Japan trip Spring 2016 Part 6: Day 5 - Hokkaido Shinkansen & shopping in Tokyo and Funabashi

May 18 we left Hakodate (and Hokkaido!) and headed down to Tokyo!
My ootd was separates that I felt would be a bit better for warmer weather. (But I still had to wear the jacket in the morning when we left.)

We checked out of the hotel early in the morning and went to buy something to eat on the train from Hakodate station. The 7-Eleven had just opened and there was also one ekiben kiosk open with limited supply.

We were still pretty early, but headed over to the tracks where the train was already open and waiting. It filled up a little bit closer to leaving but it seemed like most people had the same destination as we did.

We got off at Shin-Hakodate Hokuto station and it was a very short walk to get to the shinkansen tracks.

The train was empty when we boarded but we knew it would fill up as we reached more stops because we weren't able to get all of our seats together exactly. We settled in (knowing that we would eventually have to shuffle a bit to let someone into the window seat later) and ate breakfast.

I didn't take very many pictures because I didn't have a window seat, and we mostly were just trying to sleep through most of the journey lol.

Four hours later, we arrived at Tokyo station and then we transferred to another line to get to Shinagawa. It was still too early for check in, but we dropped off our bags at the Prince Shinagawa N Tower. I had requested for two additional wifi units to arrive before noon, and it was about 12:45pm when we got to the hotel, but apparently there was no sign of them.

Without really knowing when they'd show up, we didn't want to waste time and instead, my parents headed out one way with the existing wifi device, and S and I each went our own way without one. 

First stop for me - Shibuya 109.

And I went straight to Liz Lisa. I needed something to wear most of the remaining days of the trip and the sooner I could find something (or not find something), the sooner I could figure out if I needed to do laundry lol. But I had a pretty good feeling that it wouldn't be too hard to find a few outfits.

I also stopped at Delyle Noir while I was making my way down the escalators to take a quick peek on my way out of the building.

I didn't stop to shop at many other shops because I had an agenda that I was trying to accomplish. However, on my way back to Shibuya station, I did stop at Family Mart to buy 2 musubis, one of which I scarfed down immediately just for a little sustenance since I wasn't planning on getting "real lunch" wtf.

Next stop, Harajuku! Takeshita street ended up being crowded as heck for a Wednesday. It was hard to navigate through the crowds and the heat efficiently, but I made it wtf.

I decided to pop up to the second floor first. I had seen the shop staff on Twitter advertising a sample sale a few weeks ago. I knew that the good stuff would all be long gone, but I wanted to take a quick look anyway.

There was a number of it was knits and heavier items that weren't suitable for me but it was still nice to see a lot of the items I recognized from the Outlet section of Tokyo Kawaii Life in person as well as a handful I didn't expect to see as well. If I had more time, I would have liked to try a few things on, but since I didn't see anything I immediately wanted to wear, I left. I browsed through the first floor current season items quickly. I didn't see anything I was tempted to purchase, so I jumped back in the crowd and walked back towards the station.
At the Family Mart at the top, I connected briefly to their free wifi to hopefully send a message to Ebony so we could possibly meet in Shinjuku.

I don't have any pictures of this because I was so stressed about not understanding anything, but I believe there was some kind of malfunction at JR Harajuku station and also a delay with the JR Yamanote line. There were tons of people milling about outside the station and a number coming out but needing the help of the attendant to get through the gates. I was able to get into the station somehow and onto a train which was surprisingly open and waiting. Shinjuku is just two stops away and aside from waiting at the stops for a little longer than what seemed average, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
I got off at Shinjuku station and after messing it up time and time again, I felt like I could now confidentially figure out how to navigate myself towards Studio Alta from the tracks. I was wrong -__-. My main indicator that I'm heading in the right direction is usually finding Lumine EST and exiting through it. From where I descended the tracks this time, I didn't see anything familiar and didn't have the wifi connection to just generally point me in the right direction. I decided to blindly leave the station and just try to go for it since Ebony might have already been waiting for me. Another possibly horrible decision, but, long story short, I eventually found Alta after what seemed like 15 minutes of keeping the station to my right and walking around it wtf. Believe me, with the panic and pressure of making someone wait for me unnecessarily, I was so sweaty after this wtf. When I got to Alta, I didn't see Ebony waiting outside or in the area so I went into the first floor area to just take in some AC and maybe see if she was killing time in there. I looked through the Liz Lisa and was interested in a few things but was too frantic to attempt to purchase anything at that time.

I returned to the entrance and still didn't see her so I decided to wait for a bit in the first floor interior just in case. I had no way to contact her that I could easily ascertain because I didn't have wifi FHL. After a few minutes, I looked towards the entrance again and spotted her, TYJ.
She had been waiting for a bit but I hadn't missed her completely and it wasn't a total waste for me to have browsed around as well.

I wasn't planning on spending a ton of time in Shinjuku (in fact, initially the plan was just to pop into Alta to see what stock was available and then go back out), but I was so happy to actually meet up with Ebony and so worried about what was going on with the Yamanote line having issues and not having wifi to communicate if unexpected delays came up, that I decided I didn't want to venture too far from the hotel after all. She and I went to a small café in the basement of Alta where I had cake and coke lmao, and we had a chance to talk and catch up a bit.

Since I had mentally eliminated visiting the two stores to the north, I was happy to spend more time with Ebony, and she efficiently led me to a place with purikura machines a few blocks away.

By now she knows I'm completely hopeless at puri, so she skillfully handled all the details lol.

I still had a bit of time before I had to head back to Shinagawa, so I asked her to show me the new Emiria Wiz location where she had spent 4 hours just waiting to get in earlier that week!

The interior and design are absolutely magical looking! I wish I had a need for items like this so I could just buy one or two pieces, but I just couldn't justify it. I really liked the pastel jackets though!

