Summer in Hokkaido2

It has been months since I blogged. I have been distracted by Facebook, the social e-toy of the year. So far, it has found me a number of old acquaintances, so it's been pretty interesting saying hi to people whom I've not met for some... 17 years!

Anyway, the year's flown by, Christmas has passed, and though we're in the tropics, the 'white christmas' tune crepts into my head every December. These snowmen that I saw at Hokkaido's Ice Pavillion are the closest to the real thing for me, and here's a video of the cold but rather cool visit.





Does the facade of this historical old temple look like a face? Like the houses in Satoshi Kon's animated movie, Tokyo Godfathers!



I loved the giant animals that pop up on the roof or around the buildings. Food was quite an attraction: besides the milk chocolate and hairy crab, I also miss the sweet rock melon and corn that could be eatan raw. On the last day of the trip, we went to the market and indulged in some tax free shopping.


Our final evening at Sapporo. Hope to visit again!

Summer in Hokkaido

I heard from a Japanese friend that summer was short in Hokkaido this year, so we were really lucky to have been there during the right week! Here are some photos of the family trip.

Day 1: 23 Aug 2007
8:30am ANA flight, some 12 hours long, including domestic transfer, sigh. Narita airport looked unexpectedly modest... best shot of the sky that I've captured so far during a flight (using a phone camera that is).


Day 2: 24 Aug 2007

After visiting a salmon farm in Sapporo, off to Otaru. Quaint, like a toyland, check out the top right photo of father and child enjoying music played by life size mechanical teddy bears.

We visited a fabulous Music Box Museum (more of a big shop really) and had large Hokkaido crabs for lunch. Then, we visited the gigantic chocolate factory that makes the popular chocolate biscuits, Shiroi Koibito. Beyond the chocolate factory, there were exhibitions on history of chocolate, coffee and even toys. Of course lots of chocolates, candy and ice-cream on sale, with outdoor gardens to frolic in. And free entry, what more could one ask for? Dinner time, missed out on Kobe beef, coz we deliberated over the price of 700 yen per 200g tad long, drats.

Day 3: 25 Aug 2007

8:30am, left for Furano for lavender farm, the highlight of the tour. Arrived around noon, bad time for photo-taking. Post buffet lunch, the sun grew less harsh, don't the sunflowers look lovely. Me and mum looking happy!

Day 4: 26 Aug 2007 to be continued...
end