Harajuku
I was wide awake early this morning. Owen rallied shortly after. We decided to hit the city for some shopping.
After a breakfast of rice balls from the “convenience” (I had spam), we got on the subway.
It’s very warm and muggy today. We headed over to Harajuku
Owen has been excited that the Japanese kids wear baggy clothing. He was champing at the bit to get some clothes that are more his style.
Thankfully, Harajuku wasn’t crowded. We got to enjoy the seeing kids all dressed up without much hassle and shopping was easy.
He found a really cool outfit right away.
By the time we walked over to Cat Street, Owen was beat. It was hot.
He decided to head back to the hotel and I headed toward Shinjuku on a mission to buy a camera.
Disappointed
I have been researching the perfect camera to purchase while in Japan.
Sadly, FujiFilm can not keep up with demand for this camera. I figured we would have a shot in the camera neighborhood of Tokyo.
The attendant used Google Translate to explain the he does not believe that the camera can be purchased in that neighborhood any more.
I was fairly certain that was a polite japanese way to say “no chance” but I tried another camera super store. Again, the attendant very patiently used Google translate to explain that there was production problems at Fuji.
I was super bummed but now finishing my beer with curry and pork katsu, I’m getting over it.
[As a follow up, I was able to order the camera on Amazon.jp and have it delivered to our hotel in Kawaguchico. It was far less “romantic” and somewhat more expensive than I was hoping. I am very pleased with it though and we are going to enjoy using it throughout this trip and beyond.
I noticed today, as I uploaded more money, how easy it is to use the Suica Card.
Going High
Owen loves city skylines. He constantly looks around noticing this or that building. This evening we went out to find some views and then some food.
On his suggestion, we went over to the Metropolitan Government Office near Shinjuku. It was also his suggestion that we head over to
The smokey and crowded streets were so colorful and interesting. Every place was packed. When we found a spot for two, we were informed (via Translate) that everyone had to be 20 or over.
Owen fortunately found a food stall with a counter for eight people that was turning over customers at a rapid clip. They only served one meal: Soba ramen. They didn’t even serve drinks.
We found ourselves at the counter surprisingly and fortunately quickly because we were starving.
After dinner we were both thirsty. Again, Owen found the perfect spot. Well he found someone to lead us to the perfect spot. He ran into a street “barker” who led us to a tiny elevator and up five stories, down a tiny hallway, through a crowd to our own little room. I was afraid we were getting suckered but it was actually perfect.
We were brought some meatballs and taught how to use a table iPad type screen to order and then we left in peace. Nether of us were hungry but we appreciated the quiet and coolness of the a/c.
We did have peace a quiet until the wait staff kept coming to the room asking us what we would like. We explained that we were fine. Then another waiter would come. Again we explained to the confused waitress that we didn’t need anything else.
I didn’t think we were being rude for not ordering more. We had not been there long.
When the waitress came again, she explained that the “device” that we assumed was a fortune telling toy actually has a call button on the top of it.
Owen said he had pressed the buttons at least 20 times trying to figure out how it works. Oops…
