Hokkaido - August 2008 (Day 5 - 8)

Day 5 - Otaru (5 Aug 08)

Went on a day trip to Otaru, a small town near Sapporo. Highlights were the famous Otaru canal, musical box factory, and lots of small authentic Japanese shops selling food, souvenirs and crafts.

As we walked along the streets, we couldnt stop ourselves from indulging in the snacks and BBQ seafood. It's a nice little place but was very very hot!

Famous Otaru canal

BBQ crab for lunch

Delicious Hokkaido melon (sells for S$80 - S$100 in Singapore)

Yummy BBQ scallops

Outside the musical box factory

Day 6 - Noboribetsu (6 Aug 08)

This day we embarked on a 2 day 1 night trip to Noboribetsu. Of the entire trip, the hotel accomodation in Noboribetsu (Dai ichi Takimoto kan) is the most expensive of all. There's an indoor swimming pool, and separate hot spring areas (both indoor and outdoor) for men and women. We also had buffet dinner in this hotel. I could just stay in the hotel for the entire week to enjoy the hot springs, swimming pool and food!

In the female hot springs area, there are around 9 hot spring pools with temperature ranging from 39 degrees to 42 degrees. As you soak in the bath, you are able to enjoy the beautiful scenery as well. Sometimes I wonder how they were able to build outdoor spring baths but at the same time hidden from outsiders... For those who are not familiar with Japanese hot spring baths, you are not allowed to wear any clothes (yes nothing at all) into the bath, only a small piece of towel to wash yourself. Apart from the initial awkwardness, once I begin to soak in the warmth of the hot spring water, and moving from one pool to the other, I feel I could just stay in there forever!

Apart from the baths and food, we also managed to trek around 'Hell valley', an area with hot bubbling underground spring waters and high sulphur concentration.

Hell's valley

Enjoying a hot spring for the feet along the hike

Day 7 - Shiraoi village, Sapporo (7 Aug 08)

On our way back to Sapporo, we made a little detour to the Shiraoi village. This place was recommended in the guide books and we thought it would be an easy place to find but how wrong we were! We took a train to one of the Shiraoi train station and walked for almost 20 mins in the hot blazing sun before we found the place. It was very out of the way and in there we watch a short performance by the Ainu people (couldnt understand a single word) and walked around the museum which showcased the history and ways of life of the Ainu people. We also saw a few large bears in cages. We realised that this is only catered for tourists who disappeared as quickly as they appeared. The only great thing about this place is the beautiful scenery.


In the evening, we went back to Sapporo to soak in its night life.

Sapporo with TV tower at the background

Day 8 - Sapporo (8 Aug 08)

We spent the last day of our trip walking all around Sapporo. We went up the Sapporo TV tower, the Tokei dai wooden clock tower, a big garden in the centre of Sapporo (cant recall the name now), shopping malls etc. Basically just taking our time relaxing and soaking up the culture...

Sunflowers in Sapporo

Fountain in Sapporo gardenI cant get enough of the Hokkaido melon!
Day 9 - Sapporo - Singapore

End of our trip - Home sweet home. Kaelyn, here we come! Papa and Mama miss you!

Hokkaido - August 2008 (Day 1 - Day 4)

I finally got down to writing about our Hokkaido trip. It was a trip as a couple after we had Kaelyn. We had contemplated bringing her along but after thinking about the logistics, we decided against it. In terms of the timing, we planned it such that it was after her first birthday celebration, and coincided with the time I could take my mandatory block leave of 2 weeks. So first week will be for the trip and 2nd week to come back and spend time with Kaelyn in case she forgets me after our 8 day absence.

Here are some photos and what we were up to during the 8 days, enjoying our little break from our daughter.

Day 1 - Chitose, Furano (1 Aug 08)
We flew from Singapore into Chitose airport and from there, took a train all the way to Furano (land of flowers). At Furano station, we collected our rented car and proceeded to look for our accomodation near the Furano ski area. Till now I still didnt quite remember why i booked a place near the ski area (which is out of the way) when it's summer... We still had some time before the sun set for a short visit to Farm Tomita, followed by the famous Gengkhis Khan BBQ dinner. I still can remember how the lamb, chicken, pork liver etcy tasted.. yummy!!!


Day 2 - Around Furano, Asahikawa (2 Aug 08)
The weather on the 2nd day wasnt very good, so we postponed a second visit to Farm Tomita (we had only visited part of the farm the day before). So we drove round visiting cheese and wine factories in Furano before deciding to head to Asahikawa, the second biggest city in Hokkaido (after Sapporo). Along the way to Asahikawa, we made 2 fantastic discoveries - a lovely field of lavendars (although starting to dry up) and another flower farm, Kami Furano farm.

Field of Lavendar and scenic background
Kami Furano flower farm

GPS - the greatest invention for all drivers (or rather drivers like me with no sense of direction!)

With the GPS, no need for maps, no need for a navigator while the other drives, no need to worry about getting lost in a foreign land!

Some photos at the Asahiyama zoo. Here, we could get real close to the animals!


Day 3 - Furano, Sounkyo (3 Aug 08)
On the third day, the weather was slightly better, and we went back to Farm Tomita before setting out for Sounkyo (a place with natural waterfalls and gorges). Along the way, we stopped by the 3D Trick Museum. We reached Sounkyo in the evening and enjoyed our first hot spring bath in this trip at our accomodation. It was so relaxing and heavenly!

Farm Tomita

3D Trick museum - David's actually standing in front of a painting

And I am sitting on a small stool in front of a painting of the armchair - not actually sitting on the chair...

Day 4 - Sounkyo, Sapporo (4 Aug 08)
I like Sounkyo best in this trip - lovely scenery (waterfalls, mountains etc). This is also the place where David dropped his SLR camera and damaged his lens = ( He was so upset the whole day that we decided to go hunt around Sapporo that evening for a repair shop or to by a standby lens. We eventually bought a simple lens at Bic Camera in Sapporo. By the time we had dinner, it was already almost 10pm...

Beautiful scenery at Sounkyo

Tired after spending 2 - 3 hours looking for camera lens