Our first stop this morning was the enormous Tokyo City Flea Market at the Oi Keibajo Race Course at Shinagawa city. We've learnt this trip that the vintage, second hand scene is H-U-G-E in Tokyo and a lot of young visitors (like Ella) are keen to experience the scene and find treasures. This open air market is popular with locals and tourists alike - possibly a little too popular as, according to Ella, the prices were high and the treasures hard to find, which took us a full circuit of this huge site to realise.
The goods available were so diverse - I thought the best bargains were the $5 kimonos (but I didn't buy one .. because .. when would I wear it??)
It was quite a long train journey then out to Koenji - a very cool, laid back neighbourhood, west of Shinjuku. As soon as we left Koenji Station we immediately felt the change in atmosphere compared to central Tokyo. There were few cars and a maze of interesting laneways lined with small businesses, tiny restaurants and bars and endless vintage and second hand and handcraft shops attracting crowds of fashionable young things, looking to express their alternative aesthetic.
The neighbourhood was like Nirvana for Ella - who managed to add to her haul of vintage clothing with great success!
We found a fun lunch place where we could choose our own components for a spicy noodle bowl. We didn't have a clue what was going on and had to use Google Translate to work out the basics, with more or less success. We ended up ordering a broth that was probably a bit more spicy than desired - but oh well - "when in Rome"!
We loved Koenji - and want to come back if we can - You could spend days walking its intriguing laneways........
There were so many of these little hole in the wall places, all specialising in their local delicacies.
We find that by around 4.30 it gets really cold out on the streets even though the days have been mild since we've been here. We couldn't last much longer wandering the streets without our jackets today (left back at the hotel on account of how it was 15oC max) so we had to leave Koenji earlier than we would have liked.
With the light rapidly fading this was our last sight of Ella in Koenji today before boarding the train(s) back to Hamamatsucho.
It was Rob's birthday today and although he'd had a great day sharing adventures with Ella and me he was feeling exhausted tonight and developing a head cold. Rather than going out again in the cold we decided to have a hotel room picnic instead with Ella and me raiding our local convenience stores for suitable supplies. We came up trumps and ended up celebrating Rob's birthday in (cosy room) style.
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