5 posts tagged “shopping”
Konnichiwa! It's me again! I'm back...and I'm ready to tell you all about our day in Daikanyama. Ok, so not a lot of travelers head to Daikanyama...mainly because it is not a widely known district, nor is it extremely popular like Harajyuku or Shinjyuku...but it's a great place to just relax and get away from all the busy crowds. Daikanyama is a newly marked place for some good boutique shopping, and there are plenty of good sidewalk cafes you can pop into for a cup of coffee and a small pastry or a satisfying set lunch.
Jian and I love to head to Daikanyama because it's mostly a suburban neighborhood with quiet streets filled with interesting boutique stores and fun sidewalk cafes. Also, one of our most favorite denim boutiques, Evisu, is located in Daikanyama. We went to the store today, but they were closed. Apparently, they are closed on Mondays. Who knew? Well, anyway...this place is really great if you want a custom pair of jeans...and I mean really C-U-S-T-O-M (but be prepared to shell out some serious moola if you want very high-grade quality). Last year, Jian came to this store on a mission to snap up a pair of high quality jeans. The Evisu store is the foremost place to find quality denim. They've got lots of different types of denim in various denim colors (i.e. black, white, blue), lots of waist sizes, and a variety of cut styles (e.g. bootleg, skinny, straight-leg). However, the catch is that all jeans come in one length size only. But wait!!! This is where the customization process begins. Here are the basics on getting your own pair of custom Evisu jeans...
- First, you pick whatever basic pair of jeans you want in whatever style and/or color/wash you want.
- Next, you pick your waist size (sorry...the length of all pants will always be 34". no exceptions.)
- Then, after purchasing your fresh pair of jeans, you take your jeans to the "an Evisu Tailor" store.
- At the "an Evisu Tailor" store, the tailors their can cut your jeans to whatever size/shape you want.
- You can even have a custom design or custom Evisu logo stitched onto your jeans. (but you can only choose a design from their catalog.)
Tada! That was easy and painless, right? Er...except on your wallet. Joke! Seriously speaking though...all jokes aside, Daikanyama is a really relaxing place to visit when you want to just wind down for a bit. It's a mostly suburban place with nice, quiet streets, but a good getaway place from all of those distracting neon lights and buzzing hordes of people.
And after visiting Daikanyama...we headed back to Harajyuku with 2 friends for some seriously FANTASTIC chicken. I'm not kidding. There's a great specialty chicken restaurant in Tokyo called Toriyoshi. There are approximately a dozen locations scattered around Tokyo, and the one that we visited is hidden among all of the urban boutiques in Ura-hara. Toriyoshi is a restaurant that specializes in chicken and home made tofu. When we went there, we each ordered the 9-course set meal. Yes...I said NINE course meal. On top of that...for an extra $10 bucks per person, you can add on an "all you can drink for an hour" set to your meal. So, it's safe to say that we pounded 4 PITCHERS of beer in an hour's time. And just for reference, this is what our 9-course meal consisted of:
- some sort of complimentary appetizer natto dish (not included in the 9-course set meal)
- fried chicken wings topped with sesame seeds
- grilled chicken w/ green onion stalks on skewers
- cherry tomatoes wrapped in black forrest bacon on skewers
- soy sauce flavored, soft-boiled quail eggs
- steam bento box with black forrest bacon, thinly sliced daikon radish, cabbage & thinly sliced carrots
- house made tofu with sesame oil & 2 kinds of salt
- more chicken on skewers (which I think was either gizzard or heart...I forgot)
- cold soumen noodles
- dessert tofu covered in matcha powder with a sweet sauce drizzled on top
After such a kick ass chicken dinner...everyone was pretty much buzzed from all the beer. So we decided to sing some karaoke. Oh yes....drunken karaoke is always appropriate at a time like this! We headed back to Shinjyuku so we wouldn't have to mind the last call at the train station. and went to Big Echo...which is like a chain store of karaoke bars. We sang for approximately 3 hours before heading back to our hotel rooms in a drunken stupor. So, I'd say we had a pretty relaxing day overall.
