Tokyo Day 5: Jiyugaoka & Shibuya

Today was mostly going to be spent in Shibuya, but first we wanted to make a quick stop in Jiyugaoka to find a café a friend had told us about. It’s called the Peter Rabbit Garden Café, and it sounded absolutely darling. The menu is lovely, really colourful and using lots of fruit and veggies. I’m a huge fan of Peter Rabbit, and really wanted to see the Japanese take on a very old, English tale. We decided to go there for breakfast (and by ‘breakfast’ I mean dessert).

Disaster struck when we arrived at Jiyūgaoka Station, when I realised I no longer had my Suica card. Stupidly, I’d put it in an unsecure pocket as we travelled, and it must’ve fallen out. I was really upset because it had over 8000¥ on it, not an amount of money I wanted to lose in such a stupid way.

I attempted to tell the security what had happened, and it was here that my basic Japanese wasn’t enough. Luckily, the security guard had some flashcards with common English queries on it, and we managed to muddle through. He told me that there wasn’t tonnes they could do at this second, and to come back a bit later to see if the card had been handed in.

At this point, Hiro (Tinder madman from last night) had texted me, asking if I was enjoying my morning. I told him about the disaster I was in. He was suitably worried for me, and was asking me questions about where I thought I’d dropped it. I knew I’d gotten through the barrier with it at Higashi-Shinjuku, so I must’ve lost it between there and Jiyūgaoka.

Caz and I had started to walk toward the café – I was determined to enjoy it, despite worrying about the Suica. Hiro had been quiet for about ten minutes, and suddenly replied saying “Don’t worry, I found it.” This guy that I’d not even been talking to for 24 hours, had called Higashi-Shinjuku station and asked if someone had handed in my card. And they had! He had given the Lost & Found people my name, and said I’d be by later to pick it up. I couldn’t thank him enough for what he’d done. He kept assuring me that “It’s of course!” and that it wasn’t a big deal. I was almost crying at the kindness I continue to discover here in Tokyo – I am so appreciative of Hiro, and to the anonymous person who went out of their way to hand my card in. I don’t know of many capital cities where someone wouldn’t just take the card and use it themselves.

By now, I was so ready for my Peter Rabbit dessert – the worrying had created quite an appetite. I was also able to appreciate the café a lot more now that I knew my card was safe.

We climbed up a few steps to a sort of covered porch filled with flowers and plants. Inside, everything was wooden or blue gingham, with squashy sofas and plush toys of Beatrix Potter characters. I asked for a table and we were led out to the covered porch on the side of the building, to a table with a Peter Rabbit plush sitting at it. The waitresses had gingham pinafore dresses on and looked so quaint and cute. We settled down among the plants, with the sun shining into the porch, and felt immediately relaxed. There were checkered fleecy blankets scattered around, in case you got cold sitting outside, and all of the tables had a plush companion sitting at one of the seats. There were also Japanese translations of Beatrix Potter books scattered around, which I had fun attempting to read.

We were given a souvenir coaster and a pitcher of water. The waitress left us to peruse the menu, which was so pretty and colourful. You can get both savoury and sweet things in the café, and the menu depends on the time of year you visit. Caz opted for ‘Tom Kitten’s French Toast’, and I had the Victoria Sandwich Cake. Unlike a classic Vicky sponge, this had ice cream between the cakes, piles of whipped cream and a raspberry sauce on top, with a tiny Peter Rabbit taiyaki on the side. Being a themed café, the menu was fairly pricey, but the desserts were mountainous. I definitely can’t complain about the portion size! I also got a cappuccino because you could have a picture of Peter Rabbit on top and that tickled me.

When the waitress came over to ask how it was, we of course sang “Oishii desu!” to which she thanked us and said, “I am very happy!” with a big smile. She was the cutest! I might have made a bit of a booboo when she put the bill on the table. I didn’t realise that we had to take the bill to the counter at the front and pay there, so I slapped a 10,000¥ note on the board with the bill and I think our waitress thought I was trying to tip her (she didn’t take the money and abruptly disappeared to another table). Tipping is a huge no-no in Japan, and is actually considered to be quite rude. I was so embarrassed when I asked a guy if I could pay (in Japanese!) and he directed me to the counter. Our waitress saw me paying with the same 10,000¥ note and smiled at me, so I think she realised my mistake. I said, “Sumimasen.” and bowed though, just to be sure.

I would thoroughly recommend the Peter Rabbit Garden Café. They really pull off the cute English country-style atmosphere. The menu is dreamy, the staff are delightful, and it’s a calm and relaxing place to spend some time. They also have a darling gift shop, where you can buy their special Peter Rabbit bread rolls! I wanted to get a Japanese edition of the Peter Rabbit book, but unfortunately it wasn’t available when I was there. I’d definitely go back there to eat again – I might even try a main dish instead of living off of dessert.

Feeling suitably full and rested, we made the journey to get my Suica card. It was quite exciting to use the machine to get a single-journey ticket – the ticket was tiny too, which amused us. It only took 20 minutes to reach Higashi-Shinjuku, and we went straight to Lost & Found. Hiro had written out a text for me, in Japanese, explaining that he’d called ahead and that I was the friend who had lost her Suica. How helpful is that? I showed this message to the woman at the desk - she went and got my card, which was in a tiny evidence bag(!), and got me to fill out some details on a form to say I’d picked it up and was happy with its condition. All the money on it was accounted for, and I sent a good thought out to the anonymous person who handed it in safely. I was thanking the lady at the desk and bowing the entire time, I was so relieved.

Now that that debacle was over, we could move on with our planned day and head to Shibuya. Technically we’d already been here – Harajuku is in Shibuya and on the morning of the Mt. Fuji trip, we were in the central area with the huge crossings and the Hachikō statue. But there was still plenty we wanted to have a look at today.

