Tour Lead at last. Never mind all the rants but still, everything ended off great. My last night in Japan was in Tokyo, I spent it thinking how much would I miss this ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and also the bombardment of questions to me from many and many of my beloved ones and friends which I haven’t seen for days.
My first time tour-leading. Excitement, anxiety and many other mixed emotions raced around my blood veins. Not long ago, thanks to help of Auntie Aileen, I find myself in the plane. Longest flight ever of 7 hours. I got my back aching at the end of the ride. I experienced the best of Japanese service when I’m on board the flight. An air-stewardess spilled a glass of plain water on me, she went on speaking her Japanese away but I supposed she must be saying ‘Sorry, Sorry, and Sorry’. Repeatedly, I told her I’m fine, on the other hand, she appeared fearful, afraid that I might be angry. There she goes, repeating what she says and there I went, not bothering to tell her I’m really fine…DUH!
On board the aircraft, the meal was something i look forward to, but it disappointed. By flying ANA (All Nippon Airways), i thought i would expect something very Japanese or at the very least, Asian, but it turned out otherwise. They served my Western food. Look at the potato, pasta...eww.. I ate something which i don't even dared to eat in the past. I guess Don must be stunned at this.
My On-Board Meal
That 7 hours flight was terrible. I couldn't stand that awkward position on that seat and this terrible ordeal was at last over and i'm finally at Japan. I've stepped foot onto the land of Japan and it's kind of unbelievable for myself at first.
Welcome To Japan!
After the international flight from Singapore to Narita (Toyko), we still have to take another Domestic flight to Chitose (Sapporo). It's a whole day at travelling at by the time i reach Hokkaido, i'm shagged. Now i know what's jet-lagged. Never mind the tiredness, on my way to the airport hotel, i was enticed by the variety of Japanese food along the food outlets. I wondered to myself, 'Am i in for a food feast'??
The Huge Variety of Japanese Food..
My dinner was far apart from what i saw on my way to the hotel. Nevertheless, it tasted good for my very first meal in Japan. I ate Sashimi which i find it a chore in Singapore, perhaps it's all because it tastes much nicer here. Yummy.
My First Meal in Japan @ Chitose Airport Hotel
My room was a WOW! Their single bed is actually bigger than the one at my room. Thank goodness they have the LAN connection in their room and within minutes, i'm connected to Don.
My Room
Tour leader and tour guide are not allowed to sleep in the same room, therefore, i have that room to myself. I'm going to sleep alone for whole 6 nights which is a really fresh experience for me. Outside the window, i could see plane parking and moving around (since it's an Airport Hotel).
Something amazing about this hotel room. Their air-con is detached on a shelf and blowing upwards. Which might just explains why i feel abit warm at times. It's cool though...Their in-room facilities was cool, plus their toilet. I realised by now that all their toilets has this function that is able to wash your butt for you after you shit. Not only that but also they have seperate buttons for both female and male. How cool is that, awesome to me! Even modern toilets even blow and dry your butt before you even get up from the toilet bowl. A good idea for Lazy Singaporeans!
No worries on not be able to get myself to sleep. They have an in-built radio. However, everything they have is in Japanese, which i don't even understand a single thing, so in the end, it's the symphony music that sing me to sleep..Poor me...
Air-Con on the Shelf
Radio, Lighting, Alarm Clock (All in One)
And so, the tour starts on the second day. This shall be the time i set my eyes opened big and see Japan starting from Hokkaido. The weather day is simply perfect. There's sun yet it's cooling and not bright. I noticed they display the temperature everywhere to keep people aware of it. How thoughtful...
Advert + Temperature
There are some amazing things i see along the way and i'll capture it onto my camera and share it....
Their road barriers are cute, different from those in Singapore
At last, we reached Otaru Canal. One of my favourite destinations because of the weather there. Really, when the weather is good, your mood naturally feels good as well. I shopped abit here and tasted one of the nicest chocolates and cream puff over here.
Otaru Canal
Clock + Temperature
Natural Spring Water for Drinking
Heard from my colleagues that Hokkaido ice cream is one of the 'must try' and i really see and even tasted it for myself. Their ice cream has this kind of smoothiness that i can't explain it. You really have to try it for youself. Even those sold in Singapore are nothing as compared to the ones here. Moreover, they even allow you to top and combine different flavours all into one cone. Yummy..Eating ice cream in this cooling weather makes my mood even better.
