chapter 26

Once we were on the main lane I looked towards Zen and smiled. He smiled back at me.

"So where are we headed?" I asked.

"Lets see" he said. "First we head to Sensō-ji , then to Meiji Shrine and then have lunch. After that we go to Tokyo skytree and then to Shinjuku Gyo-en " he looked at me and smiled.

"So tell me something about the first place we are visiting" I asked him.

"So, Sensō-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of the most significant ancient Buddhist temple here" he said.

After some driving through the city we reached to the location. It was beautiful temple. Before we reach the temple, we came in to a street with shops lined up. As we were going through it Zen looked at me and smile.

"This street is known as Nakamise-dōri  street" he said.

As we strided through the street I could see shops with traditional goods along with small diners. We further adventured through the street to enter the entrance of the temple. He temple was magnificent. Adjacent to the temple is a five-storey pagoda.

He gestured me to the pagoda adjacent to the temple saying it was the Asakusa Shinto shrine.

I smiled at him listening to every word he says. He sounded just like a tour guide.

He looked at me again and smiled.

"Have you heard about Sanua Matsuri?" He asked.

"I have heard about it but never had the chance to attend it", I answered.

"This is where it is celebrated every year" he said smiling. We roamed around the temple. Within the temple is a quiet contemplative garden kept in the distinctive Japanese style.

After some time we left for our next stop that was Meiji Shrine.

We again drove into the heavy traffic.

"What about the next stop?"I asked.

"About the next stop. It's a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shōken" he said.

"So that means they are buried here?" I asked in curiosity.

"No, it is buried at south of Kyoto at Fushimi-momoyama" he said.

"I dont understand if it was dedicated to them then why not bury here?" I said sounding irritated.

"Works of Royals Haru" he said. "They never do it straight forward" he added laughing.

After some time of silent driving, we were driving through the streets of Shibuya. After fifteen minutes drive after we entered the borders of shibuya we were finally at the shrine.

The entrance to the shrine complex leads through the Jingu Bashi bridge. We entered into a very green environment with trees all over. I slide down the window to feel the sweet scent of greenery. He parked the car at the allotted location. As we went through the trees.

"Do you know this area is covered by an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established" he said sounding proud about thier heritage.

I smiled at his gesture.

"So what's best about this place?"I asked walking through the paths laid down.

"People come here for recreational activities, for relaxing purpose. This place is also famous for small picnics" he said.

After roaming around for quite a time. We decided to sit on a bench. I laid down my head on his shoulders, holding his hands in mine.

As we were chatting my stomach growled. He looked towards me and smiled.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"No" I said in embrassment. My face was beetroot red.

As soon as I said no my stomach made the sound again.

"We should go get something to eat" he said laughing.

"Hmmm" I said still blushing.

He took my hand in his as he led me to the car. He opened the door me and walked to the drivers seat closing the door behind me. We strided out of the place in few minutes and we were on the lanes once again.

We entered to the city of Akihabara as we drove through the streets and stopped at a place called Yamano. It was a small meat restaurant in Akihabara with only 17 seats. Zen told me that Yamano serves finest quality of A5 rank Japanese beef and some of the most rare part of meat. As well as Yakiniku (Japanese style BBQ) dish, hot pot dishes are their another specialty. I was excited as well as curious at how amazing it must taste to earn such a feat to be called the best meat restaurant. We walked into the restaurant as we were greeted by a elderly woman leading us to our seats. She handed us the menu. I looked at Zen and gestured him to order.

"Do the honors please" I said smiling.

He smiled back at me.

He looked in to the menu as he ordered Ichibo rice bowl set along with beef simmered stewed set meal and a set of Yakiniku with ichibo lamp and harami.

We chatted far a while when our order arrived.

Me and Zen said in unison."Itadakimasu".

We broke into laughter at the coincidence. After we had lunch we went off to our next stop that was Tokyo Skytree. The tower is the primary television and radio broadcast site for the Kantō region. It is located in Sumida region.

"Its really tall" I said.

"Ya. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010 and reached its full height of 634.0 meters (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower and the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa" he said explaining me its history.

"Zen you sound just like wikipedia" I said and laughed out loud. He looked away from me embarrassed.

We took the elevator to the top floor. The whole Tokyo city can be looked down from the spot. It was a breathtaking view. We stayed there for a short time as there was nothing to do except looking at the view.

After a while we headed for our last destination that was one of my favourite sites to visit in Tokyo, Shinjuku Gyo-en. It is a large park and garden in Shinjuka and Shibuya.

It was originally a residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period. Afterwards, it became a garden under the management of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan. It is now a national park under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment.

The garden itself was beautiful with all the cheery blossoms all over the place. It had a blends of three distinct styles: a French Formal and English Landscape in the north and to the south a Japanese traditional. A traditional Japanese tea house can be found within the gardens.

The garden famous is for the hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) spot. Large crowds can be seen during cherry blossom season. And for once it was almost the time for the cherry blossoms. It was beautiful, enticing to the eyes. Me and Zen sat under one of those trees. I sat down as Zen laid down resting his head on my thighs.

"Thanks Zen" I said.

"For what?" He asked.

"For showing me those beautiful places" I said smiling to him.

"The pleasure was all mine" he said smiling.

It was about three in the afternoon, we decided to head back or else we would be late for the party. We arrived at home around four as we headed to our respective rooms.