Despite also being kinda plane hungover in the morning, we bundled ourselves out and caught the train to Shinjuku. From Sasazuka you can only use the Keio line, which is a much smaller train line. It means you have to do connections to most places, but not to Shinjuku! The trip was super short and we arrived at about 11ish. I got excited to show Ellicia, Cooper and Tara the giant Godzilla, but sorta realised that I am a child and excited by things less people are. Anyway, we walked there – pushing through intense crowds of people – and checked it out. It was actually pretty warm, so we decided to find somewhere to get a beer and found ourselves at home in the English themed pub St James. The people working there really leaned into their characters, serving us in the most surly way. I was amused. About 20 mins into drinking our beers, a couple of Japanese dudes came and sat beside us. One was drunk as fuck and told us (randomly) that he was 44. Lee and I are 44, so we all had a laugh. Bazzy has been learning Japanese at uni, and so he engaged them in some funny half Japanese, half English conversation. Turns out, the super drunk guy is the Tokyo 2023 World Poker Champion. Baz and Keenan exchanged numbers with the dude’s friend and took a photo. So cool and so random.
Next stop was Pokémon Station – totally not worth it, just FYI. It was just a bunch of chairs in front of a Pokémon themed vending machine. Disappointing. We did enjoy the Macca’s though – Lee got a shrimp burger which he rated. Afterwards, we jumped on the Yamanote Line to Harajuku. Harajuku on a Saturday is all kinds of insane, but in a good way. Just super busy – like bumper to bumper with other human beings type busy. But everyone is happy and ready for a good time. You just walk from the top of Takeshita Street to the bottom, about 500 metres, and it takes about 20 minutes. You have to let yourself flow with the tide of people. The funny thing is, that is you want a break you jump into one of the shops. A bit like a fish sliding into a knot of roots on the bank to take a break. The shops themselves were almost always quiet and mostly empty. So bizarre! We popped into a couple so I could look at the cute jewellery and Lee searched for socks. We both snagged some goodies, plus a new dog toy for our three doggos. At the end of the street, we divided up – letting Ellicia and Cooper take a breather and the bigger kids to go in search of an animal cafe. We all met up about 45 mins later and shared stories of the silliness we got up to. The big kids got to cuddle hedgehogs which is cool. I am a bit jealous!
Once we managed to get back to Shinjuku station and find the Keio line, we came back to Sasazuka to chill. Again, my spirit wanted to go out at night to experience Japan at night, but my body just didn’t wanna play the game. 17,000 steps per day is about average for Japan, but I’m still not adjusted to it and thus bedtime was early again. Maybe when we get to Osaka I’ll be able to share some reflections on nightmare adventures. Watch this space!
Bianca Hewes 