Shadowing Practice: Traveling to Japan at 18... 🇯🇵 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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231 sentences
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Today I'm gonna be traveling to Japan for the very first time.
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I'm 18 and besides a friend from school that I'm not too close with, I'm gonna be completely on my own.
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I've literally never planned a trip before, flown so far away, and honestly neither of us really knows what we're doing.
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I'll be there for like three weeks in a country we've never been to, so let's just see how this goes.
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All right, so I just got out of the shower and I'm about to head to the airport.
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I'm like super stressed I'm literally in a rush.
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So I'm gonna see you guys at the airport
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So since there aren't any direct flights from home our first stop is in San Francisco
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My first flight got delayed for a bit, but we're finally hopping on it now.
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I'm actually hella excited to just get this trip started.
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Bro, even though that flight was only like two hours, it was actually hella uncomfortable.
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You gotta walk nine minutes still.
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What are we doing?
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G10.
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I'm really hoping the 10 hour flight to Tokyo will be more comfortable.
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I heard Asian Airlines have some of the best economy seats, so we'll have to see when I board the plane in a few hours.
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But for now, I'mma just get some stuff done on my MacBook while we wait.
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I'm getting on the flight.
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I'm coming.
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I'm coming, Japan.
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I'm coming.
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I'm coming inside.
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Bro, holy shit.
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This Japan airline is crazy.
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There's...
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They gave me pillows.
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Like a bunch of stuff.
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And then there's a leg room.
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And there's a nice looking TV screen.
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I'm gonna enjoy this, but I'm probably gonna go to sleep first.
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Hopefully I can sleep through most of my life.
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We took off pretty quickly and they brought out food soon after at like 2am.
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I'm so sleepy but starving so I ate this tuna sandwich and banana they gave me before trying to fall asleep.
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A few
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hours later, I woke up and literally felt like puking, so I had to hop in the bathroom.
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My back was also hurting from the way I was sleeping, but at least the nauseous feeling went away pretty quick.
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I tried falling back asleep after, but I couldn't, so for the next few hours, I was just listening to some music until they turned the lights back on, like two hours before landing.
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I'm exhausted and ready to hop off this plane right now, but good thing we're almost in Tokyo.
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It's so early in the day right now
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and I didn't get much sleep
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So I already know today's gonna be a long ass day
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Seeing Tokyo only about an hour away is low-key starting to wake me up though
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All right, we finally made it here in Japan.
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I'm not running on much sleep right now, and I still gotta figure out how to get to the Airbnb before I start exploring Tokyo and everything.
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As soon as I landed though, my phone automatically connected to 5G internet through Seili, who's sponsoring this part of the video.
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A few days before this trip, I bought eSIM for my time in Japan through the Seili app because I knew I needed internet for Google Maps,
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booking rides, and just texting people without getting hit with expensive fees.
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The setup was super easy.
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I just downloaded the app, chose my plan, and it installed the eSIM right into my phone.
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There's no physical SIM cards I got to deal with, and now I don't have to try to go and purchase one from the airport.
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Saley works in over 200 places around the world with a bunch of different plans to choose from, so it's super convenient when you're traveling to different places.
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I actually already heard about Saley and was planning to use it for this trip anyways so the sponsor worked out perfectly.
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If you're making a trip happen soon you can get an exclusive 15% off at checkout
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if you head to salie.com slash eyes on icy in the description
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or you can just scan the QR code on screen to download the app
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and use code eyes on icy at checkout to get the 15% off.
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I just got to the Airbnb and bro I'm so tired and I have a headache from lack of sleep probably.
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Bro you can probably tell by just looking at me but I was completely fried after all that traveling.
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We got a little lost at the airport and I basically had to figure everything out.
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I got a pretty bad headache and I really don't want to go anywhere today
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but I need water and something to eat so I'm gonna head out to find a convenience store.
