- I'm here.

I am currently in Japan right now, which is crazy.

I think I have a lot to explain.

Okay, hi, it's Amanda.

Welcome back as usual.

I haven't actually talked to you guys

and started this vlog yet, so hello.

The clips that you guys saw earlier were from yesterday.

I actually flew in from Toronto

all the way to Japan yesterday.

So it was a 13 hour flight, quite a long fight,

but I landed in the evening

and then I just kind of passed out.

I didn't really have the energy to do that much.

I just kind of got food and I was done

because of the jet lag.

But today's a new morning so I thought

I would finally sit down and talk to you guys.

And when I found out that I had

the possibility of going to Japan,

I actually cried in my apartment

and screamed and it was a lot.

Just because Japan has been my

ultimate dream place to visit ever since I was a kid.

Whenever people ask me where I want to travel to,

Japan has always been number one on that list.

I feel like it still really hasn't sunken yet

just cause I haven't had a full day yet.

Today is my first full day in Japan.

Even just saying that is crazy.

So I'm going to be in Tokyo for the first four or five days.

After that me and my friend are gonna stay in Osaka

and we'll probably do a couple day trips to Kyoto

and some other pretty factors or areas,

but I'm gonna try to vlog everything

and take you guys along.

I don't know how this vlog is gonna work,

whether it's gonna be split up into multiple parts,

cause I'm sure there's gonna be

a lot of things that I'm doing.

But I will try to vlog as much as I can.

If I'm being honest this vlog

is mostly for me and my personal memories,

cause I wanna be able to look back on it.

But I know that there might be a couple of you guys

who are interested in tagging along,

so hopefully you enjoy all of the

Japan content coming your way.

Ah, there's so much to do and see, I am overwhelmed,

but let's do this, let's get this day started.

I think today we're touring a bunch

of different around Tokyo.

So we're going to Akihabara?

Oh my God, this also where you find out

that I will be butchering the Japanese language

throughout this whole trip.

But, okay yeah, so we are going to Akihabara,

and we're going to Asakusa, Shibuya,

a lot of different places.

So let's do this.

(bouncy music)

Look who I found.

- What?

- My travel buddy for the week.

- Yo!

- This is Megan for those of you who don't know.

- Next week we are gonna be bunk buddies, everything.

- Yeah, bunk beds are happening.

- Yeah.

(laughing)

We really are, we got bunk beds, I'm so stoked.

- Yes, we're here in Akihabara,

which is like the area with all the anime stuff.

(drifty music)

I need them all.

Just my whole bag,

my whole luggage is gonna be

filled with plushies when I go back.

(drifty music)

All right, we're in this 3D figurine store.

Oh.

(laughing)

- That's not part of--

- [Amanda] Hello.

- My childhood, guys, my childhood.

- [Amanda] Which one?

Oh yes, classic.

- [Brandon] I always wanted to be a hokage growing up.

- [Amanda] This is my childhood.

Sailor Moon.

- [Brandon] That's your childhood?

- [Amanda] Yes.

- Boo.

- [Amanda] Don't hate on Sailor Moon, don't ever.

- Boo.

(drifty music)

- I just got taiyaki which is like

the red bean pastry with the shape as a fish.

Wow, very tasty.

(drifty music)

All right so we're in this market area.

I don't know what it's called.

She told me and I immediately forgot.

- Ameyoko?

- Ameyoko?

- Ame means America.

- Oh, okay.

(drifty music)

I'm like stopping at every single street,

because everything is so photogenic.

(drifty music)

Sensoji.

- Sensoji.

(giggling)

- Okay, we're gonna head I the Sensoji Temple.

Right now you can see it.

- [Friend] So we're coming up along the side of it.

- [Amanda] Okay, cool.

(drifty music)

- Little bit in your hand and you put it in your mouth.

- Okay.

- Just don't swallow it, but.

I mean you can.

- But what's the significance behind it?

- It's a purification like ritual essentially.

- Okay.

- And it's always the incense over here.

- Okay.

- I think water is much more associated

with the Shinto religion,

and then the incense is more Buddhist.

- Okay.

We put some on your left hand.

- [Helper] We wash left hand.

And then right hand.

- [Amanda] Okay.

- [Helper] And then just a bit of water into your palm.

