Hrajuku is a mix of the weird and wonderful. On one hand, there are the mothers and their teenaged daughters shopping for lolita outfits together. On the other hand, there are the tall (and somewhat scary) African men touting their hiphop shops’ oversized wares.

Somewhere along the middle are shops geared more towards our tastes then the above mentioned subcultures: Kiddyland Harajuku, and the Evangelion Store Tokyo 01. Offering items you didn’t know you needed but definitely wanted, they are absolutely terrible places for people with poor impulse control.

      

Case in point: Kiddyland Harajuku (MAP). It offers five (five!) themed floors showcasing toys, collectibles, and character merchandise. The basement houses the recently relocated Snoopy Town. The ground floor is a general space that displays the newest in franchises — the flavor of the month appears to be Nameko, an oddly pahllus-shaped character based on the Japanese nameko mushroom.

The second floor is geared towards boys toys (but nothing wrong with us girls nabbing a few of them). You can find a variety of toy cars, action figures, trading card games, and personal gear fron lines such as The Avengers, Pokemon, Lego, and Tomica. There are even Tokyo exclusive merch for some of these lines — such as the ukiyo-e-style graphic tees for Star Wars. The third floor showcases girls toys such as Hello Kitty and Disney, while the top floor is Rilakkuma Land — featuring all-Rilakkuma, all-the-time.

      

Another place that’s bad for your wallet is the Evangelion Store Tokyo 01 (MAP), located off a side street down Takeshita Doori. The store is divided into two sections: the Radio Eva section featuring streetwear and merchandise geared towards the fashionista set, and the Evangelion goods section for the more traditional (hardcore?) fans on the second floor.

One could easily drop tens of thousands of yen in this money pit without one noticing, but if I have one tip for you it’s probably this: pick one nice thing from Radio Eva, and spend what’s left of your change upstairs. Radio Eva goods are not cheap, but they’re quite nice to look at and are cleverly-designed so they are worth the investment. Whatever’s left, you can blow on stickers and notebooks and biscuits of whatever else that floats your boat, in the cheaper but no less dangerous Eva goods section.

Continued in 2013 Tokyo Trip Day 6: Ikebukuro

Another shopping excursion spot for camera fiends is a little out of the way compared to Akihabara, but the prices alone are enough reason to go. Fujiya Camera Shop is a hole-in-the-wall in Nakano that offers both brand new and pre-owned cameras in a mind-boggling array of makes and models (Do you fancy a — say, Pentax Q10 in Evangelion colors?).

      

Aside from digital cameras in the P&S, Micro 4/3rds, mirrorless, and SLR formats, Fujiya Camera also offers a variety of films and vintage film cameras for your Lomo-toting hipster pals. There are also plenty of lenses, gear, and accessories designed to help you shoot better. Maybe. The jury is still out on that one.

One loooooong covered walk down the street and you will find yourself at Nakano Broadway, which houses a number of second-hand toy and hobby shops for figure collectors on a budget. Mandarake alone has 2309827310928 branches in Nakano — okay, I exaggerate, but I honestly haven’t figured out how many stores they managed to shoehorn into the tight spaces of Nakano Broadway because they are just so many of them.

      

Each branch is organized according to genre: there is a Kaiju specialist store, a Sentai specialist store, a BJD specialist store, even an Ichiban Kuji and Game Prize specialist if the item you are looking for is technicallynot for sale in shops. I could spend days just getting lost in the halls looking for that perfect deal. Breadcrumbs and a ball of string may be in order.

One tip: bring cash. If you think you can get away with using your credit card, you’re dead wrong. Many of these stores only accept cash (in Japanese yen). Many of these stores also do not have a Return Policy, so make sure you examine your purchase inch by inch before you head for the cashier.

Continued in 2013 Tokyo Trip Day 4: Harajuku

April was harsh — two weeks in and I had my bag snatched by some bike-riding thieves; they got away with my phone, tablet, and personal medical equipment. However, instead of purchasing replacements in Manila, I decided to get them in Akihabara. Between the favorable exchange rate and 5% tax rebate, I got a 32GB iPad Mini AND a 32GB Nexus 7 from Softmap Akihabara (MAP) for the price of a 64GB iPad back home.

