DAY 9 - Harajuku

Another big day had arrived, and brought with it sunshine. Today was the day that I would be introducing Abi to Harajuku - one of my favourite parts of Tokyo. After getting off the train, we immediately made our way straight to Takeshita Dori.

From there, we simply wandered the street, stopping in at any stores that looked interesting. We of course did make a pit stop for Crepes and made sure to visit Closet Child (second hand Lolita) and the Disney Store. From there we headed to Laforet (a fashion heavy department store). It was incredibly odd to shop through the basement level where all the Lolita stores are located and not really buy anything. I did grab a beret, bag and some jewellery. I was however disappointed that the Putumayo store was no longer there and likewise the Innocent World store has closed. I suspect many lolita stores will close eventually. I feel like there is an over saturation of brands and stores available now and Japan is not necessarily the hub of Lolita fashion anymore. But that's a whole other discussion. At any rate, I don't wear Lolita anymore but it was a challenge to resist the beautiful new dresses available.

Our next stop was the Q-POT cafe. It's somewhere that I have wanted to visit for a long time and who can really pass up the opportunity for tea and delicious sweets.

We then made our way to the recently opened Alice on Wednesday store. It's a very pretty store with a tiny door for entry and three stories of narrow stairs, but the theming inside is spot on.

Our final stop for the night was dinner. We stumbled over Serendipity which was a very beautiful diner type setting. The food was amazing and much more than I am used to eating. I couldn't even get through my burger no matter how amazing.

Day 7 - Harajuku

As a lolita, I knew that my first day in Tokyo - I was heading to Harajuku. For those who don't know, Harajuku is where most fashion is for Tokyo. In my case, that means that all of the lolita stores that I adore are available for my shopping pleasure.

Forewarning, I was so enthused with shopping today that I really didn't take many photos. That and the fact that one is not allowed to take photos of any of the fashion stores. Sucks, but there it is.

We arrived bright and early in Harajuku at 10am ready to do our shopping. Problem is that most of the lolita shops don't open until 11am. Not really a problem as we shopped in the few that were open. First off was an accessory shop where everything was 315 yen. And it was all really cute stuff. My favourite purchase were the furry hairclips. Afterwards we proceeded into Closet Child (a lolita store that trades in second hand pieces). I went a little nuts and bought 4 dresses and a number of accessories. But to be fair, I have sold off a lot of the pieces that I no longer wear in my own wardrobe, so I am simply replenishing my supplies.

The remainder of the morning saw us head into the likes of Bodyline, Innocent World, Alice and the Pirates, Putumayo and Angelic Pretty.

But the next stop was Kiddyland - a whole 5 floors of cute things, including a hello kitty area, a starwars and lego area and a snoopy area. Arms full of shopping, we headed back towards Takeshita street (the main shopping thoroughfare) where we discovered a massive 100 yen shop comprising of 5 floors. Called Daiso, it is a store where everything inside is priced at 105 yen (the 5 is tax). The best thing is that there are so many cute and practical things there - minnie mouse and hello kitty, zip lock bags, writing paper, snacks, craft products. You can find most things there, and it is just so incredibly cheap that it is very easy to shop.

Our last stop before heading back to the hotel for the evening was to try a Harajuku Crepe. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but it was very tasty.

 

Tokyo Trip Day 8: Single Day

Our second last day was the day we had set aside for heading out on our own. The day when you can head back to places to pick up stuff that you didn't get when you were there and now that you had thought about it wanted to go back and get. My aim was to head on back to Harajuku and spend what was left of my money on some more Lolita bits and pieces. Especially since I had saved up so much and had not bought anything new for so long. Boy was it hard breaking my crazy lolita shopping habits. My first stop was back to Closet Child, since the first time that I went there I had so many bags already that it was downright difficult to look at anything while carrying them around with me. I was over the moon when I managed to find the Baby Vampire Requiem long JSK in Burgundy and it fit me. So I of course purchase it, along with a few cardigans and boleros and accessories. I then made my way over to La Floret to have a look at what was around. I picked up the Putumayo shirt that I had missed getting earlier in the week and then wandered over to Angelic Pretty. This time, there was an older woman there, maybe the owner of the franchise? who helped me out. She was lovely and made my shopping experience smooth and friendly, while I bought the dress that I had been thinking about all week.

I wandered around Harajuku for a bit longer, heading on down to try and find the metamorphose shop, but now that I look at the map, I probably did not go far enough. After picking up a couple of cute little accessories on the way back to the train station, I made my way to Shinjuku to meet up with L and ainead as planned. We were heading to the Alice theme restaurant for dinner. And my, was it a dining experience and a half. I had so much fun.

