Monday, November 16, 2009

an afternoon with hiro

Meet my fabulous Japanese friend Hiro. I met Hiro when we were both Fashion Merchandising Management students at FIT. Hiro hails from Okinawa and is now a visual merchandiser at Forever 21. Doesn't he have fab style?

Hiro and I haven't seen each other since he left New York last year so it was really good to catch up. I brought him a copy of New York Magazine, which he's been sorely missing, and he brought me to an amazing ramen place on a random sidestreet in Omotesando. That glazed pork on the side is the most tender and flavorful pork I have ever had, I swear to god. The texture of the meat was silky on my tongue, the broth packed with flavor, and the ramen just perfectly nice and chewy. This ramen was simply dee-lish! He also showed me Tokyo's colorful side, from the out of control crepes crowding the street to the more elusive Harajuku girls. Speaking of out of control, that's exactly what the buildings are like in this area. From the low-end (H&M, bottom, left) to the luxe (Prada, bottom, center), buildings were massive in both size and coolness factors. Prada was really fun to explore, and they have the world's most amazing carpet. Seriously. It's plush, it's a very discreet pink, and it makes you feel like you're walking on clouds. If I ever become uber rich, I'm gonna have a room in my mansion that's empty save for Prada's wall-to-wall carpeting. It's that amazing. I snapped a pic of the uber cool Comme de Garcons shop (bottom, right)but didn't go in because as much as I love their stuff, it just aint my style. Apparently though, Tokyo is a great place to shop for CDG because you can get stuff cheaper there.

On our way to Shibuya, we passed a poster of Inglorious Basterds, which I had to take a picture of because everything looks more bad-ass with Japanese type. I am still kicking myself for not taking pictures of the truly amazing Isetan basement. There's a brilliant selection of food there, from a multitude of flavors of French macarons to fresh kobe beef. That is a place for me to come back to, for sure, since I didn't get to dawdle and eat as much as I wanted to. Finally, Hiro showed me the bright lights of Shibuya, which made me feel like I was in the middle of Lost in Translation. L-O-V-E.

Thank you for the lovely day Hiro! Just like old times, when you and I used to run around Chelsea and Soho. New York needs you back, stat.

Meanwhile, I miss you Tokyo. Do you miss me too?

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