We Were Pretty Cringe in the 2000s

Back in high school... no, even before high school, I was that weird kid in school that just didn't seem to be able to relate to anyone and their hobbies. Every girl who was 12 years old seemed to be really into boys all of a sudden (like what the hell, you thought they had COOTIES 4 months ago?!?!), doing their hair, clothes, these diaries...

Oh, let me explain these diaries.

If you were living in a big city, you had these ASIAN MALLS:

Which had these CUTE ASIAN SHOPS:

Which sold diaries like these:

And what do you do with them, you ask? Well, think of the Pokemon Trading Card game or Digimon or Yugioh cards but like... with cute schedule/diary paper. Yeah, we'd buy a diary or two NOT TO WRITE IN THEM. Nooooooo. We'd buy them so we can get CUTE papers just to TRADE FOR OTHER CUTE PAPERS. Yeah. I know. This was like the nerdy cool Asian girl thing to do. It's bizarre. I suppose not anymore bizarre than kids trading rocks or whatever, but it's really strange thinking back to things I enjoyed.

Anyway, back to the story here. I was 12, had no relateable hobbies, and I somehow found myself on a few fanfiction websites before fanfiction was cool??

I mean, I think ffnet had existed then already. And it's crazy... it really hasn't changed much in the last 20 years or so, other than adding new functions and whatnot. But this was when Harry Potter was just at it's peak, and HP fans of the internet wrote fanfics. That was the cool thing to do. The more controversial pairings had their own fanfiction posting site outside of ffnet that was sort of a private affair (don't ask how I know). Like, this was really huge. People even established names for themselves as writers in the fanfic world. Like published writers, but for fics. If you were a good writer, people will know you.

Asian fandoms also had a site of their own since ffnet was mostly dedicated to western fandoms.

If you like reading/writing fanfics and loved Asian dramas (or movies or music, whatever your pairing is), you go on this website call WInglin (winglin.net/fanfic - it doesn't exist anymore, so don't bother clicking that).

These were mostly teens writing headcanons before headcanons were a thing.

But even on Winglin, there were writers that you would just... know. I mean, if you were a 14-year-old kid with too much time on their hands and scrolling through almost every single fanfic that's to offer on the website lol. (uh.. me)

I was thinking about this today and wanted to know if it still exists.

Well, it doesn't. But nothing the WayBackMachine can't fix!

https://web.archive.org/web/20080526075251fw_/http://www.winglin.net/fanfic/completed.shtml

Pretty nuts! I spent so much of my teen years on this website and I recognize so many of the authors there even though I never read any of their fanfics.

You can see the reminisce of the 2000s internet with all the LEeTsPeAk and like .::SYMBOLZ::.

My god.

We were so cringe in the 2000s lol.

And all the popular Asian fandoms in the 2000s... all frozen in time. It was very Chinese-driven sure, but you can also find a lot of kpop and jpop stuff here. There's even a Tom Riddle & Hermione Granger fanfic here (that was really good, btw - don't judge!). So it's not limited to Asian things, but it was mostly teens and young adults who loved Asian things.

Now, you'd think (says no one ever) - "man, how can you spend this much time on a fic site?"

Well, my friend. Let me tell you...

Writing, duh.

No, lol.. Yes, of course. But here's the thing about Winglin that was really neat. You don't NEED to write to join in. You see, my friends... I know you don't care... but the thing about Winglin is that it is somewhat of a popular contest. Anyone can post on the site. And if you post a fanfic on the website, it immediately shows up on the main page. There's really no filter. You post or you update, you go on the main page.

So you can kind of see how chaotic that is if lots of people are updating and posting something. At it's peak, I remember you can easily find 3 or 4 new fanfics on the main page after you refresh it in 5 minutes.

You can kind of understand why people are using all the leetspeak and symbols now right? Everyone and anyone is trying to get the attention of young readers to click on their fanfic and get a comment from them.

Oh yeah, those comments are gratifying.

