We met some lovely Japanese people and 2 very friendly and helpful lads that took us to a hip hop club so we could have some girly fun! One of them actually knows Sharon Au (they studied together in Japan) and he was a little surprise when he found out she wasn’t kidding with him when she told him that she was pretty famous in Singapore… lol.

As a part of her hens night challenge, Sushi had to wear a singlet on which we wrote in Japanese – ” I’m going to be married soon. If you think I’m pretty, sign on my shirt!” or at least something along those lines.

And despite the language differences, it wasn’t too difficult a tasks cause the Japanese folks at the bar were really friendly and spontaneous! With most laughing away with us and happily congratulating Sushi. I’ll let the photos do the talking of our night out. You can click on the photo below if you want to see the larger version.

The night ended well with the singlet top filled with signatures! All from men of course except for the small little compliment on the front of the top that says ” You are really pretty” by one of the Japanese girls at the pub.

After all that partying, we slid on our trench coats and walked in the crisp morning air to the nearest Danny’s for some extremely early breakfast!

The boys came along with us. In Tokyo, the culture is that they party till dawn so they can catch the subway home.

Here are the food pictures!

The boys sent us home to our hotel after exchanging contacts. So sweet right?

We spent the rest of the next day shopping at Shibuya 109! We were too busy shopping that I didn’t have time to snap any photos! But you can be sure all of us were really happy with our purchases and wished we had more luggage space to bring back even more stuff!

I don’t normally blog about my buys but I’ll blog about a few items I absolutely regret not getting (or not buying more of ) at Peach John when I was at Shibuya 109.

Firstly is these 2 gorgeous apron. I felt it was a pretty frivolous buy since it is way too pretty (and expensive) to be dirtied in the kitchen but the moment I was on the plane I regret not getting it. Sigh. I really really like the blue one… and mildly considered the pink one cause it was on sale for 1/2 price.

Secondly, is these 2 pouches I bought for my girlfriends back home… I wanted to get another one for myself too but they only had 2 pieces in stock at the Shibuya 109 branch and I didn’t have time for them to transfer pieces over for pickup at another time.

Lastly is this Peach Johns Instant Make-Up Cream. Since Peach John is actually a lingerie store I didn’t trust their make-up products and only bought this tube on a whim cause I got attracted to the packaging and all it promises. But I find it to be really good! Fine and light textured and absolutely natural. It’s an all in one moisturizer, lifting primer, sunscreen SPF 25 PA++ and natural cover which is perfect for a lazy person like me. My make up routine consists of a 5 mins slap of this cream, eyeliner and falsies. Just 3 steps! And silly me only bought 1 miserable tube that will finish pretty soon! I should have tried it on in the store… then maybe I would have stocked up a few more.

So if any kind souls would like to help me buy these stuffs I left out on my trip please contact me at renzze@gmail.com if not I have to make another trip to either Japan or Hong Kong (they have one Peach John outlet) hoping they still stock these limited edition items.

Finally the time to leave Japan and return to Singapore has arrived.

We grabbed our last meal together in Japan at the airport and spent the rest of the time shopping around for boxes of goodies, spending whatever yen we have left.

Sweet Sushi gave each of us this sweet cookie ball at the airport to thank us for the memorable hens night she had and wonderful time she had in Japan. It’s so pretty I couldn’t bear to eat it till the day before the expiry!

And I got quite a number of queries from readers and friends about my cabin luggage. This is the only few close up pictures I have. I checked in my large baby pink Lojel luggage and still had this many things to hand carry up with me into the plane… lol… I absolutely bought too much!

Here’s a video of the Sushi’s Hens Night and the girls at the airport to sign off the last post of this Tokyo trip. Hope you guys enjoyed the photos.

We went down to Togendai for our Hakone sightseeing cruise on Lake Ashi 芦ノ湖. Ashinoko Lake, is a scenic crater lake of Mount Hakone ( a volcano).

Lo and behold! Our transportation on the lake are pirate ships!

There are only 4 pirate ship replicas that serves this lake. These 2 are the newer additions. We took the green one called Vasa – Lion of North Europe.

Don’t I look like a part of the crew! LOL!

The scenery was really beautiful and the whole cruise gave a very surreal feel.

You’ll see a lot more photos of Sushi and I rather than Koji and Clara cause it was pretty cold and the 2 of them left the deck to sit indoors after the first 5 mins of the cruise. Sushi and I stayed on the upper deck the whole 40 mins ride to take in as much of the scenery as we could. I find the coldness rather refreshing.

The lake was formed 3000 years ago after Mount Hakone last volcano explosion. The calmness of the lake and the tranquility that surrounds it makes it so hard to believe the devastation and force from which it was created.

