Day 13 – Shopping Day
So much shopping today! Well, that is once we all got ready… We had planned on meeting down in the lobby at 10, but 3 of the 6 pairs either slept through their alarms or, like us, forgot to set an alarm all together. The sleep in was divine though. So once we all got our shit together we gathered in out the front at about 10.30 (not bad for waking up at 9.46). There was no hanging about, so we were off heading towards our station and onward to Asakusa Market.
We got there about 20 minutes later, but decided that before we tackled the hustle and bustle of the market, we required nourishment. Pancakes! This tiny little café was very accommodating and managed to push some tables together for our then herd of 9. I think we all ordered practically the same thing, but for once Drew and I were served first! That NEVER happens! We literally were served and finished by the time the next plate of pancakes came out. Drew and I had seen some shoes we wanted to look at, but we didn’t want to hold people up, so we left money with the guys for us and went off and had a look. Along the way we came across another Ghibli store! I went in and had a look and saw a few things I’ve fallen in love with and may just require… But I’m being a good girl (mostly) and waiting for the Ghibli museum! It wasn’t too long before everyone was done and we were preparing ourselves for the chaos that would be the market.
We headed down towards the big red gate that the Asakusa market is famous for, and marvelled at the big red lantern hanging from it. We thought this was probably a good backdrop for a group shot. Which proved to be extremely difficult in the crowded, chaotic, stupidly busy entrance. But Chippy was persistent and we got a lovely young lady to take the photo in the tiny widow of opportunity she had before the crowds closed in again. It was at this point that the game plan went out the window. Pretty much we split up and met at the temple at the end. Browsing the small stalls of nick knacks and curiosities, there wasn’t too much that peaked our interest, so no purchases were made. Plus the crowd was a little overwhelming for us, so our aim went from browsing to getting to the temple quickly.
We were done well before everyone else was, but we came across a Tim and a Brad and Alysha, so we sat down just in the Temple boarders and got some food. It was while we were sitting there waiting that 3 young Japanese girls came up to Drew, Tim and myself and just started asking us questions in English. I was a little confused at first, but once they’re introduced themselves and asked a few simple questions (do you speak Japanese? Have you visited Japan before? How many times? Etc), I quickly realised that this must be part of a school project or something. They were very cute, and once they were finished, very proud of themselves they reached into a paper bag they had been holding and gave us a small gift of an origami ball. They quickly said goodbye and walked off to interview Brad and Alysha.
Our first sight of the other part of the group was Lobada attempting to buy a drink from a vending machine that was in the process of getting filled. We were sitting in a position where we had full view of what was happening. So we saw the money go in, the confused look when it wasn’t working, the look around the edge, the realisation that he just did a huge dumb… and finally the urgent look around to see if anyone had seen. We saw!
It wasn’t too much longer before the others followed up behind Lobada, only being held up by the same group of small girls interviewing them. We sat in the sun for a short time as Chippy and Sarma went off and took a few photos, and then we were off to our next destination – Sunshine City.
Pokemans! This was apparently the biggest Pokémon in Tokyo. But before then, food. More food. I feel as though I’m always eating, but the food is so good I don’t even care! We had a quick bite to eat at a little down stairs café serving curry. Pretty good, but not as good as our curry in Kyoto! As soon as we were done, a B line was made, straight to the Pokémon Center! Some more money got up and ran away while we were in there… So after maybe an hour in there we left, merch in hand, and we were heading towards the Disney store for Amy. But just next door there was this little Ghibli store and I could not help myself! I was in and amongst the most gorgeous statues, plushies, figurines, clocks and trinkets. I limited myself to one purchase. I walked away with some beautiful babushka style dolls in the shape of Totoro! Adorable!
At this point, the group was getting tired and grumpy, and probably a little over the shopping. But we decided to continue anyway! So we trudged on towards the Animate store, not too far from Sunshine city. I was more than done for the day so sat down out the front and waited. I’m not sure of the mischief they got up to in there, but there were photos with a certain type of Manga magazines with a whole lot of inappropriate on the front covers…
With only one more stop for the day, and we headed towards the Square Enix café, so a bunch of Final Fantasy merch. I have no idea about Final Fantasy, so it was nothing but pretty little trinkets to me. But there was an awesome little back dark room, made up of display cases and a water feature with a huge red ruby in the middle of it, and small rocks suspended around it to make it look as though the ruby perhaps had its own gravity and hey were floating around it. It looked interesting at least. But at this point I was super ready for home. So we called it a day and headed home.