On our third day in Japan, we had a reservation at a kimono rental place in Asakusa. We did get a little lost on our way there. Akasuka, while very close in spelling, is not very close to Asakusa, the place we wanted to be.
So we were about 30 minutes late. Oh well. We got there.
It was such a fun experience. We got to pick out a kimono and then we were told to strip and put on a dressing robe. Good thing we are all close!
After they got us into the kimono which was a process that involved wrapping some of the, um, larger chested ladies (not me...), towels to pad the silhouette, and lots of ties to hold it in place.
Once we were all wrapped up in the kimono, we chose two colored obi and a belt for them to decorate us with.
They even did our hair and let us pick some pretty hair pieces. I, of course, chose a ginormous flower with dangles. I loved it. Might have bought something similar as we walked.
Once we got our very, very uncomfortable sandals on, we walked over to the temple in Asakusa and took, many, many pictures.
The kimono were surprisingly comfortable given how hot it was, but the shoes were killer. And didn't quite fit. So we had a sit on a little wisteria covered area, drank some water, and rested a little bit before heading into the temple proper.
You could pay 100 yen (about a dollar) to get a fortune so we all did that. First you deposited your coin and then "politely" shake the metal jar before shaking out a stick with a number on it. Then you find the drawer with the number and that is your fortune!
I got the best fortune! Heck yes! I should get fame (no thanks...), good health, and my endeavors will end positively.
I was the only one with a good fortune, sad day.
If you got a bad fortune, you were supposed to tie it to one of these things so that it won't come true.
Maddie was upset she got a bad fortune.
We continued walking, taking pictures, having fun, and this group of ladies asked to take a picture with us. They were from Miami, originally from Colombia. So we got to speak a little Spanish with them. There were a couple times we got asked to stop and take photos. It was cute.
The temple was very beautiful. Going up the steps in the sandals was a little bit precarious, but it was worth it to see the inside.
At this point, our feet were dying so we headed back towards the rental place to peel off our clothes. But I saw strawberries! Covered in MELTED. SUGAR. So I had to get one. And it was delicious. I did not share.
We got to the rental place and changed back into our street clothes. We were a little melted so we decided to stop at a Taiwanese fruit tea place to cool off and plan.
Once we were sufficiently recovered, we headed back towards the temple area to check out all the little shops.
After a while, we were getting hungry and found an air conditioned place for lunch.
Got some different udon, an eel bowl (YUM) and Dan got a cold udon bowl that was not his favorite. But no one left hungry.
Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious...
After taking time to shop our fill, we headed back across town to our hotel and then it was time for dinner. We went back to our favorite spot that we ate at the first night we arrived and had some more tasty, tasty, ramen and gyoza.
Then it was time to go to bed and get ready for day 4 in Tokyo!
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