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The next day we went to Tokyo which is only about two hours (by slow local trains) from Atami. We arrived around lunch time so we first went to Namja Town because I wanted to eat gyoza there.



Namja Town is a really cute and neat place, but there wasn't really much there that we could do. I either didn't know what the attractions were or they were aimed at really little kids. They were too expensive to just do without knowing what they were. I had seen something on a blog a while back about a cat themed haunted house that sounded neat, but I didn't see one. Namja Town was recently remodeled so I think maybe it's not there anymore.



The gyoza there was really good, but the portions were small for the price, especially when you consider that we payed 500 yen just to enter. I also didn't know enough Japanese to know the differences between some of the types of gyoza, but I got three random kinds and they were all good. I especially liked one that was ball-shaped and had a thicker outside layer. It was also more filling than the others I had and didn't seem as expensive.


I would have had fun walking around taking random pictures, but Jonathan didn't like Namja Town so we didn't stay much longer.


I read online about a place there that has random flavors of ice cream like squid and other gross stuff. I didn't see it while I was there (I guess it got lost among all the other dessert places) but I saw it in the brochure I picked up later.

Namja Town is in a mall called Sunshine City. Jonathan was still hungry so he got a wrap and coffee from Tully's while I looked around in some of the stores. I saw Nutella in an import shop and wanted to buy it but didn't want to carry it around with me. I meant to go back there at some point during our trip but I forgot! :(

Next we spent some time in Tokyu Hands and I bought some cute stickers. That store has so much stuff. I could spend hours in there!

After a while we went to Ueno Park. Part of the lake was filled with lotus. Only a few were blooming, but it was still very pretty.




That turtle had a cute mossy shell! :)


Next we rented a swan paddle boat to go around the pond. It was fun even though it was pretty hot




After the park we went to Yamashiroya. Jonathan looked around a bit and then went back to the hotel because he was hot and tired. I looked at the puzzles for a while and saw so many that I wanted but ended up buying nothing. Sometimes there are just so many cute things that I can't decide on anything! If I ever see the Disney Rapunzel puzzle that I saw there again I think I'll buy it.

Next I headed to Ginza, one of my favorite areas, especially at night. There aren't that many stores that I go in there, but the atmosphere is always nice.



So next I went to Uniqlo. I buy a lot of work clothes there and basic things like socks and plain shirts and stuff there. At the one in Ginza I often found some cuter things that I didn't see in other locations though. They have a newer store in Ginza now and it's bigger and fancier, but I think 11 floors was a bit excessive. The way stuff was displayed was more spacious so I don't really know if it had that much merchandise than the older store or not. I was a little unimpressed, but I did like the 11th floor which had a lot of t-shirts. I saw a Marie (the cat from Aristocats) t-shirt on sale that I had seen in Iwata, but they only had it in large. Iwata had only had it in medium.


So finally before heading back to Ikebukuro I went to Itoya. Except as I approached the area where the store was the entire building was gone! There was a big gap between a couple of tall buildings where it had been. I was sad but luckily I decided to go closer and saw a sign that said it was being rebuilt. There were two temporary locations on nearby streets. I went to one of them and luckily it had the traditional Japanese washi paper that I was interested in.


I ended up buying a large sheet with a light blue and gold glittery mountain and flower pattern. It unfortunately got a bit bent up on my way home so I think I'll cut it into sakura shaped pieces and hang them up in my apartment.

I took the subway back to Ikebukuro where Jonathan and I met back up. We went to Milky Way cafe which I've admired pretty much every time I went to Ikebukuro. The plastic displays in the window are so cute and yummy looking! I never made it there though (I didn't want to eat there by myself) so I was happy to finally go!


Milky Way cafe did not disappoint at all! It's really cute in there and has a nice view of the street below.



This parfait was crazy and super good. It had vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, mixed fruit, a piece of cake, a couple of cookies, and a piece of chocolate, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, and chocolate syrup.


As if it wasn't amazing enough already, mine came inside a bigger glass filled with dry ice. My phone couldn't capture the awesomeness of the dry ice coming out of it though.


I don't remember everything that Jonathan's had, but I know that it did have like a churro and cream puffs.

Afterwards we went to Book Off for a while and eventually ended up at an arcade. Not a surprise at all, haha.


Even the money exchange machines were cute there! :)



I'm obsessed with purikura now and we had to do it again! We totally messed up the background picture though. :P The machines take the photos so quickly! It's sometimes hard to get in position in time.

They even have a Hitler action figure! So weird!


