Trip Report - 17D Eastern & Central Hokkaido 2015 Spring

[limweeli]

Day 7

Next morning, the weather is good. I took the chance to take this pic from the 7th floor of the hotel.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - Sounkyo Onsen

We took the 黒岳駅 Kurodake Ropeway to the 7th station. A round trip for adult cost 1900 yen.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 黒岳駅 Kurodake Ropeway

This is the roof top platform of the 7th station where you get a good view of the peaks in 大雪山 Daisetsuzan.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 7th station of 黒岳 Mount Kurodake


Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 7th station of 黒岳 Mount Kurodake

You can also start hiking up Kurodake from here.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 7th station of 黒岳 Mount Kurodake

I followed the path a bit till this platform where I can see the next station. Looks really far

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 7th station of 黒岳 Mount Kurodake

There is still some plum flower but most have faded.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 7th station of 黒岳 Mount Kurodake

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[limweeli]

We head to Asahikawa Ramen Village for lunch next. The view of Daisetsuzan mountain range from Asahikawa is beautiful.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 大雪山 Daisetsuzan from 旭川 Asahikawa

The Ramen Village is at the outskirts of the town so traffic is quite ok but slow moving as with most town driving.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - あさひかわラーメン村 Asahikawa Ramen Village

We chose to have our ramen at Santoka.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 山頭火メニュー Santoka in Asahikawa Ramen Village


Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 山頭火メニュー Santoka in Asahikawa Ramen Village

After that, we head off for some shopping this big Uniqlo nearby. The thing about shopping at the Uniqlo in Japan is that there is a lot of stocks even for those clearance items (in red tag). We mainly buy the kids' items there as it's quite cheap during clearance.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - Uniqlo near あさひかわラーメン村 Asahikawa Ramen Village

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[limweeli]

Heading down to Biei, we stopped at Zeburu Hill park. The park is closed and flowers are not blooming yet

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - ぜるぶの丘 Zeburu Hill

Here's a map of what we can do here if it's opened and flowers are blooming. Guess we'll have to come back again in Summer.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - ぜるぶの丘 Zeburu Hill

So we head to Biei. Biei is a beautiful small town. The buildings are well preserved and usually, there isn't a lot of people so it's very quiet and serene. The busiest part is the town is the area train station.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - Streets of 美瑛町 Biei

Before heading for dinner, we got some pastries from Tsuboya which is around the train station area. The cakes are not bad. We also got some bread for my mom and daughter to eat them on the road.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 麦菓堂 Tsuboya in 美瑛町 Biei

There are several options around the train station to eat but we settled on this fusion restaurant that is not too pricey.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 丘の食事処 戀や

They are apparently quite famous for their curry udon.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 7 - 丘の食事処 戀や

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[limweeli]

Day 8

The hotel provides simple breakfast buffet at the canteen which wasn't filling for me.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Breakfast buffet in ホテルラヴニール Lavenir Hotel 美瑛町 Biei

Traffic in Biei street is very light in the morning. It's a good time to explore the town and admire the buildings.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Morning in 美瑛町 Biei

We headed up north to the Patchwork Road area. First stop is 北西の丘展望公園 Hokusei Hill Observatory.
Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - 北西の丘展望公園 Hokusei Hill Observatory

The observatory gives us a good view of 美瑛町 Biei town against 十勝岳 Tokachidake mountain range. The last time I was here is in late autumn and it's cloudy. Today, the weather is pretty good so we get to see the snow capped mountains.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - 美瑛町 Biei town against 十勝岳 Tokachidake mountain range

There are some shops around the observatory but we didn't get anything there.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Shops around 北西の丘展望公園 Hokusei Hill Observatory


Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Urara @ 北西の丘展望公園 Hokusei Hill Observatory

This sign board at the path beside the observatory shows the various peaks from 十勝岳 Tokachidake mountain range which we can see.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Various peaks seen at 北西の丘展望公園 Hokusei Hill Observatory

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[limweeli]

This is a panorama of the Biei view from the observatory.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - View from 北西の丘展望公園 Hokusei Hill Observatory

Compared to the one I took 2 years ago in late autumn with cloudy skies but green patches ...

