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We had planned on staying in Tokyo for just one more day, but we ended up staying another day. It was actually Jonathan who wanted to stay more than I did. I still wasn't feeling 100% better and felt like I wouldn't get completely better until I rested at home, but I was well enough.

Once we went outside though and started walking around I felt really good and was glad that we had booked another hotel.

We spent the morning in Akihabara. It was such a pretty, sunny day! I don't like cold weather, but winter here isn't too bad and it's very sunny! The cold just mostly bothers me at school because there isn't heat and they leave the windows open because they think that prevents influenza. Ugh. If it wasn't for the freezing schools I would actually really like winter here! Well, it's not so great when riding my bike either.



We didn't eat at the hot dog restaurant. I just thought the statue was creepy.


I bought some ginger ale and thought that the bottle was cute. It made me think of Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony, hehe. :)

Next, we went to Harajuku (because I wanted to go to the K-pop store, haha). I didn't go in many other stores because Jonathan kind of hates Harajuku (at least the Takeshita street area, he's fine with Omotesando I think). We started getting hungry and decided to eat at a McDonald's we passed by on Omotesando. 


I got a chicken nugget Happy Set and some cheesy potato bites. The cheesy potato bites were just ok. I wouldn't get them again. I don't think they even have them anymore anyways.


This McDonald's was really big. I just looked it up and just found out that it's the largest McDonald's in Japan. It can seat 328 people.

There's a separate McCafe counter and they had some really good looking cakes and sweets that I've never seen at other McDonald's. They also had some different drinks, like the Hazelnut latte that Jonathan got.


So fancy for McDonald's! A real glass! A real spoon! And a cute design! It was also SUPER delicious. I kind of wanted one for myself but I was full and didn't need it right then.


We then went back to Akihabara to get our luggage from the hotel. I took this picture somewhere between the station and the hotel.

Then we headed towards our hotel near Yashio station, which is not actually in Tokyo. It's in Saitama. When we arrived it really didn't feel like Tokyo anymore. There was a small shopping mall near the hotel and it had a parking lot. It seemed like we could be somewhere in Hamamatsu or something.

After stopping in the mall to get some medicine (Jonathan had a headache) and playing basketball in the arcade, we went back into Tokyo to go to Ikebukuro. I wanted to buy some Converse shoes because I missed my pink ones that I left at home and knew a store there that had some cheap ones. Or at least they had good deals the last time I went. I'm not sure of the name of the store, but it's in Sunshine City.

Last time I had seen two pairs that I had liked. Pink ones and light teal ones with dinosaurs. The dinosaur ones hadn't been on sale though, but this time I saw them and they only had one pair left. When I picked them up, I saw that they were my size! Yay!!!!!! They were also on sale! Lucky!


Jonathan decided to buy a pair of Converse shoes too, but that store was just women's shoes so we went down the street to an ABC Mart. He bought a regular plain black pair.

I really like wearing my new shoes because they're more comfortable than dress shoes all the time and people don't really wear tennis shoes at the mall and stuff. These are good though.

We were hungry then and decided to check out TGI Friday's. I was amused by this sign while we waited for a table. Let's American Party!


When we got our table we were given English menus by out waitress who spoke English really well. It seriously felt like we were in America! The menu is pretty much identical to what you would expect in the US. I got a salad with chicken and it was tasty. :)
 

The restaurant was decorated with a lot of American movie posters. I thought it was cool that they had an English poster of Howl's Moving Castle, which is a Japanese movie.



It was so American-like! Even the ketchup and mustard were American! I guess that "Let's American Party" sign was pretty accurate! We even paid at the table (in Japan you usually receive a check at the table but you pay at a register at the front) and there was a 10% service charge added (tipping is not typical in Japan). It's kind of weird, but this was one of my favorite parts of our trip, haha! I'm so glad that we spent an extra night in Tokyo and went there.


I don't know what these decorations were for, but they were colorful. They were in Ikebukuro.

The next morning we headed towards Tokyo Station to put our luggage in lockers there. 



Yashio Station is kind of new and nice and has a cool stained glass window.


When we arrived at Tokyo station we left our luggage in the lockers in the basement near the Narita Express track. There are a ton of lockers there and usually a lot of empty ones. They were filling up though so I'm glad we got there when we did!

We went back to Akihabara and went to Yodobashi Camera again so that we could get a Play Station 3 for Jonathan and I could buy the puzzle that I wanted.



I made the puzzle during the last week of my Christmas break. It was a really super fun puzzle to work on! the plastic pieces were great and fit together so well. The colors look amazing too!


We also got some little camera keychains from a Gachapon machine. They're cute! Jonathan got one with a bigger lens.

We had time to do some more that day but we were tired and it was getting really crowded in Tokyo. It hadn't been so bad the other days, but it was obvious that a lot of people were starting to travel for the New Year holiday. That's why the lockers had been so full. So we took a bit of an earlier train than planned. We also got to the platform a bit early to wait in line so that we could get a seat. I'm glad because otherwise we would have had to stand for a while. The train was a bit busier than usual.

Overall, the trip was really fun! Being sick wasn't any good, but at least I was well for most of it!

