Asia, Day 15 | Japan, Day 7
Oct. 15th, 2023 11:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sen_no_ongakuToday is our least structured day in Japan. We'll be wandering around the iconic Shibuya Scramble Crossing, where at its busiest, thousands of pedestrians make their way across a rather complicated five-way intersection. As soon as we emerge, we take a picture in front of the statue of Hachiko; and I'm inordinately excited because I recognize lots of locations that are recreated in one of my favorite games, Persona 5.
We park ourselves at a Starbucks overlooking the crossing and spend some time just goggling at the sheer mass of people navigating the crossing, even at a fairly mellow time of day.
Our next destination is a cat cafe, but on the way we run across a gachapon shop that has hundreds, probably thousands of different gachapon machines, and so we have no choice but to mill around there for a while. E emerges with a shoebill toy, and I can't resist a Jack Frost (from the series of games that Persona 5 is a part of).
The cafe itself is super sweet. By this point, we miss our own cats terribly, and we're thrilled to have the chance to snuggle some kitties. It seemed well-designed for cats, with lots of nooks, crannies, and perches. One of the cutest things they offer are frozen seafood lollipops, and J and G delight in offering them for the cats to lick.
Next up is the MEGA Don Quijote, the jumbo-sized version of the store that we visited on our first day in Japan -- which itself was already large enough to get lost in. We pick up souvenirs, and candies to bring home and share -- in particular, a whole variety of KitKat flavors, including wasabi, wheat, and sake.
We have lunch at McDonald's, because we have to try it, and it's actually quite good! They're promoting the Samurai burger, which seems a little odd, but is nevertheless tasty -- and they're also offering some Hawaii-themed drinks, which the boys go to town on.
We retire for the afternoon, and J and I try out the hotel baths. (G has decided that it's not for him.) It's a very different experience, much less intimate than the ryokan -- these are baths the size of small swimming pools, in large rooms with a much more modern design sensibility. Again, my (and J's) endurance for the extreme heat is limited, but it's still a pleasant experience, helps me feel like I'm really, truly doing the Japan thing.
Dinner is at Shiomi Skippers, a nearby burger joint. Apparently they've competed in the World Burger Championships, and they do indeed make tremendous burgers -- I still remember mine quite fondly. Plus, the kids' burgers come in a chest, complete with treasure.
We park ourselves at a Starbucks overlooking the crossing and spend some time just goggling at the sheer mass of people navigating the crossing, even at a fairly mellow time of day.
Our next destination is a cat cafe, but on the way we run across a gachapon shop that has hundreds, probably thousands of different gachapon machines, and so we have no choice but to mill around there for a while. E emerges with a shoebill toy, and I can't resist a Jack Frost (from the series of games that Persona 5 is a part of).
The cafe itself is super sweet. By this point, we miss our own cats terribly, and we're thrilled to have the chance to snuggle some kitties. It seemed well-designed for cats, with lots of nooks, crannies, and perches. One of the cutest things they offer are frozen seafood lollipops, and J and G delight in offering them for the cats to lick.
Next up is the MEGA Don Quijote, the jumbo-sized version of the store that we visited on our first day in Japan -- which itself was already large enough to get lost in. We pick up souvenirs, and candies to bring home and share -- in particular, a whole variety of KitKat flavors, including wasabi, wheat, and sake.
We have lunch at McDonald's, because we have to try it, and it's actually quite good! They're promoting the Samurai burger, which seems a little odd, but is nevertheless tasty -- and they're also offering some Hawaii-themed drinks, which the boys go to town on.
We retire for the afternoon, and J and I try out the hotel baths. (G has decided that it's not for him.) It's a very different experience, much less intimate than the ryokan -- these are baths the size of small swimming pools, in large rooms with a much more modern design sensibility. Again, my (and J's) endurance for the extreme heat is limited, but it's still a pleasant experience, helps me feel like I'm really, truly doing the Japan thing.
Dinner is at Shiomi Skippers, a nearby burger joint. Apparently they've competed in the World Burger Championships, and they do indeed make tremendous burgers -- I still remember mine quite fondly. Plus, the kids' burgers come in a chest, complete with treasure.
