Japan 2017: 12/02/17

Not too much to report today, just a simple day shopping in and around Harajuku and Akihabara.

We treated ourselves again to a great sleep-in and got ourselves ready for the day in relatively slow-time. This is partly because we were tired, but equally because the main shopping districts in Tokyo don't open until around 1100h.

So we headed out for the ten minute walk to Akihabara Station where we got breakfast and a coffee. We then purchased our Suica Cards (the equivalent of Myki or Opal Cards) and headed off on the Yamanote Line (Tokyo's Loop Line). We got to Harajuku Station and immediately made our way to Harajuku. Harajuku is famous for its colorful street art and fashion and vintage clothing stores as well as cosplay shops along Takeshita Street, and more traditional, upmarket shops on Omotesando Avenue.

So we first trekked down Takeshita Street which was very crowded and as a result, very slow; but there were good bargains to be had, and the range of things for sale was incredible. It took us a few hours to get down the street which is pretty impressive considering it's only 400m long. We then headed to the trendier Omotesando Avenue, for some more shopping adventures.

Lunch options?

McCreepy, huh?

Saw this cute little thing along the way, who was most obliging for a photo

For when just plain old roof-mounted flashing lights just won't do it for you

Resting from the shopping

A sea of people

Tokyo graffiti

After heaps of shopping and lunch, Maureen, Sky and I headed back to Akihabara for some more shopping adventures.

Akihabara

Kyle and Jen stayed behind to do more shopping at the second-hand stores and followed this up with dinner at the Kawaii Monster Cafe. The Cafe exudes 'Kawaii' which is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy and childlike. Think of things like Manga and Hello Kitty.

Whilst shopping at Akihabara, I managed to track down an aircraft model shop and picked up a model that I have been wanting to get, a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) Airbus aircraft. I have some very close friends in the RTAF. However, it is interesting that I have travelled all the way to Japan to get a RTAF aircraft. There were also some other great bargains I picked up here. The second-hand toy market here is just mind-boggling.

After heading out for dinner and back again to the apartment, I again headed out for some night shots around Akihabara, whilst Sky did some more bargain hunting.