I moved to Tokyo! ♡ A little life update…

 Hello everybun!♡

It’s been a little while since I wrote on this blog, so I thought I’d write a little life update about moving from London to Tokyo, and a couple other little updates…~♪

I actually was going to answer a lot of these questions on YouTube, but due to my studies being so demanding, I thought I’d write something here first while I’m still finding my footing, and sort out the full Q&A once I’m more settled, hehe! ♡ These will just be more basic questions, so please be patient with me while I prepare the full Q&A~

When did you move to Japan?

I think this question is probably the most asked one, that is easy to answer !
I moved to Tokyo this year, in April. The reason for this is because my birthday is in March so I could enjoy that day with family and friends, and then school in Japan tends to start in April too  ~♪ You can also enjoy the cherry blossom season at this time as well, so it’s perfect…

How did you move to Japan? 

This seems to be another question I get asked a lot, and while I think I’ll need to simplify it a lot for a blog post, I’ll try my best to explain !

So, I am studying Japanese language in Tokyo, which means I am on a student visa!

If you have a student visa, the school is responsible for helping you move to Japan♡

I actually had to choose between very little schools, as due to my health conditions most schools would not accept me due to being a ‘liability’… it was a little upsetting, for sure! But I didn’t let that stop me, and finally found a school that was right for me. 

Of course, this involved a lot of paper work like finding my old school records, birth certificate, proof of residence, etc, but it’s definitely worth it!~♪

I really recommend doing your research into the best school for you, as it really differs from person to person~

Why did you move to Japan 

So this question has so many answers, too..!♡

To be honest, I just felt that this was the natural step in my life that I needed to make, and very important to me.

I had been in university studying philosophy in the UK, graduated with my degree, and started a full time job at an office. However, I didn’t feel the job was the right fit for me, and I was worried I’d be living a life full of regrets for not chasing my dreams…

I also felt like I’d just been in this very dark place for a few years, and I needed to get out of there; maybe one day I will talk about this, but moving to Tokyo to achieve my dreams really felt like the last option I had left. Of course, it’s not easy, and perhaps moving to a country with not the best care for mental health wasn’t the smartest idea.. but for me, it really was that or nothing!

  Of course, this isn’t just because I adore the fashion, cute goods and cultural aspects of Japan, I actually find learning Japanese to be really fun and rewarding!

As a city girl from London, Tokyo really feels fun to me and I knew that it would be a great place to live, with many like minded people♡

My goal in Tokyo is to become more confident in my Japanese, and to follow my passions, no matter how hard it might be. I refuse to let health issues stop me!~♪

How is life in Tokyo, Japan so far? 

I think so far things are going well for my new life here !

It can be so stressful and overwhelming at times, as there is a lot of work, and managing all aspects of your life at once can be very tiring. However, overall I know that this was the right decision for me, and that living here has many benefits~♪

I’ve met so many lovely people, been to so many amazing places and learnt a lot, although it’s only been 2 months of me living here…!
Also, Tokyo has many cure places to visit like themed cafes, rabbit themed shops, girly clothes, beautiful nature and more, so I really have been enjoying living here… I even started a YouTube channel to document these cute places that I’ve found so far, and filming for that has been so much fun!♡

Thank you for reading this little update, and I’m looking forward to sharing more content with you all…!

Lots of love, 

♡ Evie xox ♡

First Time At Maidreamin Café…?!~♪ | Exploring Akihabara!

 

Hello everybun!♡

For today’s blog post, I'm so excited to be sharing my experience visiting a maid cafe in Akihabara, Tokyo for the first time…!~♪

As this was the first day of this holiday, I woke up very early due to jet lag… around 3am Once I was awake, I was too excited to go back to sleep hehe♡ So, it was time to get dressed, do my hair arrange and cosme, then head to Akihabara! I was staying in Shinjuku, so it was a easy trip to do… although since we arrived around 6am, nothing was open  Despite that, it was a truly incredible experience to walk around such a unique place with no crowds, and try to shortlist what shops we would visit~♪ I’m a huge fan of collecting my favourite manga and anime goods in the forms of figures, tapestries, acrylic stands, charms and even more… so it felt impossible not to want to visit every shop!

