[glabejut]

cheefarn wrote:

Well a 25c weather will be considered hot if it has been <15c the night before. It's all relative.

oh ok. 25 during the day is still pretty cooling to me. what about sunlight? read that the sun is only up for a few hours everyday. does it apply for summer too? is sunblock needed?

[cheefarn]

glabejut wrote:

oh ok. 25 during the day is still pretty cooling to me. what about sunlight? read that the sun is only up for a few hours everyday. does it apply for summer too? is sunblock needed?

On the contrary, daylight is much longer in Hokkaido during the summer months.

FYI, sunrise is at ard 4am(!) and by 4.30am, the place will be as bright as SG at ard 9am. You need to get used to this as the sun can literally shine into your hotel room and your face. I woke up at ard 430 -5am every morning during my trip to enjoy the ultimate transqulity surrounding the hotels. There will be zero human and vehicular traffic at that time despite the sun is high up in the sky

Sunset time is slightly later than ours at ard 7.30pm.

Winter time however, will be a different story. Sunrise is about same at ard 4.30-5am. But during winter time, sunset at 4.30pm. Its totally dark by 5+pm liao.

Apply sunblock? Haha its your choice lor. Hokkaido is not Aussie, the ionosphere is intact over there

[glabejut]

cheefarn wrote:

On the contrary, daylight is much longer in Hokkaido during the summer months.

FYI, sunrise is at ard 4am(!) and by 4.30am, the place will be as bright as SG at ard 9am. You need to get used to this as the sun can literally shine into your hotel room and your face. I woke up at ard 430 -5am every morning during my trip to enjoy the ultimate transqulity surrounding the hotels. There will be zero human and vehicular traffic at that time despite the sun is high up in the sky

Sunset time is slightly later than ours at ard 7.30pm.

Winter time however, will be a different story. Sunrise is about same at ard 4.30-5am. But during winter time, sunset at 4.30pm. Its totally dark by 5+pm liao.

Apply sunblock? Haha its your choice lor. Hokkaido is not Aussie, the ionosphere is intact over there

wow. thats interesting. dk why the website says only 5 hours of sun... but what time do the shops usually open and close over there?

[cheefarn]

glabejut wrote:

wow. thats interesting. dk why the website says only 5 hours of sun... but what time do the shops usually open and close over there?

It varies by most shops and attractions closes at 5pm

they open at 9-10am. That applies to restaurants too so do keep this in mind if you want to have dinner outside your hotel

[glabejut]

cheefarn wrote:

It varies by most shops and attractions closes at 5pm

they open at 9-10am. That applies to restaurants too so do keep this in mind if you want to have dinner outside your hotel

so early? what stuffs are there to do after 5pm then?

[DouBleB]

cheefarn wrote:

On the contrary, daylight is much longer in Hokkaido during the summer months.

FYI, sunrise is at ard 4am(!) and by 4.30am, the place will be as bright as SG at ard 9am. You need to get used to this as the sun can literally shine into your hotel room and your face. I woke up at ard 430 -5am every morning during my trip to enjoy the ultimate transqulity surrounding the hotels. There will be zero human and vehicular traffic at that time despite the sun is high up in the sky

Sunset time is slightly later than ours at ard 7.30pm.

Winter time however, will be a different story. Sunrise is about same at ard 4.30-5am. But during winter time, sunset at 4.30pm. Its totally dark by 5+pm liao.

Apply sunblock? Haha its your choice lor. Hokkaido is not Aussie, the ionosphere is intact over there

yea sun rise so early like 4.30 I thought morning slept for 3 hrs haha... I Like Japan food those near metro yakeoin. using coin vending machine to buy the food.. quite tasty some of them and is cheap 690YEN

[DouBleB]

glabejut wrote:

so early? what stuffs are there to do after 5pm then?

Takashimya, Daimaru etc all closes at 8pm damn early.. restaurant no need worry a lot eatery ard Shinjuku, harjuku or rpponghi.

[cheefarn]

glabejut wrote:

so early? what stuffs are there to do after 5pm then?

