Today (our third/second day) we woke up to this:
The amazing view from our room on the 22nd floor. We 'slept in' until 8 and we were in the Regency Club by 8:30 for breakfast. Nicole says her Melon was good, and I liked the Bacon (the crispy one, not the soggy one since you had a choice).
We headed off to Kinokuniya again (different one) to get a map and on the way went into a traditional japanese electronics store where I dorked out for a while. It was pretty amazing. Need a pair of headphones? Here are 50 different ones, all different colors and some even talk to you and tell you look hot and stuff (at least that's what I imagined). We stopped along the way and found a couple cool shops, and I got to finally see my first Keirin bike.
It was a Sampson. Saw a couple of others throughout the day, even told one guy his was rad (he gave me a funny look), but it isn't like people think. Honestly I think people could care less about NJS stuff here and seems like an even smaller niche than at home. It was funny to see NJS stuff in Tokyu Hands though, more on that later.
After grabbing a map, we had our first subway experience and it actually wasn't too bad. We made to to Harajuku in one piece. It was pretty crazy and there were a ton of people around.
There was a nice mix of typical Japanese folk, gothic lolitas, japanese 'punks' and tourists. Some cool people watching. Walked around for a bit and headed into some shops like uniqlo, la foret, beams T, x girl, Sophia Coppla's Milkfed at Heaven 27 (which sucked for the most part) and Graniph. Had a snack at Bape Cafe, some french toast and a shake. The walls were done with Kimpsons stuff by kaws. Everything was branded with the Bape logo, napkins, glasses, etc. Even the ice was in the shape of the bape star:
Headed back to the Subway but not before checking out the Sunday Gothic Lolita fest outside the station. That was... fun I guess. Way more hype than cool. Basically a bunch of disaffected teens hoping to get on someone's vacation video. I know that sounds bitter, but it's not far off from the truth.
Next Stop, Shibuya. By this time were were ready to call it a day, but like troopers we kept going. This is where Nicole says:
"I don't understand how these girls can walk around in heels all day"
I think she was a bit upset because of the two alien spoors that started growing out of her feet. She says they were blisters, I think otherwise.
We crossed 'the crosswalk' and headed toward some more bookstores.
This time we hit Libro and Logos in the Parco #1 department store (one of three in that area). Then on a recco from a friend we had dinner at La Soffitta Pizzeria. I had spahgetti sauce on cracker and Cole had Shrimp Pasta that had one shrimp and a lot of pasta. It was sooo freaking not good. Nicole says:
"It wasn't bad"
Last two stops, Tokyu Hands for some fun Japanese markers and colored knog lights. This Tokyu Hands was even bigger than the one yesterday. It's such a weird/amazing store. The bike section even had some NJS stuff, Nitto bars, Dura Ace hubs, etc. You could even buy a made to order Panasonic Keirin frame. After that we hit Tower (records) books, which was pretty good, but we were too tired to even look. Headed back to the hotel and had some ice cream on the way. Did I mention how freaking hot it was today? Yeah it was...
I was a good day overall and our first real taste of the Tokyo you see in pictures. Lot's of cool design, and little characters on signs. Saw some cool graf too, but it was weird to see how much of it was American, especially SF and LA. Andre, Twist, MSK, NOE, Harsh, TIE rip stickers (probably courtesy of BNE) stuff like that, and like everywhere else in the world Benet was pretty much all over it. K, time for sleep.
We headed off to Kinokuniya again (different one) to get a map and on the way went into a traditional japanese electronics store where I dorked out for a while. It was pretty amazing. Need a pair of headphones? Here are 50 different ones, all different colors and some even talk to you and tell you look hot and stuff (at least that's what I imagined). We stopped along the way and found a couple cool shops, and I got to finally see my first Keirin bike.
It was a Sampson. Saw a couple of others throughout the day, even told one guy his was rad (he gave me a funny look), but it isn't like people think. Honestly I think people could care less about NJS stuff here and seems like an even smaller niche than at home. It was funny to see NJS stuff in Tokyu Hands though, more on that later.
After grabbing a map, we had our first subway experience and it actually wasn't too bad. We made to to Harajuku in one piece. It was pretty crazy and there were a ton of people around.
There was a nice mix of typical Japanese folk, gothic lolitas, japanese 'punks' and tourists. Some cool people watching. Walked around for a bit and headed into some shops like uniqlo, la foret, beams T, x girl, Sophia Coppla's Milkfed at Heaven 27 (which sucked for the most part) and Graniph. Had a snack at Bape Cafe, some french toast and a shake. The walls were done with Kimpsons stuff by kaws. Everything was branded with the Bape logo, napkins, glasses, etc. Even the ice was in the shape of the bape star:
Headed back to the Subway but not before checking out the Sunday Gothic Lolita fest outside the station. That was... fun I guess. Way more hype than cool. Basically a bunch of disaffected teens hoping to get on someone's vacation video. I know that sounds bitter, but it's not far off from the truth.
Next Stop, Shibuya. By this time were were ready to call it a day, but like troopers we kept going. This is where Nicole says:
"I don't understand how these girls can walk around in heels all day"
I think she was a bit upset because of the two alien spoors that started growing out of her feet. She says they were blisters, I think otherwise.
We crossed 'the crosswalk' and headed toward some more bookstores.
This time we hit Libro and Logos in the Parco #1 department store (one of three in that area). Then on a recco from a friend we had dinner at La Soffitta Pizzeria. I had spahgetti sauce on cracker and Cole had Shrimp Pasta that had one shrimp and a lot of pasta. It was sooo freaking not good. Nicole says:
"It wasn't bad"
Last two stops, Tokyu Hands for some fun Japanese markers and colored knog lights. This Tokyu Hands was even bigger than the one yesterday. It's such a weird/amazing store. The bike section even had some NJS stuff, Nitto bars, Dura Ace hubs, etc. You could even buy a made to order Panasonic Keirin frame. After that we hit Tower (records) books, which was pretty good, but we were too tired to even look. Headed back to the hotel and had some ice cream on the way. Did I mention how freaking hot it was today? Yeah it was...
I was a good day overall and our first real taste of the Tokyo you see in pictures. Lot's of cool design, and little characters on signs. Saw some cool graf too, but it was weird to see how much of it was American, especially SF and LA. Andre, Twist, MSK, NOE, Harsh, TIE rip stickers (probably courtesy of BNE) stuff like that, and like everywhere else in the world Benet was pretty much all over it. K, time for sleep.
1 comment:
there's a rad club there called 'super deluxe' in roppongi. i just looked it up and they are having a laptop battle on the 12th. i think you guys would dig it.
http://www.super-deluxe.com/
http://www.residentadvisor.net/club-detail.aspx?id=5743
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