It was more of a reconnaisance trip just to say Hello and shoot the shit with some of our vendors; Ubiq, Garni and soon to be Engineered Garments from Tokyo/New York. Turned out to be hectic and real cold, but always productive.
Japan's a great place that's fine doing things on their own. I keep saying this but the best thing about going there is not really seeing any prevailing trend. Everyone's just doing their own thing. From the folks at Garni to the guys at Engineered Garments, everyone's just got their own direction and it's great to see them all doing their part to form something that's really appealing to outsiders like us. That's probably why there's such a mystique about everything Japanese. I look forward to more trips down there and I sure as hell look forward to hitting up the Engineered Garments showroom again. Seemed like a trip to hell at first in that cold but all was good when I stepped into their showroom. Their stuff is a notch above the rest.
10 do's and don'ts to consider when you're down there:
1. Walk around and get lost. The best part is finding your way back using a combination of sign language and mumble. Leave your Jap dictionary at home.
2. Hit up the Garni store, Ubiq/Atmos, and then head down to New Balance. The NB flagship down there WILL make you drool.
3. Stop off at one of those Red Bean cake stands, sniff, then walk away.
4. Grab a hot can of coffee from one of the vending machines. One of the more convenient developments I've seen in a while.
5. Head down to Isetan and look at all the good stuff they have on the 8th floor. Julius, Attachment, Engineered Garments, etc.
6. Experience Pachinko. Walk away after you lose your first 1000 Yen because you'll never make it back. I have no idea how those 40 Something year olds sit there for hours on end and fill their trays with them silver balls. Some even do it professionally. Wonder how you'd do your income tax for such an occupation.
7. Don't ever get in a cab. That's all I'm saying. I'm still bitter about my experience.
8. Go to 7/11, Family Mart, AM PM or any of the other Conbini stores and let it rip. Just buy all the trippy candy/Pokky/Hi-Chew and all the other stuff with bright colors on them. Trust me, you'll thank me for this piece of advice. If I could have brought some back for all of our customers I would've but unfortunately the Ubiq shipment was a lot more important.
9. Stay at the Shibuya Tokyu Inn. It's like the hotel 81 of Tokyo but none of them 6 hour "Special" rates. This place is legit and close to all the stores. Definitely no frills!
10. MOS burger definitely tastes better in Tokyo. I said it.
Enjoy the photographs.
No comments:
Post a Comment