Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tokyo - 3

First of all, I must admit my own ignorance. When I first saw the tori below, I thought this is already the famous Meiji shrine, was so dissppointed & my travel companion who's been there is not helping by mis-guiding me further away from the truth (I'm sure he enjoys it). Truth is, this tori marks the beginning of the part to Meiji shrine.

Walking a few minutes on a stone path through a small stream with sake offerings on both sides, it amazes me that despite Meiji shrine is just a street away from the happening Harajuku the whole world just transformed into peacefulness & quiet when we stepped through the first tori. When we heard a public announcement in Japanese, it felt absolutely awkard in this almost ancient setting. Anyway, since we're only 30mins away from the closing time, it's not hard to guess that the announcement is a gentle reminder about the approaching closing time.

Speeding up towards the shrine (actually just by reducing the number of pictures taken along the way is already a hige time saver, haha), finally the shrine is in sight. Traditionally, we're suppose to wash our hands and rinse our mouth before entering the shrine, hence this nice bamboo made water dispense system. Not having any intention for praying without knowing the ritual, we skipped this and rush through front gate (the security guard is already starting to 'minimize' the entrance gate).


Visitng Meiji shrine close to closing time has it's advantage (aside from the obvious rushing disadvantage). The shrine is sitting quietly in a peaceful setting while most of the tourists have left. The calming feeling associated with the soft sunset light is so tranquilizing. I almost forgot the rush to the shrine and the husle Tokyo and instead imagining myself in the middle of a sacred woods with the shrine.

Alas, the famous shrine quietly awaits its daily visitors and one of its millionth photo shoot. Photo taking is not allowed inside the hall. After making a small donation, I walked out to the courtyard and zoom in to snap one look of the shrine. If I have more time, I'd have place a wish on the wooden block, next time :)
Leaving the shrine, taking the same stone path out again, we're immediately greeted by Jingu Bridge where cosplayers socialize in weekend. Unfortunaetly, it's just a normal weekday when we're there so, sorry, no unique cosplayers to show. While Ginza offers high end shopping, Takeshita street certainly is the heaven for youngsters and cosplayers. Filled with people all the time, taking a stroll while trying to window shop could be challenging.
I entered Takeshita street with the intention to buy something unique but ended up only buying an egg shaped measuring cup, embarrassing. The fashion is too trendy for me and cosplay is definitely too outrages in Europe; skirts are too short for my fat thigh & shoes are too fine heel for my weight. Well, enough excuse, next stop, we're back in Shinjuku towards the tallest building in Tokyo - Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
The two top-floor panoramic observation decks of the building are free of charge to the public and are open till 11 pm on weekdays. The best part is: use of cameras is permitted. Unfortunately, after we walked up & down and finally found the entrance, we saw a notice saying special security is in place, hence it's not open to public. Sigh, there goes my Tokyo night scene dream.
Walking back towards the hotel, passing the happening Shinjuku and skipping all the nice izakaya along the way, we headed for McDonald. Yes, McDonald. My travel companion who's been having stomach problem wanted some food that he's familiar with, so... Well, the story is not that sad. Japanese McDonald has some local speacialty as well. We got teriyaki beef burger and prawn burger with grapefruit juice. Fries are the same, haha...

More of Tokyo, next blog.

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