Actually not much, esp if you're staying in small towns eg Mombetsu, Kamikawa etc.

This is why I said Hokkaido is a very different place from Tokyo. Disregard what you read about Japs working 20 hrs days until they drop dead. In hokkaido, most of their people work shorter or at least the same hrs as we do.

You can walk/drive ard the town you're staying in and see which restaurants are still open. But chances of finding one will be slim. You will prob hang out at 7-11, Lawson or Senicmart

Or you can relax in your hotel onsen (if it comes with it) or your room ya. A Japs style room with tatami is big enough to really stretch out. You can also
watch TV. All hotels have deployed digital HD LCD TVs already.

And there's plenty of ahem... interesting channels if you buy a card from a machine near the lift lobby

[cheefarn]

DouBleB wrote:

Takashimya, Daimaru etc all closes at 8pm damn early.. restaurant no need worry a lot eatery ard Shinjuku, harjuku or rpponghi.

But not so much in Hokkaido, unless you dine at Susukino area in Sapporo. Even Asahikawa downtown looks quite deserted by 8pm.

Yes, Daimaru, Takashimaya @Sapporo closes at 8pm too. They open at 1030am in the morning, 11am during winter times.

[glabejut]

DouBleB wrote:

Takashimya, Daimaru etc all closes at 8pm damn early.. restaurant no need worry a lot eatery ard Shinjuku, harjuku or rpponghi.

cheefarn wrote:

Actually not much, esp if you're staying in small towns eg Mombetsu, Kamikawa etc.

This is why I said Hokkaido is a very different place from Tokyo. Disregard what you read about Japs working 20 hrs days until they drop dead. In hokkaido, most of their people work shorter or at least the same hrs as we do.

You can walk/drive ard the town you're staying in and see which restaurants are still open. But chances of finding one will be slim. You will prob hang out at 7-11, Lawson or Senicmart

Or you can relax in your hotel onsen (if it comes with it) or your room ya. A Japs style room with tatami is big enough to really stretch out. You can also
watch TV. All hotels have deployed digital HD LCD TVs already.

And there's plenty of ahem... interesting channels if you buy a card from a machine near the lift lobby

cheefarn wrote:

But not so much in Hokkaido, unless you dine at Susukino area in Sapporo. Even Asahikawa downtown looks quite deserted by 8pm.

Yes, Daimaru, Takashimaya @Sapporo closes at 8pm too. They open at 1030am in the morning, 11am during winter times.

i see i see. for first timer, should i join tour or is it easy enough to go f&e?

[cheefarn]

glabejut wrote:

i see i see. for first timer, should i join tour or is it easy enough to go f&e?

Its up to you bro. But I'd strongly recommend F&E if you really want to experience Hokkaido like it was meant to be. As well as to have a glimpse of how Hokkaido pple live everyday.

Join tour groups if you like to be herald ard and let others tell you where to go and what to do. And to restrict yourself to those few touristy attractions only.

And don't forget, you still need to pay tour guide fee at the end of your trip. And if you suay suay encountered a lazy guide (like I did back in 2008) that brings u to shopping and more shopping for the entire trip, you will feel damn TL paying for that sum of $$

FYI, its typically NOT TRUE that F&E will cost more than packaged tours. This is esp true if you're going with your family of 3 or 4.

Tour groups earned big profits from the way they charge for the tour. They charge everything by per pax. For F&E, you pay for per hotel room price for your family.. cos you guys will be staying together. And if your room rates includes half board (breakfast n dinner), your whole family gets to have a full meal, be it buffet or more excusite set meals.

That applies to rental cars as well. You guys all travel in a car, and the rental is charged per car for x number of days.



of cos la, all local tour agencies will go out of biz if everyone plan our tours like many of us here do. But its an inevitable trend that will pick up pace quickly as the use of internet expands.

For me, I search the net for best deals and then book from either the source (eg JAL tickets) or through dedicated online tour wholesellers eg hotel.com and booking.com . The same applies to car rental as well.

And then I search the net for info on the attractions that I'm planning to go.