      

But that’s not the only deal you can score in Akihabara. If you’re looking for a fancy new mirrorless camera to replace your worn-out point-and-shoot, or looking for something less bulky than your DSLR, Yodobashi Multimedia Akihabara (MAP) is candyland. Every conceivable make and model can be found here at fantastic prices; there are even second-hand ones in excellent condition if you’re on a strict budget.

However, I do have a quick caveat: not all models have an English menu option. Almost all brands can be converted from the Japanese menu to English except for two brands: Sony (Cybershot and NEX) and Panasonic (Lumix). If you prefer these brands, you might have to pay a lot more for the international editions that feature an English menu.

      

If you are an avid anime fan and figure collector, Akihabara is a one-stop shopping district that can fulfill all your needs. For items fresh from the manufacturer, you can head for the Kotobukiya Store (MAP) — which stocks not just their own products but other lines as well (including Kaiyodo, Good Smile Company, and Bandai).

If you’re not fussy and are fine with second-hand items, the big black building housing Mandarake Complex (MAP) should be your next stop. It houses eight floors of pre-owned collectibles at great prices. The condition is nothing to sneeze at either — most of them are mint in-box and unopened, while others are still packed in their shipping boxes. It’s like getting them new!

Continued in Tokyo Trip Day 3: Nakano

Which was how I found myself — barely two weeks into a new company, plonked down in the middle of Nihonbashi with two giant suitcases and a tiny shoebox apartment. Don’t get me wrong — I am loving the expereince so far! It’s really different from living in a hotel room (like on my other work-related trips) or in a dormitory (like we did on our holidays — money is better spent on things other than hotel rooms).

      

If you watch a lot of Japanese drama and movies, you basically know the contents of a typical studio apartment. There is an entrance called a genkan, where you take your shoes off before stepping into the apartment. This is usually attached to a hallway, which also doubles as a galley kitchen. Along this hallway, you can also find the bathroom and the toilet — they are usually separate from each other. The bathroom contains a shower and small tub, and the toilet has the, well — toilet, but if you’re lucky you get a washlet to go along with it.

A washlet is a super high-tech toilet attachment that has more buttons than a Playstation controller. It features heated seats, separate bidets for your bottom and your privates, and a water-saving feature that recycles the water you use to wash your hands to flush into your toilet bowl. Some washlets — particularly those found in public toilets, also come with a button that plays a flushing sound to cover up your weird toilet noises, and another button that releases an air freshener to counteract any unpleasant smells.

However, it makes up for in technology, it lacks in size. If you’re used to Manila flats that are fairly roomy — heck, if you still live with your folks in your family’s (comparatively) massive three-bedroom bungalow, then you’ll feel cramped and boxed in. Also, if you buy your own groceries and supplies and start comparing them with prices in Manila, you’ll probably have a mild heart attack.

Is it better living in Japan than in Manila? I don’t know. Is it different? Yes, definitely. Each person has a different opinion; experience is key to finding your own conclusion.

Continued in 2013 Tokyo Trip Day 2: Akihabara

We’re off to Japan for work! Please follow us on Instagram to get the latest street views from Japan :D

Kichitora is different from other joints we’ve tried so far based on one thing: instead of pork, their prime ingredient is chicken. Okay, so you might think, “What’s so unusual about that — chicken mami is a Filipino staple!”. Well to the Japanese it is, as ramen is mostly made with pork stock and topped with pork slices. To some people who shy away from the fatty goodness of pork, Kichitora’s chicken ramen is a great option.

      

The noodles themselves are okay — not exceptional, but not terrible either (think Chinese egg noodles terrible — that’s mami hun not ramen). The soup itself is okay — flavorful enough considering that it’s made with chicken and not pork. Personally, it did not agree with me since I found it too oily and and too salty. It was good for the first few slurps, but as I went through the bowl I began to like it less and less.

That aside, I can forgive the store for serving ramen not to my liking; maybe it’s just not my cup of tea and would be brilliant to somebody else. However, what I could not overlook was the terrible service we’ve had during our visit. The wait staff kept screaming out orders to the kitchen for “The VIP Table”, and bumping off orders from regular diners like us. One of our dishes was even diverted to the VIPs even if we ordered ahead of them, just because they ordered the same thing and they were at “The VIP Table” while we were clearly not.

