We made our way down to the first floor with our towels, toiletries, and 100 yen in change to take our ten minute showers. They were very clean and each room had a changing room attached, too. It was very private and surprisingly clean. It was a great start to the day!
After getting ready (which didn't include blow drying our hair as the Japanese plugs are the same as the USA and we brought along our Korean units), we had time to spare so we went across the street to a crappy coffee shop to get some coffee. I had packed some Fiber One Bars (Thanks, Aunt Becky!) but Liz had to order the nastiest egg sandwich I've even seen in my life. She ate what she could, and we crossed the street again and went down into the Akebonobashi subway station. We were to meet Zach and Yuko at the Takeshita Exit at the Harajuku station. It was two stops back to Shinjuku, then a transfer to another line, and then 3 stops more.
We arrived right at 10 am, and Yuko walked us to the COOLEST antique market. It only happens once a month, and she had never been. We all were mesmerized by the Japanese antiques. This was MY kind of souvenir shopping. After much haggling, I settled on a set of porcelain sake glasses, with a pastel floral print on them. They were stored in a neat little wooden box that had Japanese writing on the front. Originally 1000 yen (about $10), I bought them for 500 yen (about $5).
Here's a shot from the market:
When we were kind of finishing up at the market we heard the strange and slightly creepy sound of a traditional Japanese flute. The tune it was playing was the Japanese wedding march, Yuko told us. We followed the sound up a few flights of stairs to a small temple where, sure enough, there was a wedding going on. We waited around until the group came out of the temple. As the two families were lining up for a large portrait, we also snapped a few. HELLO, I'M A TOURIST!
Then, we walked over to Takeshita Street. I still can't get over the the name. It's pronounced "Tahk-a-sheet-ah" but it looks like it'd be pronounced differently! It's a huge street filled with little shops and restaurants.
After visiting the 100 yen store on Takeshita, we were huuuungry. We were searching for somewhere slightly inexpensive to eat, because Tokyo is a very expensive city and we are all of limited funds. We found a nice little Thai place and we all ate for less than 1000 yen ($10). It was a welcome break from the 2500 ($25) dinner we had the night before. After dinner, Yuko wanted to take us to Omotesando, the the famous shopping district of Tokyo. On the way, I spotted this:
If you know me well, you know that I would live in H & M if I could. An 8ish story H&M!?!? SIGN ME UP!!! Yuko asked if I wanted to go in. I told her that that probably was NOT a good idea... I may never come back out again!
On our way to Omotesando, we got distracted again at the Menji Temple. It is an old famous temple in Tokyo, but hadn't been on our agenda. We sauntered through it anyway, and got ourselves photographed with some cute little women in their kimonos:
We finally made it to Omotesando! This picture is of the main promenade. Along this street you can find floors and floors of designer stores such as: Chanel, Dolce and Gabana, Jimmy Choo, etc. It was amazing! If I ever win the lottery, I'm shopping in Tokyo.
Speaking of shopping in Tokyo, I'm still working on my Korean fashion blog post, but I'd like to make a note of the Japanese style. Koreans tend to wear a LOT of heels, and many layers. In Japan, however, there were BOOTS everywhere. The overall style, though there were plenty of exceptions, was slightly more punk-rock than Korea. I envisioned Madonna in the 80's wearing a lot of the same close as the women in Japan were.
Next, we took the Ginza line to Shibuya station. If you've ever seen the movie "Hachiko," with Richard Gere, then this statue will mean something to you. The movie is about a Japanese legend in which a dog (Hachi) dutifully followed his master to the Shibuya station every morning and waited there until he returned from work. One day, however, the master didn't return from work. Hachi waited and waited for the master, but the master had died. Hachi eventually parished, as well, waiting for his master. This statue sits right outside an exit at Shibuya station. The exit that leads you to one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo.
The intersection, known as Shibuya Intersection, has three roads that intersect. On top of that, it has three roads and a subway station's worth of people crossing at about 7 different crosswalks. First, the cars from two lanes go. Then, they're stopped and ALL of the pedestrians are allowed to walk. The first picture is of me on the ground. The second is of the cars being allowed to go. The third is of the people walking. The latter two were taken from the second floor of the Starbucks behind me in the first.
One road of cars being directed.
A whole bunch of people. The phenomenon was that there were this many people (or more) crossing every few minutes when they'd let the people cross!
By now, our feet were very tired and we were getting very hungry again. Yuko wanted us to see the Park Hyatt Tokyo's New York Bar because it is where parts of the movie, Lost in Translation, was filmed. We got to the hotel at around 3:30 pm, and the bar didn't open until 5 pm. So we remained in the hotel's window garden restaurant, until 5 pm. We each had a beer and caught these amazing views of Tokyo by day!
We all ordered Asahi beer. It is brewed in Tokyo. Yuko pointed out the brewery when we were in Asakusa. It had this poop shaped structure on the building, that's actually a really ugly yellow-brown color. It's known as the poo building. It's hilarious. She pointed it out after we left the temple the night before and it was too dark for me to get a good picture. Google: Asakusa Asahi Breweries and search images. It's a treat. The beer doesn't look like poo, though!
The bar finally opened and we made our way up. We ordered another round of over priced Asahi, and by then the sun was setting. I got some evening shots of the table at which Lost in Translation was filmed and some views of Tokyo at night.
We had to leave by 7 to avoid paying a fee for the live music ($20/person!), so we walked back to the subway and went to some area of town that I can't remember the name of, but Yuko and Zach had eaten there the night before we arrived and he was RAVING about how cool the place was. He was right (don't tell him). Everything was much older looking and there were mazes of alleys only big enough for walkers and scooters. Little restaunts were everywhere. We thought this one looked appealing from the outside:
So, we went in. The menu was all in Japanese, so Yuko made all of our decisions for us. In the top left corner is squid ink, which is a delicacy in Korea, too. The course in the middle was our favorite, fried balls of yummy goodness. There was chicken in the middle and then was surrounded by a cornbread/dough situation and then fried. The food served in this restaurant was not traditional Tokyo food, but Okinawa. I find it akin to eating Tex-Mex in Fort Wayne, still American but not going to be the best Tex-Mex in the world - you only find that in Texas. After this meal, I want to go to Okinawa. This food was amazing! If it's this good in Tokyo, I can't imagine what it's like there!
We parted ways after dinner to find our beds and rest up for our trip to the fish market in the morning to eat some sushi!
Tokyo - Day 3.... coming right up! (weak stomach's beware!)
so jealous mo ro that you got to see the bar that lost in translation was filmed in. i love that movie. great pictures from it.
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