A Day When Nothing Extraordinary Happened

There was a day when the weather was very hot and humid. Not feeling 100% I decided to just stay in Ikebukuro and do a little shopping.

Pretty much this post is just to document I did go to MOS Burger near Sunshine Dori and ate a shrimp burger and their delicious onion rings with an ice tea.

Ikebukuro proof is the owls.

While not all bought on this day, I did stop in at Tomads which had the Herb time bath salts. The lavender and eucalyptus one is really nice. The others I bought at Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuro.

The other good place to shop this trip was Uniqlo because they had nice long t-shirts and t-shirt dresses in solid colors.

Since this post is so short, I'll share a few food items. Of course I visited Midori Sushi in Ikebukuro Station.

Really good chirashi. Midori Sushi has delicious ikura.

Caesar salad from 7-Eleven! Yes I was surprised that they have expanded their salad selection. Probably the nicest caesar salad I've had in Japan with romaine lettuce and I could taste garlic in the dressing.

Something I received when I was shopping at SEIBU's food hall. I had to wait till I got home to try this dip style Nescafé coffee. Now I want more. Why can't we buy it here?

I'm not sure what day I received my Moi-même-Moitié order. There is a bit of a story to this. Part of this order was for items I bought back in April. But the US Post Office failed to deliver them to me, instead sending them back to Japan. There was no reason for them doing that, my address was correct. They still have not responded to my request to be reimbursed for the shipping.

By the time the items made it back to Japan, I had made a second order of the yukata and accessories. So Wunderwelt and Moi-même-Moitié were really great in combining both orders and sending me everything to my hotel in Tokyo. I am very grateful they did this.

As for the yukata, obi, lace tabi socks and obi bands? They are all very pretty. The tabi socks are very soft and I'm so happy to have the candelstick lace bands.

My first order was to replace my lost Jewelry Roses print fan. Sadly they no longer have these, so I went with the Cross fan.

One other item I received with my yukata order was the Pass Case with Strap. This was so helpful! Unless a person has actually been in Ikebukuro Station, you don't know how chaotic it is. Having my train pass right there and not having to worry about dropping it was a big help.

Like my last trip, there was an evening run to Closet Child in Harajuku. This little Moi-même-Moitié gargoyle had been there for some time so I decided to give it a new home. It was also my dinner companion one evening during my trip.

The real reason for the run was this. A vintage Moi-même-Moitié Coffin Blue Ring. Something I had wanted for a long time but was unsure because I wanted one that would fit my finger. So it was really nice to be able to try it on before buying. And yes, it does fit perfectly.

NERV

Just before leaving on my trip, I found this strange rumor on the internet, that NERV had relocated their headquarters to Ikebukuro. So on a cloudy hot day I set out to see if this was true.

My first discovery was more owls. At least it wasn't Angels.

Following the limited directions, I found myself on Sunshine 60 Dori, A place with a mix of stores, popular with young adults for the clothing, anime, manga and gaming, interesting places to eat, and more. This was good for me since my plans for the day were to shop at Tokyu Hands, Tomads and Uniqlo, and whatever else that was interesting.

As for food, that would be determined by what I found. I reached the rumored location of NERV, at 46 Shokudo.

Pretending to be an izakaya, I decided this was the right place.

Especially with Commander Gendo Ikari glaring down from the doorway.

I had arrived during Angel Hour, shito, which was code for a small drink discount from 2:10 pm to 4:00. Which explained why there were not many people in here. But it was perfect for me since I had not eaten lunch. Actually, for most of my trip I didn't eat lunch but instead later had tea with something nice. The choices of life.

However this place didn't look much like NERV Headquarters. Along with the fact that it was above ground and not below. But the images of Misato Katsuragi and the obvious NERV logo suggested somehow it was connected.

Ah, Angel Hour. I decided to take advantage of that.

While I waited for my order, video played on various monitors. Were we under attack again by Angels, or Shito 使徒?

Seems Shinji is a little worried about having to pilot his Eva. 

My drink arrives. I decided to go with wine since the other drinks had a bit of sugar in them. The Mark.06, as blue as it was.

Along with some aqua colored potato salad.

While there were a lot of really creative dishes on the menu, I went with basic salmon with french fries. Although there was something suspicious in the tarter sauce.

More of them? 3rd Angels pretending to be shumai dumplings?

Well, they tried to invade my table but I ate them all. They were good. This was a nice lunch in a fun atmosphere.

