After waking up, the first thing I did was look outside my window to check the status of the Shibuya crossing. The Shibuya crossing is probably the busiest intersection in the world and people cross it vertically, horizontally and diagonally (my favorite). According to the story, no one ever bumps someone else (but this is Japan). Now this morning, I crossed it many many times to get photos (hehehe). The real mystery about the shibuya crossing is that where do all the people crossing coming from— because it seems to refill fast everytime! Apart from this, Shibuya is also home to the statue of Hachiko, a very loyal Akita dog. Believe it or not, I have been crossing Shibuya many times and I still could not find the statue of Hachiko. 🙂 Maybe later.
We rode the metro (Ginza line) from Shibuya to the Asakusa station to see the Sensoji temple, Tokyo’s oldest temple. We followed the crowd simply to get to the Sensoji temple entrance. On the way, we went inside a random restaurant for some ramen.
After entering, you see a shopping street called Nakamise. They sell interesting souvenirs and traditional snacks. We spent quite a time checking out the merchandise. I was able to buy a light pink hat which was about to be my favorite hat of all time. I also bought some food. 🙂
Straight up ahead, you will see the entrance of Sensoji temple. They have this part where you get to pick a fortune (through a stick). Then you have to find from the drawers the corresponding Japanese characters, and then I couldn’t find mine but I realized I was holding it upside down!
Then when I finally get to open the drawer, I found my fortune and I like it!
After that we went back to the hotel and had a siesta. 🙂 Later in the afternoon, I started to seriously hunt for the statue of Hachiko. Hachiko is a loyal dog whose owner is a college professor. He used to always send him, and wait for him to Shibuya station where he rides a train to work. One time, his master never came back from the train (had a heart attack at work), but Hachiko waited for him. In fact he waited for him everyday, summer, winter or fall. The people were so moved by his loyalty that they made this statue for him (and also made a movie about it). One day, I am thinking of adopting an Akita dog. 🙂
After finally meeting Hachiko, we rode the train again to Harajuku station. We went to Takeshi street. I was hoping to see cosplayers and have a picture taken with them. Anyway, I ended up buying this crepe. Really tasty!
After Takeshi street we went to eat our dinner. Now, I really want to eat authentic Japanese sushi and maki. We went to this place just close to our hotel at the Shibuya Mark station named Umegaoka Sushi No Midori Sohonten Shibuya. We just chose the restaurant with a really long line. My God, it was so delicious!
I walked around Shibuya after dinner to melt off the fat. There was nothing remarkable, except when I walked down the intersection, a Japanese man on a tuxedo started to walk beside me and talk to me. I told him I didn’t speak any Japanese, and when we reached the other side of the street I waited for another traffic light, he began to talk to me in English things like where I came from, what I’m doing here, I didn’t feel right so I walked in a different direction when we were about to cross the street. 🙂 Japan is one of the safest places to be in. Rumor has it that due to the policemen in Japan no longer have work to do due to the low crime rates, but it’s always nice to be vigilant.
I love Tokyo, but something about it feels lonely. Maybe the people. They look like lonely people.
When she gets lost 