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Today is our last day in Hokkaido before flying to Tokyo and eventually back to Singapore. There is nothing much along the way from Akan to Memanbetsu Airport so we are able to wake up a bit later, enjoy our Onsen and then breafast.
Breakfast at the hotel is good, with a wider spread of food as compared to the breakfast buffets at other hotels. As we still have some time to spare before the airport check in timing, we are able to walk around the lake and town and see their beauty in broad daylight.
This lake is prettier than Lake Abashiri. However it is also more commercialized and thus more crowded. There is also a town built around the lake unlike Abashiri where the town is a good 2 to 3 km away. We spotted several ducks feed fishes by the lake side but unfortunately, I was not fast enough the capture the scene. However, I am already rather happy with the view of the lake I captured. This picture was taken from the window of my room.
This is a view of Hotel Hannayuka from the opposite side of the lake.
Other than this hotel, there are also several hotels built around the lake side, offering splendid views of this beautiful lake – lake Akan. Thus, for those who wants to visit this place, accommodation should not be a problem as long as you are willing to pay.
Not long after, we are on our way to the domestic airport – Memanbetsu Airport to take a plane to Toyko. The journey took us 1 hour plus through Bihoro. For people taking the same route, I would advice to give a little bit of allowance for this trip for the air port is some distance away from AKan.
Thanks to Prime travels for making the arrangement to return the car at Mamanbetsu. The extra $100 plus charges is worth it as the car took us to places we would never have the chance to visit on tour buses.
My parting shot is a shot at Memabetsu town form the window of the plane. 🙂
I will not be blogging about my stay in Tokyo Shinjuku. But I just want to mention that I got a realtively cheap accomodation at Hotel Sunlite Shinjuku. The rooms although small, but are already relatively bigger compared to the other hotels in Tokyo area. The hotle is also located very convinently within 15 minutes walk from the Tokyo Shinjuku JR station. All in all a value for money hotel.. 🙂
Ok .. That is it … My 9 days in Hokkaido …:)
Hope you had enjoyed reading as I had enjoyed the trip. 🙂
Breakfast as not too bad …. but not as sumptuous as dinner. Think Japanese like to start their day simple.
Anyway after a hot spring bath and breakfast, we took a quick walk around the area taking photos of the hotel and the lake. Time is of the essence today as we plan to cover a very big loop, to travel along the coast all the way up to Shiretoko (near the North eastern tip) and then back down to Akan. Distance to be covered is going to be in terms of hundreds of km… so it is best to set off early. And did I mention? Today will we be on a nature trail. But first, lest do the wonderful hotel Abashirikoso some justice .. here is a photo of the hotel in brought day light .. as you can see .. it sits by the Abshiri lake (here is a pic of the lake totally covered with snow) … a perfect resort for people who want to rest and relax by the lake with no worries .. (at least for that few days).
After refueling the car back to full tank, we head back north and drove along the coast way. We basically took to the highway 244 and 334. After what seems like eternity, we arrived at our first destination. Oshinkoshin Falls.(another site)
If you think the waterfalls I had seen for the past few days are magnificent, wait till you see this one …. You would be speechless.This is rated one of Japan’s top 100 water falls. This water fall is just by the coast and the water cascades down a rocky surface approximately 4 to 5 stories high. The water branches into 2 distinct falls half way down and is also called “forked beautiful fall”. The interesting thing about this beautiful is that there is no plunge pool and you can get really close to the waters if you do not mind getting a little wet. After traveling down the rocky surface, the water cascades elegantly into the big ocean. My pics actually do not do the falls justice. Some one posted a You Tube video of this fall and you can access it here.
After leaving the beautiful fall behind, we made our way to Shiretoko, (another wiki site) which is at the north eastern part of Hokkaido. It is a land of natural beauty unspoiled by commercialisation and carefully preserved natural habitat for many animals, like the brown bear, the red tail fox, the sika deer and many others. The area has been identified as one of the world heritage site by UNESCO. As you can see from my pictures, the efforts that are taken to preserve this ecosystem. The roads leading in to the national park will only be opened from 9am to 430pm, so that the animals within the national park will not be disturbed. In order for us not to be trapped within the nature reserve, we have to move fast.
Our first stop in Shiretoko is naturally its 5 lakes. This website will show you the flora and fauna that can be found within the 5 lakes. For people visiting this place, you can either drive here yourself or take a public bus. For drivers, you have to pay for your parking and enterance fee.
We viewed the area from afar on top of a viewing gallary built like a broad walk that stretches into the marshes. There we could only see the first lake and the surround area. Not feeling satisfied, we decided to take a nature hike to view the various lakes up close. The hike is about 3 to 4 km long by foot and would generally take 2 hours to complete. The walk was totally worth it. The scenery at each lake is very different but equally mesmerizing. It is here that I get the feeling spring had arrived. We bumbed into one or two wild deers during our track… but luckily no brown bears.. piew. Oh yea .. if you plan to come to this place in spring, you might want to wait till late May as some parts of the nature reserved is closed as the ice on the walking trail had not melted.