From there, Ebony helped get me back to JR Shinjuku station, and we parted ways. Thank you Ebony so, so much! I'm so glad we were able to meet up again, and I'm sorry I was such a mess at the time wtf. You are always so accommodating!
In the station, on the way to the tracks, I remembered that I had wanted to stop quickly at the Primevere Liz Lisa to get a look at what items were in stock, so I popped my head in and then swiftly continued on towards the JR Yamanote line because I was already a bit late!

I returned to Shinagawa about 15 minutes after our ideal meeting time but still 15 minutes before the "last call" time lol. My parents and S were actually all in the lobby getting everything straightened away for us to check in. According the front desk, the wifi and luggage we had forwarded were not present, but that really didn't make sense to me. They ended up calling over to the main tower where everything had been waiting wtf. I don't know what time everything had actually arrived but it seemed like it just maybe hadn't been sorted properly yet? In any case, the time when we would be most in need for the 3 different wifi units had already passed, but it would still be good to have in general.

We had a few things to iron out in the rooms, and then we headed back out towards Chiba. S went to go visit a fishing store close to Chiba station, and my parents and I were bound for Funabashi. Actually, based on the times the stores closed, we ended up going to Minami-Funabashi station first. Coming from Shinagawa, we actually had to make two transfers, one at Tokyo station and then one at Nishi-Funabashi station.

It's a bit time consuming, but we finally arrived at around 06:30pm. I headed straight for Lalaport and I sent my parents towards the Ikea.

The only store I would travel all this way for wtf.

The store was pretty empty but there was one item I was happy to see that I hadn't seen in the previous 4 store locations that I had visited earlier in the day, and I was quick to purchase it after trying it on.

I planned to make a quick exit after that but I ended up briefly browsing through Cecil McBee and almost buying something from Secrety Honey on the way out. There was a wonderful looking underwater/seashell themed set that I was really tempted by and the shop staff was super nice, but I ended up not being able to pull the trigger. I do like a lot of Secret Honey items, but I have yet to own anything from the brand myself :|.

I walked back to meet my parents at Ikea. They had gone through most of the store and were ready to check out.

They made their purchases then we thought to possibly take a taxi to our next destination which wasn't far but required a transfer after only one stop and then it was just one stop further which just is such a hassle. It ended up not being financially beneficial though so we just had to deal with it lol.

We got to Funabashi station at around 08:00pm where we managed to meet up with S. He was tired and hadn't eaten lunch, so while we moved forward to Daiso, he stopped to eat. My mom is a big fan of Daiso so I wanted to take her to the GigaFunabashi location which is huge!

We shopped around until pretty much the store closed at 09:00pm since we looked carefully at every floor. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure it was worth the trip out to Chiba because several of the Daiso locations we had visited previously had differing or even better stock in some aspects. But this one is quite big, I'll give it that. My mom still bought a number of items, as did I, but I'm not sure if we would return to this one specifically if there was another more convenient location.

It was late and we (my parents and I) still hadn't eaten yet. Earlier, on one of the various trains we were on, I looked it up and new there was an Ootoya in the area! Since my dad had really enjoyed eating there on the first night we arrived and it was super convenient and still open, that was my suggestions! Actually, I had pointed it out to S earlier and that's where he had eaten solo too lmao. Since he had rejoined us, he decided to try a dessert.

I had an exact repeat meal because I had enjoyed mine and the portion size was really good for me. My mom ended up ordering the same thing as me lol. And my dad ended up ordering the same black vinegar dish but ala carte since he didn't need rice. 

It was late for us by the time we were done, and we still had to get all the way back to Shinagawa. Luckily, the trains were pretty empty and it was easy to leave from Funabashi. We got back to the hotel close to 11:00pm!

Idk if maybe it doesnt seem like much but it was actually quite a long day! We had to wake up and be ready to leave the hotel by around 06:15am, and then did a bunch of running around in Tokyo before heading all the way out to Chiba! And by the time we had settled back in, showered, prepped for the big day ahead and were ready to sleep, it was almost midnight! That being said, it was worth it for me. I didn't end up doing what I would consider a lot of shopping due to my worries about the train delays, but I was still able to accomplish a few things off my list, and I think it worked out that I was able to spend more than just 15 minutes with Ebony before running off to another store. I never would have gotten to see the Emiria Wiz store without her! 

✦ Japan trip Spring 2016 posts
Part 1: Packing (Liz Lisa outfits) for Hokkaido to Osaka in May
Part 2: Arrival to CTS & Day 1 - Curb Market, Shiroi Koibito Park and shopping in Sapporo
Part 3: Day 2 - Nijo Market, Sapporo Beer Museum & Tanukikoji in Sapporo
Part 4: Day 3 - Exploring Otaru & experiencing the Hakodate Liner
Part 5: Day 4 - Morning Market, Red Brick Warehouses & Mt Hakodate in Hakodate
Part 6: Day 5 - Hokkaido Shinkansen & shopping in Tokyo and Funabashi
Part 7: Day 6 - Tokyo DisneySea
Part 8: Day 7 - Last minute shopping in Omiya and Tokyo & Tokaido Shinkansen to Osaka
Part 9: Day 8 - Kinkakuji in Kyoto & shopping in Osaka
Part 10: Day 9 - Utsubo Park Rose Festival, Namba/Shinsaibashi & departure from KIX in Osaka
Part 11: Liz Lisa shopping, purchases & coordinates
Part 12: Other shopping, purchases & coordinates
Part 13: Travel notes - Hotels, Luggage forwarding & Pocket wifi

✦ Japan trip Autumn 2015 posts
✦ Japan trip Summer 2015 posts
✦ Japan trip Spring 2015 posts
✦ Japan trip Summer 2014 posts