I've decided to structure my entries here starting with the day's events and ending with observations on the culture itself.

As promised in my previous entry, I headed back for Harajuku today with one of my dormmates. We stopped in many of the clothing/accessory stores along the way. While I didn't get anything, there was one shirt that I really liked. It was long sleeved and it flaired out at the waist, with a half-zipper up the back. I forget what the front of the shirt said, and the back had graffiti of sorts. Really nifty. I asked one of the guys working the store if I could try it on, and he told me no. Both myself and my dormmate think it was a racial thing, but there's not much to be done about it. Needless to say I won't be shopping at his store anymore.

There was one store....I think it's called the Body Shop. I wanted to set up a tent and live in there. They had all the frilly lolita outfits that I dream of normally while at home. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take photos in this store, so you'll have to use your imaginations. There was so much to look at, and not just in this one store. It was all lovely, new and interesting. And crowded. Did I mention it was crowded? If not, it was crowded xD.

We went for lunch at a little food court place, ended up getting a cheese dog with a melon soda, which was tasty.

From there, we headed back to Kiddy Land, which is the mulitple level toy store I was dying to go into the day before. THEY HAVE SO MUCH STUFF OMG. I ended up getting some stuff from the upcoming video game release 'Final Fantasy Dissidia', which you can easily google if you don't know what it is. We trolled some other stores before my day partner decided that her feet were shot for the day [she's got issues with the shoes she's got, apparently.] so we headed back for the station. I guess because tomorrow is a holiday [Coming of Age day...once again, google works wonders, or you can wait until I update my blog tomorrow] the station was packed. Luckily, the trains weren't, so we made it home no problem.

And tonight I cooked for the first time in my little, one-burner kitchen. I somehow managed to successfully make gyoza, which are these little dumpling-type things stuffed with what I think was beef and possibly cabbage or something. It was good, but when I make it again I'm planning on cooking the gyoza longer because they taste better burnt.

....and now it's time for observations!

1. The Japanese seem to have this odd fascination with the black population. There's a fashion statement referred to as "BK", where they dress 'black', and there are restaurants, clubs and shops that all have a 'black' theme. I'm not sure if this is a recent trend, or if it's been going on for a while now....

2. It is frowned upon to walk and eat in public, however it is fine to eat outside so long as you are stopped. I find this odd, however it could be the reason why the litter levels are basically nonexistant.