On Tuesday morning, I woke up realising it would be a bit of a different and special day. Because on this day, we would meet up with my friend Emilie! We were in Japan at the same time, which created the opportunity of making our mutual dream come true: spending a day in Harajuku wearing Lolita together! ✩
Also, it would be a National Holiday, so I was hoping things wouldn’t be too crowded.
My mom and I went down to have breakfast and after that, we returned to the hotel room where I did my hair and make up. Putting on my false eyelashes was a nightmare: somehow one side just wouldn’t stick! After at least five times trying and nearly giving up, I succeeded! One must look at her best when visiting Harajuku all dressed up of course! ^^
I had decided to wear my Promenade de Paris dress from Angelic Pretty combined with blue, white and a little pink. I was quite satisfied with my outfit. :3
Around 10 am I was all ready to go and we went downstairs to take some outfit pictures. Unfortunately, my mom’s cold had gotten so bad that she didn’t really want to have her picture taken that day, so I barely have any of her I’m afraid.
We went on our way to Shinjuku station and took the metro to Shibuya. Although we wanted to shop in Harajuku, Emilie and I had decided to meet up at the ultimate meeting place in Tokyo: at Hachiko’s statue.
When my mom and I entered the train, we found ourselves right behind the windows of the drivers (there were two).
It was quite cool to see where the metro was heading, but it was also rather scary! Every electricity pole we passed we only missed by a few centimetres and the few stations we stopped at were so precisely measured and built I was convinced the side of the train would ram right into them! But it was also exhilarating somehow, haha! XD
We arrived at Shibuya and followed the signs to the Hachiko exit. The weather was cloudy and grey, so we were hoping it wouldn’t rain.
We walked in the direction of Hachiko’s statue and after some looking around I heard a familiar voice and spotted a bright pastel-coloured spot in the crowd. We had found Emilie! ^o^
We hugged and I squealed and we hugged again and we couldn’t stop talking about how weird and awesome and strange it was to meet each other on the other side of the world! It felt so weird, I cannot describe it!
Suddenly, a woman got out of the train car we were standing next to (it’s located in the middle of the square in front of the station and serves as a tourist information desk) and she got all excited about our outfits and asked for a picture and asked where we were from and she complimented us a lot! She told us she loved the fact we used our natural hair with our outfits and didn’t wear ‘those fake looking wigs the Japanese girls use’. Emilie and I were both quite flattered about it. :3
Anyway, while my mom was looking at some folders in the train car, the woman offered us some folders (with Kyary on them, hihi) and finally, wished us a pleasant day. She was
so sweet! ♥
We walked up to Hachiko because it was picture time!
I was glad my mom wanted to have her picture taken with Hachiko as well. She really has a special place for him in her heart.
Now that we were in Shibuya, of course we couldn’t leave without taking pictures on the famous crossing! Already at this point, my mom took Emilie’s camera and hung it around her neck, to take pictures with both cameras, which she continued to do the rest of the day. Thank you so much mom! ;_;
As soon as the lights turned green, Emilie and I started walking while my mom stayed behind and took pictures. It was quite hard for her, since after a few steps, people already started blocking her view, haha!
see Emilie and me in the lower right corner. ^^
After the lights turned green again, Emilie and I crossed again, after which we crossed again but this time my mom came along. Everything for the picures of course. :3
to take pictures there, there is no other way!
We walked into a street and just looked around for a bit. My mom really wanted to visit the Spain Slope again, a small street with cute shops. So we went looking for it. Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought my Shibuya map with me, so my mom and I quickly decided to visit it on our last shopping day.
The three of us decided to go back to the station and proceed to Harajuku, but since the street we were in was so cool and colourful, we decided to take some pictures first. Emilie and I went to stand next to each other and just as we were starting to pose, a group of Japanese friends jumped next to us in one big photo bomb! There were so funny, we just went along with it!
They kept posing until my mom was done taking pictures, haha! They were amazing! I wish I could send them this picture… :3
After the group had left again, we took some ‘proper’ pictures.
