I'm back... with a brand new post that is. Hope that I didn't kept everyone waiting until your necks grew long.
A nightful of rain and a very goodnight of sleep, waking up to the sunshine of Japan gives a totally different feeling... the feeling of joy looms in. As I rolled myself in bed to face the window around 8am, looking out of the window to look at how wonderful the weather has turned out to be and the view of Tokyo is magnificient! How come weather changes so fast in Japan!? One day of rain, the following day is sunny. Hmm...
After shower, we head down to the cafe for breakfast. They have English breakfast which consists of multiple range of cereals, juices, breads, yogurts and hot items such as omelette, pancakes, sausages, etc.
And also Japanese which consists of tofu, steamed vegetables, porridge, soba (orderable from the counter), etc.
Did I mentioned that you can name your favourite type of how your eggs to be done and the friendly chefs will cook it up for you?
Even the Orange juice are freshly squeezed!
Seated next to the window near the yard, it's the best way of enjoying spring in Japan. You got to love Spring time where all the flowers bloom and the pollens are extra high in quantities too.
The yard is open for the customers to sit and enjoy the weather and a great variety of flowers are being potted and planted, displayed for the customers to enjoy. The flowers bloomed marvellously during this time of the year.
With plenty of rain that came down last night, the flowers are certainly in a good mood today eh? (And Yes! This flowers are real...)
Now the cafe does sell a range of chocolates which were crafted and made by their own chefs. These chocolates aren't like any other chocolates you can buy off from the Supermarket. A piece of these babies can costs from as low as 300Yen to a high of 1500Yen a piece. Hmm, I wonder who would buy such expensive chocolates?
After breakfast, we toured around the lobby area and managed to capture a few pictures of the magnificent area where it is decorated with modern european design.
Walking out of the hotel and feeling the morning Tokyo air is another highlight as the tempreature for the day is crisp and chilly, a good day for a walk. 
As the rain deterred us from taking a real look on how nice the Ebisu surroundings are, hiding ourselves in the underground passage... with such nice weather today, we walked out to enjoy the scenery Ebisu has to offer.
The flowers bloomed beautifully around Yebisu Garden Place and the buildings surrounding the area are authentic. I'm starting to fall in love with the place. Hehe!
As we reach the Ebisu train station, time for us to hop on the JR Yamanote line (山手線) to head over to our destination. The JR Yamanote is owned by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and it is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important commuter rail lines. Running in a full circle with 29 stations in its path, it connects most of Tokyo's major stations and urban centres. Riding from one station to another is considered cheap, comparing with riding a cab. 
During rush hours, you will definitely see the classical sardine way of Japanese riding the commuters. We will try to avoid those period if possible, we do not want to end up being in a can like those Japanese sardines. Hehe!
My first ride on the JR Yamanote line, and of course it's my very first time feeling lost too. In the train, you'll see a picture of the train line which is offered around Tokyo area. Trying to find the JR Yamanote line itself was tough, imagine trying to find other commuter lines that serves around Tokyo? If you are new to Tokyo, you'll definitely get lost on the rail.
I'll post up the next blog the destination that I headed to. Nothing secretive, but just a thriller to keep my readers on the edge. Till then, have a good day.
The train stopped at the Harajuku Station (原宿駅) where dad forced me and mom to exit the train quickly. One thing I found out about the JR Yamanote line is that either you leave the train quickly or else you will overpass the station you intend to stop. Dad told me that Harajuku is the place where you will see all the weird Japanese people with their fashion (either you want to see a barbie doll or a durian punk), you can find it here. However, due to the reason it's the weekday and school are in session, I told my dad that it will be advisable to go back on the weekends.
Instead of turning left to the Harajuku streets, we turned right to head towards the Meiji Shrine. Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) covers a vast area of 700 000 square-meters of land where the area is covered by an evergreen forest. The land coverage itself is huge, wait until you make your way into the shrine, which is located right in the middle of the forest.
Meiji Shrine is a Shinto Shrine. The construction of the shrine began in 1915 and completed in November 1st, 1920. The Shrine, is build to dedicate to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji (明治天皇) and Empress Shōken (昭憲皇后). When Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shōken in 1914, Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the 2 influential figures and that's the reason that the Shrine was built.
Meiji Shrine was destroyed in the World War 2's Tokyo Air Raids. It was then rebuilt through public fund raising effort and compeleted its construction in October 1958. This place is packed with tourists from around the world and normally it is flocked with tourists in the morning hours. 
The grounds consists of two areas, the Naien and the Gaien. The Naien, or the inner precinct/garden, centred on the shrine buildings, which include a treasure museum that houses articles of the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. The Gaien, or the outer precinct/garden, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor Meiji and his consort. It also includes a variety of sports facilities, including the National Stadium, and is seen as the center of Japanese sports. It also includes the Meiji Memorial Hall, which was originally used for governmental meetings, including discussions surrounding the drafting of the Meiji Constitution in the late 19th century.
