2010 Winter Hokkaido Day 1 - Hakodate

 

Some time ago, I decided to go on a solo adventure of sorts. I have never traveled alone and thought it would be a good experience. I have also been wanting to experience a real winter eons ago. After all, I am someone who hates the heat of Singapore. So why wait?

I landed at Narita and made my own way to Haneda. I arrived much earlier than expected. Here's a pic of inside Haneda.

From Haneda, I took a domestic flight, and as the plane flew north, I could see the landscape changing along the way. Landed at Hakodate and took a bus to the town center where the train station is.

They had these little bronze statues around, and were decorated with winter wear. How cute is that!

Time for lunch! I saw KFC around here, but you will never find a McDonald's around Hakodate. Why? Because Hakodate has its own local fast food joint - Lucky Pierrot. This chain of shops are populated across Hakodate and Hakodate only; not even the rest of Hokkaido has it.

 

 

You order your food, grab a seat and they will deliver your food to you whilst calling out your number.

 

I took the 2nd most popular item which had a chicken patty and sunny side up.

 

It was pretty tasty. The patty was not simply minced but you could feel the little strands of meat. Furthermore, it was extremely soft and moist.

 

A side order of special fries. Thick cut fries with cream sauce, and there are actually little shrimps hidden within!

 

Corn soup was pretty creamy. Hot soup on a cold winter's day!

 

Next I was headed for Mount Hakodate. Along the way, I saw this manhole cover.

 

Random shot of the streets of Hakodate. Hakodate is very quiet. At some points when they were no cars passing by, it was a deafening silence.

 

Before going up the mountain, I detoured to a nearby area where there were slopes. These slopes would be lit up later at night, and were a backdrop for some local movies.

Hakodate is one of the first places where foreigners set foot in Japan, hence the presence of churches here.

 

 

Finally, I headed up the mountain via a ropeway.

Hakodate by day, but this is not what Hakodate is famous for.

That's not rain..it's snow coming!

 

And this is what Hakodate is famous for - its night view! I read many a times of three "1 million dollar" night views - Napoli (Italy), Hong Kong and Hakodate! That's 2 out of 3 for me! One more to go!

 

 

Sun sets early in winter time. This is only around 5.15pm. A truly beautiful sight to behold! The observation deck was crowded and freezing! A cute girl, who was alone with a huge Canon SLR and whom I was eyeing since coming up the mountain, asked me help take a photo of her...turns out she was Korean. And I even managed to converse with a Hong Kong couple in Cantonese!

 

A parting shot to show that it was still snowing and my hands are numb by now.

Back down the mountain, the slopes and key buildings in the area are all lit at night.

 

 

 

This is an old red brick warehouse area near the docks. Now they house shops, restaurants and supermarkets.

 

 

Inside a shop that sells glassware. This is a branch of a main shop in Otaru, where I will be headed to later.

 

Another manhole cover; this time with a picture of a squid which Hakodate is famous for as well.

 

The streets are very quiet at night. This is after all only about 7 plus.

 

I was deciding what to eat, as the shops here are more subtle and not as flashy as in a big city. In the end, I chose a shop within this area known as Daimon, which congregates some small eateries, and a couple of ramen shops (more on my new resolution with regards to ramen later).

 

 

This green shop is called Ramujin, and I was attracted by the BBQ smell.

 

Basically, it is a form of lamb BBQ popular in Hokkaido, and has its roots in Mongolian history. The hot plate resembles that of the head gear of the Mongols. I order some meat and vegetables which came to only about 1080yen. The only bad thing is my clothes stink after that.

But the meat was rather tender and tasty, and went well with the sauce which was a mixture of soy, miso and garlic.

 

 

It is only a small shop which seats less than 10. It seems that our Singapore Tourism Board is pretty successful in their promotions in Japan. When I mentioned I was from Singapore, the owner and a customer's response to me was: "Merlion" Beats me how a sexually-confused-vomiting abomination could actually be so popular.

The girl on the right is a Korean and was there on a honeymoon with her fiancee. No, I did not intentionally exclude the fiancee; my camera simply was not wide enough. The other Japanese customer in the shop even treated the couple to beer on hearing that they were on their honeymoon.

The male boss even came out of the shop to send me off as I left. He asked if I will come again to Hokkaido, and my answer was a resounding ぜひ or "Definitely!".

 

I finished off the night with a small dessert of milk pudding from Lawson, one of the convenience store. I had this when I was in Japan the last time and I love its strong milky taste. However, this will soon be dethroned by another stronger contender.