HOKKAIDO [A Travelogue] - limwhow & SereneXMM

[limwhow]

Day 3: A slow stroll in Otaru

Well, with our stomachs filled and thigh muscles rejuvenated, we were ready for more action.
I took the leap and pointed down the main road along the canal:

"Ok, it's a very very short walk from here all the way to the end of the road where we will
come to the Music Box Museum and the Glassware shops...
Trust me. It's going to be a very very short walk..." encouraged the tour guide.
​

Short walk my foot.
But then again, I was the one holding on to the Garmin GPS, not them, hehehe..
So they die die have to believe me!

... this SereneXMM ah, she has this thing going for trees.
And she specially go on a look out for 梧桐树 (don't know how to call it in English)..
She had her share of 梧桐树 in Chengdu, China. Now in Hokkaido, she also wants to shoot a Japanese version of it...

... the Grandfather - at it again! Cannot tahan cold one lah, he...

[Translation: "Hands freezing, feet freezing, nose freezing, lips freezing, face freezing, ears freezing...
Help me wrap them all up!" trembled the Grandfather.]

... but that young man who is one whole head taller than the Grandfather... he is like - nothing!

... and the children.. wah lau eh! They couldn't stop handling the cold, freezing snow!
In fact, I was amazed at how they held up the snow with one finger.
I was almost expecting them to spin the snow ball like a basketball! Hahaha...!

... and goodness, I hope no Japanese people saw this scene!
Our very own Singaporean children misbehaving by throwing big big snow balls in the streets of Hokkaido!

 

[limwhow]

EXTREME COLD TEST FOR DSLR


Hehe... I have always wanted to do this.
Always.
Just waiting for the right opportunity to do so only.

The temperature was about -3 degree celcius that afternoon.
Snowing it was.
And lots of old and new snow on the ground.
I gave SereneXMM a wicked grin, and then gently lowered my Canon 1DMkIV + 16-35mm onto the ground right in front of me.
Left it there for a good few minutes and all of us just squat down and observe it...

It sat there, and we squatted there, eyes non-blinking for quite a long while.
But at the end, the camera won.
It could withstand the cold and wetness much much better than any one of us.
HAHAHAHA....

 

[kilkenny]

Nice series can feel the family fun! last pic was awesome haahah

tks for sharing ya enjoyed every bit of it.

cheers,
kilkenny

 

[scanner]

OK, I am camping here to enjoy the travelogue!

Well done brother Wee How! :thumbsup:
What a lovely family!

 

[xpeacemakerx]

Nice series! Brings back alot of memories.... Looking forward for more!! =)

 

[K3N]

Looks like a fun trip

 

[limwhow]

Nice series can feel the family fun! last pic was awesome haahah

tks for sharing ya enjoyed every bit of it.

cheers,
kilkenny

kilkenny, many thanks for your praises!
Certainly quite a family outing this was. And the picture of my camera having a snow-soak... haha.. that was really fun!

OK, I am camping here to enjoy the travelogue!

Well done brother Wee How! :thumbsup:
What a lovely family!

Scanner brother, thank you thank you!
I thought it was the tour guide that was lovely... no meh? HAHAHA...!
But jokes aside, thank you for coming by, Scanner!

Nice series! Brings back alot of memories.... Looking forward for more!! =)

xpeacemakerx, thank you so much for your encouragement!
I am glad it helped bring back your memories of your trip.
I am quite sure you had as much fun, if not more!

Looks like a fun trip

K3N, thank you so much for coming on board!
I certainly was fun! No question about it. But I guess... it got more fun as the trip went on!

 

[godsonwill]

Have been following this thread since it started. I must say I am enjoying it a great deal. Brought back fond memories. Please keep it coming. Btw, thanks for sharing.

 

[Virgo]

Virgo, many many thanks for coming by and giving me your encouragement.
I personally think Hokkaido is a lovely, traveller-friendly destination.
The people are very courteous and everything is orderly.
Don't really need to know much Japanese, although being able to communicate a little does go a long way.

My average cost per person for this 9 day trip -

• S$1950 (air ticket, hotel, all meals, snowmobile, all transport, all sight-seeing tickets).
• With buying of souvenirs and gifts - it comes up to $2200 per person.

Hope this helps.

Wow, you really done your Math well! Good job as a tour guide! :bsmilie: My kids are still young, so it will be quite a while before I will be like you, travel with the whole family. It's saving up time for me at the moment.

 

[limwhow]

Have been following this thread since it started. I must say I am enjoying it a great deal. Brought back fond memories. Please keep it coming. Btw, thanks for sharing.

Thank you so very much, godsonwill!
Wow, it also brought back memories for you too?
So many of our fellow members in CS have been to Hokkaido... I must have been one of the few who haven't been there until very recently.. haha...

Wow, you really done your Math well! Good job as a tour guide! :bsmilie: My kids are still young, so it will be quite a while before I will be like you, travel with the whole family. It's saving up time for me at the moment.

Haha... keep it going, Virgo, keep it going!

 

[limwhow]

Day 3: Discovering Otaru

Actually Otaru is not too big on the map.
It's truly a town facing the sea, backed by the hills.
Most travellers would find themselves traversing the main road alongside the canal and the piers, as we ourselves did.

