Have to wake up early to check out, chug my last beer because I don’t want to leave it behind in the fridge. Pack my stuff, go dump the suitcase in a locker somewhere.

Do all my last minute shopping in Akiba then head to the airport.

Drop off my tax receipts… it seems they really don’t care.

Beer and ice cream on the plane home, what a life. Yoshinoya for breakfast, arrive Sydney at 05:30 the next morning.

Reckon I stayed inside most of the day. It was storming pretty hard and I wasn’t in the best headspace. Went out in the afternoon and did more shopping.

At Rose’s suggestion, went out to find an Up Garage. True to reputation, they have tonnes of secondhand parts, this much be a dream for motorheads.

Had dinner at a kaitenzushi place with a gacha machine! Had fugu for the first time.

Played some more DDR again at the arcade (past midnight), then went and visited Bar&Junk Mikaku properly at 2am (they open until 5am). Drank a good amount (tea liqueur and a grasshopper) and chatted with the bartender, his English is pretty good, and he’s a good talker.

Last night here, *sigh*

I’m not sure I did anything useful all day, probably sleep.

Went and bought merch for myself and others, as I hadn’t done that much shopping yet.

Trawled Akiba, went to White Canvas, Mandarake, the Kneehigh socks store, then went over to Bodyline in Harajuku because I want a really floofy good quality pannier.

Went to Shibuya to check out Tower Records, then had dinner at Ichiran because it’d be a sin not to.

Had to take the long Yamanote route back to Akiba, possibly because it was so late by then. Unexpected stop/change at Shinagawa for some reason.

Wake up late, arrange to go meet Chris and Mayu at a convention event at Big Sight, ’cause why not! Get dinner at Venus Fort, and generally have a nice time. There’s an Ingress sorta… portal vending machine thing here, it has a cool realtime display of stuff.

We parted ways and I headed to Nakano – gonna get the nice Zeiss lens I was eyeing off! I knew I wanted to get something a little bit special and fancy, but do I get the 50mm or the 85mm? I use a 50mm every day, so getting a Zeiss 50mm wouldn’t add all that much value. I can shoot something longer no problem though, so I went with that. 74,000 yen later…

It’s raining pretty bad by the time I leave at 20:30, but I got a nice photo for it.

Back to Akiba, not sure what I did for dinner. Apparently went to Yodobashi, dropped stuff home, then went back out to DonKi again at 22:00.

Not content with just that, I went and discovered Bar & Junk Mikaku nearby, pretty fun!

I wanna try out my new lens! But the room is so tiny that there’s nothing to work with.

Wake up late, arrange to go meet Chris and Mayu at a convention event at Big Sight, ’cause why not! Get dinner at Venus Fort, and generally have a nice time. There’s an Ingress sorta… portal vending machine thing here, it has a cool realtime display of stuff.

We parted ways and I headed to Nakano – gonna get the nice Zeiss lens I was eyeing off! I knew I wanted to get something a little bit special and fancy, but do I get the 50mm or the 85mm? I use a 50mm every day, so getting a Zeiss 50mm wouldn’t add all that much value. I can shoot something longer no problem though, so I went with that. 74,000 yen later…

It’s raining pretty bad by the time I leave at 20:30, but I got a nice photo for it.

Back to Akiba, not sure what I did for dinner. Apparently went to Yodobashi, dropped stuff home, then went back out to DonKi again at 22:00.

Not content with just that, I went and discovered Bar & Junk Mikaku nearby, pretty fun!

I wanna try out my new lens! But the room is so tiny that there’s nothing to work with.

Bought konbini breakfast and got moving. Titanfall OST is pretty epic for driving music. 😀

Went around the north short of Lake Shinji, arrived at Inasanohama Beach, walked around a bit.

Headed north to the coast after spotting a cute place called Cafe Usagi up there. Tiny little town, why not go look at it. Little port town, very cute. Cafe not open though, it’s hours are seasonal. Found a camping ground nearby.

Followed the coast along to Uppurui, then headed back inland towards Lake Shinji.

Looks like I can’t meet up with Sarah, which is a shame but can’t be helped. Decide to drop by Tamayucho Tamatsukuri, there’s a tonne of onsens there. It’s a picturesque little village sorta place.

I must’ve returned the car by now. In at attempt to make some progress, I blow out of town and make it to Yonago, which is only 25km away. I’m kinda desperate for a room as I have no plan and arrive at 21:00, but it seems I’m in luck. It’s close to the station, tiny and pretty worn out. I don’t even care because I can eat some Noppo bread and sleep soundly, at Business Hotel Frontier.

