goryokaku.五.稜.郭.

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just a quick check in, I am still on a journey and I had seen many things, met many people and some reunion with friends in various cities. i have not much of Internet connection staying with my FIL in hong kong, if anyone know how I can blog through iPad (with the ability to upload photos) please let me know.
For now I leave you with some beautiful sceneries of hakodate.
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just as you thought the cherry blossom is over, you encounter even more sakura in hakodate, there are so many blossom that you re-live the sakura hanami again.  not just merely again but an even better hanami experience because the weather is crisp and dry, the sky is blue, not that something you haven't experience before but hanami in hokkaido just draw you nearer to the nature and to the creator of heaven and earth.

you came to goryokaku not because of the history but simply because you have enough of buildings and want to have some space

it is a fort in a star shape with moat surrounding the island, a fort designed to defend the northern threats.

set the history aside this place is really very pleasant, simply because all the factors that made this visit perfect is with you

again, when green grass meets pink sakura and blue sky is definitely going to be a perfect picture with vivid colors

 let alone the lantern of different colors to celebrate the cherry blossom

 and a pleasant path to stroll - thy word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path, you keep on meditating the word of God while strolling and appreciating the beauty.  you love how iphone transforms your life where you can just turn it on and read your bible on your iphone

 and taking photographs, making memory at the same time.

 these scenes are going to leave a deep impression and lasting memory, and hopefully one day you will express these serenity of cherry blossom through a creative means...

an not just let the memory fades away like this fallen sakura petals...

ma~ru~zen

reading is good. from young your parents told you to read (get educated) and that will be your assets in the future.

although lately you hardly have anytime to read, you even struggle with your daily conversation with God and your journaling.

yet a visit to a bookstore is such a pleasure to you.

a pleasure of reading, a pleasure of discoveries, a pleasure of starting a mental journey.

often you pick up new ideas and new inspirations.

if not because of your passion in browsing and reading, you will never really discover the beauty of tokyo parks and garden.  if not because your passion in reading you will never be able to know tokyo deeper, better.

you often frequent this bookstore whenever you have a "lunch for one" time.  maruzen is located in chiyoda-ward, a big 5 floors bookstore just within stone throw away from your client's office.

view of maruzen from outside, this is not your normal approach as you usually come here via the connecting underground passage, but you were taking a stroll that day, so you have a glimpse of her physical appearance.

 and then the inner beauty.  she is a lady with knowledge and substance. she is well versed in all subject matters including foreign book collection.

you remember years ago you visited here with your honey and back then you had the full view of yamanote JR line but now all the view has been blocked by additional bookshelves...

you sneaking in to the space in between the book shelves and snap this view.  you remember in the past there are chair and small table facing the train lines and a place for you to read.  today you have to sneak in for the same preview.

and you certainly enjoying sneaking up here to the 5th floor browsing the english books. yes browsing and not buying ^.^

yakitori.night

you had too many yakitori nights lately
with your co-workers

with your client

with your colleagues

great conversations

delicious food

and time just flies away.

p/s:scheduled post again, sorry for lack of recent news, the excuse is the same again, slow netbook, unstable internet connection and may be no time too. hey i am on holiday!

ne.zu.根.津.美.術.館

your love for arts only grew stronger overtime in tokyo. you gradually fall in love with arts and you are visiting museum more frequently here in tokyo then in the last few years.

nezu museum (根津美術館) is just a gem awaiting to be discovered. the architecture of the museum and the garden itself is already worth the visit, even if you are not here in the name of the arts. but architecture and garden will worth the entrance fee.

clean, sleek, minimalist and definitely zen entrance set the tone for the approach,  a great statement and representation of the museum

the garden compound immediately connecting to the museum

nezu cafe is almost like an glass house hidden seclusively in the woods. the floor length window gives you the unbeatable view of the garden and the vivid green...

it's late in the afternoon and you haven't had your lunch, you ordered a meat pie with salad

 and admiring the reflection of the shadows of the tree in your tea cup

and look up, out across the glass window to the tree comparing them against the shadow in you tea cup

 and a mont blanc to finish off the meal

nice little mont blanc, a perfect ending note to your late afternoon lunch.

you sat here for a long time because it is simply a bliss to sit and admire the green out there.

akibahara.girls

here are some akibahara ((秋葉原) girls. cosplay is a big thing for the teenager in tokyo but the akibahara girls are mainly commercial.

i like the gray hair girl the most.

