On Saturday the 24th of October my mom and I got up really early. We got dressed, collected our last things and checked the room one more time. Then it was time to go. We said goodbye to room 1452 and went downstairs. We checked out at the desk and then walked up to the restaurant, which opened not long after. We asked whether we could leave our suitcases somewhere for a moment and the incredibly helpful staff kept our luggage to the side while we went to have breakfast one more time. I sure was going to miss that amazing breakfast. ;_;
After we were done, we picked up our suitcases again and waited for the bus to take us to the airport.
Ready to leave Japan. I can’t believe I managed to get all my stuff inside that one suitcase!
Despite all the incredibly slow and annoying people that had to get on the same bus, the hotel staff lady remained patient and managed to get everyone and every suitcase ready (she sure was patient, damn). The bus soon arrived and my mom and I found a seat right at the front.
Our airport limousine bus tickets.
The bus left and I said my silent goodbye to the hotel. I said a lot of silent goodbyes that day. We made one more stop at Shinjuku station. We passed the big orange clock one more time, a silent goodbye and then our ride to the airport began. Every trip to Japan ended with a bus ride back to the airport, so it wasn’t a novelty to us. However, I was still a bit surprised at how fast the driver drove. I do love leaving the city by bus. You see Tokyo from such a different side.
We left the city and passed Disneyland. Another silent goodbye.
Bye Disneyland!
After a long ride and somewhat annoying fellow passengers, we arrived at the airport. At every stop, staff members would bow for the bus and then start unloading the suitcases meant for that terminal. My mom and I were the last ones to get off. We collected our luggage and went inside the terminal. We quickly found the right desk, checked in and went to stand in line for luggage check in. It was our turn quite soon and I was immensely relieved to see my suitcase’s weight was just around the permitted weight. We let our suitcases go and decided to just go through customs immediately.
Our flight would leave at 10:30 am.
We got our hand luggage checked and walked into the airport. I just noticed I didn’t take any pictures, but it’s ok. There was not that much to do to take pictures of anyway. We did however spent our last yen in one of the souvenir shops we remembered from previous trips. It’s called ‘Asakusa’ or something. They sell lots of candy and souvenirs there and well… we love souvenirs. x) However, during our previous trips it wasn’t crowded there at all, but this time it was! My mom went to browse, while I walked on to another shop to buy the newest Kera (which I had completely forgotten during our entire trip). When I got back, my mom was still in line. Initially I thought this was bothersome, but it gave us the opportunity to check souvenirs along the way to the checkout, so it was fun after all. ^^ I got a really nice tote bag and a key chain.
During all of our trips, I have given kokeshi dolls to my mom (at least two of them from this exact shop). My mom had wanted to buy one during our trip, but ended up not doing so for whatever reason. Luckily, she fell in love with one in the this shop again! So what better way to end our trip than to honour the tradition of buying my mom a kokeshi doll? She was so happy! ♥
We ended up with a big pile of candy and souvenirs and just after we had paid, my mom said: ‘Argh, I don’t know what to do! I found something so pretty, but I\m not sure whether to buy it…’ Then, she showed me a beautiful little box that turned out to be a music box! I insisted she bought it, otherwise she would have regretted it anyway. x)
Finally, our airport shopping was over and we walked on to our gate.
Our plane, waiting to take us home.
Soon, it was time to board. We quickly found our seats and made ourselves comfortable (as far as that’s possible in an airplane, haha). Not long after, our plane started moving.
Our final moments on Japanese ground.
Our plane drove to the take-off strip and the engine started to roar. I held my mom’s hand and didn’t bother her too much, while I looked through the window while the plane took off and the wheels left the ground. A silent goodbye. I was sad to be leaving, but at the same time relieved. I was tired, in a good way, but very tired.
What can I say about the fight home? It was long. Writing about it so long after makes it seem like it wasn’t that long, but of course it was. I watched movies. We ate food. I walked around a couple of times to stretch. Nothing special. Some of the views were amazing though.
Our flight in a nutshell, haha!
After a looong time, we were finally almost there. The plane started to descend and soon we flew over the big, green and neat acres of the Netherlands. It looked cold and grey, but familiar (haha).
Ready to land in our own country.
Soon the wheels hit the ground and it took a while before the plane arrived at the terminal. Coming home is such a strange feeling… I was genuinely happy to be back, but leaving all the adventures behind is also saddening.
We collected our things and left the airplane. We went looking for a toilet first to get freshened up a bit and then followed the people to customs. It was crowded there though, damn! They had even turned off the escalator, otherwise people would just be pushed into each other!
