Due to my status update in FB about my arrival in Japan, Ate Jonep, a former colleague in U.P. College of Education and a fellow orgmate in U.P. Special Education Council sent me a message that she was in Saitama Prefecture. She is currently working as an English teacher. She was spending her third week in Japan at that time. She wanted to meet during the weekends so I set aside some time for us to bond with each other again after a long time. Even though we were both working in Manila (and also traveling around the world) in the past two years after we graduated from college, we have never seen each other in person. Moreover, finding out last year that she was also related to my second-cousins, the Merzas/Talens amazed me. I am happy that she also knows my family. So this became an exciting time for us to meet. I never knew that it would be in Japan.

Our first stop was Akihabara. Everything that can be considered as a hobby can be found in this haven. Daddy's mind was on trains, large sized train tracks to be exact. Ate Jonep's mind was on anime and JPop. Mine was on anime and Studio Ghibli. Sadly, the Hakuhinkan Toy Store where Daddy bought his former Ghibli gifts for me was under renovation. Good timing for me, eh?  I guess I have to stick with the Ginza branch.

I am an anime lover. But I would be lying if I tell you that I am familiar with all of the shows, characters, and all their features. There were only some anime shows and characters that I have recognized. Others were all new ones that suit the current generation. I could not blame them for my generation involved Ghost Fighter (Yu Yu Hakusho), Curious Play (Fushigi Yugu), Doraemon, Neon Genesis Evangelion (Shin Seiki Evangerion), Dragon Ball Z, Samurai X, and film adaptations like Little Women, Little Women II: Jo's Boys, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tomu Soya no Boken), Princess Sarah (Purinsesu Sera), Little Red Riding Chacha (Akazukin Chacha) and many other notable anime shows in the 1900s. I was also a fan of video games such as Super Mario, Final Fantasy, Tekken, etc. But I had only seen a few of my favorites in this anime haven. I was not much surprised for all of these were not new. I did enjoy looking around though because the whole place was screaming, "Japan!!!"

Daddy was determined to find some train tracks for his upcoming railroad project in our living room. We were tagging along with him as he scavenged one tall hobby shop building that houses almost all train-related things. I was fascinated by these train models when I was a child because of my Dad. He would even build small communities with people, nature, transportation system (of course). He would allow us to play with them whenever we wished to. I suddenly missed my childhood.

Daddy did not find the size of the railroad tracks he was looking for. So we just walked along the Akihabara buildings looking for a good place to eat. We were just passing by a tall building called Bellesalle when we noticed that a free event was ongoing. Like all the curious people around the place, we went in and found out that it was the Fantasia Bunko 25th Anniversary. We had no idea who/what that is. We just looked at the exhibitions around the place and took some pictures. I had no idea who the anime characters were. When I searched about the event in the internet, I finally found out that (Fujimi) Fantasia Bunko is a publishing label created by the publishing company Fujimi Shobo that publishes light manga novels. Based on my research light novels refer to the style of Japanese novels targeting middle and high school students. 

I am surprised how Daddy could still remember where the music stores were. He must have spent a lot of hours in these places during his previous visits (LOL). He led us to the art and music haven.

For the blind

Our drummer boy, Luke requested for certain drum sticks so Dad looked for them inside this store. Everything was so messy, as usual. Ate Jonep and I were laughing at how they maximized the space with all the musical instruments and accessories. Pretty creative too.

Our next destination was Ueno which was very accessible through the JR East Yamanote Line. I'm really loving the accessible and fast transportation in Tokyo. If only this was present in Manila. Going to work would probably be faster and safer. I could not complain about the price of tickets though because it was definitely worth every yen.