ニッポン １６ - TOKYO

16Sept08 Tues

Day 16 - Meiji Shrine→Yoyogi Park→Harajuku→Ayase
明治神宮→代々木公園→原宿→綾瀬

Kiki and I woke up late again..
また遅く起きたｗｗ

ODEN!!
craving for it since Day 1!
tightly capped..

おでん！！第一日から食べたかった！

finally!

breakfast! LOL
you realise Kiki and I seldom eat at proper places..
cos we wanna save money... haha

朝ごはんだったよ。
私と妹はお金がないから、いつもそういう感じｗｗ

sorry there's no picture of the oden...cos I was super hungry..
but I found one from the Net..
ODEN!! Yum~~~
They sell it in Isetan Supermarket too. Haha.

伊勢丹スーパーもあるけどｗｗ
今も食べたい～～

Waiting room with aircon in the train station

JR Yamanote Line to Harajuku, alight and turn left

Long walkway to Meiji Shrine

Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingū), located in Shibuya, Tokyo, is the Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. When Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shōken in 1914, the Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the two influential Japanese figures. It was for this reason that Meiji Shrine was constructed and their souls enshrined on November 1, 1920.

one of my best photos, I like!
ナイスショットじゃない？？

part of the shrine was on renovations -.-"

How to pray: First, two deep bows. Then, clap your hands twice. Put your hands together and pray/wish. Lastly a deep bow again.

you can throw a coin into the box before clapping your hands..

many many wishes. you buy a wood plank and write your wishes on them.

Further down the road is Yoyogi Park.
Yoyogi Park (代々木公園,) is one of the largest parks in Tokyo, located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Shibuya.

The park is a popular hangout, especially on Sundays, when it is used as a gathering place for people to play music, practice martial arts, etc. The park has a bike path, and bicycle rentals are available. As a consequence of Japan's long recession, there are several large, but quiet and orderly, homeless camps around the park's periphery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoyogi_Park

Unfortunately it was a Tuesday. Nothing much to see..

it was pretty warm actually..

when we were leaving the park, there was this plump Japanese guy with specs (dressing was like an otaku).. and he asked us, バイトしませんか？
which means, "Do you want to do part-time job?"

Well, what kind of part-time job do you expect him to say anyway... the park has less than 10 people, and one guy asking 2 girls... lucky JC reminded me about these situations..
the right answer to his question will be:
すみません、外国人です。
Sumimasen, Gaikokujin desu.
"Sorry, but I'm a foreigner."

People, remember!

And he went off with a "Sorry!"
Good experience.
Well, at least I know we still have some beauty value...hahahaa

After this was shopping at Harajuku!!
We did window shopping that day, today's the real thing!

買い物、買い物、また買い物！

accessories at 315yen!
very popular with young girls..
i grabbed around 6 pieces there. haha...

Idol shops.
アイドルショップかな？

Didn't want to go in because they also look so suspicious (either basement or a few floors up), but don't worry, it's all fangirls inside going crazy over merchandise of their idols. For the sake of Emily, I went in... Quite fun actually... we were bombarded with pictures and merchandise of the prettiest boys on Earth.. Arashi, Kanjani8, News... etc...

There were Matsumuthus (Matsumoto Jun hahaha) here but I thought Joanne has grown out of a fangirl phase so I didn't buy any for her... haha..

After that I think we bought 2 pairs of shoes (could have been more!), a scarf (for Singapore? =/ well, it just looked nice and I couldn't resist!), a vest, many accessories.. and others.. I can't remember.. hhaa

I really like this station..

Some things are worth preserving..

Harajuku, Shibuya and Akihabara have the highest density of foreigners...

At Ayase, a happening neighbourhood, one station before where we stay at Kita-Ayase

Pachinko machines fill the whole building..

Dinner at KFC. Fastfood craving again!
Serving was pathetic.
Japaneses are small eaters, I know.

our favourite chips in Japan, Seaweed Salt..

I was able to contact my friend in Yokohama and yes, we are going Yokohama tomorrow!