Second to last day

I almost wish this was my last day here in Tokyo because it was such a great day that it would have been nice to end with such a bang.  Although I can't quite put my finger on what made today especially great but it was!  We started off this morning like most others with Kelly working and Seth and I watching Marley in turns.  He was in a good mood the whole morning.  Then after Kelly returned and we ate we headed out on the trains to the Meji Shrine.  The shrine was located in a a large forested area with gorgeous trees and paths.  The shrine is in honor of Emperor Meji and we read that they imported hundreds of different trees from around Japan in his honor.  The idea of this being located in the midst of the busy cities around it added to its beauty.  The shrine was beautiful, we saw several wedding ceremonies taking place.  They were dressed in traditional Japanese attire.  Marley was in a decent mood here but had trouble listening to us so we walked through quickly.

These are large barrels of saké

From here we walked to the next populated city which was cram packed with people and stores.  It reminded me of the touristy streets of NYC where there are more than 20 shops within a 50 foot span.  There was glitz, glam, and shiny lights and noises coming from every direction.  This area is known for the overly dramatic costume-like culture of Japan.  There were fuzzy characters on every store window and people standing on chairs shouting things to entice people as they walked by.  It was beyond overwhelming.  We saw at least 6 different crepe stands so by the 5th one we decided we had to have one!  Seth got a banana, chocolate, and whipped cream while I got a strawberry, chocolate, and whipped cream one.  They were delicious! Marley's face was covered after just one bite!  We also tried a gyro from King Kabobs.  It was good, not great, but filled us up.  

From this maze of chaos we walked to probably the most opposite type of area possible.  We went to the pristine area of Harajuku.  Now this contained mainly one streets as far as the eye could see of fancy stores.  When we first turned the corner and looked down the street you couldn't see any sidewalk, it was filled with people everywhere!  There was Dior, Louis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Swarovski, Chanel, Coach, and the list continues...

We walked around for a while, visited a toy store which ended up being a let down because there was nothing for Marley to touch.  At this point it was around 230 and we decided we wanted to stay until dark to see the Christmas lights.  So we thought food would be a good time filler.  We went into a pizza joint called Shakeys.  They said it is a chain Seth had been to on the East Coast years ago.  It was a buffet and since Kelly can't have dairy we weren't sure how it was going to work.  So they both walked up to see what options there were.  Squid ink, corn, and mayonnaise were the 3 main ingredients in all of the pizza options.  We quickly decided we didn't want pizza that bad!  We ended up leaving and walking, we had seen a Godiva store a little behind us and thought we could get hot chocolate and keep walking the streets.  While we were crossing the street to head back to the Godiva shop Kelly spotted a popcorn shop.  

I should mention that Seth is a popcorn fanatic (Marley too).  But not just any popcorn.  I have heard the same story numerous times while on this trip.  He loves Garrett's popcorn, a Chicago legend.  So when we saw this shop we decided it looked good.  There was quite a long line (maybe 50 or so) but they handed us a menu and it looked amazing.  They had cheddar, salted caramel, maple bacon, raspberry white chocolate, amaretto, and others.  We decided the line was worth it.  So waiting, and waiting, I continued to look at the menu.  They had pictures of the packages it came in and on it I read "Handcrafted in Seattle, WA"   hahaha what are the chances!!!  I looked up the store and it originated in Seattle.  There are three shops in the Seattle area and then three shops in Saudi Arabia, and one in Japan haha  Well this was probably the slowest moving line in the history of lines.  After about 30 minutes, and only moving a few steps, Kelly Marley and I decided we would walk ahead and get the hot chocolate and meet back up with Seth.  Well Godiva was a bust because they only had frozen drinks so we ended up at Starbucks.  We stood in line, got our drinks, and sat on the rooftop looking at the city when Seth was finally next in line.  He stood in line for over 90 minutes! After the first 45 minutes he kept wanting to leave but you've already committed and it would be a waste to leave so he kept telling himself he was close haha

We left from KuKuRuZa (the popcorn shop), we were feeling defeated by the time wasted in line but happy with the day for the most part.  We were probably 100 yards from the train station when Kelly almost fell over laughing.  Seth and I look at her and then at what she was looking at.  In front of us was Garrett's popcorn shop.  With only a third of the the line that KuKuRuZa had.  I thought Seth was going to fall over! He muttered several phrases under his breathe and threw his hands up in the air haha   This was the cherry on top of a good day!