The Cube

Walking out from Meiji Shrine, tour guide said we could have the famous crepe from Harajuku for breakfast. Despite we had already munched on onigiri and dorayaki while walking to the shrine earlier, I was hungry again by then :P

Walking back to the direction of Harajuku station, we passed the bridge which was said to be the famous gathering place for cosplayers.


However luck is not on my side, either that or the weather is a tad too cold, there wasn't any in sight. However I did got a shot of a pretty gothic lolita :) Also we did see a few in Akihabara instead but no photography allowed.

See the clock? It was about 10:30am, perfect timing for a snack before lunch! :)

The entrance to Takeshita Dori was opposite the Harajuku train station which resemble a western looking building.


It was not too crowded yet as it was still fairly early. First stop - the crepe shop. There are a couple of them, but this is the one we went.


The wide selection of crepes



Tour guide's crepe is the one on the left - chocolate sauce, pastry sheet, whipped cream and chocolate ice-cream. Mine's banana, chocolate sauce, cheesecake, pastry sheet, whipped-cream and chocolate ice-cream. No prize in guessing who is glutton one.

We hit the streets after finished indulging the very yummy breakfast :D




Side note: Happy New Year!

The initial plan was to go to the Meiji Shrine from the opposite direction, walked through the park and out via the entrance near Harajuku. Hence we hopped off the train at JR Yoyogi Station. Unfortunately, we somehow unable to find the entrance we were looking for and resolved to ask for direction from a helpful staff in the nearby Lawson Convenience Store. We were directed to the correct path, however which later on we found out was the entrance near Harajuku station. :P
(A quick google on the net just nowreveals that the entrance we were looking for was the north entrance.)


Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emporer Meiji and Empress Shoken. Emporer Meiji was the first emporer of modern Japan.
(Source: japan-guide.com)



Before praying, washing of hands are required. At least, by my observation. There's instruction on how to do the washing - if memory doesnt fail me, wash left hand, followed by right hand and pour the water on one of your hand, to wash the mouth. Lastly was to wash the handle.


From observation, upon praying, one would drop a coin into the designated place, pray, bowed twice followed by clapping hand twice.

Ema

Side note: Hmm.. whats for dinner tonight...

Tour guide knows that I was looking forward to see some christmas lights in Tokyo. After all, we were there just 2 weeks before christmas. Hence we headed off to Roppongi Hills for hope of catching some nice christmas lights. We were not disappointed. However my camera battery were flat. These were taken with the phone, which isn't entirely a bad thing as it was so windy that night, even if we have a tripod then (and we don't), it wouldn't be much of a help.

Once stepping out of the train station, we were greeted by these really nice christmas lights... and very, very strong wind.



Inside one of the shopping centre



On the way to the train station to bring us back to Shinjuku



Side note: I don't know why but somehow this brain of mine always associate Roppongi with Little P's dream :P

Maybe it was a Saturday but there seem to be quite a fair bit of people who was drunk roaming around in Shibuya. We didn't shop in Shibuya despite the famous Shibuya 109 is around the corner.

We however dined at The Lockup...


Paid tribute to ハチ公 (Hachiko)


Roamed the streets



Tried our hands at the skill testers in one of the entertainment places


Looked at the different neon signboards at every floor in the same building


We met a young Japanese guy who was drunk in the hotel. He asked tour guide if he is married. Upon tour guide answered, "独身です," he was so excited and gave tour guide a high five. LOL


Side note: Love my new toy! :D

After a good walk along the waters in Inamuragasaki, I was starving. Not to mention that we somehow forgot about lunch though we did snack a little along the way. However tour guide had already had a place in mind for dinner that day in Shibuya, so I was forbid to have a quick fix whenever we stumbled upon any restaurant along the way.

The restaurant that tour guide had in mind features this fella here at the entrance...


Tour guide brought me to a Haunted Prison themed restaurant in Shibuya - The Lockup


The shop is located at the lower ground of a building, as we walked in further to the restaurant, tour guide warned me that there may be "things" that would scare me. Umm... one of those "things" still scared me though ... because of the audio effect as well.


