Japan Trip 2010 - Part 3

[This post is the last part of the three-part blog post on my trip to Japan. Please check here for the first part.]

The mountain we snow-mobile on in Niseko, Japan

We didn't have much left for sightseeing after the second day (actually, we stopped by Lake Toya and Hell Valley (see right) but then it was snowing pretty hard so we didn't do much). So what did we do for the last three days? We covered ourselves with snow, then with hot water, and then with lots of seafood! Well, not exactly like that but close. Let me talk about snow first.

We spent the third day of the trip on the mountains. The first destination was Niseko (二世古) where we went snowmobiling. The experience was great, especially when we slept on the snow on top of the mountain (see left). However, I wish we went a little faster. The second destination was Rusutsu (留寿都) where we went skiing and snowboarding. It was the first time I snowboarded in over 2 years but, luckily, it didn't take me too long to get back into it. Man, I LOVED it. The mountains were really nice and they were definitely nicer than those in Snoqualmie and Stevens in Seattle. I wish I had more time on the slope. Let see if I could go there for a snowboarding trip in the future.

I was dead tired after snowboarding. Luckily, I was in Japan and onsen was there to save me (that's what I meant by hot water). We stayed in two onsen hotels: Daini Meisui Tei in Date and Hotel Mahoroba in Noboribetsu(登別). Both of them were nice and they could easily be the best part of the trip. For those who haven't been to a traditional onsen in Japan, let me tell you what it was like. There is usually one for males and one for females (I heard that for some smaller one out in the rural areas, both males and females share one together). You usually change into a kimono provided by the hotel. You then go into a changing room to take off all your clothes. Yes, you are supposed to be butt naked when you go into an onsen. You then walk to the public bath area to clean your body before soaking yourself into the onsen. It is definitely strange at first, especially when you go with people you know, but it will be fine afterwards. Oh yeah, to complicate things a bit, a female steward would go into the public bath area to tidy things up. Yes, she goes into both male and female onsens. Awkward, isn't it?

Now that I have got snow and onsen covered, let's move on to food. Other than wagyu (和牛), seafood is also very delicious and fresh in Japan. We were lucky enough to visit a seafood market to pick out fresh crabs, clams, and other seafood (see right) and then go to the restaurant upstairs to "sashimi" them or "shabu-shabu" them. Very tasty! Man, I feel hungry from just thinking about it. Oh yeah, Japanese apples are great too! They taste so much better than the ones in the US or Hong Kong.

That's how we spent the last three days of the trip. I had great fun on this trip - had some great food, did some great snowboarding, experienced some great onsens, and met some great people. As you can tell, I really want to go back there again. So again, let me know if you want to go to Japan :).

Japan Trip 2010 - Part 2

[This post is a second part of the three-part blog post on my trip to Japan. Please check here for the first part.]

View of the Sapporo City from Mt. Okura

After a full-night of food, I really didn't want to get up in the morning but then we were on a tour so we didn't have an option. So what was the first thing we did? Well, buffet-style breakfast! Seriously, I felt sick about food that morning even though the breakfast was really good. That being said, I still had a pretty full breakfast - 2 bowls of congee with some Japanese condiments and some eggs, sausages, and hashbrown. I guess I didn't really mean it when I said I was sick of food :).

Anyway, we continued with our tour around Sapporo on our second day. It was the nicest day of the trip and I took most of the pictures on that day. We first stopped by Mount Okura Ski Jump Stadium (see left). It was used by the 1972 Winter Olympic. The view on top of the mountain was spectacular (see above). Oh yeah, they sell cantaloupe-flavored and honeydew-flavored ice-cream on top of the mountain. It was great to have ice-cold ice-cream under a freezing cold weather.

We also stopped by Tanukikoji and Shiroi Koibito Park before heading to Otaru (小樽). By the way, the weather wasn't that great throughout the trip - it snowed almost every day. As we went from Sapporo to Otaru, the weather changed from sunny bright day to blizzard-like dark evening. It wasn't that pleasant; however, for Otaru, it's actually pretty nice. Why? The snow made the already-romantic city even more romantic. Imagine walking with your lover under snow along the canal (see below) with a music box in one hand and an umbrella on the other hand. I heard some girls like that (that was what I was told, haha...).

Otaru is a smaller city and it has a very rich history. What history does it have? Well, someone has already done a better job in telling all about it, so check this wiki page to find out more (I don't think I can ever be a tour guide since I am not that good with history; maybe I just need to BS.) We ended the day at Grand Park Otaru, where we stayed for the night.

Otaru Canal at night

[Stay tuned for more about my trip]

Japan Trip 2010 - Part 1

[This post is a first part of the three-part blog post on my trip to Japan.]

Hi everyone. I have been busy the past 3 months and haven't got a chance to update my blog. Sorry, folks. Now that my schedule is getting a bit better, I am going to share with you some of my trips in the past few months. To start off, I am going to talk about my Japan trip.

Why did I go to Japan? Well, whenever I visit Hong Kong, I would go visit some places with my family trip. Since my mum really likes Japan, we decided to join a 5-day tour with Worldwide Package Travel Service (縱橫遊) to go to Hokkaido, Japan this time. I definitely would have preferred visiting there without joining a tour but I guess next time. If anyone wants to visit there, let me know :).

A street in Sapporo (you can still see some snow).

Let's talk about the trip. On the first day, we flew from Hong Kong to Chitose (千歳). After some crazy snow delays, we landed in Chitose and went straight to Sapporo (札幌). On a side note, Hokkaido is really cold in January (well, compared to Seattle) and it was all covered in snow. It really reminded me of those Boston snow days. I don't miss them :).

Anyway, Sapporo is just like any other city - nothing special :). The dinner was pretty good though - we had Shabu-Shabu. As most folks know, I am not a big fan of Shabu-Shabu but we got to try out those A5 wagyu (和牛), and man, they were AWESOME! I highly recommended them. I was told that Japan doesn't export A5 wagyu so you can really only have them in Japan. They are expensive but I think for a once in a lifetime experience, you have to try it. For the vegetarians, I am sorry :).

We went back to our hotel (Sapporo Excel Hotel Tokyo) after dinner and then the highlight of the day began - late-night food hopping in the city. Japan has lots of awesome food and you can find some even in convenience stores. So what did we have? We had some Ramen, Takoyaki, dumplings, some buns, and some dessert. It was amazing! Too bad I was already somewhat full from the dinner or I would have eaten more! We called it the day at 1am...

For part 2, please go here.