Anywhere you are is just like home to you

It's probably looked like I've really done a lot in 2020 so far, but it's because I was trying to do as much as possible before moving away from Europe. I haven't really had time to stop and process any of it until just recently, and when I was sat listening to Mika Ice Cream came on and it transported me straight back to his live shows and it really struck me just how wild this year has been. It's only March and I've already traveled to Luxembourg and Holland, seen three Mika shows and met him, been to see four West End musicals, went to a special screening of my favorite movie and met the director, Todd Phillips, afterwards. I can't even wrap my mind around it all. And now I've moved to Japan!

I've only been here a week and it's barely sunk in and still kind of feels like I'm on vacation, but so far it's been amazing, mostly for the people I've met more than anything. I've had a bit of time to myself so decided to head into Tokyo yesterday for a bit of a look round. I'm really close and it's easily accessible so I plan on going back a few times, so had plenty of time to look at everything I wanted without feeling the need to fit in as much as possible in one day. I still managed to walk 13 miles though! I mostly visited Shinjuku and Shibuya, and it's weird how much my memory kicked in from when I last in Tokyo. I spent a lot of time in Shinjuku and Shibuya back then because I was super into J-fashion (and still am, although I'm not up to date with it like I used to be) and as soon as I was back I was remembering things that I had no idea I even remembered! I kinda knew which way to go and where certain things were, and it was also cool getting thrown off by things that have changed in the time since.




The Disney Store in Shibuya was one of the main places I wanted to go, and I can't begin to tell you how incredible this place is. What I love most about Disney in Japan is that they recognize that single adults are the ones with the most disposable income so there's only a tiny corner of the store selling toys for kids. It's the complete opposite of Disney Stores back home which is 95% kids with a few things for adults (although they are slowly getting better lately!). This is one of the main stores and it's across three floors, and even the inside is designed like a castle and you have to climb a spiral staircase to get to each floor. 




I also went to Tower Records as I've never actually been in one and I wanted to see the Japanese variations of my favorite records. Although I have Mika's CDs in English, I'm tempted to gradually collect these versions anyway, or at least one or two. And they had a whole Joker display. It was interesting to me that the movie is just subtitled because when I saw Joker at the movie theater in Paris it was fully dubbed into French. They had a DC Comics pop up shop in Shibuya 109 and I was disappointed that they didn't have any hint of Joker there, I find it weird how they're still not merchandising the movie despite how many awards its won. Let me give you my money!!

It was about 9pm by this point, so I caught the train back to Tsukuba (which takes about an hour). I've spent today recovering as about every muscle in my body aches - I don't realize how hard I go and how far I walk until the next day! I don't know how long I'll be living here honestly as I definitely have other plans, so I want to make the most of every second while I am here.