falling and laughing: Ohayo!

But not really. That means good morning in Japanese (I'm pretty sure) and it's certainly not morning but I just felt like saying it. Anyways it's night time and I'm sorta pooped but I still have fathomed up enough energy to catch you up on all of my exciting Tokyo endeavors.

Yesterday was quite a busy/tiring day filled with record shopping. I trekked Shinjuku without getting lost (I know you are so impressed) and found Disc Union. It's a big union of disks of all sorts and good things like really good vinyl for good prices. I climbed and sorted through six stories of goodness, although I have to admit that by the time I got to my favorite section, the indie pop section, I was so tired that I didn't even feel like moving my fingers to sort through the records. But whatevz, I have more time for that.

Shinjuku was a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be, mostly due to the fact that the train station is pretty hard to miss. I think I circled it a few times and I took quite a few pictures. Never mind whatever I was wearing, it doesn't even matter. Let's just say that I looked like a big, greasy piece of poop and that the city of Tokyo is definitely a lot more pleasing to the eye than I was at the time. Here's some shots:

Today my lovely tour guide/friend, Nina, took me to Harajuku. We started at the most pleasant Starbucks I have ever been to. It was set on a rooftop of a mall, with a wide outdoor patio. We lounged on suspended wicker chairs and sipped on our lattes and discussed how pleasant the weather was. Quite relaxing!

We then set off to eat and shop, the greatest pleasures in life. If you think Harajuku is all about gawking at girls dressed in ridiculous outfits, or cosplay, think again. This art of looking like a cartoon character isn't as prevalent anymore. It's pretty strange, considering that it seemed to be one of the main attractions of Harajuku (think Gwen Stefani's Harajuku girls). Nevertheless, I enjoyed the shopping and stuffing my face with a strawberry and cream crepe.

dress- asos; sweater, shoes, purse- thrifted

Later on, Nina had to head off and study for a mid-term, so I took to the streets of Shibuya for some more record hunting. I stopped off at a few shops and searched for Violet and Claire, a small, independent, and incredibly adorable shop owned by Sumire Twee (who is incredibly adorable herself). She signed my good friends, Sea Lions, to her label, and recently brought them to Japan for a tour. I heard so many great things about her that I just had to visit her shop to meet her myself! I walked into the shop and she graciously welcomed me and we talked about Tokyo and records and life and all of that fun stuff. I highly recommend visiting her shop if you are ever in Shibuya, not only to check out her selection of records and clothing/accessories and curios, but just to meet the lovely woman herself! She is just the greatest. Anyways, I was so absorbed by talking to her and her shop that I didn't even think of taking any pictures. But here is her website. Go look at all of her stuff and all of the cool stuff she is selling/doing!