Recap 2015 - Hokkaido Family Trip Day 6 - Otaru

Otaru again... *cue Winter Again from Glay*

Our 1st trip to Otaru was a cold April evening 7-8 years ago, after a day of flying, and me struck down by a terrible migraine attack. Honestly speaking my memory of Otaru was the Otaru Canal at night and nothing else~

While waiting for the scheduled hotel bus we took some photos around the Piano hotel.

Lovely snowy mountains

Hotel church where by Hokkaido natives hold their weddings?

J enjoying the snow~

Lots of snow in his hands~

He had such good memories of the place, especially the fun with the snow~

The hotel bus would bring us back to Otaruchikko JR station and from there we took the train for 1 station to reach the main Otaru Station. 1st thing we saw at the station was a store selling the famous LeTao cheesecakes. Had some in Sapporo station and it was decently good. Yet many things in Hokkaido taste good~ As we traveled along the main street from JR station to the canal we walked past many shops selling all sorts of seafood and desserts...

LeTao... sounds like 乐到 to me!

Random seafood shop selling all sorts of seafood don in the market around Otaru Station

Seafood and more seafood~

Quite expensive shop along the main street leading to the canal

 We stayed focus and got to the canal. Like a picture postcard there are many spots to take good pictures. You will have to be good with angles to take one without the crowd though. There were many buses filled with tourists from China and HK when we were there but I managed to take a few good shots with minimal human activities...

How's this for a postcard?

J cannot keep his hands off the snow... -_-;

 Destination reached. So its back to eating again!

Many such godowns have been converted to restaurants and shops.

Sushi lunch!

You can't go wrong with sushi in Hokkaido~ (unless you are allergic to seafood!)

 

One of the many shops in the godowns

Bear, little bear and .... bear-wannabe

After lunch we continued our stroll throughout Otaru. There were many historical buildings as well as little shops. It was an afternoon of eating and looking and eating and looking. We finished our day in Otaru with another sushi meal (lunch or dinner? I think it was afternoon tea...) but this time in a good sushi restaurant!
 

Hidden street with lots of snacks like crepes, softees etc

Good sushi restaurant + good price tag coming right up!

Shirako!

Master at work!

Ika soba - basically noodle made of strips of fresh squid

Fabulous plate of sushi~

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To be honest having 2 sushi meals within hours was a bit too much. Was it worth it? I think the 1st meal could have been a small bowl of ramen instead. But hey~ whatever's in the stomach leave it in the stomach~ What we missed we just leave it for another day~

 On our way back we went to Otaruchikko for our bus. Of course the kids were more interested in shopping at Wing Bay Otaru

We spent the new few hours shopping. I remember we spent alot of time in ABC Mart as the elder kids love shoes... Most of them have more shoes now than I ever had in my lifetime!

J showing off the Pokemon toy we bought at a random shop

A quick soba dinner at the foodcourt before we boarded the bus back to our hotel~

Next day Sapporo!

Posts from this trip

• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 1 & 2 - Ikebukuro, Sapporo, Jozankei
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 3 & 4 - Jozankei, Piano Hotel
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 5 - Kiroro Piano Hotel
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 6 - Otaru
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 7 to 9 - Sapporo

Recap 2015 - Hokkaido Family Trip Day 5 - Kiroro Piano Hotel

Day 5 - Ski...

That's never going to happen~  we were so traumatized by our 1st exposure to skiing during our Seoul trip many years ago and have never found skiing interested after flying down on the icy slope many years ago.

We chose to let the kids have fun with all the slides and rides they have. J had the time of his life on the sled-bike. He was a symbol of cool as he nonchalantly sled down the slope while I was a nervous wreck as I watched him weave in and out of traffic!

Captain Cool~

Not that steep but quite a long way down (for me)

Captain Cool walking up the slope

Wife and J on the rubber tube~

J building his mini igloo

Unlikely to house a family or keep warm in this igloo...

J with his ride

Ready for another round

Eventually it was human-powered...

 J had so much fun on the snow! Initially we thought Hokkaido winter would have been too harsh for him. But he was enjoying the snow so much that till this day his favourite destination is Japan largely due to the experience he had in the snow~

J taking a much deserved nap after expending much energy on the snow~

 After spending most of the day outdoors under the harsh conditions, we went back to the room and let J have a nap. That night we went to the Izakaya restaurant in the resort. I much preferred Izakaya food than the buffet on the previous night. Nothing like a beer to cap off a fun day~

Frozen Beer!