We finally got through customs and proceeded to the luggage belts, hoping our suitcases would arrive safely. The last time we were there, I had to catch our suitcases before they hit a small pole that wrecked some other suitcases. ^^’
I was looking out for my dad, who would be picking us up, when suddenly I was struck with surprise. Because behind the window where relatives and friends could wave at the people they were waiting for stood not just my dad, but also my brother! Now this may seem like a very unsurprising thing to you, however not for us! My brother had left for Oxford, England in September to study there for a couple of months, so we were not expecting him to welcome us back at all! Turns out, my dad had kept this surprise a secret from us. How cool is that? When my mom saw him, she started crying. ♥
We found our suitcases, were reunited with my dad and brother and went home. Our amazing adventure was finally over.
Purchases of the day
And to end this post with, here is the first video I made about our adventures in Tokyo (there are two parts)! I filmed a lot and tried to make the best videos I could about our trip. I hope you will like it! ♥
You can find day 15 from 6:42 until the end. Please take a look if you want! ♥
Thank you for reading! ~☆~
This was my last Japan 2015 post! Thank you all so much for reading about our adventures! I hope you enjoyed them! ♥ Thank you for staying with me.
Onwards to a new adventure~!
On our final day in Japan we had planned to go shopping in Harajuku one last time. It’s seriously so great to travel with someone who loves shopping in Harajuku just as much as you do! You may think I drag my mom along, heck even I sometimes think I drag my mom along. But she assured me time and time again she honestly loves it immensely. ♥
However, before going to Harajuku I wanted to try and get the dress from the new Angelic Pretty x Disney release called ‘Fairy Season’. So we got dressed, had breakfast and went on our way!
Our unintended matching pink x white outfits of the day.
Soon, we found ourselves in front of Takashimaya Times Square at 9:30 am. I had read the series would go on sale at 10 am so we wanted to be a bit early, however the store didn’t open until 10 am. Stupid me. XD
On our way to Takashimaya Times square, not realising it wouldn’t open until 10 am, haha!
So my mom and I just joked around a bit until 10 am. At first we were the only ones, just waiting between the two doors and staring at the people inside preparing the store for opening time. However, soon we were joined by more and more people (mainly women) in business suits. I had heard the previous Angelic Pretty x Disney release had been terrible, with lines and items selling out fast and people fighting! Well, maybe no fighting… x) But still! So I was mentally preparing myself for the worst, but also wondering whether it could really be that bad. The women standing next to us didn’t look like Lolita types at all (not even incognito), but you never know of course. Then, a girl stepped out of the group and started to put on running shoes! I kid you not! As it was almost opening time my nerves went up and I took a battle stance. Finally, the guard opened the doors and welcomed us with a bow. And then, some of the most surreal couple of minutes of my life happened. The girl on the running shoes started running like her life depended on it towards the escalators. Fired up, I ran up to the elevators myself (not too fast, as my mom couldn’t keep up otherwise). We went up to the 8th floor instead of the 9th floor where the Disney store was, since the elevator didn’t go up that far. So, feeling a bit worried and fearing what I would find upstairs, I ran up the last escalator and found myself… on a completely empty floor. There were absolutely no customers yet, nowhere. So I just sort of skipped to the Disney store, but as I passed the other shops on the way there, the staff waiting at the entrances to the stores waited for me to pass them, bowed, said ‘Irashaimase!’ and then started their work. They literally waited for me to pass them to start this process, as if my sole presence turned them on like robots. It was crazy! Imagine me there all alone on a children’s floor in a giant store, walking past staff members and causing them to start their daily business. Did the employees have to wait for the first customer to greet until they could start working? If I hadn’t come up to the Disney store, how long would they have waited? These questions all crossed my mind until I reached the Disney store, where I was the first customer in an otherwise empty shop! XD
Waiting for me at the Disney store: the Fairy Season dress!
I didn’t see the girl with the running shoes, so I wonder where she went? I’ll never know… But I swear, this was one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had. x)
Anyway, the dress was there and I was the first one to have a look at it (such honour, hehe)! One of the kind (and incredibly handsome and cute) male staff members took the dress off the hanger for me and after examining it (and loving it already, although I did wonder why it’s called ‘Fairy Season’ when there are no fairies on it, haha) I decided to get the dress, the matching bow and the beautiful matching necklace. I doubted a little about the capelet too, but since I had bought a bunny capelet in Osaka already I decided not to. A wise decision for once, haha!
You’d think we’d had enough Disney for at least a year, but nope. We walked around the store for a bit more and after petting all the Tsumtsums we left.
Happy with my new release dress!
My mom and I decided to take my purchases back to the hotel before going to Harajuku, so we didn’t have to drag them along all day. Back at the hotel room, I quickly took pictures of them and then we went on our way.