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Oh fuck! oh fuck dude this smells so bad dude there's no way does this even taste good
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i don't really like it tastes like sweet dude i've seen
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this all over the talk after eating i slowly started unpacking
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and try to make myself actually look alive again I finally got to brush my teeth
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and everything to freshen up a little bit, which honestly helped with my headache.
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And since it was still only like 8 in the morning, I didn't want to be sitting inside my first day.
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So we decided to head towards the more popular places in Tokyo, which is like 20 to 40 minutes away from the Airbnb.
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I low-key got lost trying to figure out the trains at first.
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But after a while, we finally made it to a place called Ginza because my friend wanted to do some shopping there.
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I was still feeling pretty rough so we didn't stay anywhere for too long.
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I was just excited to finally be here
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and wanted to see as much as possible before I completely crashed or something for the day.
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so the first day I was moving through different places
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and no joke half the time I was trying to figure
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out where we were going I had to figure everything out myself
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so I didn't really get to record much I'm heading back to the crib now
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but I can't wait to get comfortable and familiar with this place because right now I'm low-key scared.
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People keep on talking to me in Japanese because I'm Asian
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and I just look stupid trying to speak in English since I'm too scared to butcher a word
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or something in their language.
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Alright so I'm hella tired.
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I'm just gonna take a shower now because I haven't taken one in like two days.
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Hopefully tomorrow feels less confusing.
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I think I got the trains down but I'm still not sure.
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The next morning I actually felt so much better after finally getting some sleep.
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Yesterday I was basically just rushing through places with a headache
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so today I want to actually slow down and just enjoy everything.
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While my homeboy is getting ready I walked out to grab some food real quick.
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After that I'm trying to hit up an area that I think I'm gonna mess with heavy.
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So we came here to look at some anime figures for our rooms back home.
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Also, I'm trying to look for some stuff for my family.
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Bro, we have found the hentai section, bro.
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No, I cannot post this.
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This is being blurred.
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What is down here?
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What is down here?
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Up, up, up.
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Up, up.
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It's like eating grass.
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You want to put with it?
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Nah, it tastes like grass.
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What does it taste like?
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Some type of tea.
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Plum!
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I ended up copying a few things, but I'mma save the unboxing for when I'm back home.
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Later, I walked out for some sushi nearby by myself.
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Did I come to me?
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Water.
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Okay, can I ice cube?
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Huh?
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Can I ice cube?
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I got that raw shrimp and raw shrimp.
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That shit was slimy as hell.
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Hopefully I don't get parasites in it.
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I'm definitely going to give sushi another chance, but I left my camera at the restaurant, but thankfully, they still had it when I went back.
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After that, I changed real quick and headed back out, because there's one store we wanted to check out in Shinjuku.
118
The next t-shirt is C.J.P.
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When we finally found it, I only copped a t-shirt, and every restaurant we wanted to go to nearby started closing.
120
It took me forever to figure out how to get home, and when I did, we just copped a box of Domino's pizza near the crib to end off the night.
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Alright, so right now I'm just walking over to like a convenience store to get some water
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while my friend is getting ready for the day.
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We're literally freeballing this whole trip with no real plan, so I decided to try a udon noodle place I keep seeing on TikTok.
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The line ended up taking almost an hour and bro it was so humid
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that the inside of my jeans felt like a freaking sauna like bro my ass crack was getting so sweaty
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after waiting that long i just had to order two dishes one was a carbonara udon
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and i honestly don't even know what the other one was
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but both of them was fire i couldn't even finish it
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so i ended up sharing some but i think the wait was honestly worth it
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because thinking back this was definitely one of my favorite meals from this trip.
131
When we got back, the rest of the day was pretty calm.
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I got a video I need to get ready to upload, so I stayed on my MacBook for a while, just getting everything ready.
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By the time I finished, it was already dark outside, and I'm still not confident yet staying out too late, and I'm scared to miss the last train, so we just ordered Uber Eats.
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Do you fuck with MOBA?
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No. You don't?
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You just don't fuck with the black balls in your mouth?
