17 November 2009

After dropping Emily off at nursery in the rain, Pam and I went over to Asakusa. Sensoji temple and the approach via Kaminarimon gate were still busy with tourists, despite the dreary conditions. We browsed down the street of souvenir shops before running into the temple to escape the downpour. It was under wraps for renovation but we could still go inside, past the huge incense burner that scented the air with sandalwood. We drew an o-mikuji fortune stick each, and both got predictions of mixed fortune.

After more shopping we dived into a tempura restaurant for a spot of lunch. I practised my Japanese on the staff, which seems to consist solely of elderly ladies, and was quite pleased that they appeared to understand me.

Heading back to Ginza, we entered the basement of Mitsukoshi department store, where there is stand after stand of cakes, cookies, chocolates and savoury snacks all presented gorgeously and often ornately decorated. They look far too good to eat. We thought that Graham would be in seventh heaven. We spent equally as long on the 7th floor, where they have many gift items. In our minds we must have spent hundreds of pounds each, though our purses came out more or less intact. We collected Emily in rain that got progressively heavier, and by the time we walked home from Mita station it was quite grim. Emily did ever so well to walk halfway before she got scared of the wind and refused to go on.