24th Nov 2006

Just after finishing my Japanese lecture I get a call from Mike…well actually it’s mark on Mike’s phone…they apparently have just gotten up and are going for breakfast in Harajuku and suggest meeting at the station at 1pm.

We walk around the back streets to find a nice little restaurant Mike knows which sells tradiational japanese porriage dish…like water rice (congi) with egg and meat and veg. very tasty. We then take a walk towards Shinjuku park, past the 1964 olympic stadium. Unfortunately, one of the gates to the park is shut so we have to walk around to the other side. Wonder in there for a bit…very peacful…and has the equivalent to Kew Botanical Gardens there too…but it’s just shutting.

After wondering through the park we then walk around Shinjuku. We head to the nearest Tokyu Hands store. Tokyu Hands is a chain store which sells nearly everything under the sun…it’s the shop chain in which I found the dog nappies and this one has 7 odd floors of stuff…buy some weird sweets which look like a bento box. We then head to a big book shop with a large english novel collection. Then a sushi place in Shinjuku. It was Very cheap, small and had a conveyor belt. We tried sea urchin (specially ordered) and practically everything else there too. Under 1000yen (a fiver) for about 10 plates each. Genius.
Then walk to the station have a coffee (or a special green tea + tofu soya milk). Agree to meet at 8 the next morning at Shinjuku.