As the journey is long, we decide to forgo taking solid food for lunch, surviving on packed biscuits and water. Anyway .. the winding mountain road takes my appetite away and even induces me to vomit a few time. Luckily along the way, the various wildlife that we saw, took away my compulsion to puke my guts out. We saw numerous deers along the way and were lucky enough to spot 2 foxes. The other fox had a prey in its mouth and was moving swiftly into cover when we spotted it. It was too late to take out my camera to take the shot.
After visiting the 5 lakes, we back tracked a bit into the mountain pass, called the Shiretoko Pass. This pass is at 750m above sea level and connects the eastern shore and the western bay of the Shiretoko peninsula. What can I say, it is another breath taking view up here. But because the pass is at a higher altitude, snow area this area had not fully melted either. In fact, most of the snow had not melted and it was mentioned in one of the guide books that snow in this area can even be seen as late as July. So like 2 city kids who had never seen snow, we made several stops along the way to have a battle of snow ball. 🙂 It was freezing … but fun.
Finally we reached the mountain pass and we were no disappointed by the view…. if the strong and cold winds do not kill us first. 🙂
The original plan was to go through the pass and arrive at the other side of the coastal road. However we were rather concerned about the time taken for such a long journey and so we back tracked back to highway 334 to cut across the route to Sunayu. Along the way, we stopped at Furepe falls.
Furepe falls (another site) lie deep within the forest. Between the carpark and the fall itself, we had to cover 3km of forest track. We were on the look out for bears… but fortunatlely did not spot any. Perhaps we went too early in Spring, the ice from the mountains had not melted and there was no water fall but a sheer cliff. You can view the splendor of the fall from this You Tube video.
Sadly, we made our way back to our car and continue with the journey. The rest of the journey was uneventful. We eventually reached Sunayu at around 4pm in the afternoon. The sky suddenly turned dark and before you know it … it was raining cats and dogs … and of course .. the temperature dropped another few notches south. Undaunted, we still make our way out of the car, carrying our umbrella to experience the hot bath of Sunayu.
Sunayu is actually a hot spring onsen (hot bath) by the bay of Lake Kussharo. The sand along the bay is jet black and after you dig a hole into the ground, hot water automatically rises to the surface. The amazing thing is that although the bay contains hot underground water, the lake is actually ice cold. We warm our feet by digging into the sand. It is a pity that it was raining that day, if not I would have dug a big hole to soak my whole body in ..
Hee hee … as you can see … we are not the only crazy ones, visiting the hot spring in this kinda weather…The rain shows no sign of stopping and with the dark clouds .. the sky is becoming dark fasted than usual. We quickly departed from this place to our final destination Hotel Hanayuuka at Lake Akan. As you can see .. the journey is not easy at all. The road is winding and mountainous and because of the humidity and cold tempreture, mist started forming. Yep it is a pretty distressing picture…. darkening sky, poor visibility and terrible road… The mist actually came in very fast. Within a few minutes, visibility detoriated to only just a few meters ahead. We dare not even to stop for a second to take a picture of the beautiful sunset. I could only take pot shots in the car with my wife driving.
By the time we reached the hotel … it was quiet quiet dark … we proceeded straight for dinner as we were absoultly hungry! Like Abashirikoso, Hotel Hannayuka sits on the bank of Lake Akan. As it was already dark, we could not see the lake properly. We could only explore the lake tomorrow morning.
Dinner is not as sumptous as the previous two nights, however it does have variety. It is a hot pot / steam boat (called nabe) meal with a buffet spread. Not too shabby .. but cannot compared to the previous two nights … oh well.
After dinner it is time to walk around town before taking a hot bath and calling it a night. Remember what I said about all towns around hot spring resorts look the same? This place just reminds me of Noburibetsu.
I took quiet a few photos today… you can find them separately at site 1 and site 2.
We woke up slightly earlier today as the journey is going to be slightly longer today. After a so so breakfast (the breakfast pales so much in comparison to the dinner last night, I was kinda disappointed) we retrieve our car from the hotel car park and we are off again. OH yea .. did I mention? Asahikawa hotel also made use of the elevator car parking system and this time round I got the hotel attendant to help park my car in. The amazing thing is when we park the car, the car went into the elevator head in…. I kept the car keys for the night. However when we retrieve the car the next morning, the car was facing outwards. I am still wondering how the hotel staff had shifted the car without the car keys …. Anyway . parking per night was 500 yen.
Basically today’s journey is going to be a flower hunt. 🙂 Our route will take us to 2 famous parks in North Eastern Hokkaido where flowers are supposed to be in bloom. After leaving Asahikawa, we headed north again towards Takinoue Park. As we headed north and into the country side, the temperature drops noticeably and we started to see leftover snow on the banks of the road.
Finally we reached Takinoue Park around 11 plus (close to 3 hours of long drive). Although the flowers are not fully bloomed yet, the sight is already very spectacular, save for a few bald patches here and there. Here, the whole area included the hills are covered with a flower called the pink moss / Moss Phlox. It is a very hardy pink little flower that tends to grow spread very fast, like a weed. But the flowers are very pretty and to see a whole hill filled with the same flowers, it is as if you are immersing yourself into a sea of pink petals. Look at the picture and you will know that I am not exaggerating. It was said that the flower was introduced into this park after a sever blizzard killed all the Cherry blossom trees in the region. What started as a single plant soon spread and covered the whole area turning the hills into a sea of pink with the turn of every spring. (As the flowers have a white color variant, sometimes, the park attendants would arrange the white and pink flowers to form pictures. The one I saw in a brochure was a white Cow in a sea of pink. could not find the picture though.)
