Japan Diaries [Day 6]

Day 6 [October 1st]

* Early this morning we find the Maronouchi Café in Ginza, which offers free Internet access for 30min – Matt and I take advantage of this, seeing as though it is the first time either of us have been online in a week (yep, we’re both addicts!)

* Find out while on the train later in the morning that there was an earthquake in the greater Tokyo earlier during the night! Some local line disruptions, but nothing that affects us – must have been a very minor tremor. Still, exciting stuff!!

* I finally hit Shibuya, the shopping district of Tokyo! Fashion in department stores galore, enough to make me giddy with squeeness! I realise during the day that on the whole, clothes shopping here in Tokyo is expensive – you have to look harder than in Melbourne to find a good bargain. But I prevail in the end, purchasing a turquoise ¾ sleeve ‘swing’ jacket, long-sleeved black top, and pink zebra print belt).

* Also come to the conclusion that women in Japan have TINY feet! Shoes here in Tokyo seem to come in three sizes – small, medium and large (with only 2.5cm separating small and large!!). Trying on a large, I reckon it’s about an AUS size 7 (with small being a size 4-5… yikes!). So sad, so many nice shoes and I can’t fit into ANY of them! *sobs*

* Look around for ages for an anime store called Mandarake, which ends up being two floors below the ground, in a building with no English signage. I feel quite proud of myself for reading the hiragana on the sign ~ yay! This store is truly an anime lover’s paradise – older edition manga and collectables (eg, figurines/merchandise). HUGE selection of artbooks *drools*, I go crazy looking around and even Matt sits down for a while because I’ve worn him out (lol). I eventually settle on a Sailor Moon S artbook for Marisa, and an Arina Tanemura (Full Moon wo Sagashite) artbook for myself (which I have admired for years and have been unable to get on eBay!)

* We experience Shibuya during peak-hour in the evening (yes, we stayed all day – I’m a dedicated shopper :P), and many stereotypes from anime come to mind. Neon lights everywhere, and Shibuya Crossing, which have seen portrayed so many times in print and movies, comes to life. Whole building become advertising platforms and an ambush of sounds fill ones ears, each trying to outdo the other, to lure shoppers to their doors. While I can capture the intersection’s sheer hysteria (of lights and people), I cannot capture the onslaught on ones ears! Peak-hour in Melbourne will NEVER be the same again!

* Fall in love with an underwear store called Peach John, which has THE most gorgeous bras and knickers (as well as some other strange things, such as knitted thermal corsets?!) at really good prices. I try on heaps and end up with three sets of underwear (2 in turquoise, of course – lol), for a great price! Much cheaper than their counterparts in Australia. The best part of this shopping endeavour is finding out that in Japanese sizing, I’m a B-cup ;P

* Oh my gosh… crepes!! Thin crepes filled with sickly sweet filling are so good! Mine is ‘raspberry tiramisu’ (complete with pieces of sponge cake and cream), and better than any sweet treat I’ve devoured here so far. Though after finishing, I don’t want to even THINK about cream for the next week…

* (A late) Dinner is at an English-labelled pub/bar near Yurakucho Station, where we get off the train. It is only once we get in (and are seated) that we discover the menu is completely in Japanese, with no English menu available! The bartender has troubles making out our Engrish-ese (except for Matt ordering the biggest beer he can muster… a whooping 750ml!). Luckily there is some plastic food out the front and Matt takes the waiter outside to point to what we wanted, which turns out to be pretty yummy (an assortment of chicken yakitori, though I don’t want to really imagine some of the parts being used, as I’ve heard there is very little wastage on yakitori!)

* Last (but certainly not least), we wander into BIC camera (huge electrical goods chain in Japan) at around 9:30pm, and spend ages looking at different things. Matt drools over a limited edition FF7 artbook/potion set (it’s the 10-year anniversary of the game) and I contemplate buying it for his birthday. However, we decide that Customs (Australia) may seize it as it looks a little threatening… very cool though! I take the plunge and purchase my Nikon D40X DSLR camera!! Duty-free and pricing differences, I save over $600AUD off the cost, which I’m ecstatic about. Funnily though, I end up only $3AUD under my duty-free allowance, and I spend the next few days nervous about the Yen going down against our Dollar! (NB: Luckily for me, it doesn’t and I don’t have to pay taxes on bringing it into Australia… phew!)

* The weird Speedo-wearing man (Kojima Yoshio) is on TV again for the third night running… what is WITH that