Day 3.10th May 2016. Tuesday.

The hotel package was room only because I knew the boys wouldn't be able to wake up early enough for breakfast until they had settled into the new time zone . And sure enough they woke up pretty late by which time Godwin had make a run to the 7-11 at the corner and picked up some breakfast. We also used the time to pack our three suitcases to be forwarded to the next hotel. All Japanese hotels have this really cool service where you can forward your suitcases to your next destination for a fee. Its called Takuhaibin delivery service. It was pretty easy to do, took the cases down to reception, handed over the address of the Sheraton at Disney, they measured and weighed the cases and then I had to wait while they filled in the receipts and calculated the cost. They take payment only in cash, which I was aware of and had carried with me. While I waited, I was amused by an American couple and an Asian guy who had arrived early and were trying to check in. The Asian guy was sweaty and upset because he had walked all the way from the Shinjuku Station with his luggage. He said the hotel looked close to the station on the map and now his feet hurt because apparently, he had been walking for hours because he got lost. The American couple were grumbling about how they had spent the night at an airport hotel and apparently, the beds and pillows were like stone so they had barely slept. 

Anyway, by the time my bag forwarding was done, the boys dressed and ready to go out (armed with the transparent umbrellas from the hotel), it was mid-morning. I think they were actually disappointed it wasn't raining! This time we walked to the metro station closer to the hotel, the Shinjuku-gyoemmae . We walked on this interesting street to get to the station and the boys had their first vending machine experience. They loved the vending machines in Japan so much that for the rest of the trip, buying weird items from the vending machines became a thing! We took the Marunouchi Line to Ginza, then changed to the Ginza line and got off Asakusa. It was a long and interesting metro ride and Zane enjoyed it very much. It wasn't really rush hour like the previous evening so there were plenty of seats which made the journey so much more pleasant. We found a lot of Japanese people on the train wearing surgical masks.

We exited the station and walked towards the Kaminarimon gate that lead to the Sensoji Temple, our first order of day. I thought it was time for some cultural immersion. Sensoji, also known as Asakusa Kannon, is Tokyo's oldest temple dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Legend has it that the statue of Kannon housed inside the temple was fished out of the Sumida River in 628 and every time they tried to return it back to the river, it kept showing up again . Finally, in 645, the temple was completed, thus making it Tokyo's oldest temple. Most of it, though, was bombed during the Allied raids in 1945 and had to be rebuilt after the war. The main Kaminarimon gate with its giant red lantern that we walked through was restored in 1960 through donations by Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic! Guarding the gate are statues of two giant demons. I explained to the boys they were the God of Wind and the God of Thunder and Lightening, while they looked at them, fascinated. 

The fancy outer gate led to Nakamise, the shopping street that leads up to the main temple. The boys needed a snack and a break here, and so, along with hordes of other tourists, we parked ourselves on the steps while Godwin and his mum went exploring the shops. It was interesting to people watch here, all kinds of people from all over. Once the boys had their tummy's filled and feet rested, we set off amongst the throngs of people down Nakamise towards the temple, getting distracted every few feet by stalls that sold literally everything. There were weird looking Japanese snacks, folding fans, yukata, tacky souvenirs (the boys bought small ninjas, sumo wrestlers and a japanese doll for Aaliyah) and rice crackers.

We finally made it to the second gate, the Hozomon Gate, that leads to the temple's main hall and the five storied pagoda. The pagoda is always closed because apparently, its essentially a graveyard with memorial tablets of thousands of families, so you can only go inside if you can prove you have family there! The first thing we saw was this giant earthenware with an incense burner in the center that was wafting huge amounts of mysterious looking smoke. The smoke is supposed to have a healing effect, so everyone around it was trying to cover themselves with the smoke. The boys watched fascinated, then tried it. I told them to pat the smoke on their heads to make them smarter, haha. 

Next I took them to the purification fountain (called Chozuya/Temizuya), which is to the right of the main hall. The fountain at Sensoji is beautiful, with the water pouring out of the dragons mouths. I handed the ladles to the boys and showed them how to perform the ritual purification which is done before entering any temple. You basically take some water from the ladle, then pour it over your hands and mouth. After that was done, we moved towards the main hall where there was this huge coin box. We watched all the others tossing in their coins and making their wish / saying their prayer, so of course the boys wanted to do it. I handed them both a coin each and then they proceeded to do the routine - ring the bell, clap to summon the goddess, toss the coin, bow, make your wish, clap again. (I'm not sure about the order of things, but that's the gist of it). 

Finally, after all that, we were inside the temple inside, and it was impressive. The main area was dark with air thick with incense and walls covered in gold. The ceiling was covered with amazing looking paintings and the back wall had a screen which revealed the statue. Visitors were standing in front of the screen, heads bowed in prayer, paying homage to the statue. We had a quick wander inside the temple, after the boys had bowed their heads in prayer, then exited from the side gate. Godwin wanted to get some shots of Tokyo Skytree from the outside (I had no intention of going up it) but the boys were tired and hungry. So Godwin went alone and we decided to meet at a small McDonalds, located in one of the smaller streets just off the main temple area. It was quite an adventure ordering as everything was in Japanese. After a lot of pointing and miming, it was done and the boys settled in a booth.

Once Godwin was back, we took a few pictures with the Tokyo Skytree in the background (tallest structure in Japan at the moment), and then headed to the metro. We originally wanted to have lunch at Ginza, but it was getting late and the boys were full so we decided only to wander around Ginza for a bit and then headed to the Tokyo World Trade Center. Godwin wanted to get pictures of the city's skyline in the sunset/dusk and after researching all the possible observation decks, we settled on this one. Entry is 620yen per person but if you have online coupons, you can get in for 500yen. We exited from the metro and assumed we had to walk outside to find the building. Godwin asked a guard, and we were told the elevator was right there at the exit of the station! Once we got our tickets from the reception on the first floor, we were ushered to an elevator (fancy one I might add, with these fascinating lights in the ceiling the changed colours), which whooshed us up to the 40th floor. There was still a while to go before the sun set, and the best part was that we were the only ones up there! We settled into the best seats with an amazing view of the red iconic Tokyo Tower in the distance. The view all around from the observation deck was spectacular.You could see the bullet trains, the ships in Tokyo Bay and the planes parked at Haneda Airport. Zane kept saying that's Tokyo Tower were Mater won the race in Tokyo Mater! He also claimed he saw a shooting star and made a wish - he wanted to find a Jedi outfit to buy in Japan, so he could dress up like his favourite Luke Skywalker. Zane eventually fell asleep (on a comfortable cushy sofa up on the 40th floor with a breathtaking view of the city's skyline as the sun set and dusk fell in quick sucession) while Godwin set up his camera and was all trigger happy. There were a few other people who came as the sun was setting. Also, the toilets at the WTC had the most nifty buttons I've seen anywhere including a music button that makes a fake flushing sound and has volume control, ha ha. It also had a button that said powerful deodorizer on/off!

Dinner was at this nice place in the basement of the WTC, and then off to the metro again for the quick ride back to the hotel. It was late, cold, windy and drizzling at bit as we walked towards the hotel, but the boys were happy they got to use their giant umbrellas.



Steps walked:9088

Items ticked off the wish list: vending machines!

Coming up: Disneyland!