We decided to start out last day in Hokkaido with a leisurely breakfast at Tomita Melon House. And what a great idea it was.
It was a beautiful morning, and we had a superb breakfast (you can tell the kid it's a "picnic" to make it more fun), sitting out at the benches at Tomita Melon House and enjoying the view and weather. We had the melon cream bun (better than the melon jam bun), cut melons, melon smoothie, melon ice-cream, melon rusk, and corn on the cob. Yes, all for breakfast!
Thereafter, it was a one-hour drive to Asahikawa airport, for a flight to Tokyo.
Our complete itinerary:
Day 1: Haneda to Hakodate (overnight in Hakodate)
Day 2: Hakodate - Lake Toya (overnight in Lake Toya)
Day 3: Lake Toya - Sapporo (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 4: Otaru (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Furano (overnight in Furano)
Day 6: Biei (overnight in Furano)
Day 7: Furano - Asahikawa - Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 8: Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 9: Tokyo - Singapore
Time for a drive up to Biei and if you think Furano was nice, Biei, in our opinion, was even better.
Baby-blue skies dotted with fluffy clouds, lolling hills in the horizon, lush green landscape or flower fields in the foreground with a gentle wind blowing across - it's the stuff that fairy tales were made of.
We had a quick stop at Flowerland at Kamifurano on the way, but we preferred the flowers at Shikisai no Oka. A tractor-ride or buggy is also available if the kid prefers, but walking on foot can be fun too.
We then went on to various stops at Biei - it looks a lot, but we managed to finish everything by about 3pm, including a fairly long lunch. Here are the sights we stopped at.
Sanai no Oka and Shinei no Oka
Hokusei no Oka and Ken & Mary tree
Zerubu no Oka with its lovely flowers
Mild Seven Hill
Parent-child tree
Aoi Ike (blue pond) - the mysterious azure-blue colour is due to mininerals.
Before Aoi Ike, we stopped for some lunch at Farm Chiyoda. Little ones will like the up close encounter with the farm animals, and adults will be even happier with the wagyu dishes such as the wagyu hamburger or beef stew. Wifi is available here too :)
Thereafter, it was back to Furano to visit the Ningle Terrace, which is a collection of little shops housed in cabins, selling mostly artisanal handicraft products. There is also a famous little coffee shop (Mori no Tokei / The clock of the forest) deeper in the forest, which is super packed. Both can be easily found as they are at the base on the Prince Hotel.
For dinner, it was back to the yummy Kumagera again. Don't forget to try their cheese tofu, which puts all cheese tofu you know to shame. Plain-looking yes - but the cheese flavour is perfectly integrated into the tofu. Add a splash of the dipping sauce for a different taste!
Our complete itinerary:
Day 1: Haneda to Hakodate (overnight in Hakodate)
Day 2: Hakodate - Lake Toya (overnight in Lake Toya)
Day 3: Lake Toya - Sapporo (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 4: Otaru (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Furano (overnight in Furano)
Day 6: Biei (overnight in Furano)
Day 7: Furano - Asahikawa - Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 8: Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 9: Tokyo - Singapore
Onwards for a 2.5-hour drive to the city of flowers! I did the driving this time round, and have to say it's a really scenic and easy drive up to Furano. After checking-in at the Kashiwa House Furano (a serviced apartment with an English-speaking manager), we headed out to the famous Farm Tomita to see the rainbow flower fields.
Did I mention more (lavender) ice-cream?
Then on to the adjacent Tomita Melon House for melon snacks. You can't miss it with its huge melon balloons flying in the air.
Do not miss the cut melons and corn on the cob. The corn in particular (sorry, I know this is a melon place but it's just too good not to mention) is so sweet it's unlike any other corn I tasted before. Boiled with salt water, the sweet, crunchy and juicy kernels just made it unbelievably good.
After Tomita, we headed to Lavender East, which is a lavender farm run by Farm Tomita and only open in July. It's way less crowded than Farm Tomita, and you can take a little tractor around too if kiddy likes it.
Kid alert: These places are all pretty fantastic for the kid to take photos of, take photos at, and eat none stop. Tomita Melon House has free wifi too, which makes things even better.
Our last stop for the day was Furano Cheese Factory, where the little one was happy to see how cheese was made. There is also an ice-cream shop (I could not eat anymore though) and pizza shop. Do buy the a frozen cheesecake slice (it's this triangular small box with a small piece each) - sort of like a Sara Lee cheesecake but way better. Kiddy might like to sample the three types of cheese available at the shop, and take photos with a big cow (statue).
For dinner, we went to Kumagera, which had fantastic wagyu sashimi beef and hotpot (venison, duck, beef and vegetables). Go early as this place gets packed quickly.
Kid alert: Free wifi is available so the kiddy can occupy himself with some games while the adults take a well-deserved break.
