Trip Highlights:
We first arrived at Hakodate, located at the southern tip of Hokkaido. We stayed at Yunokawa Prince Hotel Nagisatei, a very nice onsen (hot spring) hotel. The dinner they serve every night is traditional Japanese cuisine, which consists of lots of small places of delicacies. The dinner is so filling, but so good. The breakfast is a buffet that provides both Japanese and Western food.
The public bath is not bad, it's like any other regular onsen. However, it does have an ocean view for the outdoors onsen. Don't worry, no one will see you, because although one section of the bath is outside, most of it is covered. The hotel also owns that part of the beach, so you don't have to worry about people walking past anytime.
Not comfortable with a public bath? They provide a private bath, with the same ocean view, just in your own room.
And of course, the Hakodate Morning Fish Market is a must-see. They have such amazing fresh seafood, especially their squid sashimi, which they are famous for.
I also found i-maru ice cream. The ice cream itself is stored till it's hard, then the server would squeeze and roll it, so that it softens without dropping too much in temperature. The little pouch that contains the ice cream is quite thick and strong. It's so cute! And they come in so many flavors. I had the sweet potato one, being someone who likes special tasting ice cream. It is pretty good ice cream, creamy and strong in flavour. I would have it again if I could! See the instavid I uploaded here.
And how can I forget about Snaffle's Cheesecake? They had so many selections and simply looks delicious. I chose a sweet potato (see the trend here? :p) crepe cake. It's basically layers of crepes with sweet potato paste and cream. It's so good I felt like I was in paradise and did not want to share any of it. The other cakes were pretty amazing too. I took an Instavid of all the cakes we devoured.
Hakodate night view is breath-taking and is pretty high up in the ranks of world's night views. Of course, I think nothing can top the Hong Kong night view. Anyway, although it was freezing cold and rainy, the city lights were gorgeous. The pictures do not do it justice. But it is a good sight-seeing place if you go to Hakodate.
Sapporo
We then travelled on JR to Sapporo, which took about 4 hours. It is vastly different from Hakodate, since Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido. We stayed mainly around the hotel (Grand Hotel), the Sapporo JR station, and Tanuki Koji.
Sapporo Ramen Aji No Tokeidai 味の時計台 is a must-go ramen place for my family. I'm not a huge fan of ramen normally, but this ramen shop is great. The ramen is cooked perfectly, the pork is tender and tasty, and they have so many selections to choose from. (so good that I forgot to take pictures...)
Snow Brand Milk Company 雪印 ice cream is again a must-go place for me. The first time I was in Sapporo for summer, we went everyday and had a soft-served milk ice cream every day. Crazy, no? So even in this snowy weather, the ice cream is an essential part of our trip. The milk flavor is so strong and concentrated, there is no where else that makes an ice cream that's comparable to its flavor. I hate that I have to travel to Sapporo to finally have the ice cream again, but the rarer the more precious!
Tanuki Koji is a neat 10 block outdoor shopping arcade with various shops, from food, to clothes, to knives. It is a tradition in my family to go pick up some stuffed toys from arcade crane machines. We were not so lucky this time, but while the boys were doing that, my friend and I made a bee-line to the photo booths. They are so much cheaper in Japan and print out nicer than the ones in Hong Kong, so we just had to. It is so much fun to just goof around and get a souvenir of photos to remember the trip.
Asahiyama zoo 旭山動物園
Possibly one of the best zoo experiences I've had. Seeing penguins walk right past you? YES! If you are an animal lover, you have to go to this zoo. The penguins are simply adorable.
Sounkyo層雲峽
This is another onsen area. It was snowing pretty hard (for someone who doesn't live in areas that snow), but the area was secluded and gorgeous even under this weather. We took a cable car to mount Kurodake, and enjoyed some sledging. Despite the freezing weather, I enjoyed myself a lot.
Furano
We didn't really plan on going to Furano, since we've been in the summer to see the flowers. However, we found out that they provide ice fishing activities! So we made a detour and went ice fishing. It was a fun experience, though the fish were tiny, we successfully fish enough for everyone in our group. The people immediately fried the fish tempura style and we go to eat them on the spot! An experience worth going to.
Hokkaido has been one of my favorite places to visit since the first time I was there. I hope this inspired you to travel there because it is worth it! Of course there are different things to do in the summer (previous 2 times I was there) but it is also popular in the winter for skier and non-skiers alike. I'm already looking forward to my future visit!
Happy traveling!
xoxo
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