This is kind of funny as the day I'm about to write about was mostly spent writing another post further down on this page :)
We split up during the day and I went to Harajuku on my own to find a cafe to sit down for a few hours to do some blogging. I went down Takeshita street again and wandered around the area quite a bit until it literally felt like I was drawn into this building that looked like a wicked mirror/portal with escalators leading into super shiny walls so I just had to enter. I noticed there was a Starbucks at the top of the building and thought I couldn't be bothered to find a more charming place at that point. The building was one of the several fancy department stores we'd walked into before with jewelry, watches and polo shirts being sold next to an ice cream shop with a couch with the Japanese version of a teddy bear's face on it. Again, "cute" is not sufficient to describe this culture!
So I sat down next to the rooftop terrace at Starbucks for almost 4 hours just chilling out, writing and reading until Michael came by and we went to Shinjuku to meet up with Trond for dinner. The late night activity was going to be an epic walk through the skyscraper-jungle and making our way to the Park Hyatt hotel which starred in the film "Lost in Translation".
As I've mentioned before I'm not much of a hotel-goer and I tend to feel intimidated by the atmosphere. You can imagine how underdressed I felt in my jean shorts and vest top as we entered the shiny elevators that took us to the 42nd (or was it 47th? I can't remember.. oops!) floor where the doors opened straight into an amazing space that was one of the hotel bars/lounges. We were seated by a table immediately and I just had to run to the bathroom to make myself feel at least a little bit more comfortable in my own skin. It's a stunning hotel, that's for sure! The bathrooms elegantly equipped with simple vanity seats where I turned my silly updo into a nicer braid and splashed some water in my face to seem a little bit more groomed. The Japanese waitresses and hotel guests would be too polite to make any remarks on my looks anyway and it was probably just me being self conscious; it's not like the guys put on their finest shirts for the occasion either. A group of flip flop-wearing backpackers sitting next to posh moneymakers was a cool paradox I could live with for a night :) I have to admit I really enjoyed it at the end once the initial sense of intimidation had passed. It was almost as if the ambiance of the lounge slowly sunk in along with a sense of calmness. We were able to move to a free table right next to the panorama window and my oh my what a view! Fair enough, we had delicious drinks- I cannot even remember the white wine-based cocktail I had which was so tasty, and even some cakes and whatnot... but THE VIEW! I have a sloppy photo of it further down and it's a joke compared to what I kept staring at nonstop for half an hour. Cocktail-sipping with the lights of Tokyo in the background was a JOY and next time I visit Tokyo I will save up and STAY AT THIS BLOODY GLORIOUS HOTEL no matter how uncomfortable it may initially make me feel.
Going down the elevator was almost a little sad. Needless to say I've started saving for my grand stay at Park Hyatt already- if not in my bank account then at least in my mind!
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