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One reason I will always be grateful for receiving scholarship money from the Japanese government (except for the fact that it pays my rent and groceries and other essentials) is that it allows me to go to Shibuya and eat at an all you eat cake place.

On Friday night, thanks to Michaels' impromptu decision while we were hanging out in Kudanshita park, we headed to Shinjuku to partake in a night of drinking at an izakaya. Much drinking and carousing was had by japanese, finnish, canadian, german, and american alike. So much so that when our time ran out we went back up to street level and randomly hung out with the people up there. Yes, we spent about 40 mins just talking with other drunk, complete strangers, before we made the brilliant decision to go to the karaoke place across the street, dragging some of these new people with us. They were smart and made their excuses to leave about 4 mins in! But Karaoke was awesome, with the Nagoya boys indulging in some hip hop, the Germans singing Genghis Khan and Dragostea Din Tea, and much dancing on the couches. Of course ,the karaoke place was also licensed so people continued to drink there! Then me, Marguerite, and Anna spent about half an hour in front of Shinjuku station arguing with Marco and Ryan over whether or not we were going to go clubbing in Roppongi. The decision was eventually "no", as i was getting tired and sober, so Marguerite and I squeezed ourself into the last Keio train (which was, if it is possible, even more crowded than the morning). Of course, the train only went as far as Meidaimae so we had to get off there and walk home.

Saturday was an early day as me, Sunny, and Ping went to Shibuya to meet Koji and Kazuo for lunch at the cake tabehoudai. Maybe it was because I had built it up too much in my head, but it wasn't amazing. It was still really good, as any place where you can eat all the pasta and cake and custards that you want, but i was expecting a little more. We hung around Shibuya for a while before heading over to Koji's place before we went and cheered him on at his basketball game. Sadly, the day before I had been bitten by some bugs and as a result my arm was on fire with a bad reaction to this new bug so I spent most of the time scratching and cursing japanese insects. After his game we went and joined his team at an izakaya. By the time we got there they were already extremely drunk but it was great fun meeting them, laughing with them, and being rattled by Yuki-chan as she kept asking to me choose the cutest guy from three of the players. Such fun, says I!


Sunday, me, Eric and Stacy finally made it out to Harajuku and Yoyogi! Harajuku was mad busy with tourists and japanese alike and as we enjoyed the famous crepes, we watched some of the gothic cosplayers walk by. However, we knew there was a place where they all hung out but weren't quite sure where it was. We made some stops at a jewelry store, some clothing stores, before i stumbled upon a used kimono kiosk. This was funny because I had just read an article earlier in the week about what they do with old kimonos - sell them, cut them into fabric, or use them to make other clothing. I bought a really cool obi for about 2000yen, although i have yet to decide what to do with it!

We finally found the cosplayers and gotholis on the bridge by the second part of the station and amused ourselves taking pics of them. we then headed into yoyogi park and Meiji shrine (where stacy and eric were chastised by an english speaking monk for sitting on the sacred stairs). The shrine was pretty, given the fact that it was a lot like central park- a haven in the middle of a busy city. Then, joy of all joys, i heard some loud music so we went around the corner and discovered my own personal haven- the bands that play free shows on sundays. It was my own personal mecca and I sat down and watched a few of them. By this time Stacy and Eric were pretty tired of the heat so I cut it a bit short. But. I will say that I met my future husbands in the band 2HT. They were a lot of fun to watch and I had a quick conversation with the drummer after their set when I bought their album. I am looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow! And now that I know where all the cosplayers hang out, i will endeavour to get more photos of them. I continued on to Shibuya and did some shopping at 109 (ichi maru kyuu), which was difficult as it is 7 floors of clothes meant for tall, skinny japanese women with lots of money.