Revisits to familiar tourists’ spots like the Meiji Jingu and Shibuya’s 109 junction as I accompanied my 2 friends Gabriel and Waimeng from Singapore had me tuning my accustomed eyes to little hidden nooks and corners, delightful sights I never knew existed; indeed, god is in the details.
Having tried out the great Meiji Jingu Jam ( Check out this entry; )in Harajuku during last year’s New Year’s Eve I figured I’ll go see something else this year; the great Ameyoko Jam, a very popular shopping street in Ueno, think a Japanese version of Chinatown on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Mingling into the crowd I was literally carried around involuntarily by the human traffic and I soon decided to just go with the flow, snapping whatever interesting that came into view. After that it was a laidback, quiet New Year’s dinner with some friends ( most others had gone back to their hometowns to celebrate New Year ); and yes, still secretly yearning for that intoxicated, sloshed out PVD party.
Although I would had very much preferred a sloshed out, frenetic PVD treatment to celebrate the new year things turned out fairly different as we ended up in Meiji Jingu ( a famous Shrine in Harajuku where the Emperor chills out ) for a more traditional proceeding. Packed to the brim on New Year’s Eve every year everyone thronged to toss coins before the altar wishing for happiness and long life.
