OH, HARROW: All you can eat, and then some.

This past week I've found a few favorites. Places that I will remember the next time I come to Tokyo, especially if I don't have alot of time on my hands.

First up is Hanjiro, in Harajuku. See, I wasn't aware, but Harajuku is big. Considered by many as a maelstrom of modern youth fashion and all that, but within its' vague borders lies many hidden gems. Hanjiro is not one of them, since it isn't hidden at all. It occupies two floors in a mall of sorts, close to one of the main street crossings in Harajuku.

Hanjiro is a second hand or vintage or used clothing store. It's still not clear whether all the items were actually old and worn, but they looked the part. I got a pair of sunglasses and a sweater, and now I look cool.

The second favorite is Super Potato. Nestled in the electronic neon jungle of Akihabara, they specialize in retro videogames like the old Nintendo or Sega systems, and I can (most likely will) buy a SNES for 2900 yen. Hundreds of old games, game music, Gameboys, toys and miscellanea. Not very expensive. I shall return.

And third, the place where I had lunch today. Or rather, a combination of several meals presented on a chariot of chocolate and feathers and served in a famous bowl. (Two Patton Oswalt references in one sentence. I rule.)

At Sweets Paradise, one can indulge in an all-you-can-eat buffet that puts any American equivalent to shame. Not because it features six kinds of salad dressing, no, but because a) it had more cake than food, and b) both food and cake was extremely good.

Me and three friends entered the establishment famished and excited, and upon hearing Sonic Youth's Dirty Boots playing somewhere close I thought that this might very well be the single greatest place on earth.

Precisely 90 minutes later we emerged, bursting with sugar and fullfillment.

Okay, so maybe I won't have lunch there every day. But it's on my list.

I've also gotten to partake in two of Yu-Lin's favorite lunch-eateries, namely the black udon of Ichigaya (not what it sounds like, but almost) and tempura in Shinjuku. The former was a quiet place with almost no other guests, that served a superb udon soup with tofu and egg, in a big ceramic bowl, which itself sat in some sort of wooden crate. It was wierd, and great. A very friendly and talkative couple worked there.

The tempura was cool mostly because we got to sit cross-legged on tatami mats when we had it. The food was very good, but a bit expensive.

The weekend was calm, except for friday night which was noisy, Korean, and lasted until 8:30 on saturday morning. No karaoke, mind you, but fun times and falling asleep on the Yamanote line again.

I decided to give Ota-ku yet another shot at impressing me, and found that Togoshi-ginza has some good spots. A bookstore that sold really cheap SNES-games (to go with the aforementioned console) was one.