Rain Rain, GET OUTTA HERE

So it's basically been raining nonstop since I've been in Japan. And not just a little sprinkle here and there, monsoon style downpours for over 4/5ths of the day and night. Cute clear plastic umbrellas aside, it's no fun. Dodging into ike

It kind of sucks but as Hannah just pointed out a second ago, we will have plenty more nights.

Either way, here is what I did pre-evening rainout:

The most noticeable building in my neighborhood of Takadanobaba is the aptly named "BIG BOX". It's a huge building filled with clothing stores, a 100 yen shop, a used bookstore, food, and a huge arcade. Also, Uniqlo is in there! It's so cheap. Spain had me all prepared for expensive shizz, but in Tokyo, you can find so many affordable things.

Here are some photos from the arcade:
Painful-to-the-eye all-over wall paint.
Non-plussed bear prizes!
Fun photo booths!
A mere fraction of a fraction of the size of the place.
This game was MASSIVE (and had a silly name).

Lots of cute plush things.

Next we headed out of Takadanobaba to the "downtown" (what part of Tokyo ISN'T downtown?) section of Shinjuku.


These are just photos of SIDE streets in Shinjuku.

It was around here that we also experienced one of the infamous mass street crossings. I wish I had thought to take a photo.

After shopping / strolling the high-end stores of Shinjuku we stopped at a cake and coffee bar.

I had "mapuru tosuto" (maple toast) and Hannah had a nice little chocolate cake. We were the only white people in the whole place which I like. I also like that most of the menus have pictures of the food. So easy.

They even handed out complimentary tampons to the table! Psych, it's a moist toilette. But ya never know.

Then it rained some more.

Obvs not happy.

The train and a bicycle cemetery on our walk back to home.

More adventures tomorrow!