For our free day in Tokyo, Brody and I went to Shibuya and planned to do a lot of shopping. We knew we wanted to hit the three-floored UNIQLO there, but we found so much more.
We did some research and found ourselves initially in Shibuya109, which we then realized was a female clothing store, but still thought was interesting enough to walk through because the designs and fashion were really cool. However, I didn’t come out empty handed as there was a place where I could get a very good matcha latte.
Brody and I in the Shibuya109 elevator
After leaving Shibuya109, we went to MAGNET, which was the male equivelent of Shibuya109 under the same company, however much smaller. Brody and I found some very expensive places, but eventually hit one of the many places I would become a costumer at: RECOfan, a record shop. Here, I bought two Studio Ghibli records as Joe Hisaishi is one of my favorite composers of all time, and they were much cheaper than if I bought them in the United States.
After that, we went towards the Parco mall which holds the famous Nintendo Store and Pokémon Center, as well as a Jump store (which covers most shonen anime). Of course, I spent some more money at these places, acquiring many stickers and even a painted manga panel, as well as some plushy gifts for my friends back at home.
Next, Brody and I went to UNIQLO, where we bought even more clothes (this being our third time to a UNIQLO in Japan). Lastly, we hit the Converse store, where we got some Japan-only kicks.
Everything I bought in Shibuya
After the massacre of our wallets and the encumbrance of our spoils, we went back to Akhihabara to meet with Maddy and Esther for a hot pot dinner. It was delicious and, surprisingly, empty. It was also connected right next to our hotel, which made it convenient. We ended the night with an attempt to go to karaoke, but after Maddy’s unfortunately late birthday ruining our plan to get drinks, we abandoned the plan and called it a night.
first thing on the agenda was the meditation and it happened.
[i present this image of the beautiful scenery with no comment.]
the next thing that was meaningful to me was the tea ceremony. while in the back of my mind i am aware that the existence of complicated dining customs are unnecessarily esoteric and exist to other people who are outside of an ingroup, there is no denying that watching a master demonstrate an expertly studied skill has its allure no matter what. at the end we had a candy that is traditionally eaten with ceremonial tea, which FOR THE LIFE OF ME i cannot recall the name of but i simply must have more. we also made our own tea at the end, which. you know i really thought i liked matcha but now i’m not so sure!
[i still like matcha. but maybe in a form where it is so diluted it is basically a neat aftertaste.]
my favorite shrine was the yasaka shrine! we were given a full 5 minutes to walk around and in that time i feel like i got a decent lay of the land, it had a bunch of smaller shrines around and i really wish i could have read the signs. the layout was overall really pleasing and it seemed like a great place to just pass some time.
[selfie? i’m gonna bring silhouettes back.]
for lunch the tour guide turned us loose in the nishiki market which had the best color scheme i’ve ever seen in an covered market. we were packed in there which made walking (and eating) very awkward, and i had a full meal of two (2) green tea ice cream cones. the environment was very unique and managed to be bright and colorful without feeling sickly, which, especially with green lighting is a major accomplishment. i appreciate everyone for letting me hang around, it was fun moving and planning as a group, even if it was complicated. after bowling we walked down this road again and it was such a vibe shift i needed to mention it.
[there’s a horror game concept in here somewhere.]
so. bowling. once upon a time i could have done this but my hands can barely draw and type let alone hurl multiple heavy objects accurately across multiple feet. i got through two rounds i think? but i was in a lot of pain and had to stop (still am? uh oh). not before getting a strike completely by accident though! neat. the bowling descended into an abstract art piece from here on where one of my teammates was determined to get a zero on every roll, and later put as many bowling balls in the gutter as humanly possible without knocking them in. it was an experiment in how much bowling can you not do while still participating in “bowling.” liam was doing well though, dude expertly outplayed a child and a cripple while desperately trying to get the worst menu in the world to feed us something 🙂 (dude deserves a medal. thanks liam.)
about the kid. i’m sure a few people noticed that i seemingly adopted a child during bowling who i was talking to more than my peers. kris knew a lot about fish, liked mudskippers, and wanted to be a marine biologist, but didn’t know you needed math to be a scientist. upon being placed in my team they asked me in the following order; my pronouns, if i liked googly eyes, and if i liked minecraft. when it was time to go, they ran up to me and liam with a giant meat-shaped plushie they won in a claw game in the arcade, and his dad asked us if we were okay taking a photo with him. their dad gave us a look like we were being nice and doing him a favor, which was kind but didn’t feel quite right.
i don’t know if you could tell from the everything about me but i don’t have the best relationship with my family. i never had younger sibling and cousins, and even if i could in the future it is unlikely that i will ever meet them. i am at a time in my life where i am uncomfortable with how little i can picture my own future, and what kinds of people i will be able to safely maintain relationships with. today made me so happy i could not describe it in a word.
