Nearly couldnt make it to hokkaido due to unforseen bad weather condition. We were all so tired after the long flight. I wasn't that difficult finding the toyoko inn although we didn't print out the map.
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Breakfast. Rice triangles again! But its nice :D
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We travelled from Sapporo to Asahikawa. Before that I got to repair my camera for free! We stopped at a local japanese eatery. We tried the soba 300, and ebi tempura don which cost 450 yen.
Say Hyan spilled the miso soup. She had to make a quick change of clothes.
Oops! We're lost! Can't find our way back to the inn!
chilling out with john coltrane and his cat!
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very interesting flowers in the wooden pots at every traffic junction.
Disappointing shop. Thought it would be selling valuable vintage toys. Instead it sells fireworks, costumes, magic tricks and outdated cheap toys.
interesting and excellent system of bus information
We're very close to farm tomita now. Beautiful farm house.
Beautiful flowers in bloom!
Are these daisies? Not very sure.
Well I guess I'll have to munch on them just to make sure!
Nice red flowers
I just had to be inside the fields... secretly..no one was supposed to go into the fields hahahah
cattle ranchers, we are!
In the lavender fields now. No lavender flowers though.
taking a break at the restaurant. My legs are breaking actually.
looking out at the mountains behind. Beautiful.
I like the cottage house behind me
walking out of farm tomita. Its already close to 6 pm.
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The melon shop. Its already closed though
thirsty!
Pretty flowers makes people go crazy.
fried fish curry rice. 550 yen! 300 g of rice. can go up 600g ! Say Hyan had half of it only 150g
Excellent curry rice!
desserts at mister donut
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had my green tea donut! Chewy!
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Excellent rice triangles for breakfast. Eat as many as you like!
We finally reached Biei. In front of the bicycle shop
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Acording to local legend as told by the bike rental old man, to complete the hill course, it takes only 2 hours. We really have no idea what lies ahead for us. We almost died actually! Anyway, Here we go!!
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Say Hyan looking happy now. She doesn't know about the uphill waiting her. Her expression totally changed after that.
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Doesnt this look like a fern instead of a tree??
Kawaii japanese girl. I like the one on my right. Too bad too chicken to ask for her email hahaha
Who the hell are they again?
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Enjoying the scenery with an ice milk and coffee.
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Dancing in the field.
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This is how you carry your wife to sell.
Tree of the seven stars. Where are the other six??
No idea whats on the stone. Just took a photo of it in case we regret later of not taking any.
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Up here near the parent and child tree. Can you spot those 2? Chong Peng's dragging 2 bikes with him. Say Hyan looks like she's dying..
Sorry Pam, I think you would have died long ago...
Question: Why is he pushing two bicycle? (a) Chong Peng stole Say Hyan's bike? (For what? Stupid?) (b) to balance the idea of having only one bike? After all, even number is better. (c) Exhausted wife dying. No choice.
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Helooooo! We're here! can you see us?? Chong Peng and Say Hyan at the parent and child tree.
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that's mild seven! Wow!
Desserts, still at the supermart.
saw this at the basement floor supermart of matsuzaka. Very interesting!
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having dessert at arabigo. Cakes are so-so. Coffee is good.
ready to pounce on the coffee!
writing out the comments for the photos we took today :D
in front of the very well done rendition of Howl's moving castle.
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lunch at a japanese eating place. We tried the rice in orcha. Say Hyan had tempura udon
this is the rice in orcha( tea). Very nice!
huge snow crabs!
handmade ice cream. tried the lavender. not really that fantastic.
lavender ice. nothing fantastic.
whoa! save me from the great red demon! (oni bokura) shrine dedicated to nenbutsu kizou.
trying to pull out the demons fangs!
so how much for those lovely fangs?
we could only pose against this cherry blossom tree. There's no more around. we are that lucky.
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we bumped into a japanese lady who is an assistant photographer. We shared the same shelter when it suddenly poured. She told us it takes 30 minutes to walk up to oyunuma. She advised chong peng put his huge luggage into the coin locker. Being the tough guy that he think he is, he flatly but politely refuse. He says, lets go all the way with my 7kg luggage!
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the whole ground is covered with greenery. I am one with the greens.
Hell Valley. Whole place smells of sulfur
the pathway across hell valley or what the japanese call jigoku-dani
chicken feet haha all the way!!
the mountain that you see here is called Hiyoriyama
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we're lucky if this mountain don't erupt again!
Who the hell would bring their luggage all the way up the hill just to see the oyunuma whatever... He's just asking for it! Chong Peng says: Hi Ho!
Who the hell would bring their luggage all the way up the hill just to see the oyunuma whatever... He's just asking for it! Chong Peng says: Hi Ho!
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she finally decided to reveal her true form!
this, is not my true form :D
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having the unagi sushi. Feels like i'm eating chicken meat
very very nice delicacy. Sea urchin sushi! Melts in your mouth. really! Sea urchin. Believe it or not this is really nice. And expensive too. It is soft and just a gentle chew will make it seems to melt in your melt. Truly a delicacy.
Very nice prawn! not the ama ebi sushi. I think its called soka. I don't know the name. But this prawn sushi is different from ama ebi sushi. Its chewy and delicious. Ok the running man said the name is shako. or rather crayfish in english
See that bump there? Wonder what it is? your guess is as good as mine! Chong Peng can't help but find this character with the slight bumb on the front just below its belly, somewhat amusing.
very beautiful view of the lights in hakodate city. beautiful night view of the city of hakodate at night. We're taking this photo from mount hakodate. -- izam
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as you can see, its 5am and its already so bright! day break is at 345am!
as you can see, its 5am and its already so bright! day break is at 345am!
woke up at 5 am Japan time to jog around the neighborhood. Its drizzling but not for long.
