Update #7: 1.5 Weeks left...! (part 2)

(continuation from Part 1, because the images were causing my computer to lag like crazy lol)

Next on the travel block here is Kamakura! The area used to be a government activity center in ye olde times, but is now known mostly for its abundant shrines and temples, and other tourist attractions.

The main highlight of Kamakura was the shrine visit! As avid anime-watchers or Japanese enthusiasts among you may know, there's quite a few customs and traditions associated with Shinto shrines, so it was pretty cool being able to partake in some of them. But first, pictures!

Main gate!

Food stalls - usually more frequent in number and variety
for events like festivals.

When you go to Japanese shrines, it's traditional to clean your hands.
You do that at this mini-shrine here - they have little bucket ladles that
you pour water on your hands with. 

Apparently there was a wedding going on. Cool.

Omikuji! More on it later.

Omikuji vending machines. It kinda loses the charm lol.

In line to make wishes and hopes.

That's a lot of sake. It's important for the feasts I suppose!

So what'd we do there? I think the one most worth pointing out in particular was omikuji. For those who don't know, it's a custom of taking slips of paper from the shrine marked with varying degrees of luck, and giving fortunes for various aspects of Japanese life, such as exams, love life, dreams and aspirations, and health. 

For my part, I got "chuu-kishi", which is just below Great Luck according to Wiki's chart, so that's awesome. Though I'm almost disappointed I didn't get misfortune, because I sorta wanted to do the thing where you tie the fortune to the tree branch (basically a tradition where if you get bad luck, you tie it to a tree branch so the bad luck doesn't stick to you).

Here's the rest of Kamakura stuff. A more quiet Buddhist temple, and some scenery!

Those two were the two major sightseeing days in the past month. Other point of interest (and by of interest, I mean things I have pictures of) besides those include Ikebukuro, Gundam cafe, and karaoke! I'll let the pictures and captions speak for themselves.

Well, that wraps it up for this update! A week and some left, but I'll try to squeeze as much fun out of the adventure for it! Expect two more posts from me over the next 2 weeks I'm guessing!