Asia Trip Day 11: Sayonara, Japan-san (12/29/17)

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On our final day in Japan, we headed out early to Meiji Shrine in Shibuya. The forest path that lead to it was very scenic and quiet. There were far more tourists in this area since it is quite popular. The architecture was mostly red, and had many of the Japanese Shinto gates. The center of the shrine was a large open space without much activity other than pedestrians.

Purifying myself

The first ritual we did was the water cleansing. At the special fountain, we would use a special ladle to wash our hands with the water. Then we would rinse our mouth with the water, and then clean the ladle. I believe it’s to purify yourself before entering the shrine or something like that. Similar to the other temples, there were shrines that don’t allow photography (well, there was a sign that tells people not to do it, but they do it anyways). At the shrines, you would give a coin offering and bow several times. I think you’re also supposed to make a wish.

There were tables where people write down their wishes and submit them into a special box. Something special probably happens to the notes at the end of the day, like they get burned or something. There were similar things in China, where people would hang up wooden notes or offerings. But they have to be taken down eventually, right?

For this claw machine, you have to press the button when the light is over the platform
I tried to win a Tonberry figure, but I was scammed


For our early lunch, we went to Shinjuku for a restaurant called Sushi Itamae. It was a restaurant that Xuezhu had dined at during her solo ventures. We got a nice spread of sushi, with miso soup and matcha tea. The miso soup had actual fish (and bones) in it, so it was definitely not from an instant pack. I actually knocked over my
bowl of miso over myself, and the waiter got me a new bowl (all according to plan). The sushi itself was very tasty. Something notable is that the tuna nigiris are always very generous, and the tuna would drape over the rice onto the plate.

On a ride, I sleep

In-flight food had lost its novelty by then
We returned back to our hotel for one last time to pick up our luggage and say farewell to our hosts. We boarded the 2:30 pm Narita Express (we had made reservations some time before), and arrived at the airplane terminal around 3:30 pm. Our flight was at 5 pm, so we had time to spend the rest of the yen that we had. Within the airport, there was plenty of malls and souvenir shops. We spent the rest of our money on a variety of snacks to bring back for friends and family.

Some of our haul


The flight back to China was only 3 hours, and changing time zone by 1 hour back. We arrived around  9 pm, and Xuezhu’s father arrived to pick us up. For a late dinner, we had a noodle stir-fry from street vendors on the street near their house.

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