Cely 完美的一天

Yokoso Japan - Hokkaido Day 5

Continue from Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.

Finally I updated my day 5. Hongkiat thought I’ve gave up updating about my Japan trip. Shit. I am failed to be a blogger. Haha. Who asked him to spoil me with so many gadgets? I’ve been playing with my nds and iphone every day and night.

Okay, back to my day 5 at Hokkaido. Actually this is not consider day 5, it’s day 6 already. The night we departed from Singapore is considered day 1 already, we reach Hokkaido at Day 2. But never mind, let’s stick with my title.

(The view from the hotel room)

The morning of day 5, we missed our breakfast at the hotel. I can’t believe this. We have not missed any breakfast in the past few days. The end time of the breakfast at Sounkaku Grand Hotel was one hour earlier than the past few days. Everyone was worry about us for not showing up at the restaurant. They all thought we were sick. Actually, I did not check on the timing, it was my fault assuming every hotel has the same timing for breakfast.

Anyway, Kevin was kind to remind us there were still time for breakfast. He called our room, freaking 5 minutes before the end time. ~.~!!! Kind, but not enough la, dear.

I think he is teasing us. “Oh, you can still make it one, run to the restaurant.. Just walk in before the end time, then eat lo. I think they wont stop you one.”

That’s the story about us missing the breakfast.

Anyway, we bought the fried rice from vending machine and had the breakfast at Hotel Lobby. Just about 15 minutes before we leave the hotel.

Japanese has this culture, where the hotel staff/manage/owner will ’send off’ their guests. In what way, you may ask.

They will line up, wave goodbye, and bow to the guests. With smile on the face off coz. Wave goodbye till the bus is gone from the view.

There you go, the owner of the hotel of Sounkaku Grand Hotel, wave goodbye to us. With Kimono. It’s damn cold okay.

Then we were brought to Oobako and Kobako canyon (大函小函) of the famous Sounkyo Gorge. These canyons are just nearby the hotel.

Oobako basically means ‘big box’ and Kobako means ’small box’ in Japanese. These gorges are so imminent that they make the visitors feel like they are in a box. They are created by dramatic columnar cliffs that are greater than 100 meters in height. It was linked to the famous waterfalls which I will intro below.

Kelvin asked us to do some shouting there. :)

Dear, the focus point wrong already. :p

That couple was on honeymoon also. They were trying to do some stunt. :)

After visiting Oobako, we went to visit the waterfalls. These waterfalls were said to be top 100 waterfalls in Japan.

Let me introduce to you, the Silver River waterfalls (Gin Ga no Taki, 銀河の滝)

There is another waterfall next to Gin Ga no Taki. This is Shooting star Waterfalls (Ryu Sei  no Taki, 流星の滝). Why are they so famous? Because they were very close to each other. Both of them can be seen together from developed view points.

We walked here and there between the 2 waterfalls. Ryu Sei no Taki is slightly shorter than Gin Ga no Taki.

Gin Ga no Taki was about 120 meter in height, 394 feet.

Ryu Sei no Taki was about 90 meter.

We took quite a few photos of the surrounding.

I think we are not allow to access to the waterfalls. We can only take photos from opposite.

If there is no signboard saying this is Ryu Sei no Taki, I won’t even know there is a waterfall. It’s too tiny to see from far.

The walkway between the 2 waterfalls.

The waterfalls are not as nice as Niagara Waterfalls, but the distance of 2 waterfalls make them special. We spent almost an hour shooting at the waterfalls.

After that, we were all having lunch at Asahikawa Ramen Village. It was not too far to travel from Sounkyo to Asahikawa.

They have 8 of greatest ramen shops of Asahikawa city. This ramen village is hard to access by public transport. Luckily we are on a tour.

Eight most popular and long standing ramen shops included Asahikawa Ramen Aoba(青叶), Asahikawa Ramen Ittetsu-an Matsuda(松田), Asahikawa Ramen Ishida(石田), Ramen Shop Tenkin (天金), Ramen Santoka(山头火), Ramen Village Saijo, Original Asahikawa Ramen Ichikura (一藏) and Asahikawa Ramen Baikoken(梅光轩)

But most of us chose to eat at Original Asahikawa Ramen Ichikura(一藏), it was highly recommended by Kelvin. Ramen Santoka also highly recommended but we have that in Singapore. So no point trying something exists in Singapore.

