Jet Lagged Brain, Jumbled Thoughts

 So I took the whole month of November off and spent all of it in Japan. It was my first trip out there since 2019(!) and I wanted the trip to be as long as possible to justify the cumulative 26 hour plane rides. A lot's changed since COVID warped the world and I was eager to see what's changed.

And sort've by extension, I'm seeing how much I've changed too.

The day after I landed I met up with my longtime collecting friend Anco-san, his wife Fukurou-san and their child. We've known eachother for nine years now and we first met through the sports card collecting hobby, but we didn't go to a single shop this time. Partly because their kid is still super young, but also because none of us really collect sports cards like we used to. Those two have more important matters on hand (literally and figuratively), while my interests are just elsewhere.

That said I did pick up some sports cards during my trip just because I did visit two card shops I used to go to back when I lived in Nagoya, Match-Up! and Bits!. The key highlight was probably the Akira Neo autograph since prices on those finally dropped from the 30K JPY (think like 200 USD) to 15K JPY (literally half) thanks to the Chunichi Dragons bumbling his development.

I could go into the rest of my sports card pick-ups, a whopping 9 total cards, but I think that Neo's enough for now. Just not really motivated given how uninterested I was with sports cards for the month I was gone. The rest might get their time on this blog in the months to come. Maybe.

Although real quick, it was a little surreal seeing convenience stores have these packs of Bowman branded NPB cards just sitting there though. I snapped this picture and just bought one pack just out of mild curiosity. The contents were mid and will be sent to NPB Card Guy at some point since I think he'd get more of a kick out of them.

In general rest of my pick ups were just various pieces of merchandise and non-sports cards of VTubers, anime characters and video game characters. Both in volume and in terms of money spent.

Like that Yu-Gi-Oh! card in the center there of Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit is a 20th Anniversary Secret Rare parallel that cost north of 30K yen, it was easily my most expensive purchase on a single item on this trip and I didn't care, I just wanted one of those 20th Secret rares that took the hobby by storm during what was a brief popularity spike in the COVID-riddled 2020-22 era.

Also the Japanese yen was still down horrendously during my entire time here so I was just swiping my US credit card like crazy. I was doing my part to stimulate the Japanese economy damnit.

Other than that I'd say my cosplayer merch/polaroid collection got the biggest boost. Mostly because I got to meet two of my favorite cosplayers in person and it will never cease to amaze me that I somehow managed to squeeze in time to meet both during this trip. 

Beyond that I spent a little more of my time going to maid cafe's and "concept cafes" (think maid cafes but with other themes). I did not spend thousands of dollars on plane tickets to not be a degenerate. For me the best part was getting to take polaroids of them on the spot and having them decorate and sign it. It's a staple (yes these cost extra for those who're wondering).

Because I went to this cafe in particular the most, quick shout-out to Ashita no Cafe. Located in Shibuya (MAP), this cafe changes themes depending on which day of the week it is. Like on Mondays it's a beauty school, on Tuesdays it's your personal work secretary, etc... Each theme was designed by a cosplayer who wanted to bring their vision of a cafe to reality. If you're visiting Japan, maybe give them a visit. Though please pay attention to their pricing system. NOTE: this goes for any maid/concept cafe, the servers will give you a rundown of their pricing and it is essential you pay attention or get hit with a massive bill at the end.

All in all, it was a fun trip. Lots of good food, drinks and cute girls. With some cards here and there.

It also helped me in one huge aspect which was getting to the root cause of my burnout that was so bad I even blogged about it. I have a rough idea on what I can do to prevent that (because if what I think is correct it will be an issue again), but that plan will take some time to execute. Even so, just helping me gain perspective on what might've been the key issue made this trip a rousing success.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.