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Temple - with Apollo and Uniquo
Once we reached the temple proper, we crossed under a gate guarded by the God of Thunder.
God of Thunder
There is a large open square where people buy incense, light it and then fan the smoke over
themselves. Then they proceed to drink from a special fountain. This is supposed to bring luck.
Once a year, you pay for this stick that comes out of a metal box with a small hole in the bottom.
The stick has a number of Japanese characters that indicate which fortune that you have. You
remove this fortune from a drawer and that is it for the year . . . Apparently I'm going to be rich,
famous and have good luck with children and marriage all this year. My labmates told me I had
the very best fortune. To the left of the open area, there is this several-story tall cool looking
building; assumedly where the leaders live.
What is he wearing?
Outside of the gardens were still more stands of people selling their wares, home-made carvings,
all kinds of food and more trinkets. Once we fi nished at the temple, we visited Roppongi; this
absolutely wonderful area of town that had great gardens, great shopping and beautiful buildings.
One of the shopping centers had a viewing deck that is quite popular; there we went to view
the Tokyo Tower and I was given an 'aerial tour'.
A great view of Tokyo
I think all of the foreigners live in this area, because for the fi rst time since I left Detroit, I fi nally
fi t in. We ended the evening by eating dinner in this cool little restaurant. The restaurant was in
the basement of a building; and the opening in the door was so small one had to crawl to get
inside (even me). I was incredulous about such a place; didn't seem very inviting to me. But the
place was packed!! It was very traditional Japanese, no shoes, sit on little mats, and the restaurant
is comprised of large tables where the dinner tables are divided using large mats. We ate for a long
time; like the French, dinner for them is a very long affair. By this time, it was after 10 and we
went home exhausted.
(Source: http://www.travelpod.ca/travel-blog-entries/melkanz/1/1213111260/tpod.html)
