Day 2 Daytime: Stumbling upon Harajuku and Shibuya.

Hey Julian here again. So after the disappointment that was Day 1 here is the sequel.

Day 2 in Tokyo. This technically is posted on the same day as Day 1, but whatever.

Morning, both Anthony and I are starved but after experiencing the defeat of trying to get food the day before we’re both a little discouraged. But being hungry proves to be far more of a convincing factor than that of being humiliated. So we head to that same strip from the night before. With only food on our mind we stop at a vending machine. It’s not what you think. This was for a noodle shop in which you buy a ticket from a vending machine and take into the shop and hand it over to the cook. The least to say, we got our food and with minimal conversation as possible. Double score! After we finished our meals, which were delicious by the way and ridiculously cheap for the portion size, we headed for the Shibuya district.

Now prior to our venture to getting food I was “researching” on ways of getting there. Researching by the way is in quotation marks for the obvious reason that when I research its more of a half-ass attempt. So I pretty much didn’t memorize anything. Instead of heading back to the hotel we decide to just wing it and hopefully stumble upon Shibuya. I know unlikely right? But we did happen to just stumble upon it, though it took us ridiculously a long time.

Anyways en route, we decided to head east…. totally not in the right direction but we pressed on like lost morons, lost morons with style. With the sweltering heat we somehow managed to reach Nishi-Shinjuku Station, a station that was directly south of our hotel and approximately a 5 minute walk. It took us an hour to get there. *Pause for laughter* OK let’s continue. We head down and try to find the way to Shibuya, but of course the Tokyo Metro Line is almost impossible to read especially for foreigners. So instead of getting lost on the transit line we figure we’d just walk it. And yes we’re insane for actually trying to walk from Shinjuku to Shibuya without the slightest thought of where to head, but then again we are us. Anyways after stopping at multiple maps trying to decipher the path to take, we finally head south.

Having no clue of where we were and with the sweltering heat, we just kept making random turns in hope of seeing signs that would direct us in the right direction. And luckily enough with my superior map reading abilities and awesome navigating skills we somehow stumble a sign pointing towards Harajuku. About 1000 m away. With the thought of seeing those Harajuku girls we pressed on. When we actually arrived, it was a bit overwhelming, the crowds, the stores, the whole atmosphere in general. Suffice to say as soon as we arrived there we wanted to get out, not because it wasn’t pleasant but because we were tired, sweaty and a bit smelly. Oh by the way the girls in Harajuku were absolutely stunning, they were gorgeous and stylish, a deadly quite intimidating combination. With my hygienic state, I wasn’t even going fathom a thought of approaching them for a photo.

Exhausted and only wanting to get home we head for the nearest station in hopes of somehow figuring out a way to read how the subway works. Turns out you pay for how far you go on a given line, so the further you move away from the current station, the more you’ll have to pay. Turns out the next station was Shibuya.

Once we got into Shibuya we ventured around a bit before heading home. It truly is a shopper’s dream and the massive crowds just shows how dedicated the Japanese are to shopping. Anyways now with a handle on the Tokyo Metro we head for home, to rest up and shower for the night ahead. (*The next post) It took about 15 minutes to arrive home, a bit better than the 3 hours we spent trying to find Harajuku and Shibuya.

- Julian, navigator extraordinaire of flagrant3