Harajuku and Shibuya!

Last night I went to bed at midnight, so getting up at 6:40am was really difficult. I was tired during class, so I couldn't concentrate in the latter half. I managed to get a 16/17 on my quiz, though! I'm totally exhausted right now so I hope this blog makes some sense.

There were Japanese people handing out Japanese bibles at the Kaihin-makuhari station this morning. It was very strange to see it in Japanese.

Robert, Ethan, and I decided to meet up with Nami, my Japanese student e-pal, in Harajuku. :) The train ride from Kaihin-makuhari to Tokyo station and then to Harajuku was a lot longer than I expected! It took about an hour or a little longer, because we missed one of the trains. Luckily, another one came in five minutes, as often happens in Tokyo. :) The ride was difficult because it was all new scenery to me; I haven't ridden any trains other than the ones that go to and from Toyocho and Kaihin-makuhari. We passed a huge ferris wheel, a modern windmill and solar panels, and Tokyo Disneyland on the way there.

We shopped around for furugi, or second-hand clothes, in Harajuku, which is known for its clothing and inexpensive items. However, furugi was generally $20 at the cheapest, and sometimes much more expensive. I was extremely surprised. The really cheap stuff (like a plain white shirt for $3) was not good at all. We saw some Vanderbilt and Texas shirts, though, haha. Those were in the lame pile; the cool Japanese-looking clothes were much more expensive. The used clothing stores had chandeliers on their ceilings. It did not look like a Goodwill to me. :) They had a lot of dresses and shirts that I really want, but I have such a limited amount of money that I'm not sure if I can buy them. Here are Ethan, Nami, and Robaato in Harajuku. I'll have to take a picture later of the more famous/interesting street in Harajuku.

There is a famous crepe dessert in Harajuku. I hope I will buy it soon!

We saw a dog that had a heart-shaped pattern on its back. I couldn't get a good picture but here is one. Hahaha.

We saw a condom store in Harajuku! It was called Condomania. Of course I had to photograph it.



We walked to Shibuya and saw the most incredible thing: an intersection that absolutely FLOODS with people every time the traffic lights allow them to cross! Nami said that more than 1,000 people cross the intersection, once every two minutes, and the flow of human traffic never stops no matter what time of day or night. I took some videos of it because it was just incredible. We also experienced the crossing firsthand, which was scary! My video of the intersection, as seen from a 2nd floor Starbucks.

Here are more epic pictures from Shibuya, not in chronological order as you can see by the sky. :)

We saw a black rapper in Shibuya!! He was asking people to listen to his music and then handing out CDs. That was pretty cool of him. :) His Japanese was good!

My dinner was really good but small. I love sushi but I would have rather eaten Namiko-san's delicious cooking. :) This is tuna sashimi.

After dinner, we went to Book-Off, a discount media store. I bought three manga books, one of which will probably be for John Michael. :) They were quite inexpensive (~$3.50) compared to American-bought manga, which can be $10 or much more. However, Japanese DVDs, even normal ones like Percy the Lightning Thief or something, were $40 or more! CDs are like $30. It was so hard to believe!

On the way home, I got lost in Tokyo Station. XD It's enormous!!! Eventually I figured out that I had to walk through this ominous hallway to get to a completely different station to get on a completely different set of trains (metro vs. trains). Some people stopped to help me out because I had a sad face on. I eventually found my way with the help of a nice older man, and then I called Namiko-san to tell her I was on my way. She and Tomoaki-san decided to pick me up from Toyocho station in the car, although  it wasn't necessary and I said so. It was nice to get a ride, though. :)

Tomorrow I am going to Shibuya/Harajuku again with Saaya! :D I am very excited to see it again, because today there was so much to see that I felt a little rushed.

On Sunday, my host family is taking me to an arcade with Taku-chan. :) That will be a lot of fun! I hope I don't spend all of my money.