HOKKAIDO 北海道 [A Travelogue] - limwhow & SereneXMM

[limwhow]

With blind faith, this tour guide followed the arrow on the GPS and just walked and walked while his whole team behind KBKB-ed (meaning, complained).


[Translation: "Aiyoh Aiyoh.. it is so difficult to drag this lousy luggage on the snow..
You want to take my life!" complained the Grandfather.]

... a blind faith that finally rewarded us the fruit of success - arrival at the hotel right on the front step.


[Translation: "Luckily, we walked not more than 1km to arrive at the hotel.." said the Grandfather.]

[limwhow]

Day 3: Otaru - Lunch at 斩拉面 (斩ラメン)


This poor little newbie tour guide's life is dang tough.
Really.
Why? Other tour guides have the privilege of recce-ing their destinations way before bringing their customers on a trip.
But this guide, he is as new to the places as his travellers. And what's worse, he is learning on the job!

So faced with a pack of 6 hungry people, his mind had to turn fast... and his attention was drawn across the road to a little enclosure...



A quaint little set up of eateries within which he stumbled upon a traditional teeny-weeny little stall called 斩拉面 (Zhan Ramen).



Manned by a sole receptionist-cum-cook-cum-waiter-cum-cleaner-cum-cashier, this team of hungry Singaporeans found, much to their delights
one of the BEST ramen they have ever tasted!



... there was something for every one... a special taste for every palate...



... and this handsome Japanese man certainly did not disappoint when it came to the crunch:
Miso Char Siew Ramen!
Phew-weeeee! Mama Mia! The full-bodies fragrance just floats through the steamed air!



... to emerge fully satisfied, completely energized... and totally ready for further walk down the long long road...

[limwhow]

Day 3: A slow stroll in Otaru

Well, with our stomachs filled and thigh muscles rejuvenated, we were ready for more action.
I took the leap and pointed down the main road along the canal:

"Ok, it's a very very short walk from here all the way to the end of the road where we will
come to the Music Box Museum and the Glassware shops...
Trust me. It's going to be a very very short walk..." encouraged the tour guide.

Short walk my foot.
But then again, I was the one holding on to the Garmin GPS, not them, hehehe..
So they die die have to believe me!

... this SereneXMM ah, she has this thing going for trees.
And she specially go on a look out for 梧桐树 (don't know how to call it in English)..
She had her share of 梧桐树 in Chengdu, China. Now in Hokkaido, she also wants to shoot a Japanese version of it...



... the Grandfather - at it again! Cannot tahan cold one lah, he...


[Translation: "Hands freezing, feet freezing, nose freezing, lips freezing, face freezing, ears freezing...
Help me wrap them all up!" trembled the Grandfather.]

... but that young man who is one whole head taller than the Grandfather... he is like - nothing!



... and the children.. wah lau eh! They couldn't stop handling the cold, freezing snow!
In fact, I was amazed at how they held up the snow with one finger.
I was almost expecting them to spin the snow ball like a basketball! Hahaha...!



... and goodness, I hope no Japanese people saw this scene!
Our very own Singaporean children misbehaving by throwing big big snow balls in the streets of Hokkaido!

[limwhow]

EXTREME COLD TEST FOR DSLR


Hehe... I have always wanted to do this.
Always.
Just waiting for the right opportunity to do so only.

The temperature was about -3 degree celcius that afternoon.
Snowing it was.
And lots of old and new snow on the ground.
I gave SereneXMM a wicked grin, and then gently lowered my Canon 1DMkIV + 16-35mm onto the ground right in front of me.
Left it there for a good few minutes and all of us just squat down and observe it...



It sat there, and we squatted there, eyes non-blinking for quite a long while.
But at the end, the camera won.
It could withstand the cold and wetness much much better than any one of us.
HAHAHAHA....

[limwhow]

Day 3: Discovering Otaru

Actually Otaru is not too big on the map.
It's truly a town facing the sea, backed by the hills.
Most travellers would find themselves traversing the main road alongside the canal and the piers, as we ourselves did.

There were small stalls selling really fresh seafood just on the road side.
Hmmm... now we began to understand why crab meals in Japan cost more...
A 7800 yen (S$121) a crab, and a 6800 yen (S$107) a crab cost price would certainly mean once up on the dining table, the price would jump a few more folds...


Walking further and further brought us to the Music Box Museum (so called Museum. But they are mainly a retail shop for Music Boxes.)
This Music Box souvenir is apparently another famous and highly sought after item here in Otaru.
Some limited edition ones can easily fetch prices in the tens of thousands of dollars.



... looking from the second floor of the Museum.

[limwhow]

Day 3: Otaru Glass Factory 北一硝子


The name 北一硝子 apparently was now synonymous with an industry of glass factories and manufacturers.
And Otaru was the famous town for this.
A trip to Oatru was never complete without at least a trip to one of the many Ornamental Glass-ware shops.



