Yoyogi Park Hanami

I had to bring two CDs back to the library but we didn't really plan to do anything today.

The first mistake was going into Shinjuku. There were so many people wandering around that I managed to lose the gf quite easily.

We thought to go to Krispy Kreme, but even from a distance we could see the line extend along the bridge to Takashimaya Square.

I thought it'd be good for us to go to Levain, the french bakery we went to before in December. We got some nice home style apple pie and pretzels to eat in Yoyogi Park.

The cherry blossoms are slowly fading but the enthusiasm for hanami parties are still going strong by the amount of people packed there.

Along with people drinking and playing various instruments, there were big sound systems pumping out headache-inducing techno.

In some places it gave me an impression of a little Roppongi. Skanky.

Sometime soon I'll bring my guitar to have a play near the lake here. It'd be fun I think. I'd really like to jam with someone who can sing harmonies like this.

If anyone in Tokyo can do this, get in touch with me. Let's rock!

When the sun was going down and it was getting a bit cold we made our way back home.

Okonomiyaki was on my mind but the restaurant we thought of was closed, so I suggested pizza instead.

We went to Pizza Salvatore.

Not exactly the cheapest pizza chain, but the pizzas taste pretty good. We bought two small pizzas, a gorgonzola and prosciutto, and an "Alla Diavola", chicken, salami and peppers for 2900 yen.

I like the later one better. The fiery peppers gave it a nice kick.

Gazing through the menu I couldn't help but notice some interesting English.
I don't know about you, but small or otherwise I don't consider sausages "cute".

"It's Tipical"? Maybe they wanted to say authentic?

We walked around a bit after eating and found some tennis courts that you can rent close to home. You can play two hours in the daytime for 3000 yen. I feel like trying it sometime. It's been years and it could be fun.

Yoyogi Park and Shibuya

Nothing special planned for today, but we did a big trip around the Harajuku and Shibuya areas without using the trains. 

 As you might remember, Yoyogi Park is next to Harajuku. We saw the usual freaks hanging around the station there, including the "Bono" wannabe, "free hugs" people, and an old man dressed up strangely with a "second" head hat. 

 The things lonely people do to get some, or any kind of attention.

  Yoyogi Park always has a great atmosphere - A few DIY rocks bands busk on the footpath, and people having picnics. 

 The autumn leaves look quite good here too with the pretty colours. 

 One thing that really stood out in the park was watching the autumn leaves, in this video flying seemingly of their own accord. It looks like the hot air from the subway grill makes for a spectacular sight.

   

 From Yoyogi Park we went on our way to Shibuya stopping at Levain, the french bakery to get pumpkin bread and some yummy raisin scones that we ate there before moving on.

  We had a wander around Shibuya. For some reason we had a craving for Azuki icecream so we bought a Haagan Daaz Azuki Milk and Azuki Kinokuniya supermarket icecream. Strange, for a cold autumn day? maybe.. 

 Walking around we found a funny t-shirt place selling Red Bazooka shirts. Some really cool, strange ideas here. Gf liked the "Ping Pong dash" one. Basically it means ringing ("Pin Pon") a stranger's door bell, then running off. Ah, those crazy japanese huh? 

 Another strange thing we found in a store was a JR Yamanote and Chuo line clock and that - "JR East has begun selling a clock that plays those melodies you hear at various stations. Each station has its own melody which gets hammered into the subconscious of commuters." 

 If anyone's interested just what the train melodies on the Yamanote sound like click here. In particular find "Takadanobaba", the music will sound familiar. Apparently it is the home place of it's creator. Cool huh? 

 We made our way back to Yotsuya slowly but surely. I'm glad I wasn't by myself. Until I get some kind of GPS, my sense of direction isn't going to get any better around here.