Tokyo Day 7

On our last full day in Tokyo we made another quick stop in Harajuku for my man to pick up a jacket he had seen before. As you can see, we had a little bit of rain. Love said the reason was so i could get this photo of all the umbrellas up in the air. That's one way to look at it.
After the busy (and late night) day before, we could use some relaxation, so we walked into Yoyogi Park and visited the Meiji Shrine.

Wash your hands and mouth before entering!

It was such a good idea to go here after the high energy adventure of the day before. And to end our Tokyo trip with, it was so peaceful. There were so many breathtaking spots, it looked unreal at times. I can only imagine how it will be here when the cherry blossoms are in bloom!

And thanks to the Tokyo Shopping Guide i knew to look out for stampers at big locations. If i wasn't told about this i surely would have missed them. And it became some sort of sport to spot them! Yes, they are very well hidden. In the end i found one at the temple next to our hotel, at the zoo and in the shrine at Harajuku park.

We were more tired than we wanted to admit, so we made it a short day and went back to the hotel. I had to try and pack all my new goodies (i have bought way more than i've shown here on the blog).
Hubby went out in the evening to hang out with our friend, his producer one last night, while i packed and chilled. I was in luck, the all night long Tokyo Real Fashion Event was on tv, which was wonderful to watch! I taped some pieces and maybe if i find some time, edit those together and put that up on youtube somewhere.

The next morning our friend came to pick us up and bring us to the airport. It was raining a bit again. Fitted our mood. Sad to leave.

My man and i were on a mission to spend all our remaining yens at the airport. Where i realized i didn't even bought myself a real Kokeshi! (number 7 is now standing happily beside my computer)

So this was my last official Tokyo post, hope you liked reading them. I appreciate all the comments, emails and tweets i got about these posts.
I have already booked my next trip: Amsterdam! Next month!

Tokyo Day 6

Day 6 was the most important day of the trip, the day that was the reason for my hubby and me to be in Tokyo.
While my Love went to rehearsal with the band, i had the morning to myself. I planned to go to Shinjuku and go to the Okadaya craftstore. But, i couldn't find the store! But i did find a lot of 100-yen shops in the area so i spend some more yens on cute housewares and stationary and such.

What i also found were the grabbing machines with the adorable Fafa bears.
Ever since i was a little little girl i wanted one of these bears. Yes, from the washing detergent, its called Robijn in the Netherlands, in Tokyo the brand is called Fafa. As a little girl i even told my mom to, if she ever saw one somewhere, ask where the people got it and if she could buy it from them. But back then these bears weren't made. So my heart skipped a couple of beats when i saw a whole bunch of them in these grabbing machines! There were many, big and small. And yes, i did try to grab one. Against better judgement because these machines never let me have what i want. So it didn't work. After the initial rush and a number of tries, i told myself i would look around in the stores to find one i could just buy, but no such luck. Maybe next time.

Then it was time for me to head to the radio studio to meet up with my hubby who had an hour on Shibuya FM radio station. It was a pleasure and the show was a hit. You can see a part of the show on youtube (including a dedication song to my mother!)

Even back in the office of the radio station you can find a cute character!

After a quick dinner it was off to club Loop for the release party of Life.
The evening was like a dream. We met so many wonderful people and made new friends. We had lots of laughs and the show was a big success. I was soooo proud of my Love!
I taped the whole show, it's on youtube in 4 parts. I'll give part I here and the links to the rest below.

Part 2, part 3 and part 4.

I thought this was such a great idea, lockers inside the club!

This whole day was one to never forget. And early in the morning we rolled into a cap and found our way back to the hotel.
Only one more day of Tokyo before it's back to NY. (and only one more official Tokyo blogpost before it's back to all things vintage)

Tokyo Day 5

In the morning we went to one of the many parks Tokyo has, Ueono Park. It was very beautiful and filled with lots of different shrines.
I can only imagine how gorgeous this park will look when all the cherry blossoms are in bloom!

We stumbled across this huge market place with all pretty Japanese arts and crafts.

