoto for this.
So moving on… the only other things I can say about kyoto was that I had these really delicious sweet potato chips. They were, I think, covered in sugar??? Idk everyone else hated them cuz they were bland but i just really love sweet potatoes. And ever since coming back to the states I have been a sweet potato chip fiend.
Ok that’s lowkey all I have to say about Kyoto. Ik it's very little and I wish I could say more because I wanted to stay in Kyoto even longer, but alas this trip was funded and therefore designed by my mom and her friend, both of whom I simply mooched this trip off of, so I had no say in the matter.
osaka (again)
Before I move on to the review/thoughts about the trip I just wanted to say that like in the last two days before we left japan we visited this osaka castle park. Very cool. I didn’t actually go inside the castle cuz the line was long and I just did not want to do that. It was a very weird day. While I was waiting for our travel companions who were touring the castle, I was outside drawing on the dirt with my umbrella. And then a random man comes up to me and is like “can you take a photo of me” and being the kind and generous person I am, I was like “sure.” But then after he literally asked to take a selfie with me? Like huh? And then when he took the selfie he legit hugged me so hard. His arm was wrapped around me with a gorilla grip of like 3000 and he kept asking me if I was American or Korean???? I did not know what to make of it. But the feeling I felt in that moment was akin to that off when you’re changing in front of your laptop and you're wondering whether or not you should cover the camera just in case a scammer or fbi agent is peeping but also you’re too lazy to actually do anything cuz why would you? Essentially my emotions were a mix of “is this dangerous? Should I be worried?” and “if this man is using this photo to target me in some kidnapping, scamming, trafficking scheme…

Cuz like literally wtf am i supposed to do?
But anyway, the park surrounding the castle was beautiful. And I’m lowkey mad we could not stay longer but it's fine because after we went to this cool tower building thing.
Turns out it’s called the Umeda Sky Building. I love the photo I got of it. It feels so frutiger aero-windows-“this is how they saw the future in the 2000s”-coded. It was kinda like a mall situation. They had a christmas market at the bottom and there were shops and restaurants inside, and at the top there was this observatory kinda thing because the whole thing was huge. But I didn’t go because I am a PUSSY. So while everyone else went there, I went to a cafe. I had a matcha while reading Pride and Prejudice, so I had a good time.
And that was pretty much the end of the trip. Our last day, like when we were leaving for the airport, was pretty boring. Buttt the drive from the hotel to the airport was at golden hour and it was gorgeous. And I’m only writing to say this because while in the car I vividly remember listening to moonchild by cibo matto and I was having a real staring-out-the-window, main character moment. Ever since, that song has been in my rotation. So go listen to that song.