You may also make a trip to JNTO office at Hong Leong Building 15th floor to collect some Hokkaido travel related brochures and info. If you plan early and happens to come across some Hokkaido fair org by Hokkaido tourism board, you will have access to even more detailed info on the towns and cities you wish to go. Things eg driving maps will be available then.

Itt may take a little big of effort on your side, but its well worth it and you'd have a sense of satisfaction when you see your hardwork unfold in front of you when you start the trip

[glabejut]

cheefarn wrote:

Its up to you bro. But I'd strongly recommend F&E if you really want to experience Hokkaido like it was meant to be. As well as to have a glimpse of how Hokkaido pple live everyday.

Join tour groups if you like to be herald ard and let others tell you where to go and what to do. And to restrict yourself to those few touristy attractions only.

And don't forget, you still need to pay tour guide fee at the end of your trip. And if you suay suay encountered a lazy guide (like I did back in 2008) that brings u to shopping and more shopping for the entire trip, you will feel damn TL paying for that sum of $$

FYI, its typically NOT TRUE that F&E will cost more than packaged tours. This is esp true if you're going with your family of 3 or 4.

Tour groups earned big profits from the way they charge for the tour. They charge everything by per pax. For F&E, you pay for per hotel room price for your family.. cos you guys will be staying together. And if your room rates includes half board (breakfast n dinner), your whole family gets to have a full meal, be it buffet or more excusite set meals.

That applies to rental cars as well. You guys all travel in a car, and the rental is charged per car for x number of days.



of cos la, all local tour agencies will go out of biz if everyone plan our tours like many of us here do. But its an inevitable trend that will pick up pace quickly as the use of internet expands.

For me, I search the net for best deals and then book from either the source (eg JAL tickets) or through dedicated online tour wholesellers eg hotel.com and booking.com . The same applies to car rental as well.

And then I search the net for info on the attractions that I'm planning to go.

You may also make a trip to JNTO office at Hong Leong Building 15th floor to collect some Hokkaido travel related brochures and info. If you plan early and happens to come across some Hokkaido fair org by Hokkaido tourism board, you will have access to even more detailed info on the towns and cities you wish to go. Things eg driving maps will be available then.

Itt may take a little big of effort on your side, but its well worth it and you'd have a sense of satisfaction when you see your hardwork unfold in front of you when you start the trip

good explanation and thanks for the effort.

i have been looking at a few tour agency and indeed the places they bring us to sound very touristy... may i know which tour agency u joined? just curious

[cheefarn]

glabejut wrote:

good explanation and thanks for the effort.

i have been looking at a few tour agency and indeed the places they bring us to sound very touristy... may i know which tour agency u joined? just curious

You mean back in 2008? It was A*A... you've been warned okie

The recent trip 3 weeks ago was totally self constructed.. no stinkin' agencies required

You may also wish to know that for tour groups, you'd waste alot of time waiting for you and me if the group is large and/or there's alot of old folks in the group.

And you'd have a headache when some old folks wanted the tour guide to do this while the others wanted shopping. In the end, you pay alot not only to let others tell you what to do, you have to put up disagreements between tour mates as well.

So you see for yourself lor

[glabejut]

cheefarn wrote:

You mean back in 2008? It was A*A... you've been warned okie

The recent trip 3 weeks ago was totally self constructed.. no stinkin' agencies required

You may also wish to know that for tour groups, you'd waste alot of time waiting for you and me if the group is large and/or there's alot of old folks in the group.

And you'd have a headache when some old folks wanted the tour guide to do this while the others wanted shopping. In the end, you pay alot not only to let others tell you what to do, you have to put up disagreements between tour mates as well.

So you see for yourself lor

A*A? took a few brochures and one of their tour has the most places covered. is it the same tour u joined?

[cheefarn]

glabejut wrote:

A*A? took a few brochures and one of their tour has the most places covered. is it the same tour u joined?

I guess the iternery may have changef for the past 5yrs. but I'm not going back to them or any agencies for any tours to Hokkaido or Japan.

Or any other countries for that matter haha