This is day 4 of revisiting my journal from our trip to Japan last year! If you’d like to start at the beginning, here is day 1.
So, day 4, here we go!
From Shauna’s Journal
Day 4, October 4th, 2017
After powering up with some konbini snacks, I decided to go on a solo adventure today. I headed out to Ikebukuro station, where I took a non-JR train line for the first time using my suica card. It was easy! I took the Maranouchi line to Akasaka and sought out Theme Cafe/Bar #2 of the trip: SMT Tokyo (SMT is the company that my favorite Kpop group, SHINee, works with!). My goal was to have a drink at the SHINee bar where they have huge portraits of each member adorned by artistically placed neon tube lights. I asked the man at the door if I could dine in the SHINee area, but he said something about “unfortunately…” and I knew reservations were often standard at places like this, so I felt a bit let down, but no biggie. I asked to see the gift shop, which was upstairs, and he pointed me in that direction. The walls going up were covered with portraits of SM artists; I saw Taemin, Jonghyun, and Key.
To my surprise, the SHINee bar was directly next to the gift shop, on the same floor! A woman offered me a stool and handed me a menu. I got to “dine with SHINee” after all! I got a korean soda and a sort of bibimbap salad that was delicately presented with edible flowers, kimchi, and light broth. At first I was alone, but then two girls came up and sat near me.
After my success at SMT I took a brief stop in Harajuku on my way to Shin Okubo. Being a Wednesday it was pretty busy, but not insane. I bought some limited edition Halloween Sanrio stuff, explored a couple clothing shops, gawked at huge cotton candy poofs, and attempted doing purikura… I accidentally chose a 2 person set, which I did by myself, and then I couldn’t figure out how to print my pics (there was another booth I was supposed to go to, but I couldn’t find it?) so I left awkwardly without my pics… ^-^’ Oh well, maybe I can go with one of my friends sometime and they can show me how to do it.
At Shin Okubo I found some really cool SHINee merch and got a tasty drink at theme cafe #3 of the trip, Kpop Cafe Caesar, which was decorated with kpop stuff, including SHINee!
Before heading back to the hotel I donated some money to an animal rescue and got to pet an adorable Shiba Inu named Hamu, who was blind. Then I visited a 100 yen shop CanDo, and went back to donate again and see Hamu a second time before calling it a day!
Tomorrow is day 5: Akihabara, Eorzea Cafe, Pokemon Centre, and meeting up with a friend!
HideNGoShauna 