The last shopping day always gives me a lot of pressure. Of course it’s fun, but the realisation that this is your final chance to see, buy and do the things you want also sometimes nearly suffocates me. Luckily, I asked my mom to help me if I felt like I was starting to panic and that helped a lot.
We took the Yamanote line and soon arrived at Harajuku. It was a grey, cloudy day, but I didn’t mind. The last shopping day doesn’t necessarily require sun or blue skies. We took some pictures of the entrance and then entered Takeshita dori.
Ready for some Harajuku shopping! ☆
Since there was no time for frolicking around, we immediately dived into the Wego, where I bought the amazing gold round glasses I had seen on Monday, which I love to death, aaah! They are so amazing! *o* I think it’s a shame Wego seems to be taking over Takeshita dori, however it is a really great shop too!
Shopping at Wego is so nice!
Then, we entered the LePonte area, where my mom got a cute Gudetama key chain from a gashapon machine (that she eventually gave to me! I love it so much aaah)! While I tried a Gashapon machine with small cotton bags in them (I got a Rilakkuma… chick?) My mom also bought another bag and I decided again to not buy a heart-shaped bag (and this time, I don’t regret it).
Isn’t this bag my mom got super cute?
We left the LePonte area and decided to do some purikura! As we had a lot of things planned, we wouldn’t really be able to do it at another time, plus we still looked fresh and cute. My mom and I chose the ‘Princess’ purikura booth, which was basically everything sparkly and bright pink. The backgrounds really suited our outfits of that day super well!
Isn’t this purikura machine amazing? Just looking at these colourful pictures makes me happy! ♥
We continued our way down Takeshita dori and entered the Paris Kid’s, where I bought another pair of pompom earrings and some other things. I prefer hair pompoms over earrings, but I figured: you can also pin earrings to your hair. ^^
Amazing Paris Kid’s! ☆
We walked on and right before Bodyline we took a left turn into a side street. During our visit to Harajuku on Monday we had skipped this street, but since there are more cute shops there we wanted to check them out this time. One of those shops was Fancy Pocket.
In my opinion not enough people know about the awesomeness that is Fancy Pocket!
This store is located right above the school uniforms shop Conomi and is filled to the brim with the most varying accessories. There are baskets filled with hair clips, hair ties, key chains bracelets, necklaces, rings and so many DIY items! It’s the ideal place for Decora girls! They also have a lot of cute handmade jewelry made from items you can find in the shop, including these adorable handmade mascots called Hoppe-chan (which apparently has its own shop next door). My mom and I both got a Hoppe-chan and I ended up buying a lot of things there. But everything was so cheap I didn’t spent that money there at all. *___* Also the shop girl was super cute aaah.
This is just a small corner of Fancy Pocket. This was such an amazing shop! ♥
We left the store and entered Takeshita dori again. We visited Bodyline shortly, but there wasn’t really anything I wanted. We crossed the street and instead entered Candy a Go Go, the candy shop. The shop was very cute and colourful and since we were in the mood for candy we decided to get some. It was expensive though, damn! x) But… we wanted candy. And… they had giant marshmallows! And delicious ginger bites. So yeah, we just didn’t take too much. ^^
Candy from Candy a Go go.
We ate our marshmallows and other candy while we walked on. We soon arrived at Closet Child. My mom was fine with entering it one last time (‘It’s our last shopping day so your last chance!’), so we did. ^^
Ready for one more Closet Child visit.
Now, I honestly wasn’t planning on buying anything. We browsed the shop and despite there being quite a lot of new dresses (mainly expensive ones: Misty Sky for 60.000 yen!) I didn’t really spot anything I truly wanted. Nevertheless I did pick up a couple of dresses to try, just to see whether they would surprise me. Two of them being Jewel Ribbon by Angelic Pretty in red and lavender. Then I spotted a dress I had had a lot of doubts about: Dramatic Rose in lavender. This series by Angelic Pretty had drawn my attention before, but I had always been partial on the lavender print, especially the JSK version with several bows on the chest. However, it was nicer than I expected; a bit like a curtain. But like, the good kind of curtain. I was curious whether my mom would really love it or really hate it, so I showed it to her. To my surprise she said she really liked it and suggested I’d definitely try it on!
