Two of our five full days in Tokyo were half days, due to jet lag. Sleeping in was a necessity. Day 2, Monday, was a short day, relaxed and spontaneous, in which we did get some important things accomplished as well. We navigated around Shinjuku Station to get our bearings, since we would be traveling through this "World's Busiest Train Station" everyday for the rest of the trip (P.S. if you avoid the mall inside Shinjuku train station, you won't become a buried alive tourist. The station is actually not that intimidating if you know exactly where you're coming from, where you're going, and if you need to change lines (Odakyo to JR, for example). We bought the tickets to ride N.E.X (Narita Express) on our last day to the airport, just to get that taken care of. And we went to Shibuya to buy Tokyo Disney Sea tickets for Day 3, Tuesday.
I was excited to FINALLY get the witness the famous Shibuya Crossing, aka the Pedestrian Scramble.
I mainly took video of it, because still pictures don't do it justice. Seeing everyone crossing every which way across the street was really fun.
(P.S. when you exit Shibuya station, follow the signs to the Hachiko exit, which is next to the crossing. Very easy. There's a statue of the famous Hachiko dog--there was even an American movie made to honor this beloved, faithful pet--alas, I couldn't find it, but honestly I didn't look hard enough. I was too busy being distracted by lights, sounds, commotion, and an empty stomach.)
On the way to the Disney Store we ate at a yummy steak restaurant, but that deserves its own blog post :0)
The Disney Store is a short walk from the station.
If there's a cute character in a Disney film, they are idolized in shows and merchandise, even the obscure characters.
The Shibuya Disney Store has three levels, and on the top level you can buy tickets to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea.
Venturing out again.
Shibuya 109. I've seen this fashion mall highlighted on NHK World so many times, a few of which on Tokyo Eye. (PS, you can download and stream live NHK World free to your phone. It's fantastic, all in English spoken/subtitled.)
It's been my dream for years to visit 109 and buy cute fashion, goodness, this trip was hard in one way: Dealing with the shame of gaining so much weight. In America I'm pretty much normal. In Japan I'm full on overweight. It was really, really getting to my self-esteem/self-worth. But I was finally in Shibuya, and even though I couldn't fit in any of the clothes, I wanted to see them anyway.
109 is unique in that the girls who work in each boutique wears the clothes they're selling. The latest in Tokyo fashion is represented in about 10 stories. Go up one escalator, circle around, up another, circle around, up another, etc. There's a couple eateries. And at the top there's a Sanrio store, in which I bought my two nieces cute My Melody items.
It was, overall, interesting, facing my fears that way, facing myself, and realizing that, even though I'm at this point in my life, struggling, I'm still beautiful. We all have our crosses to bear, and a couple of my crosses led to weight gain. But that's okay. I've lost ten pounds since mid-Summer. And this time I've been really focusing on my mind, heart, and spirit in the process. I want to be healthy inside and out, spiritually and physically. It's a slow process. But the slowness is necessary for permanent success.
It was a good experience.
On the way back to the apartment we stopped in Harajuku to visit Meiji Shrine, but it was five minutes from closing. The security guard still let us in, and we walked really fast, but we didn't make it to the shrine. The trees were oh so pretty.
We vowed to try and visit again before our trips end.
Back in Tsurukawa we ate at a noddle place close to the station, ordering from a ticket machine.
I took this picture to prove I DID eat some Japanese food on the trip!!! Heh, and I learned a valuable lesson that soup soaked shrimp tempura is impossible to lift with chopsticks.
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