Oopsie.. didn't have time to blog about my last few days in Japan. Here it is..
My 4th day
We had a chocolate rare cheesecake, peach and lemon jelly and a traditional odango (riceballs on stick) at the typical department store basement. Sooo nice.... Took a one hour long train ride to Noboribetsu and was looking forward to seeing Hell's Valley which my mum spoke so fondly of when she visited Hokkaido with a bunch of her friends in university.
We were quite shocked because we had been so used to Japan's well-organised villages for domestic tourism and when we arrived at the station, there was literally nothing around the station area. There were a few measly eateries! The stationmaster told us there was nothing to eat around Hell's Valley or a Bear Conservation Park so we just bore with the bad food in front of the station. However, when we got to the foot of the mountain before Hell's Valley, there was plenty of good food man. My mum was sooo pissed with that guy.
Anyway, Hell's Valley is a valley from which steam comes out from, or what I believe are geysers. Looks quite cool but my mum was disappointed because they cordoned off the area where she used to go right up to the steaming hot water and boil hot spring eggs with the sulphur smell and everything. Apparently the locals told us some people had jumped in to commit suicide. Sigh.. what a place to commit suicide! Prevents other people from experiencing such a unique Japanese practice!
Because of its name, the town was littered with statues and symbols of Japanese oni (monsters/demons) which was quite hilarious. My mum and I got caught in the rain so we decided to have great grilled seafood at this small store but she was pissed because the guy doing the grilling was so biassed in favour of this pair of young Korean ladies and would give them better selection of seafood and his service was warmer and faster too.
We were quite bored so we visited a big classy hotel to bathe in their hot springs. It was cool they had several different types. Some were mineral salt bath, some had iron and some had sulphur. It was huge but a little bit old.
Once the day ended, we got a pickup by the traditional inn we booked called Orofure sou.. The guy who picked us up was the fifth generation descendant of the family owned inn. His story was quite interesting. His ancestor came to Noboribetsu to conduct research as a scientist but found a hot spring and registered it under his name. Afterwards if anyone wanted to use the same water, they had to pay royalties for each cubic tonne of water via a pipe. It was like in the middle of several mountains and was kinda creepy as there were very few houses around. But, its Karurusu hot spring water definitely was different. My mum's skin and mine got much better overnight and we felt a lot better too. The only thing was it was quite old school. At the outdoor bath, there was a huge flying insect and my mum and I were flailing, jumping and wading through the water to get away from it. It was funny, we ran indoors screaming. Luckily it was middle of the night and no one else was there. Sleeping was really comfortable too.. We left the window open to listen to a downward stream and it was quite soothing.
All the dishes were quite pretty and I had a whole hairy crab to myself. Most of it was too sweet though for my liking.. There wasn't anything to do at the hotel but luckily the Japan soccer friendly against South Korea was on TV and we were soo worked up by it. Lol.
My 5th day
It was quite a variety at breakfast and it was very tasty. Not too sweet this time, it was good. We headed over to the Bear Park where we had to take single-person ropeway which is just one seat dangling in the air and u have to hold on.. Quite fun actually. After that, we took a cable car up to the Bear Park and it was quite small but very engaging. They had a variety of bears and everyone kept throwing food at them. The bears would also stand up and beg for food.. but it was also a little sad seeing them like that. However, the Japanese crescent moon bear was very astute and did a wonderful performance for us.
There was a goose race and we had to bet on which colour tagged goose we thought would win. The geese were soo white and cute and could understand what the keeper guy instructed. My mum bet on the black and I bet on the yellow one but the black one won. We got a fluffy little handkerchielf towel with "duck race champion" on it. So cute..
There was an additional attraction which showcased the Ainu people (aborigines of Hokkaido) and their practices, lifestyle and language. I took part in their courting dance and it was so funny. It was a bit sad to see the Ainu people reduced to a park attraction but I guess they have to move on in the society too.
I drank the Noboribetsu beer but it was super super bitter!!
Afterwards, we went back to the Noboribetsu train station and took a 2.5 hour long rapid train ride to Hakodate. We had crab floss on rice bento on the train and I felt dizzy and sick for a while but got better with rest.
At Hakodate, we tried some corn and it was amazingly delicious (I usually hate corn). The traditional hotel which we stayed at was AWESOME!!!! It was so classy with a traditional Japanese lobby. The interior decor was so royally Japanese and the centre courtyard was a beautiful Japanese garden with a pond. There were so many things to buy at the stores within the hotel. Dinner was wonderful with hairy crab and spider crab and a whole spread of other things. I fell in love with the pumpkin steamed fishcake in sweet sauce and the squid marinated in alcohol and its stomach contents. The smoked duck was great. So was the octopus shabu shabu (*drool*) Anyway everything was so good.
The bath was 100% hot spring and also very nice on our body. There was an outdoor and indoor bath. So relaxing. We went thrice during our one night stay lol.... I love the milk they sold too!! At 8.30pm, guests could gather at the lobby and play bingo. There were so many prizes but sadly we didn't get any!! All I wanted was the alarm clock.... Oh well..
The hotel is called Takubokutei and its a great place to stay. I wish I could stay there again with Mr New and introduce him to Japanese inns~
The 6th day
Breakfast was buffet style and there was so much to choose from! Japanese pickles... miso soup... deep fried Japanese or Western style.. Milk again....
We set off to stay in a regular budget hotel nearer to the train station. Walked around and had melon jelly with real melon in fresh cream souffle and cheesecake.. We did A LOT of shopping.. I bought a ponytail cute wig for my bad hair days.. My mum spent 60,000 yen in like 4 hours???? Luckily we claimed back GST. I managed to sneak off to call Mr New cos I missed him sooo muchie. Spent so much time in the game centre with my mum and won some goodies too hehe... Lunch was dipping ramen for me..
In the evening, we went to the Mt. Hakodate observatory which had a beautiful view of the city's nightscape.. We bought a giant dried squid for my sis. We sat on the stairs to eat dango which I pre-ordered from Takubokutei earlier. Found canned corn soup drink and canned red bean soup drink and it was sooo yumm!
The 7th day
Did a little bit more shopping for myself. Lunch was fresh crab and sea urchin on rice with non-alcoholic beer haha..
Flew off to Nagoya Airport and stayed at Centrair Hotel in the Airport. It's classy too!!
Bought SO MANY treats and souvenirs for back home.. Nagoya Airport is actually really happening. I wouldn't have minded staying longer. Dinner was like eating bits and pieces from the various restaurants and foodstalls in the airport.
At the hotel room, we watched Arashi's show until I got sleepy.
The 8th day
Breakfast buffet was nice:) Went and bought some more souvenirs and treats for Mr New after immigration and flew back to Singapore. What a relaxing, satisfying, scrumptious holiday~
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