After a well deserved night of sleep we decided to spend the day in Shibuya, but not before exploring beautiful Harajuku further.

The street on the other side is packed with people and pink shiny stores.

Kindergarden near the Togo shrine.

One of the mascots of the kindergarden

Talking on the phone, one of the things that people are allowed to do while walking — you cannot smoke or eat while walking on the street.

Flags at the entrance of the shrine.

Entrance to the shrine

Togo shrine tree of fortunes

Togo gardens

Latest in Harajuku goth fashion

On our way to the station we found a tiny street food stall that was serving Takoyaki (in short, fried balls of gooey batter with chopped octopus) so we had to try it. We sat down in front of the chef watching all the tricks he was doing with the goods. The meal was the perfect way to start our day.

Making of the takoyaki. Major skills required!

Waiting for our meal

Takoyaki (octopus), very very hot, but so delicious.

Parking in Japan comes in small packages

Onigiri, can’t get enough of these

Pit stop for some eating

More tall buildings

On our way to Shibuya we kept going in and out of places, whether to eat doughnuts or onigiri, or just gaze at the tiny streets packed with wonderfully looking houses, so it took us a while to get there. But when we did, it hit us with its full force.

Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts

Right-wing party making themselves heard

Rainy day in Tokyo

Harajuku can be a very fancy spot

We don’t know why they were like that, but surely there must be a reason

They make for an interesting photo, though.

Rare sight: catholic church on the right

They’ve got some awesome rides around here

Tokyo is an amazingly clean city even though there are million of people, mainly because everyone does their part

Trendy stores everywhere

Truck loads of people and even more neon lights and humongous ads, music and people humbly but loudly asking the crowd to spend some yens at their store. A truly sensory overwhelming experience. It was just so much to take in that we lost our way more than a couple of times, in a good way.

Shibuya crossing

Lots of people in kimonos

Humongous manga store.

The crossing itself is different than we had anticipated — you just can’t quite imagine what it’s like to be facing several hundred people and try to avoid bumping into at least a dozen when the light goes green. It’s an insane frenzy quite like no other!

We found a nice place to have dinner that announced Ramen in a huge LED billboard at the entrance, and saying that it was fantastically delicious is an understatement. Easily the best ramen we have had. Ever. Tasty meat and seaweeds, sticky noodles and a very tick scrumptious broth accompanied by gohan, gyoza and very cold Asahi beer.

Oishii is in order: best ramen we have had so far.

With everything in Japanese but small descriptions in English of the menu, this was definitely a test for the very famous language barrier that this country is known for. It went perfect. There is no language barrier when one part is eager to please and the other is eager to learn. All Japanese want you to feel good in their country and even if they don’t know how to speak whatever language you do, they will find a way to make you feel comfortable and happy.