Hello Avid Reader -- Happy Weekend!

I started the day on my terms -- something I haven't been able to do in a very long time; it was most enjoyable. I got up late, dabbled in work, did yoga, enjoyed a quick catch up with my friend JP, and decided to leave the confines of my temporary home (Hyatt Regency Tokyo) to embrace the world of Japan and to have an adventure. Brilliant!


After enjoying a "Hotcake Set" at the nearby Royal Host, I hopped the subway to Asakusa (uh-SAW-kuh-saw) "where the spirit of old Edo proudly lives". And did it ever! As recommended in my guidebook, I passively tackled Asakusa with a directionless stroll through the streets and paths and alleys, enjoying the shrines, gardens, koi ponds... and the MAYHEM!

My trip was to focus on Sensō-ji, a 7th century temple founded before Tokyo was Edo, and "before Edo was a glimmer of an idea". To get there, however, I first got to walk through the Thunder Gate (Kaminarimon) in which the god of wind and the god of thunder precariously watch over the temple grounds. I say precariously because just beyond was a world unlike anything I've seen! To get to the temple, one has to pass through a labirynth of shops in Nakamise-dōri.

Bustling with energy and noise, it was a shopper's delight. Yes, I shopped. "Self," I said, however. "Onward!" I then arrived at a second gate, Hozomon, with more scary & protective deities and finally made it to the temple compound. Which, Avid Reader, included the 2nd tallest pagoda in Japan (built in the awesome year of 1973 for those keeping track at home of all wonderful things created in 1973). From here, you wouldn't believe the scene. Along with throngs of people, the grounds were filled with food booths as if I were at the county fair! Yakitori, cotton candy, octopus balls, sushi, candies, trinkets & doo-dads... literally everywhere! Oddly, this seemed wholly in the norm and I was just thankful to particicpate as well.

And speaking of participate, I did! I bathed myself in incense smoke, capturing it in the palm of my hand and rubbing it on my head and chest just like the locals. I even donated ~$1 to have a go at my fortune. After long studying others (one smart traveler am I!), I paid my 100Y, shook the silver gizmo out of which appeared a pockey-like stick with a number(? -- I read this as three hashes, a cross, one hash), found my lucky drawer, pulled out and read my fortune. In short, I think I got the shaft. Well, I don't know if I should call it the shaft; rather it implies my luck will come, but as of when I shook the magic box and it revealed my magic fortune, at that moment, I had the least fortune. And like the locals, I tied one on to let the wind blow my wish away (to make it real, of course).

But as luck would have it, I got some amazing shots of all of the action as well as of the tranquility that surrounded the backside of the temple. You wouldn't have even known the masses were throbbing on the other side and throughout the neighborhood based on the shots I took from behind. An amazing place for sure.

I spent hours just walking the neighborhood, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Asakusa. I braved my way into one of the dinky restaurants and was able to order a chicken & egg rice bowl with miso soup and hot green tea for dinner.

With all of the yoga and amazing walking, I'm so-ore altogether. The good kind of sore. Kind of like the pain I feel not to be connected at home, but the good kind of pain knowing I can connect here and see you again soon, Avid Reader!