negative thought purge
I’m going to put a disclaimer (bc I’m gonna go over the negative stuff first): I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS TRIP. I never thought I would get the chance to go to Japan. It’s such a beautiful country and I’m so glad I got to even step foot in it. The nature, the food, the people, literally everything was amazing. Sooooo here's me complaining for like a paragraph straight.
JKJK. Tbh there wasn’t anything wrong with the country so these are not complaints about it, more so complaints about the trip and what I would have done differently.
Honestly the trip was exhausting. And that was due to a combination of factors. 1) the itinerary was way too packed 2) all of the stuff we wanted to do was so far apart from each other (meaning tons of walking and trying to figure out transit) and 3) not enough time.
For context we had like six people on this trip. Trying to balance all of our interests was crazy. And I did not plan nor pay for most of the trip, so when our family friend literally sent like a 10 page, pdf itinerary, I was quite literally gobsmacked. And of course not everything goes to plan, so stuff was getting moved around or removed and that was… messy. Prime example was the Kyoto trip. Like don’t get me wrong those temples were beautiful but the amount of matcha i didn’t get to try, still haunts me to this day.
And holy shittt. The distances we were traveling to get to all of these places. The highest number of steps I got in a day was 27,000. Let me say that again TWENTY-SEVEN-THOUSANDDDD. Like just throw the whole foot away. By the end of the trip my feet were looking like a spongebob cutaway gag cuz the calluses forming around my toes due to the pressure of my foot hitting the floor TWEWNTY-SEVEN-THOUSAND TIMES A DAY??? And also just trying to figure out the subway system was insane. One example: tell me why we were getting back to the hotel at like 12:00 am. I’m delirious, my feet are about to fall off, and we were coming from Shibuya, so like super far from the hotel. Trying to read the Japanese subway map was/is approximately as hard as deciphering hieroglyphics. But even after I was confident we found the way home, as we are riding, as we were NEARING home base… NOW WHY TF WOULD THE TRAIN SKIP THE FUCKING STATION AND GO ON FOR LIKE FIVE STATIONS MORE. I was truly losing my goddamn mind, why the hell did I paint these walls white? Turns out we were on the wrong train (obviously), and it’s a train that skips a couple of stations. Like huh? Anyway, we did eventually get home, but that was crazy.
And again simply not enough time. Had we stayed there for maybe a week longer, I think the two problems above would have been solved. The only advice I really have is to make sure your schedule fits the actual length of the trip. Also give yourself time to rest and just accept that you're not going to be able to fit everything in there. Cuz we were rushing from place to place and I think by the time we arrived at the next destination we were too winded to truly enjoy whatever tf we were doing. Essentially what I mean to say is quality over quantity. Ok now onto the good stuff.
good stuff
There is honestly so much to love about Japan so here’s a list:
the toilets/bathrooms So clean. Or at least relatively clean to the bathrooms here in America. One thing I hate is a dirty public restroom bc 1) it’s already disgusting bc it’s a dirty public restroom, but 2) it's double disgusting bc my pants are off (aka my most vulnerable state). But in Japan, that fear dissipated. Almost every single restroom was clean. Like even the McDonalds restroom was clean. Of course, there were a few exceptions, but even those were not nearly as bad as anything I’ve seen in America. Also the bidet situation. Amazing. I do not understand why we don’t have these here. It just makes sure you're extra clean, and walking around the streets of Tokyo knowing your ass is clean gives you a sense of security that is unmatched. Also I was on my period during this trip (sorry, tmi). But I think Japan might actually be the best country to be on your period during a vacation. Bc literally anyplace or anytime you could just wash up. Also another thing nobody mentioned to me prior to arriving was that the toilet seats were gonna be warm. And ik that sounds gross cuz it’s like: warm from the warmth of the previous persons’s butt? No, that’s just how the toilets are built. And when it's winter and there’s literal frostbite on your cheeks, you kinda need an ass-warming toilet. I can’t really explain but this is the sound that you make when you sit on one of those toilets: ah (in a calm, relief sort of way).
food
Saur gooooood. There was just a lot of good food. We ended up eating so much udon for whatever reason. And now I’m kinda obsessed. There was a particular udon soup thing I had in kyoto that I loved. Honestly it was not amazing-amazing (i mean it was pretty good but not outstanding) but it was the plating, the restaurant, and accompanying vibes made the experience. Picture this: It’s raining, you’ve been awake since like 4 am, you’ve been walking, traveling, traversing the lands for so long now. Knees are weak, arms are heavy, there’s vomit on your sweater already, mom’s spaghetti. And you come across this quaint little restaurant serving hot bowls of UDON. Like that was the vibeee. I got this veggie soup. And apparently the veggies are supposed to be like roots picked from the ground? Idk. But it tasted really good. And it looked so good too. Like the bowl was this beautiful, brown ceramic. And there were like pink thingies inside. It was your typical udon, but your typical udon tastes good. I really miss it. Also it was one of those restaurants where you take off your shoes and sit down on the floor, and something about that was really nice. I felt like a kid eating in front of the TV after school and on a no-homework day. And while eating, I read pride and prejudice which made everything better.

