Happy New Year! Finally I am back from Nippon-go! It was not quite a white Christmas as I hoped, but there was still a relative amount of snow, especially in the more northern areas. This trip has been a real eye opener, namely to be able to acclimatise in extreme climates. It was ten degrees or so throughout Tokyo, then freezing point in Hakodate, then minus five around Sapporo to minus ten around Niseko, and back to about ten degrees again in Tokyo. Needless to say, now I am feeling very hot back in tropical weather!
I flew to Tokyo on the morning of twenty-third December, where I took a train from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport. I was trying to get my girl friends but for some reason, both their phones were down, local as well as Japanese lines. So I called my friend in Yokohama and spoke to her for a while, promising to meet up when I went back to Tokyo again. Then I took the train from Narita to Haneda Airport. That took about two hours plus.
It was really winter indeed, considering by four in the afternoon, the skies were dark. It felt like eight at night when it was only four in the afternoon! The Tokyo subway is one of the best systems in the world! If one can figure out where to go, which train to take and where to change, then one has no problem anywhere else! The only other comprehensive subway system I ever encountered was the London Tube. I have yet to try out the New York Subway though.
Thus it was not much difficulty figuring out where to go, as long as one is able to read Kanji. I have totally lost touch with the brief Japanese lessons I took back in school, so although I can still read very simple Hiragana and Katakana, conversing in Japanese for me is totally out. Since I only had one night in Tokyo before going up to Hokkaido, I decided to just camp over at the airport or something, so I proceeded to Haneda.
When I reached Haneda, my friend called and asked me to join them. The two girls went shopping in Daimaru at Tokyo Station. Tokyo Station itself is one of the biggest I have seen, with many exits and the central place to change to other lines, local lines, subway lines and Yaesu North Exit (there is Central North Exit, North Exit, as well as Yaesu South Exit, Central South Exit, South Exit, Central Exit) so you can imagine how confusing the place is! Furtheremore, I was lugging my luggage bag along with me.
In any case, I managed to find the Daimaru exit and met up with my friends. We then went for dinner. But it was past eight at night in winter, so most of the shops were closed. Plus that day happened to be the Emperor's birthday, so it was a public holiday. In the end, we managed to find a nice restaurant on the fifth floor of a building (Tokyo has so many buildings that they all look alike) and ate a good dinner of steamboat. Then we walked back to the hotel they booked where I crashed for the night.
The next day, we took a chartered bus to Haneda Airport to catch our flight to Hokkaido. We landed at Hakodate Airport, then took a bus to the town centre, where our hotel is situated. In fact, our hotel is right by the bus terminus and across the JR Hakodate Station. We were not able to check in before time, so we left our luggages there and went for lunch. After lunch, we enquired on how to go up Mount Hakodate, before going back to the hotel to check in. Then, we waited for our friend (the thorn amongst the roses) to arrive and proceeded to Mount Hakodate by bus.
Hakodate itself is a relatively small city. It was just a ten minutes' bus ride from our hotel (at one end) to Mount Hakodate (at the other end). We reached the gondola station and took the gondola up the mountain. The night view up the mountain was spectacular, except it was really cold! The wind was very strong! Unfortunately, due to the strong wind and fog during winter, we were not able to see as much of the spectacular night view as we liked. I daresay it will be much better during the summer! However, we managed to see the big Christmas tree from the top!
After coming down from the mountain, we went for dinner, then to see the big Christmas tree. Since it was Christmas Eve, we celebrated by drinking before taking a cab back to the hotel. The next day (Christmas Day), we explored the Hakodate Morning Market before taking the train to Noboribetsu, where we stayed for the day. We left Noboribetsu the following morning (Boxing Day) and took a bus to Sapporo. It was en route to Sapporo that we were caught in a massive jam due to heavy snow. I have never seen that much snow in my life! The grounds, houses, trees were all covered with layers of snow!
