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blue pin: visited; yellow pin: transit;

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Day 10: Tokyo (Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku)

Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park



There were a couple of weddings held at the shrine. Ah...now I know how the Japanese wedding kimono looks like.


A wedding couple


Having a family portrait taken


Another wedding couple

Many of the guests came in their kimonos too. But the adult kimonos were not as interesting as the kids one.

The arrival of little princes and princesses




I love this dress!


She looks like the Olsen twins when they were very young.




Kawaii ne

Don't think they would want to wear kimono again when they are teenagers. That's when the Harajuku fashion enters.

Harajuku
The center of Japanese teenagers fashion.


Harajuku Station


Takeshita Dori


Harajuku style





A bit disappointed not seeing many cosplay kids hanging around in Harajuku. We searched for them high and low for an hour and gave up. :(

Not very far from Harajuku is the Omotesando where all the luxury shops are located.


Omotesando

Met some bulldog lovers walking their dogs in Omotesando.




Japanese are dog lovers




Louis Vuitton Christmas Tree

Omotesando Hills
This shopping mall isn't very big, but it is so tastefully designed and decorated.


Omotesando Hills


Chandelier at the entrance

Their christmas tree was indeed a show stopper. A three-storey high tree full of crystals.


The most bling christmas tree I've ever seen.


Spotted a wildboar


A wildboar inspired car. Cute right?

We had lunch nearby at Crayon House, an organic restaurant.


Crayon House

It was a buffet style lunch, only cost about ¥1000 per person. Because it was so cheap and organic some more, we had to queue for about half an hour even at 3pm.


Brown rice, miso soup, curry, grill fish, salad, tofu, and fried chicken.

I love it so much and thinking of coming back again. Hubby hated it so much until he lao sai hahaha... really I wasn't kidding.

From here, we walked to Shibuya. I wouldn't recommend to walk all the way from Omotesando, it was actually pretty far.

Shibuya
I told hubby, "What! Is this Shibuya? So ugly!"


Our first sight of Shibuya.

Then we tried to find the Hachiko statue which was on the other side of the Shibuya station.


Hachiko, the faithful dog.

Read all about the sad story of Hachiko here.

And we saw all these shopping malls. This is more like it. :)




The surroundings of Shibuya Junction


Waiting to cross the road.

The traffic light turns green every few minutes and every time it does, hundreds of people crossing it. Amazing.


Busiest pedestrian crossing I've ever seen.

We did cross the road a few times just to get the feel of it hehehe...


Vibrant Shibuya



I love to be in Shibuya not because of the shopping malls. It was the same feeling I had in Times Square, New York. Happy enough just to people watch and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office
Located in Shinjuku, this building is 48 floors high and has the observatory floor on 45th floor. The only free observatory in Tokyo. :D


Tokyo at night.


Tokyo Tower

And surprise....this skycraper is also the home for the homeless.


Homeless people


Queuing for winter clothes

From here we walked back to Shinjuku JR South Terrace for a glimpse of the christmas lights.
Tokyo christmas illuminations is really the best I've ever seen. They really spent a lot of effort and money to come up with cool decorations. More to come on later posts.










The colors of pyramid would change by pressing a button located at the center of the pyramid. Many people queued up just to do that.


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