Presenting to you, Guo Wei's trip to Hokkaido from 7th January to 14th January 2008. Applause please! Okay, i have managed to consolidate all the photographs from my 2 cousins. That's why, i'm prepared to write my entry now. i'm sorry if it turns out a little too narrative, because that's not my style of writing. But i guess it's hard not to talk about my trip in the narrative sense. So i'll try my best to include as much thoughts and feelings into it. Just a warning, this entry is super ultra long! Are you ready?

7th January



This is my boarding pass to Narita International Airport. i took Japan Airline there. Take-off time was 2330hr. The flight time to Narita Int'l Airport was 5hrs 50min.


Before departure


On board JL 710


Cutey me!

It was damn uncomfortable on board. The seats are uncomfortable, because i reckon you can only lower the seat backwards by maybe 3-5 degrees. That is damn little, and i had a hard time falling asleep, partly from the discomfort, and the mood i was in back then. What's worse, they woke us up early for breakfast, at about 4+am. It's one of the worst flight i ever had.

8th January

Yokoso Japan!

After reaching Narita Int'l Airport, we have to take a coach to transfer to Haneda Airport to take a domestic flight to Chitose Airport. That was another 2hr of flight. This is a record flight time for me in one day. At Haneda Airport, while waiting for our flight, we decided to try out their local delicacy, RAMEN!


i think it's duck meat ramen. Cant really remember already. But i tell you, it is fantastic! Totally freaking oiishi-desu!


But we only ordered 1 bowl, shared by 6 people. Haha, very giam siap right? But what to do, we didnt want to get ourselves too full. The soup is damn freaking tasty. Really man, i tell you, you get the freshest in Japan itself.



These are some photos we took on board when the plane was touching down at Chitose Airport. Seriously, it is snow everywhere in Hokkaido. Everywhere, i tell you!



And finally, we touched down at Chitose Airport. No more flying, finally! Yay!




As i said, it's snow everywhere!

We proceeded to our next immediate destination for lunch on the coach.


You can totally see the shag-ness on my face from the 2 flights.


This was the place where we had our lunch. My smile is damn ugly, and you know why? Cos it's freaking cold, and my smile froze. i couldnt even smile properly. My scarf is also like shit, because i'm still damn noob at wearing it.


i tell you, this meal was the worst, but yet, it taste damn good! i really fell in love with the Japanese sticky rice. You'll know why i say this later.


This crab leg dish sucks. The meat doesnt come off it's shell nicely.


But this scallop miso soup is heavenly!

After the meal, there was this supermarket at the first floor of the building. Shopped around, and i bought this.

It's chocolate, i tell you, with a dash of beer in it. It's really nice. Sorry to those whom i have given out some of my Hokkaido snacks, but i didnt include this in my package to you because it doesnt come in individual packets. So too bad for you, you cant get to taste this wonderful candy.


i wanted to buy this shirt for Glenys, cos it totally befits your image. i know you'll kill me if i buy it. But come on, let's face the fact. You're really a buta! Forever sleeping like one.

After lunch, we dropped by to visit this district. i forgot what's the name of this place. Nothing much interesting though.


See, once again, my frozen smile.


It was cold, but this is not the record.


Really wanted to try licking it, but i'll definitely lose my tongue!


Finally, full attendance on film of my relatives and cousins.


Brrr....


A photo with some authentic Japanese. She's a waitress in some cafe.

Then we checked into our first hotel. It was a traditional Japanese hotel.


Me in a yukata. Wearing a ear protector i bought at about 100+ yen.


My cousin, Yihui, and the hotel room number we were staying in. Room 516. 51st floor, room 6. Yeah, right......! Haha...


Dinner time. Very traditional. Have to sit on tatami.


The food. It was very filling. The portion looks little here and there, but by the time i finished most of it, i was feeling super bloated.


