Harajuku

What better way to beat jet lag than walk 9 miles the next day? Parents up at 6 and kids up at 8 before a jet lag electrolyte mix and hitting the streets. We wanted to pick up transit cards for the kids so had to find a central station - then as we made it to the front of the line, were told we had to have cash. Fortunately, we stumbled into a nearby bank ATM that would take our Wise card. The kids (mostly Gideon) love seeing the new money, especially when it comes out in 10,000 increments. After exchanging some yen for the kids Suica transit cards, we went to get some breakfast at the Family Mart. Picture if 7-11 and Family Dollar had a baby. We did get some delicious spicy fried chicken breast but couldn’t walk as we ate since that is consider offensive in Japan. Fortunately, our first stop was close by we so ate outside before entering Mipig Cafe. Full of baby pigs, Jocelyn had reserved private sitting areas for us to enjoy Hannah and Uma in one area and Sakura and Sopoyo in the other. Since the cat cafe was vetoed by the allergy sufferers (Tige and Gideon), pigs were tops on the list. They were voted best of the day as they squeaked and climbed around your lap for almost an hour. It was relaxing and certainly different but fortunate we had reservations as it was booked out almost a week in advance. After our time was up, it was a short walk to our first park and shrine of the trip - Meiji Jingu. It was a beautiful day and the temple (no pictures allowed) looked like a movie set - but so much bigger. We did get to walk through the gates and got some good pictures on the way. It got warm so we had to carry our jackets (what a great feeling!) before the kids got their ‘goshuin’ books. The books are specifically made to get ‘stamps’ from each temple (for a small donation). Though I expected a rubber book stamp like the national parks I used to get as a child, we were instead shuttled inside a room (no pictures again) where each ‘stamp’ was hand painted in Japanese calligraphy with a date (at least, that’s what they told us it says since we can’t read Japanese). It was very pretty and certainly a unique keepsake… though with 1500+ shrines in Tokyo, we likely won’t get to all the stamps. From the shrine, it was a short walk to Yoyogi Park - and our first sighting of the beautiful cherry blossoms. Being a sunny and bright Saturday afternoon, the crowds were out in force. (We also found the sidewalks and streets to be impressive in the sheer number of people - it was like every road was full of fans leaving a baseball game, except going both directions and, at times, perpendicular. I always thought those clips you saw on tv were of a busy street. Now I know that’s true.. and all of them are busy streets.) The cherry blossoms were as pretty as advertised. They were concentrated in a portion of the park that we wandered around and took a few shots. We didn’t want to leave but were getting a little hungry and had some Japanese shopping to do. After leaving the park, it was our first matcha stop and then off to Onitsuka Tiger - the popular Japanese shoe store nearby. It was a fun stop and the staff were overwhelmed with customers but nicer than any store I have ever been to. Joce, Elliot and I all got a pair (bright red, white and original yellow, respectively) before it was time for a late lunch. Joce had found a place nearby known for their sandwiches - Chermside. A steak sandwich along with a pork (tonkatsu) option - pork was the winner - and house made soda and chips. A greasy and yummy lunch. From there, we walked to the nearby Fuji store. Tige - who always take a few Polaroids but struggles to know how to adjust for sun, shade and everything in between - was arm twisted into buying a new Fuji instant camera with autoadjusting features. Since it seems everything in Japan is on sale compared to the UK, we got a ‘great deal’ on a new version, much to the delight of Gideon who gets to inherit the old Polaroid. We continued on through Shibuya and passed through the Shibuya crossing. This Times Square-esque intersection is said to handle the most foot traffic in the world at over 2.4 million people crossing (all 4 directions as well as diagonally) each day. After making it through unscathed, it was a short walk to the Nintendo flagship store in Tokyo. While fun, it didn’t compare the NYC store. Starbucks stop for the Japan mug before taking the train home. We learned one big lesson today - don’t come home back home without dinner plans. Though it was a Saturday night, we assumed finding a sushi place with room for 5 would be easy… but it was certainly not. We finally headed home with plans for ordering in but after that fell through (100 min wait) we set out again with just the adults and found a place just before closing time (what could go wrong with the last order of fresh fish for dinner from some place we found at the end of an alley?). Kids got off with cooked ramen noodles but our dinner ended up being delicious and filling after a long, long day. Off to another late bedtime… planning for a lighter day tomorrow before a big day for Monday. Couldn’t have had better weather and finally got to see the largest city in the world up close. It did not disappoint.Read more