Lazy day in Shibuya

I woke up Satuday and decided to just have a light day before I embarked on three days of daytrips.

I slept in, grabbed breakfast, and sorted through photos and blogposts until about noon, then decided to wander Shibuya a bit more.

First things first: lunch! The area around Shibuya Crossing is full of windy roads lined with shops and restaurants, so I had my pick of the litter. I picked a ramen shop at random and, while not bad, it was certainly...interesting. My waitress asked if I wanted 'thick Chinese' or 'soy' broth, and I thought she meant plain soy vs. tonkatsu broth (which has milk added). I like tonkatsu better, but it turns out that's not what she was asking. My 'broth' was somewhere between think soup and alfredo sauce in consistency, which got to be a little much after about half the bowl. There was also an array of condiments, most of which I didn't recognize.

After lunch, I decided to check out the Shibuya Crossing Starbucks, which my travel guide said had the best view of the crossing anywhere. I grabbed an iced coffee (tall, the only size they sold) and grabbed a seat at the bench next to the window. The place was packed! I'm apparently not the only reader of Lonely Planet. Who knew?

I also went to pay my respects to Hachiko, Shibuya's unofficial canine mascot. Hachiko was a dog in the years leading up to WWII, and his owner was a professor that lived in Shibuya. Every day he'd arrive at Shibuya station on his commute home to find his dog Hachiko patiently waiting at his station exit to walk him home. One day the professor died while at work, and never returned. Hachiko continued his daily pilgrimage even after his owners death, waiting at the station until his master's train had come and gone. Today a statue is erected outside the station in his honor.

Anyway, I got a few birds-eye-view videos of the madness of the crossing, then wandered through a couple

Tokyu Hands' staircase helpfully
told you how many calories you
were burning as you climbed
their eight floors

of shops. I went to check out the Tokyu Hands department store, which was 8 stories of pretty much any non-clothing item you can think of. I got a couple pairs of cool chopsticks like the ones at Yasuda's place (they were weighted to one end and had grooves cut for your hand) and finally broke down and got a suitcase. At the rate I've been accumulating souvenirs, it just didn't make sense to try and mail them all home. Plus, if I wanted to bring home any sake, I'll have to check them instead of shipping them, so I'll need a bag anyway.

Bag and chopsticks in hand, I went back to the hotel to drop them off and settle in for a lazy night of more blogging and youtube. Then I suddenly remembered:

THE KIT KAT STORE.

I wanted to go and check out the weird flavors of Japanese kit kat bars (green tea, wasabi, and the like),
and heard there was a store that specialized in them in Tokyo. I found out the Kit Kat Chocolatery (no that's not a real word, yes it's the name of the store) opened up in the Ikebukuro neighborhood three months ago. I booked it up there to check it out. I'm pretty sure I accidentally train hopped on the way; had to take a metro line I hadn't used before, and I think I screwed up something with the ticket, as the stall spit it back out at me when I fed it in. No one stopped me though, so I just kept walking.

Once there, I was a little disappointed at the selection. The flavors were as odd as promised (green tea with cherry blossoms, cream cheese, and chilli pepper), but less varied (those were the only three they had). I was quite impressed by the other desserts on sale at the department store the Chocolatery was in, and got a box of cakes and a box of very pretty (but, it turns out, very bland) bean cakes.

I planned on skipping dinner and just pigging out on sweets when I got back, but passed a curry udon (slurpy, chewy wheat noodles) shop, and it looked to good to pass up. The waiter brought me a bib, but I just ignored it and went to down on the slurpy, spicey, bright orange goodness. When I paid up and left, though, I noticed the reason for the bib. Udon is super slippery and flops and splashes everywhere when you eat it. Thankfully I work a black shirt that day, so the bright orange spots all down the front of my shirt weren't TOO noticeable.

After dinner, I still skarfed down plenty of sweets, though my plan to use them to meet people fell flat on its face. In hostel, if I set out a box of cakes and a bottle of whiskey for people to share, I'd be surrounded by a half-dozen new friends in ten minutes. Not so in my hotel lounge it would appear. Nary a second glance. Ah well. More time for planning and facebooking folks. And more cakes for me :3