Beautiful Spring Day - WIP

In the process of doing this (knitting)project from a past issue of Keito Dama:

I've only knitted one of the bottom big panel, and it's currently under blocking.

Still have a long way to go.... Personal deadline: 27th Oct 2010

Day 4 (Part 2): Where the hip and the stylish go..

Since we're already at Harajuku, it'd be a joke if we had given Takeshita Street a miss.

It's home to pretty much the latest trends and styles without the rocket-high price. It's also where you might be able to spot the loudest fashion or even.. the plain weird:

Woof?

Chigau yo.. Meow..

There's also a multi-level Daiso building, where YC and Xzz shopped with glee.. XB and I weren't too keen in the stuffs sold at Daiso, so we decided to explore the other parts of Takeshita Street.

It's the fall season, so it's no surprise that many shops were selling mainly winter clothing and boots. But of course, having been in Japan twice before, be it any season, skirts are never out of fashion (yes, including winter). I managed to get a dress, jumper-style under 4000 yen and an off-season metallic layered skirt at only 1000 yen!

There were also numerous 2nd hand boutiques, which let go of worn clothing and accessories at ridiculously low prices... If one's on a really tight budget, guess these shops would be a heaven-sent. (Lots of Japanese teen fashion mags like to feature such shops... haha.. teen = no $)

Takeshita Street has lots of shops, but for the guys, if you're not really into street wear or Goth, then sadly, there's nothing much in store for you... You'll have slightly more luck at the other street called Omotesando, otherwise known to me as the street of high-end fashion, which I gladly gave a miss coz I was too perturbed by the absurdly high human traffic... (Try multiplying the crowd at Orchard Road on a Saturday afternoon by, maybe, 5?)

After a not too long walk, we reached the other end of Takeshita Street and hey, presto! Guess what I saw?



LOL! Arashi advertisment! Guess they are really big recently. If you're a big Arashi fan, you won't need much effort trying to catch them on tv. They're almost everywhere!! Commercials... Variety shows... You name it..

But anyway, not knowing where to go next, we followed a small crowd crossing the road to another small street. Most of the people made a turn when they reached another mini junction, but I guess XB and I weren't thinking too much at that time and we just continued walking straight... It's only when we realised we're the only ones walking in the desolated street amongst what seemed to be residential houses did we pause and think that perhaps, we're out of the commercial zone.. ==

We walked back to the mini junction and made a left turn. Indeed, there were more shops, but it was pretty quiet. Perhaps it was a little out of the way..? Most of the shops along this street had a very different feel from the shops at Takeshita Street. With the interesting facade, it's no brainer that these shops sell higher-end designer products. But once in a while, you could see shops like this:

If you're someone who appreciate individual or edgy styles, this almost 700 yen shop would be something you'd like.. Lots of accessories are going off at 700 yen, while some of the clothings might be a little bit pricey, most are pretty affordable. (It's only then that I realised this might have been the shop that Alvin and Abula had been talking about...)

Walking to the end of this small road led us to Omotesando, where I freaked out upon the sight of the crazy crowd. We hurriedly turned back and I was quite astounded by this sight:

It just seemed so beautiful and peaceful, unlike anything just a few steps away. It looked like it's right out of a Japanese drama. Haha.. Perhaps the good weather played a part too. The blue sky just looked amazing!

The above was quite an interesting sight too! For some reason, it looked kind of out of place along the street. Must be the over-usage of those blinds...

We're back at the mini-junction, and we continued walking straight (it would have been a right turn when we walked back from that desolated street..). It was another
"hey! presto!" moment when I saw this building:

It's the Design Fiesta Gallery! We didn't go in, which was a little pity, as we needed to find a place for lunch. (It's quite dumb, but now do I realise that Sakura tei was nearby! -.- Guess I was crossed-eye then to be able to miss that big sign on that lamppost...)

A note for all who want to tour around Harajuku on a weekend. Be early for lunch.. If possible, start queuing at 11!! Trying to find a place to lunch after 12 was like trying to get a seat in a 10-seater with 100 people! == We ended up eating Thai food... Don't get me wrong.. The food was good.. But I'd have preferred their local Japanese food.. It's also a little disappointing that I couldn't find that giant Takoyaki balls that Abula told me about...

The crowd at Takeshita Street in the afternoon was comparable to the crowd at Omotesando.. Something which I didn't really like..

XB and I decided to venture a little at some alleys along the street. Most of them ended with hidden galore for the hardcore Goths (Visual keis, mostly) and heavy metal fans.. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.. HAHA! We're also taken aback when suddenly, these 2 black guys (yes, blacks! and they spoke japlish) had a fight... o.o'''

We decided to explore a little more along the street beside the train station. There's a shop that sells solely Tamagotchi merchandise, and they had this mascot outside their shop!

Pretty cool. Hahaha.. There's also this building which sells mainly sports wear and stuff... Time's running out and we had 2 other places to go, so it's time to return to Daiso, our meeting place with YC and Xzz. Managed to snap a photo of this while waiting for the 2:

I heart the skirt! Guess there's a little goth/lolita in me..

Day 4 (Part 1): 753 is a nice number...

