Okonomiyaki

Today was supposed to be a day of accomplishing many things.. but of course, as we got distracted by all the lights and flashy things that Tokyo has to offer, we ended up shopping the whole day in the same areas we’d already been. Let the day begin – back to Shiboots!

NEWS

Some random parade/protest sweeping through the streets..

Note to self, never buy an item in Japan that you’re not 100% sure that you want to keep. Apparently it is super difficult for all stores to accept returns, if they even do! I purchased a pair of shoes from Gap at a different location, and tried to return them, but no can do. So we wandered to Ragtag where Erin sold some of her designer goods. Then we stumbled across Ichiran! The most delicious ramen restaurant in the world!! You sit alone in these little cubicles and there is a little window in the front of your cubicle that the staff lower once they’ve placed the food in front of you (the kitchen is behind your window). You even choose your desired taste preferences by selecting the options from a sheet – thank goodness they had an English version.

After our lunch we wandered to some stores where the sisters bought some more goods. Miu Mui sunglasses, no big deal, Ro is revolutionizing! The only good I purchased all day was an umbrella because an unexpected rain shower decided to grace us with it’s presence. It was like $20, but didn’t end up feeling very sturdy… it is light though, which is why I guess they sell. It appeared to be popular as the other customers ran in from the rain and made a b-line for the umbrella section…

Then, we wandered to Aoyama to shop in style. Hysteric Glamour, Miu Miu, Comme Des Garcons, Prada, Chanel… just to name a few. Ro finally purchased the sweet purse that our trip was partially revolving around. Success! Snotty ladies at Prada, eat your heart out.

After the sisters splurged, they encouraged me to purchase those Chanel sneaks I’d been eyeing… but in the end, can I really justify dropping almost a grand on a pair of sneaks? Umm… maybe if I’m in the right mood, but not today. This tight student budget is really grabbing a hold on my usual shopping tendencies. Instead, I splurged on a crepe in Harajuku and we wandered our way back to the Gap where I had found my shoes to return them. But could I return them? Nope. Man these people are picky. The original receipt isn’t good enough, you need the slip of paper to verify the credit card number used to purchase them! What a pain in the bum.

So we made a quick trip to drop off the millions of bags that Rochelle had acquired and made our way back to Shinjuku where the sisters let me scour the shops for the messenger bag I’ve been looking for. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found, so we met up an hour later to have some okonomiyaki. However, not really knowing what to do, we had to ask for the advice of our server who yammered on about what to do, as we ignored her voice and solely watched to figure out what the heck she was talking about. I mainly expected the other sisters to pay attention, so I focused on the table beside us as they continued to get sloshed.

Then it was home to my bed where I could worry about the following day's activities which would include going to my new school and getting introduced to the people who would become my roommates for the following year…

Walk-thru McDonald's, North America would be wise to follow suit

ShiBoots

September 7^th, a day to remember – Rochelle’s 30^th birthday! Our morning itinerary was to consist of rest and relaxation; however, things got a little messy when I discovered that an incompetent Best Buy worker had fraudulently charged my Mastercard for two ipods, amounting to over $600. Delightful... So being the great big sister that she is, the birthday girl decided to take charge and help out her sniffling baby sister (me!) After giving them a piece of her mind, the phone cut out, and the issue was left as is… so we decided to push Mastercard’s horrific customer service to the back of our minds and have some fun!

Ro

Kracie Sisters

We began our day of shopping with the Johnny’s Store, which I thought would be stocked with all kinds of goods featuring my future hubby's face. Unfortunately, the store turned out to be pretty much a whole lot of pictures that can be found on the internet for free. Shockingly enough, the store was swarming with girls; who would’ve thought? Next - the Gap flagship store. While I may not be a big Gap shopper, we did end up spending a few hour(s?) in that store. Rochelle, a loyal employee and customer, was like a kid in a candy store. Happy birsuday!

Next, we found Takeshita Street, which is probably the most famous shopping spot in Harajuku. It's a pedestrian-only street filled with tons of funky clothing stores, crepe stands, and all kinds of interesting-looking characters. Ever since I heard Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls, I dreamed of coming here.

Harajuku Girls

After our unique shopping experience and having a delicious crepe lunch, we made our way to Omotesando. This area is filled with designer shops, and it was time to find Rochelle a sweet handbag to match her revolutionizing style. However, our feet were sore after a short amount of time, so we took a break from shopping to wander over to Shibuya.

Omotesando

Ever since arriving in Japan, every time Ro would be asked about where she’d want to go – she’d yell “Shi-boots!” I’m not sure where she came up with this, but Ro has a knack for coming up with crazy slogans.

Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya is famous for it’s “scramble crossing,” where all traffic is stopped at the same time and pedestrians from all directions cross. This was all very fun and exciting to experience, until my sisters left me in the dust and I was left to cry on the corner until they realized my disappearance and found me.

Last but not least, dinner in a jail cell. The Lock Up is a prison/horror themed restaurant that incorporates an interactive show into your dining experience; and what an experience it was. Upon arrival, the hostess, dressed as a policewoman, handcuffs two members of your party and leads you to your prison cell. With a horror-themed menu and amazing presentation, we had a dinner to remember. The only glitch in our dinner was the accidental chunk of wasabi that I found in my bowl of soba – not so delicious… But that aside, an awesome time was had by all.

Lock Up - Mid Show

Dancing to the Ghost Busters theme song

Michael Jackson on the top of a sign - no big deal

TsuRuTonTan

After enduring a sweltering day in the sauna… oh wait, I mean Tokyo… we woke up the next morning at 4:30 to discover that the scorching heat was still going strong. About half an hour later, Erin had to practically push us out the door to make our train, but we ended up leaving approximately thirty seconds too late... And then those thirty seconds ended up costing us our morning itinerary. We were planning on visiting Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market, which is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world; but ended up getting there after the entrance doors had closed. I guess we had some tough competition even though it was only 5:30 in the morning... Erin seemed to be the only in our group who was disappointed though, as Rochelle and I really didn’t know what we were missing out on. So we ended up walking around some street shops, did a little window shopping, and discovered a bunch of stuffed animal corpses in plastic bags on display with messages like “PLEASE DO NOT ENTER!!” …Tempting… but I think I’ll pass.

Rochie, I stole this picture from your facebook, hope you don't mind!

Our day consisted of a variety of things including my first Japanese Shrine/Temple visit (to be honest with you, I’m still not really sure what the difference is… even though I had a huge explanation on it in class today, I still don’t understand). Then we wandered off to grab some water (as we were still sweating heavily in the sauna-like heat) at a convenience store that had a big billboard with [one of my] favorite Johnny’s right outside! For those of you who know nothing about me, I am in love with hot Japanese celebrities. A company named Johnny’s Entertainment employs many of these good-looking guys, so they have the public title of being a Johnny! *Sigh… *I love seeing giant billboards of hot men everywhere I go… definitely something that I wish they’d bring to Canada.

We then wandered over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and took a bunch of pictures at the top. Unfortunately though, my camera battery died about an hour into our day, so I’ll let your imaginations conspire what Tokyo might look like from a really tall building… Okay I’ll help you; in every direction that you looked, it was a whole lot of tall buildings - beautiful, nonetheless.

Then, we wandered over to a fabulous restaurant called Baqet that included an unlimited bread buffet. While I’m not a huge fan of bread, I am a big fan of Japanese bread! So delicious and flavorful… and oh so different from Canadian bread. I don’t know how many servings I had, but I do remember my stomach aching as we walked to our next location - my first Japanese shopping mall (with air conditioning, yay)! How delightful it was. Their malls (if that’s what you can call it) are kind of set up like… Holt Renfrew(?) – kind of. Hard to explain, but they are small stores, all closely linked together within a building with many floors.

After that, we wandered off to a few more mall/stores including a quick stop at a fancy department store to pick up designer-brand sweat rags. In Japan, everyone carries around sweat rags/handkerchief-type cloths to dry sweat and/or dry your hands after washing - as certain restrooms have neither paper towel nor hand driers. Oh, and I almost walked into some private area of a store because their English sign didn’t convey their message of “Staff Only”. I don’t know who was advising them on what to write, but whatever was written on the sign did not convey the message of Staff Only. Welcome to my life of being a foreigner in Japan who doesn’t understand Japanese – continuous confusion.

Eventually, after wandering the Shinjuku streets, we made our way to a gothic-inspired restaurant called TsuruTonTan. However, we had to endure a bit of a lineup to get in. I guess you know the place is good though if they have a lineup that reaches street level from underground, right? And indeed it was. Our bowls of udon were probably about 2 times the size of my head, oishikatta!

Finally, we made our way to Maruetsu Petit for our evening grocery run and I got to re-buy a Japanese textbook at the bookstore next door. Unfortunately for me, I have a tendency to misplace things... and in this case, a week later, the old textbook that I just replaced was found in my parents’ Venza in Manitoba… Anyways, it was Rochelle’s bedtime again. What we thought was jet lag was actually her internal clock telling her that it was bedtime…