Chong Peng also jogged in the morning. Say Hyan says we're on our own.
After the jog we checked out the fish market nearby
Hakodate is a fishing port of sorts. Lots of sea food products here.
their melons are really tasty
their melons are really tasty
another part of the neighborhood next to the fish market. There's an ice cream shop here.
actually, there are MANY ice cream shops around here. And this shop is one of the shops that sells octopus ink ice cream!
Yeah you guessed it. I just had to try it! hahaha NICE!
The melon fruit cut and prepared in a tourist friendly way. It is really really tasty. I like how it crumbles in your mouth and spreading the sweetness on your tongue. delicious.
Sea urchins! Yummy!
huge crab legs
My saviour for the long train rides. Here we're travelling towards onuma koen from hakodate.
we reached our destination in about 30 minutes
Outside the station towards the lake. As you can see, another ice shop behind me.
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tako balls. delicious.
Fat Cat! very rare to see stray cats or dogs here in hokkaido
HOT! HOT! I didn't realise it was piping hot when i just popped it into my mouth!
Tourists can rent out tricycles, pedal cars and such to tour the lake area. Fun!
we're going bear hunting!
The weather wasn't that sunny so it was comfortable walking around the park. But the pictures didn't really come out well.
The weather wasn't that sunny so it was comfortable walking around the park. But the pictures didn't really come out well.
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can also rent out boats to go to the lake
crossing the bridge to go to another island. This place consists of little islands interconnected by bridges like this one we're on.
A better view of the fog
I am tom sawyer
I am tom sawyer
The magnificent mountain. Can't recall the name now. Its covered by the magnificent fog
The magnificent mountain. Can't recall the name now. Its covered by the magnificent fog
Taking a break in the woods
going to take a ride in the boat
I am tom sawyer
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sakura
sakura
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Going in to have lunch!
waiting for our orders
having ebi tempura udon.
my ebi tempura udon
wow piping hot!
wow piping hot!
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traditional japanese restaurant
and finally we're heading back to the onuma koen JR station. I'm heading towards sapporo to collect my canon camera (repairs at no cost mind you! In s'pore, I would have to fork out $220 to pay those money grubbing people at the singapore canon service center. Overall, I would say Japan's service level is 100 times much better than Singapore. Its just so sad really. Anyway the journey to sapporo takes 3hrs. Almost died of boredom and leg cramp sitting and sleeping in the train. And then another 3hrs coming back to hakodate. I reached Hakodate at 945pm. Tired. Chong Peng and Say Hyan went shopping around Hakodate after onuma park.
heading to hakodate JR train station. We passed by the market
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we reached tomakomai. Toyoko inn is just a few steps in front of the station
and of course the 100 yen shop, which is next to the station. We went crazy later on inside.
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I've got the bigger bag!
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I think I waited a little bit more than 15 minutes out here. These guys took a long time to decide what to eat!
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Finally! Having unagi noodle and egg and rice set. Not too bad for 530 yen.
Chong peng had the same menu choice as me. Say hyan ordered tempura udon
There is an arcade and playground for kids inside the zeus city shpping center next to the train station. There's also a gymnasium where people can play volleyball or badminton insdide
Hamburg restaurant. Beautifully themed restaurant serving japanese and western mix of of delicacy.
nagasakiya. Another shopping mall close to the train station. There's lots of bicycles here in tomakomai area
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I thought the pink building on the right is rather cute.
we're constantly checking and confirming where we are on the map. We're heading to the beach or port area.
There's a celebrity in town called seiko matsuda. Apparently it says she's got baby's breath. (as pictured here on her touring truck)
Here we are at the beach. The sand is made up of small pebbles.
Here we are at the beach. The sand is made up of small pebbles.
facing the pacific ocean...
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a lot of NO this NO that sign here.
Sitting at the stone steps and just enjoying the scenery. Its breezy. We're snacking too.
There are not many families here enjoying the sea.
There are not many families here enjoying the sea.
group of youngsters bbq'ing and spending quality time with their friends.
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side walk chalk drawing!
the kid behind chong peng drew all those just now.
Fat Cat and Fat Pengy was here!
We're at the housing area near the sea.
We thought this is a place to eat, but when we went in, it turns out its a drinking place. The owner was really helpful. He asked if we wanted sushi, he brought to us a place where he claimed has fresh sushi. He brought us all the way across the street and all!
Here we are at the authentic sushi place. Its really small. We're sitting a the counter. The customer next to me was called mr miyagawa (i think) He said he's 53 but i told him he doesn't look his age! He said its because he runs a lot. He recently ran 12 hours and 30 minutes completing 100km in a single day. Amazing. He calls himself the hokkaido's running man.
On the left is the tuna's belly. Lots of fat here. But its japanese number one sushi as claimed by one of the customers who talked to us. And also fetched a high price. One sushi of that costs 500 yen! I had one and it literally feels like it melts in my mouth! amazing. On the extreme right, that redding chunk of meat is whale meat. All of us didn't dare to ask for that one. It looks really bloody. As in reddish and all. And its expensive!
we had a few sushi and then we left, bade goodbye to the chef and to running man. We didn't a lot of sushi because we ran out of choices. There's only so much choice in front of us. Thus we went out looking for other places to eat. And we landed here in Hamburg restaurant. I ordered tako balls with cheese, potato mille feuille. Chong Peng and Say Hyan shares the hamburger meal.
tako ball with cheese
the potato mille feuille
And we finished it off with ice cream!