wake.eat.sleep

Palm Sunday! Part of the day was going to be taken up by mass and Holy Thursday practice, so it was time to load up with a quick breakfast. This picture shouldn't surprise some of you.

Any guesses to what I had for breakfast?

I noticed this happened at the end of mass, but I forgot to ask someone if there is an extra historical significance to it or was it just purely religious. My assumption is that the portion of the wall where the tabernacle is.

Anyway it was off to Yoyogi Park. One of the biggest parks in Tokyo, it's a nice public use space that was used in the 1964 Olympics.

The weather was (surprise!) a bit dreary and overcast. Plus, I got there pretty late in the afternoon. There were still some folks out enjoying a nice picnic in the park though.

Now, from pretty far way I could hear the distant and steady drum beats of what sounded like dance music. So gradually, I made my way over. This is what I found.

Previously there used to be a lot more free musical performances here, but they were eventually...discouraged. It was a pleasant surprise to see this scene. I'm not quite sure how much of it was planned, and how many of the people were random additions. (Note the wandering guy with SLR who seems to waver between wanting to take pictures, and wanting to somewhat dance.)

I got about this close by the way.

I wasn't quite sure if this was a group of friends, co-workers, classmates or what. But it was pretty cool to see them set up for a large photo, and go through all the same goofy machinations that any of us go through in getting the picture.

In a bit of a preview for Harajuku, I did see this girl (yes, that is a girl) at the park.

It feels like they put this up in the 70s, and never bothered to maintain it or update it based on how weathered it looks like.

Street vendors!

My (somewhat intentional) walk brought me to the entry point of Harajuku, and the Jingu Bridge. This area serves as both a meeting place, and a spot for Harajuku girls hang out and let themselves get photographed. I'm no expert, but there are two particular styles at play for Harajuku girls: one being a modern evolution of punk perhaps, and the other being a Victorian style of dress with a heavy dash of goth. Here at the Jingu Bridge, you would see the latter.

Earlier in the day, there might have been more people out, but I was at least able to capture a smattering of folk still out and about.

Oh, the price of fashion! I couldn't imagine tromping around wearing heavy looking boots like those.

A quick peek into the Harajuku neighborhood. There's a lot of shops and restaurants in this area, and a shopping district that I would explore later in the week.

I really liked the fact that they maintained the original structure of the station on the left, even as the internals fully modernized.

I thought this woman was dressed pretty sharply and it wouldn't surprise me if she was going to go on a date. (It would surprise me if the guy was making her wait!)

I noticed that there were a lot of women that dressed quite nicely, no matter what the weather conditions were. A nice balance between stylish, but functional. For example, it was starting to get chilly, but I never thought she was cold. You'll typically not see this in Chicago. You'll most likely see inappropriate dress inspired by the desire of not having to take your coat into a crowded nightclub.

I would later grab dinner outside of Harajuku, and call it an early night. Day 10 is my trip into the mountain area of Gunma Prefecture.

See you next time Harajuku!

-- day 9 end --