Somewhere in Shinjuku

March 27th and the weather was gloomy. I started my day with a MR.waffle. I don't remember what flavor this was, but it was good. 

Back on the Fukotoshin Line. Definitely less riders and look, everyone had no problem social distancing. Actually, I'm sure everyone was glad to have a little extra space.

I stopped at KERA SHOP in Shinjuku and then walked a longer route around Shinjuku Station.

I wanted to visit Pure Sound. I made it there but didn't find anything I wanted.

I decided it would be good to rest a bit, so back to my hotel. Not the best photo of the setting sun but it was nice to see it reflected like this.

My treat for the day was this little strawberry cake from 7-Eleven.

They really don't have sweets like this at the 7-Elevens here. Nor the really fresh good food selection.

Even something simple like this they still made it look nice.

As for what I bought at KERA SHOP, the Moi-même-Moitié Candelabra Embroidery Shirt in black. Along with something else. Since my flight had not been cancelled again, I decided it would be okay to spend a little money. I really like the asymmetrical cuffs and the candelabra buttons. I have a couple little vintage Moitié ties so I thought this would be fun to wear like this. 

Welcome to Harajuku Dori

It was March 19th and despite the shows being postponed, I wanted to celebrate a little. My day started with a package from Wunderwelt Fleur being delivered to my hotel. The beautiful Moi-même-Moitié Jewelry and Roses Eyeglass Case turned out to be even nicer than I imagined, and both style of cleaning cloths were included. I found out last year that having my orders sent to my hotel was very helpful. So it was like getting a present this day.

But I wasn't going to spend the day in my hotel. Because this day called for cake. So I headed to Harajuku. I was curious how people and businesses were handling creating safety from the virus. I stopped by Laforet, where they left the doors open so customers didn't have to touch the handles. This also allowed better air circulation in the store. Which does help. There were also fewer shoppers. 

I then went into the little streets behind Laforet. I always find something interesting along these Harajuku alleys. This time it was Casa Mozart.

Down a pretty street full of greenery and up a flight of stairs and I had arrived at this little cafe. A European feeling next to the very busy Takeshita Dori.  

It is a lovely feeling to sit out here in the open air. 

I was going to spoil myself today. So it was Gentle Blue Earl Grey tea and strawberry shortcake. 

 This was a little different that the usual style of strawberry shortcake, but it was still delicious. 

After my tea and cake, I made the mistake of going into Takeshita Dori. Usually packed with tourists, they had been replaced by Japanese middle and high school students. While Japan had shut down all the schools because they did not want children being in large groups, they didn't consider the fact that the older kids would still want to be in large groups. So instead of being supervised in class rooms, they were congregating in places like Takeshita Dori and Sunshine 60 Dori in Ikebukuro. The school closure did not make a difference, to be honest. And many were not wearing masks. Personally, I felt nervous being there, and quickly made my way out of the crowd.

Thankfully there are lots of less crowded places in Harajuku. Just across the main road there is Harajuku Dori. With lots of little cool shops and restaurants. And a lot less people.

One of my favorite stores was open. Bloody Mary. The atmosphere created by the interior design is gothic wonderfulness. One of these days I will buy a piece of jewelry from them. It is just really hard to chose.

I was more in a window shopping mood. And there was fun stuff to see. Like this Ai Yazawa Trapnest shirt from "Nana". 

Nice to walk through here. Besides there being space, most people were wearing face masks. I was also wearing a mask. 

I found Reissue again, but I did not stop in. When times are safer, I want to visit again. 

Gothic fashion shop Noble Noire is here also. They put on the Harajuku Gothic Walk, this time with everyone wearing gothic masks. 

I may have posted a photo of this jacket in a past post? I also saw a guy wearing a black with blue roses shirt during my trip. Very pretty. I was envious.

My stroll along Harajuku Dori got me in the mood to visit another shop. It was a place I've never been to before. That will be my next post.

Roses in December

If you have read my blog posts about Japan before, you might know that the path from Hiratsuka-jinja leads to here. Kyu-Furukawa and it's grand house and gardens.

I've been here before and wasn't planning to visit on my trip but then I read that their roses were still blooming. In December.

So of course I wanted to visit their rose garden once again. While there were less roses, there were also less people in the rose garden.

With the beautiful blue sky, it made for lovely photo opportunities.

And just beyond the roses was the color of autumn in Japan. Which I will get to in my next post. But for now I am skipping ahead to the end of my visit here.

Because once again I wanted to treat myself to something nice. And seeing a bit of the inside of this lovely place is very nice.

I was amused that they offered me the same table I sat at the first time I had tea at Kyu-Furukawa. It is a very nice place to sit and relax.

With beautiful views of the garden. I imagine it must have been very comforting to live here and look out at all that greenery and smell the scent of roses in bloom.

This time I was lucky, they had cake. Orange cake with Darjeeling tea. I would have liked Earl Grey tea with this cake but they didn't have it. Still, it was a lovely moment which I very much enjoyed.

First Stop Harajuku

Since this was my first time being in Japan in July, I'm not sure if the weather is always like this. But it was pretty much the same as it was when I left in June. Rainy Season. 

Still, I was not going to let keep me from getting to places. While it was not the best weather to take photos, I did want to get a few of a couple places. So my first day back I headed to Harajuku and Laforet. 

In through the back of the building, a little looking around and then out the front. 

The reason why, besides shopping, was to add a few photos to the MALICE MIZER Locations Map. 

I didn't find anything to buy but I did get photos to add.

But that wasn't my main reason for going to Harajuku. Back to that secret place for butterfly pea flower tea and cake. 

This time I tried their Mille-feuille. Not too sweet and decadently creamy. It was nice. 

Of course there is always Closet Child. I had less luck this time, but I did find a Moi-même-Moitié little square dish in it's original box. These were given away as gifts when a person purchased over a certain amount. I didn't pay much for it, and it's nice to have something to go with my tea cup.

There is also seeing the interesting architectural details in the small streets that surround Harajuku. 

I thought this was a nice way to break up the otherwise cold exteriors here. Someone went to some effort to make this pretty fence work with sculptural iron and stained glass.

I had another reason to be in the Harajuku area. That's in my next post.

Irises and Tea

What I had hoped to see at Kiyosumi Garden was beyond where the pond was. At first it didn't look like much.

But when I zoomed in with my camera...

I could see irises that looked like colorful birds or butterflies.

I am afraid the distance and the low lighting from the cloudy sky did not help with taking photos. But I still want to share these.

There were hydrangea also starting to bloom there.

And other wild flowers.

A few last looks of the pond and the grounds and buildings around it.

As for the Taisho Kinenkan, it was open this day. Inside they were serving various food items like soba. I opted for oolong tea with a piece of strawberry and blue berry chocolate cake and a really nice window seat. Outside Asian swallowtail butterflies were enjoying the azaleas.

Unfortunately I was not able to get a photo of one on this bank of pink blooms.

One final look at all the green. Really beautiful trees at Kiyosumi Garden. I'm glad I spent time there.