Finally arrived in Narita Airport. There we immediately reserved our next train to Tokyo Centre.

This is the Limited Express Train - the way to city centre.

Don't worry, it actually stops by Tokyo station, where we are to go on the JR for Nagano.

The very busy Tokyo station. It was very easy to get lost in the maze of platforms.

Changed to this Hikari train to Nagano.

See? It spells Nagano.

After a day's trip, finally arrived at Lodge Ohno, our second time visit.

Skier's entrance at the back.

How to wax the ski. DIY Step 1: use an iron to melt some wax over the ski.

Step 2: Iron the wax evenly over the ski.

Step 3: Scrape off the residual wax and smoothen the ski surface.

And... voila!

Must prepare well beforehand - plenty of stretches needed.

Our first ski day - up to Habuka 109 by gondola.

It's snowing...!

Midway down the ski slopes, where trees are lined with snow.

That's how much snow a twig can carry...

Visibility is that bad.

Snow-ridden ski lifts

After a very intensive ski day, a very yummy dinner awaits us.

Ohno-sans favourite beverage, soju (Japanese rice wine)!

Breakfast morning after - fish, and lots of rice...

Framing the snow scene...

Playmobil highly relevant to the occasion - that's why I brought it along.

Doing its warm-ups.

Ohno-san taking video of our skiing down the slopes.

A very cloudy ski day, but nonetheless still beautiful scenary.

Every time it's a pain going down this "red" slope.

Good ol' McDonalds is in this structure which is midway down the slope.

I'm above the clouds!

Ohno-san and his lovely daughter Miki-chan, both very skillful skiers.

Trees are half-emerged in the snow.

A blanket of clouds covering the hills.

Even Playmobil has to rest sometimes!

This tree marks a rendez-vous point where our bunch meet.

Icicles growing from the roof.

A simple meal of udon after some very serious exercise works wonders for me!

The sun is out and finally we can see the Hakuba landscapes clearly.

This is how tired we can get!

By the way, the square piece is our two-day ski pass, equivalent to an Octopus.

Aren't we all glad to see good food waiting for us at the lodge!

Got a crepe free from T because we unknowingly skied via a "black" route (the most challenging level) thanks to him yet he didn't follow in the end.

Night stroll along the quiet Happo streets.

A lone postbox stands in the cold cold street.

Still getting not enough out of ski? Join the night ski, where the main slopes are brightly lit in the evenings.

Many hotels and lodges to choose in Hakuba area.

Small flowers nurtured by Michiko-san, hostess of this lodge.

Ohno-san attained the 達人 status i.e. expert - in ski of course. Isn't that so obvious from the shape of his award?

The next day is good for ski.

Long queues spotted at the gondola

Same place... different hours, this time for day ski... how convenient!

Me and Ohno-san.

Another Happo map.

Left Hakuba, heading towards Nozawa Onsen.

Arrived Nozawa Onsen after half a day. The town map.

Nozawa Onsen is famous for its 13 public baths. "Public" means we don't have to pay to enjoy onsen. Us being very adventurous, did eventually visited more than half of these baths which are scattered all over the town (and dipped in 3 of those myself).

Walking through the narrow streets to our small hostel.

Arrived at hostel. Sneaked into the kitchen and took a picture of the marinated fish (soon to be part of our dinner).

Did some field visit because in any case it's too late for a ski session that day. That's the gondola station we're supposed to get to day after.

Good. Very sunny. Then it turned out that was the only day we had sun during our tenure.

Pretended to be some ski patrol. Think snow-mobile must be fun.

The narrow and winding streets in the town.

The first dinner in Nozawa Onsen. Recognize the fish at the bottom of the picture?

Another gimmick noted in Nozawa Onsen. The manhole covers. This one states Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998.

During our night stroll, we visited a public bath. There being no one, thought we'd take a picture of this modest bath. There are some suspicious-looking precipitate floating in the hot water which is around 60-70C, and we thought we nearly became hard-boiled eggs.

Another public bath. Usually either they are very empty, or very full. Japanese like to go in crowds.

We walked up the streets and saw plenty of steam rising. That is one of the onsen sources.

But it was all fenced up. Guess what, there is business activity brewing... a huge back kitchen for boiling onsen eggs!

Selling at 50 Yen. Actually we see people boiling their eggs in a basket. Secret is to put them in onsen for 20 minutes, where the egg yolk will have become half-cooked.

