Tokyo Travelogue: Day 2 Meiji Shrine

Full makeup only appears when we're on holiday lol!

Note to self - must finish all entries before May 2016 because that is when I fly off to Korea for my next trip HAHAHAHA! Ok Day 2 in Tokyo, here goes! After being rested for the night, we woke up early to head to McDonalds for breakfast near the station and then to our destinations for the day - Harajuku & Shibuya.

First stop - Meiji Shrine!

Since we were staying near Higashi-Shinjuku station, we boarded the train on the Fukutoshin Line to Meiji-jingumae (Harajuku) station. If you're taking the JR, you can always alight at Harajuku station along the Yamanote line.

Meiji Shrine is located adjacent to Yoyogi Park so I've heard that during sakura season, Yoyogi Park is one of the parks to head to for picnics and bask in the sakuras blooming on the trees. Unfortunately we missed the sakura period so we visited Meiji Shrine only. By the way, you can just follow the street directions to the entrance of the shrine! It is pretty near once you've reached the street level from the metro station.

The torii gate that greets you before you head on to the main shrine.

This is the communal area where visitors will take the water to cleanse themselves before entering the main gate of Meiji Shrine. It is a common sight at all shrines in Japan so do remember to drop by and just wash your hands with the water from the tap.

I love how cute the ladle is and the water is actually very cooling! Makes it very refreshing during the hot weather.

Main gate of Meiji Shrine

Place to buy your amulets - there is one located right beside the main gate and another one further in the shrine. So you don't have to rush to buy them when you spot the one at the entrance!

The central sanctuary where you can do the ritual to pray for blessings. Just toss a coin in, bow twice, clap your hands twice and then bow again.

Another common sight at all Japanese shrines are the offerings where you can write your wishes on for a token sum. It cost 500 JPY a piece and the bff and I shared one.

Yup, #FanGirlPains HAHAHAHAHAHA! We just did it for fun really but it actually worked O.O We got our biases' photocards from the Infinite albums that we bought right after that trip. #whatsorceryisthis

Anyway you will see a ton of wishes from people all around the world there! It is a pretty impressive sight to take in really.

We encountered quite a few Japanese marriages whilst visiting the shrine. Their traditional costumes are very pretty! Not too sure what the rituals are though so we just had a look at the lovely couples walking to and fro from the office area to another part of the shrine.

The final thing that the bff and I tried before leaving Meiji Shrine was to get our fortune poetry. You can pick up one of the boxes in your preferred language hahaha. We obviously went for the English one LOL

Ended up with a fortune that told me to ignore all gossip for the year and to stand by my own beliefs. Oh well, to think I had a very bad 2015 really now that I think of it but it wasn't due to gossips D:

Anyway, ending this post because the second half of the day is pretty long - we explored Harajuku and Shibuya by feet from Meiji Shrine (and almost went back with minced feet because it was so tiring T______T) . Till the next entry, bye!