Today started simple, meeting everyone in the lobby at noon! Since I was up a fair bit earlier, I went and got another kebab. They’re TOO GOOD! In love with that place’s garlic mayo. 100% worth.

After meeting up with the group and with our Lord and Savior Whomst Guide Us to Tourist Destinations Toshi, we headed off to Tokyo Station! The building was a really interesting and unique blend between modern Japanese stations and the old architecture, designed by Kingo Tatsuno.

As a group, we all walked over to the Imperial Palace, where we navigated to the Imperial Garden! There were tons of things there. Neat shrubbery, flowers galore, and a really interesting exhibit where 47 Japanese prefectural trees stood. There was also koi and a quaint waterfall. The freshest air I’ve breathed in Tokyo for quite a while.

Soon after, we headed over to Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine over in Shibuya.

Since we had some time, and Shibuya is a big center for youth culture and fashion, we decided to take some time to get some lunch and walk around. Since I wasn’t terribly hungry, I decided to try some smaller eats. I fetched a melonpan from Family Mart, as well as their famed “Fami-chiki,” some really cheap fried chicken that’s supposedly great for it’s price! Well, in my opinion, it certainly wasn’t the best. It’s a “If you really need some meat in your diet” thing for me.

Nevertheless, after walking around, I found an Ikea that was selling Kiwi sorbet for—get this—50 YEN. That is 36 CENTS. Absolute steal, and I was able to empty my wallet of the insane amount of coins I was carrying. Double-win!

Arriving at Meiji-Jingu, we were absolutely stunned by the size of both the arriving torii gates and the giant trees lining the pathways. Like it was carved out in complete confluence to nature. Pretty in a way I can’t even describe.

We soon arrived at the temple, which was grand and wide, with two very circular trees to the left and right! It was very pretty, especially as we were approaching golden hour. The shadows hit just right. On the way back, we came upon some sake barrels with the names of (what I assume were) sponsors painted on them. They looked wonderful in the evening sun.

Afterwards, a few of us broke off to head to the Pokemon center (and the nearby Nintendo and Capcom stores) near Shibuya Station.

In terms of the Pokemon Center, it was SUPER sleek, with a really nice and smooth design and a really cool Mew statue in a glass capsule! There was also a really adorable exhibit that scanned your outfit and created a Pikachu that wore something similar to what you were wearing! There was also a custom shirt creator, but the line was a bit too long for that.

I also visited the Nintendo store, but didn’t end up finding much of anything new from the last one. Nevertheless, enjoyed the statues and the vibes 😀

Afterwards, we headed to Shibuya Station to go all the way back home. We had no idea, but we found our selves smack dab in the middle of Shibuya Scramble!

After getting a bit lost, we eventually found our bearings and ran into the Hachiko statue: the dog of unwavering loyalty. Boarding the Yamanote line, we squeezed ourselves in, and finally led ourselves back to Akihabara.

To end off the day, a bunch of us followed Fabian to the nearby Monster Hunter cafe! Monster Hunter’s a giant Japanese fantasy RPG video game franchise, something him and a few others were a big fan of. Also, it was his birthday! Happy 21st birthday, Fabian!!

The cafe was a huge vibe. Tons of amazing decorations everywhere, a neat selection, but as expected of a pop-up cafe, pretty alright food. Nevertheless, the drinks were a hit and the nerdiness we got to hear was a joy.

Back at the hotel, I got to proselytize everyone on one of my favorite movies as of late, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! Tons of them had it on their watch list, so I was glad to be able to show it to everyone. Unfortunately, however, due to quite the long day, we were all nodding off at the half way point. Oh well, we’ll save the end for another day.

As everyone went to their respective rooms, off the lights went, and off to the bed for another day!