On Wednesday, my classes began, starting at 10.10 am and going until 12.50 or 7.00pm every day. On Friday I finished at 12.50, so a few friends and I went to Inokashira Park in Kichijōji. Unfortunately, I didn't know that we were going to go there, so I didn't bring my camera. However, I have some photos that my friend Tessa took:
We saw some turtles and some MASSIVE koi fish in the lake/pond. I don't have any pictures of the koi but next time I go, I'll take my camera.
Also, the view of the lake from a bridge inside the park, including the beautiful architecture behind it. Hmmm.
Also, there was a pub selling Guinness by the pint for ¥900 (about £7).
On Saturday, I met up with some friends from Newcastle Uni who are currently in Tokyo - Homy and Nao, from Japan, and Dan, from Newcastle. We met in Shibuya where we saw some interesting people, such as this guy:
The girls took us to a shopping centre which turned out to have nothing but girls' clothing, such as our favourite for the Engrish-fail name:
It seemed to sell a bit of everything: Disney and anime fancy dress, underwear, cosmetics, and loads of weird 'only in Japan' stuff. Here are a couple of my favourites from the cosmetic section:
Ah yes, the eyelash case - of course!
These aren't fancy balaclavas - the idea is that you wear it at night and it makes your face smaller over time (no jokes, that is what it said on the packaging). I don't understand what the inventor was thinking, or who would buy this. Possibly the weirdest thing I've seen in Tokyo (so far, anyway).
We went to a restaurant and had ramen noodles for lunch. Mine was a pork 'Kyushu Jangara Ramen', and it was oishii (delicious)! I had trouble trying to slurp my ramen as loudly as possible (seen as polite in Japanese culture) but did my best, to the amusement of my Japanese friends!
After lunch, we went to the Meiji shrine in Shibuya, which was really amazing. It was so clean and so ornate, and felt very relaxed compared to the bustle of the city. Here are a few photos from the shrine and the walk up to it:
The fourth photo is of beautifully decorated barrels of alcohol, and the fifth is of the wash area where you ritually wash your hands and mouth using wooden scoops filled with water before entering the shrine.
Also, I bought a yukata (floor-length kimono) in a store in Harajuku:
In terms of shape, it looks much better in real life as it is hard to see in the above photo.
I love the design on the back, which depicts Kintaro (translated as Golden Boy) from Japanese folklore, wrestling a giant koi.
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