A Sunday in Harajuku

Yesterday I decided to get Juan out of the house and show him a little of Tokyo. So we hopped on a Train and headed towards Yoyogi Park. Yoyogi Park is just south of Shinjuku and houses one of the most honored shrines is Tokyo. It has become a popular spot for new years celebration. In fact, over 2000 people gather every December 31st to help ring in the New Year.

However, on April 15th, there were not thousands of people a foot. But as we walked into the holy grounds we were lucky enough to run into a wedding procession. This is the first and probably only time I will ever see one of these in person. The bride is in her white Kimono and her groom is dressed in a Samurai
type kimono. The mothers are in their black and most formal kimonos, while the fathers are in British style suits, with waistcoats and tails. The small wedding party follows dressed in their best. Black suits for men and dresses or colorful kimonos for women. Even though the procession is small, there will be many more people awaiting the happy couple at the reception.

After seeing the temple, the Mr. and I went on a Sunday stroll through Harajuku. It also seems that thousands of Tokyoites and German tourists had the same idea. The streets were crowded, to say the least and Juan and I fought our way thought the little streets full of cheep fashionable shopping for the youth of Tokyo.

After our walk through Harakuju we headed onto Omotosando Dori. Omotosando Dori has become renowned for it's sheik shopping stores and ritzy sidewalk cafes. So as we walked by names such as Coach, Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc... we saw girls in expensive clothes drag their husbands, boyfriends and lovers into these high end fashion retailers with the hope that they would be walking out with something pretty and overpriced. I have to admit that I only became weak to the theory of overpriced retail therapy when we passed by the Tods window. I have always been a sucker for their classical styled shoes and handbags.

Before we headed home we had an early dinner at Kua' Aina. Frommer's suggested that this would be the best burgers in Tokyo. Even though I don't always agree with the famed Frommer, the food here was pretty damn good. Juan had 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger and gave it an over all rating of 8 (which is like a 12 in Japan). My turkey, swiss avocado sandwich was spectacular and I can easily say that is was the best sandwich I have ever had in Japan. I recommend this restaurant to anyone who misses high quality burgers and sandwiches. Mmmmmm. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. I think I need to go and wipe the drool from my chin. Wet Smooches!!! Ja Ne!