The pink moss are only about 80% to 90% in bloom at the time of our visit. The flowers will generally be in full bloom some time towards the middle or late May. Well if 80% bloom is already so spectacular, I wonder how 100% full bloom would look like .. hee hee .
Bidding farewell to the cute pink little flowers, we made our way northwards again towards Monbetsu.(official website of town) This is the place where people generally come to during winter to travel across the sea/drift ice. It was said that during winter, the sea coast around the area would be frozen with sea ice. Although it is not winter nor are there drift / sea ice, but there is a sea ice Museum called Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum (photo of the musume)where various studies on the formation of sea ice are done and explained to the public in layman’s term. It is also act as an observatory where visitors can view Sea ice forming along the coast during winter in the comfort of a confined and warm place. There is actually a lot of information behind the formation of sea ice, different from the formation of ice cubes in your fridge. One thing is sea water has a higher content of salt and that complicates the ice formation process and changes the structure of the ice formed. More information on sea Ice can be found here. Visitors who plan to visit the museum, do take note of the change in operating hours for the different seasons.
What interest me in this place is that there is a low temperature simulation room where the temperature is kept at a constant minus 20 degrees Celsius. We had to put on extra clothing and gloves when we visit the simulation room. It was not a bad as I thought, primarily because there is not wind. It was like walking into a very large freezer… (wrong … think even the temperature in the average temperature in the freezing compartment of your freezer is not that low)
There the attendant brought us to a corner and showed us ice crystals forming at the side of a thick window. Then she blew bubbles and we literally watched the bubble crystallized / freeze in mid air and dropping onto the floor.
We also saw ice tombs of fishes and plants. Basically the museum tried to show us how things look like in very low temperature. They encased various marine creatures in blocks of ice and leave it on display … impressive… but I keep having the thoughts that I am walking in an ice tomb … oh well… see my pictures and you will understand. (could not take many photos as my fingers are frozen solid and it is very difficult to hold a camera steady with all the thick woolen gloves.)
Leaving the ice tomb (opps..) I mean museum, we make our way to somewhere more cheery. We travelled along the sea coast of Monbetsu before turning into Kamiyubetsu to visit the kamiyubetsu Tulip Park. (another official site and pictures). If you think the tulips you saw during our early part of the trip is nice, then this park is 10 times better. Entrance / parking fee is 500 yen per person.
The tulips are grown in mass abundance here and the different colors are neatly arranged into rows forming a big rainbow when seen from afar. This lifted my spirits considerably. unfortunately the sky is overcast and my pictures did not turn out a good as I would have liked. The tulips are for sale and so if you are interested, you can specify which plant you want and bring it home in a pot. The park hold a Tulip fair every year from 1 May to early June so if you plan to visit this place, try to coincide with the fair. You will not be disappointed with the flowers. Enjoy the photos.
By the time we left the tulip park it was already 5 plus. It is too late to visit Lake Saroma or Cape Notoro and we do not relish the thought of driving in the dark in the country side. So we decide to make straight for our hotel which is also another 80km away from the Tulip park. However along the way we did stop by one part of Lake Saroma as we spotted this pair of crane frolicking by the bank. This lake is special as there is only a very thin (150 to 500m) sand bar bank separating the lake from the sea of Okhotsk…. The pic may look like it is taken at the shore of the sea .. but trust me . it is actually a lake..
We arrived at Hotel Abashrikoso in time for their dinner. This is a very big and nice ryokan style hotel by the side of the lake. From the hotel room, you will oversea the lake and its natural surrounding. The staff speaks little English and there are even free computer terminals at the reception area for guest to use. All in all a 5 star hotel.
And the dinner is good !!! as good as the one in Asahikawa… if not even better… (in fact, dinner seems to be getting better and better ..) just take a look at the spread !
The way they prepare their food is superb … not even Waraku or SunMoon restaurant comes close to the taste …. yum.
The rest of my pics can be found here.
Today is the day we deviated totally from the original itinerary. According to what was originally planned, the main group would tour places of interest around Sapporo and then rest 1 more night at Sapporo before heading back to Chitose to return the car and take a connecting flight back to Singapore.
Me and my wife felt that the tour is too short to end this way and thus decided to extend a few more day to tour the eastern part of Hokkaido. Thus after bidding farewell to a few group mates whom we got to know during the first 5 days, we set out and are on our own.
As we reached Sapporo too late last night, we set out to explore the city a bit. We passed by Odori park a few times. (There is quiet a bit of literature on this park online. Another site is this)The aerial view of park only looks really impressive however we are not able to find a viewing gallery that gave us that view and thus no pics was taken. The closest thing we took is the Sapporo TV tower which is the tower with the clock in my previous entry.
We walked around the vicinity of Sapporo and as soon as the Old Hokkaido Government building was opened, we went in to take a look. The compound has a huge garden with lots of beautiful trees and flowers and the bright red building is smack right in the center. This building was constructed in 1888 but looks as if it is newly constructed. The conservation work done is pretty impressive, unless the building is a replica. Part of the building is opened to the public as a history documents library. We saw tombs of ancient maps and journals (pictures / drawings) that detailed the development of Sapporo.
