Sunday (3/2)

Wow, I did a lot today, so get comfortable =)

So far I'd been getting really tired around 7pm, so I decided that today I'd set out a little later, with the idea that I could last until later in the evening. I also decided to leave my backpack, since my back has been complaining about that every evening. But then, when I made it to the station, I remembered that I'm pretty illiterate here, and I'd left a lot of that knowledge in the hotel room with my backpack. But that was good, it forced me to be a bit more social and ask someone where Harajuku was on the map.

So, I ended up going to Harajuku. First I went to visit the Meiji shrine. There was a special hand and mouth washing fountain for visitors to cleanse themselves before they pray (a tradition), so I decided I wouldn't be intruding if I joined in (sorry no picture).













There was a wedding procession inside, and they were walking extremely slowly.







Then I grabbed a snack of a small bowl of beef curry and (something)manjuu, which was a steamed bun with red bean paste inside. I need to look that up. Then I left and went to Yoyogi park (代々木公園) where all the kids come to play on Sundays. I immediately spotted the guys dressed up like they're out of "West Side Story" or "Grease" dancing around to 50's American music. I took a video, but didn't realize that it wasn't too good until I got back this evening .. sorry. Other than that there were people juggling, doing martial arts, dancing, playing music. There was even one old business man sitting on a bench with a little tablet in his lap playing the recorder really quietly.





The best part was the little food stands, and the bands. I had some okonomiyaki, and watched some great bands promote themselves, passing out fliers for their upcoming gigs, selling demo CDs, and just having a good time. A few of these bands had pretty big followings, with rows of people lined up on the concrete in front of them singing along.









Then I came back past the station, and went to the little street markets, and had a kiwi / ice cream / whipped cream crepe. I had to ask a really cute girl how to read 生クリーム (nama kureemu = whipped cream). Well, I already knew how to say it, but it's an easy excuse to talk to people =)





Then I walked up to a really expensive looking area called Omotesando Hills. And when I came back, I decided to just walk down the sidewalk that ran alongside the tracks to Shibuya, and ended up stopping by a Kirin City, an izakaya (which sorta means a place to go to drink alcohol). Unfortunately Kirin City seems to be a really Americanized izakaya; there was hardly any Japanese food on the menu at all.

Then on the way to the Shibuya station, I found this really large intersection, and decided to go to the nearby Starbucks to get a better view.



Oh, and here's some links from the fliers I got from some of the bands I enjoyed at Yoyogi park.

Rice Riot
Scarf
Daddy Walk Around