Also I don’t know what they put in those onigiri’s at the 7/11’s but they must be laced with something bc jesus christ, the way I had to have one almost every other day. Like I can’t believe they just have food like that on like every single block. Part of me is like, it's prolly messed up to have the same 3 chains of convenience stores selling and producing this much product. Idk why it's messed up, whether it be the amount of package waste, the small businesses that probably don’t get a chance, or what. But you gotta at least give kudos to how good the food tastes. I already talked about the 7/11 food earlier but just to recap, they had a really good selection of food: the onigiris, the sandwiches, the pastry/baked goods, the chicken karaage. They also had a bunch of matcha stuff like matcha ice cream and cookies.
And once again that matcha cream puff. THAT MATCHA CREAM PUFF. I miss you babygirl. Daddy will be home soon (promise ;3)
walkability As someone who definitely does not live in a walkable city (like cars all around me, the only sort of walking I do is to and from the car), this was the dream. Even though my feet felt like they were gonna fall off, I simply must appreciate a walkable city. I love being able to take a little stroll and Japan really delivered. It made me realize just how much time I spend inside, which is the majority of the time.
all the cool stuff i bought
I bought quite a few items, but I think my favorite purchase is this new bag. I bought it from GU (which is a sister store to Uniqlo but their prices are cheaper). It’s this dark brown, shoulder bag. It's kinda huge and looks like a sack. Very simplistic but I love how cute and convenient it is. It fits so much stuff and has two water bottle pockets. And I feel like I never see cute everyday bags with water bottle holders, so that was super nice. And again it fits so much stuff, which is perfect for me since I always bring so much shit everywhere. Also I just love dark brown, and I love bags specifically in this color. Also it's such a cute shape. I’ve just been looking for a big, cute bag for so long and it’s finally here and I’ve pretty much been using it everyday since then. Also because it's from GU it was fairly cheap. There’s so many other bags out there that are like hundreds, even thousands of dollars and are still ugly (2 me), but this one was like 20 bucks, and fulfills almost all my bag qualifications. The only downside is that I can’t use it for school; I'm actually writing this on campus and decided to give her (my bag) a test drive, and sadly my shoulder felt like it was gonna fall off bc I literally brought laptop, textbooks, notebooks, planners, books, and even more extra stuff. Like everything fits, but it becomes so heavy, too heavy for a shoulder bag, so sadly I do have to use a backpack. Honestly thought if you ever buy this bag you totally could use it for school if all you bring is like maybe an ipad. Like if you’re an I-only-need-tablet student or my-tablet-is-my-laptop type student, then yeah you could totally use this bag. Anyway the bag also has this little strip thingie and I think it's a keychain holder? That’s at least how I use it. I bought a bunch of little bag charms such as a moncchichi (which I’m in love with, she’s so cute), and I also attached a hand sanitizer. And bonus, it makes my outfits cuter by adding a little pop of color.

Again, like I said in the Tokyo section, I bought a new planner. I absolutely love it. Perfect layout, pretty, pink color and love the customizability with the clear case. Omg I also bought this new binder from muji to use for school and it got me genuinely excited to start school. And the muji was located in this subway (which sidenote: why are the subways like literal malls? There's so many stores, and so many high-end stores at that, located inside subway stations). Also super grateful, for the matcha set I bought in tokyo. I’ve been using that daily. But ya, I bought a bunch of stuff, and the last purchase I wanna talk about are my onitsuka tigers. I’ll insert a photo below but they're like these slip-ons and they’re pink. THEY ARE SO CUTE AND I LOVE THEM. I’ve pretty much been using them everywhere. They are so elegant yet casual and I love that they’re pink. It actually pains me when I can’t wear them.
I’m sorry if this came off as overly obsessed with consumption and buying stuff. But I hope the fact that I am so grateful for everything I was able to buy and the fact that I will be using these items to their full extent, sort of offsets that. I did not purchase any of these things mindlessly. Like I will be using my bag, my planner, my tigers, and my matcha whisk until I can’t anymore and I can promise you I will love, cherish, and covet my time with these items as much as possible.
So ya. That was my trip to Japan. I doubt anyone is reading this, but I enjoyed writing this, and I think it was a good way of reflecting/appreciating the trip even after its end. Can’t wait to be an old wrinkly fart reading this and remembering the good old days. So grateful to have visited this country and can’t wait to be back again (hopefully). Peace