After touring the museum, it was almost time to go. We made time for one last stop at the Sapporo Clock Tower. The tower used to be a drill hall of the former Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaido University). The clock tower has since been transformed into yet another museum. However everything is in Japanese and thus we did not spend much time there except to take a few photo.
This tower is rather elusive. Sandwiched between modern sky scrappers, it was almost impossible to spot. We were on the verge of giving up when out of no where, the building jumps out from between 2 buildings and smack us right in our face.
After the clock tower, it is time to head back to the country side again!! We retrieved our car from the hotel, bid our final farewells to our wonderful tour guides (not before we got them to teach us how to use the GPS to locate the nearest fuel station, food outlets, alternative routes, etc) and we are off.
Our first stop after Sapporo is about 60 to 70 km away, at another water fall called the Sandantaki. Do not mistaken this with Sangaitaki which I mentioned during my day 1. This falls is bigger, looks more majestic and is more secluded in the country side. (Other than some railings, there are hardly any shops set up here. Definately not a commercialised tourist spot. We can only view the falls from a safe distance as the rocks here have more or less been eroded away.
We next drove through some winding roads and a stretch of very long mountain tunnel (close to 2 to 3 km long) before reaching the outskirts of Furano (another site) which is situated somewhere in the middle of Hokkaido. And the reason for coming here is hee hee … the wine factory, the cheese factory and the jam factory. These are all the local produces of Furano.
Our first stop is the wine factory. Here you can find all the local wine produce. They have the usual red and white wine and also the more special lavender flavored white wine. We saw the wine bottling process and visited their underground wine cellar where the temperature was kept as a constant 15 degrees. You can constantly smell faint fragrances of red wine. They also set up a counters where you can sample their wine before purchasing. The lavender flavored white wine was very smooth and sweet. I was so impressed with the wine that bought 3 bottles back … I will worry about clearing the customs later .. 😛 For those who intend to visit this place, do take note of their opening hours as they change according to the seasons. Opening hours can be found here. Other than wine, they also sell grape juices and jams. They are nice and tasty… but perishable. So unless this is your last stop or you intend to consume the products during your trip, it is not practicable to buy.
We next make our way to the cheese factory. The map codes given to us did not lead us to the factory. Either it had shifted or the map code was wrong. Just when we were about to give up on the Cheese factory, we chance upon a road sign. We decided to follow our instinct and the road sign and viloa! we arrived at the car park of the cheese factory (another site)!! LUCKY man!
This factory is really big. They sell ice cream, pizza and of course cheese, milk and cheese cake. For a fee, you can experience the joy of manufacturing your own cheese. We are however, contented with sampling the cheese and viewing the manufacturing process. Of course after sampling the cheese (including one with squid ink flavor), we could not help it but purchase their cheese cake and milk and devour them instantly. No cheese cake I had eaten taste as good as those found here I swear … some more … they are so fresh! Their milk taste even better than the Meji milk sold in the super markets! It is thick, rich but yet you do not feel bloated after drinking it. It is definitely a site to visit for cheese and milk lovers!
By the time we finished tasting the cheese, Cheese cake, milk and ice cream, it was close to 4pm. We then continued our journey to a stretch of road called the Jet Coaster road. The road is so called for its many ups and downs and the slope between each ups and downs are quite huge. I do not think my photo can capture the intended effect. But I took this pic which I was at the peak of all the slopes and looking down on both sides. I off my engine and let the car roll off the peak and can you believe it .. the speed actually hit 100km/h without and engine running!!!
After having the cheap trill of roller coaster, we continued our journey to the city of Asahikawa. ( I keep thinking this should be the place where the Asahi beer was manufactured but I could not find any beer brewery) We drove straigh to our hotel for the night, Asahikawa Grand hotel.The hotel looks grand indeed with European furnishings and decorations.
Asahikawa is much like Sapporo. Just as crowded with buildings but not as conjested with people or vehicles. Anyway this is what the city looks like form my hotel window. The buildings just stretch on endless over the horizon. Talk about being densely packed.
Dinner at the hotel is unexpectantly good! We had a food set of Japanese fine dining and the food is oh so tasty ! I tell you .. the food alone will make the hotel stay worth it.. 🙂 We had everything from sashumi to tempura to japanese hot pot to Salmon don. Thinking of it now still makes my mouth waters.
After the hearty dinner, it is time to go for a walk to digest the rich food. Unfortunately the shops here close early. Could be due to the freezing temperature. As you can see from the photo. It is 10 degrees discounting the strong wind which when blowing on to you will reduce the temperature by another couple of degrees.
For more of my photos, you can follow this link.
We started the day going round the mountain we saw the previous night while stopping by the side of the road a few times to take pictures. That mountain really look magnificent as a back drop against the various foreground. In fact … the view is so stunning that I simply had to stop the car, set up the tripod and include my wife and myself in the picture ! ha ha
Following the GPS, we reached Fukidashi Park soon after. This park is famous for its spring water which gushes out forming a mini water fall. The water is said to have originated from the ground water of Mount Yotei. Before we even reach the park, there are hawkers setting up stall by the entrance selling water bottles of all shapes and sizes for people to take away the spring water .. can you beat that !
