A bacon/ham and egg but it wasn't an english muffin it was on, but 2 pancakes with globs on maple syrup in the pancake buns. Interesting flavour combo but it didn't beat my classic sausage and egg muffin. Mind you, the sausage didn't taste like the Australian version, it was much more traditional sausage tasting, but yum nonetheless. What I was impressed with the most was the presentation. Even at Mcdonalds the Japanese workers take it seriously and are amazing, they actually make it look like the photos on the menu. 

After eating and marveling at my breakfast, we made our way to the station and made it to our destination. Waiting for my friend Hiro, we just sat looking at our new surroundings, which was lovely and bloody hot! Japan in Summer, I do not recommend. Coming from Australia, that is a big statement. It was so hot and humid, my usually humidity proof make up slid off my face. Definitely any other season go for it, unless you love summer, which I do not.

Meeting up with Hiro was amazing, he passed on our pocket wifi rental which I sent to his place as staying in Airbnb was a bit of a disadvantage compared to hotels, but the price difference was worth it. Anyway, We walked around, went into an ancient Japanese garden and took a stroll, then walked a while until we decided to go up the Tokyo Tower which was looming in front of us. And the view was incredible. You really don't grasp the size of Tokyo until you get here and see all the different areas that make up this beautifully massive city. 

It was definitely a cool experience especially sharing it with a good friend and my boyfriend. Afterwards we had a pit stop for lunch as we all got a bit peckish. It wasn't anything fancy but delicious. Next up was Ginza, where if you're not comfortable with spending $1000+ on a fashion accessory then, it probably isn't the shopping destination for most. That's a tiny bit of an exaggeration but Chanel, Louis Vuitton etc, doesn't really count as budget shopping. 

What was cool however is that on Saturday they block the whole street so there's tables and chairs in the middle of the road and people can walk around freely. It was awesome, and oddly weird feeling, to have that much walking space in a City that has usually everyone crammed on the sidewalk, trying not to get frustrated when you get stuck behind a bunch of slow walkers. But I digress. 

It was amazing Ginza is such a pretty area with the fancy buildings, very awesome place to go.

Such a hot day. Being in the shadows of the tall buildings was such a relief from the heat, but the humidity was awful too. Thankfully we walked by some people that were handing out advertisements, which in Japan means, not just useless pamphlets but useful items like fans, tissues etc. Actual items that can be helpful whilst promoting whatever it is. So smart!

At around 3:30pm we were so exhausted. Still feeling the flight from the previous night, we decided to bid Hiro fare thee well and set off back to our apartment for a bit of rest and relaxation...not to mention air conditioning. Taking the train back we took a nice rest on the not so 100% comfy sofa bed.

A bit later we decided that we should give Harajuku and Shibuya a shot, seeing as we barely got to see anything the night before in Shibuya. So again we set out. Our feet were hurting, we had taken 25,000 steps and we kinda wanted to just collapse but the beacons of lights, people, stores and other wonders awaited us. We ventured into cute shops and took in the sights while also thinking of food. As I was pretty hungry. I had a particular place in mind, gyozaro. A fab little gyoza place in the back streets of Harajuku that just sell Gyoza but do it really darn well. There was a line, like always but the wait was about 15 - 20 mins. Soon we were seated and the food looked amazing, we got to sit at the bar area where you see them cook and it was fascinating to watch. We ordered a lot of dumplings of the different kinds and Simon decided to give something a try. It was a particular drink we saw a lot of patrons drinking out of a beer pint so we assumed it was alcoholic and I was right. It was Lemon Sour. And being back in Australia at the moment typing this, I could really go for one right now and I miss them so much. They are delicious! Not sweet or too strong but do come in other flavours as we saw from other restaurants. 

Then arrived our gyoza...

 They were amazing! And the place was incredibly affordable. You could definitely keep eating here and only end up with a moderate bill. So definitely give this place a try if you're keen for some gyoza.

Afterwards, it was getting a bit late, we were tired and needed to get some rest as tomorrow was more sight seeing and the next day was day 1 of the Mount Fuji Climb! (EEEK!)

We strolled back to the apartment which took about 30mins from Harajuku and stopped for some ice creams at the 7 eleven. (*Crys softly*...I miss them).

Making it back to the place I took this snap earlier in the day of a house near where we stayed, we thought it looked awesome with the vines and it's cool vibe.

Like, seriously....can we please get more of this happening...please.

Well I was going to tack on day 3 on to this post but it is already pretty long and the photos make it look longer. So I guess I shall leave it here for now and do day 3 later.

Til Next Time...Chumps :P

xxT

Total steps taken this day: 29, 333