So, met up with Elin around 11:30 at the Harajuku stop on the Yamanote line.... then, tired and worn out from our night, we decided to go grab some lunch and picnic at Yoyogi Park... but first, we crossed the river on the famous bridge that led ... to the Meiji jinja (shrine), and followed the hordes of tourists from the world over being led by guides through the site. What started as a trip through a tree shaded lane trying to see what all the fuss was about ended up in our being completely immersed in the serenity of our surroundings... the walk to the shrine was complete with intermittently placed torii (wooden Shinto shrine gates) and forests of greenery... so many wild plants! The only thing I can think of comparing it to is Jean Lafitte Park in New Orleans, that I went to when I was young..there were even plants that resembled saw palmettos, which I was not expecting here! Very exotic.... after ten minutes of walking and good conversation, we reached the entrance gate to the free shrine, that was a rectangular courtyard flanked by wooden pillared walkways on either side and the main shrine building, complete with incense and natural attributes to be worshipped, then.. oddly enough... in the main building was another courtyard (they like courtyards here!) that was flooded with the dazzling (sometimes too dazzling.. =(...) sunshine and illuminated the pebbles below. After admiring everything, she and I stepped back out into the courtyard.. only to be greeted with a wedding procession! Apparently, husband and wife had chosen this auspicious location to take their wedding photos.. and all the tourists gawked as they preened and sashayed by. It was slightly humorous, actually!
Well, more walks through shaded gravel pathways back to the shrine's (huge main torii, or gate) and back out into the sunshine.. or St. Patrick's Day! Apparently, there had been a huge parade because the famous Omote-sando international boulevard was all decked out with Irish flags (when we went back again, there were flags of numerous countries flying.. there apparently had been a giant St. Patricks' Day parade and everything, as I was almost assaulted on the street by about 10 bagpipe-wielding Japanese high schoolers.) We ran into a conbini (convenience store.) and grabbed some grub, then hightailed it to the park. There, we were greeted with Japanese men with white t-shirts, jeans, greased-hair (c. 1950s) blasting rockabilly and dancing away (the jitterbug, maybe...) and Japanese ladies in cat's eye glasses and poodle skirts, rocking out with them. We were also nearly run down by a free Tibet protest march, and tons of families with screaming, running children and baby strollers. Then, we broke off from the crowds to look around..the park was Huge! Literally, we couldn't even see the other end after walking for about 5-10 minutes. It seemed to span out for forever.. it effects the same response at Central Park in New York, but with a mainly flat vista, instead. We plopped down, exhausted and still donning our party duds from the night before, but in high spirits and greedily devoured our small but satisfying lunches or sushi hand rolls, chicken, and cookies. (and lots of water!) We people watched, including couples hand in hand, families with small children, and a few cops talking to a man with a high pitched voice and two scary looking Japanese girls in high black heels and gothic clothing... apparently, we had missed an exciting event that had occurred recently that the cops were documenting.
Finally, after soaking in the sunshine at Yoyogi koen (park), the time had come.. to finally check into our already reserved hotel rooms for the night! (Allright!) So, we headed back to Takadanobaba station and checked in... and sunk into the comfortable, western-style, above the floor beds. (I should mention at this point that at my homestay family's house I sleep on a futon on the floor, so the bed was a welcome creature comfort.. not that i mind the futon.)
Well, as you can imagine, showered and napped away most of the afternoon, which was delightful! Then, dinnertime came around, and .. to our delight, we found... pizza! That's right, how could we resist a place that billed itself as an original American pizza restaurant chain.. called, aptly enough, Shakey's Pizza.
hmm..
so, we got in, ordered.. and were shocked by the American sized portions for normal prices.
I guess this is the part where I should mention that portion sizes in Japan are not exactly, hm, satisfying. Or even remotely filling. Or, actually, they're about 1/4 the size of food portions in the US. Not that I don't love Japanese food, especially $1 all you can eat sushi restaurants, but there's something great about ordering a pizza and not getting something the size of two pieces of bread (no exaggeration.) The not so desired side effect of this was that Elin's large soda was in fact the size of my face. Nice.
Then, it was back to the hotel, to unpack, get a little more comfortable, and watch amusing Sumo wrestling matches (and staring contests... that's seriously what they looked like, some of them!) and catch some Zzzzz's....