Day 4 - Patchwork Road - Hokusei no Oka

We visited the 親子の木 Parent and Child Trees.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - 親子の木 Parent and Child Trees

The パッチワークロード Patchwork Road is not barren but it'll be very nice in summer when it's covered with flowers. I made a mental note to bring my kids here again one of the summer

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 -パッチワークロード Patchwork Road

Finally, we end off this area at the Ken & Mary Tree. We took a brunch break at the cafe in the pension beside it.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Pension Ken & Mary

Coffee, cakes and orange juice for my daughter. The raspberry cheesecake is not bad.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Pension Ken & Mary

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[limweeli]

ファーム富田 Farm Tomita is next up.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

2 years ago we had a good lunch at the cafe on the 2nd storey of upper edge of the farm. This time, that restaurant is not open so we went Cafe Rene that is near to the gift shop.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

I had the sausage rice set.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

I still prefer the 2nd storey restaurant as you get a good view of the flower field. In spring, the field that is near that restaurant is no blooming ... kinda make sense to close the restaurant. Here's the view from 2 years bad. The food looks vaguely familiar

Day 5 - Farm Tomita - A meal to a view

Only a few rows of flowers are blooming in the Hanabito field. Here's one of them.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

Some lavender can be seen in this field. The green house has a lot more.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

Yep, another food break before we head to the green house.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

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[limweeli]

Lavenders are grown in this green house all year round.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

Most of the flowers in the spring field are blooming.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

Farm Tomita workers in the fields against the mountain backdrop ...

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

Finally, some flower close-ups

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita


Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita


Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita


Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ファーム富田 Farm Tomita

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[happydog999]

Really nice serie. Thanks for sharing. Bring back memories of my Hokkaido trip.

Can I check how is the hotel sun route shinjuku? Do u recommend it?

 

[limweeli]

Can I check how is the hotel sun route shinjuku? Do u recommend it?

I recommend it. Location is very good as it's just 5 mins walk from west entrance of Shinjuku station as you exit Yamanote line. Hotel is clean, relatively spacious and all the front desk people know how to speak English. It's quite popular so you need to book early.

Edit: And the limousine bus stops right outside the hotel too.

 

[limweeli]

We head south to Furano next. The locations south of Biei are further apart and rather ulu. Besides Farm Tomita, we only stop by 青い池 Shirogane Blue Pond. I like the tranquillity of the pond and surrounding.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - 青い池 Shirogane Blue Pond


Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - Layers of mountains

We checked in to 新富良野プリンスホテル New Furano Prince Hotel and were given 2 high floor rooms side-by-side. The view is pretty good but we only managed to get the smoking rooms due to some mix-up

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - View from 新富良野プリンスホテル New Furano Prince Hotel

We went くまげら Kumagera for dinner. It's famous for their raw beef sashimi but we didn't feel up to the challenge for it. Instead, we had their seafood and beef shabu shabu.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - くまげら Kumagera

The beef is fatty.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - くまげら Kumage et al

Before hitting back to the rooms, we dropped by ニングルテラス Ningle Terrace which is next to the hotel carpark.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 8 - ニングルテラス Ningle Terrace

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[limweeli]

Day 9

We left the hotel early for breakfast at すずかけ市場食堂 Susukake Market Cafeteria.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - すずかけ市場食堂 Susukake Market Cafeteria

Food is ordered from this ticketing machine and collected at the counter.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - すずかけ市場食堂 Susukake Market Cafeteria


Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - すずかけ市場食堂 Susukake Market Cafeteria


Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - すずかけ市場食堂 Susukake Market Cafeteria

Next stop is フラノ・マルシェ Furano Marche for coffee and cakes. We also found that Furano Marche is expanding to a new building in June 2015.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - フラノ・マルシェ Furano Marche


Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - フラノ・マルシェ Furano Marche

Ice-cream puff ...

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - フラノ・マルシェ Furano Marche

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[zuoom]

17 days? Wow. Must try it one day.

 

[limweeli]

We head toward Sapporo/Otaru today, making a stop at 道の駅 三笠 Mikasa Eki no Michi for our fav yakitori. It's sold by the red van.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 道の駅 三笠 Mikasa Eki no Michi


Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 道の駅 三笠 Mikasa Eki no Michi

We were here 2 years ago and came back because we miss the taste of their yakitori. This time, we bought a pack Highly recommended!

