Day 1.......
We arrived at Chitose airport, which is one of four airports on the island, direct from Taipei on a four hour flight. Its 10am and we were greeted with bright sunshine but cold, -15C! We left Taipei at +15C.
Our guide wasted no time and took us to our resort after lunch, where we had a lot of fun tobagganing.Tomamu is a premium resort with excellent skiing facilities and a world famous "Ice village"
We spent the evening in the Ice village where the temp was at -20C. I have only seen something similar to this in a James Bond movie. It was cool!
Day 2............
Next morning, we went to what was a golf course in the summer and now a winter wonderland in the winter. We enjoyed horseback riding, snowmobiling, drove ATVs on snow, and a huge inner tube ride. It was -15C and again, sunny. We were lucky so far because Hokkaido has been battered with snow storms non stop since November, enroute to a record cold winter and its only January.
One of the good things about Asian tours is the food. We have three great meals everyday, and we were never hungry. Plenty of seafood in Hokkaido of course, and yes, really fresh sashimi!
With so much food consumed, obviously we needed to visit the bathrooms often, and that is a real pleasure here in Japan, unlike travelling in Taiwan where we dread about doing our business. They are the cleanest washrooms I have ever seen. It is so clean that I can eat my lunch in there, no kidding. All toilets have built in bidets. What more can you ask for when its -20C outside and here you are, sitting on a warm toilet with warm water gushing all over your buttocks!
We visited a shrine after lunch, not my cup of tea since I really don't give a damn about dead Japanese soldiers after what they did during WW2 in China. That's all I will say about that. Next....
Shortly after, we arrived in Sapporo, where it held the winter olympics in 1972. Here in the video is a former government building, modelled after the American baroque style, built in the 1850s shortly after Japan opened up to foreign trading.
In a few weeks, there is a famous Snow festival here. We went to the Sapporo TV tower which was built the year I was born, and savored the beautiful night view of the city.
Again, outside temp is around -20C, and with the wind blowing, the wind chill factor is about -35C. Brrrrrrrrr....
Day 3
Morning call as usual at 6:30am, breakfast at the hotel, and then head out for another fun filled day. Our luck finally ran out this morning, we were greeted with blowing snow. We left the city of Sapporo and headed towards the town of Otaru.
On the way, we stopped at another ski hill and took the gondola up to the mountain top to see the natural beauty and the coastline of Hokkaido. This was the coldest hour of our entire trip: -35C with wind blowing. My fingers nearly froze when holding my camera for only about a minute. Fortunately, it was lunch time and it was shabu shabu, perfect!
Otaru is a quaint little town with historic sites dating back to the 1850s when foreigners were allowed to come to Japan. Many buildings were influenced architecturally by the west, and we felt at home here. Winter is a very busy time here in Hokkaido for tourists as bus loads after bus loads swarmed these sightseeing places. Imagine what it would be like a few months ago before mainland tourists stopped coming to Japan? According to our guide, the tourist industry is down at least 50% without the reds.
We stayed at a hot spring resort and it was a treat. We walked around the hotel in kimonos, and the public hot spring bathhouse was special. The smell of sulphur and the warm mineral water was soothing after a long day battling the elements outside in the sub zero weather.
The resort is very traditional, and that means we would sleep on tatamis. Surprisingly comfortable. The cold & dry weather had me worried because our family has a history of skin problems. But there is a local ointment called "Horse oil", made and sold here only in Hokkaido, is a wonderful moisturizer and skin healer, perfect for eczema sufferers or those suffer from skin cracks and rashes. We brought a few jars back, and they are not cheap, about $50us for a small jar! Worth every penny me thinks.
Day 4
First visit today was "Hell valley", an active volcano with hot natural springs. The strong smell of sulphur permeatted the frigid mountain air. If it wasn't for the noisy footsteps of sightseers, this would be a serene oasis.
We arrived Hakodate, which is a seaside town south of Sapporo, with more dated western style buildings. Temp is much warmer here because the town is in the southernest point of Hokkaido. Outside temp was just below freezing. Here we visited an ocean park.
We had a special treat as two turtles were mating. Cool.
Another hot pot lunch, another great meal here in Japan. Enough is enough, in five days, I have gained 7 pounds. No worries, I have learned to manage my weight real good these days. It would only take me two days of exercise to lose all those 7 pounds. In fact, as I am posting this today, which is only 48 hours since we returned home, I have already lost a total of 10 pounds. Amazing but true. No special diet, just work extra hard in the gym. Speaking of training, anyone wanting to become super fit in six months should watch this video, very inspiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGL9Wy08T0U
After lunch, we saw an active volcano with a frozen river. This winter wonderland thing is becoming boring, ho hum......
According to our guide, the world's three best night view are: Napoli Italy, Hong Kong Victoria Peak, & Hakodate of Hokkaido Japan.
Day 5
Our final day morning was spent in a convent, built in 1935 after the original built in 1890 was destroyed in fire. This Catholic landmark is home to 90 nuns who are self sustained, growing their own food and selling the extras for profits.
The convent grounds are meticulously kept, and the buildings are well maintained. Hard to imagine we were in Japan while pacing quietly inside the compound. Foreigners were not treated nicely when they first arrived in Japan 150 years ago. In fact, many were slaughtered simply because they were outsiders. It took nearly 40 years before foreigners were accepted and tolerated in the Japanese society, thanks to those pioneers who sacrificed so much to pave the paths for those who followed their footsteps.
Hakodate has a famous fish market and we surely would not miss that. King crab, salmon, oyster, squid, shrimp, you name it....
A real special treat was the squid catch. We paid $8us and Frankie caught a fresh squid from the tank. It took less than a minute to cut and clean the squid before it was sashimi for us. It was still moving when we dipped it in soy sauce and wasabi, and continued to wiggle inside our mouths. It was weird, but very fresh and very tasty.
Our final meal for the trip and we headed to the airport to fly home. It was a fantastic vacation, one which exceeded my expectation. Would love to see Hokkaido in summer months.
