Tokyo - Day 2

We gathered in the lobby at 10 to start our first full day inTokyo. Let me tell you a little about the group. Jeff and I are the token Canadians. There's Peter from Australia and Peter from the Netherlands. Charlotta and Flemming hailing from Copenhagen. A family from Albany (mom, dad and teenage son) and an Aunt-Niece duo from Indiana. Sasha from New York joined by way of Cambodia. McKinley and Christoph are the last couple also from New York (they celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary last night). Our guide is Pascal, a Frenchman turned Japanese expat by way of Morocco.

We got a bit of a late start as Pascal secured our rail passes at a very crowded station. Off we went on the very efficient and impeccably clean train to Harajuku.

Disappointingly, no one was out dressed in Harajuku style. However, we were mainly there to see the temple, Meiji-jingu. It is surrounded by a beautiful forest with pathways and impressive tori gates. We learned tori means bird as they often perch atop the gates monitoring who enters and leaves the temple.

At Shinto temples, you can commission a wood block to write a wish or prayer on. Monks from the temple read and bless your wish before burning the wood block. There were thousands of prayer blocks in all different languages and different wishes.

We saw a Shinto wedding in progress which was a startlingly somber and slow progression. Along the forest path are hundreds of sake bottles wrapped in straw and painted.

After Harajuku, we hopped the train to Shibuya to see the busy crossing at the main street. Then we were on our own again. The group divided naturally into the family units, the couples, and the five single travellers. Our group has been getting along famously! We are all amicable, adventurous and awesome.

Hungry, we proceeded to the basement level of the nearest department store which usually boast incredible cafeteria/food counters. After circling a few times, everyone had a random assortment for lunch. We decided to eat under a tree on the street outside where Peter and I were blessed with the formidable luck that only a pigeon crapping on you can afford.

Cleaned to the best of our ability, we hopped the train again to Hibiya park in search of a fiercely rumoured Godzilla statue. We heard it was two meters tall and "you can't miss it". We spent hours searching for him, but had some great adventures along the way. We explored Hibiya park, found an outdoor concert (The Telephones), listened for free from a nearby patio with beers in hand, visited a small portion of the exterior of the Imperial Palace, and made friends when we had to ask for directions many times.

In the end, after many tries, we found him!

Only to discover he is about 2 feet tall...

But I loved it anyways!

After finding Godzilla we zipped over to Shinjuku to meet our guide and some other tour members for a trip up a skyscraper for some night views of downtown Tokyo. The best part of the tower was a machine that lets you print your own face on a toy keychain. Hells to the yes!

(I'm the space scientist)

Consuming copious quantities of sake, we slowly made our way back toward our hotel (and a late bar along the way).

Free day the next day!