We walked back to the Shibuya crossing, when suddenly a man walked up to us. He started off really friendly and saying we looked pretty in stuff (or at least, that’s what I understood. His English was very hard to understand), but then it got a bit awkward… He asked us how old we were (we are both over 20, so of age in Japan. Coincidence?) and where we were going. When we told him we were going to Harajuku, he asked us if he could come along with us. We didn’t really know what to do, so I pointed at my mom who was taking pictures of something and said we were with her. And then he said something about the fact that she was wearing a nice, short skirt!? Ahem, okay..? Eventually we got rid of him and went on our way again. Now, he was honestly not unfriendly at all, but we felt quite uncomfortable about the whole situation. Well, something I can cross off my list.
We took the metro from Shibuya to Harajuku and this time got out at the end of the station, at the exit right across from the entrance to Takeshita dori. Of course, a picture at the gate is obligatory.
It was indeed crowded for a Tuesday afternoon, but it was acceptable. We entered Takeshita dori and went right, into the Le Ponte area, to visit the Maxicimam shop! I had completely forgotten about it during the two Harajuku visits with my mom. So now we finally went to
visit it!
We took the elevator one floor up and arrived at the Maxicimam store. Emilie suddenly realised she had actually had dinner right around the corner one time during her stay, but that she had never realised the store was right around the corner! XD
So, the store itself. It was one of the tiniest stores I have ever seen in my life. We didn’t take any pictures I’m afraid, but imagine a sort of half open shop with barely any room to walk into the tiny space that is actually walkable. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the skirt I adore, but my mom did browse some of the cute cardigans they had.
We took the elevator down stairs again and walked to the purikura room nearby. Emilie and I were just talking about how we both had a favourite machine, when we spotted a Neo Dream purikura machine and squealed at the same time that that one was our favourite!
Likeminded spirits. :3
My mom waited outside while we went to take pictures!
Emilie and I had a lot of fun taking posing. Sometimes we followed the example pictures given, sometimes we made something up ourselves. ^^
While we were taking pictures, my mom discovered a gashapon machine with little hedgehog key chains in it. She completely fell in love and bought three of them. Since they look very much alike, I think they are all the same. But who cares? They are adorable.
When we were done taking pictures, it was decorating time~! Since they were no other people, we had plenty of time to prettify our pictures.
After we were done, we walked back to Takeshita dori. It was shopping time! We just started walking, talking, taking pictures and entering the stores we liked. We took a brief look at Paris Kid’s, but it was a little crowded inside and I was afraid I would knock things out of their boxes with my petticoat, so we stayed outside. Emilie told me she had bought some flower crowns as well, but that they had broken really fast, which is a shame. :(
We continued our way and entered the really nice shop where they have super cute bags, but I always forget the store’s name. Emilie pointed out a really sweet bag with a Swiss them on it (they never have Dutch themes unfortunately XD) and we discussed the weird French we had seen in different shops. When we walked out of the shop again, my mom insisted on taking a pictures of us next to the cute clothes displayed outside. I am glad she did. :3
of the adorable clothing this shop sold!
We walked on and ended up at Claire’s. Initially, Emilie didn’t really feel the need to go inside, but I persuaded her to do so after all and she was happy I did: the Japanese Claire’s really sells a lot of different things than the European Claire’s do. This time I took a better look myself as well and there was just so much cute stuff! How I wish Claire’s in my country sold these goods! *o*
I ended up buying two cute items and we went on our way again. We soon arrived at Bodyline and we went inside. We took a look at some of the shoes and my mom showed which pairs she had bought. We didn’t stay for long since we weren’t planning on buying anything that day. When we got outside, my mom suggested to take pictures of us downstairs while she stayed on the balcony. It made for some nice pictures. ^^
My mom came downstairs and we walked on. While we were just walking and browsing, it was so nice to catch up on things and to hear what Emilie had been up to. Of course I could follow her moves through pictures she posted on Facebook, but hearing the stories behind them made everything even nicer!
We quickly arrived at Closet Child and went inside.
