Pit stop @ Tokyo - Quick visit to MeiJi Jingu Shrine!

On our recent trip back to Singapore, we decided to pull a pit stop and stayed a couple of days at Tokyo. Boy oh boy~ I am IN LOVE with Japan. 

Anyway, on my request, we made a quick visit to MeiJi Jingu Shrine in Harajuku, to give some blessings. Zim (being christian and really NOT superstitious) was really sweet to agree to bring me there. It was a little out of the way but thankfully, the weather was awesome. Lucky us, the shrine wasn't overly crowded and we enjoyed a nice stroll around the area. 

A happy us!

 For 500 yen, I bought an ema (small wooden plaque) to write my prayers.

Somehow, I thought writing in Mandarin would increase the blessings on my prayers. Afterall, the chinese characters do resemble Kanji. Well, I made it pretty far but got annoyed with my ugly handwriting and struggles of finding the right word (or rather, words that I could remember how to write) that I decided to write my fourth prayer in english. -_-

Of course, the number 1 on my prayer list was for the little monster to have a good long life! (PLEASE!)

After being done with my ema and hanging it up on the wooden planks by a large tree at the courtyard, we decided to stock up on omamori (charms/amulets). Hee, I got one for everyone in my family (and a few lucky friends) while Zim got one for his mom. And yap, we got a en-musubi for Zim and I for a happy marriage too! (It was pretty costly actually! But if it works, it's definitely worth the bucks!)

The most important omamori was for the little monster! Not surprisingly, there were none specifically for pets. I settled for one (meant for children) that states :兒童健全御守. 

Since it wasn't edible, Sam wasn't very thrilled about it. Hee, still, I left it hanging at his little corner. Hopefully, the prayers would be answered!

Well, after wiki-ing a little more about the omamori, it appears that it is valid for one year and should be burnt after one year (since it kinda absorbs 'bad luck', burning it will destroy the 'bad luck' too!) and should be replaced with a new piece. 

Hm, sounds like a good excuse for me to head back to Japan again! =P