This was one crazy...drunk...karaoke night at Big Echo. And I must say...Big Echo is the BEST karaoke joint! Room Service, food & alcohol, and a song selection you wouldn't believe. I mean, they had the Coldplay song "Viva La Vida" 2 weeks after it hit the radio station airwaves, and they had the music video version....not some crappy bootleg ripped version!!! They had a H-U-G-E English song selection...and they even had older songs from artists like Johnny Cash & Bad Religion...wow!
Until tomorrow! We're heading back to my dad's hometown...YOKOHAMA! And we're going to be visiting a close friend of ours..............Later!
Hello. Welcome to Odaiba!!! We have now traveled to the lovely island for some fun in the sun...and some major video game action! Today we visited Sega Joypolis, Aquacity and most importantly..........RAMEN STADIUM!!! In case you guys don't know about Ramen Stadium...it's an aisle in the food plaza of the Aquacity shopping mall, where the best ramen chefs in Japan host their ramen restaurants to compete to see who is the best ramen chef of the year. Also, we had ramen made by the only female chef in the whole Ramen Stadium.
So anyway...we're here at Odaiba...and what is Odaiba usually famous for??? GAMES AND RIDES! I gotta tell you...for those of you out there who love to play video games...this place is a really great place to visit. The Sega Joypolis hosts some of the most interesting games and rides you'll ever imagine. For example...Jian played the Initial D Stage 4 car racing video game....and this isn't your average ordinary video game. You don't just sit in a seat and press the gas pedal. This video game is set in a REAL car! No joke. The Initial D Stage 4 video game is unlike any other virtual reality game where the seat just vibrates and wiggles around. In this game, you actually get to sit in a real car with fully functional gagues (i.e. speedometer) etc. Except that the gear stick is replaced with a video game joystick. Other games include a haunted house full of creepy dolls, a small rollercoaster ride where you get to wear virtual reality goggles, and a skateboarding ride where you get strapped on to a swinging skateboard-style platform and swing side-to-side as though you were on a skateboarding halfpipe ramp. Those are just a few of the fun rides and games available at Sega Joypolis.
There were plenty of other fun attractions to visit in Odaiba...such as the Fuji Terebi building...but the most visited attraction would be Aquacity. Aquacity is most widely known for hosting the Ramen Stadium (which is explained at the top of this post). Other than the Ramen Stadium, this place is like any other shopping mall in Japan, but with a lot of American brand names such as: Gap, Stussy, Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale etc.
I think in total, Jian and I spent half the day at Odaiba...and the other half of the day was spent in Shibuya. Now, I know that Shibuya might be the last place on Earth that Jian would want to visit on purpose...since most of the stores are geared towards high school girls...but there are a few choice gems scattered about Shibuya that perks up Jian's interests. One of the main reasons for visiting Shibuya is that there's a new Bathing Ape store that just recently opened excatly across from the PARCO department stores. However, we didn't get a chance to take a peek inside because there was a line in front of the store, and we were NOT about to queue in a line in the blazing hot weather.
Another treasure hidden behind all of the hoopla and glitter of the Shibuya 109 crossing, behind the 109 department stores, behind the Seibu department store, behind the HMV music store...and tucked away from all of the crowded streets is the official Medicom toy store called Project 1/6. This store showcases many (if not all) of Medicom's finest creations including a few limited edition items. I was able to snag Jian a much sought after Project 1/6 with Choro-Q collaboration Bearbrick. This cute little bundle of joy only cost me $20 bucks...where as in the States, this little fella goes for $60 bucks minimum........MINIMUM! So, it's fair to say that I got a good bargain. Well...by then, our day was ending for the most part. We were hot, hungry and ready to head home early. So we ended up having an early dinner at an organic pasta restaurant (which Jian deemed to be too girly), and then we headed home.
These are some of the awesome toys at Medicom's Project 1/6 store in Shibuya...check out the 1:1 scale Saw doll...kowaii ne.
A few fun things we happened to catch in Shibuya. Sweet car. Funky computer mouse...shaped like boobs...and of course, the famous 109 crossing (a.k.a. Hachiko crossing).