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Bro, I bought way too much.
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I am so full, and I still have one entire burger left.
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I finished the leftover burger and fries from last night and spent most of the afternoon trying to edit a video.
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That shit is nowhere near being finished
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and there's no way I'm gonna spend every day in Japan just sitting on my MacBook.
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I went back out to Akihabara later to take a look at more figures.
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We're trying to figure out which stores got the best prices cause some of these places be taxing.
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I ended up copying another figure and by the time I got back it was dark again.
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So yeah, I just ordered Uber Eats again.
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No joke though, before this trip, I've literally never used this app before.
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And now I just keep ordering enough food for like two or three people
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because I still don't really know or care what the prices mean.
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Bro, I'd be waking up before my homeboy like every morning.
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So I ended up eating last night's leftovers again before heading to Shibuya.
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today i really just spent time exploring shibuya
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which was pretty overstimulating i'm not gonna lie since it was
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so crowded and busy
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when i got back to the crib though i just took
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out everything i copped from today at this point i'm comfortable with the trains
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and everything so tomorrow night i'm gonna go head out to a spot
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that has like a crazy view overlooking tokyo for dinner though
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I'm gonna just take us back to the restaurant we went to the first day because the food was fire there.
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I've been on my MacBook all morning working on some stuff, But before leaving, I booked Tokyo Skytree tickets for later tonight.
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So hopefully I fuck with it.
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Right now though, we're heading out to eat some Japanese food called Gyukatsu.
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That beef was so soft and cooking each piece on the little grill was actually hella fun.
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Since we're already in Akihabara, I just went to look for more figures again.
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This is easily becoming my favorite area.
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I don't even know how many times I've been here so far.
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The top floor is in the anime buildings, definitely why I keep coming back though.
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I saw this building on TikTok.
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We gotta go in here.
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I dropped off some anime figures I copped at the crib and now we're heading back out for the Tokyo Skytree.
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I originally wanted to see Shibuya Sky, but all the nighttime slots were gone until my very last night here in Japan.
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It's pretty similar and everything, so hopefully it's still tough.
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The view up there and everything was a pretty nice experience.
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The blue lock theme made me mess with it way more though.
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After that, I just ate some Italian food again before heading home.
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So it's currently like almost 12am.
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This is low-key spooky.
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I'm just out here alone.
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I just got out of the shower and I'm heading to the convenience store to grab some water.
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Yeah, after I grab some water, I'm just gonna go home and go to sleep.
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Bro, I had to go back to the restaurant from last night because I left my portable charger there.
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But yeah, since there's a lot of restaurants nearby, I decided to give sushi another try.
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that sushi was so much better than the first place
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and it was hella cheap compared to the us it was rainy all day
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so we only checked out a few shops around before heading back i swear i've been doing
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so much every day that i'm low-key getting overstimulated
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so i just wanted to slow things down since the weather outside wasn't the best anyways.
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Later that night, we only walked to a little ramen spot nearby, then went straight back home.
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After getting ready the next day,
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I went to Ropangi, which is an area I haven't explored yet.
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we checked out the famous donkey store here
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and compared to the ones in shibuya it was way less
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crowded i low-key mess with this place a lot it feels calm
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and way less over stimulating while still having a bunch of stuff to do around
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all right so i'm just gonna grub on these bagels before i go hit the gym is that shit good
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after eating i tried going to the gym
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because i've been itching to work out but bro i went to four different gyms and couldn't join any of them
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holy fuck that scared me i thought there was a like a dead body hanging up there PLUH!
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Bro, none of the gyms worked.
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You didn't work out right now?
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No!
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And I was gone for that long.
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There was no staff and I needed a Japanese address and phone number, so I literally just gave up after trying multiple gyms.
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Alright, before I shower, let's unbox this Vivian Westwood necklace I got at the store right here.
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This one's so hard to put on.
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Do you want me to put a hug for you?
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No, it's gay.
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Today ended up being way different than I expected.
