Sigh I should be meeting Mickey and friends today if not because of the typhoon. We switched our itinerary to sightsee the 3 famous locations: Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku. Shibuya was our first stop as it was the furthest from Ikebukuro. We reached there too early and most of the shops were not opened yet. I saw Hachiko, wanted to take photo, but decided to skip it because there were a lot of other (inconsiderate) tourists and it started to pour again. We crossed the famous Shibuya crossing and walked mindlessly. We saw a Uniqlo store which would open only at 11am.
We decided to have our lunch first at a Japanese-German restaurant. I was interested in the fried stuff while my friend was interested in the beer. Lol.. At 1000 JPY, my meal had 3 pieces of battered fried oysters!! Oyster is considered an expensive food from where I come from so that meal was definitely a steal.
The rain got heavier again but we still made our way to Uniqlo. I could not find the jacket on sale which I saw at Akiba but I saw bright coloured bermudas for 790 JPY each!! The original price was 2190 JPY which was then cut down to 1290 JPY and finally to the current price. I bought 2: bright green and blue hahaha... It is my first time buying clothes with S size. I must have slimmed down a lot. Lol.. Honestly, M was too big and even belt was not helpful but S was a bit too tight. I decided to buy just because of the colours since currently the bottoms I own are usually of the usual boring black, blue, or khaki.
Harajuku is just one stop away and I am disappointed to find that it is only 1 street/alley with shops lined on both sides. I think I am also too old to appreciate the items that the shops are selling. And since it is a Thursday, I did not see people dressing in the fashion style that makes Harajuku famous. There are plenty of dessert shops but I was still too full after lunch that I was not tempted. Rain also made the trip negative as the street is pretty narrow. With everyone carrying 55-60cm long umbrella, we basically tried to avoid clashing one another umbrellas and with the little space, clashing was unavoidable.
I enjoyed Shinjuku the least. I don't know if it is because we took the wrong exit but all I could see were office buildings. We only went to a nearby Uniqlo where I could not find the sale jacket and another store which looked very similar to Yodobashi at Akiba.
Next we returned to Akiba because we really wanted to find Mandarake today. We realised that despite spending a day there on our first day, there were still many shops that we had not visited. In a shop selling second hand goods called Mulan, I saw a giant box of Prince of Tennis. I never knew that item before so I did not know whether it was music CD collection or anime collection. The shop was rather cramped especially with me and my backpack and the item was placed so high. I did not dare to tip toe and take it down. I could have recorded the barcode numbers and checked it out but I decided not to tempt myself yet since I had yet to go to Mandarake.
Mandarake at Akihabara is amazing! There are still so many items which sadly are not listed in their website so that I can buy them online. I saw Li Syaoran figure from Kotobukiya for only 5500 JPY. It is one of my wishlist items (together with Sakura, Ciel, and Sebastian) because I have no space in my room. What blew my mind, however, are Final Fantasy Chrome figures!! I saw Cecil for 30000 JPY, Terra for 18000 JPY, Tifa 12000 JPY and 9000 JPY, and Magic Pot 18000 JPY. They also have Zidane, Squall, Rinoa, Aerith, and a few others. The shopkeepers spoke very limited English that I was shy to ask them to take a look. I also wanted to ask if they accept credit card payment or if they can send the items overseas. Sigh.. I will be going to Osaka this Saturday and my friend has a friend who can speak Japanese. Perhaps I can find these items at Mandarake Osaka. I shall be patient. They even have the display case for 20000 JPY also but I know I will not able to buy that if I buy Genie statue from Disneyland.
Today I went to take a look at Gundam Cafe in Akiba. I was so excited to hear about Gundam Cafe before coming to Japan and intended on eating there. But after coming here and looking at the things, I will give it a pass. Haha.. None of the merchandises caught my interest and I definitely won't buy the cookie although it has gundam stuff as they will end up in my stomach and in the toilet eventually. The food served in the cafe also does not look gundam-y enough for me.
Another half a day passed by very quickly in Akiba. I thought there still would be time to see Tokyo Tower or go to Ueno tonight but by the time I was done with Akiba, it was already 8pm. Who says boys don't shop eh?? Haha... We found a Kebab shop and we ate that for dinner. We were craving for meat!! Haha..
Time to rest early today for the trip to Hakone tomorrow. I can't wait to have those calendar pictures with Mt Fuji in the background. Hehe...
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