Well, I fail at shopping for myself, and just doing anything in general by myself. I made a friend from Taiwan who said Shibuya was the best place to shop (cheap, and cute), but not to go to the 109 store because it was overly sexy (and expensive). I happen to get to Tokyo during Shibuya 109's big summer sale, but still nothing I wanted was within my price range. Plus, my luggage is packed from all the gifts I got for other people, but I don't want to spend the 60-80 dollars to send them back (plus I would need to find an international post office. WTF man setting up their announcement machine outside my room! They are selling gyoza, but curry gyoza sounds interesting. But here is my day so far:
The Game Plan:I went through my guide books. I didn't want to travel all over the place, so I decided to stick with Shibuya. However, Harajuku has a street that is also good for cheap, teen fashion and it is the next stop so I added it to the list. I like visiting temples, and there is one in Shibuya so I added it to the list. Since both areas are supposedly teen. . . I don't know what to call them. . . epic-centers there should also be a ton of cheap places to eat.
Tip: My recommended guides are Frommer's Tokyo and Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Welcome to Tokyo - Tokyo Handy Guide. Both have maps and mains spots to go to. I would have liked a map of stores and restaurants made by a teen or 20-something for the area. If I end up in Tokyo I might make a guide to the area of my favorite places.
I slept in for once (but I still woke up at 7:00 out of habit). I left my room at 11:00 after having breakfast. Today was super hot and sunny, so I was sweating like crazy. I also don't like to leave before 10 because I like to avoid the rush periods. I get to Shibuya and the station is huge, so I actually had to pay attention to where the exits were. Then I start walking. I assume from the descriptions I got that it wouldn't be hard to find stores. Wrong. There are tons of places to eat around, so no need to worry about that. Shopping is a bit difficult. My idea was to follow main streets or girls with cute clothes to find the good spots. At one point I found a little nook to look at my maps to find maybe a department store or something that is good for shopping and a guy approaches me. He is in office worker clothes and he starts talking to me. At first I think it was because I had a map out and he first spoke to me English, so just friendly/ helpful. It turns out more friendly than helpful. He starts hitting on me. I wanted to practice my Japanese but then he kept on talking and jumping in so fast it was hard to complete my sentences (and to make them formal enough because that comes at the end of the sentence). I about had it because I wanted to find something and was not interested. He asked me if I was 25, and I am like nope. . . 19. That didn't scare him off (I basically said things that I say when talking to old ladies because they are the ones who like to talk to me. . . I like talking to people). I told him I had a boyfriend back home (which I don't) to make him go away. Darn you Japan! I can't have a conversation with anyone unless they are a 10 year old boy or a woman of experience!
I am walking around still, beginning to get discouraged when I find a boutique. It has a small sale rack outside priced at 1000 yen. I go inside and it has a nice mix of styles from preppy, rock-n-roll, and bohemian. I pick out a couple of things and try them on. Unfortunately, most of them didn't work on me. However, a dress I picked out at the last minute was super cute (and only 1900 yen with tax included). I spotted a couple shirts that a friend (who has a birthday coming up) would like. They also looked about the right size, but I was concerned they wouldn't fit right or she wouldn't like it. So I got her an accessory. I had bought her another small thing before, so maybe that will be good. (Claire if you read this you can mention it to Sub Subs). I kind of feel bad about it. I might come back to Tokyo before I leave Japan so I don't have to be on the trains for a couple of hours to get on a plane for 13 hours.
I then stopped in Freshness Burger to grab a bite to eat, to sit in the cool air, go to the bathroom, and figure out what to do next. I decided to head back towards the station to avoid getting lost and it wasn't looking like I was in a good spot for shopping either. On the way back I found the store that has been promoting AKB48. It only has cafes, CDs, DVDs, and books so I didn't do any shopping. They were selling AKB48 DVDs, CDs, and photobooks. I also spotted a bunch of girls in the AKB48 sections. I then see some girls enter what looks like a department store so I go in to check it out. There was hello kitty and hat stores on the first floor. I see someone go down a floor so I go down the escalators. . . I see a sign saying Mens 109. I walked into Mens 109, so I left.
I ended up walking all over the place and headed towards the direction of the shrine. However, I wasn't sure how far away it was and I was getting tired. (I don't like to travel to far from the station area to avoid getting lost.) I turned around and decided to check out Shibuya 109 anyway. It was packed with girls and some guys. It has basement floors too. It is a ton of little boutiques in a circle (like 7-10 stores in a little area), and it is the same on every floor except the one that has a food court (but not like our food courts). There are some cute stores, but everything was over my price range. I saw some great jeans, but they were about 7000 yen but 20% off. I decided that I can always go shopping when I go abroad for a year and I don't need more jeans. I ended up buying a ring in a cute store (which was about 1500 yen after taxes). All of the shop attendants are cute here. The crazy thing is this is a great mall for girls who have friends of different styles. There is one girly store, next to a sexy store, next to a rave/ sexy halloween looking store, next to a accessory store. If only they were cheaper! My friend was right for the most part about most of the stuff being short skirts and on the sexier side, but not all of it. It is a good experience just to look around (and maybe go during the sale seasons January/ July), but I wouldn't make it a shopping destination. Instead I would hunt down the malls that the AKB48 girls went to. Department stores usually have a good price range except one I spotted in Shibuya which was all high end designers.
After 109, I walk around and don't see any shops worthwhile to go in (there are some big Forever 21 and H&M stores but I can do that at home). I decide to go to the station. I go to the ticket counter for the JR Yamamoto line, but I didn't see the English signs. I knew that it was only 160 yen to go back home or the next stop or two was Harajuku. It would be at least 130 yen to just go there, so I headed back to Shinagawa. I wanted to cool off and rest me feet. I stopped in Family Mart to buy something cool to drink. I've decided I like 7-11 better. My favorite drink is Mountain Dew here because they don't have Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi (WTF). It seems Mountain Dew is also extremely rare! The only place I've found it was the vending machine near my old host's house. So my head ache is gone, I have my hair up, I am in shorts, and a sports bra cooling off. There are a ton of small Japanese restaurants on the way to the station. I'll either eat at one of those, or (if I feel up to it) head over to Harajuku and shop some more and eat there.
Even though I've gotten more things for my friends and family than I did for myself, I am really happy with what I got. I am going to wear my dress tomorrow. (If you don't love it in the store then don't buy it - is my rule.) My ring, is super cute and is basically a small rock. I have no regret of getting that photobook. Yep, three things. There is still time. Plus, if the train station isn't too far from my next host, and we get a day off, there might be a good department store in the next big town. (At least that was true with my first host.)
Tip: Buy a magazine, or at least do research at what brands you like. This is helpful because then you can find out where they have stores and know where to shop. This can also encourage you to go into a store, because there might be something there. I think I just sucked because I didn't know where to look or where to go. (Plus, I do suck at shopping for myself. I am careful with my money so it is just a matter of finding a store I like in my price range.)
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