... almost felt like a bull in a china shop... haha...



.. but the multitude of colours was definitely eye-opening!

[limwhow]

Somehow it felt as though to me that the girls were enjoying the white fluffy stuff much more than the adults...





... more to come... after I finish work late tonight... haha...

[limwhow]

reserved for more

[limwhow]

reserved for more 2

[limwhow]

reserved for more 3

[limwhow]

reserved for more 4

[limwhow]

reserved for more 5

[limwhow]

reserved for more 6

[limwhow]

reserved for more 7

[limwhow]

reserved for more 8

[limwhow]

reserved for more 9

[limwhow]

reserved for more 10

[limwhow]

reserved for more 11

[limwhow]

reserved for more 12

[limwhow]

reserved for more 13

[limwhow]

reserved for more 14

[limwhow]

reserved for more 15

[limwhow]

reserved for more 16

[limwhow]

reserved for more 17

[limwhow]

Day 5: Hakodate -
Walking down to the Historical District

The after lunch walk was monotonous during the first half as we walked along one of the main road Kaikyo Dori 海峡通.
We found many of the shops and more modern buildings on Kaikyo Dori a little boring.
In a way, the cities out of Sapporo were not terribly crowded and there was significantly lesser people and cars.
Perhaps that was why when we compared this to what we had back at home, it appeared to be a little more sleepy.
It seemed that the more happening area was the smaller coastal road along the Red brick warehouses next to the sea.

Continuing from the curve bridge, we passed the famous Red Brick Warehouses on the left side.
These Red Brick Warehouses, also known as Kanemori So-Ko 金森仓库 were a group of warehouses built at the end of the Meiji period.
These now house a collection of commercial facilities, eateries (we some Genghis Khan grilled lamb restaurants, Hakodate Beer, Sushi joints, bars and pubs etc. etc..).

As we reached the Blue Moon Bay Cruise, it suddenly started raining.
Here it was - the Blue Moon Bay Cruise at A (on the right upper corner of the map).


The rest of the track marked in red indicated the remaining parts of our walk after this.

... and so it rained. And we ran for cover...



... in the Blue Moon Bay Cruise cafe and supermarket.. But there wasn't much to buy there.
So we merely bought more cookies and pastries and sat on the benches outside to eat...



... and at the same time we found to our delight that this place was pretty romantic in its own quiet way...
Munching our cookies, sitting under the shelter of the Blue Moon, and enjoying the view of the Kanemori Warehouses...

[limwhow]

We sat for a while.
And then the rain turned into snow! Waahahaha...
This is never going to end, we told ourselves.
The Grandfather said:

"Aiyah... what is this little bit of rain and snow, right?
We've been through worse... come, come, let's move along, shall we?"

Hehe... precisely what I wanted.
In fact the old man was correct.
This very team actually had much tougher walks under oxygen-rarefied atmosphere, in temperature of negative territories, high up above 5000m before. (Another story altogether, that one was...)
So ok, guys... the old General says go, we shall all go!



Some more brief histories of Hakodate

You see, one of the most important thing about coming to Hakodate was to visit the historical district.
Hakodate had a turbulent history in its own way, revolving around Japanese colonisation of the land and the subsequent Ainu revolts.
In the year 1454, Kono Kaganokami Masamichi from the Kono family came over to Hakodate and built his own mansion right here in the historical disctrict.
The mansion resembled the shape of a box. And thus the name 箱馆 (box mansion) was given to not only the mansion, but the place.
The word 箱was later changed to 涵, and the final name of Hakodate 涵馆 came about.
Of course, the aboriginal Ainu were finally defeated and suppressed and now very much assimilated into Hokkaido's culturo-socio-economical structure.
But there had been a recent efforts to re-introduce the history and culture of Ainu to the people of Hokkaido.
To keep things simple for myself and my children to understand, through the years of turmoil after the Kono family's downfall,
there was a shogunate that came in to expand the colony to the eastern parts of Hokkaido.
And there was the famous merchant who came and established the trading post here.
And during the Meiji period, the Hakodate government became the centre of administration for the rest of Hokkaido and it was here that the American trading ships first arrive to set up their post started doing trading with the Japanese.
Of course, following closely the Europeans came and set up their Embassies and Churches, and European-style houses here in Hakodate.
That is why there was a saying that Hakodate is the most European-like city in the whole Japan.

Continuing our walk...

Looking back, I felt that in order to really explore the whole historical district, it would have been better to visit during the non-winter seasons
as it would be easier to walk around and the daylight hours would have been longer.
But anyway, during winter the whole area presented itself in a very different light which again more than made up for the lost of other opportunities.




