What a weekend! Shopping, shopping, shopping (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

*phew* What a weekend...

Yesterday and today were spent shopping, shopping and shopping some more. We bought at least four hundred euros on essential baby stuff, like clothing, other textiles and bathing goods. Aside from that we also went to check out some better fitting clothing for Marli, though that didn't turn out too well. Our lunch at Ikea was alright though :)

Posted in: baby , busy , shopping , weekend , wow

Shopping, shopping, shopping: more baby stuff (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Today my mom and her husband came over to Utrecht so we could go shopping for more baby stuff. She'd very graciously offered to help us out in the acquisition of the bigger/expensive stuff, which we are -really- grateful for! It goes without saying that we greatly appreciate the help of all the (grand)parents as well! Without them, we'd be having a hard time getting everything set up. Thank you Janny&Dirk;, Anu&Erik;, Fred&Dymphie; and both grandmas! ^_^

Anywho, thanks to their donations we bought some more great stuff today, including a sturdy playpen and a bunch of bathing things. One of the stores we visited was Ikea and it's always hard for us to leave without buying a little too much. In this case we left with a whole bunch of new bed covers, to replace the aging ones.

A very tiring yet greatly rewarding day :)

Posted in: baby , baby stuff , bathing , playpen , shopping

A map to Akihabara (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

What a great find! A few weeks ago a reader of Akihabara Channel made a map with the most notable stores and cafes of Akihabara. Not only is this map very useful, it also clearly illustrates the sheer winnitude of Akiba ^_^

Thanks to this map I've also learned that I stuck mostly to the souther end of Akiba when I was there. There's a whole part to the north that I skipped out on! I know where I'm going next time I'm there ;)

Posted in: akihabara , akihabara channel , map , shopping , tokyo

Last day in Osaka: some more shopping (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Pictures for day 13.

Sorry for the odd ordering. I only had time for a quick "I'm home" earlier today :)

On my final day in Osaka I'd decided to do some last minute shopping. I still wanted DVDs 4 and 5 or Romeo X Juliet and the Nana OST CD. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find either, though Niels-sama bought me a lovely present: Gauche the chellist on DVD. He knows I love Ghibli films ^_^ Thanks again Niels!

I did manage to score on my final item on the list: the traditional cloth hangings at the entrance of a restaurant (like these). I thought it'd be a cool idea to have those hanging in front of our kitchen door :) Niels, Katrien and I went on a trek through the huge, Osaka shopping streets, finally ending up at the Doguyasuji shopping street. Doguyasuji is home to about forty stores catering to the local diner and restaurant businesses. Their stores carry everything from raw ingredients to cookware, knives, stoves, uniforms and furniture. Honestly, anything you need to run a restaurant can be bought over there :)

And it was over there, in a small, tucked away store, that I managed to get my hands on a discounted (Y2000!) hanging! It even matches the colour of our doorposts perfectly :)

In the evening I had okonomiyaki again, this time at the small restaurant next to our apartment building. The joint looks quite grubby, but the food was awesome :D

By the way: there are no pics for day 12. That day was spent completely on sleeping in and eating. Robert and I first went to the post office, to ship home all of my purchases. After that we had lunch at Yodobashi Camera's food court and just headed back to rest up. I felt a bit ill and got a total of thirteen hours of sleep! o_O

Posted in: doguyasuji , osaka , shopping

Woot! (Wow, loot!) (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

As I mentioned earlier, I stopped by Trader2 this morning, in search of some specific items. One of the items on the list was a set of DVDs for Romeo X Juliet. By buying the original DVDs I can rationalize getting fansubbed versions of the series, just so I can understand the whole story. And as you can see from the picture, I've succeeded! :) I also managed to lay my hands on a semi-rare (yet uber-cheap) Cowboy Bebop DVD+book set.

Since Trader deals in secondhand goods, the prices of these DVDs were a lot better than their original price! Each DVD was knocked back from around Y6800 to about Y4000. That's less than the usual Trader discount, but that's probably because RxJ is a really new series. The Bebop DVD rang in at Y2400. In the end I was out about 76 euros for four DVDs. That's not bad, considering that none of this stuff will ever be available in the US or Europe.

I was astounded by the quality of the items, by the way. Japanese otaku really do keep their stuff in pristine condition! Two of the DVDs were still in their original celophane (inside the shop's wrapper), so someone'd been taking very good care of them :)

The item on the right, in the paper bag, is a gift I got for Marli-chan. I'm keeping this a bit of a surprise for her :p

I also got two of those phonebook sized manga, from Gamers. A little under 6 euros got me about 600 pages of reading pleasure! I really wish we could get manga this way in Europe! =_=; I'd love to take the books home with me, but I don't think I will, due to their weight. Then again, I may also just ship them home through the mail.