So into the dressing room I went. First dress: Dramatic Rose. I put on the dress, my mom helped me with the zipper and I turned around. My mom, sitting on her chair, fell silent, tears welled up in her eyes and she said: ‘I think that is the prettiest dress you’ve ever put on…’
My mom, who has seen and loved me in many Lolita dresses, started crying! Now, of course she was very tired after two weeks of intense Japan-exploring and her emotions might have been a bit out of balance. But still! I, however, wasn’t that enthusiastic at first, until I put on the bolero I had been wearing in my normal outfit (when I did that, I believe my mom started crying and complimenting even more… ;_; ♥). So I decided to buy the dress! I mean… I guess you understand it was no longer possible to leave Closet Child without a dress… Yes, I will admit my mom’s enthusiasm convinced me and maybe, in a way, I bought it more for her than for me. But I was and still am overly happy with this purchase. ^^
I went to get some more cash money at the 7/11 and when I returned, my mom was chatting with two lovely girls. I believe they were from Australia and they were very nice. ♥
I found a lovely pair of socks that matched Dramatic Rose, got the same socks in white to match other things in my closet and asked the shop girl to get the Angelic Pretty pony necklace out of the accessories cabinet. I had left the pink x blue version behind in Closet Child Ikebukuro and regretted it, so this pink x pink version came along instead. I found some cute buttons and a BtSSB key chain and then my shopping was done. Dear God, last shopping days are great but also stressful (believe it or not)! Then, it was finally time to leave Closet Child again.
Happy with my final purchases at Closet Child!
We walked to the end of Takeshita dori, passing so many wonderful shops we didn’t enter. I spotted a restaurant that offered an all-you-can-eat buffet where it was more expensive for men than for women to eat. I thought that was funny somehow. XD
We left Takeshita dori and crossed the street, to take pictures of the amazing and colourful clock belonging to the Harajuku information centre. Somehow I had overlooked it when we were in Harajuku on Monday (like… how? That thing is like a rainbow in a cloudy sky), so we took some nice pictures this time.
This place is amazing for pictures! ☆
We walked on and I silently said goodbye to Takeshita dori, which we left behind us. I know it’s the same for many J-fashion lovers, but Harajuku is such a special and magical place to me, it was hard to leave.
Saying goodbye to Takeshita dori.
We passed the mirror sign showing Europe of which I had taken pictures before. We passed a shop dedicated to the LINE app. A couple with their very young girl dressed in kimono walked by (she looked so cute). We also passed the awesome-looking shop called Bubbles. I took a picture in front of it just because it looked so damn awesome, but we didn’t enter it.
The sole reason I took this picture was because the shop looked cute. x)
We didn’t enter any more shops, because we were on our way to our next destination: the Kawaii Monster Café. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about: a couple of months ago an amazing new café opened in Harajuku. The café is supposed to look like the inside of a monster and is separated into several ‘zones’. The café is designed by Sebastian Masuda, the owner of 6% Dokidoki, and you can regularly walk into shop staff or special Monster Girls aka the café’s mascots. I had been looking forward to visiting his café a lot. It’s mainly worth a visit for the sights, but the food is also weird and colourful!
From the outside the café might be hard to overlook, but it’s amazing from the inside!
We went up an escalator of a pretty normal-looking building and followed some signs when suddenly we found ourselves in front of a colourful desk and a colourful door, welcomed by two girls wearing colourful costumes. We had found the Kawaii Monster Café! The girls welcomed us and explained the concept to us: beside the cost of food, you also had to pay a separate fee just to visit the café. When we agreed, we got to pick a zone to sit at. Our choices were: The Mushroom Disco, the Milk Stand, the Bar Experiment or the Mel-Tea Room. I had seen pictures of the café before and had already decided I wanted to sit at the Mel-Tea room: a pastel-coloured corner of the café filled with cute things and macarons along the walls and ceiling. My mom was fine with it so we chose (you literally had to push a button and then the screen you had chosen lit up)! Then, one of the girls led the way and we entered through the red door, or ‘the monster’s mouth’.
The door through which you enter the Kawaii Monster Café.
Then, we entered a place that is hard to describe because there is so much to describe! We entered through the door and immediately bumped into the amazing ‘Sweets-go-round’ carrousel I had so often seen in pictures already. It’s a giant cake filled with rideable seats like a banana, a unicorn, a pair of cherries, a hat, a sheep and a dripping yellow bunny. Confused yet? Don’t worry! Here’s a picture:
The Sweets-go-round carrousel.
We followed the waitress to the Mel-Tea room. The café was quiet, there were not many people, but there was a lot of sound coming from the music playing in the several areas. The waitress sat us down at a small round table in the Mel-Tea room, beautifully decorated with iridescent mosaic. And wow, was it amazing…
The amazing Mel-Tea room was like walking around in a dream! ☆
The room was everything I had dreamed of: the yellow walls were covered in chocolate bars, cream, strawberries, macarons and forks poking through the ceiling. Pastel chandeliers softly illuminated the tables and chairs. A sweet and yet oddly eerie music was playing on repeat. It was amazing!
