Those Harajuku girls

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We were up at about 8am today. Good for us. We had breakfast downstairs in our hotel. A japanese take on a western breakfast. Interesting. You take your food on your plate then on a tray to eat at your table. When finished they clear your tray. Although it was "buffet" we seemed to be the only ones going back for more.

Today was for Bec to have a look at a few different neighbourhoods in Tokyo and use the language.
Firstly we were going to go to the Japanese Government building in Shinjuku where there is a free observation deck. But the weather was overcast with fine mist rain that we gave it a miss. We were having some mobile phone issues which Justin sorted and we headed to the Isetan department store for the first of many trips to a Hello Kitty store. This one was a bit upmarket so Bec just looked. Did see some nice Anna Sui stuff we might go back for. Next we needed to get a USB cable for our camera as ours was still at home........ enough said. Had a very nice and helpful guy at the BicCamera store help us and problem solved.

So we headed to the station to master the subway. Armed with our Suico card we found the platform and swiped the card like the 3 million other passengers that use this station everyday !! First stop was Shibuya - a trendy area of Tokyo. We found the famous Starbucks that overlooks a busy intersection and watched the people cross the road for a while. Never seen so many people - all going somewhere - walking with purpose as I am fond of saying to Rachel. We looked around the immediate area for a while (bought a few things - well Bec did) and then decided to have lunch.

In keeping with the whole Japanese experience, I steered Bec away from the cafe with the sandwiches towards a Japanese place with plastic models in the window. It looked like different types of fried / crumbed chicken with rice. So we went inside. Seated we were brought some green tea. This happens at the beginning of all the meals. Then we were offered english menus - and then we all roared laughing. As most of you would know I am allergic to pork and I had emphatically insisted on going into a pork restaurant. Seems I can't tell the difference between white meat chicken and pork. Made a selection with minimum amount of pork. We were served our food on the tray again with different little dishes. A helpful woman beside us showed us how to eat the food and told us what the different stuff was. We had a wonderful experience and left very happy.

Next stop Harajuku. Bec had wanted so desperately to see the young people dressed in their costumes that hang around this area but it really only happens at the weekend. We explored the area immediately around the station and saw some local sights anyway. There were a few kooky characters and one in particularly all dressed up in puffy pink that caught Bec's eye. Bec was bold enough to ask in Japanese to take her photo but she said no...... disappointment. Don't know why they dress crazy if they don't want people to look. Bec bought some more stuff and then it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for tonight

Tonight we took a Tokyo night tour. There were only 7 on the tour - all from Australia. Had a lovely guide called Jun. Justin spent some time in his ear. First we had a Japanese meal at the top of a building overlooking the bay. Justin and Bec had tempura and I had some beef in a sweet broth. Another tray will little bowls of food, rice and salad arrived. Another yummy meal.
We then drove through some neighbourhoods, stopped for photo opportunities and went to the top of Roppongi Hills to have a 360 degree view of the Tokyo night skyline.

On the way back to our hotel stopped by baskin robbins again..... can see a habit forming here.

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Photos

Justin at lunch
He handles those chopstix well

Comments

[Glen]

fantastic
love the blog. i get a real sense of where you are and what you are doing. the photos are great to. you are all so happy and enjoying yourselves. will be checking on you every day so keep up the good work.......have fun