Shibuya & Omiya Shrine

Training was very tiring. We were in a classroom all day and I was just nodding off. Managed to be professional for the President`s visit, who reminded us that just about everything is "very important" in his sweet Japanese accent.
At 6 we finished, and the four of us (myself, Andrew, Ben and Tim) headed to Omiya station to catch the overground train to Shibuya. The plan was to catch a train straight there.. we ended up changing three times as we kept getting on the wrong trains!! The train platform signs are about as straightforward as a spaghetti junction... and they had English letters!!

We finally arrived- it really was everything you imagine Japan to be- people EVERYWHERE, NEON signs, loud, awesome!

We had dinner on the 7th floor of a mall, we had to take off our shoes at the entrance.

I tried fried sting ray (see above) and horse meat! Verdict- avenging Steve Irwin was tasty; the horse meat was less tasty than venison with the texture of raw beef. Not bad :)

Went to a British Pub, and then at 11.30 we decided to make our way home by train. It was an epic tale of making the last trains by seconds, running, holding the doors open and pushing into the sardine-canned carts. Madness!

I managed a near-fluent conversation with a group of Japanese businessmen too :)
Finally made it home safely at 1.30 this morning! Very lucky.. we definitely need more practice on the transport system!

Today, Andrew and I visited Hikawa Shrine, which was about a 15 minute walk from the Seminar House where we were staying. It was a super hot day, hence my newly acquired fan, and it was a very serene place, with people making wishes and taking a nice stroll with their children. Hikawa Shrine has a 2400 year history, and it is the main and largest Hikawa shrine of a further 290 daughter shrines dispersed around Japan.