What we did was to visit the Naien area only, minus the treasure museum. Walking to the shrine is a long tedious walk, but with all the lush greens, great scenery and calm environment; serenaded by the chirping sound of birds and rustling leaves, taking your mind off from the busy life of Tokyo, it was all worth it. 
There were several of these Torii (鳥居) wooden gates erected along the way. These Japanese gates are commonly found only at the entry of a Shinto Shrine. 
There's also a display of Nihonshu (日本酒) or known as Japanese Sake which is used to offer to the gods. Donated by major companies from around the world (no kidding!) for prosperous business and good luck, no wonder there's so many barrels being displayed.
That's the main Torii before entering the Shrine.
Before entering a Shinto Shrine, stop over the Chōzubachi (手水鉢) for self purification. How to do it? First take the wooden dipper with your right hand and fill it with water. Pour the water over your left hand. Then take the dipper in your left and pour water over your right. Third, pour some water from the dipper into the cupped palm of your left hand. Rinse your mouth with this water, spitting it back out into the palm of your hand. Tough, but you'll get used to it like I did. Where did I learn this? From the internet. Hehe!
As I made my way to the main shrine in the center, suddenly something caught my eyes, as well as many tourists eyes. A Japanese traditional wedding. Meiji Shrine is famous for active Shinto wedding proceedings which can be seen on the inner ground of the shrine. This is an amazing sight to see with the bride in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono (Uchikake), shrine maidens, Shinto priests and the women wearing gorgeously crafted kimono. During my visit, there were 2 wedding proceedings that took place that morning.
Now the Shrine area is a huge place. The materials to make the shrine are mainly plain Japanese cypress with copper plates for the roofs. A few pictures from the outer shrine area. 
How to make your worship at the Shinto Shrine? If you watched Japanese films or Anime, probably you might have learned a few things or two from there. Make your way to the Inner Shrine. Throw your coin in to the sasenbako (offerings box). Then ring the suzu (bell) firmly a couple times, but in Meiji Shrine they don't have a bell. Take a step back, bow twice, then clap twice. Spend a few moments in prayer, if you like. Then bow again. Simple right? Do it the Japanese way and the locals will have a respect for you.
Once done, I headed out of the inner shrine to tour about the outer shrine grounds. On the left, there's a big tree with many Ema's (絵馬) being placed. These small wooden plaques were written by worshipers as a prayers or wishes. What made me surprised is that I can find ema in many languages, as tourists from around the world leave their own wishes and prayers. Ema's can be purchased at 500Yen a piece at the Shrine giftshop.
I made my way to the Shrine giftshop to purchase a few Omamori (お守り). It's Japanese amulets usually made of cloth and encloses papers or pieces of wood with prayers written on them which are supposed to bring good luck to the bearer on particular occasions, tasks or ordeals. Omamori are also used to ward off bad luck and are often spotted on bags, hung on cellphone straps, in cars, etc. for safety in travel. 
The Meiji Shrine visit took almost an hour or so as walking to the Shrine already takes a quarter of the visiting time. However, the visit to the shrine is worth it as it's one of the most beautiful shrine that Tokyo has to offer. I end my post with a few pictures taken from inside the shrine. Will blog again soon.
Well, if you guys think Hokkaido has been extremely great, wait until you see what is in store in Tokyo! Arriving into Tokyo Narita International Airport (
After getting our luggage from the conveyer belt, we headed out to the arrival hall to look for our options to get into Tokyo. There are basically 3 options. ONE - Travel by cab which will cost a lot; TWO - By train but we don't know if the train will get us directly to the place we are staying; THREE - By bus. Dad says that it's better to travel by bus as its convenient and it gets us to where we want to go to the doorstep. After purchasing the bus ticket at the counter, we had to go out and wait for our bus at the allocated bus stop... which we will have to wait for another 30 minutes or so. The weather in Tokyo is not so warm and not so cold either. It might be because of the rain.
The entire airport were decorated with flyers that Tokyo are in the contention for the 2016 Olympics bid and their competitors are Chicago (USA), Madrid (Spain) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). I wishes Japan all the best in their bid and hope that they will be coming out victorious. 
Our bus arrives right on time. As we load our luggage into the bus and hopped on, I know that this will be a very boring and long journey to the city. It will take an approximate up to one and a half hour to the city center itself. With the rain to serenade me to sleep, I woke up when we are already in the middle of Tokyo city. 
We got to our room after checking in, located on the 39th floor. I managed to take a few snaps of the room before heading out to the executive lounge on the 37th floor for evening drinks.
Once we got there, I was "Wow-ed!!" again for the second time as this place has fabulous view of the entire Tokyo City. They also have a great variety of drinks (
Let me explain a bit of the area that we stayed. Ebisu (
Mom thrashed a photo shot with me being in the background of a very nice scene at Central Square, which will never be retaken again as the place will be prepared for the Golden Week event with all the props and lights being brought up the following day. 