We also discovered the park has a Zoo and since we like animals and we had some time, we wandered in. Wow this is one huge zoo! We didn't go through all of it, but it was very nice.

Cuteness at the zoo gift shop.

Sweet vending machines!

After the relaxing morning it was off to the recording studio. My hubby's music was ofcourse the main reason that brought us to Tokyo in the first place!

Love preparing some new lyrics for recording.

Me taking pictures of myself.

After the session the producer and his wife took us to a small local yakitory restaurant, which turned out to be an adventure. It was a lovely little eating house. The owners, husband and wife, were of the old school Japanese and didn't get many Americans in their restaurant, but were very happy to see us. At first they didn't directly talked to us, but through our hosts, which didn't seem strange to us since they spoke Japanese and we didn't. Our friends took us there since we don't eat red meat and a yakitory place there only serve chicken and vegetables. Perfect for us you would think. Our friends did the ordering for us when it became clear that the owners we're about to go on a vacation the next day and didn't have everything in stock. We basically got what they had. Ok, chicken is chicken right? When the first pieces of yakitory came to the table i already had my doubts. Uhoh. This didn't look like chicken. I took one bite and didn't know what to do. I really didn't want to offend the owners, they were so sweet and we're hopefully looking at us, and i didn't want to embarrass our friends, but i could not eat this. What was this? I almost threw up in my mouth. Had to swallow. I looked at my hubby. He wasn't eating but looking at me in pity. Are you allright honey? I can't eat this. I feel so bad.
We learned that in Japan they really use everything from the chicken. Not just the meat. I was eating chicken heart! I finally managed to swallow it by what time everyone noticed me and my husband were not going to finish our skewer. I just couldn't. I am still sorry about this. Luckily the rest of the dinner went better, expect for another skewer of chicken skin. And not crispy grilled, but soft skin. The evening did turn out to be a happy one. Especially since the moment me and my hubby showed off our eating with chopstick skills to the owners, which resulted in a lot of laughs and clapping.
It was late when we left the restaurant, my husband was very tired and had to be rested for the next day. Rehearsal, a radio show and the live show at the album release party!

Cuteness in the streets of tokyo

Happy two in Shibuya. I was told their names, but forgot. Edit: Found the paper i wrote the names on: Sato chan and Satoko chan. They are the mascots of a pharmacy.

On my way to Kiddyland. I wouldn't mind if the NY busses would look like these Shibuya Community busses! Not at all!

In the Zoo.

In Ueno Park.

And here they are again! In nippori, Fabric Street.

Near our hotel.

I got a few more posts about Tokyo. Not many. I will get back to posting about my vintage adventures. Hope you will stick around and enjoy a couple more Tokyo posts!

Kiddyland Tokyo

I gasped for air when i walked down Omotesando and finally saw the huge Kiddyland storefront. Not that it was hard to find, i walked straight there. But because i have been wanting to go there for so long now. And it didn't dissappoint at all. I walked around in utter joy thinking i wish i could live in here!

Obvioulsy, with this Little Twin Stars display as the first thing you see when you enter the store.

A whole table full of giant Kapibara-san's, very Kawaii!

An entire display filled with these sweet sheep (?)

One of my all time favorite characters: Monchichhi!

Walking up to the fourth floor, this is what greeted me. I love Rillakuma!

There were these pretty setups of Sylvanian Families (aka Calico Critters). J'adore! I wish i still had my little families from when i was little.

The boxes said these were puzzles, but i stood there for awhile. Admiring the cuteness and trying to figure out what the puzzle was about. I didn't get any further than just stacking the pancakes. I doubt that was what i was supposed to do. But i was supposed to make a picture! So i did. For you.

Kiddyland is total Kawaii Heaven. I hope to visit again soon.

Gashapon machines

I'm a big fan of capsule toys in any country, but especially in Japan! Like with the grabbing machines, there are many and all are filled with cute prizes!

You can find them everywhere, randomly in the streets, at major attractions, inside shops.