Details of the Mel-Tea room. ♥
The waitress told us something I didn’t completely understand and might even have misunderstood: apparently we were supposed to stay in our chosen area or something? Instead of walking around through the entire café. But since everyone does that, we ignored it too. x)
The waitress showed us the menu and of course I had to take a picture of it! I mean, it was a square-shaped cake with a monster in it!
If this isn’t the coolest menu you’ve ever seen I don’t know what's wrong with you.
Of course, the monster was not really a monster but actually a touch screen. You could easily scroll through the menu and its several different categories, like drinks, snacks, meals, etc. Since it was not that late in the afternoon, my mom and I decided to share the ‘Colorful Poison Parfait’ (so ice cream) together, as we didn’t want to eat a full meal. It looked very promising! We ordered and then waited for our food, which arrived quite fast. And we were not disappointed by its looks!
Our spectacular Colorful Poison Parfait!
The ice cream itself was… interesting to see the least. The different coloured creams
draped along the rim of the glass all had different tastes and some were very chemical, especially the green one (which tasted like mint). But somehow… it was still tasty! The ice cream itself was very nice and the cake, fruit and cornflakes were lovely as usual. ♥
After our ice cream, it was time to explore the café~! We started with… the bathroom. x) Now that may seem a bit random, but let’s be honest: there’s no way a café spectacular like this has ordinary bathrooms. Just no way. And were we right!
Have you ever been to the toilet in a rainbow? Well, here it is possible! When walked into the toilets I was blinded by the storm of colours I found there. The walls were covered in little tiles in every colour possible. A big chandelier hung from the mirror ceiling. The four toilet stalls had different colours (orange, red, green and purple). The wash bins were made of glass and stood upon a glass container filled with coloured balls. It was amazing…
This is the most spectacular bathroom I have ever been in. It was incredible!
We left the bathroom and went on to explore the other areas of the café. The first one we passed was the Bar Experiment. This bar was located underneath something that looked a lot like a giant jellyfish (my suspicions were strengthened by the several jellyfish lights hanging from the ceiling that accompanied it). The big tentacles hovering over the bar changed colour all the time. It was quite spectacular!
The Bar Experiment.
We walked past the Bar Experiment and past the Sweets-go-round to the Milk Stand. Big baby milk bottles hung from the mirror ceiling. Milk coloured seats and chairs stood around white tables with the same iridescent mosaic. A unicorn, bunny and sheep head drink were attached to some milk bottles as if they were drinking it. Quite an interesting area, don’t you think?
The Milk Stand.
Between the Milk Stand and the Sweets-go-round was another amazing area: the Mushroom Disco. This incredible part of the Kawaii Monster Café consisted of several giant, colourful mushrooms and flowers that hovered above adorable round seats. I would have loved to sit there as well. If I ever return to this café, this would be my choice to sit at. ^^
The Mushroom Disco.
There were two more areas that seemed to be the transitions between areas. I have no idea whether you could choose to sit there as well. One was to the left of the Mushroom Disco and was a bit more open, with round seats and some giant plants growing up to the ceiling. The other area was behind the Mushroom Disco and next to the Milk Stand. Long rows of red seats and tables were placed along the wall and it was decorated with big, red lips.
Like mentioned before, often you can meet Kawaii Monster girls or 6% Dokidoki staff members and I was lucky enough to spot the amazing Kanata! He was kind enough to take a picture with me, yay! ♥
Doesn’t Kanata look amazing? *o*
Finally, it was time to leave the Kawaii Monster Café. *sniff* I had such a good time there and writing about it makes me all happy again! Walking around there was like walking through a fantasyland. I didn’t know where to look and was just amazed by everything… I hope I can return there someday, that would be amazing! But I am already so grateful for this experience. ♥
Some last pictures in the Kawaii Monster café, because I just loved this place too much! ^0^
After we had paid, the waitress gave us a small gift! It was a pair of chopsticks wrapped in a Kawaii Monster Café packaging. She had stuck both the Japanese and the Dutch flag on it (although the Dutch one upside down, hihi). I thought it was so sweet!
The waitress led us to the exit (we passed the special smokers room, which was basically completely red but with a giant ice cream-shaped astray in the middle, how cool is that?) and we made our way through the gift shop (yes, there really was one). What a magical experience…
We left the building and went on our way to 6% Dokidoki. One can never have too many colours in one day, right? ^^ Once we got there, I went to browse the shop while my mom sat down on the stairs. I was very excited, for I was about to meet someone I had wanted to meet for a long time: Manon Marguerite! I had been following this amazing girl online for a long time and she was kind enough to tell me her working times at the 6% Dokidoki shop! So now I could finally meet her. ;_;
I entered the (very loud) shop and there she was! Aaah, I was a little star struck and sooo shy! But Manon was so sweet and looked amazing and then 6% Dokidoki staff member Yuka walked into the shop too and I pretty much died…
I have actually met Yuka before, in Paris, but I was so excited I had completely forgotten about that for a moment! It was actually my mom who made me remember, oh my God. Anyway, I talked a bit with Manon (I asked whether it’s hard to work in such a music-filled shop all day and she said you get used to it, respect!) and we took a picture together with the three of us! *dead again* Thank you so much Manon and Yuka, you are both so amazing! ;_; ♥
With the amazing Yuka and Manon~!