We were told that in winter the whole landscape is white and even more beautiful! Or imagine this area with autumn red,gold and brown during the autumn months!  This lake had inspired countless of people with its beauty.

As we neared to the port on the other end, shrines, castles and other buildings can be seen.

On the lake we spotted the oldest full replica man-of-war pirate ship, Victoria.

If you are going free and easy, it’ll be advisable to buy the Hakone Free Pass for ¥5000 from Shinjuku Station which will include your round trip transportation expenses as well as the rides for the Lake Ashi 芦ノ湖 cruise and the Hakone Ropeway 箱根ロープウェイ. I would love to have explored Hakone further but given the time constrains on our trip, the one day tour with Grey Line Japan made sure we were able to make the most out of the one day we had.

One of the more prominent landmarks along the shores of Lake Ashi 芦ノ湖 is the red torii gate of the Hakone Shrine. The main building of the shrine cannot be seen from the lake as it is located in the thick forest of Moto-Hakone. This is where a lot of japanese go to pray for blessings of good health and longevity.

A few last looks from the top deck of Vasa the pirate ship before we went down to the cabin below to look for Clara and Koji.

We finally arrived at the port of Hakonemachi-ko.  And proceeded up the coach for our journey to the train station.

Here’s the video for the Ōwakudani 大涌谷 and Lake Ashi 芦ノ湖 section of my trip in Hakone 箱根町.

Meiji Shrine 明治神宮 is dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken. Emperor Meji abolished old Japan feudalism and established the new democratic Japan. He also changed the moved from Kyoto to make Tokyo the new capital city of Japan.

Empress Shoken was the first politically active Empress and she had the opportunity to be educated with the same lectures and information available to the Emperor. She was the Emperor’s right hand man and continued his work with both war and peace movements after he died.  Empress Shoken was actively promoting the Red Cross Society and education on women. She started the trend for japanese women to stop wearing kimonos and convert to western dreses. Thus you can see why the japanese feel that it was a absolute need to create a place of worship for Emperor Meji and Empress Shoken at one of their favorite spots.

I love that the whole shrine is mainly made out of cypress wood! Gorgeous!

As you proceed to the Main Shrine building, if you wish, may throw some coins into the Offering Box.  In front of the Main Shrine, you bow twice, clap your hand twice and then bow once more.

I love love love the huge wooden doors with their intricate details. Even the little screws are patterned and designed to blend in with the overall design. Fantastic!

Meiji Shrine 明治神宮 is very popular for weddings and folk dances. And we were lucky to run into a bridal procession. Other than the gorgeous kimono and the striking gold obi, what impressed me most was her hair-do! I’m not sure if it’s a wig or if it’s real but it must have taken ages to get it done right and it should be pretty heavy!

For those of you that would like to catch Meiji Shrine 明治神宮 festivities at their finest, their biggest event is Hatsu-mōde, on January 1st. Every Japanese would want to make their first visit to the shrine for the new year for good blessings. Be prepared to really be jostled with the crowds! Another date is 2nd Monday in January ( a holiday in Japan). They celebrate  Seijin-no-hi (Coming of Age Day). All 20-year-olds will wear elaborate traditional kimonos to visit the shrine. The gravel path is lined with ice sculptures and there is a performance of traditional momoteshiki archery. Youths will then go partying or clubbing after and you can expect clubs to be really happening!

And lastly I know a friend who might be keen on going to Japan sometime end of this year, so if you’re reading it, you might want to visit Meiji Shrine 明治神宮 on Shichi-go-san-no-hi Day, 15th November, when all the children aged 3, 5 and 7 will go to the shrine for blessings.

In the grounds of the temple, it’s impossible to miss this hugea sacred camphor tree tree with Ema, wooden votive tablets of wishes or prayers surrounding it.

You can buy at votive tablet for ¥500 each and write your prayers or wishes on it and then hang it around the divine tree. These Ema are offered at Mikesai, a morning ceremony held every day where shrine priests will then pray for your wishes to come true.

All of us wanted to write down our wishes! For ourselves, our friends and our family.

Koji babe went one step further and also submitted a written prayer on top of her Ema.

Here’ s my wishes… simple but evergreen. The amazing thing about the wishes around the tree, they are in a multitude of languages from all parts of the world. Some carry beautiful memories, some really funny, some with sad stories and yet others with just pictures instead of words. Yet they all come with good intentions and sincerity. I think it’s an extremely beautiful and enlightening ritual.

And since we four girls made such a wonderful trip together to Japan, we needed to write one in significance to our friendship and love for each other.

Finally we made our way into the inner shrine.

Hope you enjoyed the Meiji Shrine 明治神宮 post =) I’m gonna leave you with a short video which you can also see how we drew for lots in which the shrine’s priestess would give us a segment poem written by either Emperor Meiji or his wife Empress Shoken to enlighten our ways.