On our way to lunch, we passed by a Nike store and OF COURSE, Kap & the kids JUST HAD TO check it out. @_@ Para sa kanila, mas important ang shopping kesa kumain. Priorities, priorities!

Nike By You in Harajuku allows customization of shoes, shirts, laces -name it, they have it! So we spent the better part of the day enabling Babyson his shoe fetish.

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When he was finally satisfied with his purchases, we proceeded to Harajuku Gyoza Lou to sample the supposedly best dumplings in Tokyo. Gyoza (pan-fried stuffed dumpling) originally comes from China, but it’s a hugely common dish in Japan. Gyoza Lou takes pride in serving the best quality Gyoza & has only TWO dishes on their menu, Gyoza (pan-fried) and Sui Gyoza (steamed). Each costing only 135 php for 6 pieces.

Naloka si Kap sa presyo, 5 orders agad-agad ang hiningi bawat klase kaya garantisadong busog-lusog kami. In fair, masarap naman sya. But nothing extraordinary, I feel. Siguro kasi masasarap din naman ang pagkain natin sa Pinas.

Like always, there was a bit of a wait to be seated, plus a table for 5 is hard to come by especially in hole in the wall eateries na kadalasan eh 20-seater lang. You either accept to be separated & grouped by 2/3 (or get whatever seats are vacant), or be prepared to wait more than the usual time. Thankfully, 5 seats na magkakatabi opened up after 30 minutes, kasi mabilis naman kumain ang mga Hapon. Eat & run sila, they don’t linger, and they really focus on their food.

After a filling lunch, tuloy ang ligaya ng mga shopaholics sa Harajuku. The kids found CDG Play prices cheaper by half in Japan, so the 2 olders kids got a pair of sneakers each. Meron na sila pare-pareho nyan. Tig-dadalawa pa nga, pero mga gasgas na daw. Ewan ko ilang pares ng CDG ba ang gusto nila, eh glorified Converse lang naman, duh. Sakit pa sa talampakan. Pati tees, daming nagkalat na knock-off sa Greenhills. Wala daw basagan ng trip, so shut up na si mommy. 😛

Ito namang panganay ko, ewan ano nakain at nasiksik sa isipan nya magpa-piercing! They are all adults, so if it’s not too extreme, I let them be. Prior to leaving for our trip, Doc-ter (doctor-daughter) booked with Extreme Body Piercings for 4 additional holes on her earlobes. Me: “Ano ba anak, doctor ka tapos gusto mo mag-mukhang adik-adik jan.” She ignored me, lol. 20k php for her 4 piercings na karayom lang naman ang ginamit, eh sana pala ako nalang tumusok sa tenga nya, libre pa. ;))

Because my baby bunso had something evil in mind, she & her kunsintidorang Ate conspired with their brother to libang their Dad in other stores para kami makatakas. Our feet brought us to Amore Vintage also in Harajuku. Amore is a vintage shop with two branches: one in the Omotesando and another in the Harajuku area. They deal exclusively in the world’s rarest and most valuable Chanel items. Apparently, vintage is the in-thing with millennials.

My Lovey fell in love with a vintage 1994 Chanel Jumbo Single Flap Classic Caviar Bag in gold hardware. You’d be surprised with how much these old ladies sell for. Napanganga nalang ako nung bayaran na, hehe. Times 2 ng buong pocket money nya! I advised her to just buy a new one since the price difference wasn’t that big anyway & it’s gonna be an heirloom, but she insisted the vintage had more “character”. So split bill kami. Resulta? Wala na syang nabili for the rest of our trip, but she seemed very very delighted with her purchase, and I’m happy that she’s happy. <3

Pauwi, natauhan kami bigla. All of us were in shock after a very expensive day, so we just had a dinner at a random resto at the Ebisu train station that we always pass & was close to home. A warm bowl of noodle soup gave us comfort, lol. Chicken soup is really food for the soul, hekhek. Bukas uli, bayan.