After reaching Sapporo, we checked into our hotel (just above the JR Sapporo Station) then took a train to Susukino for lunch. Then we took a train to visit the Ishiya White Chocolate Factory. I have been to the chocolate factory before, but it looks so different in winter as compared to summer, especially since snow was falling down! Then we took the train back to Susukino to wander and shop. The Sapporo and Susukino train stations have an underground mall with lots of shops, and the things are nice with pretty reasonable prices! I managed to get ski pants at just 1350 Yen (S$20.25) and a pair of Timberland boots (original, no less!) at just 13000 Yen (S$195.00). One can never get such a nice and comfortable pair of Timberland boots perfect for walking in the snow at such a price here! Not to mention a black sling bag I bought at 1050 Yen (S$15.75) to offload my stuff!
The next day, we went on to Otaru by train. Otaru looks really different in the winter. That day was snowing quite heavily so the temperature was minus five degree Celsius. We had a good time in the snow though, with snowball fights! We wandered around Otaru then went on to the Music Box Museum, which somehow had better variety the last time I was there. After coming out of the museum, we stumbled upon a sportswear shop where my friend and I managed to get ski goggles at a big discount of 1380 Yen (S$20.00) from the original price of 6500 Yen! Then we took the train back to Sapporo.
The next day, we took a bus from Sapporo to Niseko, and thus began our skiing holiday. The ski lodge we were staying in is run by a family and they were very nice to drive us around wherever we wanted to go! On our last night in Niseko (New Year's Day), we took the bus to Kutchan (the nearest town from Niseko), but being the Japanese New Year, the town was totally dark and all the shops were closed. We took the bus to the Kutchan terminus, then back again to Niseko. Needless to say, the bus driver looked at us in bewilderment! :-p
The next day, the two girls had to go off, so they took a morning bus from Niseko to Sapporo Chitose Airport for their flight home. My friend and I then took the afternoon bus back to Sapporo. The next day, he took the first train to Sapporo Chitose Airport where he flew to Nagoya, whereas I took another train to go back to Tokyo. There is no direct train from Sapporo to Tokyo. I had to take a train from Sapporo to Hakodate, then Hakodate to Hachinohe (north Honshu), then finally the shinkansen (bullet train) from Hachinohe to Tokyo.
As it was a peak period, I was only able to secure seats from Sapporo to Hakodate. From Hakodate to Hachinohe, I had to stand and seat in the corridor of the train. From Hachinohe to Tokyo, there was hardly any place to even stand, so I had to stand part of the way and sit on the corridor next to the restroom all the way! The trains ran on schedule. I took the 9:15am train from Sapporo and it reached Hakodate at 12:45pm. Then I crossed over to the next platform to take the 12:55pm train from Hakodate. It reached Hachinohe at 3:55pm. Then I crossed got down from Hachinohe and went up the escalator to another platform to take the 4:10pm shinkansen to Tokyo. Thus there was no waiting time at all and the trains ran pretty smoothly.
I reached Tokyo about 7:50pm. By the time I got off the platform in Tokyo Station, I was really shagged, considering the long train rides and the fact that I was lugging my luggage(s) around! I was too tired to take a train to my Tokyo hotel so I just took a cab, which took less than ten minutes. The next day, I walked down to the Imperial Palace as it was just ten minutes away from the hotel I was staying in, before going to Tokyo station and took a train to Yokohama to meet my friend. I spent the afternoon with my friend, then took a train down to Shinjuku district of Tokyo to wander around, and also the Shibuya district before going back to my hotel.
The next day was my last day in Tokyo. I checked out of the hotel, leaving my luggages there, and took a train down to the Ginza district to wander around. Ginza is a "branded" area, full of upmarket stuff. I came across all the big brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany's & Co, etc (all authentic!). I even saw a Nissan convertible roadshow and went into an Apple store where I finally got my 2GB iPod Shuffle at a very good price at 7800 Yen (S$117.00), complete with an English manual, ear phones, accessories and USB cables! Yeah! The iPod Shuffles I have come across here cost at least S$200.00!
After wandering around Ginza, I took the subway back to my hotel, collected my luggages and took the train to Tokyo Station, where I then took the Narita Airport Express train to the airport for my flight back home. So that is my Japan trip in a nutshell! More details to follow later, about my experiences, attempts at skiing, the great food and of course the photos and some first attempts at movie-making! I did not take as many photos this time as compared to previous trips, because the skies are dark by four during winter, so it is hard to take photos in the dark. Furthermore, batteries and the camera freeze and refuse to function at such cold climates. Plus, we took it really free and easy, did not go that many places. Stay tuned!