A bountiful day! ^_^

Posted in: akihabara , loot , shopping , tokyo , woot

Shopping in Tokyo (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Pics for day 4

This morning I left for Akihabara around 08:30, ensuring that I got there before opening hours. That way I could take my time exploring the place, while not having to navigate the crowds of thousands. I'd a few shops in mind that I really wanted to visit, so I wanted to scope things out undisturbed :)

Akihabara has become quite legendary on teh Intarwebs, leading a lot of people to think that it's a huge place. While Akiba does indeed span about three dozen blocks, I really wouldn't call it huge. One can easily traverse most of its streets in under an hour. Only when you start shopping, do you spend a lot of time over there. And seriously: it's -very- easy to get carried away in Akiba ^_^

I spent about three hours, visiting the most obvious shops: Trader2, Gamers, Asobit Chara and Mediaworld Akiba. An easy listing of all these shops (and many more) can be found here, at Akiba Channel.

One thing that's definitely worth mentioning is Sega Gigo, one of the many arcades run by Sega. The lowest two floors have annoying (and -very- noisy Ufo Catcher machines, but the higher levels have some very cool stuff! 4F is home to ten Gundam P.O.D.s (clip on YouTube), which are Gundam simulators that you actually sit in. Nice ^_^

5F houses card based video games, of which I have no idea how they work :D One nice example is Gundam Card Builder, set in the Gundam 0083 universe (clip on YouTube). This website provides detailed explanation on how it works. Basically, it's a video game that you control using both a keyboard and trading cards (like Magic the Gathering). The cards represent characters and mecha, which you move across a flat surface. The way you move the cards determines the actions of the mecha in the game. Confusing, yet uber-cool. If I have some time (and money) left at the end of my trip, I may just go back to try my hand at the game a few times.

Once I'd spent enough (and couldn't walk anymore) I headed back to my hotel to rest a little. I'd already started on this blog post, when Safari crashed ;_;

EDIT: Damn! I just remembered that I forgot to buy a Comiket #73 catalogue. I wanted one as a souvenir ;_;

I left for Ikebukoro around 15:00, wanting to at least visit the observation deck at Sunshine City. However, I couldn't find the building, so I gave up around 17:30. How I managed to completely miss a forty storey building is beyond me =_=

Anywho: dinner at the Ikebukoro station was quite tasty! I worked up enough nerve to eat among the Japanese all by myself and hopped into one of those small ramen shops. The measly sum of Y340 (about two euros!) got me a big bowl of Udon noodles, with tempura kakiage. Oishi!

Posted in: akiba , akihabara , ikebukoro , shopping , tokyo

Shopping for watches: Haruo Suekichi (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Earlier this year I fell in love with the works of Haruo Suekichi, who makes some awesome watches. Back then I thought I'd have to travel to the northermost part of Honshu (Japan's main island), just to get a few of his watches. Luck would have it that this is not true and that his work can actually be bought in Tokyo!

After digging around a lot, using translation websites and with the awesome help of some of my friends, I've found the shop. My travel buddies are the best! :)

The shop is quite easily accessible, once you know where to find it :) If you look at the big picture, the shop's rather close to the Tokyo Big Sight (location of Comiket) and Akihabara. It's still about twenty to thirty kilometers, but hey :)

Posted in: haruo suekichi , shopping , steampunk , tokyo , watches

I am -so- going shopping in Akihabara! (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

For a while now I've been lusting after the Panasonic Lumix TZ3. It's a great little camera, with an uber-huge analogue zoom. Unfortunately the best price I can get it at in the Netherlands is around 300 euros.

Thanks to the greatness of teh Intarwebs and its plethora of fora and Price Watch pages I've learned that this camera can be had quite cheaply in Japan.

This means that I'll definitely join my mates when they travel down to Akihabara (a district in Tokio). It's a great place to just browse around all day... Or so I've been told ;)

EDIT: Hmmm... The price seems to have come down in the Netherlands as well. It's down to 260 euros at specific dealers. That makes it less worth it to get it in Japan. By buying in the NL I'll be able to take pics with it during the -whole- trip for only a few bucks more.

Posted in: akiba , akihabara , camera , lumix tx3 , shopping