Well today we were determined to see more of Shibuya and Shinjuku. We probably would have seen more if I hadn’t wasted time leading us away from the shrine we were meant to be visiting and through a park that had a lot of homeless bums in it.
This park was huge and actually would have been quite nice in the warmer months, however it was empty and bare and besides a vast number of people running and doing taichi. The problem I found with this park was the number of homeless people sleeping under trees and I think I saw one peeing. Anyway what we didn’t know was that the huge park on our map was actually 2 separate parks, which were separated by a big fence. When we asked some dude how to get there he told us I would take 50 minutes to walk around the fence to get there. So unfortunately we did not get to see Meiji Shrine.
We decided to move our way on to the sword museum, which was another museum which appeared to be located in the suburbs. We quickly paid the 500 yen to go inside and then had look around. The museum was only one floor, but it housed many old and newer samurai swords. Some of these were heritage listed. They were interesting to look at, but I kept wondering how many of the swords had actually been used in battle, the thought of them being used to kill, is not something I like (me, on the other hand, find that thought quite fun!). The boys however seemed to absorb the information up and enjoy looking at them. Personally I liked the Samurai suit the most, so much detail for one piece of uniform (we weren’t allowed to take pictures, Sarma and I were a bit annoyed at this).
Anthony, Sarma and I were keen to get to our next destination which was the Square Enix shop. We had difficulty finding it but them some boys about our age stopped to see if they could help. I tried to explain Square Enix and the look confused until I said “Final Fantasy” at this point the jumped up and said “FINAL FANTASY quick follow me!” and raced off down the street. They found it but it was closed. However when the saw it was closed the both sounded the Final Fantasy Victory theme (Yes, store 1 us 0). So no Cactuar for me…
We headed back in Shinjuku after that to do some shopping. We looked at a few department stores and then found a computer and electrical shop which of course the boys wanted to go into. It was here Rob pointed out my birthday present from Anthony. After Anthony checked all the information twice, especially international warranty, he brought me my new best friend. It is a Disney EEEPC, which is the coolest and best small computer in the world. It will be better when it practices its English like a good little computer. It has a Mickey Mouse web cam and little Mickey heads everywhere. It is very cool and Anthony is the greatest ever for getting it :D.
We continued our shopping in Shibuya, where we went to 109 Shibuya which would be one of the most craziest shopping places I have ever been to (picture a department store which would be lucky to be 20 by 20 meters on any given level, now picture 8 or so storeys of that piled on top). We didn’t buy anything. There was a Hello Kitty store but Rob refrained from buying anything. I think he knows we are on to his obsession :p.
We also took pictures one of most the busiest intersection in Japan. It was pretty good to do some people watching here. There are some strange people in Shibuya. We ended up having dinner after shoe shopping, for the boys, at a very nice restaurant that served steak, rice, meat and veggies on a hot plate. It was such nice food for a good price. Very very nice.
We learnt a new Japanese word, oishikatta, which means very delicious.We headed towards home after dinner and Anthony and I did some washing before hitting the hay.
Early morning for Hakone tomorrow….