I flew to Tokyo on the morning of twenty-third December, where I took a train from Narita Airport to Haneda Airport. I was trying to get my girl friends but for some reason, both their phones were down, local as well as Japanese lines. So I called my friend in Yokohama and spoke to her for a while, promising to meet up when I went back to Tokyo again. Then I took the train from Narita to Haneda Airport. That took about two hours plus.
It was really winter indeed, considering by four in the afternoon, the skies were dark. It felt like eight at night when it was only four in the afternoon! The Tokyo subway is one of the best systems in the world! If one can figure out where to go, which train to take and where to change, then one has no problem anywhere else! The only other comprehensive subway system I ever encountered was the London Tube. I have yet to try out the New York Subway though.
Thus it was not much difficulty figuring out where to go, as long as one is able to read Kanji. I have totally lost touch with the brief Japanese lessons I took back in school, so although I can still read very simple Hiragana and Katakana, conversing in Japanese for me is totally out. Since I only had one night in Tokyo before going up to Hokkaido, I decided to just camp over at the airport or something, so I proceeded to Haneda.
When I reached Haneda, my friend called and asked me to join them. The two girls went shopping in Daimaru at Tokyo Station. Tokyo Station itself is one of the biggest I have seen, with many exits and the central place to change to other lines, local lines, subway lines and Yaesu North Exit (there is Central North Exit, North Exit, as well as Yaesu South Exit, Central South Exit, South Exit, Central Exit) so you can imagine how confusing the place is! Furtheremore, I was lugging my luggage bag along with me.
In any case, I managed to find the Daimaru exit and met up with my friends. We then went for dinner. But it was past eight at night in winter, so most of the shops were closed. Plus that day happened to be the Emperor's birthday, so it was a public holiday. In the end, we managed to find a nice restaurant on the fifth floor of a building (Tokyo has so many buildings that they all look alike) and ate a good dinner of steamboat. Then we walked back to the hotel they booked where I crashed for the night.
The next day, we took a chartered bus to Haneda Airport to catch our flight to Hokkaido. We landed at Hakodate Airport, then took a bus to the town centre, where our hotel is situated. In fact, our hotel is right by the bus terminus and across the JR Hakodate Station. We were not able to check in before time, so we left our luggages there and went for lunch. After lunch, we enquired on how to go up Mount Hakodate, before going back to the hotel to check in. Then, we waited for our friend (the thorn amongst the roses) to arrive and proceeded to Mount Hakodate by bus.
Hakodate itself is a relatively small city. It was just a ten minutes' bus ride from our hotel (at one end) to Mount Hakodate (at the other end). We reached the gondola station and took the gondola up the mountain. The night view up the mountain was spectacular, except it was really cold! The wind was very strong! Unfortunately, due to the strong wind and fog during winter, we were not able to see as much of the spectacular night view as we liked. I daresay it will be much better during the summer! However, we managed to see the big Christmas tree from the top!
After coming down from the mountain, we went for dinner, then to see the big Christmas tree. Since it was Christmas Eve, we celebrated by drinking before taking a cab back to the hotel. The next day (Christmas Day), we explored the Hakodate Morning Market before taking the train to Noboribetsu, where we stayed for the day. We left Noboribetsu the following morning (Boxing Day) and took a bus to Sapporo. It was en route to Sapporo that we were caught in a massive jam due to heavy snow. I have never seen that much snow in my life! The grounds, houses, trees were all covered with layers of snow!
After reaching Sapporo, we checked into our hotel (just above the JR Sapporo Station) then took a train to Susukino for lunch. Then we took a train to visit the Ishiya White Chocolate Factory. I have been to the chocolate factory before, but it looks so different in winter as compared to summer, especially since snow was falling down! Then we took the train back to Susukino to wander and shop. The Sapporo and Susukino train stations have an underground mall with lots of shops, and the things are nice with pretty reasonable prices! I managed to get ski pants at just 1350 Yen (S$20.25) and a pair of Timberland boots (original, no less!) at just 13000 Yen (S$195.00). One can never get such a nice and comfortable pair of Timberland boots perfect for walking in the snow at such a price here! Not to mention a black sling bag I bought at 1050 Yen (S$15.75) to offload my stuff!
