成田 Narita – 外苑前 Gaienmae – 青山 Aoyama – 表参道 Omotesando – 原宿 Harajuku – 渋谷 Shibuya
I am in Tokyo but my luggage is not. It is spending an extra day at London Heathrow. Virgin says it’s my fault apparently because I “checked in late”. So late that after passing the security check (queues), I had time to get my breakfast at EAT (queues) and take a slow stroll around the shops to stock up on souvenirs. How did the other two pieces of luggage we checked in simultaneously, sandwiching my delayed one, managed to arrive at Narita? It must be a miracle then.
In Dragonfly Cafe for lunch before check-in.
Last year, I was here on my first day too but for tea and cakes.
Hamburger.
Fried potato.
Mint tea.
My only pair of shoes for now.
View from the hotel room.
…but I haven’t got a stitch to wear.
Making do with borrowed clothes (except the scarf).
CIBONE.
Dean & Deluca.
Christmas on Omotesando.
Bicycles at the police box.
Only in Harajuku, only in Japan…
Mos Burger and mistaken portion sizes.
I thought I needed a box of five pieces of fried chicken for myself.
Vegetable chowder doesn’t come in a cup, it comes in a big ramen bowl.
Replies
alice: I’ve been contemplating it for weeks (lazy to skin) but seeing blogs, such as yours, convinced me to update the picture size. Still black snow and ice? The streets did turn quite grubby after the pictures though when the working crowds were making their way home.
Graham Hutson: We were lucky this year. I remember we had snow a few days after Christmas once. Because of the spirit of the season, I’ll forgive you for calling my arctic hare a snow rat.
Vicki: You’ll have a break all the way to the new year right? I hope so! I was on the train to Winchester last weekend and it looked like a winter wonderland. But not on your side I guess?
Kiki, Yen, if jane, Tea Party Crasher, laboni, bollettieri, Lolla and busma: Thank you for the comments (and if you’ve been commenting for a while, thank you for following the blog) and happy holidays!
Carole and Corinna: I must try to experience snow in NYC once. We don’t ever get snow of that proportion in London.
editor: I’ve not heard of Carter – Shibori but I’ll check it out. Have a good holiday!
Lauren: You had to sleep over on the campus?
Carolyn: Enjoy San Francisco. If there’s one thing you must do, it’s breakfast at Dottie’s!
AL: I was shooting on automatic mode for the pictures because it was quite wet and I didn’t want to fiddle with exposure settings. I guess it’s the ambient light. And the Panasonic G-1 is an excellent camera, the automatic mode on this one has visibly improved from older models)
Clara: I will! One of my favourite snacks for winter is a chewable ginger sweet but I haven’t bought my supplies this year.
A note on: food, japan, lifestyle, me, panasonic lumix dmc-g1, restaurant, shopping, tokyo, travel
i LOVE your scarf … pendleton?
i can’t imagine not having my luggage – i probably would have thrown a tantrum.
you seem to be handling it well :-)
have a happy holiday! <3
the tea lights are such a lovely touch, like a labour of love !
lost luggage is not an excuse to go shopping??
it will be such a satisfying reunion when you receive your things back (that’s how i feel when i return home from a trip and get to see the rest of my clothes again). i guess this shows that what we wear on the plane better be something we like to have on (for a while).
the candle-lit street is really a striking image. very special.
your view is wonderful and dean&deluca all the way over there, i had no idea.
Wonderful pictures.
Have a nice holiday. (I hope your bag arrives quickly!)
That is so annoying about your luggage, I hope that it arrives with you soon! Yes still black ice, I haven’t been able to cycle for a few days. I hope that you have a good Christmas in Tokyo.
I LOVE Tokyo! Wish I was there again but with warmer clothes this time (last time I was there in December ‘05 I only had layers of summer clothes from my round-the-world trip) Have a fantastic time and a wonderful Christmas and I can’t wait to see more pics!x
Enjoy the holidays in Japan! I am spending them at my parents’ house in Frankfurt. All the snow melted away so no sledding (it would have been Oskar’s first time). See you next year in Berlin? :)
Hi T – I wonder if you’ve found there’s a strange sense of freedom existing in only what you have on you currently – just think of the things you can borrow too – one surprise after another.
I LOVE the dean and deluca – bag lights too.
It’s my birthday today,and I have no where to go, so it’s nice to be able to live little vicariously through your wonderful shots, candle lined streets and window views. Merry Christmas!
Ps how on earth do you manage to stay slim…the food looks OH so good x
Sorry to hear about the bad start of your trip, hope it arrives soon.
Oh I love those Dean & Deluca paper carrier lamps! So unique… I wish we had D&D here in SG. X;mas in Japan must be pretty, pretty…wish I was there!
you have such a great sense of humour! ;))
sorry about the luggage…
but do have a wonderful time in japan…lucky you!
Beautiful pictures (as always)..the candles and the bell look really nice. pretty jealous for the mint tea (all of my plants are frozen).hm, hope your luggage arrives soon..
nice Christmas hoilady in Japan a!!
I will leave for India 4 days later for new year, traveling n voluntary work! ha!: )
Oh no, sorry to hear about your luggage. I worry every flight about my bags. Since I’ve read ‘air babylon’ I worry even more.
Nevertheless, I wish I was in Tokyo now. Enjoy your holidays and Merry Christmas!
have a really nice Christmas in Japan!!
I’d love to be in Tokyo right now and am loving your pictures! I have been trawling the internet for Japanese tiger new year goods, but it’s slim pickings. I’m disappointed the Japan Centre and JP books stock nothing. Those tora are lovely.
I saw Okuribito – Departures – not so festive but very enjoyable. Did you know that your fried chicken is very appropriate – Christmas food of choice in Nippon?!
love!love! love! I miss Tokyo more….and yes, only in Harajuku….happy New Year!!!!