Oh, I also bought a ring and a button, almost forgot to mention. x)
It was slowly getting dark and time to leave Harajuku. My mom and I decided to walk back to Takeshita dori one last time. Right when we walked around the corner of Meiji dori into Takeshita dori, I spotted… the casual skirt of my life: bright red with big, white polkadots. I love red with white polkadots and now I saw the perfect skirt! The shop was a tiny pop up stall of ACDC rag, a shop that was also located a little further down the street. There was no way (or time) for me to try the skirt on, but it had an elastic waist band, Then suddenly, everything went superfast and I think my mom bought me the skirt..? It went so fast, it was like lightning! *o* Anyway, yay~! Skirt! ♥
We walked down Takeshita dori and I turned around one last time. I looked down the street and said my goodbye in silence.
A last look down Takeshita dori.
We took the Yamanote line back to Shinjuku, where we took our purchases to our hotel room. Then, we went on our way again to buy a last gift at Tower Records, but this time at the one in Shinjuku. My dad knew another CD he would like to have, so we decided to get it for him. Once we had found it at the shop, I also asked whether they sold the Gothic & Lolita Bible. Well actually, I had to write it down. I was so proud no one had asked me to write things down because they couldn’t understand me yet! Damn you, Tower Records employee! x) I was afraid he would bring me the newest edition, but apparently that one wasn’t out yet because he came back with the cat-themed issue (that featured an article about the Lolita events in Paris and my picture). So fine, you are forgiven, Tower Records employee. ^^
We also quickly entered the DIY- and deco shop ‘Grain Plaire’, where my mom bought a bunch of beads and I bought a small amount of ring- and earring bases for decoing. ^^
To end our last day in Tokyo in style, my mom and I had dinner at our favourite restaurant. It’s remarkable that after eating there so many times, we finally received an English menu that made us understand the restaurant’s system: apparently you could combine menus! XD We never knew that before. Anyway, my mom chose a lovely plate with a tea pot(!) and I chose an amazing combination with fried chicken (can you tell I loved fried chicken during this trip?).
Our last meal in Japan, which was sooo good!
The food was so good I nearly cried. ;_; ♥ No but really, it was so delicious. For dessert, my mom and I both had a big soft ice cream from McDonald’s and then we returned to the hotel. There, we packed our suitcases, which turned out to be quite an adventure as usual! We weighed our luggage several times and I was on the brink of acceptable, but we managed! Then we went to sleep. It had been a long and eventful day.
Purchases of the day
Purchases of the day
Purchases of the day
And to end this post with, here is the first video I made about our adventures in Tokyo (there are two parts)! I filmed a lot and tried to make the best videos I could about our trip. I hope you will like it! ♥
You can find day 14 from 2:32 until 6:41. Please take a look if you want! ♥
On Thursday we had a bit of trouble waking up, as you can probably imagine after Disneyland. We got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast (I still dream of this breakfast…). We had decided to have a fairly quiet day: visiting Shibuya in the morning and Shinjuku in the afternoon. Naturally, our plans changed quickly.
We got our things, took some outfit pictures and then went on our way to Shibuya.
Our outfits of the day.
We took the Yamanote line to Shibuya, which didn’t take very long. Walking all the way from one side of the platform to the exit almost took longer, haha!
We got out at the Hachiko exit of the station and walked into the open air. The famous Shibuya crossing was in front of us.
Vibrant and colourful Shibuya!
We walked up to Hachi first. My mom and I love Hachi and my mom always gets emotional when she sees his statue.
Dear Hachi. ♥
We took a lot of pictures around the statue. Hachi means a lot t both of us, but especially to my mom.
Posing with Hachi. This picture was actually taken a little later but ssh!
Then we walked up to the crossing to… well, cross it. x) It’s strange to know thousands of people cross these streets every single day and that this place is so famous. I spotted a really cool Coca Cola truck showing a video of Kyary by the way.
Kyary can make me believe EVERYTHING is awesome!
We crossed the street, which always gives me a bit of a special feeling. Walking on Shibuya Crossing will hopefully always be special to me.
Shibuya station seen from the other side of the street.