Here we were, at the Jetty marked B. a distance after we turned in.
I remember distinctly, it was still snowing quite a fair bit here, and right after this point as we continued our journey, the snow got even heavier...

Admiring the jetty...



... and what? The General complained of cold? Again?



Fascinatingly, the houses all over this district were all like this.
Neo-Victorian style in design.
And at that point, the whole place was literally like a dead town, not many pedestrians, hardly any vehicles...
Only a few crazy Singaporeans braving the snow. 笑的! (Siao one!)

[limwhow]

Again and again, we peered to our left as we trudge through the snow-lined pavements and took in the sights of sloping roads.



Another junction, and we finally arrived at the Motoi-Saka Dori 基板通, the main road leading up to the Old Public Hall of Hakodate.

"This certainly feels like that famous steep Lombard Street of San Francisco." remarked the Grandfather.

I agree whole-heartedly... hehe, only thing is, I have never been to Lombard Street... Hahaha...!
At the junction, the old folks walked by a green building. I turned my head to look as the passed by, and was impressed that this was one of the famous buildings mentioned to death in the Chinese Guide Book.
Apparently this house (or building) was built by a very rich trader and was named after the company called 相马(株).
More of its significance unfortunately escaped me at that point in time.
Leaving me with little else to do than to take a snap shot of the old folks with the 相马(株) house. Hehe...


(Too much contrast in the snowy land. I started using my flash with this series of photos.)


Walking further up Motoi-Saka Dori 基板通....



... and coming to this junction here...


(This one also taken with flash.)

[limwhow]

Day 5: Hakodate - The Historical District

• Motomachi Park 元町公园
• The Museum of Photography History 涵馆市写生历史馆
• The Old Public Hall of the Hakodate Ward 旧涵馆区公会堂
• The British Consulate
• ... and more...!

Truth to be told, there are many many more sights than what was listed up there.
There was the old cemeteries, the Orthodox Russian Church, and more and more...
But one look around the whole place all coated in snow, my heart sank and I knew that there was only a limited number of places that we could walk to.

"Never mind lah," I told myself. "It has to be like that in Winter. All the snow and cold are there to be viewed and enjoyed."
"We will certainly not be able to complete the whole circuit. Just the important ones will do."

So up the slope we climbed.



Well, certainly there was something magical about this Hakodate Mountain for whenever we neared its foot, there was always more snow.



Among all of us, the most poor thing was the Grandfather.
Why? Because he was wearing a no-brand parka that wasn't exactly water-proof.
And therefore in the mix of rain and snow at this hour, before long, his parka was all soaked through.
Wah lau eh... I think experiences like this certainly showed us the importance of good winter-wear.
Good Base-layers (long johns), good middle layer (fleece or down) that can wick sweat, and a good Outer Shell layer that is breathable and water-proof.
Not to mention a good pair of wind-stopping and relatively water-proof gloves.
But there was never a single pair of gloves that can do everything.
Thus each of us had two pairs of gloves. One for general purpose warm-keeping and wind-stopping.
And another pair for playing with snow!

Talking about playing with snow.. I think none of us was as enthusiastic as our AhLiXMM for she would be the very first one to dive right into a thick field of perfect and untouched snow upon first sight!

[limwhow]

The Motomachi Park

These two fellows appeared to be tired.
Strange, why? The day wasn't over yet...
I look at the way the 姐姐 （elder sister）walked... she was literally bending forward walking up the gentle slope! Haha...
Must be too much snow already lah... Too thick already lah.. no?


(Shot taken with flash. That is why the snow flakes in the foreground were more obvious.)

Some record shots of the Park...
Here the Grandfather was almost soaked through... almost, except for some remaining areas still a little dry... Poor Old General..! Haha...


(Shot taken with flash. Because with the snowy background, contrast was too high. Thus needed to overcome that with some fill-in.)

Walking up the Park, we came to the first building that I was longing to see.
The Museum of Photography History.


Here is SereneXMM at the edge of the Park with the Museum behind her.


(Again, with flash.)

[limwhow]

The Museum of Photography History 涵馆市写生历史馆


To all my beloved friends of photography out there.
I must make a confession.
All the while as I was planning the trip, I have wanted to visit these old historical buildings and to see what they had inside.
But when on the ground and under intense fire, sometimes the well-intentioned plan goes askew.
Exactly like what happened here.
I only saw the museum from outside.
And as the old Mrs General was KB KB-ing cold lah, dark alreay lah, snowing lah... what-not-lah, the initial assault plan was abandoned.
Maybe there would be a next time for me... maybe...
But for all of you who would be going there in the future, please do give its interior a visit, for my sake for my sake... haha!



My only consolation was I thought there was a nice angle of this old historical Museum from the slope just above it.
And especially in winter, the bare tree and the white, glistening snow on the ground did lend it a feeling of remoteness.