We just browsed all the racks as usual, but not much new was added to the shop. We talked, compared dresses and browsed the accessories for a bit, but nothing caught our particular interest.
Suddenly, I spotted a Lolita dressed in the blue version of Angelic Pretty’s Melody Toys. Although prints like these usually don’t really draw my attention, but as soon as I saw this print on the site I fell in love with it. And now seeing it in real life, my love grew even stronger! *_* I told Emilie: ‘I swear, if I find Melody Toys in blue, I will buy it in a heartbeat!’
Since she looked so lovely, I walked up to the girl and told her she looked cute. She got all flustered and adorable and told me she was wearing Angelic Pretty’s Melody Toys (I know, huhu :3) and she told me I looked cute as well! So then I got all flustered! ♥
We left Closet Child again and the three of us decided it was food time! We hadn’t noticed we had gotten quite hungry, so the most healthy and Lolita-safe solution was of course… a crêpe! ^^ Oh yes, I have eaten a ot of ice cream and crêpes during my trip…
We decided to once again go to Santa Monica crêpes (I swear, they got rich off us) and Emilie and I went to stand in line. Apparently it was busier than normal, because one of the staff members came to hand us a menu and wrote down our numbers once we had chosen.
Emilie’s crêpe was done before mine, so she crossed the street to my mom while I waited for my mom’s and mine.
When I received my crêpes, I tried to cross the crowded street safely without bumping into anyone and ruining their clothes with my chocolate sauce covered crêpes. When I had almost reached Emilie and my mom, suddenly a random guy pushed his camera right into my face and took a picture, without asking! I was so baffled for a moment that I couldn’t say anything and as soon as I had regained my speech ability, he was already gone. A little further away, I saw him harassing another girl who was holding up a sign for a shop. Luckily, she saw him coming and covered her face just in time. Oh yeah, then he asked her for permission! Luckily she send him away. I mean, what a douche! And hHow can you be happy with pictures of people looking up surprised and in the middle of doing whatever their business is instead of a pretty, posed picture!? I was quite pissed off, ugh!
Luckily, another nice guy came up to us and asked for a selfie with us. Naturally we were okay with it. Someone with decent manners is always welcome.
We ate our crêpes around the corner of the stand and I calmed down again. Talking about fun things always helps. After we got finished we went on our way again (I was secretly hoping to walk into the rude guy again so I could smack his camera out of his hands with my umbrella).
We walked out of Takeshita dori into Meiji dori and went to take pictures in the mirrors of Tokyu Plaza.
Upstairs, we took multiple pictures. The people coming up the escalator must have been wondering what we were doing! XD
Just kidding. ;)
The sky was getting quite dark grey by now, but it didn’t matter since we were going into Laforet. Emilie and I both don’t care much for the upper floors, so to the basement we went.
We briefly visited the Etude House shop, but unfortunately they didn’t have the items anymore that Emilie wanted, so we went on our way to the Lolita floor.
The first store we went to was Swimmer. ^^ It was a lot of fun to look around there again (although I really had to make sure I didn’t knock anything off the tables). They had so many cute things! Even when I look at pictures now I see new things I hadn’t noticed when I was actually there!
Swimmer is such an amazing shop. They have so many useful and adorable things,
it’s unbelievable!
We crossed to the opposite shop; Maison de Julietta! Emilie told me about her experience with waiting in line to get her book signed by Misako! It sounded like a lot of fun, but also like a lot of waiting.
We walked on to Baby/Alice and the Pirates. It was nice to look around there again. Emilie and I showed each other some things we liked, like head bows and the adorable sceptre I will probably love for the rest of my life. ♥
We looked at some dresses and bags and then went on. Next stop: Angelic Pretty~!
*angels singing*
I am sure you don’t mind I’ll show you some more. ^^
I was happy to be back in the pinkness that is Angelic Pretty. The atmosphere just automatically makes me happy. Also, there was a shop girl wearing the yellow version of Whip Showcase and somehow I was really pleased about that. Maybe because I had just bought the blue version myself..? Emilie and I started browsing while my mom, being the smooth criminal/awesome mom that she is, walked around and took secret pictures.