Let's rejoice! For we didn't have to wake up too early today! Let's rejoice again! For it was going to be fair weather all day long! And let's rejoice one last time! For we finally found out where the kitchen was... And we could have our instant noodle breakfast there.. HAHA! (We needed to boil water...)

In the kitchen...

First, boil some water...

Then cook the noodles in the boiling water for 3 minutes...

And enjoy!

What a beautiful sunday!

After breakfast, we took a train down to Harajuku and made our way to the Meiji Shrine.

Harajuku eki..

Jingubashi... We didn't get to see any goth girls, cosplayers... etc etc.. Maybe it's too early..

Hey! Another girl in kimono... We saw one at Takao-san yesterday too!

"Barrels" of sake...

Barrels of.. wine??

There happened to be a Chrysanthemum fair today!

There were giant chrysanthemums...

"Bonsai" chrysanthemums...

And big bunches of chrysanthemums...

Japanese boy scouts!

We're lucky! We witnessed not 1, but 2 wedding ceremonies!

A closer view..

Suddenly, there's this kid who thought that it's more fun playing WITH the ground..

Oh! Another kid in a pseudo-kimono! (It's just a western dress made out of Kimono fabric..)

Another kimono-clad toddler..

And one more!... @.@

Ohhh... It's the 753 festival! They'd a registration booth for parents to register their kids for the festival.. =)

This cute young boy had lots of poses..

His younger sister is too kawaii...

Couldn't "tahan" any more... Needed to take a photo with them... (The lady in Kimono is their mother)

So cuuuuute!! But hrmm.. most of the boys seemed to be wearing the same outfit..

Goodies for the kids...

Rhinestic's here at Meiji Shrine!

Another corner of the Meiji Shrine...

Entrance... Harharhar.. I see XB!

Day 3 (Part 3): Satisfying my craving..

If we had stayed a little longer, we could have the chance of seeing Fuji-san. But I had my craving to satisfy.. I mean our plan to stick to, so "またね！高尾山の頂上。。。"... We made our way back to that Tengu Dango stall area to have our lunch.

This is hilarious... I didn't know YC was facing me!

Passing by this flight of stairs again...

This littler girl was so pretty in her Kimono! (It didn't occur to me then that they might be celebrating the 7-5-3 festival 1 day earlier...)

The shrine's getting more crowded as the weather turned better.

I need some of these blessings...

YC wanted a sausage as appetizer before his lunch.. (It tasted just like Taiwanese sausage)

XB and I ordered the same dish - Takao-san Ramen. It came with white sesame seeds that we had to grind ourselves..

YC and xzz ordered the Tengu Ramen! See what I mean when I said the locals must have imagined the Tengu to be black...

Grinding sesame seeds... Takao-san Ramen tasted quite different from the ramen I had eaten before. More fragrant too, I dare say.

We walked back to the "Cable Car" station at mid-hill and took the next car down to the foot of the hill.

We had to take this "car" back down to the foot of the hill.

Man! This was steep!! The "downward" ride was more exciting than the "upward" ride..

An oncoming upward-bound car..

Must take a photo of where we had been to..

More autumn leaves

The right time for Momiji Matsuri (Red leaves [Maple] Festival)

One more nature shot!!

Taking the Keio line train back to Shinjuku...

We happened to take an express train back too! We then changed to the Yamanote line at Shinjuku station. Xzz and I alighted first at Nippori while the guys continued down to Akihabara.

Nippori was where I satisfy my craving for fabrics! LOL!

Fabric Street - Nippori

This was heaven for me!! Bought 4 packets of fabrics, each 1 metre long.

I also bought another 5 metres of cotton fabric with Kimono prints (380yen per metre!! Cheap!) at Tomato. 9 metres worth of fabrics for less than 50 SGD.. Woot! (However, 9 metres of cotton and canvas(?) ain't light too... o.o''')

Another shop selling lots of rather cheap fabrics.

I stopped my fabric spree after buying 2 metres of leather handle, thinking I should have more than enough of what I need... Now when I think back, I should have bought a little more!! T.T The choice of fabrics in Singapore is quite pathetic... And the nicer ones are just way too expensive! T.T

Anyway, we took a look around the other areas in Nippori and found this cute Bentou shop!

I've never seen a bentou shop in my life until then! It's a little like our economic rice stall where you could choose your own sides. Cute! Too bad it was still too early for dinner.. We also found this Peko-chan bakery store where we bought some stuff.

We then headed back to Shinjuku to have our bentou dinner at Takashimaya (poor us had nowhere to sit. We ended up standing at the lift lobby area, which was quite awkward..) before meeting the guys at Tokyu Hands.

I bought some more goodies at Tokyu Hands; as well as a Kimono-sewing book and a magazine from Kinokuniya.

My loot......

The 5-metre cotton fabric with Kimono print

1-metre satin-like fabric with Kimono prints; 2 packets of sakura-cut papers from Tokyu hands.. Intending to use them for the wedding..

Total of 3 metres worth of canvas-like fabrics...

MP3 player + card reader/writer from Tokyu Hands

Some craft supplies and a beading kit from Tokyu Hands

Macaroons-making set from Tokyu Hands

Last but not least, Duet mag and kimono-sewing book from Kinokuniya...

My craving is satisfied, more or less..