The next day, we went on to Otaru by train. Otaru looks really different in the winter. That day was snowing quite heavily so the temperature was minus five degree Celsius. We had a good time in the snow though, with snowball fights! We wandered around Otaru then went on to the Music Box Museum, which somehow had better variety the last time I was there. After coming out of the museum, we stumbled upon a sportswear shop where my friend and I managed to get ski goggles at a big discount of 1380 Yen (S$20.00) from the original price of 6500 Yen! Then we took the train back to Sapporo.
The next day, we took a bus from Sapporo to Niseko, and thus began our skiing holiday. The ski lodge we were staying in is run by a family and they were very nice to drive us around wherever we wanted to go! On our last night in Niseko (New Year's Day), we took the bus to Kutchan (the nearest town from Niseko), but being the Japanese New Year, the town was totally dark and all the shops were closed. We took the bus to the Kutchan terminus, then back again to Niseko. Needless to say, the bus driver looked at us in bewilderment! :-p
The next day, the two girls had to go off, so they took a morning bus from Niseko to Sapporo Chitose Airport for their flight home. My friend and I then took the afternoon bus back to Sapporo. The next day, he took the first train to Sapporo Chitose Airport where he flew to Nagoya, whereas I took another train to go back to Tokyo. There is no direct train from Sapporo to Tokyo. I had to take a train from Sapporo to Hakodate, then Hakodate to Hachinohe (north Honshu), then finally the shinkansen (bullet train) from Hachinohe to Tokyo.
As it was a peak period, I was only able to secure seats from Sapporo to Hakodate. From Hakodate to Hachinohe, I had to stand and seat in the corridor of the train. From Hachinohe to Tokyo, there was hardly any place to even stand, so I had to stand part of the way and sit on the corridor next to the restroom all the way! The trains ran on schedule. I took the 9:15am train from Sapporo and it reached Hakodate at 12:45pm. Then I crossed over to the next platform to take the 12:55pm train from Hakodate. It reached Hachinohe at 3:55pm. Then I crossed got down from Hachinohe and went up the escalator to another platform to take the 4:10pm shinkansen to Tokyo. Thus there was no waiting time at all and the trains ran pretty smoothly.
I reached Tokyo about 7:50pm. By the time I got off the platform in Tokyo Station, I was really shagged, considering the long train rides and the fact that I was lugging my luggage(s) around! I was too tired to take a train to my Tokyo hotel so I just took a cab, which took less than ten minutes. The next day, I walked down to the Imperial Palace as it was just ten minutes away from the hotel I was staying in, before going to Tokyo station and took a train to Yokohama to meet my friend. I spent the afternoon with my friend, then took a train down to Shinjuku district of Tokyo to wander around, and also the Shibuya district before going back to my hotel.
The next day was my last day in Tokyo. I checked out of the hotel, leaving my luggages there, and took a train down to the Ginza district to wander around. Ginza is a "branded" area, full of upmarket stuff. I came across all the big brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany's & Co, etc (all authentic!). I even saw a Nissan convertible roadshow and went into an Apple store where I finally got my 2GB iPod Shuffle at a very good price at 7800 Yen (S$117.00), complete with an English manual, ear phones, accessories and USB cables! Yeah! The iPod Shuffles I have come across here cost at least S$200.00!
After wandering around Ginza, I took the subway back to my hotel, collected my luggages and took the train to Tokyo Station, where I then took the Narita Airport Express train to the airport for my flight back home. So that is my Japan trip in a nutshell! More details to follow later, about my experiences, attempts at skiing, the great food and of course the photos and some first attempts at movie-making! I did not take as many photos this time as compared to previous trips, because the skies are dark by four during winter, so it is hard to take photos in the dark. Furthermore, batteries and the camera freeze and refuse to function at such cold climates. Plus, we took it really free and easy, did not go that many places. Stay tuned!
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