Traipsing around town on our last day in Tokyo
Because we liked Harajuku from our previous visits, we decided to go back there one more time.
I wouldn't mind living in a place that nice!
We wanted to go visit the Tojo-jinja shrine, which was luckily not hard to find. It's really a super serene oasis of calm amidst the hustle and bustle of the big city.
I wanted to have a final look around and decide on the spot wether or not I wanted the GIANT cat tote from Mint Neko.
Clearly, I did cave.
I managed not to buy anything else in LaFôret though!
For the best, because that tote was expensive enough as is!
Because a friend of mine had told me that KIDDY LAND restocks on Thursdays, we decided to have another look.
Just so see if more Adventure Time stock had arrived. It had, and Bert got this awesome backpack. It's a collab between Outdoor and Cartoon Network Korea.
On the way back we stopped by Tokyu Plaza, because the sign outside said there was a pop-up beer garden. As it was definitely the kind of weather to sit down with a cold drink (not beer in my case) we went in to look for it. It really was a hot summer day, and I really wished it had been that nice a weather all week long, especially in Tokyo Disney Sea!
The rooftop garden was actually really awesome, you had a nice view over the city and it was super fun to sit there and rest for a moment.
Outfit of the day:
Hat: vintage/thrifted
Glasses: Theo
Top: UNIQLO
Dress: made it myself
Bag: Tokyo Disney Sea
Boots: Palladium
Accessories: Rachel's Hope, handmade, Pieces, Roxy
Sadly, the beer garden wasn't opening for a few more hours, so we went and got lunch at Starbucks instead (which was on the same floor). I had a pumpkin scone and a matcha frappucino and Bert had a grape drink and some kind of pastry. The kind lady at the register told us that we needed one more stamp for a free totebag, so I immediately planned to have at least one more matcha frappucino. I was pretty damn sure I was going to get that bag at that point.
There was a Rascal pop-up shop, which looked super cute, so we popped in there (lame pun is lame) on our way out. I didn't buy anything, but I got a super cute stamp out of one of the gatcha machines!
These shoes were pretty rad, but sadly one pair had heels and the super cute Halloween rainboots didn't come in adult sizes :(. Probably for the best at those prices.
We walked around Omedesando and Harajuku for a little more,
and I got some more things at the Disney Store. Including some Christmas gifts, well in time, but hey, they were there, right in front of my nose :).
The Halloween decorations at the Harajuku Alta Swimmer were adorable.
Before we left Harajuku, we decided to do a traditional purikura photo. Which didn't go as well as we had hoped, not knowing any Japanese. Oops!
Our next stop was Shinjuku.
We wanted to drop off the things we bought at the hotel, and then go on the hunt for Sekaido, the art supply store. My friend Sayaka had very kindly provided me with the address. I not only wanted to go there, I also NEEDED to go there, because else I would have had to go to painting class without paper.
Oops.
But first: FOOD! Well, I knew what I wanted, and what I wanted was sold at HALC, but Bert was on a mission to find the NewDays from the previous day and buy more delicious sushi. And of course, Shinjuku station being Shinjuku station, we failed miserably. Well we did find another one, but that one didn't have sushi. It did, however, have Halloween orange squash. It had to be bought, it simply had to be. We still went to HALC first after dropping off stuff at the hotel, because I simply can't live off orange squash.
Interlude: photos of our very Japanese bathroom in the hotel room. It was very small. But it did have one of the infamous Japanese toilets with heated seat.
But yeah, HALC, and then the 7/11 to buy more water. And Lawson because I wasn't about to leave Tokyo without dried squid legs. Na-ah. Loa approves of my decision, for he likes the squid legs. I didn't like them, so I gave the second pack to Charlotte. Note that it has happened: there is a thing involving squid or octopus I actually do not like.
We also went back to Closet Child, because I wanted to have another look at blouses. The Wonder Queen dungaree dress had been sold (sniff) but they had a couple of other ones I liked that were super cheap (equivalent of €60 for pieces that are new well over €200) but Bert didn't like any of them.
He had offered to pay half for the Halloween Treats dress if I really wanted it, but I said that I would probably get more enjoyment out of a self-made JSK out of the Belinda's Big Kitty fabric I loved so much, so he offered to buy that for me instead (which he did btw, and I have to say that I kinda regret not getting the JSK BUT I would just be terrified of ruining it and not wear it often at all, whereas I'll wear the one I made myself a ton, so it was not only the cheaper choice, it was also the better choice).
Anyway, the Angelic Pretty blouse I had tried on was still there, and the Emily Temple Cute one I liked was also still there, so I got both of those.
And then the search for NewDays sushi and the art supply store continued! It took us quite a bit of time and wandering around, but we ended up finding another NewDays that also had sushi, so Bert got some there. I liked the walk to Sedaiko, it was really neat, because it meant we got to see a really big part of Shinjuku we hadn't seen before.
It took us a while to find the store, but thankfully some kind passers by were happy to point out the way on our map.
To be honest it was strange to see how different one side of Shinjuku is from another. Where we were, the atmosphere was much less rushed than it was in the area of Sekaido and larger station entrances. But the area where we were had less big and busy roads, so I think that may have had something to do with it.
Sekaido is actually a really cool store. I probably like it more than my usual haunt: De Wieuw in Antwerp, but ONLY because they carry Kuretake paints and have AMAZING Japanese brushes. There's also a whole floor full of craft supplies, which I tried to avoid, although I did grab a roll of Halloween washi tape from the “new in” bin at the entrance. When we were leaving I saw they have an entire AISLE full of washi tape, but I avoided it out of sheer self-preservation.
The staff at Sekaido was really friendly. They didn't speak much English, but they did have a big catalog and when faced with English queries, they'd just hand it over and you could point out what you would like and then they'd point you at the right floor. Super practical. I ended up getting a really nice drawing book, some calligraphy paper, brush pens, two brushes (and now that I've actually used them I regret not having bought more) and watercolor paper. Daler-Rowny watercolour paper. My usual brand. Which is made in the UK. I think I have a serious problem when it comes to that brand, oops. BUT the paper wasn't actually pricier than it is here (oddly enough) and it was the watercolour paper I liked best. So yeah.
Bert got a drawing instruction book, because he's trying to get more into art, which is really neat. They had such good instruction books, far better than the ones we get. And as you can study off the images, it doesn't actually matter if you don't speak Japanese. If you're in Tokyo, I would 100% recommend Sekaido for arts and crafts stuff. Absolutely!
By the time we got outside, it was dark, which made for some nice photos.
I popped into a kombini on the way back to the hotel, and bought some fried chicken, which was delicious.
It was actually pretty late when we got back to the hotel, and we decided to call it a night, because we'd have to get up at 4am to get the first Narita Express to the airport XD.
Previous day posts:
Day 1 (traveling to Tokyo and Shinjuku)
Day 2 (Shibuya – Harajuku & Omedesando - Shibuya)
Day 3 (Shinjuku)
Day 4 (Harajuku – Akihabara - Shinjuku)
Day 5 (Tokyo Disney Sea)
Tokyo haul post
All our Tokyo photos.
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