Suddenly, something happened. A light broke through the clouds (and the ceiling) and shone upon a dress hanging in front of another rack with dresses. It was Melody Toys, in blue, calling to me like a siren. Ahem, ok, no that’s not how it went… ^^’ But I did jump in surprise when I turned around and saw the exact dress I told Emilie I would buy in a heartbeat! Now, when I said that I exaggerated a bit I admit and I certainly wasn’t planning to buy the dress immediately, but I did walk up to it to examine it.
It really was Melody Toys in blue! But I didn’t understand why it was there. Wasn’t it supposed to be sold out? Until wise Emilie suddenly pointed out the price and the fact that it came with a head bow, which indicated that it was a special set (later I found online that it was indeed a very special set, only for sale in selected stores)! After some doubting, I decided to go ahead and try it on. While my mom and Emilie waited, I asked a staff member if I could try the dress on and she prepared it while I took off my shoes.
I entered the dressing room, which was cute as the clothes itself. The walls were covered in Sugar Pansy print wallpaper and in the upper corner was a beautiful Angelic Pretty umbrella wrapped in flowers and tulle. A cute lamp with pompoms hanging from it illuminated the small place surrounded by pink windows.
I had a bit of trouble with closing the zipper myself, so my mom came in and helped me, when suddenly… *pop*… One of the buttons of the straps came off! Oh my God I got so nervous and felt so ashamed! My mom reassured me the staff could easily fix it. I just kept telling myself that (while feeling terrible for wrecking a dress in a store).
Finally, the dress was on and I couldn’t help it: I just needed to take a picture! Even though the sign clearly said ‘No pictures’, I just had to do it! How often do you get the chance to actually try something on in a Japanese Angelic Pretty store? And well, I haven’t exactly followed the ‘no pictures’-rule anyway up until that point, so well. Oh God, I am evil… ^^’
I walked out of the dressing room and looked in the mirror. I loved the dress, truly, but something held me back. While I was doubting, a sweet shop girl walked up to me and adjusted something, when she discovered the loose strap. I thought I would die of embarrassment, but when I gave her the button she was completely okay about it, even apologetic! So it was no problem after all, pfew!
I was still doubting and needed approval from judge Emilie and judge mom, who ultimately got me over the line to buy it and I haven’t regretted it ever since! ♥
I took the dress off again, somehow managed to put my other dress back on and then looked around the shop some more with Emilie. I also found the mook I wanted to buy, so I added it to my purchases.
While the shop girls were preparing our purchases, one of them got out a needle and some blue thread and sewed the popped button right back on, within the blink of an eye. I was very happy about that!
The shop girls walked us out of the store, thanked us and we went on our way again. ^^
We left Laforet again (passing a Ladurée make up shop) and decided to head for Harajuku bridge to take some outfit pictures (because we didn’t have enough pictures of course :3). Once outside, we took a purchase picture with our pink bags.
We started walking again, but before we went on to Harajuku bridge, we first entered the store where my mom had seen her camera bag. She could finally buy it!
We entered the small, round store and quickly found the bag. It was available in black and brown and it was also on sale! My mom doubted a moment between the two colours, but in the end went with black. :3
We walked on and soon arrived at Harajuku bridge. We had barely set foot on the grey stones or we got asked for pictures by a bunch of older ladies. They were so sweet!
We crossed the bridge to take pictures in front of the stone wall, but it took a while before we actually had the chance. A lot of people that passed asked us for a picture (and some didn’t, but let’s forget about that). Everyone who passed with us was incredibly kind and interested in the fashion. One group of girls turned out to be Dutch, so I could explain to them in my own language what style we were wearing. Finally, we had the chance to take pictures ourselves.
I really loved how Emilie bow in her matched her bolero so perfectly! I also really liked her wristcuffs! They weren’t elastic, but had click buttons!
My mom also took some pictures of us together. I really like the result! Although our outfits didn’t really match so much in colour, the pastels still looked really nice together.
