This is the first time I’m going to Japan, the land of rising sun they call it. I’m really excited!! And it’s our honeymoon! Once in a lifetime~~~ a MONTH of long vacation. To dedicate this once in a lifetime to my dream to visit Japan, I think it’s very expensive meaningful too. Hehe.. If you are thinking of glamorous hotel stays and exquisite Japanese cuisines, I’m afraid you won’t be seeing much of that! Haha~ From hotels to our meals and shopping loots.. and to worrying about the luggage weight everyday, and to remind ourselves how high the Japanese YEN exchange rates have shot up to…. there’s only one word to describe: BUDGET!!!! Hee hee… but who says you can’t enjoy with a tight budget? It’s all up to us!
Look at the EVA AIR flight we took from Taipei!! Hello Kitty Flight eh~~~~~ Everything is in Hello Kitty shape and colors.. From the Air Ticket, to Pillows they give us.. and their Lunch Bento Sets with Utencils, even the Ice-cream~~~ Haha! So glad the air stewardess weren’t dressed as Hello Kitty mascots. LOL~ it’s kinda O_o” if you are like us, not a fan of Hello Kitty huh..
After a few hours of flight… we touched down to SNOWland!!!!
I don’t know why.. Air also feels fresher here… Haha! With our huge backpacks we borrowed from Yan, we pulled our luggages around Hokkaido Airport.. looking for the counter where you can Rent-A-Car!
BUT.. OOPPPPS….. !!!!!!
Aiyaaa….. we always change our wallet contents before we go for any trips, so that we do not bring unnecessary cards overseas.. and ta-da~ left the car license at home as well! Ok lor… be flexible be flexible. It’s OUR TRIP, we planned it, we execute it. Moods do not get dampened just like that. Hee hee! ENJOY TO THE FULLEST~ No car? Take trains!!! Move to the JR Train counters to purchase Hokkaido JR Pass then~ Hee hee..
Wow.. frankly speaking, travel research was done mostly for driving, now that we have to study the railway routes, things get a bit different. Heh.. but Pail is quite good with directions! Hoho.. heng ah!
It wasn’t snowing yet.. but.. Wooooooooooooooooooo~ damn cold! Even when we are in layers of heattech and the snow jackets borrowed from Arielle&Avin, the winds were blowinggggg and freezing us…
In the day, snow touched land and turned into ice… so by night time, we couldn’t even walk properly, let alone take any photos? Haha.. we were so STRUGGLING with our heavy suitcases and heavy backpacks up and down the flights and flights of stairs, then in the cold, back in the heat, and back in the cold, on the ice cold grounds.. slipping and slipping away on the slippery floors.. until we found our hotel like FINALLY?!? It was not too late, but sky has turned dark… Right at the door of our hotel, Pail was carrying both the suitcases, one in each hand.. he lost his balance, and slipped.. Weeee… there he went, *try picturing how one can slip on a banana skin*, yes, and he fell right on his bum! Ouch!!!!!
We checked in to MARKS INN, and changed into lighter backpacks, and made our way out again. See how I wrapped myself into a BA ZANG.. lol.. slowly, together, we learn how to walk on ICE, side by side, holding on to each other, so that none of us will fall!!
FIND FOOD! WE NEED FOOD! Haha! There’s this Ramen Alley in Susukino.. but it was so quiet on the roads, and in the alley… maybe it was too cold, or maybe it was too early, or too late? No idea… it was just so 冷冷清清 de.. we just walked in to one of the ramen house, and see this very nice and friendly old chef. I asked for his permission to take a photo, and he actually smiled at my camera~ Hee hee.. so cute. As expected, everything was written in Japanese, so we ordered the no-fail SHOYU RAMEN and SHIO RAMEN. Haha!
As you can see from the NHK clock tower, it was only 8pm, and it’s so dark already~~~ roads were as quiet too.. we strolled around the Park, and saw the church.. the grounds were still as slippery, but it was not snowing.
On the way back to Marks Inn, we had to take train for 1-2 stops, but we waited for around 30 to 40 minutes, there were no sight of trains. We saw that the locals waited patiently too, some of the girls even squatted down waiting. Until we heard some announcements in Japanese, we followed the locals to walk up back to the control station. The train station staff were on stand-by answering questions by the local passengers one by one, in a polite and systematic way.
One of the staff sticked a notice up explaining why there was no trains, the only four words we understood was “人身世故”. Oh so that’s how they handled train faults in Hokkaido. Haha.. locals behaved like they were very used to it, they just walked out and headed towards else where. The staff told us, from Odori, we can just WALK back to Susukino.. there’s an Underground Shopping Mall along the way. Haha.. how nice!
But.. but.. to our dismay.. this was what we saw. An Empty Mall.
We only recalled much later that it was Public Holiday for them because it was the 2nd January. No wonder all the shops are closed, and the roads are so quiet!
Nights off.. Good night.
In the next morning, we looked out of the window….
IT IS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The staff at Marks Inn were very nice and kind, even though we are checking out.. they offered us an umbrella, The Plastic Transparent Umbrella. Now we know how USEFUL the transparent umbrella is! We bought them around everywhere.. can use it to block the winds, block the snow.. and block the rain! 😀
By the way, if you are interested, you can find out more here,
Website: Marks Inn
Wooohoo…. we are heading towards our next stop.
The reason we are in Hokkaido, H A K O D A T E 函 馆.