Our complete itinerary:
Day 1: Haneda to Hakodate (overnight in Hakodate)
Day 2: Hakodate - Lake Toya (overnight in Lake Toya)
Day 3: Lake Toya - Sapporo (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 4: Otaru (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Furano (overnight in Furano)
Day 6: Biei (overnight in Furano)
Day 7: Furano - Asahikawa - Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 8: Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 9: Tokyo - Singapore
Day 4 focused on a day trip (make that a half-day trip) to the city of Otaru. The main sight-seeing stretch is just one long street, so a day trip, or less, is more than sufficient. Be prepared to walk a lot though, so the kiddy carrier comes in useful once again.
Take a train from Sapporo station to Otaru (which is nearer the Otaru canal) and after you finish walking down the sight-seeing street, you'll end up at the Otaru Music Box museum, which is nearer Minami Otaru station (one station away from Otaru). You can do it either way, but my recommendation is start with the Otaru canal first and make your way down, as you'll end up buying things nearer the Otaru Music Box museum. You can pick up a tourist map of the street at the Otaru station.
Here are the sights we stopped at in the long walk down the Sakaimachi street.
1. The very picturesque Otaru Canal, which is probably even more lovely in winter.
2. Rainbow ice-cream next to the Venetian museum (Venetian cafeteria or something) after the long walk between the canal area and Sakaimachi.
The flavours are grape, melon, green tea, lavender, milk, strawberry and chocolate.
3. LeTao Pathos - there are three LeTaos on the street - Pathos, Le Chocolat by LeTao, and the original flagship store. Here's the double plate, which has three sample-size pieces of cheesecake, including their renowned double frommage (right-most in the picture below).
4. More rainbow ice-cream at Kitaichi Glass Sangokan cafe. I think this one tastes better than the one before. The colours are not as vibrant (due to different camera setting) but tastes really good. The flavours are milk, chocolate, lavender, melon, some blue flavour starting with L that is not lavender, and tastes a little sour (but not blueberry) and green tea. Very rich and yummy.
5. Seems like I can still eat after that though the hubby and kid have given up. Next is Kitakaro which has lots of samples for you to try if you don't know what to buy. I only had minimal stomach space left, so I went for the cream puff. Even that had three versions and I had to choose just one.
6. Nothing else could go into my stomach after that, though there were many other lovely confectionery shops like Rokkatei lurking dangerously around. We wrapped up the Otaru trip with visits to the musical box shops. Musical boxes of every shape and design (forget about the standard square ones) could be found in lovely wooden "cabin-like" shops, reminding me of Disneyland for some reason. But all really lovely and picturesque.
After that, it was back to Sapporo for some shopping and more food (again?!).
Our complete itinerary:
Day 1: Haneda to Hakodate (overnight in Hakodate)
Day 2: Hakodate - Lake Toya (overnight in Lake Toya)
Day 3: Lake Toya - Sapporo (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 4: Otaru (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Furano (overnight in Furano)
Day 6: Biei (overnight in Furano)
Day 7: Furano - Asahikawa - Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 8: Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 9: Tokyo - Singapore
After several rounds of onsen, we unwillingly left Lake Toya to drive up to Sapporo. We stayed at the Okura Hotel, which is rather old but the rooms are spacious with decent pricing. Sapporo is fairly compact and the city centre can be walked, except for the Ishiya Chocolate Factory which requires a subway and 700m of walking after that.
Based on hubby's "go to the furthest point first" philosophy, we headed out to the Ishiya Chocolate Factory after a quick lunch. Don't let the dreary brick exterior deceive you. Walk into it and it's like Alice in Wonderland, with pretty flower gardens, clock tower, flanked mini Tudor-style houses.
Our little one enjoyed the chocolate factory tour (600 yen, with one Shiroi Koibito thrown in), and taking lots of photos.
Kid alert: None. This place is made for kids. There is even a little train that goes around. Try to catch the "chiming on the hour" of the clock, which comes with a little "show" of bubbles and clockwork toys performing on the clock tower. Just make sure the kid doesn't eat too much to avoid a sugar-crazed kid running around.
Thereafter, laden with lots of canned chocolate drinks from Ishiya plus some confectionery, we had to make a pit stop back at the hotel first to offload the goods, before moving out again to see the Clock Tower, TV Tower and old government building.
We also survived a sushi bar with our kid! Thankfully, Hanamaru (at the Tokedai building near the clock tower) had some fishball (made from real fishmeat with very little flour) and vegetable soup and we paired it with sushi rice for our kid... while the adults happily stuffed themselves with fresh sushi.
The bill came up only to 5,000 yen, which was very reasonable for the standard of sushi that we got. Ahhh, the weighing machine groans in pain!
Our complete itinerary:
Day 1: Haneda to Hakodate (overnight in Hakodate)
Day 2: Hakodate - Lake Toya (overnight in Lake Toya)
Day 3: Lake Toya - Sapporo (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 4: Otaru (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Furano (overnight in Furano)
Day 6: Biei (overnight in Furano)
Day 7: Furano - Asahikawa - Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 8: Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 9: Tokyo - Singapore
