Autumn in Japan Day 7: Lipat Bahay + Our Neighborhood in Yoyogi

On our 7th day, we said goodbye to "the library". Just when we were already getting used to it, it's time to move to our next hostel.

This bar is actually Book & Bed's receptionist area:

Deegee said that I blend in with the Japanese businessmen in the subway who were off to work, kulang nalang briefcase haha:

Lipat Bahay

Our next hostel was in Yoyogi, another personal preference since my goal was to explore another side of Tokyo. Again, like Roppongi and Asakusa, it's my first time in Yoyogi even though it has always been part of my itinerary.

I saw Almond Hostel and Cafe via Agoda, after arranging the list by price with the lowest as first, haha! I had to check the reviews making sure that I book a place that's not only mura but also rated well by backpackers. 

Location wise, it is a bit nearer to Shibuya compared to our first guesthouse in Ikebukuro. It is also cheaper per head. Space wise, definitely bigger than Book & Bed. I also love it aesthetically, it's super white, even the building itself is covered with white tiles. Surprisingly, Deegee said that he likes this better than our first hostel so yey! :)

We were assigned at the second floor room, so carrying my 40kilo luggage was a struggle. We had no key cards since the door is digital where you just have to input certain codes. It gets noisy in the middle of the night though, some of our roommates will pin the wrong code and knock loudly! Good luck nalang, di ko sila pagbubuksan noh baka hindi pala taga samin. :p

Every morning, my view is more maaliwalas with the natural light flowing in from the window next to my cubicle. I took the top bunk, since most of the bottom bunks were occupied by men (asa co-ed room ako). Hmm, only downside I think was that my floormates were a bit messy. I find our common CR dirty compared to my experience with Book & Bed, but I guess it's just a case of having messy roomies. Anyway, I just have to wear my rubber slippers all the time.

True enough, I am in love with our Yoyogi neighborhood. We have 3 kombini options (Family Mart, 7Eleven and Lawson) plus a mini grocery. Deegee's habit is visiting all three of these mini marts every night in search for snacks we can take home and eat in our beds, hehe! 

Also, right across our guesthouse is a mini Dutch bakery. For our first day, Deegee and I went in to get some breads for brunch. They are all freshly baked and napaka sarap! We vowed to get different breads everyday, but it turns out to it was our first and last trip to that bakery huhu.

Going to the nearest train station, we always pass by this area where there's a train rail also, I think it goes to farther parts of Japan. We had to stop here as the fast train passes by. There will be beeping sounds to warn the people not to cross the street yet, and Deegee will sing along to it hahaha.

Yoyogi Park

Since it's lipat bahay day, I made sure to make it a chill day since I know that we will be so stressed out in our morning commute with our luggages.

We walked out of our hostel to check out the autumn scene in the nearby Yoyogi Park. We were already in Yoyogi anyway, so I thought it's a good, nearby stop. It turns out, it's another never-ending walk to the park's entrance! Haha. We passed by highways and closed gates and bridges till we reached the South Gate of Yoyogi Koen or Yoyogi Park.

Finally:

Autumn visuals everywhere I turn:

You will still see painters hanging out in parks in Japan:

There were kids on a field trip, Titas of Tokyo just hanging out, all with their mats and lunch boxes:

Meiji Shrine

From another Yoyogi Park exit, I saw a signage that say we're already near Meiji Shrine--which I know is also near Harajuku!

So we just followed this sign and decided to check out Meiji Shrine nadin:

The large torii that leads to the shrine:

The last time I went here, the shrine was under renovation and has a huge tarpaulin covering the whole structure. Everything's already in order when we arrived on that day.

Around Harajuku

I am not exaggerating when I say we've been to Harajuku almost everyday during this trip, haha! It's one of our favorite locations to eat, check out the stores (or shop), and take photos! Since we're already in the area coming from Meiji Shrine, Deegee said I can have my coffee in the top floor Starbucks of a mall there.

I had the Spinach & Cheese Soymeat wrap and iced latte, while Deegee was having his social media time, hehehe.

This is the view from the building we're in:

My favorite part in Harajuku most prob is not the popular Takeshita, but the area of Harajuku-Jingumae. They have mostly street style brands like Supreme, second-hand shops that sell luxury brands, and even indie Japanese brands with super nice store aesthetics. 

Originally, I wanted to make a separate blog post with all the visuals I took by just roaming around Meiji-Jingumae and other parts of Harajuku, but all my photos are jumbled by day so I might as well just finish my daily Tokyo posts. Hang in there for me? :)

Opposite of Champion?

  

We checked out almost all the thrift stores, but my wallet was not ready:

A shop that sells vintage kimonos:

Someone's super happy! Hehehe:

Odaiba

With zero plans and the sun still up, we decided to revisit Odaiba, or second time during the trip! Haha! We wanted to go back to GU in DiverCity mall since it has the most styles that we wanted. We also had sudden plans of visiting a museum that we saw on Instagram which is just in the area. But it was already closed when we got there, so WAH! It was a bit of a long walk from DiverCity to that area, so in the middle of the road Deegee and I were like 😩😪😲😳🙈!!!!

We just went back to DiverCity for the GU shopping, and afterwards had dinner in their food court. Finally had okonomiyaki on this trip, yummy! I think we also took time going inside all the stores in the mall before we headed back to our hostel in Yoyogi.

I have this kombini food photo by the end of my Tokyo Day 7 photo album in my laptop, haha! We already had rice for dinner in Odaiba, but still took time hopping in our neighborhood kombinis for more snackoos that night hahaha. 😁 Food is life!

Watch my Day 7 Autumn in Tokyo Instagram Stories: