Staying Up Past Eleven

Well hello! It's Sunday so the fun is done for the most part because I have to read and study, blah blah.

But Sunday also means I get to buy my Sunday treat, coffee! I drink the cheap 55 cent iced stuff all week and then splurge on a $3 hot coffee on Sundays. It's the little things, eh?

Anyways, this weekend was fun. I'll break it down for ya with photos:

Naturally, there are many bubble tea stands everywhere.

We went to this mall in Harajuku on Friday and it was really into Avril Lavigne. They had a HUGE poster of her hanging on the front and then the basement had an entire wall of magazines dedicated to her. I guess the Japanese are really advanced in some areas, and are totally clueless in others.

This photo is a good example of the traditional east meeting the modern west. Aka an old woman in a kimono ordering a six inch cold cut combo.

Crossing the street is basically the true stereotype that you see in the media. I blame it on the fact that the lights take forever to change so naturally a huge crowd will build up. This mob scene in Shinjuku is NOTHING compared to the one we saw in Shibuya on Saturday.

This is "Green Spice", which could also mean that she is matcha powder. We got in trouble for taking photos because I guess the fool doesn't want exposure. Geeze.

Ahhh Shinjuku! So fun.

Saturday morning. I usually wake up to this. I want to pet it BUT there are garbage cans nearby and I fear that it was probably just playing in them.

Later, we went to Shibuya where there is a HUGE department store called "Tokyo Hands". They had everything, including a play-doh-esque product where you could make neat pastries and stuff and a selection of miniature bottles of liquor. My mom has a tiny collection of miniature bottles of liquor; not because she is an alcoholic but because she's really into miniature versions of things that look fancy, e.g. alcohol bottles, antique salt and pepper shakers, tables, oil lamps, etc.

This cake is from a "pastel and pasta" cafe in one of the malls. It was mad cute. As always, Hannah and I forgot to take a picture BEFORE we started eating. Oh well.

We did some more shopping at this mall in Shibuya. They had a lot of neat clothing and towards the end of the evening I was finally finding stuff that I would actually wear. I was becoming a bit daunted because a lot of the stores were selling "American" inspired things like... plaid shirts that have car repair shop logos and stuff on them, weird leather goods, and pointed shoes. I guess that's a big trend right now. The Japanese are alllll about parameters in style so they'll pick the trend or style that they like, and then shop at a small handful of stores that exclusively sell that trend or style. It's pretty neat actually. One trend that I could easily get into is "British Preparatory School". It's all about mixin' tartans, loafers, peacoats, navy blazers, etc. It's great.


NUTS stands for "New Urban ____ Space".


Aaaand I finally found the shop I had been looking for. It was pretty neat... although there was nothing I would buy. The owner was really nice and we chatted about this and that and told him we'll be BACK.

Other weekend highlights:

-- Really awesome "antique clothing store" with great music, clothes, and friendly staff
-- Delicious tacos. The tortillas were made out of rice paper, but it didn't stop them from being amazing.
-- Downpours (wouldn't be a weekend in Tokyo without some!)
-- Speaking French on the last train home
-- Eating curry

Etc. etc.

Now I'm going to get my coffee, eat, and e-mail the Spanish embassy.

Olé!