Nakameguro (and some other stuff)

Nakameguro is a section of Tokyo which contains a beautiful little river lined by sakura trees (cherry blossom trees).  As mentioned in the previous post, I met a nice young lady at a burger shop and she showed me a few areas.  Note bene:  She studied English in Toronto and works for a clothing store in Tokyo in HR, doing international recruiting.  I'm pretty sure she just wanted to practice English with a native speaker, but that's cool with me.  She was really nice and it was a great afternoon.

So, after finding Shibuya too crowded, she suggested Nakameguro, which is two stops from Shibuya.  We hopped on the Toyoko line (I think) and headed over.  It was raining, but still nice.  The sakura trees have started losing their cherry blossoms, which is sad.  But such is life!  It was still beautiful.  We hung out at a coffee shop for a couple of hours and after walking along the river, then headed to check out the new flagship Uniqlo store (her employer) in Ginza.  They have branches all over Tokyo, but she wanted to see the new store because she felt she should be able to discuss it with potential recruits.  So, off we went.  Of course, I wanted to see this area in the sun, so this morning I headed over (sadly, by myself.  But soloing is ok!)

I'll post most of these pics without comment.


JR Toyoko line in Shibuya station.  Kinda crowded.  I was actually going to a pretty clear berth to the left, so no worries.  Until the train arrived and emptied.  A stone against the current, I was!

So, here are a bunch of pics from Nakameguro.  A VERY nice walk along the river.  I really wish I knew of this place a week or two ago, when the sakura were in full bloom.  We had a couple of storms lately, so maybe they've been stripped a bit by the wind.  I guess I'll just have to come back in a year or two.

This is a cute little restaurant along the walkway.  I was a bit early, and places were just opening up.

Cherry blossom petals litter the ground.  I saw an adorable little girl picking some up and putting them in a plastic bag.  Very cute.  Not really something I should be taking a picture of, though.

Apropos of nothing, but I loved watching these dogs.  The bigger, lighter one kept flinching back whenever the littler one would make a move.  And a minute later the kid was kneeling down trying to hug the bigger dogs.  No one was bitten, so it all worked out well.

A yes...  Snobbish Babies.  Not sure who thought of that name...  It's evidently a "high-end canine clothing store and cafe."  Whatever, weird dog owners.

 

I'm told this sign says "forbidden for parking"  And rightly so, as it's prime sitting real estate.

The following few pics are away from the river, in a commercial/residential area I wandered around.  Just kind of...  normal, I guess.  Very pleasant.  I can see myself living here.  Of course, getting a job would be impossible, and the rent is likely sky-high, but those are just implementation details.

This is completely unrelated to sakura.  I wanted to show the gap between train and platform.  It's like 4 - 6 inches.  Crazy!  Little kids sometimes literally jump across.  Dangerous.

And here was lunch!  Butadon.  Rice bowl with thinly sliced pork.  Very tastey.  Not a fan of the iced tea, though.  It's not just this tea.  I don't like any iced tea.  Most places give you ice water, so a little surprised here.  It's ok, though.  I had a bottle of water in my bag.  I'm prepared!

So.  This is kind of a common fashion here.  Focus on the boots!  This is a guy wearing a leopard print jacket and leather boots.  The kind heavy metal guys used to wear in the late 80's.  If I still had my shaggy/long hair from a few years ago, I'd buy a pair, but I'm afraid straight-laced, professional-looking Kevin can't rock this look.  Too bad, world.