January 1, 2017

New Year’s Day. The day the hunting for Lucky Bags gets serious. I really wanted the Pokemon Center bag, so I headed for Ikebukuro first thing upon waking up — well, after grabbing coffee and breakfast, of course.

But to my misfortune, they were already sold out, that’s how caught after they are. I learned later that these bags are so popular that they actually can be preordered, and that they sell out really quickly due to the long lines waiting for them. Note for next time…

After 2017 officially being ruined on the first day (just kidding), I went to J-World on the same floor as the Pokemon Center. My main reason for this was just for the Dragon Ball Z part of it; I was a huge DBZ fan at the time and I didn’t do this on my last trip. The entrance fee was only about $8, but that’s only if you don’t do any of the attractions; I was still able to eat at the themed restaurant and look around, which was pretty fun in itself and my main goal.

The food in the cafe was affordable and delicious — what I got at least. There aren’t many options for each of the popular anime’s, so I just stuck with Dragon Ball and Naruto. I had the Naruto ramen and the Dragon Ball cotton candy and drink. The cotton candy looked exactly like Goku’s Flying Nimbus cloud he rides around in Dragon Ball. And the drink was orange juice with blue whip cream on top, resembling Goku’s Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan hair in Dragon Ball: Resurrection F. I live for fun cafes like this.

New Year’s “outfit of the day” on the train platform as I headed back to the Omotesando area in search of a cafe I really wanted to visit that ended up being closed, as well as the Lululemon that I had stumbled upon.

After spending much of my afternoon walking around Omotosando, I went to the Gonpachi restaurant, otherwise known as the “Kill Bill” restaurant because it inspired the scene in the movie. I had the Gonpachi pizza, soba with tempura and toro on a stick.

After dinner, I stopped by a nearby Family Mart on the walk back to the train station. I ended up finding the matcha Alforts that I had loved so much last trip, stocking up on a few to bring back home and getting dessert.

It was a very chill New Year’s Day.

Highlight of the Day