I had church to attend to for most of Saturday. I did manage to go to one of my favourite tonkotsu ramen haunts up at Ikebukuro. Brilliant stuff, despite a queue.
Also walked around Sunshine 21 for a bit, despite some of the (mainly otaku) shops around the area still closed. I did manage to see this ad though:
Afterwards, it was raining so I didn't go out that much so I just went to Akihabara to buy dinner to eat back at the hotel. Besides, there was the Mechaike (the BKA48 one) special that I wanted to watch anyway.
The next day was just generally tying up loose ends and last minute shopping around Tokyo. Spent the first half of the day at Nakano Broadway doing otaku shopping.
I also passed by Harajuku afterwards, as I hadn't been there this trip. Still the same old: hordes of teenage girls in varying states of fashion and often with a crepe in hand, packing Takeshita-dori to the brim.
There were a few idol goods stores around, although mostly (as you'd expect) catered to the female crowd with its stock of Johnny's idol goods. One of the stores even refused me entry as I was, well, male.
The Shibuya crossing looked as famously packed as ever.
Later, I went to Ginza to buy some omiyage for back home. Then it was back to Akihabara for final otaku shopping, slowly burning away the remaining cash I had. But first, I stopped over at Yodobashi Akiba for more headphone appreciation - this time, I went a bit further high-end, knowing full well I'll probably never be able to afford such gear in reality.
- I did prefer the Sennheiser HD700 to the more expensive HD800. I knew the HD800 was picky with amps but even then, both were hooked up to the same Luxman p-700u amp (a rather high-end one as I soon later found out). Playing through the instore Nana Mizuki CD, the HD700 seemed more lively and engaging as opposed to the rather airy HD800.
- The Beyerdynamic T1 was also very good. Between the two, I'd pick the T1 for more cooler, clinical-sounding tastes whilst the HD700 felt warmer. All three were incredibly detailed though.
- If I had to pick one headphone out of the ones I tested though, it would be the classic (Sennheiser) HD650. This time, I played it through my iPhone's music as the source, but running through their headphone amp. Vocals sounded a little rough, but the other facets were otherwise rendered superbly. Had enough energy and warmth to carry my music through with loads of detail.
- Didn't try any of the AKGs on offer, as previous testing of the K550 left me cold.
- I also tried out some of the STAX electrostatic headphones, including the USD$4,000 SR-009 flagship. Even the "basic system" SRS-2170 was incredibly luscious, with some chillout and Kraftwerk playing through it. As for the monster SR-009, well, it was so revealing that I felt it was just way too good for my average J-pop recordings (lossless quality has nothing to do with this; it's the way the music had been mastered and recorded from the start). I had to resort to my classical and Michael Buble recordings, both of which fared much better. A stellar performer, as you'd expect for the price and quality, but useless given my usual music tastes.
The Akarin (Akari Suda) shirt drained my wallet a bit faster than what I expected though - at 3680¥, for a resold member shirt, it was quite costly compared to the other ones I bought.
Which meant dinner was a humble affair at Yoshinoya, their 280¥ gyudon bowl an absolute no-brainer.
By that time, my internet cut off and although I had a second unused SIM card with me, I didn't bring my SIM card cutter along (it was left back at the hotel), so I was without internet for the rest of the evening. I did have enough cash for a slice of cake though.
I might take this chance to give you some otaku/wota shopping tips in Tokyo (this is mainly catered for 48-group goods):
- There are two major otaku shopping districts in Tokyo: Akihabara and Nakano Broadway. Both easily accessible via JR. Akihabara is obviously the larger of the two.
- Outside of major records and bookstores (Tsutaya, Tower Records, Kinokuniya, etc.) and official stores like the AKB48 Cafe & Shop, idol goods shopping would normally confine you to TRIO (there's one for 48-groups in Nakano - they have different stores depending on whose idol goods you're interested in, and another in Akihabara), which resells idol goods (magazines, photos, apparel, used media, etc.). They normally have the largest range if you were to take it by each individual store.
- If we're talking about Nakano however, what I find is that if you're looking for photos, in particular the newer releases, then you'd best be looking around other smaller stores. Not necessarily ones specialising in idol goods per se - just look around the floors and the various stores selling various otaku goods. Some also sell photos, and often times the newer ones. For example, I was surprised to see Kojiharu photos from the latest DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 boxsets (which weren't officially on sale until a few days later) already on the resale market at a smaller miscellaneous goods store around Nakano Broadway. TRIO tends to have a larger choice of photos, but not necessarily newer ones.
- The above also applies at Akihabara, especially inside AKIBA Culture Zone (where TRIO Akihabara is also located). The lower floors of Radio Kaikan (where they sell miscellaneous otaku goods) are also worth a look.
- Another store worth mentioning is a little known idol goods store on the street as you approach Chuo Dori (facing the giant Sofmap) when you exit AKIBA Culture Zone from the escalators side. The store will have some narrow stairs going up, with (something along the lines of) "AKB/SKE/NMB/HKT photos" imprinted on the staircase, along with various TV monitors looping through 48-group concert footage. They generally have a smaller, but not insignificant, range than TRIO, but if you generally can't find what you want at TRIO, this store is an alternative. It's also more spacious than the often-times cramped interiors at TRIO (both). I bought the aforementioned Akarin shirt here, by the way.
- The Lammtarra closest to the Don Quixote Building at Akihabara (not the other one closer to the JR train bridge) also has a small section where they have big folders of 48-group photos for you to browse through and buy, sorted by team and group. Their available range is pretty large, and you should be able to find photos for all members there. (Note that the rest of the store, apart from the front, stocks mainly 18+ material...)
- Traders is also another option, although they have a smaller range of photo stock available.
- In Akihabara, both Sofmap and Don Quixote have the SKE48 MIX-T (both the Budoten and CREWZ collaborations) shirts available, new. No need to really go to resale shops for those.
Monday was the day my flight was scheduled to depart, so I packed my bags and headed for Keisei Ueno station, boarding the fast Skyliner train to the airport.
Funnily enough, Narita (Terminal 1) had a Tsutaya - perfect for any final last minute CD shopping fixes.
Lunch was a simple curry tonkatsu at the airport. Mainly also because I needed a place to charge my phone, as I didn't want to lose power whilst surviving two plane trips back to Australia, and that restaurant had some power outlets available.
For some strange reason, Air China staff wouldn't let me check my luggage through direct to Australia; I had to pick it up at Shanghai and recheck-in. Luckily I had 2 hours, and the plane arrived slightly earlier than scheduled, but it would be (and ended up being) a rush to pass through immigration, collect luggage (not to mention how slow the luggage carousel was at Shanghai Pudong) and check back in. Seems that they only offered the through check-in if I was transiting through Air China's home hub at Beijing instead.
Onboard meals were your average airplane food.
I was going to try and finish Hyouka on the plane, but I ended up sleeping more than I wanted, so those plans were scrapped when I found out I only had 2 hours left until landing - not enough for the remaining 8 episodes.
Surprisingly, we were escorted back to the main terminal via buses upon landing - a first for me for any international flight back to Australia. Later found out that a faulty aerobridge gate was to blame, no thanks to an earlier United Airlines flight, which would have rendered the gate not operable. Australian Customs (one of the strictest in the world) was surprisingly quick though, despite my bag of declared food. Nothing checked, nothing taken away.
And thus, after 1.5 months overseas, I was back at Melbourne.
Summary post forthcoming.
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