Its been a long two weeks, albeit a great two weeks. Hokkaido (the land of melons and king crabs) came and went, followed swiftly by a family camp to Penang, the local food haven. Family camp nights were primarily food outings, sourcing out the famous sour assam laksa, huge oysters, fried kway teow, rojak, chendol, the list goes on... however, didn't really take much photos of Penang, since i lent my camera to Bao. This post is about hokkaido, which has left a satisfying and lingering impact on my life's adventures.
Day #1 - waking up at 3am is a chore, flying on the plane at 6am is torture. Somehow, nicky managed to sneak my camera out of my bag and snap shots of me. sleeping!
We reach at the Narita Port Hotel and leave at 7am the next morning, headed to Haneda Airport, where we'll take a domestic Japan Airlines flight to Hokkaido. In the meantime, we head out to the local Aeon Mall and have sushi. Thats it, i'm not having Sakae Sushi ever again.
As promised, the sea urchin sushi i've been telling you about. Just posting this makes me hungry.
Day #2 - tired peeps head out to Haneda, where we go gallivanting round the airport as cheerful shop assistants greet us everywhere. Think non-stop cuckoo clock. Welcome to Hokkaido, the airport reads. We step out and, hey, it isn't cold as everyone says it is. A nice long bus ride leads us to Lake Toya, a lake created after a volcanic eruption. The island right smack in the middle is where we'd head to the next day, while the view from our hotel is amazing. The hot baths even have an outdoor section which overlooks the lake. There is a 15 minute fireworks display everyday. The hotel buffet serves freshly grilled scallops. Yet for all the grandeur, this hotel would have the worst toilet, uh...cubicle, throughout the trip. Don't believe me? Ask Aunty Ad.
Before that we were at Ainu Village, where the indigenous people of Hokkaido make full use of tourists. A display of their cultural heritage, one sound being a loud 'boing'. Apparently they worship the bear and eat the bear. Inspired, i would later purchase a small can of bear meat. The view at this location is spectacular yet again.
Ainu Man
Just had to take this
Magnificent view + Ainu Woman
Day #3 - We head out to Lake Toya on a cosy cruise, get on the island, and its beautiful. And then, my camera battery dies. D'oh! Nicky takes over and snaps photos all round as we learn how to make hokkaido ice cream, go for a strawberry all-you-can-pluck-and-eat, and feed bears with apples. These bears actually do a 'prayer' movement, urging you to throw food to them. Watch the video closely!
With a beautiful assortment of cherry blossoms in the backdrop near the strawberry farm, the nonsense begins!
Strawberry Buffet
We have the Romantics
And the plain Boh Liao.
Later on, we'd head down to this place known as 'Hell's Valley', due to its pungent smell originating from large sulphur deposits underground. Smells like rotten eggs. Some ah-mas prefer to stay on the bus. The water is bubbling and hot. It would prove to be the best hot bath of the trip that night. Stay tuned for the next post, where the 2nd half of the trip will be wrapped up!
Yang
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