This is the hotel room. i took it using the panaroma function on my phone. Damn fun. We slept on a mattress-like thing called futon. That night, i went for the hot spring, it's called onsen. The water is totally freaking hot. i need to enter the water slowly. Upon soaking for about 2 minutes, i can feel that my heart is beating faster and harder. But definitely, after the onsen, my whole body was super relaxed. And it was quite an experience. You walk around inside the compound totally naked. Totally! Well, not that i was embarrassed or what. i have done my fair share of seeing during NS. Besides, i wasnt wearing my glasses, so, i totally bo hiu(heck care) my surroundings.

9th January
The breakfast was pretty standard, like any of those you'll find in a hotel. But of course, since it's Japan, Japanese food was in abundance.


My favourite food. It's hot spring egg, with some sauce, and you beat it up and pour it over the my favourite Japanese sticky rice.


The udon was exceptional too. It's unlike those you eat in Singapore. The noodle is smooth, the soup is really tasty. Sedap!

Afterwards, we checked out of our hotel and proceeded to a tourist spot. Nothing special about the place. But then, just some pictures for memento sake.



Another tourist spot.




This lake is partially frozen.


And i stood on the ice, despite the barrier. i think my bravery deserves to be commended! =)



So damn cute right? Forgot what breed this dog is. i like its fur, so white!

Then, it was lunch. But before we commence lunch, we visited this "wet market"-like venue for us to choose some of the freshest seafood to add to our lunch menu. Because, what we were going to have, was steamboat. Not shabu-shabu though! Oh ya, it was crab steamboat, and in Japanese, it is called kani nabe. Kani is crab, and nabe is steamboat. Really, i'm not kidding you.




Sea urchin. My cousin's favourite!





i forgot, but i think this was fatty tuna. Beyond words, i tell you. The taste is beyond my vocabulary. (Or maybe i'm just stupid, haha....)

And my naughty and funky series of expressions.








And some pictures before we leave the place.



Next up, was a privatised park where there was bears and racoons.



There was nothing else interesting other than seeing two bears fighting.


Again, some pictures before leaving.





Another panaroma play. But this time, i didnt connect the pictures well enough. It wasnt easy, okay?

We checked into the hotel for that night pretty early. Didnt have much to do, other than resting. Of course, to me, play is also rest.


Then i tried on the yukata.


And played around with it.


Anyway, i tried Pay-per-View at this hotel.


This machine dispenses a card for you to slot into a gadget in your hotel room.


This is the card. It cost me 1000 yen.

Anyway, since i was in Japan, the country most famed for its porn industry, i was thinking i should give it a try. i know you're going to call me a Lao Ti-ko, right? i dont care. Already in Japan, i dont try i will regret. Well, anyway, i tried, and i still regret, because all those *ahem-ahem* is censored. Omigosh! Waste my thousand yen. But thankfully, Pay-per-View isnt all about those *ahem-ahem*. It also allowed me and my cousin to watch some cartoons, but too bad, the dialogue was all in Japanese. Freaking hell!

10th January
This is one of the most exciting day of the entire trip because i was going to snow mobile. But before that, i show you what i have for breakfast.


Before and after. And yes, it's my favourite Japanese sticky rice with the hot spring egg! Woohoo! i tell you, it's really nice. Hahahaha....

Okay, back to snow mobile.

The place is Snow World Toya.

Here's me getting all prepared.


It was really expensive playing this snow mobile. Single is 10000 yen, double is 15000 yen, which is approximately S$130 and S$195 respectively. Darn freaking ex!


So sian, my aunt was my passenger, she kept nagging at me not to speed. But most of the time, i didnt care. Haha... Because the engine was too loud, cant hear her nagging, only hear mumblings.



A pit-stop, for us to take photos with the wonderful scenery.






A view on board the snow mobile.



Then we went to our next hotel to check in. This hotel is damn special. We stayed on the 9th floor, but taking the lift from the lobby, we have to go to the 5th floor, walk down a corridor, then take another life to the 9th floor. Super troublesome. i dont understand why they built it in such a way too. In any case, after checking in, we went to play snow tubing and a slide made of ice. It's quite cool, there's this travelator-like thing to bring you up a slope, and then you bring the snow tube up with you, then you just chiong down the slope.


