Sunday came early. All the mornings seem early. There's light coming in the windows before 5 am.
Mom and I decided not to go to the Imperial Palace after all due to the heat and humidity predictions and the fact that there aren't many flowers to be seen right now, just some roses.
Instead we went to a POP Mart store to look for Labubu toys for my Accountant, who had asked me to look for his kids. Really long story short, the line was 2+ hours long, in the 95 degree heat with 70% humidity. I easily decided against that.
So off we went in search of the Kitamura store. Kitamura is an upscale handbag line. When Kenji & I were here in '04 I got a lovely small-ish "date night" purse that I really loved. It has their trademark "K" on the front which sealed the deal for this gal whose name starts with K. However, my 2004 purse has begun to fall apart, so I wanted to find a new one.
Mom and I took a couple of trains to the Skinjuku area and walked towards the direction Google Maps said to. When it said we were there I didn't see any Kitamura signs. We walked around the big block and finally I realized that Google Maps said it was on the 2nd floor of the department store. Doh! In we went and found them on the 2nd floor. Not a whole Kitamura store. Ok then. I looked around and did not see the same design as I had before. Darn. So I looked for what I liked from what they had. A woman working there approached me and was very helpful and kind and her English was excellent! She pointed out the purse I was leaning towards was not real leather but fake leather and that sealed the deal.
While she went to the storeroom to get a new purse and Mom and I looked at wallets to pass the time. When she came back I went to the register to pay and she gave me a brochure and my receipt and explained if i went to the basement floor I could go to the Tax Refund Center and get the tax back, since I'm not a resident of Japan. Great! We learned quickly that any purchase over 5,500 yen (about $37) is eligible for returning the tax for non-residents. As I turned to leave Mom sidled up to the register, trying to be sneaky. I think she bought a wallet I had looked at. We both went with our receipts down to the Tax Refund Center and got our tax back in cash. I got about $12!
We headed back to the hotel, changed clothes and relaxed and cooled off for a bit, watching the last day of the sumo tournament. What ever shall we do tomorrow with no sumo to watch??? The tournament has been 3-6 pm each day since July 13. However, tonight it ended just before 5:30 and the remaining time was used for the presentation of trophies (I swear it seemed like at least 10 different trophies and cups and all sorts and manner of congratulatory items). He was feted like the champion he was and interviewed and the whole ceremony took the remaining 30 minutes.
We went to meet the guys and walk around to find dinner. We walked through the Senso-ji Shrine grounds and it was lovely in the night with the lights illuminating it. We walked down the Nakamise Shopping Street and most of the shops were closed, but that gave us a chance to see the beautiful artistic paintings on the roll down steel doors. It was all lovely in the night light.
We found a ramen place for dinner nearby. I ordered a cold noodle ramen which hit the spot! Mom had a warm ramen and so did the guys. A stop at Family Mart for ice cream and back to the rooms for the night.
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