After the crossing we spotted a shop that sold magazines and since I was on the hunt for the newest Gothic & Lolita Bible, I wanted to see whether they sold them. We first took a picture with the big silver basketball we had spotted during our previous stay and then entered the shop. They didn’t have any GLBs, however they did have some really cool 3D cards and my mom ended up buying some.
Before heading to the famous Shibuya 109 mall, instead we walked into a side street to go to Tower Records. It’s really difficult to find any gifts for my dad, so when he finally said over Skype there were a CD and a BluRay he was interested in, of course we immediately made it our mission to find them.
While walking, we were passed by a one of the many trucks driving around playing songs and showing some kind of album cover. This one I had spotted often in the metro: it showed a hooded Red Riding Hood and a really hot guy with wolf ears.
We arrived at Tower Records, where they had this strange, slight deformed copy statue of Hachi in front of the door. We were greeted by the well-known birhgt yellow front.
Tower Records: ‘No music, no life!’
We went inside and went to ask for the Ryuichi Sakamoto BluRay. We walked around several floors and I saw a lot of interesting-looking groups and singers. I also spotted a video to promote Ladybeard’s music. My mom was both shocked and delighted by it. XD
Shopping at Tower Records. This place is so amazing! ☆
After some asking around, we found the BluRay! I was glad my dad had given such specific instructions, since the kind employee showed us two different versions. But we found the right one. ^^ My mom and I both paid half, since BluRays are quite expensive plus this way it would be a present from the both of us. ^^
We left Tower Records again, but not before I tried my luck with two gashapon machines! One had super cute tiny hamsters in tea pots and on spoons. I couldn’t just walk past them, they were calling for me! I ended up with an adorable hamster in a dark red tea pot. :3 They also had the lovely Sailor Moon key chain gashapon machine, but I ended up with exactly the same key chain as the one I got in Osaka, so back home I sent it to a friend. ^^
I love gashapon machines so much! I think they’re so exciting!
We started walking back to Shibuya crossing, but when I spotted a Disney store I suggested to my mom to enter it for a moment. A day or two before, I had seen pictures of a new Angelic Pretty x Disney collaboration that would come out on our very last day in Japan (well, technically second to last day, but you get it) and I wanted to try and get the dress. I heard the previous release had been a total nightmare, so I wanted to try and ask whether the series would also come out in the Disney store in Takashimaya Times Square, the shop close to our hotel.
The Disney store in Shibuya really stands out from the other modern buildings.
We entered the Shibuya store and I asked a kind employee in the best way I could and by showing a picture whether this series would come out in Shinjuku as well. I think she understood me and she even made a phone call just to be sure and then assured me the dress would come out the next day. Yay!
My mom and I walked back to Shibuya crossing and then went on our way to Shibuya109. While I was taking a video of the mall’s front, my mom spoke the legendary words: ‘Wow, I’ve just realised Shibuya109 is actually in Shibuya!’ Well done mom. XD (I swear she said this, I’ve got it on video to prove it).
Famous Shibuya109!
We entered Shibuya109 and just started walking around all the floors. This sounds so easily done, but it look a long time, haha! Despite Shibuya109 not really tending to my style that much, I loved a lot of shops and also bought some things! They had a wonderful shop dedicated to socks and it was 3 pairs for 1000 yen. Since they had all kinds of adorable see-through socks and ruffly socks and other cute socks, both my mom and I couldn’t withstand buying 3 pairs each.
We also visited the Swankiss shop, which was absolutely lovely and there was one necklace I really liked, but unfortunately it was a bit too expensive for me. The shop was a-ma-zing though. *o*
The amazing Swankiss shop. ♥
We arrived at Liz Lis and as per usual, I walked around pretty much drooling on all the clothes (not really). I just love this brand so much…
Suddenly, my mom showed me a basket with face towels. Face towels are a really Japanese things: they’re just small towels you can put in your bag and use to freshen yourself up a bit. These were really pretty and they had ‘Liz Lisa’ embroidered on them. Suddenly, my mom said: ‘Ok, you can pick one and I’ll buy it for you as a present, so you can finally say you bought something at Liz Lisa. Isn’t that just the funniest thing!? XD I picked my favourite face towel and we took it to the cashier. When the (amazing looking) staff girl asked a slight bit hesitantly whether we wanted a bag, we enthusiastically said ‘Yes!’ And that is the story of how I finally bought something at Liz Lisa. XD
My one and only Liz Lisa purchase! Let’s ignore the fact I held the bag the wrong way around, shall we? XD
I also loved spending time browsing in Ruby Rose. This over-the-top pink shop sells the most amazing over-the-top accessories and I quickly fell in love with a bunch of earrings, which I would buy later. Walking around in this store is like a Sweet Lolita’s dream! ♥
Ruby Rose is so amazing! *o*
Once my mom and I had walked around all the floors, we found a bench and my mom gratefully sat down on it. While I went back to buy my socks and Ruby Rose earrings, she rested for a bit. When I got back, I sat down for a bit too.