[limwhow]

The Old Public Hall of the Hakodate Ward 旧涵馆区公会堂

Here was the plate right at the entrance to this old building.



Looking a little lonely up here on its own slice of land, I was sure the Old Public Hall had seen better days.
Unfortunately, I knew not enough history of the Hakodate of old to fully appreciate the significance of this lovely architecture in blue.
Otherwise I would have understood where it stood better, and also would have been able to recall stories of its days of Glory.



Similarly, this tree must have seen its own share of better (or who knows, even worse days of turmoil?) days and weather...



The only reason why yours truly wasn't in the picture was that the one single picture where I was within, was taken by the old General and that picture really could not make it.
So I had to sacrifice myself and use this group photo instead...
But also, I took this opportunity to expound the importance of good, water-proof outer shell, as it could be clearly seen that by now,
the Grandfather's outer layer was all soaked through.
Poor old Grandfather.
Luckily his middle layer and base layer held fast.



Seeing another group of Singaporeans...

It was very interesting.
Because it was over here at Hakodate and right up here on the hill just in front of the Old Public Hall, that we saw
a second group of Singaporeans gazing up at the blue building right in front of us.
(The first group of Singaporean family we saw was while we were walking on our way to the Tropical Botanic Gardens.)
You can never miss a team of Singaporean.
The way we look, the way we talk, the way we wear our clothes, they air around us... it's unexplainable but it's simply true.

[limwhow]

Just a crazy candid shots of the children going absolutely berserk with their snow ball throwing.
The elder sister was holding too huge a snow ball for her to throw ahahaha...

(Clicking on the photo would yield a bigger one.)

[limwhow]

Day 5 Evening: Hakodate -
Walking back to the hotel...

It was 4:14pm only.
But the sky was again threatening to shut off all its lights.
What a shame, I thought, as we were only just beginning to warm up to the historical buildings and to enjoy ourselves.
But never mind never mind... there could still be another time.

Walking down the slopes of Motoi-Saka Dori was easier.
And as this was the second night, we roughly had an idea how to walk back the slightly less than 2km distance.
Any initial intent of grabbing a tram was trashed as the children were adamant about walking back.

Here we passed by the Hakodate Literary Association 涵馆市文学馆.



... and ...



... and we saw the tram that we would have otherwise taken had we not decided to walk the full distance...
Here driving along Seibu Loop Route 西部环状线.



And of course, passing by this supermarket which we have frequented over the past two days.
It was called コプさっぽろ (Kopu Sapporo), the English name of which until now I still couldn't make out.
But really, its prices were so reasonable and its female counter staffs so polite, I would be back here in the blink of an eye
should I require any more items.

[limwhow]

We made the last left turn up Nijikken-Zaka Dori (二十间坂通), the smaller road besides 海峡通, we were on our final home run to the hotel.



Here is the famous Hakodate Beer that I am sure many of our forum members would have seen in a different light
and a different colour in spring, summer and winter.

[limwhow]

We walked pass the Hakodate 明治馆, as we lugged all our barang barang from our shopping (again) from Kopu Sapporo Supermarket.



To brush past the Hakodate Kokusai Hotel 涵馆国际ホテル.
The Christmas light up here was getting more brilliant.



Here as we walked, we heard from the street on the other side nearer the sea, cheers and celebration noises.
Apparently here just before Christmas, there would always be a giant Christmas tree on display right here,
at this part of Hakodate.

"Should we go and watch it? Came so far here already... want to watch it? Yes? No?" The struggle within the tour guide.

But all it took was one look at all the tired faces of the young and old, for the answer to that question to surface naturally.
It's ok. There would always be another time... if it is so fated to be.
And off we continued walking towards our hotel...

[limwhow]

Day 5 Evening: Hakodate - Home run to the hotel...

For all the walk, the hunger, the rain, the snow and all the cold, today was another day full of eye openers for this small group of Singaporean.
This road sign basically showed where we had been.
It just seemed unbelievable that the Old Public Hall was only 1.5km away from here.
It certainly felt much further than that.
Well... perhaps when one walked in the snow, the extra burden in slowing one down really made a difference.



Arriving at the doorstep of our hotel the Toyoko Inn Hakodate...
The two ladies just happened to glance at the clock and they were both shocked by the time...
What?! Only 5pm! It felt like 9pm already!!!


[Translation: "Wah... despite all the shopping packets big and small, we managed to reach back to the hotel in the snow.
We should be able to eat in a while's time." remarked the Grandmother.]
At the very least, these few hungry fellows could have their dinner and supper and from the way they were eating,
one couldn't be faulted to think that they were even having their breakfast for the next day!



Again.
Another tiring day.
And another wonderful night of restful sleep.