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| Will definitely pass this way again- Cat Street. |
PERENNIALLY on the prowl for everything new and unusual- fashion finds, a good sale, food joints, unbeaten paths, and everything else that should fall under the category of "must try" for I never know if I may pass this way again (like the church hymn). Not unless it will be categorized as "tried it, must try again, and again," then expect me to be there.
Just like this lane I found myself in after scouring the "Champs Elysees" of Tokyo", the Omotesando Hills, and its luxury boutiques that make you wish your credit card limit can accommodate and if your bank balance can pay it off after, a pedestrian path with smaller compact shops along it.
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| You won't miss Cat Street, it's the street beside the Bulgari boutique along Omotesando. |
Just off the main avenue towards Yoyogi Park, I chanced upon Cat Street. It's quite an unusual name for a street in Tokyo, maybe because it's quite easier for tourists to recall than its official name, Kyu Shibuya-gawa Promenade. Yuhodo is how the locals call it, and Cat Street is its nickname.
It's a no-brainer why it was called such if logic is applied. Cats used to wander around this street, thus the name, not unless there's an urban legend attached to it.
Cat Street is a popular shopping street that crosses the Takeshita Dori and Omotesando Dori. Apparently it's quite famous for its combination of upscale boutiques and, as someone said, "trashy shops." By trashy, he must mean not of the mainstream fashion. The Japanese are known to be very self-expressing (read: rebellious), experimental and imaginative in their sense of fashion, most especially in this part of town. It's Harajuku, for goodness sakes! It is quite hip actually, with most of the shops catering to the younger crowd.
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| Little boy blue. A curio shop along Cat Street. |
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| Say "ELLIOT" |
The hip vibe follows through in the cafes that line the street. So hip, and maybe too hard to resist, that Elliot had to leave E.T. on his bicycle by the street to sample the menu. I just love Japanese humor and creativity.
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| E.T. wait. Elliot eat. |
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| Ahem...cough, cough, cough. |
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| I guess these hungry Elliots have delivered their ETs. |
I heard that this was a good place to hang out and people watch. Judging from the scene, there is truth to that claim. But there were just too many spots to check out in the bucket list. So, I quickly left before I gave in to the temptation to purchase the Trilby hat I had my eye on in the hat shop I ventured into.
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| Eyeing on a Trilby hat in this hip hat shop. |
Cat street had to be posted on the "must see again" list. Next visit, I must spend a little more time in this area, to people watch, try the hip cuisine and do some prowling.
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