Although the spring water is the main attraction, the scenery around the park is not too bad either. We spent some time walking under the thick canopy of trees enjoying the serenity. Before we hit the road again, we filled up a full water bottle of fresh spring water for the journey ahead… tastes even better than Evian.
To reserve more time for Otaru town, we decide to skip the next stop on the itinerary, Nikka Whiskey Factory. Anyway .. I would not drink and drive at the same time and my wife is not a whiskey fan… so not much loss. By skipping this stop, it made the journey to Otaru town horrendously long. Luckily we took frequent breaks along the way …and we chance upon a Cherry blossom plantation. Could not resist it … so I made a small detour into the plantation to take a few quick shots!
Reached Otaru town close to 1230. Located the car park which Prime Travels had indicated …. I realized that Prime Travels had already did their leg work for us .. the car park indicated is one of the cheapest in the area (100 yen for every 30 mins block). I later found out that you can save a bit on car park charges by parking your car at some of the local restaurants while having your lunch … but I found it too troublesome to ship the car here and there .
Ok … Town of Otaru … it is definitely a tourist attraction. The interesting places to visit are limited to 2 streets. There are plenty to look, from glass ware factories (for a fee, you can even make your own glass decoration / accessory – from the melting, blowing, cooling and coloring of the glass bits) to music box factory to art gallery and museums. There is even a few hello Kitty coffee shops where you can enjoy a hot cuppa and later bring home the hello kitty coffee cups and saucers as souvenirs.
The stalls and buildings are a juxtapose of ancient Japanese and European (Victorian to be exact) architecture. This made the whole street very Disney land like and very dreamy. Hack .. they even have horse carts and rickshaw pullers ferrying tourists up and down the street. This is definitely THE place to visit. For first timers, I would recommend you sparing 2 to 3 hours for this little town. You will not regret it.
This site provides a 2007 map of the little town.
For lunch we headed to a small authentic family restaurant highly recommended by our friendly tour guides. I can no longer remember the full name.. it is called Fu Shi something … by the main road … got pic (though not very helpful .. haha) The lunch although simple was one of the tastiest I had … I had Salmon roe again .. and this time round I find that the taste is even better than the one I had in Kani Ichiban. Yum yum … be ready to fork out about S$50 plus for a meal for 2 though …
We lost track of all time in this beautiful little town, especially in the music box factory and glass ware factory. By the time we leave Otaru, it is already close to 4. We were rushing to go down to Ishiya Chocolate factory before it closed. Luckily the journey did not take very long and it was made shorter by the express way. (We were going at 120 to 130km on the expressway ). Parking was free at the factory … but that was because we bought the chocolates … not sure if it will be free if we left empty handed … well ..
The factory is famous for their Shiroi Kibito (白色恋人）chocolate. Do not worry about the ban on its chocolates (for more regarding the ban, read here) .. it had been lifted. The compound is big with a nicely decorated garden and the flowers were in full bloom. Viewing of the chocolate manufacturing process required money and timing. So we decided to give the chocolate making viewing a miss.
Dusk is approaching and temperature is falling fast … so we decided to move on to our next and last destination for the day .. Sapporo Grand Hotel in Sapporo … of course.
Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido and it is not difficult to see why … traffic slowed considerably due to the exponential increase in numbers of cars by the road. Parking is expensive and gone are the open parking lots… They make use of a elevator system the maximise the use of parking land. Trust me .. if you have trouble with parallel parking .. parking into an elevator is worse… the allowance from the wall to each side of your car is only 3 to 5 cm and you can only be guided by a mirror.
Anyway … once when we reached Sapporo it is already 6 30 pm. Dinner is not catered for today and we made our way to the famous ramen street. Sounds grand .. but it is actually a very narrow alley filled with only ramen stalls. You get to sit in front of the chef while he prepares your ramen .. Competition is steep and so every stall’s standard is more or less there. We just choose one that is not too crowded or fully booked or reserved and tuck in…
After dinner, we walked around the town. Sapporo is easy to navigate as the streets are referred to as coordinates instead of given fanciful names. So a building at North 2 East 3 can easily be located once you find out which street you are at. This is the first real town we see in Hokkaido with restaurants, shopping malls and sophisticated office buildings, bathed in colorful neon lights. The people here are also dressed differently. It is like a big CBD area. Anyway it is late and freezing .. so we head back to the hotel to plan our route for the next day … Next day is going to be exciting as we are deviating from the planned itinerary and extending the trip on our own. Sorry guys .. no shots of the hotel as I think the website’s photoes are better than mine.
The rest of my pics are here.
Today we will depart from the south western tip of Hokkaido and travel back up to the central area (back towards the direction of Chitose).
The journey would be long and arduous as we would have visited most of the places on the itinery when we drove down south. So feeling adventurous and willing to take a few detours here and there, we asked our group mates for new places to have our lunch and visit.
We totally skipped the Kelp (Konbu) Museum and proceeded straight to Onuma Quasi National Park. (another site) This is a park that is centered around lake Onuma and is actually a marsh land and yes … Onuma Prince hotel (the hotel we stayed in night 2) is located at the other side of the lake… so that actually gives you an idea how big this lake or marsh land is. Unfortunately on that morning, there was some Marathon event and the recommended car park in our itinerary was not accessible. in the end we paid 500 yen for the parking after going round the vicinity.
