20.8.2018 - Day 5 

We started the day slow. Zelma is still visibly jet-lagged and as a result she woke early and went exercising. Which tired her out and made her hot. Apparently she can’t handle hot weather even though she is from Caribbean.

Our first goal was the Meiji shrine which I wanted to see for a while now. We got our breakfast on the way and ate it at a dinning area near the shrine. The shrine was surrounded by a large forest and park. Yoyogi park is connected in the south of the shrine area. There are also special gardens on the premises where emperor Meiji had a tea house build for his wife and enjoyed fishing with her at the local pond. Meiji emperor is one of the most important emperor’s in Japanese history. The era Meiji restoration names the period of “civil war” which saw the re-establishment of emperor as a ruler of Japan and end of the Tokugawa shogunate. Following that Japan started a rapid modernization which lead to it becoming the prominent power in Asia until WWII. The shrine itself, as expected is quiet big and well kept and additional repairs are underway for its centennial reveal. It was a pleasant and we got a poem from Emperor Meiji at the end. My read:

To feel no trace of shame

Before the unseen kami -

Such is the measure

Of true-heartedness

After Meiji shrine we went to see the Imperial palace, sadly the palace gardens were closed, so we proceeded to Asakusa for the temples. We draw our lucks and compare to lust time when we I got bad luck, this time around I got good luck in the future. Afterwards we went to Tokyo Sky Tree where we had a lunch and a look on the city.

Resting a bit we then proceeded to Odaiba, this time to via monorail, to see the new Gundam. The original Gundam was replaced by Gundam from Gundam Unicorn. Also new is a grand shopping and model display shop on the last floor which we toured with great interest, but without any intention of buying as we have both turned towards minimalism and having models like these goes against our philosophies.

Since Zelma was tired we made our way home and went to sleep as starting from tomorrow we would have to become a bit more flexible with things due to weather and other problems.