Hokkaido - Taipei (23rd Dec - 31st Dec 2006)

Many thanks to ah-siang for buying the gloves, scarves, socks, woolen caps from shanghai. Many thanks to YYBL for the white coat that kept me warm. Lastly, many thanks to my xiaoyi for the 4-wheel luggage and gloves and coats and sweaters. All the above made my trip possible and I finally saw falling snow!! :D It wasn't alot of snow.. but seeing vehicles covered in snow... making snowballs for the first time and of cos having snowball fights with the other kids in the group! wahaha ;D

Day 1, 23rd Dec Singapore - Taipei (CI662 1455/1935)

So much excitement building up.. wen & i had been lookin forward to the trip for SUPER DUPER long!

Taiwan's temperature was nice and cool like an aircon room.. reckon it was about 19~20 C



Day 2, 24th Dec Taipei - Chitose (CI130 0910/1400)
ChristmasEve !!!

Leavin from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport


First sunset at Sapporo after landing... it was around 4pm.. the vehicles covered in snow just after a big snow storm.


Heard that our plane was circling above sapporo for a while due to the snow storm and we almost were landing at Hakodate airport cos fuel was running out. Lucky for us the delay wasn't too long.. we made our way to New Chitose Airport as planned!

Anyway this was our tour guide Anson-san~


First stop! Odori Park!~ Train station and the underground shopping mall was called Aurora Town. Not very sure how that works.. hehe but the temperature was -1.0 C !! Scary! Hands were freezing even with gloves on. woah!~ But just couldn't resist taking photos at all.. big sacrifice.. worst case, mi fingers will break off.. hahhaa ^^


Our first meal.. Tempura! Yosh!~


Checked into Sapporo Apa Hotel & Resort for the nite. Not wanting to waste anytime, some of us on the tour went out walking around the hotel.. did some shopping at the nearby supermarket. I tried my japanese on the salesgirls wanting to buy the "snow shoe spikes" but failed terribly.. :'(

View from inside the hotel. hehee~


This is the view from outside... gorgeous isn't it~


Day 3, 25th Dec Sapporo - Furano - Biei - Sounkyo
Christmas Day !!!

@ Sapporo

First thing in the morning (after brekkie of cos! hee), we went to pay our respects at Hokkaido Jingu. Kirei ne! Snow is so pretty! By then, i've already gotten used to the cold~ ^^


At Tokyo I could only buy the biscuits, but at Hokkaido I visited the actual Shiroi koibito factory! woah!~ its HUGE!~


My photo with a Japanese Santa~ hehe


Nijo Fresh Seafood market - where all the fresh seafood is! And cos my cuteness and hungry look mostly, one of the shopowners offered some boiled crab. Nothing added, just boiled! I took a bite and exclaimed "Wahhh.. ooooiiisshiii!!!" it was THAT good!


@ Sounkyo

Checked into Sounkyo Choyotei Hotel for the nite.
Our futon laid out nicely while we were out taking a nice dip in the all natural onsen~


The food was gooooooooood.
This is me nice and fresh after the onsen dip~ hee and happily having mi buffet dinner! :D


New snow spikes for the shoes! Had to test mi japanese at the shop buying these. Got the wrong size at first too! haha.. So that's double practice. Buying and exchanging. ^^ With these, we can RUN ON SNOW! woohoo!~



Day 4, 26th Dec Sounkyo - Asahikawa
Boxing Day !!!

@ Sounkyo

No kidding, as the snowman tells u, it was -15 C at Sounkyo Gorge! *fainted*
The Silver Falls was frozen! And mi ears were falling off i tell ya!


Mt Daisetsu-zan
Another amazing sight.. mountains covered in snow. so nice...


We did some sliding... I made some snowballs... And left my footprints in the snow.. ;)

@ Asahikawa

Asahiyama Zoo

Even the tickets have animals printed on it. hee~ I liked the vending machine. Its like the spine of those comic books where it makes a full picture together.~


Well its a cold country.. their penguins and polar bears are so comfy as compared to those in SG.. :( In SG zoo, they are kept in "fridges".. poor thing..


Lavender Hills

Didn't look too impressive from the outside. There was a shop selling Lavendar products too. But we went during winter, there's no Lavender blooming in winter okie? :P


Lunch was WOW! What a spread! I had to eat everything up~ hehee~ There was fresh scallop and dried scallop.. hmm and ramen and rice.. :P Well that's ALOT of food!


Santas Present Park

Din do much at Santas Present Park except tobogganning again on those plastic sledges~ We took one from a kid.. and his mom came running after us! oops :P
No time to ski.. just watched pple ski~ hee~ I suppose its popular during Christmas? Anson-san din say much though.. just played with us~ haha!


Jozankei Sankeien Hotel


Dinner was like food at a traditional ryokan.. so nice~~ But the crab was nothing like wat I had at Nijo Fresh Seafood market.. :'(


As usual, after dinner we take our walk outside of the hotel.. exploring.. hoping to do some shopping and find smth exciting! We went out in Yukatas, gloves, socks and slippers! hahaha!~ I told u we were used to the below 0 degrees celcius! Even I am impressed my myself today~
There is actually NATURAL hot spring water around the area. Was trying to get a good shot of the steam coming out of the stream.. but thats the best i could do with mi samsung~ :)
Asked some Japanese taking a stroll to help us take the photo on the right. Those are the kids that kept me and wen busy throughout the trip oh!



