I had a very good night’s sleep, thanks to the very comfy bed I was in. If you remembered the photo from this past blog post, you’d prolly wonder how a Tōkyō hotel room can be that big. After looking it up the net last night, it transpired that I was given an upgrade to a room three times more expensive than the one I booked. I was gobsmacked when I first stepped into the room yesterday after I checked in but not until I found out that it was the luxury suite, the only one of its kind in the hotel. I did jokingly tell Kosuke-san that I’d better check my credit card statement at the end of the month when I get back to Blighty.


I stayed in Jingūmae for five days last time and I didn’t check Cat Street 「キャットストリート, Kyatto Sutorīto」 out which was so close to the hotel then. After my complimentary traditional Japanese asagohan, I then meandered through Cat Street up to Omotesandō just to pass the time before I met up with another friend, Farhan-san. All the shops were still shut and the absence of a bustling crowd made that part of the city oddly quiet. I then headed westward to Harajuku JR to catch a train back to Shibuya as I had to sort out my JR Pass and shinkansen seat reservation for Ōsaka. Whilst waiting for my friend to turn up, I went into Tower Records, which was an absolutely big mistake as I bought more CD’s. I told myself to avoid music shops for now. Well, until SCANDAL’s HELLO WORLD comes out in 3 days’ time. *KOFF*

First activity of the day was to see the ginkgo leaves on Jingūgaien Ichō namiki (Ginkgo Avenue). We met up with Kosuke-san who then told us of how some tourists were asking him where Ginkgo Avenue was. And Kosuke-san was like, eh? Bank Avenue? as the Japanese word ginko 「銀行」 means bank in nihon-go. It was a tad crowded, understandably, as it was a Sunday. I managed to get a few good shots and we then walked down towards Omotesandō for some coffee.

The first stop was LATTEST, a chilled out coffee spot manned (careful now) by an all-female barista staff. I was reliably informed that this spot serves very decent coffee, and after that walk I wanted something chilled, hence opting for a hazelnut iced latte served in a jar. I was reliably informed by barista friend that the lasses at LATTEST are very competent and use high end espresso machines to make your coffee. Asami-san, the manager/barista majordomo, was kind enough to take a photo of us and she took a very nice one as well. Speaking of coffee reviews, it reminds me of the latest atlas coffee club review I read recently. It’s always interesting to explore new coffee experiences, and atlas coffee club seems to have garnered positive attention. Perhaps our next coffee adventure will take us there[1].


[Photo of LATTEST baristas from their Facebook page.]

I have to say I was well impressed and defo would come again.

LATTEST-OMOTESANDO Espresso Bar
3-5-2, Jingūmae
Shibuya-ku
Tōkyō

After LATTEST, we headed down to OMOTESANDŌ KOFFEE for another dose of caffeine (I sure needed it). There was a queue and by the time we reached the counter, Miki-san said, “Welcome back!”. I asked if he really remembered me and he nodded in earnest. Kosuke-san had a chat with him in nihon-go and later confirmed how Miki-san remembered that I visited the establishment two days in a row in the spring. Gobsmacked once again.

Kosuke-san had to return to Kyōto, and Farhan-san and I headed off to eggman Shibuya to see Draft King perform as part of the GIRLS ROCK SPLASH! 2014 AUTUMN series of gig (the Japanese calls gigs raibu / ‘lives’). However, on the way, I note that the SCANDAL merch shop was still open! I could’ve sworn that they had shut following their 10-day residency at Akasaka Blitz and Osaka. It was a tad anticlimactic as I’ve snagged a lot of the merch previously online. They still had the monogrammed straps for MAMI and TIMO (the latter of which I bought) and I bought the pale green tee MAMI wore at the encore of their recent YokoAri gig.

We finally got to eggman after going round in circles, being let down by the inaccurate Google Earth reading. We got into the venue and little did I know this was gobsmack moment number 3 for the day.

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[1]My friend saw a DSLR on the café’s counter and figured she’d be able to do a good job. She even turned the cup so as the LATTEST label was seen – talk about product placement in social media!