We started the day with a walk to Yoyogi Park. The streets were very quiet, possibly because we got started quite early. The kids couldn’t resist trying a vending machine drink en route (it’s a can of strawberry milk).

Once at Yoyogi Park we headed for Meiji Jingu. The shrine was completed and dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shoken in 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress.

It was destroyed during WW2 but was rebuilt shortly thereafter. During the Meiji Period, Japan modernised and westernised to join the world’s major powers by the time Emperor Meiji passed away in 1912.

Photo above is Maeve and Morgan clensing themselves before entering the shrine.

We came across a wedding while we were at the shrine.

We made some offerings at the shrine and bought some charms (no photos allowed of these activities).

Yoyogi Park contains about 100,000 trees. It’s very tranquil, with lots of lovely paths and walks.

The irises (above) bloom in June and apparently this area is spectacular then.

After walking around Yoyogi Park for a couple of hours we headed for Shibuya to try and find Littlebird (a gluten-free cafe that had been recommended to us).

Maeve had to try out a swing we passed on the way.We found Littlebird before it opened for lunch but if it hadn’t been clearly signposted there’s no way we’d have believed it was a cafe. On the third floor of a very narrow building, it didn’t look like the kind of place that could accommodate multiple diners.To our great relief, it did open on time and we were first in the door. It was tiny inside (kitchen smaller than ours, seated max 14 people) and there were multiple people queuing by the time we left.

Note above the happy face of a girl who knows she can eat anything she likes from the menu. The food was fantastic. The kids were particularly pleased with their karage (fried chicken) and their rice rolls (crepe filled with custard, topped with ice cream, cream, banana and chocolate)!At this point we realised we were running a bit late for our Robot Restaurant reservation. I’d like to tell you that we handled the next half hour with efficiency and calm but, sadly, we made some poor decisions… This led to Morgan getting to the venue in possession of the portable wi-fi unit but without the email he needed to show we’d purchased tickets, and the kids and I stranded without wi-fi and no idea how to get to the restaurant. Long story short, we did get there. Enough said.

What to say about Robot Restaurant? It’s a loud, flashy (as in lights), very random show with no discernable concern for intellectual property law. But Morgan and the kids loved it. And, I have to say, I found it rather entertaining. Perhaps I’ll let the following photos speak for themselves…

And see if you recognise anyone here…

Not only was Disney cool with them using Darth Maul, but they also let them use the Imperial March. So generous.

And in case you were worried it wasn’t sufficiently creepy, check this out:

So, that was Robot Restaurant. Super random, but strangely entertaining.

By this time we were all pretty tired. Very tired, actually. So we decided to eat in. Went to our local konbini (convenience store) and purchased various items – some of us were more adventurous than others. We had to scan the back of packets looking for Japanese characters that represent ingredients forbidden to Maeve. But it was a success in the end – yummy dinners for all. Convenience stores here have a very big range of fresh, ready-to-eat food and it is delicious. A bigger range than most NZ supermarkets, in fact.

We crashed after dinner. No photos of that because I was the first one to fall asleep (before 8 local time)!