Day 5, 27th Dec Asahikawa - Otaru - Noboribetsu

@ Otaru

Otaru Music Box Museum

The much awaited for visit to the music box musuem! They had HUGE music discs! Well the best part was making our own! But there was limited time.. so had a simple one with my favourite song "First Love" and put a little angel holding a wand with a heart on it. (can see it under my Achievements~)


Otaru Canal

Another well known romantic place to be. Too bad it was raining that afternoon. On my right, miss LingLing, happily attached just before coming to hokkaido and missing her bf very much on the trip. hehee~


@ Noboribetsu

Shiraoi Ainu Village


Like a museum of what was of the village then.. Kinda like 'Alishan' feel? The rhythm of their music and costumes..


Noboribetsu-Jigokudani (Hell Valley)

Strong sulphur smell.. this is all natural.. Cool eh? Was near the hotel we were staying for the night. Not sure why its called hell valley. Think Anson-san just brought us there to smell the place and take photos.. hehee~


Noboribetsu Sekisuite Hotel

So that nite we had our last Sulphur Onsen!~
All nice and refreshed, we had our buffet dinner AGAIN! Plus.. SAKE! heee~ yes.. we let the 14 yr old girl try some. Think she can hold her liquor better than mi lor.. :P



Day 6, 28th Dec Noboribetsu - Sapporo

Back @ Sapporo

Tanuki Koji Shopping Arcade

It was back to Sapporo for the last day in Hokkaido. Had a free and easy lunch so Anson-san recommended this Ramen shop. Of cos i tested my Japanese again! And look what I got us! HUGE bowls of ramen for about 750 yen! Its SUPER DUPER TASTY okie! With fried rice and gyoza for sides~ *yummy!* Even their toilets are cutesy-ly decorated. Hmm the cook or boss of the place was so polite. Obviously knowing we're a bunch of 10 tourists, he came to check if we were pleased with the food. hehee~ gave me a chance to practise mi japanese again. But he really sweet, i took 10 lollipops from him when paying at the counter :P~


Salmon Aquarium

After alot of changes with our itinery, we finally made it to the Salmon Aquarium. On the left is the Albino Salmon. I have a thing for albino animals somehow.. like rabbits? :P And on the right, are terapins! Cute rite??


Time for some Snow Mobile ride! cool! It cost me more than 100 SGD! But since i needed snow, its probably something i cant do in singapore.. haha


Teppanyaki Dinner

Our last dinner in Hokkaido.. and were still hoping to see some FALLING SNOW. Anson-san had promised us that we will get to see some by the end of the trip. It was already the last nite! During dinner there was like a SMALL TINY drizzle of snow.. and everyone was sooooo excited. I missed it cos was busy eating.. hehee~ but.. dun tell mi that was it?? *cry*



Went shopping in the vicinity known as Tanuki Koji Shopping Arcade which we had dropped by earlier in the afternoon for lunch.



Walked through Susukino Ramen Alley just to take a look at an alley lined with Ramen shops!


Our last nite in Hokkaido was spent at Sapporo Green Hotel 2

Was feelin down cos i had missed the snow during dinner. Were just chatting and eating supper in LingLing and ZaiWei's room when suddenly xiaodidi said "Its snowing!" Gee! Thot he was lying but when i looked out of the window, i almost cried le! Grabbed wen, put on our coats and gloves and rushed out of the hotel.. hehee~


Got scolded by the lobby guy.. cos we wore the yukata out of the hotel. Hmm guess we aren't supposed to do that in the City.. :P

But was soooo soooooo happy. My first snow.. in Hokkaido~ :)

Day 7, 29th Dec Hokkaido - Taipei (CI131 1500/1805)

A Giant Classic cHeRRiKo Sapporo Beer @ Sapporo Beer Factory


Leavin Hokkaido.. our meal on the plane.. looks good huh!!


Now u see it..


Now u dun.. :'( Byebye Hokkaido~ bb Japan for the 2nd time..


It was nite at Taiwan when we arrived...


No time to lose at all.. we are really crazy tourists! Checked into the hotel and out we went for supper! Shilin Night Market is where all the food is!~ woohoo!~ And of cos we had to do some shopping too~ Walked around till abt 2am i think.. we were really tired...



Day 8, 30th Dec Taipei

@ Taiwan 101

Love this shot! I think i am damn pro~ :P


And I got a pic with Yan Chen Xu ~


@ Xi Men Ding

Taiwanese are always so prepared! I was crossing the road, raised mi arm to get a shot of Xi Men Ding, and there, i have this cute couple smiling into the camera almost like it was intended!


And there I met Zhou Jie Lun!~ :P


The famous Ah Zhong Mian Xian~~


Rushed to the Taiwan Memorial Hall to watch the famous changing of shift parade. It's damn formal and it happens everyday! Just have to get the timing right cos might get stuck in a jam to see thse good lookin men.


Our last nite in Taipei.. gotta take cool pics!~ of a public phone....


and of more food!~
This is some strange kidney mian xian, and a local favourite: hao jian mian xian~


Day 9, 31 Dec Taipei - Singapore (CI661 0925/1355)
New Year Eve !!!

Heading back to Singapore early in the morning. The Santos Hotel people were so nice.. packed our breakfast for us.. hehe :D


Finally... My achievements!~

Always end up with a luggage full of food from japan.. hehe~


And little bits of everything else from both Hokkaido and Taipei! What I'm most proud of is my music box.. which isnt a box.. its like a musix box paper weight thingie that plays First Love :D