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We were just freeballing it around Shibuya and Shinjuku, and while we were out, a random black dude approached us,
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and it ended up making my friend feel really uncomfortable for some personal reasons.
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He disappeared and texted me after saying he wasn't feeling right and wanted to go back.
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So we just stayed near the Airbnb for the day.
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But yeah, I booked our bullet train tickets for Kyoto since we're going there soon.
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Since we only got a few days left before leaving for Kyoto, I wanted to head back out to Akihabara to try to cop more figures.
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For dinner, we went back to Shibuya and ended up at another Italian restaurant.
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This time though, I tried Wagyu for the first time and bro, it was good, but I downed it so quick.
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Dude, it's like, shit's so soft.
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So today's gonna be my last day in Tokyo for this video since I'm leaving for Kyoto tomorrow.
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I grabbed a quick meal then went to try some fried sandwiches I've been seeing on TikTok.
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All right, I will show them long in line for these.
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Hopefully they're good.
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Just tastes like bread and cream.
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All right, let's try this creme brulee nut.
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This should look mad sweet.
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I fuck with this one more.
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When I first landed here, everything felt so overwhelming.
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I could barely navigate the trains, was running on barely any sleep, and had no idea what I was doing.
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But after being here in Tokyo for almost two weeks, I found my favorite places to eat and explore.
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Also, I'm actually capable of getting around myself without getting confused anymore.
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But yeah, none of this would have happened without y'all, so I genuinely appreciate you if you made it this far.
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Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Kyoto on a bullet train, and I can't wait since that should be a pretty different experience.
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But you know, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Traveling to Japan at 18... 🇯🇵”. This video has 231 sentences and 2890 words to shadow. The speech runs for 22:34. The speaker talks at a steady 128 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| crib noun | /kɹɪb/ | A baby’s bed with high, often slatted, often moveable sides, suitable for a child who has outgrown a cradle or bassinet. |
| sushi noun | /ˈsuːʃi/ | A Japanese dish made of small portions of sticky white rice flavored with vinegar, usually wrapped in seaweed and filled or topped with fish, vegetables or… |
| headache noun | /ˈhɛdeɪk/ | A pain or ache in the head. |
| scare verb | /skɛɚ/ | To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| fry verb | /fɹaɪ/ | To cook (something) in hot fat. |
| convenience noun | /kənˈvinjəns/ | The quality of being convenient. |
| anime noun | /ˈæn.ɪ.meɪ/ | An animated work that originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style. |
| freeball noun | A ball that has been hit from below the top of the net. | |
| homeboy noun | /ˈhoʊm.bɔɪ/ | Someone, particularly a male acquaintance, from one’s hometown. |
| leftover adjective | Remaining; left behind; extra; odd; in reserve. | |
| udon noun | /ˈuːdɒn/ | A Japanese wheat noodle. |
| checkout noun | /ˈt͡ʃɛkˌaʊt/ | The process of checking out of a hotel, or the latest time to vacate a room in one. |
| shrimp noun | /ʃɹɪmp/ | Any of many swimming, often edible, crustaceans, chiefly of the infraorder Caridea or the suborder Dendrobranchiata, with slender legs, long whiskers and a… |
| cube noun | /kjub/ | A regular polyhedron having six identical square faces. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. | |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. | |
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
| bring out verb | To elicit, evoke, or emphasize (a particular quality). | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'm like super stressed I'm literally in a rush.
- What are we doing?
- You want to put with it?
- Did I come to me?
- You didn't work out right now?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | i've been doing · i've been itching · I've been seeing |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've never been · i've seen · haven't taken |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being blurred · being finished |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Tokyo, which is · Ropangi, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 117 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, gonna, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sushi /ˈsuːʃi/, shrimp /ʃɹɪmp/, freshen /ˈfɹɛʃən/, nauseous /ˈnɔʃəs/, dish /dɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, carbonara /ˌkɑɹbəˈnɑɹə/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like crib, sushi, headache.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.