Shibuya

I've been growing tired of getting out and just drinking, then seeing a couple things along the way. I set out to goto the famous Shibuya this past weekend. All I'd ever known of it is that it's one place to experience night life, and shop. Other than that all I've seen is what's in anime/manga and video games. Well first of all the day started with a slight hangover from the night before (thank God I know my limits.) So that's one thing I had against me, waking up late that is. After I'd given up on trying to find someone to explore this with me I set out on my own. I get on the local train from Sagamino Sta. then arrive at Yokohama. So then I transfer to the JR (Japan Railways) line that I thought was gonna take me directly to Shibuya. Unfortunatly I don't know Tokyo's train system that well yet so what did I do? I got lost, about an hour total of lost time. I wandered around a small city called Ichikawa for a little while. Then made my way back to Tokyo, eventually I get there to Shibuya. I felt the excitement welling up in me. As I try to find the exit of the station I see the famous "Scramble" and think to myself "this is what I'm here for, to see all this awesome stuff." The lights, the hustle and bustle, and the plethora of unbelievably beautiful women. So I see a music shop first thing outside the station, then quickly leave noticing the prices on everything. Well I wanted to see the often landmarked Shibuya 109 building, but I couldn't find it. Wandering the streets and stopping in random shops, I saw all sorts of cool things to buy. That is if I had enough money. I only brought out 15000 yen at the start of the day. Noticing all the shops and tall buildings made me realize that is was true when a friend of mine said that most Japanese thought that the area I lived in was pretty country. All around were huge buildings that were stacked with shops upon shops. It was a pretty cool way to put things into perspective. The only thing I really bought out there was a usb keyboard. That's because it was only 1200 yen. I kinda needed one for a num pad. Well after wandering around the myriad of shops I decided it was time to visit some of the landmarks. Upon entering Shibuya 109 I quickly realize this isn't for me, because EVERY SHOP WAS FOR WOMEN. I felt like a stupid Gaijin. . . but the guide I got from the JR lady said that it had other misc shops in it too. Woe is me. At this point many shops were closing, so I didn't get a chance to go inside 109 (2) which is the much smaller men's version. I saw a couple of landmarks and visited a few more shops, If anyone has played "The world ends with you" and you went to Shibuya, you'd be surprised how accurate they portrayed it in the game. The funny thing is right inside 109 (2) there's a poster that says "It's a Wonderful Thing" They Japanese title for the game is Subarashiki Kono Sekai which means "It's a Wonderful World." After doing some research after the fact, I realized I didn't even cover half of Shibuya, so I'm doing another trip there in the near future. Next time during the day so I can take better pictures.