I don't buy much in anime goods these days, but they had Misato's necklace. It's pretty nice too.

I realize I could have put a warning at the top of this post that it contains references to the anime franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it probably is obvious. And if anyone is interested in going to the Evangelion Bar, it is located at Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Higashi Ikebukuro 1-29-4, Narita Building 4th floor. This is good till September 1st, when the bar transforms into something else.

On to Tokyo

So the very full plane I was on landed at Narita Airport and we all headed to Immigration. And I do mean all. Because of all the people who changed from Kansai Airport to Narita, Immigration was packed with people. And at one point, the line did not move for about 20 minutes. I have no idea what the problem was, but 2020 Olympics aren't that far away. Fixes are still needed.

So I was late getting out of Narita and had to wait for the last N'EX train. I finally arrived in Ikebukuro around 11:30 pm, that's 23:30 for those going by Japan time. I was exhausted since I did not get much sleep on the plane. Problem child that cried and yelled every time his mother would not hold him. Which happened a number of times. Kid was at least three years old so yeah, it was a problem. To the point that a Japanese guy yelled at him because he was going non-stop the whole time we were descending to land. Because his mother had to put in in the seat next to her. So when I did fall asleep, I was woken by this kid. A number of times.

I get to my hotel in Ikebukuro and up to my room. Only to find they gave me a smoking room even though I put on my reservation for a non-smoking room. Since there were no other vacancies, I did not have a choice. I asked for a clean pillow and if they could give me a non-smoking room the next day. Thankfully they did. Sadly I was not able to sleep much that night. What helped is I brought with me a bottle of BPAL's Victorian Goth scented oil. I put a little on the bed. It saved me.

Ikebukuro. This was my second time staying here. Where my hotel was, the area is nondescript. Cute kittens and puppies in the pet store across the way. At least the konbini in the area have decent food. 

These signs light up in different colors at night. And night time is a little interesting around here. The area seems to be a place where people go out on dates or hook up. Interesting side of Japanese behavior happened now and again. 

As to the weather, the sky was beautiful after Jebi blew through. The temperatures were in the 90°f and humidity was super high. Summer in Japan. But I was going to brave it because there were places I wanted to go.

Like Shinjuku. I did have a list of places I thought I might go to, but in the weeks before I left, different events were presented. So my list changed. It was all good. 

Shinjuku, showing off the ikemen.  

And ladies. The area seemed a bit less crowded than usual. It was the heat and humidity. 

Thankfully the place I was going was cool. Very cool. Ah, the old Moi-même-Moitié gates. It means only one thing, KERA Shop. And seeing all the new items they have. I was tempted to buy a number of things and I was happy to see them in person. I now have my want list. In time, it will happen.

The other reason for going was this display. Because of the MALICE MIZER 25th Anniversary concerts, KERA Shop and Moi-même-Moitié set up this photo area. Photo areas are very popular in Japan, especially those using anime, manga and game characters. This one was a little different because it was for fans of Mana, founder of MALICE MIZER and the creator of Moi-même-Moitié, and for people who love the fashion. 

It was a great idea because besides fans in Japan, people from all over the world were coming to Tokyo to go to the concerts. So having this event was a nice way to draw customers in. Besides the blue roses and posters were a few things that have not been shown to the public in a while. 

These cross tombstones are from the original Aoyama Moi-même-Moitié store. 

Just part of the decoration of that store, it was nice to see them as part of this display. 

A bit of Moi-même-Moitié history. 

A few posters from different times in Mana's career. A couple of his looks as leader of his band, Moi dix Mois. 

And modeling photos of Moi-même-Moitié outfits. 

There were props for those who wanted to take selfies.

Since I have posted photos of items from the old Moi-même-Moitié stores a couple of times, I thought I would share a few photos of those stores that I found on the internet. Here is how the gates were used originally.

Along with the cross tombstones.

Like I said, there were a number of things I wanted to buy. I knew I was going to get something, but I was surprised at what I was able to get. Because only a day or two before, it was announced that they would be selling the jewel cross pendants again. This is a classic piece with colored crystals, which were only offered in certain colors at certain times. I had wanted a blue one, but it was sold some time ago, and never seemed to come up for resale. So I was very happy for the return of the blue crosses. There are also red and black versions. I may get a black one, it has a cool gothic look.

After this I headed back to my hotel where I was able to change rooms. What a relief. And later, I did explore Ikebukuro a little. Which will be my next post.