I would have expected much more from the national park … but I guess that morning , the sky is extremely cloudy and it makes the lake very gloomy. The cold winds did not help either.
The interesting thing about this part of the lake is that it is connected by lots of small islands linked by bridges, forming a pretty picture. But like I said, on that day .. it reminded me more of a marsh land instead.
We did not stay there for long and drove off for lunch at a crab market (kani ichiban) hopefully to lift our spirits there. This place was recommended by one of our team mates.. they were very helpful. They gave us the map codes even recommended one of the restaurants there. Luckily the place was not that far out of the way and we located the area easily. The whole place was beautifully decorated by rows of colorful tulips as well but the flowers are not in full bloom yet. The car park was huge and I guess this must be a tourist hot spot and the car park was to cater to bus loads of tourist hungry for crab meat.
Anyway lunch there was good! The unagi (eel) bento was delicious and not to mention the salmon roe! wonderful! I have not tasted such fresh salmon roe in Singapore … ha ha …
While we were enjoying our lunch, we received an SMS from yet another team mate informing us that a certain park’s cherry trees are in full bloom. We got the map codes, pin point the location on our GPS and we were on our way after lunch… I felt so blessed to have such kind and adventurous team mates during this trip. I guess this is also what makes the trip very different from others and why I enjoyed it so much.
The park is called Sobetsu park (photos of cherry trees in bloom) and the trees are all cherry trees. I am not sure what variety of cherry trees these are … but definitely differnt from the kind I saw earlier.
After the park, we made our way to a broken town called Nishiyama town (sorry guys cannot find any webby on this town only some pictures). What is interesting is about this town is that the town was devastated by earthquake and volcano eruptions some time around March 2000. The entire devastated town was then preserved as a tourist spot letting people witness the raw power of the quake then. We can even see thick smoke of sulphur escaping from the fissures by the side of the road. All in all, the site is not pretty but educational. It is not pretty because I keep thinking how many people had died here during that very eruption and earth quake… mobid yes… but I cannot help it.
After the depressing scene you would have tot we had lost all our appetite… but wrong you are. Nothing comes between me and my ice cream. Especially ice cream from Lake Hill Farm. (sorry guys .. no English version). It is a small stall by the side of the road selling many variety of yogurt and Ice cream. to be able to survive in such a ulu place selling only yogurt and ice cream their ice cream and yogurt must be very nice indeed and after tasting them … I know why .. for it is totally yummy !! The scenery is great too, with a mountain as a back drop. ( I sort of suspect that mountain is Mount Showa… but never got the chance to confirm).
After a wonderful feast of (cheese and milk flavored) ice cream and (banana) yogurt, we drove towards the mountain, towards our resort for the night Rusutsu N & S hotel. This resort is extremely huge. with a north wing, south wing and a tower all located at different places. This is also the only resort that I forfeited the chance for a hot bath as the facility is located too far away from my room. This resort is a ski resort and functions as an amusement park and a golf club all rolled into one. Very impressive indeed with an indoor merry go round and an indoor music fountain!
We are also spoilt for choice when it comes to dinner. In the end we decide to go for the French fine dining again .. 🙂 and the standard is just as good, if not better.
The rest of my photos for Day 4.
We work up early to get a good soak at the public hotbath at the hotel. Their hotspring pools are not as extensive as the Mahoroba Hotel as they are not a hot spring resort but the effect is just as relaxing. The breakfast is standard fair with all the items you would expect from a typical buffet spread, a far cry from the wonderful dinner we had last night.
We were told not to eat too much food during breakfast as our first stop for the day is Hakodate Morning market. (another site) The market place is a combination of many stalls selling all kinds stuff from fresh food (fruits, crabs, scallops, dried cuttlefish, ice cream) to flowers etc. The stalls normally open from from 5am to noon and it is as much a tourist hot spot as a market to the locals. Hack! we even saw students being attached to the stalls as apprentices. The food stuff looks really fresh, especially the sea food! We even saw crabs crawling on the floor and the hawkers / stall owners catching live scallops and barbecuing them in front of us. Although I am already full from the hotel breakfast, I still managed to buy a slice of melon to taste. It is super sweet and refreshing! Nothing like the honey dew you see / taste in your supermarket. The price is also extraordinary as well … (1 full melon for 8,000 to 10,000 yen and 1 slice for 200 yen.)
After the morning feast of dried cuttlefish, melon, bbq scallop and ice cream, we made our way to Matsumae Castle. The journey took the better half of the later morning. It is a good 100 km away from the market and we drove along the coast line all the way down south west. Luckily the monotonous journey was broken by a group of hawkers who gathered around a vacant spot of land selling some food stuff and tuilps. The whole open area was decorated like a carnival and of course, thanks to global warming, the tuips had bloomed early too!