Another way writers try to get readers is having a nice-looking site page. Winglin was very much like AsianAvenue and all the social media networking sites in the 2000s. You can edit the background, the colours and you want a POSTER.

Yeah, you know - like all them movies and dramas, you need a POSTER.

Guess what this girl did on winglin other than getting all the good writers to notice me in the comments section? (Admittedly I made A LOT of friends on Winglin and a few I still keep in contact with on Facebook)

Fuck yeah, I made posters.

14-year-old me was a fucking Photoshop wiz making cringey fanfiction posters. #noshame

Look at this shit I made in the 2000s ok

I was so ahead of my time on Photoshop lol. Keep in mind I was 14 and I did not go to school for any graphic design training or anything.

(so cringe)

Since you made it this far... you must be asking... did you write any fanfics?

Eh...

Yeah, we don't talk about those anymore.

My Tips on Using the Seishun 18 Kippu

Summer vacation is basically just around the corner for everyone, and we are all probably looking for ways to get out of the house and (hopefully safely) travel locally.

One of the ways I found early in my days here in Japan to travel cheaply is using what is called the 青春１８きっぷ (Seishun 18 Kippu). In spite of what it name suggests, it has no age limit. Anyone of any age can use this ticket. Japan-Guide has a good breakdown of what is this ticket is in more detail, cost and how to use it. I suggest you check this out if you'd like more details!

In short, it is a seasonal day pass of sorts.

Each ticket can be used 5 times in many different ways. You can use it for yourself 5 times on 5 different days (non-consecutively), or you can gather 4 other friends with you to use as a day pass for all 5 of you travelling together. You can even do a combination of just 2 people for one day, and then the 3 times at a later date by yourself. Essentially there is a lot of flexibly on how you can use this ticket.

The catch is that there is a only a certain time period you can use these tickets. They are often associated with school holidays (summer, spring, winter). Please check those time periods carefully when you purchase a ticket!

The other obvious catch is that you can only use local JR trains.

Local trains also include local express trains, but they are only available for use with Japan Rail (as this is a JR exclusive ticket). Essentially anything that requires a seat booking at an extra cost is not included in the ticket price.

There are some exceptions listed under the Japan-Guide webpage.

How I've Used It In the Past

You would obviously think "well, if I can't use the Shinkansen on this, then no one would be stupid enough to get from one big city to another with it".

Yes, true. And you probably won't find many people braving a trip from Tokyo to Osaka in one day using this - but it's not all that uncommon. I've known quite a few Japanese people and foreigners living here who have done this trip in the past. Considering how one usage of the ticket equates to about 3000 yen or so, the prices are rather competitive to a Highway Bus ride. Of course, flights & shinkansen are the obvious way to go if you're strapped for time. But if time is plentiful and you're on a budget, this is a fair option.

I have done a two-week trip using two Seishun 18 Kippu from:

Tokyo - Sendai - Niigata - Kanazawa - Gifu - Osaka

It's a very sensible route for anyone who don't have any travel limitations. For example, with a JR Rail Pass, these places can all be done without any headaches or fusses of transport - but with a Seishun 18 Kippu?? My first tip if you're not into frustrations from spontaneous trips (not only just this one), DO YOUR RESEARCH WELL.

The JR Doesn't Run Here...

Other than the time factor, which wasn't an issue (otherwise I wouldn't be going this far out from Kansai), one of the biggest problems I ran into using this ticket without proper research and understanding of which train companies run where was that... I had no idea the local JR train does not run between parts of Niigata and Toyama.

I had a full travel day between these two cities. A Japanese app called "Jorudan" had told me that the route was possible even without the Shinkansen. What I had failed to catch was that most of the rail covered here was operated by a Private Train Company, not Japan Rail. I had seen the transfer on the route guide, thinking it was just a normal transfer - but it ended up being a transfer between different stations altogether.

This meant the Seishun 18 Kippu was completely unusable here.