I’d heard a lot about 109, the huge department store in the middle of Shibuya, and wanted to see it for myself. It’s quite an easy building to spot so we went there first. It was absolutely jam-packed, mostly with tourists who had no spatial awareness. It was really annoying, so we only managed a quick look around one floor before we had to leave. I hope one day I can actually go and look at it properly, but I’m not good with crowds or bad manners so I didn’t have the energy today.

It was getting on for lunchtime and we decided to try out Lotteria, a Japanese burger chain. In the one we visited, you order downstairs and the seating was upstairs. I sent Caz to secure a table while I waited for our order. They have a bucket of fries on the menu. A bucket! We decided to order one of those to share, then Caz got a classic burger and I got a double cheeseburger.

I’m telling you, McDonald’s could learn a thing or two from Lotteria. The burgers were thick and juicy, and so well-seasoned. They were amazing and the best ‘fast food’ burgers I’ve had. The bucket of fries was also good – crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and not overly salted. I’m so glad we decided to try it out, and I think I’ll definitely visit Lotteria again before the holiday is over.

After we wandered the side streets for a bit, we found a big Pachinko parlour called RAKUEN. We’d wanted to go to Big Apple in Akihabara, but the jetlag had defeated us. Pachinko was something we really wanted to experience while in Tokyo, so we stopped at this one instead. It was an immediate assault on the senses – bright lights, loud music, and the sound of tokens pouring into trays. We were soon approached by a staff member who very helpfully gave us a little booklet in English on how to play. We had to look around for a bit to find two machines next to each other, settled in and got playing!

Because gambling is illegal in Japan, Pachinko parlours sprung up as a legal alternative. Instead of gambling with money, you buy tokens and play with those instead. It’s a clever little loophole as you can then exchange your tokens for prizes (and cash if you know where to go). Caz and I had no idea what we were doing, but the men sitting on either side of us pointed out where to put money and how to get the game started. The guide booklet was consulted many a time. It’s a lot of fun, and I can see how people get hooked on playing it – I didn’t even know what was going on in the game, but it was still interesting me!

I ran out of tokens fairly quickly and decided to step outside for a minute. You’re allowed to smoke in Pachinko parlours and the smoke and loud music were beginning to give me a headache. I came back in to the man next to Caz shovelling some of his tokens into her machine and showing her what to do to get more bonuses. It was so kind of him! She eventually decided to stop while she was ahead and exchanged her tokens for some snacks and money tokens worth about 3000¥! We went out to the place that took the money tokens and got the cash, so that was an exciting windfall.

We went to Mega Don Quijote next. Don Quijote (Donki) is a discount chain store in several Asian countries, and the state of Hawaii for some reason, and it sells pretty much everything. With 7 huge floors of merchandise, the Shibuya Mega store is the largest Donki in Japan. We spent a while in there looking around – like most of the shops in Shibuya, it was absolutely packed with people. It was understandable because of the discount prices and the amount of cool stuff for tourists to buy. We saw so many amazing things and snacks, but again didn’t spend ages in there as it was too hectic. We’re going to find one of the smaller ones to do some real shopping in. I would definitely recommend it if you’re in the Shibuya area, though. It really is worth seeing.

There was a bar nearby that I wanted to check out. It’s called The Whales of August, and has a massive film-themed drinks menu. The owner is apparently a film buff, and will even mix up off-menu cocktails if he’s seen the film you request. It’s a dinky little place in the side streets with the izakaya and other bars. You pay a 500¥ table charge, then you can either go upstairs or into the basement to sit, and both areas are small and intimate. It has a real local, chilled out vibe. I immediately loved the décor and the almost secret feeling it gave me.

Unfortunately, we weren’t very impressed with the drinks. Caz got a margarita which didn’t taste anything like a margarita. I’d ordered ‘The Dark Knight’ because I love that film, and it was aniseed flavoured, which was gross. It also felt a bit rushed in there, like the staff were eyeing the tables to see who they could move on to get another customer in. It was such a shame as it seemed like a nice place to hang out.

We honestly would like to give the place another chance, as Caz didn’t try a ‘signature’ cocktail, and mine was just a taste preference thing. Maybe next time we visit Tokyo we will.

There had been some very bold talk from Hiro about coming to meet us, so we told him where we were and hung around waiting. It was pretty cold out at this point, and we were turfed off the kerb outside of a shoe shop by an employee who said we couldn’t sit there. Caz was steadily making dire threats towards Hiro for making us wait around, and I eventually texted him saying I couldn’t be bothered to wait outside anymore and that we were going for dinner.

So I didn’t meet my Suica saviour. I like to think he was some kind of phenomenon, who appeared in my life briefly to help me before disappearing again. More likely he saw the state of me from a distance and made an about-turn. Or he overheard Caz saying she was going to steal a bicycle and run him over with it. Take your pick.

We were right near a place called Shakeys which was, bizarrely, a pizza place. They had an all-you-can-eat offer that had about 40 minutes left, so we popped in there to eat. It was a nice place and the staff were lovely. The pizzas were a bit weird though – some of them had things like seafood or cucumber on them and that really confused us. Luckily there were more ‘classic’ options like pepperoni and chicken. There were also dessert pizzas, and they were delicious. Once the all-you-can-eat ended, we decided to call it a night. It was cold and we were tired. It had been a weird day.

We probably would’ve gotten more done if I hadn’t stupidly lost my Suica card, but it was a nice day anyway. There are still things left on my Shibuya list that I’ll have to draft in later (or on my next trip, because I already know I’m definitely coming back to Tokyo). I think it’s better that we were a bit more relaxed today, it’s been pretty mad so far.