Day 12 - Tokyo - Hangovers and Harajuku

After some partying hard last night, we - or some of us at least - were feeling it a little more than others (death by Whisky Sours), so we didn't really kick off our day until after lunch time. Today we had outlined to go and see the Harajuku district - a very trendy shopping street - as well go up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatory.

Adelaide was the first to rise in the morning at around 9, and had a shower and went down to buy 2 coffees to go. Waiting for her hair to dry, she finished hers, while I wasn't able to touch mine just yet. I needed more time to recover, so she decided to take a trip by herself through Shibuya crossing to the Mandarake building - a popular anime shop - getting lost on the way but still ending up at a different Anime store. Mandarake was closed (didn't open till 12), so she wandered around and got some late breakfast at a Konbini consisting of chocolate milk and a revitalising pizza-man, followed up with some maccas fries and read until it opened.

Nothing caught her eye, so empty handed she returned to the hotel where I was on the bounce back up. With some water and a garlic cheese pizza ordered from downstairs, along with some Modern Family, I was back and bright eyed, so I had a shower and we left for Harajuku.

Harajuku is quite close to Shibuya, so we only had to catch the JR loop line a single stop. Harajuku station is located along the edge of the park, so it was quite picturesque when we arrived. It's also a little less built up than Shibuya - there are still buildings everywhere but the main constituent is smaller apartment blocks rather than larger sky-scrapers, so it feels a bit more airy. A short walk from the station was Takeshita Street, one of the must see places when your passing through. A melting pot of culture and fashion, this ~1km shopping street is bordered with boutiques and chain stores alike, and the prices weren't too bad. Crepes were the food of choice, and you couldn't go armslength without seeing an outlet, we even saw more new ones being fitted out on our mozey down. Adelaide had to stop to have a Cheesecake, ice cream, cream and chocolate sauce creation which was a bit much when I was still feeling a little ripe (but Adelaide assures me it was delicious).

Agony of choice

We continued on, snaking in and out of stores whenever something took our fancy. I spied a jacket out the front of a 'Woodendoll', which I tried on before buying one a size larger. A trench coat style, it has an off centred zip with buttons, but might be a little too warm for the Brisbane climate. For 6000 Yen though, I'm happy to wait until winter at home to see. I could've spent a lot longer in that store, but for the sake of my wallet, we left.

Reaching the end of the street, we crossed the road and went were we pleased. Stores still aplenty, there was a noted drop off in people once we'd left that main drag. The streets we walked through afterwards were nice little lanes which reminded me of Ireland in a way. After checking out an unusual Marc Jacobs bookstore, we were back on a main road so looped around. Passing a Barbie store (pink and all of course), we found a cafe and stopped for a refresher - Adelaide couldn't find the hipster one she'd been to before (think Kobblers). I had a cappucino, which sealed it for that the Japanese love it very milky, and Adelaide went for a fresh Lemonade which came with complementary sugar syrup to make it taste to your liking. The cafe had a cool and quiet vibe, and we saw some very fashionable people come and go. The books near to us featured a lonely planet must see of Tokyo; there wasn't anything new there, but we did get confused when we found a Harajuku Gyoza recommendation, which we think may have been something other than the chain that we have in Brisbane.

With the bill settled, we headed back towards the main road, which took us back to Takeshita Street. Heading the other direction, we continued to window shop and this time I bought a crepe (just banana and cream with chocolate sauce). There was a large, 4 floor Daiso which we had to stop at, and Adelaide bought some stationary and I purchased a Japanese flag - all for under 600 Yen.

It was only 4.45ish at this point, and we didn't want to go to the observation deck until it was darker to catch Tokyo by night, so we made our way for Yoyogi park. It isn't too far from Takeshita street, but we were dissapointed to find it closed when we arrived (no reason was given, but it didn't look like it was because it was late). In failing that we decided to make the transit around town to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building which has the observatory in it on the 45th floor.

Feels like winter

The sky got really cool around dusk

The face of sadness :(

We had to catch a train and a subway, but only needed to stop at one station a piece, so we arrived in under 10 minutes. The station was a little confusing, so we ended up walking outside, and heading back through the main doors to the building, but we realised there was another set of stairs which could've taken us right into the lobby anyway. The way to the observatory isn't well signed, so we took a few minutes reading building maps and guides before realising you just walk over to a dedicated elevator. There was no charge to go up, just a quick bag check - if you could call it that, I unzipped by loaded bag and the attendant said he was happy - before you were directed into an elevator that had 4 buttons - 1, 2, 45 and a spare.

The elevator won't ever win awards for being fast, but it got us up there, our ears popping with the change in pressure. The observatory is one big room which has two gift shops and a restaurant, with windows on nearly every wall. It was pretty muggy up there with the aircon set to warm, so after taking some time to check out the view, we sat down with a grape fanta. The views were really spectacular - the northern and eastern perspectives look out towards the mountains and the sprawl continues as far as the eye can see. The south western perspective was more interesting however, as it faced the skyscraper districts, so it was a sea of red warning lights, all blinking on their own accord. The restrauant had the best view south, but we weren't able to go in there. We considered having dinner there, but with a pricey, limited menu, we declined.

The northern view

South

 The building is two pronged, so you can go to an observatory on either the East or West sides, but we were satisfied with our choice of the East one, so we headed back to the Hotel. I'd developed a bit of a hot flush and was a little uncomfortable, but our train ride took my mind of things as we'd happened to position ourselves right behind the driver, and had an unnerving view out the front of the train - it was wierd how dark it all was, and how it looked like you were going to clip the platform on the way in. It was also my first experience of Tokyo transport at peak hour, and boy was it busy.

We relaxed at our hotel for a bit, watching some more unusual TV while addy wrote yesterdays post. Because writing these posts take a chunk of time, by the time she'd finished, it was around 7 and we were hungry, so we headed back out into the mild evening for dinner (the weather's been really good in Tokyo too - we haven't had any rain yet, although snow is forecast for tomorrow :D and the past few days have been in the mid teens).

Not too keen on having another big walk in front of us, we decided to check out the restaurants near our hotel and take our pick of those. After checking out nearly all the places around the block plus a little more, we settled on a cute little Italian place. It was empty save for another couple having dinner, and the staff were lovely. We got a side of garlic bread to have with our mains, Adelaide choosing Lamb chops with Olive and Anchovy tapanard, while I opted for Spagetti with pork in a creamy sauce. In comparison to other places we've been at for dinner, there was a little more of a wait for our food, and when it did come out, it was small - Adelaide counted maybe 3 bites of her chops. However, what it lacked in size, it made up for in taste. When we got the bill afterwards too, we were glad it tasted so nice, as its up there with one of the most expensive dinners we've had - around 6000 Yen.

A little bit fancy

 While it filled a hole, we weren't satisfied, so after stopping at a FamilyMart for dessert snacks, we swung by the restaurant near the lobby for a pizza each. Fat, we know, but it was great. I had a pepperoni and capsicum one, while Addy had her traditional margerhita. With our stomachs full, we were now happy.

Tomorrow, we're going to go to Akihabara and Odaiba for some more shopping and to check out that side of Tokyo. We've got our fingers crossed for an appearance of snow! Until then, I'm Ron Burgundy?