Hokkaido Trip Report 1

Upon arrival at Narita Airport after a flight lasting roughly 6 hours and 15 minutes, we proceeded to cross the customs. For those who might be unaware, there have been new immigration rules set in place since 20th November, 2007. This involves the visitor being fingerprinted and photographed at the immigration counter before you're allowed to pass through. The process is automated, and what you do is place two index fingers on the designated sensors and press down, while a camera takes a shot of you almost simultaneously after counting down from 3. The whole process takes slightly longer than usual, which might have accounted for the 45 minute wait I spent in the queue, apart from a decent number of other people.

After meeting the tour guide, we proceeded to take a coach over to Haneda Airport for a domestic flight to the New Chitose Airport, Hokkaido. Apparently, Haneda Airport is even busier than Narita, as it caters to almost all of Tokyo's domestic air traffic as well as a very small portion of international flights. The flight took about 1 and a quarter hour, and we then boarded the coach to commence the tour proper.

Our first stop was for lunch, which consisted of some hotpot thingy, amaebi and ika sashimi together with other stuff. It provided a little preview of meals to come, as you may note from future reports.



Our next stop was Mount Showa and a nearby Bear Ranch. You can purchase biscuits or apples to feed them with and they seemed trained to do actions, such as waving, to entice people to throw them food.





Following that, we proceeded to our hotel at Lake Toya to rest for the night. A thing to note is that the sun sets pretty early during winter, so it was already dark around 4.30pm to 5pm. Our hotel was one of those with Japanese style rooms aka tatami floor and futon. Dinner was a buffet in the hotel restaurant, with a mix of both japanese and western food. You could also queue up for grilled Hotate (Scallop) and plain Ramen. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of most of the food. There was also a drum performance lasting roughly 15 to 20 minutes for entertainment.








After dinner, I browsed through the shops in the hotel and walked around a little. Returning to my room and switching on the television, I managed to catch part of a J-Drama called Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. It was pretty interesting, although I hardly knew what they were talking about. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they were showing a concert called Best Artist 2007 at the Yokohama Arena, if I'm not wrong. Performers included TOKIO, B'Z, Nakashima Mika, Hamasaki Ayumi, Koda Kumi and tons more. Otsuka Ai looked really sweet this time round too.




After watching most of the remaining performances in the concert, I decided to visit the Onsen. It was pretty big, with about 5-7 different pools, including an outdoor one. However, the outdoor pool was already closed at the time I went as a result of being engrossed in the concert XD. That aside, the Onsen was technically open 24 hours a day, hence the rest of the pools were still accessible.

For those who haven't been to an onsen, there are some standard procedures to be followed. Before entering the changing room, there'll be a rack for you to place your footwear (Some of the hotels/inns provide a yukata and slippers for you to change into during your stay). In the changing room, there'll be baskets or lockers for you to disrobe completely and place your stuff. Yes, no underwear or swimming attire of sorts are allowed in, though there are probably exceptions such as mixed gender pools which weren't included in this trip. Also, you might have to bring the face and bath towels from your own room to the onsen, as was the case throughout this time.

After disrobing, you then proceed into the main onsen/shower area, where you should grab a stool and proceed to sit at one of the shower areas. Be sure to wash yourself thoroughly before entering the onsen. After enjoying the experience, you can shower again before leaving. Some onsen have a cold water dispenser outside for you to drink from, should you be feeling slightly dehydrated or thirsty after the bath. In my case, I purchased a packet of hokkaido milk from the vending machine in order to cool down. It was pretty good . . .

Apart from the onsen, the hotel also had a wave pool for children to play in, and you could rent swimsuits and trunks from a nearby shop if you didn't have your own. That basically concludes day 1.