There were small stalls selling really fresh seafood just on the road side.
Hmmm... now we began to understand why crab meals in Japan cost more...
A 7800 yen (S$121) a crab, and a 6800 yen (S$107) a crab cost price would certainly mean once up on the dining table, the price would jump a few more folds...

Walking further and further brought us to the Music Box Museum (so called Museum. But they are mainly a retail shop for Music Boxes.)
No purchasing of tickets needed as, naturally, they want to make money from the sale of their music boxes...
This Music Box souvenir is apparently another famous and highly sought after item here in Otaru.
Some limited edition ones can easily fetch prices in the tens of thousands of dollars.

... looking from the second floor of the Museum.

 

[limwhow]

Day 3: Otaru Glass Factory 北一硝子


The name 北一硝子 apparently was now synonymous with an industry of glass factories and manufacturers.
And Otaru was the famous town for this.
A trip to Oatru was never complete without at least a trip to one of the many Ornamental Glass-ware shops.

... almost felt like a bull in a china shop... haha...

.. but the multitude of colours was definitely eye-opening!

 

[limwhow]

Somehow it felt as though to me that the girls were enjoying the white fluffy stuff much more than the adults...

... more to come... after I finish work late tonight... haha...

 

[limwhow]

Day 3 Evening: Otaru Ice Cream

There were so many different types of ice creams in Otaru.
Again, apparently from what I read in the Guide Books, the Otaru ice cream have many famous types and they were a MUST-TRY.
Not bad. A stick like that cost around 300-400 yen depending on types.
We had quite a bit of fun that night...

[Translation: "So many different types of ice cream, how am I going to order? Aiyah, again any how point lor..." complained the Grandfather.]

True enough.. ordering in Japan, for Sua-koos like us who knew not much Japanese, was really an act of any-how-point...

There were Green tea falvour, black squid flavour, and some classic flavours.
I didn't remember any one of us venturing into the absolutely unusual sotong flavour..

It was only about just right after 4pm.
And the sky was turning dark already.
Goodness, imagine! Blue sky at 4pm??!!! Totally unheard of back home in Singapore...

... and by Day 3, I have come to a final conclusion that the snow on the ground in Hokkaido is more comfortable than the best sofa back home in Singapore...

What time only? 4:25pm.
Simply unbelievable. My whole day gone already... and we haven't even gone to the Canal yet!

 

[Virgo]

Can't wait to see your photos of 小樽運河!

 

[limwhow]

Can't wait to see your photos of 小樽運河!

Aiyoh, Virgo yah, Virgo... my canal pictures cannot make it leh...
Later you see already you will vomit blood... hahaha...

 

[jnet6]

nice... i went there lst september, a totally different view of Hokkaido!

 

[Virgo]

Aiyoh, Virgo yah, Virgo... my canal pictures cannot make it leh...
Later you see already you will vomit blood... hahaha...

So far your photos are nice. I don't think I'll ever vomit blood looking at your photos lah bro. So much family fun, so much 溫暖牌!

 

[chubbydragonlh]

Bros and Sis, move over a bit leh, I want to camp here too!

I have been following your travelogues for quite some time and enjoyed them very much. Great Job!!!

 

[limwhow]

Walking to the Otaru Canal 小樽运河

Frankly, those who have been to the Otaru Canal would know that she presents herself in a very different light in the day time as compared with at night.
And those who were in Otaru in different seasons of the year will report different views.
That is simply just how wonderful this little canal with its warehouses is.

... about 100 metres from the Otaru Canal, I looked down and my heart leaped to my mouth... in joy...
Because I thought the girls are going to make ice-kachang for me... hehehe...

And finally we arrived at one of the main bridges, 浅草桥 that crosses the canal.
This is where many of the wonderful scenes of the Otaru Canal were shot, during summer, during winter, during the famous Snow Festivals in February each year.
But on this night, both SereneXMM and I had only our cameras and no tripods.
On our left and right sides were a few Japanese Photographers with tripods big and small all set up and remotes in hands.
We looked at each other and shook our heads.
Initial shots were at exposures of 4-5 secs, handheld.
Laughingly, we rested our cameras on the fencing at the side of the bridge, stopped down the ISOs to 100 and hoped for the best.
Hope this one can make it...

[shot taken with ISO 100. Fence-held.]

As always our style, SereneXMM and I simply love to capture the moment as a record shot.
We were both shooting the nice, peaceful scene of the Otaru canal and when we turned our heads, we saw to our surprise, a group of teenagers enjoying themselves crazily by gently infusing the water of the canal with additional load of frozen water.. ahem... snow.

[shot taken with ISO 10,000... crazily dark, it was]
What we found interesting was that the light shining from behind the splatter of snow gave quite an interesting effect.
At least to the Sua-Koo Singaporean record photographers... hahaha...

And another Singaporean-made-Japanese-Snow-Man on the banks of the Otaru Canal - what's new?!
Sometimes as a Father, what I have come to realise is, every day, every moment, every time -
the children's mind will come up with strange but creative thoughts and notions that surprise me...
... bizarre though they might be.. Haha...

[shot taken with ISO 10,000... no choice again, terribly dark!]