Ebisu Garden. Where scenes from the Japanese drama Hana Yori Dango were filmed.
Ahh! My mom and I were pretty excited to see it in real life. The sculpture was shorter than I expected, but cool nonetheless. ^^ There were waves of small groups of tourists that took pictures with it. It was nice to see we weren't the only ones.

We rested on some benches overlooking the square. We people-watched and I took some shots of random people that caught my eye. (Not in a creepy way I hope! Haha!) There were dog walkers, couples, tourists, and families, all strolling through Ebisu garden.



















My dad was curious and wanted to go to the Ebisu Beer Museum. We headed over there and it was actually pretty interesting! You get to read about the history of Yebisu beer, along with a display of all the beer bottles and cans that came out over the years. The museum was surprisingly big with red carpeted floors and a high ceiling. There was also a whole area where people were tasting beer.

Though my mom and I weren't hungry, my dad sure was. We found a Burger King near the beer museum and he ordered an avocado burger. Sorry Japan, but your Burger King isn't to my taste, just like the Starbucks. :P

It was getting dark and we were tired. We said goodbye to Ebisu Garden and headed back to our hotel. It was a good day full of yummy food, sight-seeing, and rain. <3 Pretty much every day of the trip, excluding the rain. Haha!

Rain, rain, go away. Please, you're making me soaked and cold.

It was a rainy day in Tokyo, and, man, it was pouring. I don't know what my mother and I were thinking; bringing one umbrella for my dad and only rain jackets for us. We learned our lesson.
Despite the rain, our adventure to Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine was a nice escape from the city. They were both so serene. The crunch of our footsteps on the wet gravel was calming. I think it's strange that there is such a big expanse of forest in the middle of a bustling district. It seems so out of place.
The Meiji Shrine was very peaceful, even with all the tourists around. I got to throw in a 50yen coin and pray. There were many good luck charms that you could buy and the workers were dressed in traditional clothing. It definitely felt like I entered a different world.

After that mini escape, we walked the streets of Harajuku and went to eat lunch at Ootoya. My mom and I were cold and wet by the time we got there. (My rain jacket was dripping.) Ootoya was the perfect rest place for us. It was warm inside and the food we got was so delicious. It's a place we'd go back to. My mom got their oyakodonburi and my dad and I got the chicken cutlet and hot udon set. It was very satisfying and made me feel all warm inside.



Of course, since I love the cute toys/keychains that Japan has, we headed to Kiddy Land where the Rilakkuma Store is located. There were lots of kids and adults in the store. Being a tight store, I had to squeeze through people to get to the things I wanted. I bought some cute Rilakkuma phone charms.
I did notice, however, that the cuteness level and quality of their products has lowered over the years. I have adorable high quality pens that I bought from the same brand a few years ago, but, sadly, they don't sell them anymore. ;~;

We then headed off to get some dessert. The widely known crepe stuffed with cream, fruits, and other delicacies. There was a line of people waiting at the crepe place we stopped at, but it was worth the wait. The crepe was better than I expected, though there was a lot more cream then fruits. Haha! We devoured it quickly~~


It happened that there was a Calbee place right next to the crepe shop and my mom was curious about it. So, we went inside and bought a couple salty snacks to chase the sweet dessert we just had. We got these fried sticks that were "salad" flavored. They were kind of like french fries, but not really. Haha! Still yummy though. ^^

Going to a cat cafe has been on my bucket list for a while now. And I finally got to go!
My dad had done research on where some cat cafes were in Tokyo. We decided to go to one called Calico Cat Cafe in Shinjuku. It was in a multi-story building and the cafe consisted of two floors. Before we saw any of the cats, we had to sanitize our hands, take off our shoes and jackets, and put our belongings that weren't needed in a locker.

Akihabara. Anime, games, crowds, and bright signs.

Game Taito Station (a Japanese game center) was very loud and bright. I think there were five floors or more of games, collectibles, and other things as well. However, I only explored the first two floors. There were so many claw machine games with cute prizes. Too bad pictures weren't allowed inside.
My mom and dad played a Taiko arcade game (Taiko no Tatsujin) which looked fun! I enjoyed watching them figure out how to play and their reactions once they got started. Hehe! I didn't play it because I was too embarrassed. ^^;; I had seen the game inside another arcade in Hawaii, but didn't try it either. Maybe I will now!

Gachaponnnn. The highlight of the night. Rows and rows of them lined an alleyway and each of them had something different inside. I spent over 2000 yen easily. Haha! I got a bunch of Attack on Titan pins and a few Free! ones as well. All my fangirl feels came out when I got the ones I wanted. <3


We also visited an anime department store with a bunch of anime, manga, figurines, and collectibles which was cool to walk through. (6 floors!) There were lots of cute/interesting nendoroids, but I didn't buy any. Then, we caught the subway back to the hotel for a good night of sleep.

Whew, writing about this day took forever. It was the most tiring day of the whole trip. (And the fullest day.) 12 hours of walking on the second day was intense, but it was worth it. Not sure I would do it again unless it was truly necessary though. Haha!

Everywhere you look there's snacks, omiyage, shoes, and clothes.

scary looking crabs

After visiting the temple, there was a small street/park with food booths and other things. There was an old man sitting in one booths, carving kanji characters out of wood! It was quieter than the other streets that were crowded with people. My dad saw a shaved ice booth and ended up getting one. I laughed at first, but after I tasted it, I couldn't stop eating. Haha! It was very refreshing even though it wasn't a hot day.



Kitchen Street was next on our itinerary. And we ended up getting lost on the way there. It wasn't all bad though since we were able to explore a street we didn't know about. I, surprisingly, wasn't scared or nervous when I knew we were lost. Thankfully, a nice man helped us out and pointed us in the right direction.
Seeing all the different restaurant items in the stores along Kitchen Street was interesting. There were knives, utensils, fake food, uniforms, and many other items. I noticed that the chairs that were being sold were smaller than the ones in America. There was also a bunch of different chopstick holders that were pretty and cute.


After all that walking, we were all tired and thirsty. We headed back to Ueno and stopped in front of a Starbucks. Being the Starbucks lover that I am, I was very curious at how Japan's would be. It was the same in ambience, though the one we were at was very crowded. (There were no seats.) And I was shocked to find that the cream on their green tea frappuccino was not sweet! It just tasted like bland milk. We relaxed on the stairs in front of the Starbucks and regained some of our energy, before setting off towards Ameyoko Street!