I ended up buying just a key chain. It's of the sign for Ikebukuro Station. When you press the key chain, it plays the Yamanote Line song for Ikebukuro Station. 

After leaving Yamashiroya, I decided to explore the area a little bit. Just around the corner is an interesting area. It was filled with stands selling seafood and other food and stores selling random cheap clothes and other merchandise.


I saw a random candy booth. It was kind of like an auction. The one guy would throw a bunch of candy in a bag and then say a price and the first person to raise their hand got to buy the bag. At least I think that's how it worked.


After that I went to Ikebukuro. The Book Off store there is really good. I spent a lot of time looking at the CDs and video games and bought a couple of CDs.

They had a pretty big selection of Disney movies on VHS. I want to watch them! Haha, they even had some other things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It would be funny to watch it in Japanese!


 Then I spent a little bit of time in Sunshine City, which is a shopping complex in Ikebukuro.


This next picture was taken in Toys R Us. I'm confused why the random Japanese things are in the same aisle as high chairs.


 At one store I bought a cute tofu plushie. It's actually a cell phone holder.


I didn't have my purse with me so I just had a bunch of stuff in my pockets. When I was paying for tofu-chan I pulled a bunch of stuff out and sat it on the counter so that I could get to my money. Later, while I was still in the mall, I checked my pockets to make sure that I still had my locker key (I left my luggage in a locker in Ueno). I checked often because I had already lost a pair of gloves and a bag of souvenirs that weekend and didn't want to lose anything else. It's good that I checked then because it wasn't there!

I knew where I had left it though so I went back to the store and they had it. Whew! I can't believe I left it behind.

I left Sunshine City and went to Tokyu Hands which is right next door. They had cute cacti parfaits! If I was going to stay in Japan, I think I would want one


 Here's a random cute sign:


After Ikebukuro, I checked in at the capsule hotel. Then I headed over to the other side of Tokyo to visit Shibuya.

First, I ate dinner at Ichiran Ramen, a place I had read about on the internet.

I had to wait in line for maybe about 10-15 minutes. They had music playing in the stairwell outside (the restaurant is in a basement) and I thought it was just typical Japanese traditional music. Then I realized that it was a traditional sounding version of an Utada Hikaru song which was cool.

Once I entered the restaurant I was able to purchase a ticket from a vending machine. I handed it to a woman working there and she brought me a form to fill out. You get to pick a lot of things such as strength of sauce, spiciness, amount of garlic, noodle hardness, etc. I chose medium on everything except I added a little extra garlic. 

There was a sign that lit up to show which seats had just become available.


Ichiran Ramen has the typical ramen restaurant set-up (long counters), but there were dividers between each seat. It's not a place to go and be social. It's perfect for eating alone. Though actually I think most of the people I saw there were with other people.


Once your bowl of food arrives, they bow and then pull down a curtain. Then you are really secluded!

The ramen had a pork based broth (despite all the choices you don't have a choice of broth). I loved it!!!!!! Just the day before I had had my favorite ramen in Hokkaido, but this was even better!


I could really taste the garlic but it wasn't too strong and the spiciness was really good! It was so good that I finished a bowl of ramen for the second time! I need to go back there again (maybe multiple times) before I leave! I only have a month left in Japan (crazy!) so I don't have too much time! Maybe I should go to Tokyo tomorrow???? Haha.

When I left the restaurant I realized that I had lost a glove. They had been in my coat pockets, which was a mistake because that's how I lost the other pair. I didn't really care because they had been cheap gloves from a konbini and I wasn't going to need them anymore. It was just annoying that I had lost so much stuff in one weekend!

For desert I went to the Starbucks in Shibuya and got a dark chocolate chip Frappucino. I sat at a counter facing the Hachiko crossing.

The next day I spent the majority of my time in Shibuya. First I ate breakfast at McDonald's and then browsed Tower Records for a while. Then I did a little clothing shopping and bought a cute shirt and purse. :)

Later I wandered in a direction I hadn't been before and came across a Don Quijote store. It's a well-known store in Japan and I had wanted to visit one because I had heard that it's extremely random and I love random!


 The store is super cramped and pretty junky looking, but that's what makes it awesome. The organization is really terrible so you never know what you'll find. I would probably hate this store in the US, but it's filled with weird Japanese merchandise so it's good.


It's laid out really terribly... this aisle is actually part of a staircase!



Too soon it was time for me to leave. :( I'm never ready to leave Tokyo. It's just too fun!

In Mishima I saw a Hamtaro bus! Why do I never get the cool transportation?