5th April 2017
Breakfast before bidding farewell to Tokyo~! My favourite custard pudding and mille crepe! 😍
Had to take domestic plane to the next city – Sapporo and it’s my first time taking Vanilla Air~ What kind of name is that right? 😅 Sounds more like an ice-cream shop than a safe airline to take…hahaha!
I know it’s quite crazy trying to cover 3 cities (Kyoto > Tokyo > Sapporo) in a trip especially when Sapporo is quite out of the way 😐 But I don’t know when is the next time I will be back in Japan again, and I still have many other cities to explore in Japan… (like Osaka!!!)
Anyway, the perks of this trip is getting to see pretty sakura, but the downside is the weather 😫 I really dislike visiting cold counties because they make my skin really dry no matter how much moisturiser or aloe vera gel I spammed.
Look at my scary granny hand by Day 8!
I was really shocked and heartbroken to see my hand being like that 😭 Looks like eczema skin! And it got so dry that it was painful on the reddish parts and it scarred easily…
Flight was less than 2 hours, but upon arrival, I had to take 2 trains to get to my destination – Asahikawa!
Red bean dango for dinner!!! This is my must-buy when I am in Japan 😀
Luckily it didn’t take me very long to find my Airbnb apartment because it’s quite near to the train station. Was close to 11pm by the time I checked in @.@
I think every apartment I stayed has got bathtub. But every night by the time I get back, I was just too tired to soak in it… I would rather quickly wash up and SLEEP! Moreover I am always skeptical about the hygiene of the bathtub shared by 2907493874398712 people 😐
Totally need that heater because it was freezing in Sapporo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Temperature at night was 0°C or lower! 😖
6th April 2017
Was surprised to spot a big pile of snow right outside the train station! I wasn’t expecting to see snow during this trip because winter should be over by this time! Furthermore, it wasn’t snowing when I arrived the previous night, so where did this come from??? 😱
Yes, I thought it was foam initially 😅
It was at the train station then I realised there is snow everywhere out there!!! OMG~ I definitely wasn’t prepared for winter…
But then again, people in the train don’t look like they are dressed for winter too 🤔
Quite excited though because this is my first time seeing snow! 😀
Anyway, missed the train for my first stop because the train only comes every hour, so I decided to head to second stop first at Bibaushi station first.
Upon alighting from the train, this was what I see…
It’s just snow everywhere!!!!!! 😱
I was definitely unprepared for this because I wasn’t even wearing the right shoes! So damn difficult to walk in the snow with these shoes; kept sinking into the snow. And they get wet after that because they are not waterproof 😩
But still quite excited to see snow for the first time and touch them for the first time!!! ❄️
And of course, when there is snow… There is snowmen! ☃️
Can’t believe I built my first snowman!!!
So amazed by the snow that I spent quite a while just playing with it beside the train track 😂 Damn sua gu, I know~
Finally moving on to my first stop, which is 25mins walk away! But the walk definitely turned out to be 1 hour or more due to all the photo-taking 😜
Probably because of the season, it was pretty quiet and hardly any cars too.
I think most facilities or maybe even schools were also closed due to the snow~
Can cam-whore like crazy without getting judged by passerby 😅
Spot the snow mountain!!!
Wonder how is it like to stay in a winter country… I know most people hate it after going through it. I think I will hate it too 😆
Loving the botak trees! 很有 feel 有没有～
Finally reached my destination – Shikisai no Oka (四季彩の丘) after a longgggg walk~
I came all the way here because I wanted to see the beautiful lavender field! However, this was all I see…
EXPECTATION
(Image by: Thanya Jones)
REALITY
–CRY!!!!!!– There was no lavender because it was not the season!!! My research says it’s open throughout the year so I naturally thought there will be something to see throughout the year. But I should have done my research more thoroughly to avoid such disappointment! 😭😭😭
SUPER DUPER SAD for the wasted trip but since I was already there, might as well snap more pictures…
The view is still pretty awesome; just lacking of colours. But I still managed to see magnificent snow mountains!!!
The place is pretty dead because obviously no one is visiting during this period… But the souvenir shop remained open and I spotted Kumakuma’s “Nike” shirt! 😆
Really hope to visit again during the right season so that I can see my lavender field 😔 Not sure if I will have the chance again… Too many places on the list…sigh.
Chanced upon this chained up dog while walking back. Kept looking at him because he looks so poor thing there 😥 Didn’t seem to have any house around but he was just chained there… I really hope it’s not abandoned!
Taking the long walk back to the train station~
Would be nice to chill in one of these cosy cafe, sipping hot tea during weather like this 😊
Back to the train station area! Got my butt wet for this shot! 😆
Spot me in the mirror! The reflection looks like a postcard!
Off to Biei station for my next stop – Blue Pond (Aoiike)!
Now guess what I saw upon reaching the bus-stop where there are buses to take you there…
–CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!– BLUE POND IS CLOSED DUE TO THE SEASON!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
You know, Blue Pond was what I was looking forward to most in this Sapporo trip and that is also the reason why I chose to come Asahikawa first! But now I don’t even get to see it!
Really really reallyyyyyyyyyyy sad and disappointing day!!! I did not get to see both things planned for the day! And that made my trip to Asahikawa like a wasted one! 😩 Really angry with myself for not doing my research thoroughly enough! Never occured to me that this is such a bad timing to visit Sapporo…sigh~
Anyhow, this is how blue pond is supposed to look like. In fact, this is how it looks like during winter, yet visitors are not allowed during winter 😒
Wrote a postcard to mail it back home to remind myself of this miserable day…sighhhhhhhhhh~
Headed back to Asahikawa earlier than expected due to all the failed plans. So went to check out the mall around the area~
Fake Doraemon in Japan?!
Bee socks from Daiso!!! 💖
Cheered myself up a little with these balls~
I only like the authentic Japanese takoyakis!!! Crispy on the outside kind 😋
Went into a restaurant just to order a plate of tamago 😂 The staff was a bit shocked~ But I just wanna eat tamago!!!
Drinking my disappointment away x.x
Okay to be honest, it wasn’t such a badddd day luh~ I still managed to take lots of photos and played with snow for the first time, so still quite memorable I guess? 😬
Every Entry is a piece of Memory 