Shibuya Roll Call

After the orientation and discussion, the whole of group A decided to stay a little longer to talk about post-dinner plans. A lot of us wanted to go to Shibuya to shop and check out the famous crossing, so it was then that we worked out logistics, mapped out routes and even calculated how much time we'd spend at dinner, how much time we'd have to look around, travel and get back to the hotel before curfew! I guess you could say it was like our own secret mission, but we all agreed that that was the time we became united as a group. That's when we became #TeamAWalangIwanan.

We had dinner at this food court at Triton first. We were given this pre-loaded card with 1000 yen credit on it which we could use to buy food from the stalls. We all wanted to get ramen, however, the staff at the stall only spoke Japanese so we had to get one of the Japanese yuppies who worked near Triton to translate for us. When we entered the food court, I spotted this cute guy and so when I saw him eating alone near the stall, I asked him if he spoke English and if he could translate for us. #paraparaan #landimoments #wheninJapan No really guys, he was cute. He looked half-Japanese, had really deep dimples and the clincher, he was in a crisp white shirt and fitted slacks. Men in well-fitting work wear just does it for me, I swear! Anywayyyyy

everybody say "pogi"

we all got the same thing so it'd be faster to make

It was so good I forgot to take a photo of it fresh =))

Everyone was in a frenzy when we got to Shibuya. Everyone immediately took photos and we all decided to meet at the station at 9:15. After a few photos, ate Josh (our supervisor) took off for Uniqlo. I wanted to go to H&M but Google Maps said it was too far so I stayed around the area. I looked at Uniqlo, but I'm not really a fan (and it wasn't on sale huehue) so I didn't buy anything. We did see Katrina Halili (a Filipino celeb) there though. I wandered around Shibuya 109, which is like a huge department store with 8 or 9 floors. Everything was so expensive but I got my sister the bowler hat I'm wearing in the photos because I know she's been looking for something similar for a long time. I took photos of the clothes at Shibuya 109 and saw some more familiar Japanese brands, like EMODA which I read of on Tricia Gosingtian's blog often. It was only then that I found out I wasn't allowed to take photos. Oops.

The day we went to Shibuya happened to be the day before the fall semester started so there were lots of cute Japanese girls buying back to school outfits.

At 9:15, I went back to the station and saw that I was the only one! I was scared that the group left me but I was relieved when I saw Migs, Alaine and Mel around so I tagged along with them. We crossed the street to take photos at the Hachiko statue (if you don't know the movie Hachiko, how could you?!). I swear, being at Shibuya was surreal. I had to continuously pinch myself to let it sink that I was there, a place people write about and hype, but at the same time, I had to separate the fantasy, hyped-up version from the real actual version.

some interesting stickers/graffiti I saw

Finally, everyone else rolled around at 9:45....and they came from H&M! :/ I was super jealous, seeing their full bags. My roommate got like 15 pieces for 7000 yen because their dresses were on sale. Well so much for being the one who wanted to go in the first place. :( (spoiler: I did eventually get my H&M fix though, so don't worry HAHA)

top: Forever 21 || shorts: Debenhams || scarf: Pull and Bear || hat: Shibuya 109 || trench: Surplus Shop || photos by Migs, 2 photos below from Mia