yak

Shopping Spree Shibuya

Last month when I was in Tokyo, I didn't buy anything. Not really. I can count the number of things I bought in the 3 weeks I was here with 1 hand. Sad, I know. However, yesterday, I broke the mold and went shopping in the crazy hip area Shibuya. I should have taken a picture outside of the Shibuya Station (although that I not how I got there). It was also a marvelous site because it was raining and there were tons of umbrellas. The pedestrian crossing occurs over a large area, so when the cross walk light turns green, a mass of umbrellas take over the street, meandering its way from one corner to the other. Somehow, all the umbrellas arrive safely to the side walks before the cars come. Similar to the van of political protesters shouting out things I do not understand in Shinjuku the last time I was there, there was another group at the Shibuya Station broadcasting political messages over their PA to the umbrellas on the street.

I was among the umbrellas. I had to purchase one on the way from Omotesando Station because it started pouring. Not knowing when the next convenient store would be (they sell cheap umbrellas for about 399 Yen), I stopped at the first shop I saw selling umbrellas and ended up buying a cute green decorative umbrella for 1900 Yen. Yeah, shame on me.

After passing Shibuya Station, I headed for the famous shopping building 109. Why is it called 109? Perhaps there is 109 shops inside? I don't know really. Just a guess. But there seemed to be atleast that many. There are about 9 floors. The top floor is a couple of restaurants. Each floor has about 10-12 tiny, cramped shops selling fashion wear, lingerie, hair accessories, jewelry, bags, and shoes. 85% of the shops were clothing. 2% bags. 2% shoes. 5% lingerie. 3% hair accessories. 3% jewelry. Of course most clothing shops sold a little bit of everything.

I went through the entire 109 building twice. First time was to see what everyone was selling. The second time was to make my purchases. I had to go through all the floors a second time because I had forgotten where some of the shops were. The clothing here are at a moderate price because they're not designer, so they are half the price of what you would find at the department stores. My travel book said that the average age of girls who shop here is 20, but I disagree. It's more like 25. Most are very made-up. Caramel hair, tons of makeup, and dressed up fashionably.

In total, I spent about $150 USD today: ~$20 for umbrella, ~$20 for black skirt, ~$60 for funky peacock print skirt that could also be worn as a dress (sweet!), ~$40 for a slip to wear under my bridesmaid's dress, ~$7 for a hair ornament that looks like something a geisha would wear (has two strings of small flower hanging down with a bell at the bottom). Wish there were more of these, but I only found 1 on the shop. Most shops in 109 don't sell things this old-school.

How was my shopping experience, you ask? I wouldn't be able to do it all the time for sure. I am a bit claustrophobic... but phobic is probably not a precise way to describe it because I don't feel terror in closed spaces; I just get annoyed. The ladies working the shops always try to talk to me, telling me things I don't understand, but I just nod, smile, and go back to my shopping. The shop where I bought the funky peacock print skirt/dress explained to me in Japanese how I can wear the garment as a skirt or dress, but they also used some hand signals, so I figured it out.

One suggestion I'd like to make for these girls is: Don't bring your big purses with you to a cramped shopping place like 109. But perhaps it is I who made a mistake by not have a big purse of my own to protect myself with. Seriously, though, I got stabbed and wacked by big purses.

Another suggestion: Don't bring your boyfriend with you shopping. That is if you are planning to do some serious shopping. If you're going to 109, you are doing serious shopping. I was a bit ticked by this guy standing around in one of the lingerie shops. About 10 minutes later, I realized his girlfriend was trying something on, but still that guy was in my way! If you know how small these shops are, you would get annoyed by someone standing in your way while you're trying to shop too.

I was probably inside 109 for 4 hours. Luckily, it was not time wasted.

Afterwards, I headed towards Takeshita-dori. By this time, it was already dark, about 6 PM, but the shops were still open. I went into the Daiso 100 Yen shop to pick up a few items. Then headed back to the Omotesando Station. I felt gross and worn out by the time I arrived at the hotel. At around 9 PM, I went to sleep.

Pictures..........
On the way to the Nogizaka Station in the morning, I saw an old lady walking her pug who was wearing a t-shirt. They stopped in front of a pet store near the Roppongi Crossing. I couldn't resist, so I inconspicuously took a picture.

When it started raining, I stopped to purchse this umbrella. It was out of necessity. Seriously. As you can see in the picture, it came with a little carrying bag.

Soon after, I walked pass the LuluLemon store on Aoyama-dori, towards Shibuya. They are based out of Canada and make great yoga-workshop clothing. Very cool and very expensive. Yasmin is a big fan.

After my 4 hours of shopping at 109, I walked a bit around the Shibuya area and saw this restaurant.

On my way back to the Harajuku/Omotesando area, I saw this sign. Please don't cut your poodle's hair like that.

That's all for now.

Woke up this morning with a headache. Drank some coffee, which seemed to help. By the way, this is my first time making coffee with a coffee maker. Amazing, isn't it? I'll be working the rest of the day. More coffee please!

Posted by oneray at April 29, 2006 7:39 PM