After an additional fifteen minutes of waiting for our errant order and listening to more “Send this to the VIPs!” and “This is a VIP order please hurry it up!”, our last bit of food finally arrived. It was obviously underdone and clearly rushed to our table without consideration on how it looked like and tasted like. So we just drowned it in dipping sauce, asked for our bill, paid the exact amount, and left without another word.

Would I eat there again? I’m not sure. I guess if one of my friends did and said they would spring for dinner I wouldn’t say no. However, if it were up to me, I’d save my hard-earned money for places like Santouka or Mitsuyado that served ramen to my liking, as well as valued my dining experience as much as they did the dining experience of their erstwhile “VIPs”.

One of our readers have us a heads-up via the Comments section that we were nominated for the Best Otaku Blog at the Pinoy Otaku Fest!

Thanks so much for the vote of confidence <3 We hope you can take your support one step further by voting for us in the Finals! You can vote for us up to five times per day (or five times in quick succession per day, of you are so inclined).

Thanks so much again to our readers, friends, and sponsors for supporting magnetic-rose.net through these years :) Best of luck to us all, and hope we bring home the bacon!

After ohfiftymillionoddyears, groundbreaking Filipino full-lenght 3D animated feature RPG: Metanoia comes to home video on the DVD format.

The RPG: Metanoia DVD can be purchased at Astrovision, Oddysey, and other local outlets at just Php 399.

RPG: Metanoia is about the exploits of a group of children tasked to save the virtual world of Metanoia. The film was an official entry to the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival. For our synopsis and review, click here.

magnetic-rose.net is credited with Japanese translation and localization for RPG: Metanoia.

Day 2 at Maid 2 Travel brings more clear skies and cool weather as the loyal maids and butlers of Baguio City dress to impress their lords and ladies at the At Your Service competition.

Featuring a unique format where cosplayers are scored not just on their outfits but also on their roleplay as stylized anime maids and butlers, the competition was both frightfully serious and unexpectedly hilarious in turns.

      

The stand-outs of the event were not-so-prim-and-proper Akiko-chan and rough-and-ready Maid Guy. Both big and burly men in French maid outfits, they stole the show with their slapstick and tongue-in-cheek humour that left their judges rolling in the aisles gasping for air.

The laughter continued for the rest of the afternoon, as other contests and games were played, including the always funny Facepalm the music, borrowed lovingly from their big brother cons in Manila.

      

Overall the vibe at M2T resembles those of earlier cons in Manila, when the venues were small and all the participants knew each other’s names. That’s not necessarily bad, since it’s a wonderful way of connecting with fellow fans, and that sort of camaraderie easily gets lost in the din of a major Manila convention.

We really enjoyed our foray to Baguio for Maid 2 Travel, and we’d like to congratulate the organizing team for the success of the event. We hope to see everyone again in Baguio City — sooner rather than later.

Photos courtesy of Team Gomen.

magnetic-rose.net is an official partner of Maid 2 Travel.

      

What makes Maid 2 Travel different from your typical con is the casual hospitality and chill vibe that the entire event emits. There are no horrific lines, no jam-packed aisles, no money-grubbing attractions, and no high-strung fellow con-goers that ruin many Manila cons.

What you get instead are lush outdoor locations perfect for shoots, friendly competition across three different contests, and an informative series of workshops and demos — including an onstage talk by TOrCH 2012 Champions and AFA 2012 Philippine Representatives Adventure Team, on the basics of performance and stage presence.

      

One of the other workshops conducted was our very own lady’s yukata demo called Yukata Kitsune, which brought in participants from both Baguio and Manila (incidentally, did you know that Baguio City is a great place to look for second-hand yukata and kimono?).

The day’s competitions include a cosplay competition and a traditional Japanese attire contest. We were asked to judge the participants for the traditional attire contest, alongside veteran cosplayer Jin, and representatives from the Japanese community in Baguio. The judging was fast and furious, and the winners definitely deserved their wins!

Continued in Day 2.

magnetic-rose.net is an official partner of Maid 2 Travel.