Teishoku and Harajuku
On Thursday morning, our last full day in Tokyo, we went to the home of some friends of a friend of friends who had invited us. We didn't take any photos, but we had a nice visit with them!
For lunch, we went to a teishoku (set meal) restaurant. This was a fun experience! Everything was in Japanese, but by using Google Translate on the menu board outside, we managed to ascertain that the options were grilled beef and ginger pork. The restaurant was small, with room for only about ten people to eat at an L-shaped counter around the cooking area. It was definitely a place for locals rather than tourists!
After lunch, we went to a cat cafe called Cat Living Shelter Cafe. This was something F in particular had wanted to do, though I was also keen as it's such a classic Japanese activity. It was outrageously expensive: $142 AUD for a hot chocolate each and an hour in a room with cats!! But at least we had chosen an ethical one, so the money went to a good cause. F has prepared a separate post about the cat cafe, so I'll leave it to him to tell you about it!
Next, we headed to Takeshita Street in Harajuku. I'd read that this was a popular street known for its youth fashion and kawaii (cute) culture. This is where we found all the other tourists!! Every second group seemed to be Australian (we can identify them by their Katmandu or Macpac jackets/ RM Williams boots/ accents). At this point Ben announced his gratitude that my "off the beaten track" discoveries had until then kept us largely off the tourist trail, haha! Here are some photos from Takeshita Street...
Afterwards, we tried to head to a nearby park to see the Meiji Jingu shrine, but it had already closed for the day.
That night for dinner, we ate the cup noodles we had created at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum the day before. J wasn't keen on his, but the rest of us enjoyed ours!