Once we felt better, we left Shibuya109 and headed back to Hachi. Once we arrived there, I realised I was still tired, so we bought two drinks from a vending machine (milk teeaaa ♥) and sat down behind the statue.
Beautiful Hachi, always waiting…
It was nice to just sit for a bit, observe people and talk. We decided to go back to our hotel once we were ready to rest a bit more and go to Shinjuku in the evening.
We got up and walked into the station. Some of the widows up there have great view upon the Shibuya crossing, so we filmed a bit and took some pictures.
Shibuya crossing, seen from the station.
When we left the station, we decided to take a last picture of us with Hachi, so we asked someone to help us out. Then, we finally took the train back. We bought a drink and some bread rolls at bakery Hokuo and spent some quiet time in our hotel room.
Don’t you just love my Halloween melon bread!?
A bit after 5 pm we headed out again and went on or way to Closet Child Shinjuku! We walked from our hotel to the shop, which took a little while but my mom and I felt so much better that we didn’t mind at all. There was so much to see. ^^ Shinjuku is so lively at night.
I really like this picture of my mom in front of the Shinjuku skyscrapers. ♥
Among other things, we passed the big neon “Jumbo” sign that belonger to a Pachinko place. My mom and I aren’t particularly interested in Pachinko, however this big sign has become a bit of a landmark for us.
This big neon sign sure is hard to miss!
Finally, we arrived at Closet Child where I honestly took way too much time. -_- There weren’t any dresses I died for and the dresses I did try weren’t nice enough. I ended up just buying a ring for a friend and a necklace. Sorry mom! >__<
Some of the dresses at Closet Child Shinjuku.
We left Closet Child and went on our way to Marui Annex, to visit the only Angelic Pretty that rested us. But before we did, we walked around Omoide Yokocho a bit first. My mom absolutely adores this block of tiny streets and restaurants, however we haven’t dared to eat
there yet. x)
Happily walking around Omoide Yokocho. ^^
We walked on and walked past the famous Studio Alta shop and various neon signs. Tokyo is amazing by night and it is just impossible for me not to take pictures of the neons all around.
I absolutely adore Tokyo by night… ☆
However, the walk to Marui Annex took way longer than I expected. My mom wanted to buy the F.i.n.t. bag she had seen a couple of days earlier in MyLord, but it was getting later and later thanks to me. Sorry mom, not my best night! >__< Please forgive me! ♥
Finally, after asking somewhere whether we were even going in the right direction, we found Marui Annex and the Angelic Pretty shop. We filmed our video, I browsed for a bit and ended up with a cute, maid-like headband. The shop girl was also really cute. ^^
Angelic Pretty no. 5!
We left Marui Annex and headed to MyLord. Luckily, we had more than enough time left and my mom could buy her amazing white F.i.n.t. bag. She loves it so much! I am really glad she bought it after all. My mom tends to doubt about whether cute things suit her (and her age), but this bag was so elegant and pretty much ageless in my opinion (even though I rarely think things don’t suit my mom because of something like age). And just look at her, she was so happy with her purchase! ^^
My mom holding her purchase (this is not the bag she bought, don’t worry).
We had gotten quite hungry by now, but luckily we were in MyLord. After some doubting, we decided to have dinner in the ‘Platinum Buffet’ restaurant. Somehow we both felt like eating more Western orientated food, like pasta, pizza, etc. and this restaurant offered just what we needed! Plus, they had amazing desserts and a chocolate fountain! The only weird thing was the empty profiteroles, they had no cream in them! But everything else was delicious. :3
Eating dinner with a fork again!
We headed back to our hotel, where we booked our bus ride to the airport for Saturday (at least, I think we did it that evening? Hm, might also have been some other day. Oh well). We were a bit disappointed that we would miss out on breakfast that day, because the bus would depart at 7 am. But we discovered the restaurant would actually open at 6:30 am, so there would still be time. Having a good breakfast before travelling can really make you feel better, so I was feeling quite relieved by this.
We went back to our hotel room, where I took purchase pictures. Then we went to bed. It had been a fun day! ^^
Purchases of the day
And to end this post with, here is the first video I made about our adventures in Tokyo (there are two parts)! I filmed a lot and tried to make the best videos I could about our trip. I hope you will like it! ♥
You can find day 13 from 0:00 until 2:31. Please take a look if you want! ♥