Next morning, it was Tsukiji Fish Market time for me! Which meant I went to bed early, because I hightailed it out of my hotel at 6:50 a.m. (Yuk!) After a few false starts, met up with my friend halfway, then we headed to Tsukiji together. Ate some donuts real quick on the train, then launched ourselves into the frightening, see-if-I -can-hit-the-tourists-on-my-tractor-trolley world that was the slightly indoor Tsukiji Fish Market. The outer rim had fruits, veggies, and other foods, then about a 10 minute walk into it the fast moving engine-powered fish-moving trolleys of doom began to plow us aside. Apart from the main aisles, which I'd like to dub 'get yourself run over' aisles, the smaller, walking room only aisles were ripe spots for photo taking of the freshest dead (or sometimes, writing in pain and slightly alive, or alive and waiting for their impending death) seafood I'd ever seen in my life.. and so much of it! You could've literally walked in there for hours! 45 minutes, and hundreds of photos and videos later, we emerged into the sunlight, looking to snag a couple of fresh-fish filled sushi pieces to sample the fare we had just seen. We were just about to give up when we spied pieces for roughly $2 each at the end of the food stalls heading back out from the markets. So, we dodged in.. I got some shrimp and yellowtail, which were soft, amazingly tasty and delectable....until we saw still live shrimp being decapitated in front of us, at which we point we decided it was time to Go...!!!
So, after that, we met up with Elin and did more shopping at Ikebukuro.. when there, I spotted a Sanrio shop and bought some Kuromi merch for my friend's daugher (Kuromi being Hello Kitty's evil nemesis.. although, still cute, of course!) Then, we wandered around and did some more fun shopping stuffs! I got some jewel toned tights for fun's sake and spotted some more happy engrish signs and bags, including the lovely monkey one put up here. Next, even more amazingly, we spied an American favorite--and my former employer--Coldstone Creamery, the only one in Tokyo! Being delighted we hopped in line.. for 20 minutes.. =S. It was quickly losing its lustre.. especially for me because it didn't have my cookie doughnt you want some.. but i wanted elin to try it .. so we stayed in line and were promptly rewarded when i left a tip (the only time i've been able to do so in japan.. again, not complaining! they don't tip here.) and they started singing it's a small world in thickly accented english.. japan loves disney. it's a fact.
so, enjoyed our ice cream, then headed out.. my friend left to go meet his other friends in tokyo, and Elin and I headed out for more shopping.. to Harajuku again! For real shopping this time!!
Harajuku--the shopping part.
This time we veered off of Ometosando--the international (read=expensive) shopping boulevard and ducked into a side alley that was even more crowded, called Takeshita street on the arching sign above the entryway. There, we were delighted to be surrounded by every type of store imaginable, mainly clothing of all different styles, including the expensive burgeoning Japan-invented Gothic/Lolita style, which has many gothic elements but is finished off with an overall sense of cuteness--although how they achieve that I'm not sure; it must be the overflowing amounts of lace!
Then, Elin led me into a 3 floor dollar store.. which doesn't sound like a big deal, but hyakuen shops as they are called here (meaning 100 yen, or, 1 dollar, shops) have everything from bath towels to plants to dishware.. it's a big deal.. and i wound up spending nearly 10 dollars on toiletries, makeup , and other delightful oddities.. although I was wooed by the prank construction signs and groucho marx plastic faces, i didnt wind up getting any---that time. =D.
I restrained myself from purchasing every awesome thing I saw, which would have left me with no food for the rest of my stay in Japan (or anything else for that matter!) and just got one shirt, black with every neon color imaginable. Then, we hunted down dinner, and wound up at--American again, sorry guys--a Subway we found in Shibuya, after deciding to karaoke there for a good part of the night. Even though we were in Tokyo, the trains still stopped running after a certain time, so we booked two hours at a fancy looking karaoke place near the train station in Shibuya and sang along to the mix of English and japanese songs we picked, eating our room serviced ice cream parfait and pulsing to the beats--along with the neon lights flashing around the room and blacklit wallpaper in the background. We were so sad that we had to leave that we did even more karaoke back at Takadanobaba station, before finally heading back to the hotel for--again--some well deserved rest.
Next Up---> Last Day in Tokyo?! Oh No!!! and.. the arrival from the States!
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