I had to pay out of pocket to go the rest of the way, or go a different and longer route. In hindsight, I think I should have gone a different route, but this meant looking up train schedules again in the countryside. When trains might only run a few times a day. I didn't want to get stuck somewhere so I decided to just fork up the cash and keep going.

An accident which could have been prevented if I researched more carefully.

Can't Use the Ticket On The Day You Buy It

I lucked out on this one because I always had a habit of buying things one day before I need to use it, but another rule that the Seishun 18 Kippu has (or had, maybe they changed it?) was that you cannot use the ticket on the day you buy it.

When I was at the ticket counter buying my second Seishun 18 Kippu, the clerk was doing his usual customer service thing repeating all the guidelines and one of the things he told me before I paid was, "You can't use the ticket today, do you still want to buy it?"

I said I didn't know that and he kindly told me that was a rule.

I suppose the date of purchase is stamped on there so they know, but part of me wondered if anyone would check... I didn't stick around to find out since I wasn't going to use the ticket that anyway. So I said okay, paid for the ticket and went on my way.

So do be careful when you are traveling in case this rule still exists!

Discounted Ticket Booths

If you don't need all 5 stamps, because maybe you only want to do a one-off trip and the ticket effectively expires if you don't use it in the time period indicated on the ticket, you can visit a discounted to buy a half-used Seishun 18 Kippu.

There are plenty of people who only use it 4 times, and don't have any use for it, so they try to get a bit of money back by selling their unfinished tickets to shops like these:

(sorry for the stock photo, I don't have one that I took recently)

These shops are usually located at a street corner near a train station. At bigger stations like Osaka station, there's usually a hub underground or a mall that has a few shops that sell tickets at competitive prices.

I highly suggest looking for these shops and getting a ticket if your situation doesn't require you to use all 5 stamps in a limited amount of time. You could be saving on some money for the trip that way.

Monster Hunter x Sakai (Special Exhibit)

When you think of Sakai City due south of Osaka city, you may only think of those key-shaped burial sites that they're famously known for (not much to see irl unless you can see them from the air).

But Sakai is also pretty well known for their knives. There are quite a few artisan knife shops if you care to walk around and explore the city. But it is a big city and like any big city, they don’t just specialize in just one thing. Which is why the Sakai Plaza of Rikyu and Akiko exists, in dedication to Sen no Rikyu and Yosano Akiko during the Azuchi Momoyama Period. Because of its vast history and cultural resources, this building sits as a bit of a multi-purpose museum to promote Sakai along with its history. It offers tea ceremony experiences amongst many things.

Right now until September 4th, 2022, you can visit the museum and check out a small Monster Hunter exhibit. The exhibits hosts swords and costumes from the newest Switch game Monster Hunter Rise.

The exhibit is 800 yen, and it is quite small. I would say the effort to get there and pay for the entry would depend how much of a diehard fan of the game you are.

I don't really play Monster Hunter myself. But I have in the past and I can see the charm of it. I'm just more of a casual gamer who likes story more than anything, so I personally didn't see the appeal of Monster Hunter. But I do like going to see these art installations and stuff. I also just happened to live pretty close to the museum, so I just thought “meh, why not”?

When you enter the Monster Hunter area, you're immediately greeted by the outfits from the game:

I personally would lvoe to try one of these on, but my boyfriend pointed out that it would probably take ages to put them on. I don't know, they all look pretty darn cool to try on!!

Their main attraction is this sword from the game.

I'm guessing it's crafted to scale because it is HUGE. And extremely beautiful. Don't know how practical that is in a real monster fight... but I suppose practicality isn't a specialty in this game (seeing how from of those weapons are).

As you can see, there's also some concept art copies on the boards there. But otherwise, that's sort of the extent of this exhibit.

The other thing you can do is pose yourself next to the campfire:

There's two more swords outside of this room on display:

I really wished this was a bit bigger and had more concept art on display at the very least, but I think this museum makes for a good stop for people who are visiting the city for more of a historical tour. There are no shortages of cultural museums in the area.

There's also a pretty nice looking Starbucks located next to this museum if you just want to have a chill day with a coffee.