Japan - Day 2: Shrines & Baseball

I sadly woke up around 1:30. Everyone else slept until 5 (or in Baba's case, 7)...so...maybe my power nap on the flight wasn't such a good idea after all? 

Oh well! It is what it is! 

Today was a pretty packed day - the plan was to head to Meiji shrine early since it would be open, then wander around Harajuku/Shibuya until lunchtime, and then off to a Japanese baseball game with our friends V and A and their kids -- the twins used to go to preschool with their son, though it turns out none of them remember each other 😆. 

So we started with some conbini breakfast: strawberries (HIGHLY praised by everyone, I admit, they were quite good. But at nearly $1 a strawberry, yeesh!) and onigiri. 

Meiji shrine was very peaceful at this hour of the day. Fit the mood well. The twins got into the entire shrine experience:

Hand washing, getting some couplets, posing for photos. 

On the walk to the sushi restaurant where we were meeting our friends, we passed through Yoyogi Park, allegedly a prime cherry blossom picnic spot. We felt very lucky to have caught the blooms and yes, the cherry blossoms were pretty...but couldn't help but feel the bright blue picnic tarps detracted from the ambiance!

In Shibuya, we visited the iconic crossing (it was much more impressive later on in the day when there were more people).

And squeezed our way through Takeshita Street. I would have stopped for some crepes or curly fries...but the twins did not like the idea of standing in line for anything. This...does not bode well for us hitting up any "hot" spots. Oh well! I'm not an Instagram-er anyhow!

After lunch (conveyor belt sushi, the fatty tuna was VERY good - the twins enjoyed the mochi desserts more though), we headed over to the baseball game. Meiji stadium is home to the Yakkult Swallows (I may have referred to the mascot as a penguin by mistake a couple times -- doesn't it look kind of penguin like?!).

The game was pretty entertaining, not because of the actual ballplay (that was actually a little boring, only 2 runs the entire game!), but the nonstop chanting, singing, and coordinated cheering was definitely an experience. The Swallows also have this thing where everyone pulls out tiny shiny umbrellas after every home run and during the bottom of the 7th inning. Pretty cool to see!

I have to say I was kind of dying of sleepiness though. Good thing we were forced to be out -- if I had been given the opportunity, I absolutely would have gone home for a nap. 

After the game, we decided to appease the twins and hit up a "cheap clothing store" -- Uniqlo. It was a surprising hit for everyone. I think we all came out of the shop with several new wardrobe pieces (Baba included). I kept being afraid our paper bag would burst open during the subway ride home. 

By this point, I was beyond done for the evening. So I skipped out on dinner (I heard they had curry and more conbini snacks) and took a nice hot bath instead. My feet were tired! 

Everyone was lights out and asleep by 9. Here's hoping I make it beyond 1:30 this time...