Tokyo in November, day 5 at Ghibli and in Harajuku

Day 5, Ghibli Museum and Harajuku

So the day I had been looking most forward to came. I have wanted to go to the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo for a long time, and now I finally got to go. 

For those of you who do not know what Ghibli is, it is a very popular, japanese animation film studio. Founded by two men, one of them, Hayayo Miyazaki, is worldwide known for movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service etc.etc. I higly recommend these movies, as I absolutely love most of them myself ( I also recommend watching them in japanese language though, not dubbed )

We took the train to Mitaka in Tokyo, and then a bus to the museum. 

The museum was beautiful, and it felt just like stepping right into one of Miyazaki's movies. 

And I am sorry, but it was not allowed to photograph inside. I was glad, because it would have taken an eternity if I were to take pictures of everything too. 

Outside it was allowed though:

Anyone seen Laputa, Castle in the sky?

 My host family was once again going somewhere else, so they left the museum a little earlier than me. I walked around, looked at the exhibitions, watched a fantastic Ghibli-short movie and had a great time. It really went over all my expectations, and at one point my eyes got all teary because I was really touched by it all. Yes, I really like the Ghibli movies. 

After having spent a lot of money in the gift shop (all on myself, sorry friends.. ) and having said bye-bye to the Ghibli Museum, I went to the bus station to get back to the train station. When I got to the bus station I noticed I was all out of money (oops.) I did not think it would be such a problem, since Japan is filled with 7/11-convenience stores, and there I could take out money from an atm. But of course, the only time I was actually looking for a 7/11 there was not even one in sight. So I decided to walk to the train station, even though I didn't know the way. I figured I could follow the buses, but after walking a while that got difficult. I don't know how, but after about 45 min (the bus only took about 10 min, not good) I found a train station. It was the wrong station though, but I figured out I could take the train to central Tokyo from there. And then there was one more problem: I still didn't have any money. And of course the 4 atm's I went to wouldn't accept my Visa Card. Finally, after struggling like crazy for about 2 hours and getting into a really, really crappy mood accompanied by a bad temper, I made it on the train to central Tokyo. It was totally worth it though!

Tip: Always have some extra money for train or bus expenses, because japanese atm's can be a pain in the ass!

 Next up I was gonna meet my friend Mai, from the exchange camp. We walked around in Harajuku, took purikura and ate Okonomiyaki for dinner at a really awesome restaurant.

Go Mai! 

We ordered Okonomiyaki and ( by a mistake )Monjayaki too, got ingredients and cooked it ourselves. Mai did the cooking, since I was clueless when it came to Monjayaki.

Okonomiyaki is like a japanese pizza/pancake, where you mix in whatever you like and grill it. Monjayaki is a variant which I think is popular in Tokyo, where you first have to make a donut shape, pour in the liquid and then make it really flat. We bought one with seafood, really tasty.  

Doesn't look tasty, but looks can fool~

 I don't want to go back to Norway and eat normal, boring food again. <3 Japan!

Credit to Mai, I stole this picture from her <3 

Me and Mai, I love her, she is the best!

So yes, I think that sums up what I did in Tokyo, or at least a little bit. 

Tip: Go to Tokyo, Tokyo rocks. 

I will definitely go again!

+++

I have been in Japan for 4 months already, time is flying and I'm still loving everyday!

peace out~