（日本語は後半にあります）
【English】
Today, my family and I went to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine (Yushima Tenjin) for Hatsumode.
Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and drizzling, so I was not able to take many beautiful pictures. But on my way home, we enjoyed the Ueno Station area, watching birds at Shinobazu Pond, eating ramen at Ichiran, and drinking coffee at Ginza Renoir.
Yushima Tenmangu Shrine is a 2-3 minute walk from Yushima Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line. Police officers were stationed around the shrine, guiding and directing traffic. There were not many worshippers, and the visit itself was easily completed. It was very different from last year's Hatsumode at Kanda Myojin.
Afterwards, my husband and children bought good luck charms and drew omikuji. My husband and elder son got “great luck” and the second son got “medium luck”. My second son was the only one who drew “medium lucky” and he was in tears🤣 I was not in the mood for Omikuji, so I did not draw one.
After that, we walked toward Ueno Station. On the fence surrounding Shinobazu Pond, there was a white bird resting its wings, which I rarely see in my neighborhood. I was lucky to be able to photograph it just at the moment it flapped its wings! Shinobazu Pond is famous for its beautiful lotus blossoms, which are said to be at their best in July, so I would like to go back there around that time.
Well, the purpose of my visit to Ueno Station was to go to the ramen restaurant Ichiran. There was a line outside the restaurant, and we were told that there was a 30-minute wait... I hate waiting in line (not even at the checkout counter of a supermarket🤣), so normally I would look for a place where I could eat without waiting in line. However, my elder son loves ramen and I thought it would be okay to wait for Ichiran, so we quietly got to the end of the 30-minute line. The ramen was delicious. I wish I had added a boiled egg…
The restaurant was extremely crowded so there was no time to relax and we left the restaurant as soon as we finished eating. While waiting at a traffic light at an intersection, I found someone's phone on the corner of the sidewalk. I don't know who it belongs to, but it's a pity to drop a phone at an intersection in Ueno so early in the New Year... I knew there was a police box just in the direction I wanted to go, so I picked it up and reported it. I joked with my husband, “Maybe the person who dropped it is a millionaire and will give me a lot of money in return.”
However, the police officer at the police box said, in a tedious manner.
“Just deliver it to the person in question, right? Then, please check the box on this form. If the owner of the property asks for your name, you don't have to tell them, do you? Then check this box here...”
So I just signed “Yes, that's okay...” and left the police station. My dream of “a large sum of money as a return gift” vanished easily.
Finally, we stopped by “Ginza Renoir.
Renoir” is said to be a sacred place for network business solicitation, and is famous as a place where you can hear about fraudulent and suspicious investments. However, there were no suspicious customers or groups, perhaps because it was New Year's Day, and the restaurant was quiet, with only a few foreigners who seemed to be tourists and a few elderly customers here and there.
Normally, this is not a place to take little children, but our 6 and 12 year olds don't make a fuss in this kind of place, which is a big help.
We ordered cake and drinks, read the omikuji we had drawn at Yushima Tenmangu Shrine, and relaxed a bit before heading home.
It was a day of walking, and my step count exceeded 7,400.
【Japanese】
湯島天満宮（湯島天神）へ初詣に行ってきました。
あいにく天気はくもりのち小雨。あまり綺麗な写真を撮れなかったのは残念ですが、帰りに不忍池で鳥を観たり、『一蘭』でラーメンを食べたり、『銀座ルノアール』でコーヒーを飲んだりと、上野駅周辺を満喫することができました。
湯島天満宮は、東京メトロ千代田線・湯島駅から歩いて2～3分のところにあります。神社周辺は警察官が配置され、誘導や交通整理をしていました。参拝客はそれほど多くなく、お参り自体はあっさり終了。去年の神田明神での初詣とは大違いでした。
その後、夫と子どもたちはお守りを買ったり、おみくじを引いたりしていました。夫と長男は、「大吉」、次男は「中吉」。ひとりだけ「中吉」をひいた次男は涙目になっていました🤣私はというと、何となく「おみくじ」という気分ではなかったので引きませんでした。
その後、歩いて上野駅方面へ。不忍池をぐるりと囲む柵には、家の近所ではあまり見ない白い鳥が羽を休めていました。ちょうど羽ばたく瞬間を撮れたのはラッキー！不忍池は蓮が綺麗なんですよね。7月に見頃を迎えるらしいので、その頃にまた行きたいです。
さて、上野駅に来た目的は『一蘭』です。お店の外は行列になっていて、30分待ちとのこと・・・私は行列に並ぶのが嫌いなので（スーパーのレジで待つのすらイヤ🤣）通常であれば並ばずに食べられるお店を探すところです。が、長男がラーメン大好きなのと、私も『一蘭』なら待ってもいいかなと思ったのとで、おとなしく30分待ちの列の最後尾につきました。ラーメンはおいしかったです。ゆで卵もつければ良かったな…。
激混みなのでゆっくりする暇もなく、食べ終わってすぐにお店を出ました。交差点で信号待ちをしていたところ、歩道の隅にスマホが落ちているのを発見。三賀日に上野の交差点でスマホを落とすなんて気の毒過ぎ・・・ちょうど目的の方向に交番があることは知っていたので、拾って届けました。「もしかしたら落とし主が大金持ちで、お礼に大金をくれるかもよ」なんて冗談で夫と話していたのですが、交番の警察官は、
「フツーにご本人に届けるだけでいいですね？じゃ、この『一切の権利を放棄する』のところにチェックを入れてください。落とし主に拾った方の名前を聞かれても、教えなくていいですよね？じゃ、こちらの『同意しない』にチェックを・・・」
といった感じで面倒くさそうだったので、「はい、それでいいです・・・」とサインだけして交番を後にしました。「お礼に大金」の夢はあっさり消えました。
最後に、『銀座ルノアール』に寄りました。『ルノアール』と言えばネットワークビジネス勧誘の聖地とも言われており、詐欺まがいの怪しい投資話を聞ける場所として有名です。が、さすがにお正月だからか怪しい客やグループはおらず、静かな店内には観光客らしき外国人と、年配のお客さんがちらほら、といった感じ。
通常あまり小さな子どもを連れて行くお店ではないのですが、我が家の6歳と12歳はこういった場所で騒がないので助かります。ケーキと飲み物を注文し、湯島天満宮で引いたおみくじを読んで、少しゆっくりしてから帰宅しました。
よく歩いた一日で、歩数は7,400歩を超えました。
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
