Mei ManuelKonnichassuu!
Day 2 of the Summery Tokyo post is right here and yes, I decided to make them as I celebrate my one year anniversary since I first stepped in the Land of the Rising Sun. Ah memories. Annoyingly I wasn’t able to celebrate it on the exact date but maybe I will in the near future.
Day 2 in Summery Tokyo begins a bit late for me and my little brother as we were both pretty knackered… well, not my brother because he woke up effin early and me… well, my total insomnia crashed on me so I woke up late than our plans. But, it was still early to do our thing so yes, we went off even if Tokyo summer was going to kill both our complexions… haha, yes, a lesson well learnt XD
I arranged the photos so you guys could check out my captions on how our day went.
Our trip begins in JR Ueno Station – Yamanote Line as we have to make our rounds within the circle for the day. It was also… pretty hot.
For first timers, you won’t really have problems pinpointing where to go because the signs are translated in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The problem would be there if you are in the middle of the rush hour and you have to get close to a pole somewhere to find one of these in the main station.
This is the only photo I have of Ikebukuro. Hahaha, I’d go here maybe if I stay longer or in my next trip. I haven’t visited Eva heaven yet.
Our first landmark destination and pretty much a place you can’t miss when you are in Japan is the Meiji Shrine or Meiji Jingu. The red shirted person with the Oakley bag is my brother. Said to be one of the most powerful spots in Tokyo, this place will transport you to the middle of the forest because for one, it is surrounded by nature. It’s also celebrating its centennial year and in light of the incoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it’s also under renovations.
When in Meiji Shrine, never ever forget to write an ema or a prayer tablet and hang it on this sacred tree. It is said that when you write something in an ema there in Meiji Shrine, it does come true. I did write on one as always :)
We also saw this super large crow or karasu there. It was making a show when we were watching it and other tourists were also watching it. After that, we pretty much walked to a nearby souvenir shop to pick some goodies and also check some good stuff. I have to admit its quite nice to shop in this shop because it was airconditioned despite the fact there’s a lot of people. They also got quite a good selection that you guys should try out.
The next in our list is locate B-SIDE LABEL, a sticker store in Harajuku that is popular for their unique designs and goodies. I discovered this shop with the help of the travel book written by my good friends Kaila and Ashley (my beautiful classmate btw XD) and it also kept popping when I tried to look for good sticker shops in Japan. We first stopped in Garrett’s Popcorn Shop because I missed eating this popcorn. The last time I did was when an old IG shop sold them. I gotten a limited edition tin too of the Yokohama DENA Stars Baseball team. My brother did regret not telling me to get the Unicorn one… for one, while it was cute, I hate pink.
After a series of bad turns, uncertainties and whatever (since this place is too hidden from the main area of Harajuku’s Takeshita-dori), we finally found it and immediately, chaos for my little brother.
My brother was 100% speechless when we got to this place since he immediately gushed and grabbed a couple of stuff from the entrance alone. The staff were also quite friendly and much to my amusement, they loved the shirt I wore that day, which was an old Uniqlo Nippon-Omiyage design. I also ended up getting told I didn’t sound foreign. They also loved my brother when they tried to explain to him that the sticker he got from the entrance was for couples. He was fine with it because the word said by the sticker he picked was his favorite word to use when he wants to annoy people “What”. We will definitely return back there again or me even if there are some stores selling them (The branches dont’ sell the exclusive goods like clothes and all).
My brother also found a nice thrift store of 2nd hand goods, we ended up getting one piece each with mine being a dress from Zara.
After our mini shopping trip, we went to Takeshita Street to look around at more shops. We did check some character goods, shirts and other goodies. We had lunch at McDonald’s because for one, we were desperate for a chair. Why oh why is my feet already crying! i thought Toms were supposed to be good walking shoes T_T At least its not blistered like last time. I did get to try out the famous Teriyaki burger. Twas good. Though it’s an acquired taste I think.
After lunch, we tried out this place. Cronuts? I can’t remember. But the ice cream was divine!
And this little guy gets a free snack each time the nuts from your icecream or cro-nut bar fall in the ground. Hahaha
We also saw this photo when we checked out Paris-Kids Tokyo to check on some souvenir jackets. I didn’t notice this one at first because my brother was the one who did. Pricy souvenir jackets… dang it! I need to buy one before I go back!
Bye Takeshita Street, see you in my next visit!!!
After our trip to Harajuku, we went to the nearby Shibuya to continue our sightseeing… and lo and behold… KYAAAAAAAAA!!!
Kyaaaa!!! The #10969GVP ads… If only I can bring you all home!!! Taking a photo of these ones was no easy feat because it was scorching hot! But my heart! my heart! KYAAAAA!
While we rested our feet in one corner somewhere – because for some odd reason both our feet were crying like madness, we saw these trucks passing by with promotional posters for random shows, bands and albums like this one on the photo. My brother found the concept odd because we don’t see that normally in Manila and they kept circling in where we are. I told him that was completely normal in Japan. He even whined when we saw the Ariana Grande truck along. After we rested, we went to Tokyu Hands where we got some great loot, and even saw some good shops like Muji (my brother died when he saw the prices despite the fact we had tax free perks), a CN shop and yes, I did also go to Disney Store to get our nephew a present.
When in Shibuya, you must always make a stop here. This is the iconic Hachiko statue. Yes, the whole place is also being sorted out for the Olympics thus the blue tarps in the background but this little guy is still there. Did finally take a selfie with this guy and I took a photo of my brother as well.
As my brother was gazing at the mural in Mark City, we also waited for the iconic Shibuya Crossing massive crossing from our location. Annoyingly, it was also the time the CM for #10969GVP played… sooo annoying coz I wasn’t down there but kyaaa for my heart because it repeated so many times! I also saw the Apple Music CM for ONE OK ROCK. What a time to be a fangirl.
Ah, the Myth of Tomorrow mural. I find this large mural/painting one of the best pieces in Shibuya that you have got to see. It’s a super large mural that depicts what Taro Okamoto wanted to show with regards to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This piece was actually missing back in the past when it was finished for some reason. However, it was located in Mexico before it was relocated to where it is today. Even now this painting has a clear message to those who take time to look at it, never forget that dark day and why it shouldn’t happen again.
Tokyo Skytree at night!
For dinner, we went to the closest (and I literally mean closest) Ippudo store in our area. Last year, I was cursing hell and back when I saw this shop after I ate at Ichiran on my last night in Tokyo. Since I didn’t want to be scolded upon by our parents, I brought him here. For the taste, I have to admit the flavors are not that off from those you can buy in Manila. However, the Tokyo-made ones are richer in the sense you don’t find yourself completely overwhelmed with the flavors. The shop has a nice atmosphere too.
After dinner, we walked around Shin-Nakamise, Nakamise and Sensoji since it was night and what better time to get photos of an empty place than that time. Like Meiji Jingu, the Kaminarimon Gate, and Senso-ji were being retrofitted for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It’s amusing how they hid the structures to be honest because they printed the large-scale/real scale model of the structure in question. It was a nice touch and it also helped alleviate the traffic of tourists wanting to get a photograph of the place even if it’s not the real deal. It was also ok because they didn’t need to close the site, which could be annoying on a normal hour.
After that photoops, we found this place. Apparently it was a Taiyaki/Monaka shop that has been there for a while. I must have probably seen it when I was in Japan last time but I didn’t pay attention to it. When my brother noticed it, we immediately bought two for our late night snack. God I need to relearn my Japanese!!!
Taiyaki so good. Next time, I’ll try out their other variants.
Day 3 will come in soon when I manage to free myself from my busy schedule!