We continued our walk towards the JR Yamanote Ebisu Station by using the Yebisu Skywalk. The skywalk seems to attract a lot of people during the rainy days. After a glimpse of the JR Yamanote line, I know that I will have a hard time identifying the places to go for the next few days. Shopping department named 
I stopped over at 
The decorations in Atre is really really unique as you can see it on the picture above where the plants are being displayed on the window as I was climbing up the escalators, even though taking pictures inside the department store is strictly prohibited; I took my chances.
Dinner is at the 
The dinner menu comes in sets, so we had to pick the right set. With me being still full, I only picked the starters set which covers a few stuffs, while mom ordered the women's set (
By the time we finished our dinner, it was already 9.30pm. So we headed back to the hotel for a warm shower and early rest as we will have a very long day ahead tomorrow. Weather man announces that tomorrow will be a fair and fine day, which I am really looking forward to in order for me to really explore Tokyo. The view of Ebisu from window is really pleasant as I slowly doze off to bed wondering what's in store for me tomorrow.
Hokkaido (
Sakura season might not have reach Hokkaido yet, but the hotel offers Sakura flowers (
After breakfast, we stroll around the lobby area trying to capture pictures of the sakura blossom where we assume we will no longer able to see once we get to Tokyo as the Tokyo climate are getting warmer. Sakura doesn't survive in warmer climate hence that's why Sakura flowers shed once the season is over.
Reaching at the Japan Airlines (JAL) counter, we tried to check in several times only to turned away by security and the JAL personnel. Dad was rather upset and after being turned away for the 3rd time, dad just headed directly into the business class counter and started questioning why we aren't allowed to check in. After looking at our airtickets, the friendly stewardess apologises quickly and informed the security in Japanese to let us check in at the counter. This is the first and most outrageous conduct of Japan airport personnel I have ever seen.
Dad still being frusfrated over the incident, had his moody mood throughout the next few hours before our flight to Tokyo. However, it doesn't stop me from wandering around the New Chitose Airport. The airport, which was opened in the year 1991, replaces the Chitose Airport (
In the center of the airport, there's a huge shopping area which encompassed a lot of souveniers as well as fashion labels. As dad and mom settled down for a cup of coffee (
We made our way to the boarding gate an hour later, passing through the security without any problems. We settled ourselves down in front of Gate 16 while I continued my scoured around the boarding hall to take pictures of the surrounding area. 
I've also developed a liking towards its vending machines, I don't even know why but the drinks displayed sure is tempting. 
Flight JAL 3042 bound for Narita International Airport made it's first boarding announcement at 1.30pm. I guess it's time for me to say goodbye to Hokkaido and boarded the plane as the weather outside continues to rain which started in the morning. The flight is full, even for first class. The flight departs on time at 1.45pm and headed down south to Tokyo. I guess I will stop here as there's more to write soon once we reach into Tokyo. Do stay tuned for the next post.
Headed to the top floor where all the restaurants are gathered, again, my parents simply has a hard time choosing the right restaurants for dinner. After looking around and saying "No!" to most of them, I finally found something that I wanted to eat. A Japanese family restaurant dinner would be nice and dad finally agrees. 
Now being a buddhist and we were not allowed to eat beef, we didn't realise that the hamburgers made were half beef and half pork because at the top of the menu, we wanted pork hamburgers. One of the english speaking waitress told us that their hamburgers are made from a mix of the meats. Dad mentions that since we didn't know the orders, so we just continue to eat it. It doesn't matter. So... we proceed to eat with the orders that we have made. Now the line up is very very tasty indeed.
First up, the main dish. Hamburger filled with double cheese of melted standard normal and parmesan cheese. 
Garden toss salad Japanese style.
Barbeque squid for mom as she likes it.
As for desserts, mom and dad had their sundae's while me, I just sit and watch. No cold desserts as I was coughing.
And of course, our beverages.
The place has nice decorations and the ambience is really nice too. With great food and great service that comes along with the ambience, I gave this place a 8 out of 10, just that it's the beef that causes me to stir. This restaurant is a place that must be visited for those who can eat beef and it opens from 10am until 10pm, although last orders are to be made by 9pm. 
The map posted above is the walking route that I took around the surrounding area. Although the coverage area is small, but when it comes to actual walking, its a huge coverage. Don't forget the weather and also the condition of the time (
Trying to take pictures around the area was a tough challenge as it was dark and lights are scarce. I stopped by one of the convenient stores to purchase some candies that I could only get in Japan. I ended getting a Coke Mentos and 2 boxes of Pocky. Continued my walk around the area, nothing much to be seen as it was dark, so I headed back to the room after taking a few more pictures. My dad were half asleep when I got back to the room, leaving my stuffs around to pack on my own. I had to pack the stuffs that I purchase as tomorrow, I'll be leaving for Tokyo and it's going to be an interesting day.