I made sure i always had enough 100 yen coins in my pocket for these unexpected treasures. They go for about 100 - 300 yen per prize.

I was very lucky too, almost every machine gave me exactly the prize i hoped for! Like this one, i got the Rilakkuma face on the top left. Kawaii! It's big and very soft. Really kinda looks like a bun, like you could eat it.

Again i was lucky with this Tama Depa machine. I got the cute pink one you see on the top right!

For this one i didn't need luck, all the prizes were adorable!

Like you see in the first photo, i got many more, but i think you get the idea of these great gashapons!

Tokyo Day 4

I spent day 4 by myself while Love got ready to go to a hairsalon to get his hair braided. (thanks to our Japanese friends! trying to find a salon in Tokyo that braids hair is a challenge)
The sun was shining, so perfect for fabric shopping. The train took me again to Nippori station, but this time i walked to the right, instead like the day before, left to Yanaka. With my tokyo shopping guide and the signs on the streets i quickly found it.

My heart skipped a beat seeing all the fabric stores and i missed my mom. I know she would have loved to be walking there with me.
I think i spent most of my money on fabrics. Just couldn't help myself. There were so many great designs to choose from! Will show them off in a later post for all you fabric-a-holics!
These adorable fabrics i saw in the main location of Tomato.

Tomato rules the fabric street with several storefronts. My two favorites were the large one with 5 floors of fabric and a smaller one with lovely trimmings, sewing accessories and other craft supplies.
Like many places in Tokyo, it's cash only. And be aware, not all ATM's take international cards. Find a postoffice or a 7-11 store, their ATM's will give you your money (and don't worry, they all have a button to use them in English!)

I went in and out of many of the little shops and bought fabrics here and there. I was totally happy and in my element!
On my way back to the trainstation i stopped at the Lemon store (at the start of fabric street) where i picked up some cute notebooks and sweet small towels.

After all this shopping i had to go back to the hotel to drop off my purchases. All that fabric was getting really heavy! I was lucky to find my Love still at the hotel, but ready to get out. So i refreshed quickly and took the train out with him.
Next stop: Electric Town in Akihabara! Like the day before, my afternoon destination was again a huge difference from my morning. Fabric Street was so soothing, calm and i was surrounded by mostly native ladies with the same love for fabrics as me. Arriving in Akihabara i soon realized this was less for me. I love electronic gadgets, but all of a sudden i was back in hectic Tokyo, loud sounds and lots of tourists looking for a bargain.

But i was on a mission. And i found what i was looking for: Gashapon machines galore!

After using most of my 100-yen coins and turning a lot of knobs i knew i had to move on. Step away from the machines.
(more on these gashapon machines later)

The very Kawaii Nikes i saw in Harajuku on our second day were still in my mind, so i knew i had to go and get those. Jumped on the train, walked down Takeshita Dori again and the Nikes were mine!

Since i was in the area, i walked over to Omotesando, the main shopping street of Harajuku to finally go to Kiddy Land! I have been dreaming about this store. And let me tell you, it was even better than in my dreams!
So much so that i will have to do a seperate post on Kiddy land. It deserves it.

After this it was back to the hotel to let my hip rest, meet up with my Love and inspect his new braids.

Vending Machines in Tokyo

You find vending machines all over the streets of Tokyo. They are so colorful! And filled with surprise drinks. In Japan you never really know what taste to expect. You can get something that looks like a sweet and then find out it tastes sour. Or something that looks salty can turn out to be super sweet. With drinks the same. I had drinks that i can't even describe since they tasted like nothing i tasted before. Some were great and delicious. Some were strange and not for a second try.



Outside at Shinjuku station. Pretty packaging, nice and sweet hot coffee with milk!

Also at Shinjuku station. Maybe one of the prettiest bottles i found, but really the most gross coffee i have ever had! It was bitter and with bubbles! Like a hot bitter coffee soda. Yuk.
(Note: Yoko just let me know that this 'coffee' was actually a chai with ginger. That explains the taste!)