My footprints and all things pretty: Tokyo, Hokkaido, Japan July 2009

Hokkaido here I come!

This is the map of the places visited :)

Fantastic food and sceneries...great onsen experience!

We had 3 all together at different locales :)

Simply a fantanstic holiday for us!

Would love to come back again and see Hokkaido in its winter glory next time!

Day2-- after a night on board ANA

we had this bento set for lunch at narita airport,

waiting to transit to Haneda airport.

Ainu Village Museum

A picturesque preserved site by the lake.

Saw some folk songs and dance by the ainu pple

A live volcano spewing out sulphurous fumes

Just a stop-over for photo-taking

Our Hotel for first night...

There was fire work at 9pm coz it was Valentines' day that day in Hokkaido.

So we brought beer (kirin) and wearing the yakuta provided by the hotel, we sat down on a bench to watch fireworks display on the lake...but unfortunately, sudden downpour got us dripping wet...

Just as well, we had to go for our first private onsen together after that anyway :)

View out from hotel window

After onsen, we ventured out of the hotel to seek out 7-11 for foodie...got ourselves milk tea and some fruit beer...and bread and ice-creams...what a spread for supple!

Took this shot of the vending machines...the types and number of drinks available are just amazing...

For just one person...

dinner was a big and sumptious affair at the hotel

Day3

at the cherry farm

cherries...yummy! we picked cherries right off from the trees...

and ate them :)

At the Bear Museum..

cute little ones...

real 7-foot tall bears! they were so good at catching apples thrown at them

sweet and juicy peaches...yummy

Our crab sashimi...at 15,000yen per crab!

We didnt want to order initially as it was really expensive but an elderly couple asked if we would share one crab...for the love of adventure and spirit so there we were trying out this new sashimi here...unfortunately i was also having a bad tummy then...couldnt really eat much :( what a waste!

other delicacies

A smaller and cheaper crab :( got us thinking that we were butchered in terms of price!

sake for sale at sake museum...we tasted some...pretty nice...but we didnt buy any

nice pics for sake bottles

Day 4 Furano--my fav

Visit to Tomita Farm...the only free admission lavender farm!

The farm comes with a touching story of a farmer and his wife...

The farmer and his wife are a loving couple. He bought some

land in Hokkaido and started to grow crops for sale after his

retirement from a business. Unfortunately, one day his wife was

diagnosed with terminal cancer and had to be treated with

chemotherapy in the hospital.

She was suffering so much from the treatments

that she became from a gentle and sweet lady that she was to a

bad-tempered shrew who would get furious easily over nothing and

yelled incessantly at anyone who visited her in the ward.

One day, however, the husband was amazed to find that a visitor had

managed to stayed as long as an hour in the hospital with her. She

was as docile and gentle as a lamb for a few hours even after the

visitor had gone. The curious husband asked the visitor what had

happened in that one hour of his visit. The friend replied," oh, I had

brought her some lavender flowers. She seems to like them and the

flowers make her peaceful and calm."

True enough, the lavender flowers by the wife bedside indeed brought

her much calm and comfort even when they grew dried with the days went on.

The farmer brought some home and scattered the seeds into

the soil near to his cottage. Soon, those seeds and flowers were forgotten

as his schedule grew hectic with running the farm and caring for the

wife in the hospital. But within a couple of months, the lavender flowers

begin to grow and spread far and apart, so much that they almost

covered the entire land where his cottage sat.

He got so excited by what he could see...the whole lolling purple field that

swayed with the wind, and carried with it the sweet fragrant scent that

brought much peace and calm to anyone being nearby. He could not wait for wife to

see such a beautiful miracle. He managed to persuade the doctors to get her

home one day.

The wife, sat in her wheelchair, surrounded by beautiful purple. She never looked as happy as this since her ailment, thought the husband, as he watch her smiling at him and the land beyond, while inhaling deeply the scented air filled with lavender.

She passed away smiling, in his arms that night, as they sat amid the flowers.

She made him to promise to help those in need with his lavenders. He stood by the promise till this day.

That is why the farm is free for the public to come in to enjoy being with the flowers.

Such a romantic and beautiful story that accompanies the beautiful land...

See for yourself...

Lavender ice cream, first of its kind!

We had lovely cream puff, lavender and rock melon ice-creams there! Delicious!

many such cottages spread out here and there in the farm

Lavender flowers being dried in bunches, to be made into aromatic accessories

Visit to red wine museum

there is also a lavender field behind the museum

Visit to cheese factory

Scenes along the bus route

At a stop-over for lunch...lots to eat, buffet style

We stopped for photo-taking at the waterfalls before heading to hotel for the nite

Our hotel for the nite...

