KAREN & THE CONSTABLES

Friday 9th November 2012

Remember when you were little and it was Christmas and you were so excited you could hardly breathe and you felt like you were going to explode? That was how I felt today.

For today was the day that we travelled to Tama Center, the home of Sanrio Puroland, also known as Hello Kitty Land!

OK, so it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the inside WOW!

This place is the cutest place on earth and it made me totally gush with girly-ness and I was a mess of ecstatic grinning and hand-clapping and waving at people dressed up in costumes! I was worse than the schoolkids that were there!

This is what greeted us:

See what I mean?! Cute eh?!

I refrained from hugging them til their little heads fell off and we ventured into the main area. Our first stop was the boat ride:

We then saw a couple of shows, one in the main bit with the Jewelpets and one in the Entertainment Hall featuring Ichigoman and Darkgrapeman. They were good, but not as good as the Wizard Of Oz and Mymelody’s Legend of Stars and Flowers!

There was also a Christmas themed parade where everyone sat around the outside and floats and dancers put on a show circling the massive tree in the centre.

Everywhere you go here there’s something cute to look at.

And the shopping was excellent! I especially love Cinnamon and my new bag!

We paid ¥4,400 (£35) each for a passport which gave us entry to all the attractions and shows. Passports for kids are either ¥4,000 (£32) or ¥3,300 (£26) depending on their age, but you can save money by purchasing in advance or by buying a Welcome Ticket which is only for entrance and free shows. Although there’s no vegetarian lunch option here the staff were really helpful and altered a dish for us.

Oh and before I forget, a word on public toilets.  You get two types, Western or Japanese, Western being the ones we’re used to and Japanese ones being a sort of sunken bowl/trough.  So if you have a preference, check first.  Carry tissues or toilet roll and a hanky, which you’ll see for sale pretty much everywhere, to dry your hands with.

But back to Sanrio Puroland.  This was my favourite day of the holiday because I am a big kid and I’d actually like to live there.  It may be too sickly sweet or girly for some but all the kids (big and small!) got into the spirit and seemed totally mesmerised.

Saturday 10th November 2012

Our mission for today was to head to Nakano Broadway, a huge maze of shops under one roof selling all sorts. We were there mainly for Mandarake, which sells all sorts of anime, manga, Blythe, Studio Ghibli, Re-Ment, that sort of thing.  It not only sells new things but also some second hand stuff too.

There were a few bookshops and we decided to buy some Japanese books so we could attempt to read them at some point. I picked up a graphic novel, a kids book and a Blythe sewing book.

There were a few sewing books for dolls but it’s pretty hard to choose because they are quite expensive for the number of outfits you get, especially if you only have one type of doll, and you’re bound to like outfits from a few books!  The main ones were Dollybird and Dolly-Dolly, so I just picked an issue where I like most of the outfits. Plus it’s all in Japanese so I’m not sure how well I’ll get on with following the instructions!

We had lunch at Korinbo, a very small vegetarian restaurant within the centre and got a great meal for  ¥1,000 (£8).

All my doll friends will be happy to finally see some pictures of related stuff, so here goes:

There were a few dolls for sale here, some boxed, some custom and some unboxed.  I took a shine to one doll but she had some strange markings on her arm which made me think that she was a factory doll and although her hair was a beautiful colour it was in really bad condition so I decided it wasn’t worth it as she wasn’t any cheaper than buying one on eBay.

I treated Blythe to some new outfits, which were pretty reasonably priced because they were second-hand.

The Star Trek uniform is obviously not for Blythe, but the packaging had barely any description so I decided to get it anyway.  I might be able to do something with it.  The ballerina outfit seems to be mostly from Blythe Prima Dolly Violettina, although she’s missing a tu-tu so I’ll need to pick that up.  Does this outfit usually have tights? If not they’re an extra!

I also got a poncho from Pow Wow Poncho’s stock outfit and a Jenny t-shirt, which Blythe is modelling in amongst some fabric which I bought to make bedding! I’d hoped to pick up some cheap fabric but it costs pretty much the same, but I got a few remnants to make a kimono and other clothes for her too.