Hokkaido trip Day 2

Everyday started out damn early lar.
7am call time n on the bus by 8.
Mind u japan is 1 hr ahead of sg time, so tt means we wake at 6am sg time every day.
Argh.. so much for holiday...

zzzzzz

First stop of the day
Shikotsu-toya National Park

some sort of crater

Where we went on a boat ride ..
under the decks to these see thru windows...

To see these naturally formed rocks..

Its natural!! Not cut!


Nice weather n smiles!!

First contact with famous Hokkaido Milk softee ice creams...
They have these ice cream icons all over the place!!!
Milky n smoothhh.... hmmm~

BBQ Ika! (squid)

Dad loves food.
He ate sooo much this trip.. aiyoh.

Scallops so big.
Another thingy Hokkaido is good for...

N my first contact with the lavender Hello Kitty at the first souvenir store i stepped into..

It's bloody Gloomy BearXHello Kitty in Hokkaido!!!!!
*SCREAMSSS*

Exclusive!!!

My first buy. 1590yen
Ex but MUST!

Over the whole of 2nd n 3rd day...
i found these in ALL souvenir shops we stepped in...
Lavender HK only available in hokkaido n nowhere else...
Can dieee!!

I bought these!!
Left to right: Talking kitty circa'97, Lavender Hk in Fox (some Ainu thingy, explain later)

but wat i really want is this!!!!
PILLOW!

but by then mama nagging n scolding me saying i went overboard with the kitty products le ;_(
See.. tour with family is like this...

But i realllyyyy like itttt...........
Sigh~

Well... but tt's life.

Lunch is this!!!

Meats!
the mutton was how sweeet!

Another thing hokkaido is really good for is their sweet corn.
Goddamn Sweet n gorgeous tasting.... yums!

Dessert bar, not counting the softee machine n candy floss machine..
But we were only given 1 hr for a freakin buffet bbq meal lei.
Not enough time for me to savour some authentic green tea ice cream after my meats!!

Dang!
But guess joining a tour group is like tt one lor.
rush rush rush~


Off to the Sapporo Brew Factory next!!
Beer!!

Sapporo Classic Beer.
ONLY AVAILABLE in Hokkaido.
N nowhere else, not even in other parts of Japan apparently.
how exclusive!!

Free tasting session!!

They allowed us to sample Sapporo CLASSIC n the readily available Sapporo Black Label.

Complete with accompaniments
Like seriously, Japanese hosts r fab man
Sapporo Beer crackers n cheese!! Whoop!

I actually can taste the difference
REALLY! cos we played blind taste tests within the family..

N the winner is....
SAPPORO CLASSIC!!
the taste so much more full bodied/strong watever...
But it leaves a lingering good taste in the back of yr throat n the gassy feeling is more whole lar.

Next Stop...
The Ainu Museum as mentioned in the Kitty pics.
Some indigenious race in Japan long long ago



The Ainu Dog!!
So fox like!
Explains the Fox Lavender Kitty!!
So fat n chubby hor the dog!!! ;D

Huge ass black bears
Active too!!!!
Must b bout 2metres tall cos this particular bear kept standing up to scratch his back against the cage rails!
Cute!!

We were all rounded up in little huts to watch performances
The little huts had real smoked salmon hanging from the roofs
Smoked salmon tt were hung there all year round for the Ainu ppl to eat when they had to hibernate in winter.

Then now the smoked salmon were packaged n sold in real time.
But we looked up n saw cobwebs hanging from a part of the fishes n wondered..
"huh...."

Took some videos but had some trouble uploading them...
will try one day when im free la
R they jus performers or original Ainu ppl? who apparently still exist!


Last stop for the day..
Or rather.. Hell Valley..

Noboribetsu Jigokidani...

A sulphourous valley famous for its hot springs/baths
N extremely kampong i must add.
Not many ppl speak english here!

This little spring bubbles up to a great boil every 5-8mins mysteriously at 80 degree celsius..

Check into kampong hotel!!!!!
Complete with Tatami!!!
No internet connection though explains y i couldn't update last night.

A kampong where ppl have no qualms wearing their Yakutas up n around...
Family pic in japanese traditional!

One last timer shot before we went for our set dinner

Cool or wat!!!

Verdict: COOL
But it looks better than it tastes.
Maybe cos i was all pre prepared n laid out while waiting for us to come in.

I know...
Yukata with purple tights n birkenstocks??
Wahahahah

We were rushing cos we spent time taking pictures la!!!

While we were out at dinner...
They set out the beds for us on the tatami..
Turn down service anyone?? ;)

We went out for a walk shortly after dinner into the quiet village..
N found another geyser...

Mush bigger one this time....

Hugeass scallops

Another Hokkaido thing.
Alaskan crabs.
Check out the one at 12o'clock attempting escape...

My daddy the red devil

Brave, strong, extremely well read n knowledgable though incredulously loud n embarrassing sometimes...;D
His knee so hurts n u can tell by the way he walks but he still holds up so well...
My heart aches whenever there r steps n stairs n slopes n all we can do is remind him not to eat too much cos the bigger his tum tum gets, its gonna add more strain to his knees n hips.


Well.. love hate relationship with my cute cuddly daddy~~
;)


Pachinko machines.. or something..
Daddy says they r Japanese ppl fav past time.
Like jack pot/pinball slot machines??

Convenience store buy of the day. Spotted at 7-11
YUMMY Milk Bread!!
Another "ONLY Hokkaido" product

That's it for Day 2.
Ended at Noribetsu spring kampong place where i got so frustrated cos the reception did not understand me when i tried to ask whether they charge for calling a toll free number cos i missed my hunny so much.

So frustrating cos not only i can't smoke, i can't text cos my phone no 3G n now no internet!?!
n i din bring my running shoes cos i tot nights will end late but Noooo!
So bored i finally uploaded all 3plus Gb of mambo jambo music from my thumb drive to my lappy n im lapping them all up now n uplifting my mood somewhat slightly.

I'm gonna shower before i start on Day 3.
Another early morning n long day with not enough time for shopping n more volcanoes n mountains..... -__-

The only good thing bout this is tt i get to bond with my 2 sisters n its kinda fun.. ;)