9:37 pm: hello. tonight i will be pulling an all nighter. if you've read my last past entries i think you'll know that my sleep schedule has been horrendous lately. school is coming and i need to be able to wake up early (preferably around 5 am or even earlier). so ive decided to do this in order to reset my sleep schedule. from this point on i will be updating this entry on how the night goes untillll idk when but i will be awake from now until hopefully tmrw night so that by the next day i will wake up at 5am. does that make sense? so like rn its 8/22 but i will be awake until the night of 8/23 and then ill go to bed then and wake up the morning of 8/24. and just know that school starts at 8/25. i rly hope this works. idk what i'll be doing tonight and throughout most of tmrw. I've just finished a whole bowl of chipotle. twas delicious but i feel like puking rn. but while i was devouring my meal i watched Jurassic park. i liked it. i might review it on the media page of this website or maybe not. now i am watching youtube. but after writing this i will go downstairs and throw out my chipotle bowl. ik i said it was delicious but they didn't put that much salt on the chips which lowkey sucks :(. but after that idk what i'll do. im thinking of getting a sweet treat. i was considering ice cream but that just seems like a lot. maybe a matcha latte instead or some cookies. i think i'll just drink water tho. i also kinda want to hop on the treadmill cuz i barely moved today at all (so much doomscrolling). im also going to brush my teeth and wash my face (i feel like i might be breaking out). but aside from walking and washing up idk what else im going to do tonight. bc school is starting i wanted to prepare by studying, specifically bio and stats bc im taking those classes soon and im not rly confident in my ability to do good in them. i was like consistentlye studying for them using khan academy but then i took a huge break cuz i took some summer classes and i was like thats boring id rather be coding this websiste or studying Korean (i lowkey gave up on Korean too tho) but i started studying bio again and subsequently chemistry today. i started using crash course bio but its lowkey confusing me so i had to search for a bunch of other stuff on google to understand those lessons hence chemistry. its been kinda fun. for the first time ik what an atom is. i took chemistry before and i did good but i didn't understand what was happening in that class. i basically was doing just in enough work to get an A but wasn't actually comprehending anything. so i like that im starting to understand. did you know the og word for atom means uncuttable/indivisible? i dont get it since subatomic particles exists. i also don't understand subatomic particles cuz what the fuck is electricity? thats what im studying rn. i say studying but i mean thats the last thing i was searching on google before writing this. this is whats so annoying about learning. theres just too much to learn. like ill try to learn one thing but then i end up having to look at a bunch of other information to understand the initial information i was trying to learn. like its cool that i now understand what atoms and subatomic particles and electricity is (im still working on that one) but like bro i was trying to study biology. also school starts in like 2 to 3 days so i just dont have the time. the class i signed up for was a biological anthropology class which ik is going to be fun but its making me nervous bc like thats not just even biology thats biology + anthropology. so once it starts i feel like im gonna be extra clueless. that reminds me i recently watched clueless and also read emma this summer. that doesn't matter. point is i might also study biology and even statistics tonight. maybe not stats tho since its not as fun. other stuff i might want to do during my all nighter is watch more Jurassic park movies or read hunger games. both r important to me rn bc ive been wanting to watch the new Jurassic park movie and also read hunger games bc im curious as to why everyone is so obsessed with it (in other words fomo). i also want to right more in my commonplace book. its a rly cute moleskin that was gifted to me but ive barely been writing in it. so while im studying bio i'll prolly write more in it or i'll write about other stuff idk. maybe i'll draw. anywayyyyy i'm already getting sleepy so im gonna go do some of the stuff i jsut said i would and i'll try to update this throughout the night. OPERATION ALL-NIGHTER IS ON!

1:00 am: i didn't realize how much time has passed. but i didn't do much. i did clean up after my chipotle and walked on the treadmill. but that was like it. in between i doomscrolled even more. it did not make me feel good. tonight is not going well. im so sweaty for some reason. like ik we're going through a heatwave but i should not be this sweaty. i think my period is coming which isn't good because i haven't had time to prepare and school is also coming so that is not a good combo. also so many bugs. why am i finding so many bugs. i saw a spider today and i bunch of ants (which makes sense that they are coming into the house since its hot now) but i even saw (what i think were) 2 baby coacroaches (how do u spell this word) in the bathroom rn while i was oging to go brush my teeth and wash my face. what the freak. i saw them and killed one of them but the other one got away and ran UNDERNEATH THE TOILET (freak u bro) and i had to pee. so i had to pee knowing it was probably under me or crawling up to me as i am sitting above it BUTTNAKED. so i go to my parents bathroom and why is there a silverfish next to the toilet. i tried smacking that one but i couldn't reach. also y do those things exist? aren't they only supposed to be in Minecraft? anyway i ended up going back to pee in the other bathroom and then i started washing my face. I DIDN'T REALIZE I HAD SO MANY PIMPLES. i just got two big ones on my cheek. they aren't obvious. they're still skin colored but they are there and its annoying me. but i have already brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put pimple cream on them so i feel better now that-- nevermind a mosquito/fly thing is flying past my face right now WHAT THE FFFFFF. it scared me so bad and i think it is a mosquito bc i swear it been giving me bites. tonight is not going well. in the words of kafka, f this stupid baka life (did he actually say that? also who is that i dont actually know who this man is maybe i'll google it).

8:46 am: i fell asleep :/. AHHHHHHHH dude i fell asleep watching youtube videos and then i woke up at 5:41 and then i fell asleep AGAIN. this sucks. whatever man. we'll just have to see if im able to wake up for school this week. anyway imma shower and then today i'll prolly do my laundry and clean my room and bathroom CUZ OF ALL THESE STUPID BUGS.