There are a few reasons why I continue to break up each day of our honeymoon into parts.  One reason is because I have a hard time remembering what happened when and it’s important (for me, anyway) to look back at things as they happened. The next reason is because I really, really love remembering all the funny, sweet things that happened and I don’t want to drag each post on forever and ever. It’s especially fun to blog about such an amazing trip when I’m having a bad day. It puts things in perspective and reminds me that, where things may not be fabulous in the immediate, my life is overall pretty dang charmed.

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But this day in Japan was so short and strange that I can’t break it up so get ready for a pretty lackluster post.  Haha.

Our second to last day in Tokyo might surprise you a little. We spent a good bit of it away from one another! There was so much that we wanted to do in Japan– and there wasn’t enough time for everything… so we decided to split up for a little while to see some of the things that were important to us individually.

Napkin really wanted to see the coast.

I really wanted to shop in Harajuku. (haha.)

We had breakfast, mapped out how to get to where we needed to go and made a plan to meet up at seven for dinner together. I kissed my new hubby goodbye and when he was out of the lobby of our hotel I went flying back up to our room to spend a ridiculous amount of time getting ready to be “seen” in Harajuku! I had been obsessed with Tokyo’s most fashionable district forever.  And it was time. Time for me to actually strut through Yoyogi Park and see cosplayers and musicians and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Ayumi Hamasaki and all the fabulous idols and models and whoever else.

My time management skills are really poor (you know this about me now)  so I spent way too much time trying to look above average and when I got off the train onto Takeshita Street it was already mid-afternoon.

“No worries!” I said. “I’ll just speed walk!”

Well. Speed walking was impossible because Harajuku was PACKED. Seriously PACKED.

Here’s a video to show you just how fast (and by fast I mean not fast at all) I was able to walk.

But that was okay because I was there to sight see anyway and there was plenty of that to be done. My initial plan was to walk through the popular streets and make my way over to Yoyogi Park in hopes of seeing some serious street-style… but with everything being so slow moving I decided that i would make Yoyogi optional. So off I went!

Takeshita Street was incredible. In a very Japan way. Tiny shops were piled into buildings. I got a pair of leopard print shoes in a shop that could MAYBE hold ten people. Which makes bending over to try on your new shoes pretty embarrassing. #touchingbutts.jpg

(Store my Ducks?)

After finding that bitchin’ pair of shoes mentioned above and a sweater with a fox face on it (that I still have never worn…)  I made my way over to the Tokyu Plaza.

I wish I could show you the inside of this place. It’s relatively new to Harajuku and SO COOL. You look like you’re walking inside a big, jagged mirror (with a Starbucks inside.)

Then! Cat Street!

I did mostly window shopping from this point on– finally getting to a wifi spot (outside yet another Starbucks) to check in with Napkin. He was heading back from Kamakura and we decided to meet back at the hotel in the hopes of eating at The Loving Hut.

We had heard so many wonderful things about this little vegan restaurant and since we were running out of time in Japan we thought it would be an excellent way to end our day apart. So I took the train back to Shinjuku and met Napkin in the lobby of our hotel. We realized that we had been at the same train station about an hour earlier… and started to lament over how much time we had wasted trying to meet up.  The Loving Hut’s website said it was in Shinjuku but it ended up being very, very far away from where we were. We took the train to Sanchome and followed our map but got seriously confused when the map’s pin was totally off. As it turns out, The Loving Hut is on the second floor of a tiny building and almost impossible to spot in the dark. By the time we found it, The Loving Hut was closed.

I’ve got this thing where if I get too hungry NOTHING is fun anymore… and I was quickly getting to that point. Everything starts being a hassle, I get really mad at everything and am just a pill to be around. My poor Napkin panicked. We found wifi, he looked up restaurants that were open late and pretty soon we were getting back on the train. I wasn’t sure where we were going at this point… I just let Napkin lead the way while I kept my head down and tried not to get angry.  I kept reminding myself that food was getting close. So imagine my surprise when we were BACK in Harajuku!

There is a delightful little restaurant (that I think is really famous) called the Mominoki House.

Napkin called and talked directly to the owner (who was very fluent in English) and asked if it was alright for us to arrive so late and he was super sweet and accommodating.

When we arrived, the place smelled like heaven.

It was also completely empty.

They were in the process of closing when we called and decided to stop everything to serve us a hot meal.

I ordered a faux-chicken dinner set that was just perfect. And then. AND THEN! I wish I had pictures of this… two young looking dudes came in the restaurant and started playing jazz! Just for us! It was so romantic! (They worked there, by the way. They weren’t random people off the street.) It was like my grump-fest had never happened! I don’t think the staff at Mominoki House had any idea that they had salvaged one of our last evenings in Japan… but boy, did they.

So we sat in the warm restaurant, listening to talented musicians give us a private concert for a while, chatted with the owner and then decided to wander around Harajuku, hand in hand. I showed Napkin where Yoyogi park was and talked to (at?) him about fashion while he nodded politely, trying to act interested in wedge sneakers and ironic cat print t-shirts. It was starting to get cold and late so we took the train back to Shinjuku.  On the way, we stopped by my favorite arcade discovery, Green Peas. While I was there, trying to get a couple of cute Sega llamas out of a machine, the arcade employee came by, watched me throw my yen away for a while… and then, without a word, he opened the machine, scooped out ten or so stuffed animals and gave them to me.

!!!!

So there you have it! A relatively calm day turned wonderful with a little help from Mominoki, Green Peas and Napkin!

Oh yeah! I mixed up the days– so I’ll be telling you about this next time:

… Hehehe, whoops.

See you soon!