Tomorrow we're going to Daikanyama...for some relaxation (and quiet time). Later!
Check this out! Metropolis put together a condensed guide to nearly all the popular districts of Tokyo.
Each district is separated into individual guides. Each guide provides a list of: popular shopping boutiques, shopping malls (shopping centers), restaurants (by type, including vegetarian) & bar/club/nightlife...and under each listing is a short description along with the address and telephone number. Under the restaurant and bar/club listings, each description provides a price listing ($ ----> $$$$) from cheap to expensive. Each guide also comes with a map of each district. Also, as general information, the guides provide useful travel tips, a listing of popular sightseeing destinations, a listing of reccomended hotels and lodging, as well as useful information such as: car rental, currency exchange, Embassy telephone numbers, Emergency information, ATM/Cash machine information, translation services and weather information. Click on the links below to check out your desired district destination...............
SHINJUKU
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/shinjuku.html
HARAJUKU
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/harajuku.html
SHIBUYA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/shibuya.html
YOKOHAMA (I highly reccommend this city area because it's my dad's hometown!)
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/yokohama.html
AKIHABARA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/akihabara.html
ROPPONGI (including TOKYO MIDTOWN)
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/roppongi.html
GINZA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/ginza.html
EBISU
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/ebisu.html
ASAKUSA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/asakusa.html
AKASAKA
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/akasaka.html
USEFUL TRAVEL TIPS
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/travel_tips.html
HOTELS & LODGING
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/hotel.html
SIGHTSEEING
http://metropolis.co.jp/vg17/sightseeing.html
We went to Harajyuku (and Aoyama) with a mission. We had 2 maps (one Tokyo atlas map and one Superfuture brand shopping guide) and a compass. Yes, a compass. Surprisingly, that compass came in handy more than the maps. We would use the maps as a reference for all the street names, but then we'd ultimately use the compass to figure out when we had to head west or north or something like that. That's the best, most efficient way to get around town without having to constantly stop and ask for directions.
So, what about that mission? Oh right! I forgot to tell you about our mission. When we went to Harajyuku, we were in search of some major urban streetwear. So that means that we were looking for some custom-designed, urban, semi-specialty clothes................for Jian of course. You know...such brands as: Comme des Garçon, A Bathing Ape, Undefeated Tokyo, Neighborhood, Original Fake, etc. Check out HypeBeast or Cliff Edge for examples of custom-designed urban streetwear.
And now...........for some pictures!!
* Please keep in mind that most stores DO NOT like you taking pictures in front of their stores. It's not a set rule/law that you can't, but it's best to ask the store first. I know for a fact that the A Bathing Ape brand stores do not allow any pictures to be taken inside or outside of the store. From what I know, they do not want people taking pictures of their goods or their store, in order to prevent bootlegging and illegal copying. Most of the stores we went to had surveilance cameras everywhere (i.e. the BAPE Store). The Bounty Hunter brand store has only one storefront window with only the store's sign hanging in the window. The surveilance camera is right under the store sign, pointed straight at you. So we took most of these pictures really early in the morning before any of the stores opened.
Today we went to the Harajyuku district and Aoyama district. Let's just say, "We came, we saw, and we concquered." We were in Harajyuku so early in the morning, the stores weren't even open yet. And I mean, we were there at least 2 hours before any store was open. It seems crazy, I know, but had a nice time walking around and getting to know our surrounding areas more intimately. We were sort of trying to map out places to go by following a shop map we had before the crowds started getting rediculous.
Since we knew where to go and where things were located, we had an easy time shopping, so we were done shopping in just a few short hours. We had originally planned to spend the entire day in just Harajyuku alone, but after shopping, we had plenty of time to travel elsewhere, so we walked all the way to the Aoyama district (which is about a 10 minute walk down Omotesando dori).
Oh my God, we were so burnt out by dinnertime! Our feet and legs were so sore and so strained, we had to hobble back to our hotel. It was the most painful experience of the entire trip. Let's see, it's been 4 hours since we got back, and our legs still feel like they're being hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer.
That's the story of our day. Stay tuned for pictures!!!!!!!
Out.
