Tokyo Day 3 - Shinjuku

15 - 7- 6

After a brief ride on the local train arrived at Shinjuku station approx 5pm. On exiting the train we were caught in the masses of people & pulled along with the crowd till we reached the ground level. First impressions are big city shopping area - tall highrise buildings with advertising & neon-lights. Plenty of hip Japanese youths dressed in cool getups. Didn`t see any really crazy fashions. More `understated cool`. Japanese high-fashion - more like Comme de Garcon (eg. think Zambesi/Nom*D with more of Japanese twist.) I was really impressed to see that the guy`s were right up there with the girls in terms of really cool unusual styles.

Wandered around the streets, taken in all the high rises and neon signs which were just starting to light up. Very busy, people everywhere, although it was probably rush-hour. Went into one of the department stores & wandered through the 70`s style floors. All sales staff are so polite & friendly as you walk pass they all call out something which sounds like `masai masai` which I presume is a welcoming call. Into another department store next door which had really cool clothes, infact 7 floors of them - all womens!!! inc accessories, shoes, make up etc.. This time a big Thanks to Tere for bearing with me whilst we wandered around each floor. Very cool, trendy gears but unfortunately with a rather pricey $ tag - some pieces were 20,000 Yen which is just under $300 NZ so needless to say I didn`t buy anything!

A bit more of aimless wandering & just going with the flow of foot-traffic & we come a cross an area, literally packed with people, quite a few tourists just hanging around taking it all in, like us (and there`s a lot to take in). Huge TV screen on the side of one of buildings playing animal clips from an National Geographic type show. Amazing shots of birds, elephants etc.. Off this main street are lots of little alley streets lined with bars, business men stand around little tables drinking beer, sake & eating yaka-tori.

We decide to have dinner at a little Japanese run, Italian restaurant (a break from ramen noodles, also we were a bit brain-fried from absorbing all the Shinjuku sights). Tere had a Hoegardden beer & I had a gingerale & beer (Ronnie you will approve, a shandy of sorts). Went down very well. Food was really really delicious, we had salad and foccacia bread, warm with melted butter and oil (almost tasted like naan) & pizza itself was really yummy - smoked mozarella, aubergine & tomato. Meal cost approx 4500 Yen. 3 young trendy Japanese male chefs in the kitchen went into fits of laughter when Tere & I complimented them on the food and all 3 of them ducked down and hid behind the counter, one called out Thank you from his hiding place?? Not sure what was so funny - obviously us! (haha-comical)

Walked past buskers - playing a mix of jazz/ska - all dressed up in there suits with crazy hair (2 guitarists, bass, 3 brass, keyboardist, drums & vocalist). Bass player had crazy long ponytail with mohawk & big goaty. Small crowd gathered around - business men in suits & students alike were tapping there feet & clapping there hands to the music. Pretty good band for the side of the street. Finally a man who looked like a basket ball coach with an offical like tag around his neck came over & asked them to stop (noise control), quiet disappointment from crowd. He relents & say`s they can play one more & they`re off again - putting on a great show. 5 mins later another more official police officer comes over & asks them to stop - very politely I might add, he goes around to each individ and bows politely to them. Like to see NZ police do that or American for that matter...

After the live music comes to a rather abrupt end the crowd disperse & Tere & I head to HMV store, really good selection of music - including `Die Die Die` CD (NZ Punk band). Tried to buy new Jet Li DVD `Spirit` (aka Fearless) looks really good - kinda like Hero, unfortunately no English subtitle options, only Japanese and Chinese - bummer. Finally a store stocking English language fashion mags - I stock up on a couple! Yaahhh. Catch train back to our station, grab some brekkie for tomorrow from 7/11 store (cup of noodles and yoghurt has become the norm while we`re in Japan - affordable!) Back to our crazy 70`s time-warp hostel - tonight we sleep on a tatami (Japanese style mat beds). Another crazy-fun day in Tokyo - tomorrow we check out Harajuku (bring on the crazy goths!!)