We did not make any reservation and as we approached the waiting area, our heart sank. There was quite a few people on the waiting list. However, it turned out that the wait was a really short one, maybe because there was only tour guide and I. We were both handcuffed together with the waitress and lead to our cell.

We were at cell #54

the cell door

Complimentary biscuit with cheese dip. We thought it was mayonaise initially

Entree: Chicken karaage! It was one of the nicest karaage I had

Entree #2: Croquettes. Yes... we were hungry :P

My stone grilled rice

tour guide's margarita pizza

After meal snack accompanying drinks :)

There's option of a few powder dips - chilli, garlic and some other (I can't remember). Or may it is to be pour into the chips and shake like Mamee. Tour guide asked for mayonaise and the waiter who served us was a little dumb-founded. We ended up requesting for garlic powder but he did brought along some mayonaise together with it :P

At the time when we thought of leaving, there was "commotion" in the lockup. The ghosts and monsters had escaped from their locked up and wander around scaring the patrons. The waitresses were going around with a pistol to shoot them down. One of the ghosts came to our cells trying to scare us but was scared by tour guide instead. LOL.

It was indeed a good theme restaurant to visit :) and the food are pretty good too.


Side note: Yay! It's still holidays tomorrow :D

It is said that travelling via shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka may sometimes gives a really good view of the Mount Fuji. Due to the short trip, hopping from Tokyo to Osaka is not feasible. We could, however pop over to Kamakura and hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous mountain from Inamuragasaki.

Leaving the Daibutsu temple, we headed towards the Hase station which is fairly near. From there, we hopped on the Enoden line train to Inamuragasaki. A short little walk brings us to a park which gives a beautiful view.

The faraway Mount Fuji :)

Lucky for us, the weather was fairly good that day despite forecast as rainy prior to that.

When I looked back at the pictures I took, this is what I noticed... strange :P




Do you see the similarity? LOL.. I think I must've aim at the same place and unconsciously took a snap when the sun has not set, when the sun is setting and when the sun has set.

We also saw some cute squirrels roaming around...


Here's how the bigger picture of the place... with the sun set, Mount Fuji and a village by the side of it.



Side note: Am hungry....

Kamakura is just an hour train ride from Tokyo. As we travelled from Shinjuku, we hopped to Shinagawa and took the JR Yokosuka line to Kamakura. Kamakura is a significant change from Tokyo, one can't miss the small town, cosy feel to it, a vast different from the busy, lively Tokyo.


From Kamakura station, one could opt to walk, take the bus or the train to the Kotokuin Temple where the Great Buddha is. We took the walking option. it was not really cold that day, so instead of wearing, I took off and had to carry the big puffy jacket on our walk there.

Along the way, we passed this old school railway track. Reminded me of the one in Teluk Wanjah back home.


We soon reached Kotokuin Temple (Kamakura Daibutsu). I am not too sure if it is due to the fact that we went on a Saturday, there are quite a lot of people visiting Kamakura as well. As we approached the Daibutsu, despite the place still very much homely but the crowd doesn't really reflect so.

Paid for our entrance tickets, I can't really remember how much it is but acccording to the guide pamplet, it is 200 yen.



There is also option to view the inside of the big Buddha with a small fee, I cant remember how much it is, probably also 200 yen or only 20 yen. However there seriously isn't much to see inside, aside from going down a very narrow staircase - one line down and one line up.


Thereafter I dragged the tour guide to grab some 鳩サブレ (Hato Sable) pigeon shaped cookies.


Didn't really think it's delicious when I tried the sample small piece of it but somehow when I bite on the big piece that we bought home... yummy!



Side note: Somehow I think train rides make people sleepy *ponder

Magnificent view greeted us every morning when we were in Tokyo, specifically Shinjuku. From level 42, 3 big windows with curtains that could be controlled by a button by the bedside.

the Cocoon Tokyo, a good landmark :)

looking straight down from 42nd floor

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. A huge, huge building.

A garden in the midst of the concrete buildings. As we did not notice the garden the day before due to rainy weather, it felt like the garden pops out overnight!

Side note: The tour guide said hi. LOL..