Day 19 - Tokyo (Picking up Josh, Shibuya, Harajuku, Okachimachi and Akihabara)

It was a supremely early wake up this morning for Sky and I as we needed to head to the airport to pick up an important package...Josh. In our holiday planning, Josh wasn't going to be able to join us for the whole holiday, so Joshua's late arrival was consistent with our plans. Josh's journey to Japan was also different to ours. After Jen kindly drove him to Canberra Airport yesterday, he caught a Qantas flight to Sydney at around 1340h (a 40 minute delay from schedule). It was then a mad rush from the Domestic Terminal to the International Terminal to make his next Qantas flight to Hong Kong, a nine-and-a-half hour flight. From Hong Kong he caught a Dragonair flight arriving at Tokyo's Haneda Airport at around 0455h.

For Sky and I we woke at 0350h, before heading out the door to Okachimachi Station, catching the train to Hamamatsuchō Station, then on to the Monorail to Haneda Airport. Josh beat us, clearing through customs, immigration and baggage about 10 minutes before we arrived. We headed out from the airport, the skies still dark with a light orange haze on the horizon as we arrived back at the apartment at around 0645h.

And then this guy arrived...

The remainder of the household crawled out of bed between 0800h and 0830h, greeting Josh then preparing for the day. Once ready, we headed out to Okachimachi Station, this time heading out to Shibuya Station for a very important appointment, the new release of Adidas Yeezy 350s.

Our apartment.

The Beatles?

Someone's happy to see Josh.

After walking nearly a kilometre from the station we arrived at the store to be confronted with a queue of people waiting outside (for the same shoes). One of the Adidas store workers then handed Kyle a number (number 102), making him pretty far back in the queue and unlikely to get the shoe. They told him to head off and come back in around 40 minutes, so we all headed out.

We headed a short walk up the road to a store called Oriental Bazaar, specialising in Japanese crockery, clothing and souvenirs. Maureen, spent what seemed to be an eternity, but worked out the purchases that she would make later in the day. We headed back to the Adidas Store, and, surprisingly, Kyle was able to secure the shoes, in his size. So popular was the release, that we contemplated buying them, even if they didn't have his size, and making a killing on eBay.

We headed out shopping around the Harajuku area, covering the very popular Cat Street which was packed with tourists. We also visited a Tattoo Shop call Tokyo Three Tides, where Josh made a booking for a new tattoo.

If you look closely, you can see that Josh is negotiating a deal for the new tattoo.

Afterwards, we headed back to Oriental Bazaar and loaded up with numerous crockery purchases. 

Maureen with the spoils.

Then we walked back to the Shibuya Shopping District, visiting Tower Records and Mandarake, a Japanese chain specialising in second hand goods, particularly toys and collectables, before heading back to the apartment on the train. 

Shopping around Harijuku.

Crossing the world's busiest pedestrian crossing.

Our train arrives to take us back to Okachimachi.

After resting for a while, we headed out to a dinner at an Indian Restaurant. The reason for eating there was pretty interesting. Yesterday, as Maureen and I were walking home, we were accosted by a guy asking if we wanted to eat at his Restaurant; however, we had already eaten. He said, you should come and visit tomorrow, then he grabbed us by the hand and took us to the Restaurant. I said to Maureen, this guy seems nice, let's visit tomorrow, so I told the guy that we would eat at his restaurant tomorrow...then he hugged me and shook my hand with both his hands, then gave me his Business Card. If that's not keen, then I don't know what keen is. So we ate at the Restaurant, it's a low-cost outfit, as he is the greeter, waiter and head Chef, he's the only person that works in that place; but, the food was super-tasty and we were very satisfied with our meals.

We then headed to the markets at Okachimachi for a short while, then we split up with Kyle and I heading in Akihabara for some shopping and trying some night photos with the new Camera. 

Gachapons.

Sky and Josh also headed into Akihabara for some shopping. We eventually headed back to the apartment and then off to bed shortly after, ending a very long day.

That's it for today.