The chilli flakes, add as many as you like. But I did not put much as I want to try the soup. Japanese Ramen is famous for its soup base.

We both ordered the Pork Ramen but with different soup base. Hongkiat ordered soy sauce soup.

Me ordered the miso soup. Very very nice soup. I had miso soup Ramen everytime we eat ramen in Tokyo! ahaha.

We also order gyoza.

Actually there are not much shops around. No other tourist spot. But there is one big uniqlo store.

Almost everyone went to Uniqlo. Singaporean actually love shopping at Uniqlo. Uniqlo in Japan is like Giordano in Hongkong.

Some shops opposite the Ramen village.

After the lunch at Ramen Village, we went and visit the Sake Brewing Museum which tells a history of 340 years sake - the most famous sake is Otokoyama (男山) Sake. This Sake is famous for it’s superior quality of Sake. Hokkaido has ideal climate and water condition to brew this sake.

“In 1977, Otokoyama won the gold medal in The Overseas Wine and Spirit Competition, the first time for “Nihon-Shu”, and has since continued to win gold successively for 32 years.” Source

Some brewing tools that used in good old days.

The most expensive sake was the most popular and famous in the world.

We didn’t want to buy the whole bottle as we are not the sake person. But we can have the chance to taste the world’s famous sake at a very cheap price. I think it’s about 150 yen per glass.

Believe it or not, it’s sweet. :)

They have a mini garden outside the museum.

This couple has a lot of poses when comes to photo shooting. They are young at heart.

We were given a chance to wear this costume for photo shooting, for free. People wear this to brew the sake last time.

The garden is beautiful, isn’t it?

Just a random photo of the shoes of us and tour mates. :)

After 1.5 hours of tasting sake and camwhoring at the mini garden, we head to the hotel of the night. It was very far from Asahikawa, it took us 2.5 - 3 hours to reach Tomamu. We were staying at Alpha Resort Tomamu.

It was a ski resort. It was the most beautiful, luxury and nicest view resort we stayed throughout the Hokkaido trip. Everything there was so unforgettable. The high-level room with breathtaking view, the open-air hot bath, the indoor swimming pool, the restaurant with forest surrounding etc.

The first thing we did when we reached Alpha Resort was to check-in to the hotel room and head to the restaurant for dinner.

They have chocolate fondue!

Hongkiat is taking kid’s meal. Haha!

Cheese Fondue too! How can I not love this Resort?

We were basically facing the forest. It will also be really beautiful if the trees are cover with snow.

The restaurant was very spacious.

Again, our tour guide Kelvin and tour lead Kevin.

This is Janice. We have become closer after the trip. We met up with each other occasionally.

The pathway to Hotel lobby.

Our room. Small living room.

The beds, dressing table. The room is consider really spacious to us. I love this resort and definitely going back there. Maybe for winter season!

After the dinner, few of us (girls) would like to go to the hot bath, with a small charges - 500 yen. It will be the last night to enjoy hot spring. We were told by Kelvin, the open-air hot spring is spectacular. We must try it or else will be regretted.

We took a shuttle bus (provided by the resort) to the Viz Spa House.

The Spa house has got a wave pool, sauna, hot bath etc.

The wave pool was soooooo damn big.

Picture I stole from the official website.

But our mission was to enjoy the hot bath. Open-air hot bath.

Kelvin was damn right! The view was spectacular!

Yes, we were facing the forest. Looking at the starry sky. Listening to the nature! If we are lucky, we might see some wild deers.

The water was hot, weather was cold, the view was fantastic. The whole experience was just amazing.

Off coz they have different room for men and women. The hot bath for men was just next to us. But they wont be able to peek la.

After about 1 hour soaking in hot bath, everyone was satisfied. We took shuttle bus back to the hotel. Guess what, we really bump into wild deers! What a thrill!

Kelvin did tell us we can hear wolves if we walk into the forest, which some of the tour mates did hear the wolves when they explore the surrounding.

One thing we missed to visit was the Unkai terrace. We could have our breakfast at the very top terrace, seeing sea of clouds!

We missed it because the cable car station was close for maintenance. They were preparing for winter. What a pity!

I ended my day 5 post with a photo I taken the next morning. This is the view from our room.

OMG, I missed my Hokkaido trip already!!!!! Winter is so beautiful there! If you are planning for a winter trip to Hokkaido, please visit Tomamu Alpha Resort!