It started to rain a tiny bit, so we decided to go back to the purikura hall to take
more pictures! ^^
When we arrived there, it had gotten a bit more crowded. While my mom waited outside, sitting on the ground, we looked around. We decided not to do the NeoDream machine again, but we tried the ‘GirlyMac Style’ and the ‘Oh my Girl II’ machines. We especially liked that last one, because it made a collage of our full body shots!
We finally realised we had gotten tired and my mom and I suggested Emilie would cake with us to our hotel to have some rest. We went back to the station, took two quick instant pictures and then returned to Shinjuku, where we rested for some time while the rain fell from the sky.
We discussed a bit about what to do for dinner and Emilie suggested she’d show us the izakaya (Japanese pub) her brother had taken her. After that we could visit Closet Child Shinjuku and Marui Annex. It sounded like a lot of fun, so my mom and I agreed. So off we went again, Emilie and me still in Lolita.
We walked for a while in the direction of the ‘robot skyscraper’, until Emilie suddenly went left into a building and my mom and I followed. We stuffed ourselves into the tiny elevator and went up some floors, after which we arrived right at the doorstep of the izakaya.
Emilie led us inside a bit of a dark restaurant with wooden tables. We sat down and she explained to us how it worked: there was an iPad-like screen on the wall on the left and we could choose anything we wanted. The menu was in English as well (!) and the prices were clearly indicated. Water was on order and for free. After some looking down the menu, we decided ordered something delicious with noodles and egg (but I forgot the name of it) and some gyoza. There were also free edamame beans, which were delicious. Not long after, the food and water (in huge glasses) arrived and it was time to eat!
Unfortunately, my mom confessed to me later that thanks to her cold she had barely tasted anything! Poor her, the food was so good… :(
After we had finished, my mom paid for all of us (♥) and we left the izakaya again. It was quite a wonderful experience (except for the smokers next to us XD).
We went on our way again, this time to Closet Child Shinjuku. We climbed the narrow stairs and looked around for a bit, but nothing really caught my attention.
I did however find an adorable pink tulle skirt for 1250 yen that was just too adorable to leave behind, so I decided to get it. ^^
we left Closet Child again, went into a convenience store to get some drinks (and where I embarrassed myself by dropping every single coin I had in my wallet on the counter) and went on our way to Marui Annex, the replacement department store of what used to be Marui OIOI.
We followed Emilie, meeting two adorable Lolitas along the way, and soon arrived at Marui Annex. It looked quite different from what I expected.
We took the escalators up to the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty floor. Next to the elevators where special shop windows and of course I had to take a picture of the one Angelic Pretty had made.
We also passed a shop window for an accessories shop that featured pictures of my Facebookfriends Lunie and Marie. That was pretty cool. :3
We walked around the corner, passed the Metamorphose shop, briefly browsed the Baby shop (where they were vacuum cleaning, hihi) and arrived at the Angelic Pretty shop.
The shop was really big! And there were like four shop girls! The shop was really pretty, with fancy wallpaper and an awesome pouf to sit on (which my mom did gratefully). Emilie and I browsed the store and I quickly found two items to my liking: a pink barette bow and the wristcuffs Emilie was wearing in blue. After some doubting, my mom recommended the wristcuffs so I got those.
One of the shop girls in particular looked incredibly adorable, although I questioned her use of red shoes in an outfit that had no red whatsoever. She was a-do-ra-ble though and she was so kind, showing me all kinds of things. Ugh, she was too cute! ♥
I paid and we left the shop again. We decided it was enough for the day and we left Marui Annex. We walked to Shinjuku station, where finally, after a long day, it was time to say goodbye to Emilie. We hugged and fake cried and then officially said goodbye. I waved at her until I couldn’t see her anymore.
My mom and walked around the station, I bought a (really nice) drink at McDonald’s and we returned to our hotel room, where I could finally change into my pajamas.
I took pictures of my purchases, my mom and I talked and then we went to bed.
Emilie and I managed to make our dream come true! I am so happy I was able to have this experience with her and no one will ever be able to take that away from us!
It was amazing…♥