Wild legumes, a specialty in this prefecture. We get to eat them in dinner, with udons, etc. They are everywhere.

Woven baskets and stuffs are also hot for tourists here.

This "Big Onsen" is very old that stems back to the Meiji period.

Demonstration on how to use a foot bath (just outside the ancient onsen). Though small, it attracted lots of people longing for a foot dip.

The famous 信州 apple!

At least 2 dishes of wild legumes during one meal. Carnivores can't survive. The only dish closest to meat is the eggs...

Great wheels! Evidently well-prepared for heavy snow.

First day of ski in Nozawa Onsen. Up the gondola, and is faced with... fog?!

Frosted branches.

Trees in the background with a snowman in front. Why?

... look at my brows!

Virtually struggled down the misty slope. Visibility level <10m.

Now that we are at the bottom of the slope, note how low the cloud base gets!

Snowboarders resting.

The snow was quite soft though, very suitable for skiing.

Giant buddhas of 敦煌?!

A more balanced meal - veggie:meat = 50:50.

Eerie, isn't it? Another night walk near the onsen source. Of course, it's a small town.

Now... these are the real 信州 apples.

Saw some sweet dumplings wrapped in leaves for sale in a grocery shop. We bought some for a night treat.

What's this rubber duck doing here?

Another spooky photo.

Just when you thought you had enough of the public baths, here's another one.

The next day I tried snowboarding. This picture was taken when I had my first major fall. Talking about my helmet off, sprawled on all fours, but person intact. At least I can still type...

Me when I'm in better shape. I was so busy focusing on my snowboarding (managing not to fall) that very limited photos are taken that day.

Back in Tokyo. Breakfast time. My first real cafe latte after so many days (I had to settle with instant coffee in the ski towns).

We actually stayed in the Kabukicho area, in a neat business hotel.

A very fancy Japanese vending machine facade.

First stop is to Omotesando 表參道. First interesting structure we saw: Dior.

This Omotesando Hills is a must-visit for tourists and Japanese alike because it was just opened in mid-Feb. Designed by a famous Japanese architect called Ando.

Part of an interesting glass structure with water flowing down.

Here's the starting point of the Omotesando Hills vicinity.

Tod's... like a tree.

Prada... like a blanket, quilted one.

Our group met up for lunch at a famous Japanese sushi restaurant 美利登 at Umegaoka. It is easy to spot a good restaurant because there will always be a queue outside at irregular hours (e.g. 11am?!)

Sushi set with a difference. The cook had "tainted" the meat with fire (broiling technique) to make sure the fat in the meat is slightly cooked, thus emitting an alluring aroma.

The solely tuna sushi set. Tuna varieties are numerous in the menu. We spotted tuna, medium fatty tuna, extra fatty tuna, ultimate extra fatty tuna... the latter is shown at the bottom right hand corner. Mouthfeel is like eating roasted pork fat!

The white sushi in the middle is especially deliciously fat! It's known as "Broiled Fin-Face of Flatfish" in the menu.

Oooh! Yummy Japanese sweet potatoes!

Family picnics on a Sunday afternoon for enjoying the plum blossoms.

More details for plum blossoms set them aside from their cherry cousins.

White ones, pink ones...

An area in the park where there is a Sunday flower market. Very beautiful tulips.

Huge daffodils.

Bulb-like orchids.

Multi-coloured daisies.

Another cute bunch of orchids.

Lovely tulips again...

In the evening, we went to Ginza for dinner. Walking alongside the JR line, there are many restaurants lined up underneath the elevated railtrack.

One example of a small pub in one of the arches that supported the rail.

Train arrives. Will those restaurant goers feel the earth rumble?

Tokyo forum which is a huge oval-shaped convention centre, highly sophisticated structure.

Japan also celebrates Mozart's 250th birthday.

Ate in one of Ginza's Japanese restaurant. Drank a hoppy (malt beverage without alcohol) mixed with soju. So can we call that... beer?

Very delicious roasted rice dumpling, nice surprise when we give it a bite to find a camembert cheese stuffed in.

A very artificial garden inside our hotel.

Shinbashi station where I took the monorail.

FujiTV station.

The famous rainbow bridge. Unfortunately weather was bad that day.

DoCoMo's new spokesperson - a family of mushrooms...

Monorail platform.