Sunday
We started the day at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.
I was in awe of the spring blossoms and our timing to catch this elusive event.
The blossoms and the gardens, ponds, lanterns and arrangements made the garden
one of the highlights of this trip. After the garden,
we sped off to meet Mika at Harajuku for the Meiji Shrine and some people
watching.
Lunch at Maisen started with a long wait but having their tonkatsu and tempura,
which is made into an art form, was tasty and fun. They
have ceramic pots on the table filled with katsu sauce, one sweet and one spicy.
They also serve daikon oroshi which is hard to explain
but adds a clarity to the katsu and tempura.
After lunch we went to Akihabara, the electronics shopping area, and went
to the nine story Yodobashi-Akiba department store filled with everything from cell phones,
cameras, flat screens, computers, refrigerators and even golf clubs -- each with
their own floor! In
the Akihabara area we spotted these girls dressed as "maids" and went to
one of the "maid cafes" where the young girls dressed as maids, talk story,
have mostly non-alcoholic drinks, play games and cheers with their
mostly young, male, pasty faced, tech nerds that seem to have a hard time
meeting up with girls but thrive with the maid scene. The electronics stores were
an organized market place with each type of electronic item per floor and the
floor laid out like a track around a central set of escalators. Signs on
the
counters, on the merchandise and signs on the floor guide you to the best
deals. An entire floor of cell phones and internet technology was
impressive.
Sales clerks standing on counters announcing specials was also very cool.
The merchandise was arranged perfectly and some items were empty boxes
that you get once you pay at the cashier.