Day 27

the last day we get to use our jr pass. bcos i was missing triangle and strawberry daifuko so much he actually suggested that we take a 1.5hr Shinkansen ride down to Sendai just to get them (!!!). and he feels that would be the ideal way to fully utilise the jr pass on the last day. but of course im sane and i wont waste 3hrs travelling back and forth. so we decided to tour tokyo!

it was a saturday and the streets were quite crowded. first stop was Shinjuku where we tried to find sundrug, recommended for their cheap prices. we also dropped by other drugstores and grabbed some good deals. a bottle each of the best selling toner in japan. 1 bottle gets sold every 4 seconds. only abt S$7.80 a bottle! which is cheaper than my current toner so i got one to try. then we grabbed 4 packs of this highly recommended eyedrop for contact lens wearers. it was one of my regrets tt i didnt get any beauty stuff on my last trip so im totally making up for it this time round. contemplated getting makeup stuff but thought i could put tt off to the last day so we have less to carry around.


we got a flyer on the streets and decided to check out this optical shop tt has contact lens promotion. they are super professional, not like your typical singapore optical shop. u actually have to get a queue number and wait for someone to come to u with a clipboard to ask u questions and recommend the most suitable lenses for u. quite like seeing a doctor really. but didnt get any in the end cos they're all bi-weekly lenses. apparently no one in japan wears monthlies! for hygiene purposes i guess. plus, i bet the girls wear it every single day so they need bi-weeklies.

then we went to Harajuku, where all the teens hang out. it was extremely extremely crowded. i got tired just looking at the sheer number of pple. shops were kinda small-ish and filled with girls streaming in and out. dont like to shop in places like tt. me likes private space.

last stop was Akihabara where there are tons of electronic goods. one famous thing abt Akihabara is their Maid Cafes. i think there's one in singapore too but tt's just a copycat. asked to take pictures with a few Maids in front of the station giving out flyers but they all said no. i guess its a company policy of some sort. decided to go to the original Maid Cafe and my goodness, they occupied 4 floors. and when we got there, there was a QUEUE to get in which stretched all the way to the stairway. and there was this huge sign tt said no photography. apparently if u want to take photos with the Maids, they will help u to take at a charge of 500Y. damn good at making money. so in the end, i took a photo OF the poster instead. and we didnt eat there cos i know the prices would be jacked up. plus i cant take photos so whats the point.

we ended up at Song Wu instead. the major competitor of Yoshinoya. i got a beef bowl and he ordered the hamburger steak set. tobias thought the guy sitting beside me was insane cos he was only eating an egg. raw if im not wrong. but then his order came so yes, he eats.


decided to chiong down to Maihama Outlet since we had the jr pass. they were having outlet sale tt wkend so i thought we got lucky. but we didnt end up with a single buy so yeah. i headed straight for agnes b but cldnt find any nice bag. dont want to settle for a not-very-nice one just for the sake of buying one. looked at coach wallets too and concluded the design isnt tt nice afterall. i think perhaps the whole point of carrying a branded good is just for the brand. i dont think it serves any additional purpose really. but tt being said, i still really really really like the agnes b voyage white bag i saw at odaiba.


went back to Ikebukuro for an early dinner but there was a queue at Bomb. at 5pm. u can imagine how good their food is. queued for a while before deciding to come back after my perm. rushed to Allure to find tt they were all fully occupied so we had to wait. they passed us some hair style books and we started flipping but in the end, i guess the hair stylist would know best so i decided i would leave it all to him.

my funky hairstylist came. thank God he's quite friendly and doesn mind the fact tt we speak little japanese. after almost half an hour of gesturing and communicating in all sorts of ways (including writing in kanji), i finally got started on my digital perm. assistant came over to wash my hair. their chair is like uber cool. u can actually sit upright on it then it kinda like tilts behind so u dont have to sit up and lie down when getting your hair washed.

assistant tried to make conversation. i barely managed. when applying the water treatment for me (which consists of spraying a kind of vapour from this brush-like device), he warned "too hot, tell me!" so some of them do actually speak a little english! then it was time for my cut. and aftertt i got hooked up onto the perm machine. but it was tedious work preparing for it. there were 2 stylists attending to me. one would prepare the styrofoam, the rubber band and the paper while the other would actually do the curls for me.

i was stuck under that machine for less than an hour. during which my hairstylist kept me company by making small talk. i really had fun even though half the time i didnt know what he was saying. i tried to ask him questions too, like abt maintenance, shampoo and i managed. barely. but it was fun. he asked how long are we gng to be in japan. i told him one month. but he thought it was one week and he was wondering how on earth did we manage to visit so many places at different ends of japan in such a short period of time. only toward the end he clarified what one month meant. and i had to tell him 4 weeks = 1 month then he gotit.

i can write on and on abt what we talked abt or what i attempted to communicate to him but it would take far too long. in the end, my procedure dragged on to way past their closing time but they still stayed and weren't in a rush at all. i really think their service is top grade. and even though they were all tired frm a long day's work, they still obliged when tobias asked for a group photo together. the ultra kawaii receptionist is the most pitiful cos i think she was standing throughout the day. she is like super cute and nice!


actually i was worried sick cos tobias hasnt returned back to the salon when they were drying my hair. i was wondering what on earth happened to him. i have no cash. i have no passport. i dont even have my jr pass with me. i cant pay them and i cant get anywhere. but thank God he turned up all sweaty and panting. turned out tt he actually went back to Super Hotel to pick up our luggage and transported them down to our hotel for tonight at Ueno. he single-handedly carried TWO luggages, a big bag of shopping with shoes and clothes inside, plus his own backpack. and according to him, the Yamanote line broke down so he had to transfer to the subway in order to get to Ueno. his sweat soaked through his singlet and everyone was avoiding the crazy sweating guy who ran all the way with luggages and bags. (he ran so he cld make it back to the salon in time)

all this just so tt i wldnt have to go back to Super Hotel after doing my perm to fetch the luggage and drag it all the way to the station, take train, then drag to Cube Hotel. carrying all tt stuff is no mean feat. esp when u still have to retrieve your jr pass, go past the gantry, up the stairs, etc. i was quite speechless when he told me he did all that. who else on earth would do all this for me? i really really really appreciate it. its all bcos of him we're in japan once again. its all bcos of him we have a fun-filled month without any trouble with accomodation or transport. its all bcos of him i got to enjoy my Bomb dinner and travel to Ueno without dragging a luggage. thank u so much for all u've done.