It's not exactly a secret that Harajuku is my favourite place in Tokyo. So, what better place to spend my birthday?
Yesterday on June 8th, I turned 20 years old! Turning 20 is kind of a big deal in Japan since it's the legal drinking age. I did go to an izakaya the night before to celebrate with my friends, but I was most excited to tick more things off of my Harajuku bucket list. Because believe me, there's a lottttt you can do in Harajuku. I go every week and I'm still discovering new things to see, take photos of, and eat!
First, I went to get my cheese fix... or rather, rainbow cheese fix!
Because the only thing better than cheese is rainbow cheese!Every time I go to Harajuku, I see adverts for this impossibly bright rainbow grilled cheese sandwich... but I'd never been able to work out where it's actually sold. On my birthday I decided it was finally time to track down this magical toasted snack.
Turns out you can buy it from a place called Rainbow Sweets Harajuku, which is just down a side street near Totti Candy Factory (the place that sells those massive rainbow cotton candies everyone likes to walk around with, myself included). It comes pre-cut, and they say you should wait a few minutes before pulling the two halves apart for a super-satisfying stringy cheese moment. And I wasn't disappointed - it really was RAINBOW! And super delicious, too.
Next we headed to one of my favourite places in Harajuku - Cookie Time!
Cookie Time is a place that deserves its own article at some point. For cookie and cookie dough lovers, Cookie Time is heaven on earth. Cookie dough milkshakes. Cookie dough ice cream. Cookie dough smores. Cookie cookie cookie everywhere.
I'd heard rumours (maybe from their Instagram) that if you went to Cookie Time on your birthday, you'd get something amazing. And sure enough, when I went in and told the team it was my birthday, they offered me their amazing (free!) three-tiered cookie cake.
So I picked my cookie flavours (I chose chocolate chip, salted caramel and caramel fudge), and my cake preparation was underway. What I really didn't expect was for them to call the whole cafe full of customers to attention, sing happy birthday to me with backing music, and bring my cake over with a lit candle on top. It was everything. It was so cute. Cookie Time is the best place ever.
Here's a close-up of my cookie birthday cake! Candle blown out, wish made.
My cookie cake was whipped cream sandwiched between three tiers of chocolate chip, salted caramel and caramel fudge cookies, finished with rainbow sprinkles and a birthday candle on top. Isn't it adorable?Honestly, the staff at Cookie Time are just the best. It was my third time going and they've always been so sweet and friendly. And this was such a kind gesture, especially since I'm so far from home and am used to spending my birthday with my family. Having my own birthday cake and sing-song was like a little slice of home.
Plus, it was so yummy.
But we had to move on - we had an appointment we just couldn't miss.
With some Shiba inus!
If you haven't heard of Harajuku's Mame-Shiba Cafe before, it's another cafe where you play with cute animals while you forget about your free drinks. This cafe is very popular, so you actually have to buy a ticket for a specific time slot then come back later. And tickets sell out quickly. We arrived at 3:30 (before the rainbow cheese adventure) and got tickets for the next slot at 5:30.
I didn't actually take many photos at the Shiba cafe - I was kind of taking it all in. The Shibas are very playful, and really enjoy play-fighting. A lot. The staff here really had their hands full with these mischievous pups, who kept chasing each other at hyper speed through this small room full of people and yapping so loudly it could be heard from the stairway.
I didn't actually take many photos at the Shiba cafe - I was kind of taking it all in. The Shibas are very playful, and really enjoy play-fighting. A lot. The staff here really had their hands full with these mischievous pups, who kept chasing each other at hyper speed through this small room full of people and yapping so loudly it could be heard from the stairway.
But they're super cute, so what can you do?
Last but not least, we visited some extra unique furry friends - this time, owls!
I'll be honest, this one wasn't actually on the birthday agenda before we went, and I wasn't sure about it. I've seen some owl cafes where the owls are kept in cages, regularly handled by visitors, and are full of bright lights and screaming kids despite owls being very sensitive to light and noise.
Located directly below the Mame-Shiba Cafe, this place is called the Owl Forest and is definitely less like what I was fearing. My friend really wanted to go so we had a look inside before paying. Here it's quiet and the lights are low (I brightened my photos to make them clearer), the owls can't be picked up, only certain ones can be touched and they are given rest breaks. If you really want to see owls, I'd say this is one of the better places to do it.
It was definitely fun seeing the owls... many of them were so cute, and this one was hardcore judging me for taking a selfie with him.
So in summary, I had the best day being 20 in my favourite place! Of course, the highlight has to be my amazing birthday cake - thank you Cookie Time!!
