October 2018 – laa laabi

Hokkaido, Japan, Sapporo, Travel

japan hokkaido, day 5 – lake toya . fresh soba koyo-tei . sapporo . suage

October 27, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Breakfast at the resort!

And I tried natto for the first time. The taste is alright, just the slimy texture is quite difficult to accept.

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It’s raining again.

Heading to Sapporo!

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Stopped by Hoheikyo Dam but it was closed due to gale. The place around the carpark is still pretty though.

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Lunch at Fresh Soba Koyo-tei. Their menu is hand drawn! So pretty!

So good! The texture of both hot and cold soba is really different. Cold soba has the al dente bite while hot soba is soft and breaks easily. I prefer cold soba.

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Snacks on the go.

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Finally in Sapporo! First we stroll at Odori Park.

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Wanted to take a break at this cafe but there wasn’t any available seats.

See! It’s so pretty inside!

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Went to Oniyanma Cafe instead.

They roast their own coffee beans.

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Our airbnb for 3 nights.

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Rest and then it was time for dinner. Going to try Suage’s Soup Curry.

I opted for fried chicken. It was so fragrant and juicy. Fried chicken will never go wrong when in Japan.

The soup curry tasted like minestrone soup though. Hahahaha! Nothing like our usual curry.

Hokkaido, Japan, Random

japan hokkaido, day 4 – lake toya

October 26, 2018December 4, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Buffet breakfast in the hotel. This is different from the other buffet breakfast that I’ve had in Japan. There’s more focus on seafood here.

Mini squids stuffed with glutinous rice.

Shio ramen.

Items I have picked out. Things with milk and cheese are not included.

Not forgetting to add more fibre.

Off we go to our next destination. Lake Toya!

Have more vitamins, our body is not used to the cold and dry weather.

One last time.

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Check in.

We’re pretty much devastated after we saw our rooms.

Too sweet for one person to finish.

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Dinner buffet at the hotel.

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Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, Random

japan hokkaido, day 3 – hakodate asaihi (morning market), red brick warehouse, motomachi

October 25, 2018October 26, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Starting our day at the market.

There are loads of seafood sold here but we do not think the prices here are good. There are stalls that mark up the prices and when you pass by, they will offer you the original price and claim it as a discount.

We bought a slice of melon to share and I almost dropped it. 😅

Cool drain cap.

Found a place for lunch.

I had the scallop, uni and fish roe rice bowl! It was good but just somehow not as good as the one I had at Tsukiji Market.

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Hakodate Bay’s Red Brick warehouse.

It’s a really beautiful place for picture taking.

Most of the shops here sell home decorative items or gifts, like musical boxes, dream catchers, famous cartoon characters collectables…

Ice-creamed at Lucky Pierrot.

Headed to the Motomachi area, went pass a few pretty houses.

Visited an owl shrine, the view here is pretty.

Continued walking to a church.

It’s very very pretty inside the church but do keep very quiet and no photography is allowed.

Going back to the car.

Lunch at Kantaro Sushi.

Many choices to choose from.

Green tea powder.

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Back in hotel for a nap.

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Dinner at the restaurant opposite our hotel, The Very Very Beast. The rating looks good.

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Moved to Hakodate Beer Hall next.

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Ice cream again!

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Up we go to Mount Hakodate!

Be careful went going up or down the hill, there was a fox in the middle of the road while we were going down.

Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan

japan hokkaido, day 2 – airport . hakodate . lucky pierrot

October 24, 2018October 25, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

Friends are coming over today, so we have to go meet them from the airport, collect the car and head to Hakodate.

We had initially planned to have breakfast at the McDonald’s opposite our hotel but we were too tired and overslept. Needed to get out by 9.40am to catch the last free shuttle provided by the hotel to the airport.

It’s going to be a rainy day.

Took the shuttle.

Cute plushies displayed around the airport.

Decided to have breakfast in MMC Organic Cafe.

No-cream carbonara which tastes better with each bite. There was a bottle of grated parmesan to add if you like but I prefer mine cheeseless.

Honey toast was heavenly, sweet with salty butter and a good tinge of vanilla flavour from the ice cream. Mmm…

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Friends are here!

Friends had lunch while we went to Royce Chocolate World.

Chocolate bar bun. 😅

Bought some pralines for myself, this is only available in Hokkaido. Dark chocolate but it’s still very sweet.

Cute!

Collecting our rented car.

Then we had to take the shuttle bus…

To their main car holding area.

Our car for 11 days.

On the road!

Pictures don’t do any justice to the scenery.

Jigokudani aka Hell Valley.

Cute little shop.

Hell Valley is beautiful. Good thing we arrived while the sun is setting too.

Clear water mixing with murky water.

Even demons to represent genders at the toilet.

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Chicken cutlet sandwich as a tea break snack. Yums.

Pit stop. Food stations close at 6pm. 😅

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First thing we do right after reaching Hakodate is to have dinner at Lucky Pierrot. It’s only available in Hokkaido.

Wacky decor and also snacks sold.

Menu. Chinese chicken is number 1.

Wow. The chicken is well-flavoured, tender and juicy. Thumbs up, will recommend.

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It was really quiet.

Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan

japan hokkaido, day 1 – chitose

October 23, 2018October 23, 2018by labelle l.Leave a Comment

The day I’ve been looking forward to is finally here! Haven’t slept during the night because flight is at 6am.

Breakfast comes first, hunger at 4am is no joke.

In-flight meal (Singapore to Taipei), this looks more like boiled chicken than roasted. 😅

Transit at Taipei.

In-flight meal (Taipei – Hokkaido), this is one of the better meals I’ve had on Scoot. Beef was tender. Be careful of splatters though.

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Finally here!!!

Took bus 66 to our hotel but got down too early. *facepalm*

So we took the train and got down at Chitose Station which is just one stop away.

Quiet town.

Hotel is not bad, a little more spacious than the usual hotels.

TC rushed in to work.

I shall have a good bath tonight.

Going to settle our dinner at 7-eleven, their food can hardly go wrong.

This oyako don. 👌🏻 How is it that the egg doesn’t get cooked in the microwave? The rice was in a separate bowl stacked at the bottom.

Condiments provided too, didn’t have the need to use it as the dish was flavorful enough.

Meat ball nabe. It was alright.

The breads. Sandwich was yums, anything related to eggs is good.

Curry pork bun was heavy on the spice and herbs but good in a way.

Desserts! Shall not comment on the sweet potato, it’s not the first time we’re having it. I don’t mind bringing a batch of it home.

I see black sugar and it’s only the last one left on the shelf, I take it. Just look at the whole chunk of red bean paste inside. Better share as it’s quite jelak to have it yourself. The red bean paste wasn’t as sweet as those I had in the past, the thin layer of black sugar cake around gives a very nice fragrance.