When you come out of the lift, there is a reception desk and what looks like a closed off room. You then find out that one of the walls that looks like a book opens out and you walk through to get to the dining area. Once inside we were directed to our little corner booth where our waitress, dressed in a cute Alice dress provided warm towels for us to wash our hands and handed over the menu - a book. The first page opens up as a pop up book, and then you get to decide what you would like. We weren't really sure what we were ordering, just that they had awesome names. I had 'The happy caterpillar' drink to begin with. We then shared an entrée which is set up as toasts with little books. Dinner was a diamond pizza dressed up as a card, and dessert was Alice and the Caterpillar. Everything was impeccable. It was all beautifully set out and presented, while tasting fantastic. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the area, and surprisingly, it was not priced badly. I would really love to check out some of the other theme restaurants around Tokyo, but that will have to be on my next trip to Japan as I can guarantee I will be going back.

Once we made it back to our hostel, we borrowed the scales and proceeded to pack and weigh out bags. Coming in at just under 17 kilos I was ready to go in the morning.

Tokyo Trip Day 3: Harajuku

Now this was my day in Lolita heaven...

It started off with a little drama. We headed back to Akihabara for L to purchase a new camera. While standing at the train station with a Canadian tourist who had lost his way and was trying to make sense of his map; another tourist passing by suddenly collapsed and proceeded to have a seizure. In Australia, people would immediately stop to see what is happening, lend assistance and call the ambulance. However, in Japan, most people just take a quick look as they walk by and continue on their way. L and the Canadian helped the victim by pushing him into the recovery position while trying to communicate with the nearby Japanese staff to call the Ambulance. Thankfully another tourist who spoke Japanese and decent English sopped by and was able to assist. All seemed to work out when the Ambulance came, but it just goes to show you how helpful most Aussies are when it come to a crisis.

Finally back on our way after a short stop in the Yodabashi toy section, where we lamented the lack of coolness in Australian toy shops, we made our way to Harajuku. The land of Lolita. Harajuku is home to cosplayers and fashionistas for just about every walk of Japanese fashion. Including those who like to dress their tiny dogs in tiny clothing all for a little fame and attention. And my, do they milk it too.

My excitement escalating, we headed towards Kiddy Land. We are talking about 6 floors entirely filled with toys and cuteness. Each floor is divided up into sections. For example, there was a Lego floor, a Hello Kitty floor and a Snoopy floor. I got the most awesome writing paper in the different sections, and saw some of the cutest and most bizarre toys around.

But then it was onto the wonderland of Lolita shops in La Foret; Baby The Stars Shine Bright, Angelic Pretty, Metamorphose, Putumayo. I can tell you now that I lightened my wallet and stocked out my Lolita wardrobe. The best part though, is that most of the stores I shopped at had a sale rack, which I of course used to my complete benefit, and took some of their excess stock off their hands.

It's really strange some of the comparisons that you start to make while shopping in Japan. I simply adore the etiquette that is ingrained in their society. From simple things like lining up for the train, and waiting for those already on board to de-board before getting on right through to the shopping. I really hate in Australia that people will line up for a train at the station, and then will not get out of the way for others to get on their train even though they themselves are not catching it - just blocking the way. The only difference I noticed with Lolita shops was in Angelic Pretty. Now, I do not speak much Japanese at all. I can say "excuse me", "I'd like this" and "thank-you" but you can get a long way with just gestures. The ladies in Metamorphose and Baby were lovely, but in Angelic Pretty, I found them rather rude and a little stand-offish. To be fair, when I went back later in the week, there was an older woman there who served me and she made the experience lovely. Putumayo and MAM had the best customer service by far. And event though we could not understand each other, it made my shopping experience so much better. If only customer service in Australia was at such a high standard. But maybe I just shop in the wrong sort of shops here.
My bag and arms full, I made my way around to Closet Child. This is where you can pick up second-hand Lolita dresses. They are all in fantastic condition and at a really great price. Not to mention that there is quite a range available and you are able to try some item on. I found it fantastic that I was able to pick up some items that I had been longing to have for quite some time. (And now they will be listed onto my poupee account and get me heaps of ribbons so I can dress up - pathetic addiction, I know)
My poor feet aching, my arms lagged with goodies, we made our way back to the train station, only to be side tracked by the fabulous MAM Maximam store, tucked away in a small alley. Exhausted, but happy I made my way slowly back to the hostel where I went to sleep with a filling suitcase and a happy smile.