Shibuya and Harajuku

Err so we woke up a bit late, I sort of forgot to set the alarm, it was cold, it was really raining but we finally got to the local JR line stop at about 11.30. We are on the eastern edge of Tokyo, well sort of the edge of the middle really, Tokyo is so massive that it is really hard to describe where you are in it at any point in time. Like London and LA, Tokyo has a lot of centres and even more sprawl, it seems to never end, no wonder the public transport system is a bit confusing. We are starting to get the hang of the transport here now and have never actually got lost but it has been a bit 'jump on the train and hope' a couple of times. There are about 8 different maps to the Tokyo rail system each with different line colours, a different layout and sometimes even different spellings.

Those noodles are cold and get dipped in a bowl of soy and wasabi. It is really good.

The rain stopped some time while we were eating brunch so we were able to enjoy wandering around Shibuya discovering why Tokyo is one of the worlds fashion capitals. When we tired of looking at clothes we can't fit into our back pack we stopped for a coffee to people watch ... at Shibuya crossing, if you don't know it by name you will have seen it in a movie.

Every 4 minutes or so

It was difficult to move ourselves from that view but we had more to see.

Aimee waiting to cross at Shibuya

Hachiko. The meeting spot, a bit like Birmingham's Bull

The street vendors in Tokyo are a little different

We always find the Disney store

Although this one was a bit different, can you see the hidden Mickey's?

After checking out Shibuya we walked a couple of blocks to Harajuku and even more mad shops. Harajuku has a really odd mix between Teen-pop culture, Hip hop Tokyo style and High fashion shops.

The shop sold pretty girly clothes!

Getting a bit chilly, better find some food

Then on the way home we spotted this giant snow ball, how very odd. We are going to try and get an early start again tomorrow lets see how it goes.