Finally we reached the castle. I must say the castle is really out of the way. And the drive there and back is via the same route. Thus we were really seriously considering if the trip would be worth it or should we just go to Goryokaku park which we missed yesterday. Luckily we were not disappointed for within the castle compound, is a very very very big patch of Sakura garden. To cover the whole garden would take us 4.5 to 5 km by foot and 2 to 4 hours. In the end we wandered around the garden, taking photos again (what is new right?) and totally missed the castle interior. After all we have been to the Osaka castle .. and well the castles in Japan are largely similar… at least to me.
By the time we leave the castle to Hakodate town, (another site) it was already close to 2 in the afternoon. Driving back the same route does seem a bit boring but well … that is the only route to and fro the castle. Hakodate town is a beautiful harbor town (especially around the bay area), complete with wharfs, go downs, warehouses and seagulls but minus the smell.
We had fun visiting the various famous red warehouses which were converted into shop houses and shopping arcade (where we spent the majority of our time). We walked the Motomachi slope and even saw a couple taking their bridal photos along the slope.
As suual, before we knew it, dusk had come and it is time to head back to our hotel (Hanabishi) to enjoy a sumptuous Japanese set dinner.
Unfortunately we do not have the timeto visit the hot bath before dinner and will have to visit it only after our night trip back from mount Hakodate. This is the only exception where we drove at night but even then, we dare not drive up to the mountant top. For people who are more daring, they open the road up to the mountain top after 10pm. For us, we drove to the rope way station (parking is FOC) and took the rope way up. And be warned… the gale up there is strong and chilly. I almost got frost bite up there holding on to my tripod. BUt I felt it is all worth it. The night view is simply magnificant. (My camera cannot capture even half of it I swear). After which we headed back to the bay area to take some more photos. By then the stalls had closed (they do close rather early… around 6pm) but luckily the neon lights are still on and the red brick warehouse against the bay view just makes the place very romantic and fairy tale like… a must go for couples!
As usual, the rest of my pics can be found here.
Day 2 started off with a soak in the hot spring bath and a hearty Japanese style buffet breakfast. And we are on our way… WE followed the itinerary given to us and very soon, after travelling some mountain roads, we reached our next destination… Lake Kuttara. WE stop our car by a Cherry blossom tree and took a short break while enjoying the tranquil morning scenery around the lake. .
Before I ramble on and on… I simply must show you guys the faithful GPS that guided me the whole trip and our friendly mascot the Prime Travels bear!
With the help of the GPS, we quickly made our way to our next destination Cape Chikyu (地球) It is only about 40 mins drvice from Lake Kuttara. The Day was perfect, not too sunny or too cloudy and we are able to take in the speldor of the cape. Standing there overlooking at the ocean does give me a sense of I am at the top of the world kindda feeling. And the wind…. oh so cold !
We had a freezing good time at the “top of the world”. We replenish our supply of water and snacks and we made our way to the recommended place for lunch .. They call it Harvester Yakumo. Pardon the Japanese webby. I could not find an English one. The place is a good 40 km away and took us nearly 1 hour of fast driving before we reach our destination. (The recommended timing is 1.5 hours but that is based on speed limit of 40 to 50km/h … well … most of the time we were driving around 60 to 80km/h depending on whether there were any police man around or not :P) Personally I had some trouble finding the place as the GPS sort of go haywire nearer the destination. The car indicator on the GPS “flew” out of the map and I had to go by instinct and road signs … but thank god I made it .. The place is scenic but what is more important is that the place is actually a big restruant serving pizzas and chicken and parking is free!! It was said that KFC’s Colonel Harland Sanders actually visited this place and taught them the secret recipe for their chicken … Well .. The chicken taste good and they had a few different flavors … better then KFC’s original and crispy chicken thighs! Never got to try their pizzas though. I simply do not have the stomach after hours of driving.
The next place is about 130 km away called the Oniushi park. It is a park full of Sakura (cherry blossom). Parking was free. But for guys driving there from Yakumo, do take note that there is a speed camera along the way. DO look out for it. From what I heard, the speeding fines in Japan are no joke.
Although the Sakuras had bloomed 2 weeks earlier than expected this year, we were in luck as some of the trees are still in full bloom!
We spent quiet a bit of time in this beautiful garden and by the time we are ready to leave, it is too late to visit the next destination which is the Goryokaku Tower / Park so we decided to give it a miss or risk getting to the hotel after dark. We are quiet paranoid about driving at night in Japan for some reason. The famous thing about Goryokaku park is its star shape design and its cherry blossoms. Since we had already enjoyed the cherry trees at Oniushi Park .. we felt that it should not be too bad giving the park a miss. And so we made our way to the Hotel (Onuma Prince Hotel) 1 hours earlier than indicated.
Time to enjoy a good hot soak and a wonderful dinner (the dinner took me by surprise. It was French fine dining) … what else is new rite? hee hee !
For more of my photos for this leg of the journey, you can follow this link here .
