A Pinoy in Tokyo: Omote-Sando!

This street, for a moment, reminded me of the main Hannam-dong street (in Seoul) where I live. Hannam-dong is lined with Gingko trees. Omote-sando is lined with Zelkova trees.

And that's where the similarity ends.

Unlike Hannam-dong, where garbage decorates the side of a Chinese restaurant, and cars are parked on the sidewalk competing with pedestrians and puke (eeew!)  for space, Omote-sando Dori is alluring, charming and very classy!

 Having the same name of a subway station, Omote-sando Dori (dori means street) is full of recognizable shops, restaurants, cars and lots of shoppers!

Stretching from the Harajuku Station up to Aoyama Dori, Omote-Sando Dori is full of cars, buses and bikes!

And as my friends Arlene and Glen, and I walked up and down this street, we passed by flagship shops of some international brands whose buildings were designed by some famous architects. And basing from the incredible prices of the goodies displayed at their shops, those architects must have also been very expensive!

The atmosphere along Omote-sando is different from the that at Harajuku, which is the younger generation's kind of street. Here, it's more of mature-ish crowd. 

Omote-sando, which means 'front approach', was built as the front area for the Meiji Shrine situated behind the Harajuku Station.

But seeing lots of worshippers, shoppers and tourists that day, competing for space alongside 100,000 cars and Zelkova trees, Omote-Sando Dori has now become a shrine of its own.