Yoz ppl, this is Huisin writing for the first time. (as a tribute to my dar for being so active in writing the rest of the blog!) This is a special post for all the gals out there wanting to catch a glimpse of the shopping haven-Harajuku!! (Sorry Dar, I think I'm a better person describing this place haha!)

Well, first tip to all gals who's dying to go there: Wear make up before you step into the streets! (or at least wear something presentable and flattering) Seriously, the first thing that came into my mind when I was at the entrance looking down at the bustling of people down the famous Harajuku streets was:"OMG! s***!! I look super ugly!" And once you reach the end of the street, you'll realise : "I'm ugly". Warning to all gals, this is NOT an exageration. Every gals and women of all ages wears make up(and even some guys!)!!(It's just a difference of how thick you wear it) And that's not all! They wear fashionably with a sense of attitude. You could just pick anyone from the street, put them on a fashion runway and they will blend in very well with the backdrop. I'm not saying all of them look like models, but the things they wear onto them really makes me wonder, how much time did they spend exactly to prepare themselves before they went out?? The guys amazes me the most. They are in no way inferior to their female counterparts, in fact they fashion-ed themselves with accessories and funky clothings in a way which I think most guys in singapore couldn't accept. Almost every accessories that you can find on a gal, you can find it on a guy there.Earrings, scarfs, necklace, make up, handbags, pink accessories and clothings etc, anything other than bra I guess?(but who noes, someday they may just start wearing bra to portray their fashion attitude) Haha, I guess today is quite a drooling day for dar and me ba.(Dar I didn't forget you kept staring at the high school gals k? *blink blink*laser beam=~~~>>>>)

Ok back to topic. We started quite early today, as we had moved to Narita International Hotel, which means the ride to main town areas would take 1 hr and 45 min at least. Nevertheless the shopping spirit inside me kept me motivated to wake up on time(normally we overslept =.=) and we were up and away boarding on the 8.40am shuttle bus service to the train station. Nth much happen on the train ride to Harajuku except that we noticed some cute seats in the train that we can pull up during rush hours for some more standing space. So I shall proceed to my first shopping stop: Afternoon Tea!

Actually, this wasn't really in our schedules. We chanced upon it while we were transferring trains at Ueno Station and it turns out to be a great surprise for me. When we met my Japan friend here a few days ago, she gave me a surprise christmas present,turns out that the super swweeeeee~~t pouch she gave to me that I love so much was from "Afternoon Tea". Was really glad that I found this shop coincidentally so I immediately pull my dar dar inside for a quick shop. Basically, this shop sells everything romantic, sweet, flowery and cute, but it's not cheap. The price range is from 10~100 sing dollars depending on what you're buying. However, wanting to save up more money for the Harajuku trip later, we planned to return in the evening after that to scoop up some pressies and pretty stuffs.keke

Finally!The Harajuku street!Actually last year when I came, I didn't really put alot of hope into shopping here, was actually thinking that Shinjuku and Shibuya may have much more to offer, but I was wrong! Shibuya and Shinjuku offers more exquisite stuffs with higher price ranges, Harajuku blends in more with the youngsters and offers more affordable stuffs for ppl like me.(still quite ex though, just comparatively cheaper) So Tip no.2 for shopping here, do take note of the price tags when you're buying stuffs. It may be more ex than what you had in mind. Moreover, some price tax may indicate 2 prices, one before tax and one after tax.(e.g, chanced upon a super pretty bag, thought it was around 40 sing dollars, turns out to be around 60 , worse still, didn't realise that was a before tax price, after tax, it became 70 ! *xim tia*)

Tip No.3, don't bargain. Bargaining only leads to unnecessary confusing conversations which you would not want to engage in.Learnt this in one of the newspapers articles and I totally agree with it. So, be nice, go to the cashier and pay your money obediently. However, one interesting thing that me and dar noticed while shopping is that every sales person seems to talk non stop when you are paying at the cashier. You hand in your money, they will tell you the amount that you've given them and continue to tell you what your change would be before counting your change one by one in front of you. Then they will ask you if you need wrapping and will kindly hand over you your shopping bags with a sweet smile and tell you to visit them again. Basically, as a customer, you don't have to say anything except to nod or shake your head and the sales person will serve you and leave you no doubts on what you're buying. Even my dar who doesn't know a word of Japanese can pay at the cashier.(great job dar!)

Tip No.4, you don't have to give them the extra shingles you had when you're paying for your stuffs. For e.g, if your things cost 509 yen, and you only have a 1000 yen note, you don't have to search you wallet for another 9 yen just to make the change look nicer. I know alot of us did that here in Singapore, so out of singaporean nature, me and dar dar actually did this a few times only to find the cashier giving us weird looks. So, ppl, if you want to look more Japanese there, don't do that.

We had spaghetti for lunch in Harajuku where we were amazed by the moving half boiled eggs on the spaghetti (Do take a look at the moving egg video that we posted!) and also crepes for snacks. A very shiok feeling to eat ice cream in such a freezing weather.For ppl who wanted to have a taste of this, IMM just had a new outlet of this in their basement(or is it 1st floor?), something very interesting and worth trying.

Towards the end of the day, we went taking neo print frantically in one of the neo print shops in Harajuku only to find out that guys are not allowed inside after we went out of the shop =.= opps!(No wonder the high school gals stared at us just now!!)Nevermind, just be sure to run away asap like we did! keke. But nevertheless this was so worth it as it only cost 400 yen!!!(around 6 sing dollars?)

On the whole, we did alot of shopping that we hardly have any more time for extra photo-taking. We were treated like kings n queens, no attitude sales person, no salesgal tapping you closely behind your back and no irritating sales person persuading you to buy their stuffs.Heaven! (TvT)

Oh ya one last tip for you all out there, remember to bring your credit or debit cards! Don't regret not buying some stuffs when you came back to singapore!!

P.S When are we returning here again huh dar~~~~???(>V<)/