Shopping in Shibuya

You are looking at a famous crosswalk in Shibuya, one that apparently has a couple thousand people crossing here on the weekend. This was just lunch hour and the picture doesn't do it justice. I went there with a list I might otherwise be bringing to Target, but instead was directed to another 7 floor store, Tokyu Hands. This one also had A, B and C levels in between. I was amazed I found my way out without getting lost. You could even get lumber cut here. I just needed a child's swim cap, some drawer organizers, clocks, and whatever else I saw that I thought I needed, but no lumber this trip.
Connor and Ariana celebrating their birthdays at preschool. There is a no sugar policy, so Ariana's mom got really creative with this truck o fruit.

After walking home from school on one of our hot hot days we stopped at the shaved ice van/stand that sits in the parking lot across the street from our apartment.

I went across the street to the market and saw this man standing there, carrying an American flag asking people if they were American. I got a little nervous, because of course he was going to ask me. And does he ask everyone unless they are Japanese? I was kinda curious who he decided to ask...In any case, he asked and I said yes with a bit of hesitation. But he was a democrat making sure we had the info to get our vote in from overseas. Hooray! He is a good man doing a good thing.

Jack and I were able to go out for dinner last night. Jack first made a reservation at a restaurant that didn't have an English menu and I decided that wouldn't be a good idea. Most know that as much as I like to cook and to eat I am a picky eater, so blindly ordering wasn't what I wanted to do. Instead, we went to Beacon - an urban chop house - and it was delicious. This menu was in English and I STILL couldn't read it because it was dark and the writing was tiny and I didn't have my reading glasses! Forty is fast approaching...I squinted and found plenty to choose from, but even in English I still had to consult my Japanese phrase book to understand some of the food. I played it safe with wild snapper in a fantastic sauce with a name I can't recall. Jack ordered the filet that melted like butter in your mouth. The avacado and tuna tar tar was so tasty- I ate most of it and Jack says to me, "I thought we were sharing that!" Oops. Everything was delicious and it was so nice to have a meal sans kids. We were in Omotosando, near Shibuya (that first pic) so we walked there after dinner to see what the scene was like at night. We crossed with all of those people and it wasn't as scary as I thought it might be, now maybe if the kids were with us that might be a different story. It was far more crowded than the day before. There were hundreds of hip 20 something's going every which way. But Jack and I decided that we have no idea what truly hip Japanese fashion is although leg warmers, boots, short skirts, tight pants and layers that don't seem to work but seem to work for them could very much be 'it'. We came across some Karaoke bars around there, although they are everywhere. The ones we saw close at 6AM. We were home by 11.

Once again, my kitchen was clean, the kids asleep in their own beds and the sitter did some ironing that I conveniently left out as well.