This post (and probably the next few) will be dedicated to my holiday trip. The northen tip of the land of the rising sun… Words would fail to describe the scenery (so I guess I would let my photos do most of the talking. We signed up with Prime Travels Pte Ltd for their Hokkaido Fly and Drive package. The trip was from 7 May to 18 May. Spring time, where the ice on the road just melted and the flowers started blooming. The air is sweet and crisp. What is only lacking is the chirping of birds … come to think of it, I do not recall seeing any birds there .. except only for occasional seagulls as I drove along the coast line. I guess birds are not that active yet … We were warned that the bears are active though, however, .. fortunately or unfortunately me and my wife did not encounter any grizzly / yogi/ brown bear. The first day was spent on the planes. The transfer took 2 to 3 hours and by the time we reached Chitose airport, it was already dark and there was nothing else to do except retire and sleep. Thankfully the hotel (New Chitose Hotel) is just next to the airport. On the first night, we were issued with a cash card for the car (for paying toll charges, a system similar to our ERP) and a local hand set to call our tour guides for help / msg our tour mates as and when we stumble upon any nice eating place or place of scenic beauty. And well the night was spent fiddling with the hand set… I tell you .. the Jap phone is so much better than the ones in Singapore … the screen is bigger and brighter and so much clearer. Here is a shot of my wife charging and fiddling with the phone, the hotel room and the view outside the hotel window .. not too shabby eh?
Day 2: rise and shine … after a buffet breakfast provided by the hotel, we were given a short briefing on how to use the GPS on the car, reminded to keep within the speed limit and we are off. It was rather hectic at first but all turned out well. WE made our way to the factory outlet first … Well … we are true blue singaporeans what … shopping comes first .. ( actually no lar … the way we plan our trip, we would not come back to Chitose any more … so this is our only chance to visit this outlet)
- Shopping….
Next we drove off to our first location on our initary. Lake Shikotsu This is part of Shikotsu-Toya National Park. Scenic and big park (too bad the parking was not free) And we are in time to catch some flowers in bloom too !
Stop over for lunch at a rest station called the Mushroom Kingdom for a piping hot bowl of soba with Mushroom tempura and we rushed off to our next destination call the sangaidaki (or 3 level waterfall: exact translation).
After enjoying the waterfall and resting for a while, we headed to our next destination, a free public foot hotbath called the Shirakiku no toko falls. It is outside a hotspring hotel/resort. Do not be fooled by the pics .. the water is really piping hot … can cook my leg ! You can see how red my leg is after the soak !
After cooking our legs .. it is time to head back to our hotel … the drive is some distance away and we need to take frequent rest stops and toilet breaks … and surprise surprise .. we saw unmelted snow (a bit dirty though) along the way … with the temperature around 20 degrees and the searing sun hitting on your face, you would have though the snow melted but no … snow there was … and this is not the only time we saw snow either ! By the time we reach the town of Noboribetsu, it was almost dark .. the temperature plummeted to around 10 plus degrees. Trust me .. when the wind blows .. it was really cold. The town was small and quiet .. a typical town that sprang up around hot spring resorts. Went for a full body soak at hotel Mahoroba ( another website) before dinner and went out to explore the town abit .. (sorry guys.. no pics of the hot baths!!) The hotel is a hot spring resort and has various pools for you to totally cook your self. There are pools where sulfur content is higher, acidic pool, therapeutic bubble bath, cold water, etc. Have fun hopping form one pool to another .. but remember to wash off the pool water from each bath first to avoid contanimating the next bath pool.
All photos had been scaled down to save space… the rest of the photos can be views here.
Finally I am back blogging … it has been a cool 2 months … and lots had happen and I am either too lazy to pen / type down my tots or too busy / preoccupied with other things ..
First things first … my trip to Hokkaido … it was a very much needed break !! I tell you .. the view is simply magnificent, breath taking, wonderful … the air is so fresh and crisp with the sweet sent of spring.. For one the trip is very much memorable as me and my wife drove the entire trip, taking in the beautiful scenery of the country site and city landscape on 4 wheels. I tell you .. the experience of going there on a coach and self drive is totally different … I will blog about it in time to come … very soon I hope …
Then after the trip …. my comp decide to give up on me … well .. .that was expected with it reaching 3 years old and after 2 plus weeks of total inactivity .. what to do … time to spend money … the most horrible thingy is that after I build up my system and installed it with WinXP and Ubuntu…. the colors on my printer goes bonkers. As you guys might know .. I am a photo enthusiast … the discrepancy between the colors of photos on my camera compared to the screen and to my computer print out totally drove me nuts .. For those who are grappling with a color managed work-flow / simply term digital dark room, you will under stand my headache and sleepless nights. (printer goes by magenta, yellow and cyan and screen is red green blue and to get them to sing the same tune is horrible for the uninitiated) Color spoofing simply refuse to work and I finally suspect that there is something wrong with my monitor and printer color profile. I simply had to get the color right .. but that is easier said than done … I wasted lots and lots of ink and photo quality paper print photos under different settings. Finally I decided to get a screen calibrator … set me back by a few hundred bucks .. but the money is well worth it ! I realise my current screen is too yellow and my print out cannot compensate the magenta and blue, etc. After the calibration, I began to see details on my screen like the outline of clouds or different shades of blue… something which I had not noticed before. And now .. my photo print outs are more true in their color … so that is one happy ending.
Third, a phone call which I had been waiting for 2 to 3 months finally came .. that had me worried for a while. Anyway that phone call means good news and I am on my way to a new job and hopefully a more balanced life style with more time to do the things I enjoy.
And that is where I am now …. happily taking a break before I commence my new job and well .. having this pockets of free time to do my blog and settle my photos.
See my next post regarding my trip to Hokkaido .. 🙂
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