As for the ice slide, here's a video of me trying it out.

It was really damn fun playing with the slide. But after the first try, everywhere on me was snow.


Some other group shots.

Check me out. Once again, i cant stand my bravery. Hahaha =x






Then i tried writing on the snow.


=)


My cousin's name.

There was another one which i wrote. But it was a little long, so i took a video instead. The person whom i wrote it for, i have sent it to you. You know who you are, and i know you've seen it. So i'm not going to upload the video here. =)

Can see?

It says U ♥ Me!

Anyway, afterwards, it was snow rafting. You sit in this raft, and get pulled by a snow mobile. Super exciting and fun. But too bad, couldnt get to take any pictures or video of it. But to take the ride, i had to become an Afghanboy!

i'm on the most right. You have to cover every part of your exposed skin because if you dont, you will get frostbite. And it is no joke to kena that, because it is very painful.

We end the day at a Japanese restaurant called Kakashi.



Shittake mushroom


King Crab Legs






Wet hot sake!

Even when i was damn full after dinner, i couldnt resist their milk pudding, my favourite!

But it turns out to be sucky. So sian diao. Or maybe it could be because i was damn bloated already, that's why it didnt taste as good. Hmmm, maybe. Maybe...

11th January
On this day, i woke up damn freaking early. i woke up at 0530 Japan time, which is 0430 Singapore time. Omigosh, i couldnt even remember when was the last time i woke up at such ungodly hours. Anyway, i tried their asshole-cleaning high-tech toilet function for the first time. i tell you, really feels like being anal-ed. i really got a shock, especially when the water was warm. Okay, wait, before you think that i haven been shitting for the past few days, NO, i did shit before this. It's just that it's the first time i decided to give this ass-jet-cleaner a try. i was just using the more conventional method to clean my butt previously. The toilet paper method, of course.

Anyway, we went to this place where we travelled back in time, to the feudal times in Japan, the samurai era.





We watched a ninja show and a comedy-like performance. Not sure if it's called rakugo.





And my playful series of shots once again.






Then we went to this chocolate factory. We didnt go in because it was closed due to some tax-evasion investigation. There was nothing interesting to take pictures with, except for this nice little motif:

Isnt it cute?

Then, we were given some short shopping moments. But seriously, there was damn little time. But finally, i see some city life.


Later in the evening, we visited Sapporo Tower.


Check out the temperature!

A more-than-just-chilling -4.8°C.

Then we visited this ski jump stadium on top of a hill.

It's like going up Mt Faber, but the night view is totally unlike it.



Dinner that night was BBQ hot plate. i have to wear an apron to keep my clothes from getting splatted by any stray oil flying out from the hot plate.



The hotel that night which we checked into has a damn cool toilet. To shower, you have to sit on a stool. This is how the toilet looks like.


12th January
We visited Asahi Beer Factory.

i conveniently took home(read: steal) two of this glasses back home. i drank 2 glasses, pretty fast, and felt high rather quickly. Seriously man, i have never drank alcohol in the morning and getting high. This is really a first. But it felt a little ridiculous to be like this in the morning.

Lunch was DIY tempura.

The meal actually sucks.

Then, it was more shopping.

Burberrys!


COACH!

13th January
We took a flight back to Narita. No more snow! The weather was still cooling though. i didnt even wear my long john, just wore a T-shirt, and carried a jacket just in case the wind gets too strong.

There was this nice garden in the hotel.

Of course, my playful nature always get the better of me.

Seriously, it's not an angle shot. The water was going into my mouth. It tasted a little, well, weird.


Then we went to this shopping mall. We tried their bubble tea.


Finally, back to Narita Airport to take our return flight to Singapore! We saw this Yahoo! Cafe there.


And then, it was Home Sweet Home! Anyway, if you want to see more pictures, i have uploaded the other photographs onto here.