It's hard trying to find what you want when you can't read any signs....

Wandering around looking for something in particular is often a difficult task. This is why we usually bring Miyuki, our city guide along, but yesterday had no such luck. We have to get Halloween costumes for the work party at the end of the month (dressing up for the kids is required), and finding a store that sells costumes isn't easy in Tokyo, where Halloween isn't widely regarded. Here are some pictures of building confusing building signs and other things we saw while circling Ikebukuro





The gaming parlors always look interesting. We've been to a couple with Miyuki to use the silly photo booths. This is what happens:



lovely. You take a few pictues in a big standing booth with lots of bright lights to bleach out most of your features, then pick the three you like, then draw on them with sticker art. Japanese girls LOVE this



Also on my list of things to get (someday): A Hello Kitty necklace! I love Hello Kitty! The fact that it is so celebrated gere is largely the reason I moved to Japan.


Just a nice building that I thought was cool







Vending machine ice cream! I want to find more unusual vending machines, but they are hard to come by. It's usually just vending machines for soda, coffee drinks and cigarettes (this is the first ice cream machine I've spotted) but I hear they have all sorts, like ones that dispense underwear, beer, frozen food, batteries, etc. I'm keeping my eyes peeled!