**ehem** i only realize this is not a girl but a man - OMG!

how about the blue maid?

and this girl i am really not sure if she is on cosplay or she is also dressed up for advertisement.

they don't like camera, so i have to do it from a distannce

or from their back...

**ehem** i think the sock is too tight on her.
so is my brief encounter with anime or cosplay girls...

cafe.hai

a simple, unpretentious cafe.  tug in the MoT.  yet every small little things is a delight to your nostalgic discovery. 

when is the last time you see such a metal coated tray.  people from south east asia of your age will recognize these elements as nostalgic.  a bowl with a hen symbol, again thing of your childhood or teenager time.

a bottle of soy bean, not freshly made but they are thick and flavorful again a nostalgic taste.

and when you emptied your salad, you are again delighted to see the flower print metal bowl

let alone the super tin made spoon, yes not stainless steel or any solid one. these are the very light, fragile and made of tin. you remember all these too well....

memories flash back, to your hometown, to your childhood, to the things of the past, many of those may not be a pleasure remembrances but you were glad that all were made up before it was too late.

today you remember your family in your prayers.  your family in south east asia, your family that you may not see that often but yet you admit in such moments they have a special place in your heart.

gundam.yaki

your plan to come to akihabara (秋葉原) is to search for the anime girls. but instead you got side track when you see the gundam cafe at the other side of JR station.  the line is long and the western food serves is not particular enticing you.

 but you spot this... you tried jinyoyaki, daiyaki before but this is... let's say interesting.

you assume it is called gundam-yaki.  but it doesn't matter how it is called, this is typical japanese snack where the outer layer is the waffle that usually sandwich with azuki red bean or other paste.

and the ordering is simple, make your choice from the machine and insert the coin to get your ticket. and give your ticket to this lovely lady at the counter

if the flavor you ordered is available, you get it immediately.  in this case you have to wait for 5 minute but it is worth the wait

as what got delivered is a hot gundam yaki, it looks almost recognizable from the plastic model

and two happy faces as you take a bite on your hot gundam yaki.

a new discovery in akibahara besides the anime girls and the electronic appliances.

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another scheduled post as i am somewhere out there at the remote places.
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sapporo.札.幌.revisited

you were glad that you changed your plan a little bit and get into sapporo a day earlier. not that hakkodate is boring but you just done with most of the things and food you intended to eat, so you move on...

at hakodate, you paid 3800 yen for a bed, of which you happened to get a single room without toilet/bath because it's not busy.  the lodge is shabby but it didn't bother you since you only need a place to sleep.  

in sapporo, you are surprised that for just extra 500 yen compared to the bed price in hakodate, you got a room in a 5 stars hotel.  you were speechless but count your blessings. 

even more so when you saw your room.

in hotel monterey sapporo, you almost mistaken you are back to england, and right here you have your internet connection too... and the hotel even offers the pyjamas for the guests...

sights are still the same, the tv tower at odori park still blinking

the red government building is still there, except this time it is not raining and you are alone and you come by bike...

the clock tower, same spot, same photo but in the morning instead of evening...

ramen alley - a narrow street with clusters of ramen stalls...

main susukino junction in the day...

sapporo is not new to you, you like it here, a lot more relaxed compare to tokyo, not as laid back as hakodate.  ramen is why you are here for, but you are also here to catch an international fight.  yes you are on the road again, and this time is the journey to the west, to a land without facebook and with probably most internet sites are blocked.

you are eager to meet a friend of yours, whom you got to know when both of you were living in shanghai. but this time you are meeting her in a land that you never thought you will visit.  if you know the story of the monkey king (孫悟空) well enough then that is where your are heading to.. because it is literally a "journey to the west" - (西遊記).

till then