Japan, day six. Harajuku, Shinjuku.

Thankfully, the skies cleared up and we had lovely, warm weather after the previously-wet day. Though in my head, 3 hours after I slept, when the mother rang our door bell because Jake was becoming out of control, it was just black skies and lightning from the pounding headache. Dehydration, much. So after mustering my eyelids to open, I downed some liquids and washed up to bring the kids to the nearby supermarket so that the mother could do her fair share of grocery shopping. Her best find - peaches. Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Peaches, mostly for the dad because that was his only request. Fresh, sweet Japanese peaches. So his wish, is her command. During this time, I was downing my coffee (lifesaver) and trying to keep the kids entertained. We ended up munching on some snack - food as a bribe and distraction always works. I don't have pictures, but I remember quite clearly us just being by the roadside (this was after we'd roamed the isles of the supermarket already and survived the somewhat dangerous activity of boy nearly taking down the shelves in the supermarket). We looked at birds. Cars. Locals on their bicycles. We were talking (loudly. Or maybe it was just the voice in my head), laughing, passing time. It was... quite nice. And you know what, that's what I miss most about the holiday. The fact that I was with the family all day, experiencing everything with them. And the presence of one another constantly. That's what you cannot take away, the secret bond that creeps up on you no matter what you're doing. Eating, sleeping, pooping, laughing... So I digress.


After the errand, which ended abruptly because the kids were getting really antsy, we headed back to the hotel to wake the husband up. And off we went to Harajuku.

While he'd contemplated us taking a slow stroll to Harajuku (about 4km away), we made the right decision to cab there. We got there in a jiffy. 

Someone's happy she got to eat candy!

It was a rather warm day and we quickly made the decision to split up to shop more efficiently. The mother and I took Jake, and the husband Kate.

First stop - this Sanrio shop that had this life-sized iphone Kitty peeping at me. 

Here's our team in the lift. We entered this building because there was a proper toilet and Jake had pooped. 

I think I have forgotten to mention that my dear boy was on this poop-fest all holiday. We suspect it's the water that he may be sensitive to, but from day two that he's been in Japan he'd been having diarrhea. From the very wet to the pasty.. poor boy. And on the runny days, he soils himself up to twice a day. On this Harajuku day, he'd pooped and soiled his pants twice, so that he ended up wearing his sister's tights.

Our lunch in this uber cutesy food court. Pink much. And, the boy acting cute too (hah)

And within minutes of our lunch, he's gathered his own fan club. 

He then fell asleep after all the excitement. Here's pictorial evidence of him in funky wear - I guess the Iron Man tee compensates for the polka-dotted (female) tights. Sharing, in this instance, was a necessity because he had no pants to wear. #damnleakydiapers 

While he napped, the mother kindly offered to stay with him while I ventured for a grand total of half hour. I strolled the streets and chanced upon a quaint little boutique 3/4. It's a local designer which carried some clothes with classic cuts and I managed to find two dresses. Then I had to head back to our designated meeting place. 

Crossing the roads of Harajuku on a Sunday afternoon 

We cabbed back to the service apartment then, and after the diarrhea Jake's been suffering from the past few days, Kate joined in the sick-fun by vomitting. This was the start of her gastric flu that (thankfully) lasted only 3 days (severely, though it lingered for a week).

The husband volunteered to stay in the hotel with her so the mother and I brought Jake out. We hit the nearby Isetan and I managed to do some last minute shopping. Bought some stuff that was tasked to me, walked about to take in the charm and handsome-ness that men-in-suits offered (men's department. Go check out the men's department. Japanese men all suited up. Mmmmm.), then finally some cheap clothes for the kids; pants - at that juncture - were a necessity for Jake who'd truly ran out of clothes.

And just a picture to show how he fits in the baby chair in the toilet. I only used it with him this one time. He wouldn't fit in it anymore very soon!

We headed back to the room to check on Kate and while she was feeling better, she wasn't in any shape/mood to head out. We then split teams again where the mother stayed in with K and we brought J out with us in search of food.

Lala! No reason for this except that it is cute. Ha!

We walked along the streets in search of beef for the husband but after walking ages and not being able to find a suitable spot, we (sadly) settled for Yoshinoya (or something similar). 

Poor husband with the lacklustre dinner

After dinner, we roamed the streets for a bit and I was taking in the quiet, enjoying in the cool weather and loving that we were on holiday. It may not have been perfect but it was, in its way.

Big man, little man

We headed back to start packing because we had an early start the next day. This was our last night in Shinjuku.