17 May 2009

I woke-up at 9am this morning as planned and let some of the guys put their luggage in my room to store until 3pm check-in. Since I had cleaned my room, there was probably enough room to put everyone’s luggage, but many of the guys didn’t care about the security of their luggage and just left it in the lounge. After all the guys had moved their luggage into our wing, I got ready and headed to breakfast with Jeff, Derrick, and Blake. Jeff felt like eating the Turkish kabob pitas that we had gotten once before in Harajuku, so we walked through Yoyogi Park in order to reach Harajuku. All four of us ordered the chicken kabob pita with mixed sauce and extra meat for 600 yen. It was a really filling meal and the heavy amount of meat really hit the spot.
After breakfast, the three guys went back to the NOMYC to relax, but I decided to explore the Harajuku area on my own and possibly do some shopping. I also remembered that I still wanted to photograph the interior of the gymnasium 1 at Yoyogi National Stadium, so that was a short five minute walk from Harajuku. There was an International Asian Cheerleading Championship going on in t gymnasium 1, so it would’ve cost 3,500 yen to get in! What a rip off for something that I don’t even want to see, so I refused to pay the price of admission. I instead attempted to talk with the four girls in the ticket booth, but none of them spoke any English. With only my minimal knowledge of Japanese and my small Japanese guidebook, I was able to figure out that the gym was never open for free, and it was only accessible during scheduled events. They did not have a schedule to give me, and they wouldn’t let me run in really quickly to snap a few photos. It was really frustrating to have such a strong language barrier, but in the end, I was at least able to get a phone number to call to hopefully make reservations to tour the interior. I plan on giving it to Norio so maybe just the two of us can check out the building. Overall, I was really proud of myself for even being able to figure out that much information, especially since I was barely only able to put together a couple of sentences. The girls probably made fun of me after I left, but oh well.
Next I walked to Shibuya to do some more browsing in all of my favorite stores. I went to Uni Qlo, The Loft, Gap, and Tokyu Hands. I ended up emailing with Norio on my phone, since he was also in Shibuya, and we met up at Tokyu Hands. We were both looking to purchase larger backpacks to make traveling much easier, so we shopped together at Tokyu Hands. According to Norio, this was the cheapest store to buy nice items. I was looking for something reasonable, but Norio, of course, was looking for anything cute. He didn’t really have much of a cutoff in terms of price, so that was interesting. He was incredibly indecisive, but in the end, we both got backpacks. Mine is a Berghaus that holds 35 liters, and it cost 12,600 yen. Norio bought a North Face hiking backpack that holds 40 liters, and it cost 19,950 yen. I am very satisfied with my purchase since I can use it for our one week trip that starts tomorrow, and I can use it as a carry-on. It is also a very versatile size which I can use many times in the future. Norio almost bought a Porter large duffle bag instead for 28,750 yen, but I convinced him not to since he really only wanted it for the name brand. He is so funny sometimes. After completing our purchases, Norio and I grabbed dinner at the Denny’s in Shibuya. I ordered a side salad for 150 yen and a grilled beef platter with fries for 880 yen. It was so good! I love Denny’s in Japan! Norio got French onion soup and a bowl of somen noodles.
The rest of the evening, I Skyped with my parents and packed for my weeklong trip which starts tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be heading to Sendai, so I am really excited to see the Sendai Mediatheque. It is probably one of my favorite projects (without actually having seen it). With my new backpack, I only have to take that and my messenger bag. It will be so nice to travel with less baggage. Don is additionally paying for us to leave one bag each at the NOMYC for the 300 yen per day charge. I just hope the weeklong trip isn’t too intense, and hopefully I can catch up on some sleep too.