I think I’ve figured out a few reasons why I felt so out of place in Shibuya among the Japanese youth. If you recall, I’m technically right in that age bracket of the people you’d see there, but at the same time, I just didn’t feel like part of the group. It’s just that the Japanese fashion sense is totally different from what’s I consider to be the norm. Every guy is primped and stylish. Some might say gay-looking, but it’s the norm here. As well, people here are so fracking skinny. Holy crap, it’s so easy to fall into body dysmorphic disorder if you’re not careful. I guess, by comparison, my clothes are sloppier and I’m just a bigger guy, so that makes me…a big fat slob here. Yay!

Well, this morning I made the trek to Harajuku station. Actually, I took the subway, so I ended up at Meiji Jingu-mae station, but they’re next to each other so whatever. I took my backpack, so again, my shirt was soaked with sweat. I wouldn’t have taken it, but honestly, I was kind of hoping for a swarm of Japanese teens with too much time on their hands, but it wasn’t the case. Nope, no freak show apart from one or two exceptions. I went along Takeshita-doori, which is the fashion crockpot of the area. Yup, there were lots of clothing stores, some offering strange things like some leather biker get up with a red mesh shirt…for guys. Yeah, whatever. For the sake of curiosity, I went in one store that seemed to sell men’s stuff. All of the shirts looked trendy, but there were all smaller than anything I could wear. I swear, I kind of just want to go back home, head to the closest mall and find some decent clothes just to prove the point that yes, I can find shit in my size. Screw you, Tokyo! Needless to say, I got bored of the street rather quickly. Although, I did stop by the ¥100 store Harajuku Daiso. To be honest, I really shouldn’t have gotten anything. No matter where you go, a dollar store is a dollar store is a dollar store.

After leaving, I made it a point to stop by Omotesando which is often referred to as “Tokyo’s Champs-Elysees.” By whom? Hell if I know. The shops that lined the street seemed upscale. For example, I spotted Ralph Lauren and Louis Vutton shops. I ducked inside the Omotesando Hills shopping complex to get out of the sun. As I walked around, I marvelled at all the shops I couldn’t possibly afford to shop in. I got a kick out of that. However, there’s only so much of that you can do before going batty, so I left quickly. I ate lunch at a cafe somewhere along the road. They had a great Chicken lunch combo which was well put together. To think, I was this close >>> <<< to eating at Wendy’s.

I dropped by the Meiji Shrine just because when I first went there I totally enjoyed the shade of the forest and the overall serenity of the place. The gates are all just so grand and huge. It’s all just beautiful. It’s a very popular tourist spot. Which reminds me, combined with Takeshita-doori, today I’ve seen more Americans (read: white people) than I’ve ever seen during my whole stay in Tokyo. Please don’t mind me pointing that out; I was just amused by it.

The other day, Amy was telling my about this aquarium that she and Alex went to after they settled at their hotel. I saw a symbol for the aquarium on Google maps, so I thought “how hard could it be to find the place?” As such, I made it a point to go there from Harajuku Station. I got off at Shinagawa and looked for the closest street map. After scanning all over, I didn’t find a single mention of an aquarium. So, my next instinct was to head to the area around the hotel where Amy and Alex stayed. When I got there, there was still no sign. So, I just walked down the road, hoping for something to pont out that I was on the right track. About half an hour later, I gave up. I had no idea where I had just walked to. I was hot, sweaty, and tired, so I walked into a coffee shop and ordered something cold. I guess I was too tired because I ended up buying a blood orange drink for ¥420. That was dumb. It was good but certainly not $4 good, know what I mean? Ugh, anyway, when I left, I kept walking and found myself at Gotanda station. That’s 2 stations worth of distance from Shinagawa. That was bloody far.

Anyway, not to feed into any of the body dysmorphic shit I was talking about, but after all this walking I better damn well have lost a bit of weight.

Thanks. I’ve had my moment.