There's no complaining about the food in Hokkaido. Every trip I go, good food is the one constant.

Next day, Otaru!

Posts from this trip

• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 1 & 2 - Ikebukuro, Sapporo, Jozankei
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 3 & 4 - Jozankei, Piano Hotel
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 5 - Kiroro Piano Hotel
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 6 - Otaru
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 7 to 9 - Sapporo

Recap 2015 - Hokkaido Family Trip Day 3 & 4 - Jozankei, Piano Hotel

We planned for our 2nd day in Jozankei to be one of recuperation. Not much on the itinerary except a short hike around the resort, more trips to the onsen (I had at least 2 bath that day) and multiple naps.

I cannot explain why naps felt especially nice there in Hokkaido. Just a small window gap to let in the cool air and you can see a couple of us wrapped under the warm sheets and napping the afternoon away~

Another onsen hotel right across the road

J enjoying softcream after the hike

More onsen. More candy.

Dinner on the 2nd night was great as well. Whereas it wasn't in a private room anymore, we still had individual servings and no repeat from the 1st night. I always loved Kaiseki Ryouri and no doubt its one of the main reasons why I'm so willing to spend money on expensive stays.... they usually come with a good dinner~

Grilled crab, wagyu on hotplate and many others~

Japanese Aspic

Grilled crab

Sashimi of the day

Gorgeous!

Another bath before we turn in for the night. Checking-out next morning and onwards to Kiroro! Boarded the same hotel bus which brought us back to Sapporo. Now we head the opposite direction back to Sapporo Tower > [WALK] > Sapporo JR station > [TRAIN] > Otaruchikko > [BUS} > Kiroro

J all ready to make the walk from Sapporo Tower to Sapporo JR Station

In case you missed it...

The little traveler with his luggage

Really glad this 4-year-old managed to walk most of the way

His favourite pose throughout the trip~

He looked like a mascot for Sapporo JR Station...

Queueing up for Taiyaki at JR Sapporo Station

Super energetic J at the train platform

 Really really glad that J managed to walk all the way from Sapporo Tower (where we disembarked from the hotel bus) to Sapporo JR Station. The walk was easily 20 minutes considering our load and the slippery pavements. That really justified our decision not to bring along his stroller.

J eating his bun while waiting for the train...

Some dessert we bought at Sapporo station for the journey to Otaruchikko

The view along the way. Lots of snow coming up~

On the other side was the sea...

As we took the train to Otaruchikko the view quickly changed from urban to countryside. We also managed to have a view of the sea... That's probably where all those delicious seafood came from!

When we reached Otaruchikko station we still had approximately an hour before the stipulated resort bus departure time. We didn't have enough time to sit down in a restaurant to eat, yet we wanted good sushi as Otaru was a fishing port after all~ Therefore we decided to get some takeaway sushi from the mall beside the JR station.

Since it was our first time in that mall we didn't know which restaurant was good.  We asked a lady (probably around 65 years old?) if there was a nice sushi restaurant in the vicinity and she told us it was near the other end of the mall. We got the name of the restaurant and thanked her for her help but she insisted on bringing us there. So she lead us all the way to the other end of the mall, and that was a very big mall as we must have walked 10 minutes before we reached the restaurant. We thanked the lady again as she made her way to her destination. I had a lingering feeling that her own destination was in the opposite direction of where she lead us, but that's Japanese hospitality at its most basic level... Something many foreigners would have been overwhelmed by~

魚一心

 We had our sushi on the bridge just outside the JR station where we protected from the cold winds. We just had enough time to consume the taste of fabulous Otaru sushi before we had to quickly rush to the bus-stop to catch our bus to the resort.

View of Otaru as the bus ventured further inland

As we moved further up the hills the scenery started to change

 Around 40 minutes later we arrived at our destination, Kiroro Resort - Piano Hotel
 

Lobby of the Piano Hotel

Plenty of activities for the family

3 beds in one room. Typical of a ski resort

J topping up on his milk supply...

J enjoying the interactive video games at Granship

Do you like crab legs?

Sweet shrimp galore~

We checked in, had a short rest, then ventured to the Indoor Entertainment centre Granship. It was a good place to play video games with the kids before dinner time. We opted for the buffet dinner at the resort restaurant before we went to bed.

Posts from this trip

• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 1 & 2 - Ikebukuro, Sapporo, Jozankei
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 3 & 4 - Jozankei, Piano Hotel
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 5 - Kiroro Piano Hotel
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 6 - Otaru
• Hokkaido Family Trip Day 7 to 9 - Sapporo