We managed to find the right train that would take us to Harajuku and as we stepped off we were confronted by the dubiously named Takashita Street (love it!). We walked along the narrow alleyway just as the shops were opening and we were amazed my the amount of costume stores. One in particular was a complete treasure trove of everything you could imagine.
At the end of Takashita Street, we got out the maps and decided to hit the main shopping streets. Dee and I browsed through all the big stores - Forever 21, Zara, TopShop, H&M - and came away with some purchases. Each of the stores were massive; at least 4 levels each. We were exhausted with trying stuff on so we thought we should probably do some cultural activity while we were in Japan.
We walked to the Meji Shrine entrance which had beautiful wooden gates along the path. It was quite a walk to the shrine but well worth it. It was beautiful. Althouhh you couldn't go in the shrine itself, it was fascinating to watch the local devotees go about their prayers. Dee and I spotted a large tree surrounded by tiny wooden plaques carrying everyones prayers. We each bought one of the plaques and wrote our own prayers to send off to the universe and pegged them on the tree with the thousands of others. It was actually quite moving reading the prayers - a really touching thing to do.
With the cultrural activity squared away, we were starving and wandered up the streets of Harajuku in search of a restaurant recommended in the guide books. As always, it was impossible to find so we settled for a ramen noodle restaurant in the basement of some building. It was a tiny place and so busy so we figured the food must be good. We weren't disappointed! We ordered two steaming bowls of ramen noodles with a miso broth as well as the obligatory gyoza. The noodles were absolutely delicious and although we didn't think we would ever finish the massive stone bowls, we both managed it.
Our bellies now full, it was time to head to Shibuya to meet up with Sue and Julie. We headed back to the train and travelled one stop. Getting out of the station we entered the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world (and the one that was in Lost in Translation) - it was simply nuts! Luckily we spotted the Starbucks where we were going to meet the girls and made a bee line for it. We sat upstairs where we had a great view of the intersection and kept an eye out for a blonde haired girl and a giant (Sue). Soon enough they appeared.
We had our reunion in Starbucks over a coffee. Dee and I also presented Sue with her birthday present of Yen toilet paper - she was most impressed. In true Kuwait reunion style, after we finished our coffees we headed for a bar - any bar really. We came across this tiny cute little wine bar not too far from where we were and settled in for the afternoon.
Sue and I got stuck into the Hob Nob red wine while Dee and Julie shared a bottle of white. We spent the afternoon reminiscing and catching up on the latest news before Dee had to leave to go and meet Lyndell at our hotel in Shinjuku. About an hour later they both arrived and the rest of us were pretty merry. About 8.30, I had to leave to meet Ross at the hotel. I had had far too much to drink at this stage and had the hiccups which Sue tried to cure by blocking off all my breathing options. It didn't work. I hiccupped my way back to the train station and managed to board the right train back to Shinjuku. Then the problems started.
I followed Dee's directions to take the West exit but nothing looked familiar so I wandered around for ages all over the place in every direction before becoming so frustrated I jumped in a cab and asked him to take me there. He said I could walk and pointed me in the right direction. Now things started looking familiar! I finally found my way back to the hotel after an hour walking around in the freezing cold. Ross had been waiting for about 30 minutes so not too long.
We dropped his bags off in the room and then headed back to the train to go and meet the girls again. Of course I got lost again and we had to ring Julie to get directions but eventually we made it. Lyndell had left by this stage as she had a cold but we had another couple of drinks with Sue, Julie and Dee before all staggering off in our own directions for night.
Dee, Ross and I managed to find our way back to the hotel much more easily this time. We picked up our bags while poor Lyndell tried to sleep and checked into our room. Both Ross and I were starving so we walked across the road to McDonalds for a late night happy meal which we ate back in the room before pretty much passing out. It was great to have everyone in Tokyo!
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