Hokkaido'08!

Just got back from Hokkaido on the 12! WHoo.. that place is like so very peaceful, nice, beautiful, cold and everything pleasant! Got to experience snow for the first time in my 21 years and grace is really happy! :)) yay! Thank god the tour group had many many teenagers and people my age and all were fun-loving people! :)) -claps!-

Alright, so here are the pretty pictures form the places I've been to in this 7- day tour!

Day1:
Singapore-> Narita Airport

Day2:
i) Sharaoi Ainu Village
- saw the Ainu culture and precious heirlooms (very beautiful scenery there too!)
- couldnt get used to the night time there.. by 4, the sky is like so dark it looks like our 8 o clock already!
ii) Noberibetsu hotel
- This is like the first time to so many things!!! That night was the first tym i :
-> see falling snow, feel snow
-> wore a kimono
-> slept in tatami room (room with no beds but just a straw mat and comforter)
-> go to hotspring! (Hotspring rocks! hahah! this experience is like so cool.. woman and man goes into separate areas and then in there, we have to strip naked before we enter the bathing area. So we are only left with this pathetic small towel that barely covers much so end up, my mum, aunt and i gave up covering haha! so yeah.. we have to bathe THOROUGHLY before entering the hotspring.. so yeah.. it's also the first time i see so many naked woman bathing together... felt totally vulnerable.. lol

well.. so we explored the place and decided to go to the outdoor hotspring.. and yup dripping wet, we opened the door and OMG! it's like so freaking cold we immediately ran in again.. haha! imagine 2 degrees and we are all vulnerably bare-bodied! So after much discussion, we decided to try the outdoor one.. and so we practically ran and tiptoed quickly into the 44 degrees hotspring.. wah.. the feeling is totally heavenly..haha.. surprisingly none of us fell sick from experiencing the drastic change in body temp. HAHA!

Yeap! so that's day 1 and 2 and here are the photos!
Click here!


Day3:

i) Hell Valley
- the famous sulphurous boiling pond (seriously damn smelly)
ii) Edo Wonderland
- Edo village featured the Edo period where we watched a show on ninjas and another one on Geishas. pretty little town and very nice houses! and oh! It rained that day and the snow melted then froze again to become ice and omg.. it's super slippery..)
iii) Mount Showa
- an interesting landform that was raised from a farmland after two years of volcanic activities
iv) Bear ranch
v) Lake Toya hotel
- Another tatami style kind of hotel and hotspring again! yay!

Click Here for photos!


Day4:

i) Rusutsu ski resort
- the largest all season resort.. it's like really pretty man.. so many facilities in the hotel! and there is even a monorail that takes you to different wings of the resort.. oh! there's also a huge themepark there too! (but opens only in summer :( )
ii) snow activities
- snow fights!
- snow mobile
- snow tubing
- snow rafting!

Coincidentally, that day was my bro's birthday! so my dad made this huge squarish 'ice cake" for him and jus nice! the next day was another boy's, from the tour group, birthday! And the whole tour group, including the guide, sang birthday song for both of them and threw snow balls at them after that.. haha!

pretty pictures right here! :))


Day5:

Busy day with many places to go! Here we are at Sapporo!
i) Otaru Musical Box museum
- very nice town (looks pretty rundown overall except for the streets leading to the big musical box musuem)
- so tired of shopping so our family decided to sit down at the famous LeTao's chocolate place to enjoy cakes and coffee for tea! haha! yay rocks! :))
ii) Otaru Canal
- pretty boring place (like Hokkaido's version of our Singapore river -.-)
iii) Sapporo Ishiya Choc Factory
- yay! this is like the nicest and prettiest place! The whole factory is like a palace with many many nice statues and phototaking places.. whoo! and coz it's a choc factory that makes it my fave! haha.. but wells.. couldnt see how they make the famous 白色恋人 chocolate biscuit..
iv) Susukino, Odori Park
- So here we are! The busy town of Sapporo! This is also like the red-light district area but didnt get to see the backlanes where things will be vry interesting.. haha
- Got to see the magnificent view of Sapporo TV tower, Tokeidai Clock tower and the xmas lightings! Just nice, there was also a russian fair going on at the area and it was like a mini russian town in the midst of all the yellow-skinned. haha

yay! photos 1 photos 2


Day6:

i) Sapporo fresh seafood market
ii) Chitose Factory outlet
-Things there werent cheap at all even though it's factory outlet! Only the shoes were.. "out-of fashion" Nike shoes were selling at like $40-60! Ladies boots at bout $30-40! but wells.. dad claims that I've too many shoes alr.. so yup.. there goes my shopping spree. haha

HERE!

and yeap! That was Hokkaido trip! Really fun and memorable! :)) Just that I got sick of sashimi and hotpot.. haha..

oh! u know what guys? KaniNebei in jap means crab hotpot! haha... so yeah.. i ate nebei everyday...