04. Kyoto - 京都 / Kyoto Botanical Garden 京都府立植物園

Spring is finally here~ I'm so happy to see how wonderful this season is in Japan, with the warm weather the plum began to blossom! I can't wait for the cherry blossom either. 

I went to visit the beautiful botanical garden of my city Kyoto. It's a great place and the entrance ticket is only 200Y, which is really cheap~ Perfect for a student like me, and with my love of flowers and peaceful places, it was such a nice afternoon..

Here's some pictures of the plum trees and flowers I saw. I still have a lot of work to do on my macros.. I'm thinking about taking a photography class next year so I'll have a better technic with my camera. 

Inside the garden itself was, lost between the trees, a little shrine.

I walked into a little booth selling flowers next to the coffee shop of the garden.

An exibit of differents kinds of japanese plants and bonzaïs!

Thank you for reading!

03. Kobe - 神戸 / A day at Harborland

Last week I went with some friends to Kobe to spend a good day near the sea! It was freezing cold but I was glad to breath such fresh air, since just before this I had to spend days in bed due to a bad cold. There's no beach here, and it's mostly industrial structures, but I enjoyed the view on the sea and how striking blue was the sky this day.

The city was partially destroyed during one of the biggest earthquake known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. As a memory, a portion of the port was kept in state. 

Harborland, our destination for the day, is a big touristic spot near the port, consisting mostly of parcs and shops. We entered into a huge shopping mall and while walking around with my friends looking for a good restaurant, I saw a Kiddyland.. Immediately started giggling.. The store is much smaller than the Harajuku one but it's still so full of cute stuff.

And Rilakkuma everywhere. 

And.. the one who came home with me~

We then found a cheap japanese restaurant that offered Kobe typical food. I don't eat red meat so I had no interest in the beef (Kobe beef being the most famous dish here) but my friends wanted to try if possible. I ended up having with my set a plate of Akashiyaki ((明石焼き), small dumplings made with eggs and with a little chunck of octopus inside. 

After a good meal, we kept looking in the shops around, every one being cuter than the previous. I really enjoy decorating as a hobby since I have a deep love for beautiful items, and the shop I took these pictures in was like heaven to me. The atmosphere was very peaceful.

After shopping a little bit, we went by the docks to ride the ferris wheel~

It offered a really great view on the bay! I spotted this impressive submarine..

For the tea time we went into a random coffee shop that looked great- and when we walked in I became worried we didn't checked the prices first because everything inside was so fancy.. But the card was actually really reasonnably priced and the apple pie I ordered was sooooo delicious. 

Huuuuuge Totoro! I wish I could have take it home~

At the end of the day we headed for Chinatown to see Chinese New Year's activities and eat a good dinner. I got gyozas of course- I love it so much.

Thanks for reading!

02. Osaka - 大阪 Part 2 / Fashion shopping in Amerikamura

The second day in Osaka, I went in the district called Amerikamura (often cut as Amemura) that is the youth's heart of the city! Many young adults gather here for shopping or hanging out, the place is always crowded and there's so much to see. During the week end you can assist to street representations or meet artists and the most fashionable around~ I was lucky to assist to a free rock concert, but the streets are always lively with music blasting from the shops.

The earrings selection of a jewelry shop- it's totally amazing how much of these are displayed for sale, and the designs are really cute too. I bought some pairs here.

Spinns is a famous brand that makes clothing and accessories in the latest japanese fashion trend around! The shopgirls are always adorable and very fashionable~

Look at these crazy shoes! I love the white and holographic ones, so stylish.

The shop itself is quite big but super crowded with clothing and decoration! It's a little bit hard to walk since you have to be careful not to bump into things with your bag, but the ambiance created by the drawings, decoration items and the music baffling is incredible!

After, I headed for the biggest mall in Amerikamura that is called "Big Step" and has most of its shops devoted to alternative J-fashion such as lolita and visual kei. There's various brand shops such as Miho Matsuda and Kera shop (selection shop from different brands) but also more: a Starbucks, various restaurants and.. a pinball entertainment room! It's called the Silver Ball Planet.

My dad's passion is pinball and he has quite a dozen machines at home, so I took pictures to show him. I like playing it too, but I prefer admiring the outside- most of these really have interesting designs, and the board is always fascinating to watch with many paths the ball can roll on.

I went there in September but everyone was already crazy about Halloween ehe..

Even if I didn't bought anything and was dressed with total muggle-tourist attire (tank, short and baskets..) a cute lolita in one of the shop gave me candy! (She must had feel my inner persona..)

Most of the shops in Japan don't allow pictures, so I only got these where it was authorized after asking politely, or from the outside's display. (Or magically after buying something!)

And I'll end this post with pictures of my favorite second hand shop, Kinji! It has a huge selection from vintage to modern clothing, but also bags, shoes, jewellry, hats, and even dolls, plushes and toys! I love how colorful the shop is, and there's so much details everywhere in the displays. Not to mention how they carry such a large choice of cool clothing for totally affordable prices, ranging from 10$ only.

Florals.. Florals everywhere.. (Did I already said that florals are my favorite patterns?)

I'll stop here for today before loading this post too much. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!