On the 23rd Jonathan and I went to Tokyo. That evening we went to see Christmas lights in Roppongi. I had read about different illumination displays in Tokyo and this one sounded neat. I didn't expect such a crowd though! We actually had to wait in line. Luckily we only waited about 15 minutes.

I'm glad we didn't wait very long for it because it wasn't really that impressive. It was pretty and nice, but not worth waiting in line or dealing with crowds. If we had just been walking around and randomly came across it I would have thought it was really cool, but waiting in line kind of made me expect a bit more.



There was a really nice park nearby though and there was hardly anyone else there. It was a nice surprise to find it.




As we found our way back to the station we went into a building where there were some booths selling Christmas decorations. I really loved these sparkly streamers! I think I was more excited about these than the illuminations outside!


Then we went to dinner at La Jolla, a Mexican restaurant. After eating delicious chimichangas we went to Shinjuku to get frozen yogurt at Menchies. Mmmm!


I just thought that window display was really pretty! :)


We stepped in Bikkuro for a couple of minutes just to look at the cool Lego displays.




We ended the evening at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara. They had a puzzle on display (that I had seen in a store in Hamamatsu but they sold out) but didn't have any in stock either.




So I ended up buying this puzzle. I had also seen it in Hamamatsu and really liked it. It had been about 3400 yen in Hamamtsu but Yodobashi had it for about 1000 yen less so I thought it was a good deal. Yeah... like 2500 is cheap for a puzzle... Japan has changed what I feel is an acceptable price for a puzzle lol.

However when we went back several days later they had the Disney princess one in stock and I ended up buying that one as well. I just finished making it! It was soooo much fun to work on. The puzzle pieces are white plastic and the colors are really bright and clear. The pieces fit together really well and now that it's done I was actually able to transfer it to another table just by picking it up. Such great quality! It's part of the "Pure White" series and so far I think there are only a few designs. I hope they make more eventually.

We wandered around a bit and found stuff that I never even knew they sold. Like DJ equipment.



We played around with some really expensive DJ turntables and hoped that no one would come over thinking we were seriously interested in them. They were really neat though!

Sunday, January 9th

We didn't have any big plans for most of our last full day together in Tokyo. We spent the morning eating breakfast at a cafe and browsing the Yodobashi Camera store in Akihabara. I bought a really cute puzzle there.



The pieces are really tiny! I've done a few puzzles like this, but they've only been around 200 pieces.

Then we went to Shibuya and ate lunch at Freshness Burger. Yum. :)

It wasn't my first time up there, but it was nice to go back. I don't get tired of seeing all the lights of Tokyo at night. They just go on forever!

There is also a Toy Store up there. I bought a Hello Kitty magnet. You can't see inside the package so you don't know what you're going to get.


I really wanted the sewing machine one, but the lunch box that I got is cute too! :)


Then for dinner we headed back to Akihabara and ate at a ramen restaurant on the top floor of Yodobashi Camera. I was sad that Jonathan's visit was coming to an end. It had been so much fun!

Lauren found a Butler Cafe online and we just had to visit it.

 

 Aren't the tiaras awesome? Hehehe! The plates under the plates with our food had our names, "Princess Lauren" and "Princess Jenna," written on them in chocolate. Do you see the bell on the table? It's very special. We rang it every time we wanted service and the butlers would all say in unison, "Yes, my princess!" It was hilarious and it was so hard to not completely burst out laughing.

All the other customers were Japanese women so I overheard some funny conversations that the butlers had with the other women. For example, one of the butlers asked one of the women what animals she liked. She said rabbits and so the butler then asked if she liked big or small rabbits best. I don't remember what her answer was, but the butler said, "Bunnies are cute." It reminded me of the strange conversations I have with my students, except it was even funnier in this situation.

For desert I bought the Princess Pancakes. They were pancakes with ice cream and chocolate and fruit sauces and a chocolate rose on top.


 We took advantage of the ridiculousness of the place and had our picture taken with one of the butlers.


A cheesy message was written on the back. He got Lauren and I confused. Lauren's says something like, "Good luck teaching in Japan" or something about teaching.


Hahahahaha.... overall it was a great experience. It is the most unique restaurant I have ever been to. It was ridiculous and cheesy, but that's what made it so fun and memorable!

After being treated like a princess, we headed to a store called Baby the Stars Shine Bright. It's a high-end lolita clothing store (wikipedia article).  We both bought knee socks. The girls working in the store took a long time packaging them and then led us to the door and bowed as we left the store. The even kept bowing as we walked away.

I took pictures as I unwrapped my purchase later. The bag was sealed with a sticker and a ribbon.



Inside the bag was a plastic bag. There was nothing in the bag, but they used it to cover the next layer.






That night we went to Ginza. We didn't really do much shopping (a lot of the stores were already closed), but it was fun to walk around. It was my first time in Ginza at night. I loved all the bright lights. :)


There was a TV screen playing a tire commercial with Leonardo DiCaprio. It's always funny seeing American celebrities on Japanese TV, so Lauren wanted a picture with it. I was trying to get a picture of her with it. Some guy saw us and asked if we wanted our picture together.  Ummm, it was nice of him to offer, but he really didn't do a very good job.