Welp, Day 5 started out around 7:00 or so. I had been unable to fall asleep that night so I had only around three or so hours of sleep, and somehow once I fell asleep I woke brian up and he only had around three hours of sleep also. Go figure.

Well, we got ourselves scrubbed clean and decided it would be prudent to get some food in our stomachs and that an American style breakfast would be nice. So once we ventured down we went straight to the front desk and asked about a nearby McDonald's. We knew it was early enough to get breakfast food there and it was easy enough to get pancakes at McDonald. Unfortunately the concierge told us that the only one close had closed down recently. We had found one a few days ago and it was within walking distance, of course it was a bit far away and we had no clue exactly where it was. Dammit.

So we went over to 7-11 as usual and got drinks and decided to strike out in a different direction than we normally had gone. That direction was left. I know - exciting. Well, we got about one building over then we noticed a sign for Subway. Mmm.... subs for breakfast. We found our way up to the 3rd floor only to find them still closed, as were all the other restaurants except for a small bakery.

That bakery, however, was open and had a brunch menu. We went for it like a rabid pack of dogs. We ordered not with a vending machine but more of a school cafeteria style system: grab a stand -in for the food, pay, and then they brought it to us. The ham and cheese sandwiches came with salad and yogurt. It was great though I found the ham in the sandwich to be lacking not in flavor but substance. There was one slice, thats it. Other than that it was good.

Well, after breakfast we went in search of Internet access again as was becoming our morning routine. We climbed higher and higher into the building complex trying to find wireless. It felt like fishing, actually. We split up to get a better chance of finding Internet and we were both successful to a degree. B managed to log in and post a few pictures and the previous day's adventures. Me, I managed to read a few articles and check my email.



Those chores done, we went back to the room and dropped off our computers and to decide where we were going for the day. We decided on Harajuku and we also decided to show the folks at home how much fun it is to ride in the most efficient subway system in the world by video taping the experience. It ended up being two videos and around 20 minutes in length. Well, Harajuku hasn't changed much since our last trip, but at least we were prepared for the chaos.





Harajuku is all about youthful exuberance. And commerce. With places selling everything from punk clothes to baby doll clothes and even shops selling “Used American Clothes”. I wonder about that last one.

We were hungry again and went looking for something to eat. While nosing around some stalls, B found his new friend Harri. I'll let him introduce Harri in the next article. Well, we finally settled on Lotteria, a fast food place we had seen several times since being here but had never partook of. The food was good, sorta. If you don't mind your meet too peppery and a bit greasy it was ok.

We even saw a strange sight while there. In the fast food place there were a few people putting on white face makeup. Interesting to say the least, and several kids in various bizarre outfits. This is the norm in Harajuku. What I don't think was the norm was the group of 5 or 6 guys dressed in red leotards. Head to toe, they were covered in shiny red Lycra. That was strange so we took photos and video. How could we not?



Well, needing a reprieve from the insanity, we took off down a back alley and found apartments for rent. They were small looking at the floor plans but surprisingly reasonable. You could even rent a store if you wanted. The apartments ranged from ¥50,000 to ¥115,000. Not bad. Less than either of us pay and in some examples less than half what I pay now.



Well we finally ventured away from Harajuku and found this gorgeous park. And we spent the rest of the afternoon looking at barrels (that I'm convinced had people in them since they all had brass placards with names on them), wildlife and various temples and gardens. Very pretty all-in-all.











By this time it must have been around 5:30 or 6:00 pm, I 'm not sure. We ventured back to the subway and headed back to the hotel, thinking we might go back out after resting a bit.

We got back and exchanged our photos digitally and checked the video we shot. I'm loving this camera I bought. I then heard B snoring, so I settled down to read a bit until he woke up and promptly woke up around 2:30 am with a sore back. I guess we were in for the night.