There is a ramen joint open just down the road from the hotel. It’s like midnight when I stroll in but it’s not even quiet; there’s a lot of people! I’m a little intimidated and feel out of place but it doesn’t matter. I’ve got this, I’m smooooth.

I got moving and wheeled myself to the konbini nearby. Yes, breakfast time. Took the Sanyou shinkansen to Okayama, heading west to my last major station before I head towards Matsue. Had curry at a place called Quiet Village, at Shini’s recommendation. They have trams, it’s cool!

Bought kibidango in Okayama at his recommendation too.

Wherever I ended up, it’s heading towards or near Matsue. I booked a room in a hostel called Hotel Knut. It’s a restaurant on the ground level, which is cute.

I discovered the Toyota rental place was still open and I could make it, aw what the hell why not! Ran in about 15min before closing and said I just want a car for 24hrs, threw documents and money at them.

Why did I drive 13km out of town to a Lawson southeast of Matsue? I dunno, maybe just because.

I found myself somewhere to park the damn thing that wouldn’t break the bank, then found a yakitori joint to get dinner, Yakitori Bankichi.

It was late, maybe 21:30, but the old couple running the restaurant were super sweet and didn’t seem to mind at all. Was able to chat with them a bit, very satisfying. Konbini snacks for after dinner, of course.

Taxi to Uchiura because it’s just more expedient – I have to lug my suitcase which sucks. Got the Rubesty taxi!

Got the ferry to the island, had to negotiate leaving my suitcase at the tourism office because it was too big for the lockers.

Saw the dolphin show

Walked around the island, weird tunnel of lights cuts through it. Climbed the hill, it was worth it.

Saw the penguins with nametags of Aqours girls!

Missed Kanan’s dive shop, I think it’s a cafe.

Saw Chika’s place and the pier, it’s close to Mito Sea Paradise. Caught the bus back to Numazu, bought a tonne of Noppo bread.

Things are starting to fall apart for me. I know where I need to go but I don’t have a plan. I should really hurry along if I’m gonna get to catch up with Sarah.

Caught the train to Mishima nearby (a major station), had pizza for dinner in a little restaurant while waiting for connecting leg. Shinkansen to Shizuoka, then on to Shin-Osaka. Subway to Namba where it looks like I can get a room for the night. I could book a capsule hotel but bugger dealing with non-private spaces when I’m this stressed out. The room at Namba Hostel is tiny but it doesn’t matter. I roll out the futon and crash out.

Had lunch with Trej in the Yodobashi food court before he had to head to airport

Bought some goods and sent then home via EMS, eg. Bismarck figure

Got to Numazu in the evening, got to hotel, nothing too exciting.

The crew went to Sweets Paradise somewhere in north Akiba because… they have a Vocaloid collab on the menu, and there’s limited edition merch to be had too.

Went arcade after lunch, wandered around DonKi, visited shady adult shops and saw interesting things as a group.

Looks like I went to Nakano in the afternoon, but made it back to Akiba for more window shopping in cosplay stores and the like.

Then back to APA again where we saw Maimai machines in the lobby w (coin-op washing machines)

There are UFO catcher machines in the hotel. And a Lawson (but I already knew about the latter).

Day 2 of the event, back for more merch, I don’t think there was a concert?

Went to nearby shopping centre to kill time, also more stuff to buy. Pocky stand!

Had Strong Zero. Went to dinner with other westerner fans, had horse meat (uma!) for the first time.

Messed around with the Aikatsu machine at the game centre near the station.

Dude randomly handed us some Miku goods while we were hanging around outside the station!

Lots of itasha outside, actual concert day today.

Post-concert event in the tower above APA was pretty good, tight space but buzzing nicely. Lots of ball-jointed dolls, some cosplayers, really cool people.

Held at Makuhari Messe, I went later while Trej went ahead for merch and whatnot.

Cool stuff on display at the expo, much merch to be bought.

Nikon was still on Sydney time, +2 off Tokyo, had to fix that. I got to the event a little before midday.

Went to Akiba and roamed around Yodobashi Camera for the afternoon

Took the Tsukuba Express from Akiba to Tsukuba, at 1600, cost 1190 yen. Arrived around 1700, walked through the big long gardens, past Tsukuba Expo Center, then a loooong way to Kashima Shrine.

Got dark while I was in Tsukuba, took the train back to Akiba in the dark, then continued on to Makuhari Messe to meet with Trej and the others.

Had dinner around 21:30 at a bbq place, 焼肉屋くいどん in the Messe Amuse Center.

Flight JL772 to Narita

Departed around 0700, arrived 1620, Keisei Skyliner to Nippori, train to Nihonbashi Kodemmacho, stayed at Toyoko Inn Nihonbashi.