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 道の駅 三笠 Mikasa Eki no Michi

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[limweeli]

After the brief stop, we went for our planned strawberry picking at 林農園 Hayashi Plantation. The fee is 1400 yen (IIRC) for unlimited duration in the plantation but you can only bring back strawberries in a small pack they provided. Compared to other plantations, it's a bit more expensive but most of the others limit to 2hrs. I would think 2hrs is sufficient, we stay only an hour plus and we are totally full already.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 林農園 Hayashi Plantation


Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - Strawberry picking at 林農園 Hayashi Plantation

Long rows of strawberry plants ...

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - Strawberry picking at 林農園 Hayashi Plantation

And very nice, big and sweet stawberries which my daughter loves.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - Strawberry picking at 林農園 Hayashi Plantation

To put the "big" into perspective, here's how it looks like on my 2+ year old daughter's hand.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - Strawberry picking at 林農園 Hayashi Plantation

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[limweeli]

After a long trip, we checked in to 2 twin rooms in グランドパーク小樽 Grand Park Otaru with very nice sea view. This would be our base for the next 2 days!

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - グランドパーク小樽 Grand Park Otaru

For dinner, we head to 海猫屋 Uminekoya.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 海猫屋 Uminekoya

The food and interior are not bad.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 海猫屋 Uminekoya


Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 海猫屋 Uminekoya

The crab pasta is good here but we ordered the wrong one - this is the seafood pasta.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 海猫屋 Uminekoya

Before heading back to the hotel, we visited 小樽運河 Otaru Canal. It's nice here during dusk hour.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 9 - 小樽運河 Otaru Canal

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[xp20046]

Nice, Total damage?

 

[limweeli]

Day 10

We started the day going to the nearby 新南樽市場 Shinantaru for kaisen don breakfast. After that we shopped a bit at the 100 yen plaza before heading to 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 新南樽市場 Shinantaru

We have been here 2 years ago and I don't recall any changes to this place.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 新南樽市場 Shinantaru


Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 新南樽市場 Shinantaru

On reaching 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori, we head to 六花亭 Le Tao first.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 六花亭 Le Tao

Le Tao ice-cream is a must-have here.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 六花亭 Le Tao

Next up is オルゴール堂 Music Box Museum. We go 2 music boxes here for our daughters.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - オルゴール堂 Music Box Museum


Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - オルゴール堂 Music Box Museum

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[limweeli]

After that, we had more cakes at the Le Tao cafe on the 2nd floor.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 六花亭 Le Tao


Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 六花亭 Le Tao

Going up the stairs to the top floor (around 4th or 5th), there is a good view of the junction of 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori

We went for oysters and scallops next. They are big!

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori


Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori


Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 境町通りSakaimanchi Dori

Finally, we head off to this mochi shop 新倉屋 本店 Nikura-ya that is within driving distance. We read that it's pretty popular amongst locals. We reached the place at around 3pm and most of the mochi are sold out.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 新倉屋 本店 Nikura-ya

Their mochi is not bad.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 新倉屋 本店 Nikura-ya

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[limweeli]

Nice, Total damage?

I never track closely but it's less than 20k. The expensive stuff are accommodation (we need 2 twin rooms or 1 big family room) and transportation (airfare and car rental). Food is not so expensive.

 

[limweeli]

We head to 鰊御殿 Nishin Goten but we didn't make it in time. So we took explored the cliff area before going down for dinner.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 鰊御殿 Nishin Goten


Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - View from 鰊御殿 Nishin Goten

We had dinner at 青塚食堂 Minshuku Aotsukasho which is just below.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 青塚食堂 Minshuku Aotsukasho

We ordered 3 sets of these only to find that the fish has a lot of small bones. The meat and cooking is nice but the bones is a major damper.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 青塚食堂 Minshuku Aotsukasho

We didn't try the scallops but they look good.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - 青塚食堂 Minshuku Aotsukasho

Back at the hotel, I managed to find a rooftop outdoor in at connected malls where I could take a clear view of the sunset.

Hokkaido 2015 Day 10 - View from グランドパーク小樽 Grand Park Otaru

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