I had the most wonderful birthday week by far because my dear booked a trip to Japan as a celebration (＾▽＾)❤! He had been nothing but sweet and loving to me during the entire trip, (and on everyday basis) and I couldn't thank him enough for all the beautiful memories and gifts he gave me (´∀｀)♡.
Here's a photo of us when we were on our way to Odabai for a shopping spree!!
He looks like a prince, doesn't he ( ﾟзﾟ) (ﾟεﾟ )?
So, our plan for the first two days in Japan consisted mainly of shopping! We went to popular shopping districts like Shibuya, Harajuku and Odabai. Not only did my dear bought an abundant of stuffs for me, he also helped me carry all the heavy shopping bags for hours before we headed back to our hotel. He's simply so precious (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡!
The very first items that my dear bought were my birthday gifts which included Liz Lisa shoes and their new arrival wallet!!
Followed by, this super beautiful Mymelody bag which I instantly fell in love with when I first saw it in the Sanrio shop at Sunshrine City.
And last but not least, pretty green clothes and shoes from my favorite Japanese brand, Axes Femme! Thank you again, my dear! I love you and all the gifts so much ❤!!
Below are some items I bought for myself during our entire stay in Japan:
How can anyone resist not buying this sweet looking bunny silk leggings ( ─ ‿‿ ─)?!
More clothes from Axes Femme and various shops when we went to Sunshrine City during our last few days in Japan.
I got the gorgeous dress and skirt from Harajuku which I wore it to Odabai on our second day in Japan.
I'm going to spam some selfies I took in that dress...
Behind me lay a lovely view of Odabai....
If you want to know more about Odabai, you can read one of my old posts from my first visit there (here). We didn't get to visit other places around Odabai this time round as the time we spent shopping already ate up our whole afternoon (>.<).
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Finally, we took a break from shopping on our third day and visited Daijingu Shrine, aka the Love Shrine. It's the city most powerful shrine to help those who visited to find and keep their one true love.
There is no doubt that I need to visit this powerful shrine as no girls in their right mind won't want to keep a loving prince charming like mine by their sides forever. I heard there are long queues during the weekend so if you are planning a visit, I will advise you to go on a weekday. When you reach the entrance of the shrine, do remember to bow before entering. Then cleanse both your hands and mouth at the chozuya (purification fountain). Next, approach the hall of worship (but remember to avoid walking in the centre as it is meant as a pathway for the deities), make a bow and place your offering in coins (you can offer any amount you want). Before praying, make two deep bows then place your hands close to your chest as you clap. After you have finished praying, bow deeply again.
The shrine is not as big as some of the other famous shrines which we had visited but nevertheless, there are still quite a bit of things to see and do.
Other than the site for prayers, the shrine also sells charms and amulets most which are meant for finding or keeping a relationship. Some charms come in the form of a wooden prayer plaque or ema with different designs that are based on what you are praying for.
Anyone that purchased an ema can write a prayer or wish at the back and wait for the gods to read and grant it.
As for me, my dear bought me this pretty love charm of my choice because I prefer to have our love blessing hang around me wherever we go.
Generation believes that since among the most powerful gods are enshrined in this shrine, a little help from the gods will surely guarantee one to find true love and have a successful and long lasting relationship. Therefore, if you are someone like me who prioritize love before anything else, this is one holy place which you must visit. In my opinion, I also consider it to be rather romantic to go to a famous love shrine with your significant other (ღ˘⌣˘ღ).
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The other romantic place we went after the shrine was the planetarium at the Tokyo Skytree.
For those who doesn't know what a planetarium is, it is a sky theatre where you can view the stars and sky using high-tech digital projector.
(Image from: http://www.konicaminolta.com/)
(Image from: http://www.gotokyo.org/)
However, before visiting the planetarium, we stopped by a cute restaurant that specialized in desserts buffet for our lunch.
This was our first serving.
They have a wide variety of desserts and cakes to choose from so I think for 2200yen per person, it is pretty worthy.
After our lunch, we headed for our long-awaited Planetarium.
A picture of us in the planetarium theatre ≧◡≦~
We are not allowed to take photos of the show but I managed to take a few sneak peek before the main performance. This is how the theatre looks like once we are inside.
FYI to the concept of the theatre:
(Image from: tripadvisor)
A sneak peak of the opening of the show which I managed to take a photo of.
(Image from: http://curbed.com/)
The entire experience was fabulous to say the least. The stargazing was realistic and informative. For those who do not understand Japanese, I will advise you to ask for the English audio headset to learn more about the stars and enjoy the show better. The English guide is free of charge but there is a limited number of headsets available, The entire show is 40 minutes long which we thought was rather short and they could have made it an hour long for us to learn more about the universe and stars. Nonetheless, it is a perfect place for a romantic date. I have watched anime, read manga, played otome games which featured the characters going to a planetarium for a date, thus it had always been a small dream of mine to go to one with my dear (●´∀｀●). This was definitely a dream comes true for me. There is hardly anything that can beat stargazing at more than 360,000 stars shining at the summertime night sky, watching shooting stars of the Perseids meteor showers, and looking up at the heart of various constellation while holding hands.
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♔Ashley♔
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