Japan 0709 - Days 5 & 6
Day 5 - Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku
We had alot of places to visit on day 5, so we woke up slightly earlier that day. But I also had a secret agenda for waking up early, and that is to get tickets for Tohoshinki's Premium Showcase. My brother wasn't exactly keen on going, so I just got him there early and hoped that the queue wouldn't be too long since it was a Monday, and that he'd just go along with it. But Lady Luck wasn't on our side that day and for the first time in the few days that we were there, it rained.
When we reached the station, I immediately steered my brother towards the direction of Harajuku Quest Hall, where the tickets were being sold. He didn't have an inkling as to where we were headed, but light dawned on him when he saw a long queue of girls and a guy wearing a polo t-shirt with the words "Tohoshinki STAFF" at the back. Oops. Fortunately, he didn't get angry but just asked if I really wanted to queue and that it is a waste of time. I felt really bad at that moment because he already wasted one day of his holiday in Japan to accompany me to watch the concert, and it wouldn't be fair to him if I made him queue for hours with me in the rain for a showcase that he had zilch interest in. I assured him that I only just wanted to take a look at the venue and the crowd; he'd definitely queue with me if he knew that I badly want to go, so I had to make him think that it wasn't important. We headed to Takeshita-dori after taking a couple of pictures.
I really love shopping at Takeshita-dori, but this shopping spree is all about my brother, so we mostly went into shops catered to guys. The last store that we visited was WE GO, a really cool store that's located underground; it became my favourite store in Takeshita-dori ever since Dawn brought Gen and I there last October. There's a pair of jeans that I thought would look good on my bro and asked him to try it on, and he does he look in it so I offered to get it for him even though it cost about 100 bucks sing dollars. I gave him cash to pay for the other clothes that we wanted to get, while I took the jeans to another cashier because I wanted to pay for it with my card.
My card got rejected. No surprise there. Although my card got rejected, the cute cashier proceeded to try swiping it at another machine, and another, and another...until he tried at all machines and still it got rejected. Isn't he just the nicest! Alot of other cashiers in other stores didn't bother trying again after the first attempt (I used my dad's card and it got rejected...he must have bust it on his trip to Tibet), but he didn't stop trying! I wanted to tell him not to bother, but the more I looked at him, the cuter I found him and just wanted to stare at him a little longer...so I kept quiet. Hahahaha! He's a cross between Mizushima Hiro and Micky Yoochun - Hiro's eyes and Micky's style, and is just so incredibly adorable. I kept whispering to my brother, "Omg he's so cute!! So handsome! Look at his smile! Why don't we get guys like that in Singapore!", and he looked at me like I was crazy.
After trying the last machine, cute guy returned my card to me and apologised for it getting rejected. I took out my last 10,000yen note to pay for it, and was left with hardly any money left. My brother then proposed that we go change the 100 sing dollars that my dad gave him. So I asked cute guy if there's any where nearby that we could change money (any excuse to talk to him!), and he said we could change at the bank. He then came out from behind the counter, told us to follow him, and went up and out to the main street with us to give us directions. We stood very close (it was unintentional)...and I accidentally stepped on his foot! Great move, Gena. I was embarrassed and apologised, but he just laughed and so I laughed too. Quoting MK, "That's so DRAMA-KAI!". Haha. We parted ways after receiving directions, and I so regret not taking a picture with him or getting his mail. My brother said we could go back and he'd take the picture for me, but nah we couldn't afford to waste any more time. Going to the bank already took up much of our time as it was quite a distance away. So next stop, Meiji Shrine!
Last October, Gen and I couldn't find the shrine at all. But this time, I managed to find it and it really is bloody damn near Harajuku station. Didn't have to walk that much at all! I can't understand why we couldn't locate it the last time.
My bro and I wrote our wishes on those plates and hung ours together with wishes of other people. It was rather interesting to read what other people wrote. My bro had a hard time thinking of what to write because he couldn't make up his mind. He wanted to write so many things and kept thinking how to phrase them properly so that other people wouldn't read and laugh at what he wrote. Silly ninny! Nobody would know that it's him anyway so why care! Haha.
After Meiji Shrine, we headed to Shibuya, which is only one stop away.
Shibuya isn't really my kind of place. We went into Shibuya109 and regretted immediately. There seemed to be a huge sale going on and was packed like sardines. It was like an enclosed, air-conditioned market place with all the salesgirls screaming at the top of their voices. Needless to say, we didn't stay long although I would have liked to check out the clothes. Shibuya109 for men isn't as crowded, but it was pretty boring. I think we weren't even there for an hour before we left for Shinjuku.
I don't know if it's because we were tired, but we didn't find Shinjuku interesting at all. But I'd like to visit it another time when I'm not so exhausted, I might like it better then.
Headed back to the hotel early to watch TV before going to our favourite fast-food eatery nearby to have dinner. We go there practically everyday to settle our meals because although it's only soba, udon, and rice, the food there is cheap, filling and extremely delicious.
Day 6 - Ueno and Akiba again
After checking out at 10AM, we left our luggages at the hotel before going to Ueno to do some last minute shopping. The weather for the past 5 days was very cooling and we loved it, but on our last day the sun was shining brightly - almost as hot as Singapore but still better. I managed to locate Ameyoko this time! But perhaps because it was still very early, the place wasn't all that I expected it to be and I was slightly disappointed.
Remember how I had tried to find the Gundam that my cousin Jon wanted us to help him get and failed? Well, I finally found it in a shop in Ueno! We had actually gone into the shop on our first day but didn't look closely at the boxes of Gundam sold in it, and how fortunate that I managed to spot one of the models hidden amidst other boxes that looked almost the same! I was happy beyond words. Jon wanted us to get 2 models, but at least we found one! And on our last day too! How lucky is that!
My brother wanted to buy himself a Perfect Grade Gundam model no matter what, because they sell so much cheaper in Japan than in Singapore. So we went to Akiba again to get his Gundam. We went into many shops to compare prices, and finally found one that was selling Gundam at 20% off! My brother was all smiles as we departed from Akiba and headed back to Otsuka to collect our luggages.
The ride to Narita Airport was a complicated one, and we had to alight and change trains a couple of times even though I was so sure that the only change we needed to do was at Nippori. For some reason, the trains that we took that day kept terminating at stations and we had no choice but to get out and take another one. At one point, I was so confused and asked a pretty girl if the train was heading towards Narita, to which she replied yes. But I guess they later announced that the train was to terminate at Sakura (which is a few stops away from Narita Airport), and the pretty girl, before she alighted, quickly came to me to pass me a piece of paper which she wrote instructions on where to alight and which train to change to. I am so grateful to her because I was a little confused as to whether I took the correct train...so many nice people in Japan! When we finally arrived at Narita Airport station, I felt majorly relieved.
I really miss Japan alot and have been feeling restless. Singapore is great, but I miss Japan so much it's like having a constant toothache. Even my brother, who claimed that the trip was only average because he had to walk alot (duh!), couldn't stop talking about all the things that we did over there and kept looking at the pictures that we took. I bet he misses Japan too, although he'd never admit it. He didn't even talk much about Taiwan when we came back.
I just want to show pictures of this area that looks so much like Singapore in Nishi-Kasai. I was so surprised that it resembles the typical neighbourhoods over here so much.