The first thing i saw that made me really happy was this Pachinko shop that had Madoka art all over it…! Madoka is my favourite character along with My Melody, and I adore collecting their merch…! If you live in Japan, seeing promotional art from anime in the city is very common. But in the uk, it’s very rare; let alone your favourite characters or series! So seeing so much adorable art of my favourite girl really did fill my heart with joy~♪

The arcade itself had giant murals of Madoka everywhere, to advertise the themed game that they have for Madomagi. The game itself didn’t really interest me as I’m not really a fan of gambling-type games, but it was really fun to explore the arcade and take photos It was also surreal to see such a busy part of Tokyo so empty…! I’m not sure if the photos really do it justice, but it was too fun, and really gave us a chance to appreciate all the details!

Since exploring this district while shops were still closed took us a little over an hour, we decided to head back to the station area to try Starbucks…!♡ On the way back, I compiled a little list of places to visit hehe… there were quite a few cute makeup and cosplay shops too! It was a little overwhelming how many places there were to visit~♪

For my Starbucks drink choice, of course I had to try the limited edition ‘red velvet’ flavoured Frappuccino that you could only get in Japan…! I wish we had such interesting flavours in the uk, it really was lovely♡ I ordered mine with oat milk, but of course many of the flavours and toppings used in this drink would only be veggie, not vegan, so for this trip it seemed best to adapt to being vegetarian~♪  

After the refreshing drinks, we headed to the first shops that were opening…!~♪ I was so happy to finally visit the azone and dollfie dream doll shops, I’ve admired these dolls for years and love my little doll collection so so much. Just to give you an idea how big some of these dolls are, here’s me sitting next to them for scale! They are so detailed and even more beautiful in person, one day I'd love to own a dollfie dream or 1/3 scale azone doll… these dolls were even dressed in jirai kei and ryosangata, how perfect?!♡

The dollfie dream store even had this little family tree about the history of dollfie dreams…! It’s incredible to see how they’ve become even more detailed over time, and how the doll art style has changed along with anime art styles over time. If you’re also a doll collector, I’d really recommend visiting the store to see this; they even had some of their rarest dolls on display in-store!♡ It was so beautiful and made me want a dollfie even more hehe… they are very pricey, but also very cute!

After exploring many of the adorable shops, we finally made it to the cafe…!♡ We had both never visited a maid cafe before, so it was lovely to have the ‘welcome home’ greeting, and talk to such friendly and sweet maids too…! The first thing we talked about was, unsurprisingly, My Melo as I'd brought her as a charm on my backpack hehe~♪

After reading the menu a little, we ended up ordering a couple different goodies to share and review…!~♪ The first was this incredible matcha soufflé pancakes that were so tasty and refreshing; the slightly nutty, savoury azuki on the side paired so well with the fluffy sweet taste of the pancake I was so impressed as pancakes are my favourite food, and these did not disappoint! ♡

When you buy certain menu items from Maidreamin Café you also get this adorable clear file…! I was happy to get the cute pink one I wanted hehe, it's a really cute souvenir~ we also got a blue ver. which was really cute too! Perfect for visitors who might not be super girly ♡ 

The next thing that we ordered were these adorable bunny and bear themed ice cream parfait!~♪

I had always wanted to try the bunny parfait ever since seeing photos of Maidreamin online, so it made me really happy to finally order it and get to see this cute dessert in person. The parfait itself was a refreshing strawberry flavour with whip cream, various white and milk chocolate details, strawberry syrup, wafer biscuit and cornflakes underneath. The ice cream paired really well with the sweet syrup and whip cream, and it was just what I fancied for such a warm and sunny day I did, however, find that the cornflakes and wafer were a bit too dry, so I'd recommend swooshing the dessert around a little before eating, hehe♡

 We also couldn’t resist taking photos with the maids too…!~♪ I ended up getting a cheki with the cutest Neru-chan! All the staff were so lovely when we took the photos, and overall I really enjoyed the experience. Next time I'm in Akihabara, I'll definitely visit again, I'd love to meet more cute maids!

Thank you so much for reading,

Evie xox