Rikugien [Garden]

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I met Sayuri today in Shinjuku for a late dinner, and since I'd be wanting to see some more autumn colors this season, I decided to make a whole day of it and hit another post-it in my guidebook: Rikugien! Rikugien is a walking garden that is very famous for having "views" that change as you walk, so that the surroundings are always different. It also has illuminated fall colors starting the last week in November, though I went during daylight so I didn't see those. It was a very popular place today, and my fellow photographers were out in full force!

I actually shot the garden in two different modes on my camera, so it's sort of a mix-and-match when it comes to the photographs, but it was really beautiful and was a very relaxing journey. I did it by myself, too, and I met some nice people there - a man asked if I wanted to have my picture taken (I declined, because I didn't do much with myself today) and while I was sitting near the end of my trip, an elderly lady sat on the bench next to me and had a whole conversation with me in Japanese. I think I held up my end fairly well. She was so friendly! 😊

I had some more hours to kill, so I tried to find Yoyogi Park, and don't even laugh at me because I COULD NOT FIND IT. Of course, it probably would have helped if I'd gone to Harajuku Station, but I did not think to consult my map, and therefore it was not found. And then I went to Shinjuku to wait for Sayuri, and managed to spend an entire hour completely lost. I swear to god I knew a Starbucks from the last time I was there, one I had visited TWICE in June, and literally could not find it. I could not find the West Exit, haha. So finally I managed to find another Starbucks and read through two books on my Kindle while I waited with my overpriced caffeinated beverage. Ah, self. You manage to get lost constantly.

But I also hit up Uniqlo and found this ADORABLE sweater on sale, so obviously that had to happen. It's so nice having money to be able to just buy things like that when I find something cute.

Sayuri and I finally met up (she had to come find me, that was how lost I was) and had dinner and drinks, which was fabulous!

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