Konnichiwa Hokkaido!

First (and probably the last) international trip for 2014 and it was in Japan!!! Awesome!! 

My parents lived in Japan for a few years and loved their stay in the country; so much so that when we were growing up, they would tell us about how beautiful it is, most especially Hokkaido. Those stories made us love Japan so much that we made it our life goal to visit the country. Apparently, 2014 is our year. After years of saving, we finally had enough resources to support this trip.

Our first stop was in Sapporo. Sapporo is located in Hokkaido which is the northernmost island of Japan. Sapporo is considered the capital city of the Hokkaido island. It was also the venue of the 1972 Winter Olympics. People might think we are insane to go there in February, when the temperature is almost always below-zero and the roads are covered in ice. We probably are.

Sapporo during Winter

We flew to Sapporo via Jetstar. We had a very short layover in Tokyo before heading to Hokkaido. Upon arrival, a couple of our Japanese friends fetched us from the airport. They also prepared some winter essentials for us like mittens, bonnets and pocket warmers. Aside from those thick jackets and coats, the three things I mentioned would definitely ward of the chill, especially if the temperature is below zero.

Our family stayed in a friend's company's guest house in Otaru, a small harbor city northwest of Sapporo. The city faces the Ishikari Bay and has served as a main port of the bay. The city is also famous for fishing, their lighted canal and their glass blowing industry.

picture courtesy of: http://www.japan-guide.com/

On our first official day of touring, my dad's classmate and his wife accompanied us to the various places in Sapporo. The first one was the JR Tower which is above the JR Sapporo Station South Entrance. The JR tower is a skyscraper that serves as a shopping mall and office complex. It also has an observation desk that offers a magnificent view of Sapporo.

We went to Sapporo during the freezing month of February because of the annual Sapporo Snow Festival. This festival started in 1950 when high school students built a few snow structures in Odori Park. There are three main sites of the festival: Odori Park, Susukino and Tsu Dome. The Odori park is the main site of the festival and has both snow and ice sculptures. You'll be amaze how they made this gigantic ice and snow sculptures and how they maintain it's form for a whole week.

The Susukino site which is located and named after Sapporo's largest entertainment district features various ice sculptures. The ice sculptures are lit up every night during the festival.

Next stop was my dad's alma mater, the Hokkaido University. Hokkaido University or Hokudai is one of the national universities of Japan. The university was founded in 1876 as Sapporo Agricultural College by William Clarke. The name was change in 1947. The university reminds me of UP Los Banos because of the courses they offer as well as the vibe of the place. It also reminded me of the peace I always feel whenever I go back to my alma mater.

On our second day of touring, my dad's former roommate brought us to the Okurayama Ski Jump. This place is on the eastern slope of Mt. Okura. It was also one of the venue during the 1972 Winter Olympics. When we were there, the use of the facilities were actually free (probably because it was the Sapporo Winter Festival). We were able to ride the open cable car and go inside the observatory. They also set up some games such as hockey and snow sliding (which I was not able to try because I wasn't wearing the proper winter clothes) for the guests to enjoy

After enjoying ourselves in Okurayama, we headed out to Sapporo Bier Garten to have our lunch. The Sapporo Bier Garten is said to be the only place where you can taste all of Hokkaido's greatest food in one location. We tried the Genghis Khan Hall to try out their famous barbequed mutton or lamb. I have my apprehensions with eating lamb. I have heard that it doesn't taste good and leaves this weird taste on your tongue. However, the barbequed lamb we tried was actually good. In fact, it was meat-lover's heaven. It also reminded me of Korea's samgeopsal

Next stop was the Shiro Koibito Park, which is a theme park by Ishiya, a local chocolate company. Ishiya is the maker of the Shiro Koibito cookie which consists of two thin butter cookies with white chocolate in between. Shiro Koibito cookie is heaven, especially if its cold. Anyway, in Shiro Koibito Park, there's a museum which show case various chocolate related exhibits. There are also glass windows where visitors can observe the cookie production.

We toured Otaru on our last night in Hokkaido. As we were already cold and I am already cranky (apparently, walking in snow the whole day tends to make me cranky --- just like walking in the rain), we already had terrible pictures. Hehehe. Suffice to say, Otaru is also a good place to roam around.

Our Hokkaido trip is probably one of the best I had so far because I was able to go to Sapporo and experience snow, which by the way are two of my ultimate dreams. It was also memorable because of the places we've seen and the friends who were very helpful and accommodating.I hope I will still have the chance to come back.

Next stop....Tokyo!