Ari & Nici in Japan: Harajuku, a dream coming true ♥

Hey guys (^-^)v

One of the biggest goales in my life has always been visiting Harajuku one day..

When we have been in Japan this summer a long dreamt dream had become true!

All the time, I have been seeing so many pictures of this district,

but to be there yourself is totally different.

I've waited so long for this and it was so so so amazing *-*

 We went to Harajuku several times during our stay.

The first time was just on our second day.

I couldn't wait to finally see it with my own eyes *o*

So we dressed up a bit (what was really hard at 35°C....) and took the train ^-^
You could already see Takeshita Dori entrance from the platform x3

happy me xD (sorry for my weird gaze but I had to look directly in the sun >.<)

OMG! Finally at Takeshita Dori \(*-*)/

At the entrance we also met two Japanese girls with 'Free Hug' signs ^-^

(although it was a tuesday and they are said to be only there on sundays.. )

on the right you can see Nici and the girls with free hug signs ^.^

We did not take many photos of Takeshita Dori itself

because also during the week it was very very crowded..

Of course, we also went eating some 
of the famous Harajuku crêpes ♥

mine was with cheesecake, strawberries and chocolaate sauce ^-^

yummi~ ♥

We already shoped a lot at our first visit xD

I will show you all my shopping haul in another post ^-^

having some meronpan ♥

  We also visited some stores not located on Takeshita Dori
such as:

hide-sama's LEMONeD Shop ♥

The main reason I went there was to go shopping for my mom x3
She is a huge fan of hide and really wanted one of these parkers
he wore sometimes during his shows:

Of course, I did not only buy this one,
but a lot more stuff x'D

Next, we went on to 6%dokidoki store ♥

Nearby, we also found a store that sells popcorn only x3

It smelled soo delicious outside *o*

After shopping at Laforet in Harajuku where I finally could
visit a 'swimmer' store, we strolled down famous Cat Street !
 キャットストリート

Webpages like 'tokyo fashion' often take street snaps in Cat Street,
but we did not met any photographer there.
Generally the street was very empty when we went there.

On our first day at Harajuku, we left the district quite early
and went on to Shinjuku station to meet some friends.
I got to know them at the university where we had a weekly meet up
of exchange students from Japan and German students that were learning Japanese.
Most of them returned to Japan a year ago and so I haven't seen them for a long time.
When I announced I was going to visit Japan and also because another friend of them
was returning at the same time, they decided to have a meet up and invited Nici and me.

As Shinjuku station is one of the biggest stations in Tokyo,
it was really difficult to find the entrance we wanted to meet at.
But a friendly Japanese businessman helped us
and even congratulated us on winning the soccer worldcup
although we did not say anything about being from Germany xD
He showed us the entrance we were searching for and we met our friends.

They invited us for a 'nomikai' (飲み会),
 a kind of Japanese drinking party.
The name consists of the kanji for 'drinking' and 'meeting'.
They usually take place in restaurants with seperated areas
where you can sit together with your group without being disturbed
or disturbing the other costumers.
It was also something like a flatrate-drinking:
you pay a certain amount of money and can drink as much as you want x3
And you don't only get drinks but also a lot of food *-*

This is very unusual in Germany. 
Here you either go drinking or dinning but not both things together.
Germany is so boring in contrast, as the nomikai was much more fun ^-^
and the food was soo good ♥
We got Japanese Salad, fries, karaage (a fried chicken),
snacks, and a very delicious dessert.

Snacks and salad

waffle with strawberry and chocolate sauce *o*

I was really great to experience this part of Japanese culture
which you usually can't encounter when you are a turist.
Thank you again for this! ^-^

I hope we can meet somewhen somewhere again! ^.^

While writing these entries, I really miss the time in Japan.
It was a great experience and I highly recommend you
to also go over there if you get the chance ^.^
I hope I can visit Japan again in the near future x3

Thank you all for reading (^.^)v
I will be very happy if you also leave a comment ♥
And see you soon for the post about Shibuya !