Chie had to be in the office by 11 am today. Just for New Year greeting by the head of her organization. I was waiting at a Starbucks close by, drinking hot chocolate and reading a book. When Chie was finished at her office we went to Ginza to check out the New Year sales.

The weather was great so it was quite a nice time walking in Ginza between shops and department stores. One of our first stops was a store that had Hello Kitty things. On two separate floors. I got dizzy from all the Hello Kitty things. Anything from Hello Kitty socks to Hello Kitty laptops and paper shredder. We continued to check the different department stores as well, such as Mitsukoshi.

Around 1 pm we stopped shopping for lunch. We had ramen at a place a little bit off the big shopping street in Ginza. A small place called Hashigo where they served Tokyo style ramen, which differs from Sapporo style ramen we had when we were in Sapporo before Christmas. Still it was really tasty.

After lunch we continued to Shinjuku for more shopping – actually we did not do much shopping, just walked around and checked for low prices. In Ginza it had been a nice walk both inside and outside the stores. But in Shinjuku it was crazy. People everywhere. I sat down and rested while Chie was checking out the sales. And when we wanted to have a break for coffee and tea it was packed on all cafes. Many even had a long line outside waiting to get a seat. Eventually we found a cafe without a line outside.

There we had a 4 berry maple soda and a fresh lemon squash to drink. 1600 JPY or just under 100 SEK. No wonder there was no line waiting outside this cafe. We took our time drinking our sodas and waiting for Mina-sensei to arrive in Shinjuku. Or rather to wait for Mina-sensei to finish her shopping. Chie and I were to tired to join her.

When Mina-sensei finished her shopping we met her in ISetan department store and walked together to a Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner. Mina-sensei really likes Korean BBQ. Chie and I think it is mainly because she has a crush on a Korean boy band singer, but maybe we are wrong and it is just because she likes Korean BBQ. Chie and I like it too, without any crush on Korean boy band singers so I guess it it possible to like it without any crush. There is only one drawback of having Korean BBQ… Afterwards you really stink. You stink from the smoke of the BBQ. And you stink from all the garlic and red pepper. But it is worth it.

We had a fun time and when we finished eating we decided to continue to Taro-san and his restaurant Chaka-Chaka. Outside was really cold so we hurried over to Chaka-Chaka. There we just had something to drink, like white wine, Whiskey, and ginger ale. Not in a mix tough. And I only had one ginger ale. Still we had a fun time talking with Taro-san. Then we took a taxi home, since we were too tired to go by train.