And it's not really to drink, but just to rinse your mouth.

You can slow it to the beach.

Get the bar clean again,

tilting this bar straight down,

you can clean the bar for the next person.

- [Amanda] That's a good idea.

(drifty music)

Everywhere smells so good,

cause there's all these different food vendors and stuff.

And I just wanna eat everything.

Me and Megan were saying

that you almost have to have like five meals a day here,

just cause there's so many things to try.

And I think it works out,

cause their portion sizes are all

so much smaller than in North America.

So, kind of it works.

(drifty music)

'Kay and I had a nice five minute power nap on the bus.

- [Megan] You were snoring.

- Was I?

- [Megan] No.

- Oh my gosh.

(laughing)

No because I actually do, so.

- [Megan] I know, I was like my bad.

- I actually might snore and you might deal with that.

- That's okay.

- In Osaka.

- [Megan] I'll beat you up.

- But anyways I'm good to go now, I feel refreshed.

We're going to Shibuya Crossing,

which is like that really famous street.

- It has all the different crossings.

It's the largest intersection crossing in the world.

- Fun fact, we actually have one of those

scramble crossings in Toronto.

- No way!

- Dundas Street, yeah.

- It's not like Shibuya though.

- I mean Dundas Street's pretty cool,

so I'm just sayin'.

- You'll see.

- Uh Megan has pointed out

that I have been in Japan for over 24 hours now.

I haven't had boba tea yet

and I feel like it needs to happen.

- She has pointed out every time someone has boba tea,

she's like, look.

- I know, I just spot it, it's like a thing.

You know in high tech movies when they have the eye,

and it like zooms in.

(drifty music)

- [Friend] It's gonna do it, any minute now.

- [Amanda] Cross.

(laughing)

- [Friend] Here we go.

- [Amanda] Oh, they're movin'.

- [Megan] That's a triple shot.

- We just finished up our day around Tokyo.

It was so much fun being able to

explore all the different areas.

We really hit a lot, as you can tell by this vlog.

I already know this vlog's gonna be so long,

but now I'm back at the hotel.

We have a little bit of time before dinner.

We're actually going on a cruise.

I'm so exhausted right now.

It's been kind of a long day,

and then that on top of the jet lag,

it's really hittin' me hard.

Okay so I'm at dinner with Pyong and Brandon.

Say hello.

- Hey.

- Hello.

- [Amanda] Hello.

We just met today.

And it's his birthday, but we made it to dinner.

- Birthday today.

- [Amanda] Yeah, we're celebrating with strangers.

- We're not strangers, we're friends, okay.

We're family now.

- [Amanda] Yeah, now we're family.

(giggling)

- Yeah.

How dare you call us strangers.

- [Amanda] But I got soba,

I gotta try Japanese soba while I'm here.

He recommended this,

but it kinda tastes like nothing, so.

(laughing)

He drenched it in soy sauce.

- [Pyong] It's like some kind of.

- [Amanda] He also got all you can drink.

So I think he's not gonna be okay.

(laughing)

So we didn't even realize

that this restaurant was based off

of the scene from Kill Bill, which is really cool.

(drifty music)

Good morning, everyone, it is day two in Tokyo, Japan.

Honestly I don't really remember

the last thing I filmed last night.

I was just so exhausted from the jet lag

and having the full day exploring.

So I got back to the hotel and literally passed out.

I don't know, I feel like I'm in this weird

in between Toronto and Japan time.

My body is just so confused right now,

but I slept, I'm good, I'm recharged.

I actually woke up really, really early today.

Cause today it is a little bit cloudy outside.

I don't know if you can see that.

It's definitely a bit gray,

but hopefully the rain holds out.

I think it's supposed to rain bit later.

We have another exciting day planned.

We're going to the Happo-en Gardens,

I think that's what it's called.

And we're gonna get to do some classes like

sushi making, Japanese calligraphy,

which hello, that's my brand.

(laughing)

So, yeah, I'm very excited for that.

Right now though I have some free time

before we have to meet up with the whole group,

so I wanted to stop by a stationary store.

You guys suggested so many amazing stationary stores to me

when I asked for your recommendations,

and there's one super close by

to my hotel called Itoya, I think.

So I'm gonna go there.

We'll see what we can find.