Going for a Wander

View around the Palace

My mom has been visiting Japan for almost 4 weeks but has spent half the time in Kansai area with her sister, mom and nephew.  So now that she's returned, I finally have her all to myself for a couple days before she leaves me to go back to California. 

FYI, my mom is one of the funniest, goofiest people I know and most of the time it's unintentional.  She's just one of those purely good-hearted people who always gives other the benefit of the doubt. 

First, we did a 5k walk around the Imperial Palace for the Walk for the Cure.  It was such a beautiful day, we even did a jump, skip and a jog along the route!

Afterwards, I had to fix a craving: boba. I was seriously so shocked at the lack of good boba (or bubble tea) there was in Tokyo!  There are a few [dismal] spots in Harajuku that have them, but they're all slimy-outside-hard-inside and completely wrong.  There is finally a legit Taiwanese place that opened up right by Daikanyama station, Chun Shui Tang.  Though the selection is pretty limited compared to what you'd expect from East LA, the boba is properly done and so I'm a happy camper.

Plain and simple today

Accidental photo, actually!

Afterwards, we wandered around Daikanyama and Nakameguro, which are really quaint and charming areas to walk around because they have so many cute boutiques and restaurants to poke into.  You feel like you could really find a secret treasure hidden among all the bits and bobs!

Too MySpace?

I love, love how there are these boutiques that specialize in something unique and lovely.  For example, this hat shop which had their tools and laid out on display and beautifully designed hats.  I think they were mainly designed for men but they were wonderful.

I really admire how Japanese really appreciate the most detailed of custom or tailored work that come from artists of their craft.  It's the sort of thing that can often get lost in our world of Walmarts and Costcos (how low can you go!), but it's refreshing to see that there is still appreciation for quality and pride in a piece of work.

I also really like how Japan appreciates beauty in nature, even in the smallest of forms.  One such example are these teeny tiny moss plants and bonsai plants. They are so adorable I want to collect them all!

They look like tiny oranges!

Moss

Here I am trying to demonstrate how tiny they are

They create balls of absorbent moss that contain soil and plant various types of seeds.  Apparently, if you take very good care of them, they can last for a long time.  I might try after we come back from our winter vacation...they need to be constantly hydrated!

Look at this clever coffee "shop" we passed: 

It's that so innovative?? So cool, I die!

By the way, my mom wouldn't take any photos with me, but she did enjoy using her new iPhone 5C which my sister and I finally convinced her to get.  

It was a rare day for us to hang out and gush over everything cute.  I'm going to be so sad when she goes! There's really no one like your mom to make you feel loved unconditionally, especially with all the excess food in the house!