Lovely old couple we met there...wish me and darling will be like that too in old age...

went for onsen before dinner...public ones this time, got indoor and outdoor...yes, u get to bare it all and see it all...afterall, everyone's doing it...but i love the outdoor pool...the view out was magical during sun set ...too bad words can only do so much...couldnt sneak in my hp cam, could i? hehe..

Another sumptious affair...by now this was the Xth meal that we had crab again

Day 5 @ Li Xiao Lu--Chitose

Shopping for souvenirs and cookies here...

Tourist brought here by bus-loads and they shopped like mad...

each person average a couple boxes of purchases...

the guide had highly recommended a face cream sold only here...it uses the latest technology extracting the goodies from human placenta...apparently good for erasing wrinkles and regaining youth...it was very expensive...I almost wanted to buy but i guess more research to be warranted first, as my hubbie would say :P

I saw many women took a jar each...

The guide even recounted an incident whereby tourists from HK had to fight to get the last jar from the shelf! haha... just picture the scene from the 'Confession of a Shoppaholic' whereby Rebecca fought with a woman over a pair of designer boots! cats fight!

Day 6 --Sapporo shopping

we went there to look at blue label burberry but didnt buy any :(

Lots of shops both above and underground...but not enuf time to shop to my heart's content.

Sapporo TV tower

白色恋人 factory N museum

like a place in your dream or fantasy

Story behind is that a man inherited a mill farm which he eventually turned it into a cookies producing factory...very enterprising :)

beautiful bubbles

See the assembly line of machines that churn out cookies?

and the workers carrying out quality check? smell of delicious cookies permeates the area!

Some beautiful creations that are too beautiful to eat

Cartoon collections by owner of the place

betty boops

Doeraemon

Roses everywhere in the estate...the owner's mum's fav flowers!

Otaru -- famous for its art and crafts esp music box and glass arts, and cakes!

lovely glass owls

The CAts family

Quaint streets of Otaru..mostly tourists...

sea urchin, yummy

romantic canal

Huge balls of takopachi

the tako lady was shy

Day 7 --going to tokyo

At the airport, departing for tokyo

a hokkaido hello kitty bade us farewell...

AT TOKYO...

At Roppongi...

See the 2 buildings there? can you imagine their width being just 3m or 4m?

Cool super structure, those trusses

sleek facade

I love the city scape that was laying out before me...reminds me of my my arch days in uni, when i was pro-jap, i like to put such things in my models too...

The Spiral , near to Omote Sando

I tried to talk to someone to let me into the insides but was told no...only managed as far as level one art gallery, where the lady forbade me to took photos :(

really a pity i couldnt see more of it...would have love to go up to the roof too!

at least i have this elevation to be content with

skewered tower, nice translucent glass facade

Mouth watering creations...tutty fruity

You will be tempted to try one too...

too beautiful to be eaten? i was just simply spoilt for choice...

Omote Sando

where the young and trendy and rich hang out?

also the arty and farty types too

here, each building has its own unique look and each is independent from one another...very cool place to be...but i only had a few hours to soak in the funky atmosphere...

I just love the raw feel of concrete in buildings here...got excited easily over these forms

and the lights too

interesting meshing of volumes...u get transparency and translucency to solid core...

Prince Tower Hotel Minato, where we stayed for the nite, good choice i must say!

the bath room was really huge! just love the bath tub! bed was comfortable and large...very posh...

Tokyo Tower, very near our hotel

Day8

the tower and 'temple' seen in the day, before we took off in the coach bound for Hakone

On the way to Mt. Fuji/ Hakone

Mount Fuji...

Mt. Fuji in the distance

at this plateau or so called 5th station to Mt Fuji...very windy and cold, I could just be swept away if not for my hubbie :0

We passed by many hikers along the way...

Mt fuji...seen from a high vantage point

Arrived at this little town in Hakone...

Took a cable car up for bird's eye view of the place

Mt Fuji as seen from the lake while cruising

View out from Hakone Kowaki-en hotel

hotel garden

We had our 3rd onsen experience here :)

another fabulous soak befor dinner...what a way to live...i can just get used to it...

DAy 9 -- still in Hakone

taking cable car up to an active volcanic mountain

A Smiling Doeraemon

Taking cable car up to see a live volcano

more smoke/fumes spewing out all around...sulphurous smell

Bought a pack of 5 black eggs...cooked with the hot volcanic water, more nutritious perhaps?

cute hello kitty at hakone

Mount Fuji in the distance

Cute hakone bears

taking cruise ship around the lake

great beautiful trees make this lane a romantic walk with my darling

We walked and trekked on endless miles of cobbled stones and saw the routes leading to a shrine...we gave up and abandoned the trail as it went on and on forever, like 9 km more to walk!