Chapter 1 - To-Do-List

I finally landed in Japan. I alighted the plane and got my passport stamped before entering the cab to my hotel in Sapporo. The first thing on my to-do-list was to get a taste of the traditional desserts from a famous shop called, "Kimiwo". Before I start accomplishing my list, I had to unpack my luggage.

I reached the hotel and paid the cab driver. The first thing I noticed when I came in was the cleanliness of the hotel lobby, there was not even a trace of dirt or trash around. I checked in and my luggage was brought up to the room while I made my way there slowly.

I entered the room and I was in awe. What I had booked online was way more fancier in person. It's usually the other way round where what you see online is not what you get, but wow this is amazing. The floor is made out of polished wooden planks, the sliding wall panels were much more decorated, and the best part, the bed was as comfortable as an old shoe. A five star rating should be given more often for this hotel.

Enough admiring, I had to get started with my list right now or else it would be too late. I got up and unpacked my luggage neatly. I grabbed my sling bag and made my way out of the hotel to the one and only Kimiwo!

I put on my shoes and jacket and got out of the hotel in a hurry to find the dessert café. The more time I waste, the lesser time I get to spend my day productively. I took out the travel guide map from my pocket and located the café, it was quite far so I had to take a cab or public transport. 'I'd save more money if I took public transport', so I went to the nearest bus station and sat down patiently for the bus to arrive.

After 10 crucial minutes of my time went by, the bus finally arrived and I got on. The bus had really unique features, there were tablets on the sides of the bus next to a pair of seats for information on the area that you're going past, sliding table from the armrests of the seats, and the air conditioning vents were on the ground. It was a nice ride, and the 10-minute wait was worth it.

I arrived and alighted the bus to head over to Kimiwo which was coincidentally right in front of the bus station. The shop had a large variety of desserts. The desserts were widely ranged from traditional ones like Sakura Mochi, Dango, Daifuku, Mochi, Taiyaki, to ones with ice cream twists like Cream Anmitsu, Kinako ice Cream, Mochi Ice Cream, and Monaka Ice Cream Sandwiches.

I picked out the traditional ones and ate some of them at the café itself. I had my fill so I decided to continue my to-do-list which is to visit the famous shrine that is located in Sapporo, the Hokkaido Shrine sited in Maruyama park.

The Hokkaido Shrine enshrines the four "kami" including the soul of Emperor Meiji. A number of early explorers of Hokkaido such as Mamiya Rinzo are also enshrined. "Kami" refers to the spirits, phenomena, or "holy powers" that are venerated in the religion of Shinto. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, as well as beings and the qualities that these beings express, they can also be the spirits of venerated dead persons. I stood and cleaned up the table that I used, being considerate is always a good attribute to have.

I exited the café and started walking to the Maruyama Park that was only 15 minutes away, it's going to be a productive walk too since there are shops along the walkway and sceneries to "savor".

"Ugh, I did not sign up for this. This hill was so unexpected" I thought to myself. Me being me, I did not research about how I was going to get there. I took a cab and the driver dropped me off at the entrance of Maruyama Park but I did not expect there to be a hill to walk up. I had to face this head-on to get to the Hokkaido Shrine. I have to work for what I want, that's what my parents told me repeatedly when I wanted to buy a ticket to Japan.

I was close to the top of the hill, the rugged pathway made it hard to cope with but I could still manage. The weird thing is, I was the only one who was walking up the hill, is there another pathway to the shrine or something? In about 8 minutes or so I had finally reached.

The climb was worth it, the view of the park's greenery was astounding. The plants there were abnormally bright in their natural colors. To add on to the brightly colored plants, there were butterflies that I have never seen before. There were ones with brightly colored, massive, and iridescent blue colored wings. When it flies, the contrasting bright blue and dull brown colors flash, making it look like it's disappearing and appearing. There were many more species of butterflies that took my interest but I didn't want to spend more time on this.

I stopped admiring the top of the hill and walked to the shrine. I couldn't get the fact that no one else was here out of my head, sure it did creep me out but the sight of the Hokkaido Shrine made that feeling disappear. I walked up the smooth stone steps and entered the shrine. I did not read much on how to pray for good fortune so I did what I saw in a few anime shows.

I took out a wooden plate of my own from my backpack and wrote my wish on it. I wrote, "Please allow me to find my one and only sooner or later" and hung the wooden plate on the 'Ema'.

An 'Ema' is where shrine visitors hang their written on wooden plates in hopes that their wishes comes true.

I turned around and started walking back to the entrance. Once I exited, I took out my phone and looked at my to-do-list once again, next was to get to a Japanese cultured festival.

While I was keeping my phone, I noticed a man who looked like a nineteen-year-old staring at me from a shed next to the shrine. He had a defined jawline, green but stern-looking eyes, black hair, diamond-shaped face, he looked really good. Despite that, I was a little scared since there was no one else besides the two of us. I started brisk walking but he followed.