Hokkaido Ice Cream
Streets of Otaru
Another amazing thing about Japan is their vending machine. I couldn't help but take a few photos of their vending machines. Just tea and coffee alone, they have tons of variety of it in one vending machine. And they don't just have one vending in one area byt it's a few vending machines side by side, all selling different beverages.
Vending Machine
Alaska Crab - they are really HUGE.
六花亭 - They sell superb cream puffs, even better than beard's papa!
You have to be extra careful when eating this cream puff because the cream is so smooth than it oozed out like liquid.
Kuma VS the PUMA in Singapore..
Yes, we can see Japanese's attempt to learn English..
One thing i have to praise Japanese about. Their toilet are perfectly clean. I heard from the tour guide that even the toilet cleaner takes pride in their work and they really make sure the toilets are clean at all times. Not only that but also because those using the toilets also make sure they try to keep it clean. Japanese are really disciplined and clean.
Their public toilet - clean as ever.
One of my customers ordered a live abalone and i could see it dancing itself to death.
My lunch - Tempura Rice.
Speaking of my lunch, i realised every meal i have here, they are bound to come with a bowl of miso soup. Unfortunately, i don't like Miso Soup...
At last, i chanced upon Macdonald. I haven't seen a single fast food outlet in Japan ever since i touched down. I wanted to try their burgers but sadly, time doesn't allow me to..
Look at the variety of burger they have.
A huge variety of RAMEN!!!!
Reached Sapporo after that. They have this underground shopping centre, something like our Dhoby Xchange but doesn't have much to offer. I finally get to see the Saporro clock tower and besides that, nothing much is there, except for Odori park which i missed it because of two customers..
Sapporo Clock Tower
Reached my hotel for the second night stay - APA Spa and Resort Hotel. This hotel has spa facilities. Japan's not only for their 'onsen' but also their spa as well. I tried it at last for the first time and i must say i'm really not used to it. From what i've learnt, Japan has lots of different types of hot bath. Ranging from temperature between 25 degree celcius to the maximum 103 degree celcius, YES, 103 degree celcius, anyone who go in is bound to be cooked.
Sleeping alone in a room with two bed can be scary....really scary..
The third day arrived and we are here at Ainu Village. Ainu's a type of culture which is starting to extinct. They are animalists and i'm here to experience their culture which is kind of boring for me.
Ainu Village
Statue of Ainu Village Chief
Scenery of Ainu Village
At last, my first bowl of Ramen in Japan...Yummy. It's Ramen in Soya Sauce Soup.
They used to huge crab to attract customers.
And of course, who would have missed this huge black bear as well...
In Singapore, we have digital display to show the fuel prices, they used board to display instead..it's hard work...
Arrived at Mt Showa. Interesting story behind it. Go wiki it if you are interested. The mountain actually still has smoke coming out from it. Really cool. Plus the nice backdrop behind it, this scenery is really nice..
You can notice the mild smoke coming out from the mountain...
Speaking of nice scenery and nothing beats the one at Lake Toya. With a nice history behind it, this place is really amazing it. One of the nicest scenery i've ever seen for myself in my life..
Lake Toya Viewing Bay
Nice Scenery @ Lake Toya
Mt Fuji
At Lake Toya, my tour guide introduced this sausage to me. It turned out to be cheese hotdog. I can taste the cheese from it but somehow, it's tasty. I can see the reaction on Don's face now...Evil Huh!
Cheese Hotdog... (Bring it on Donna)
Arrived at Toya Kanko Hotel @ Lake Toya not long after. I can even continue viewing the nice scnery from my room window. This hotel is abit special. First, it has 'onsen' facility, the only night i can spent soaking myself in real 'onsen' which contains sulphur. Another thing about this hotel is that they don't have a proper bed. We have to sleep in this hotel 'the Japanese way'. Third and best part of this hotel is that, every night, they have fireworks display and i really feasted my eyes that very night to a 20 mins of fireworks display...Everything about this area is simply fascinating, except for the room. It was the worst hotel room out of the six hotels i've stayed throughout the whole tour - it's abit warm, stuffy, infested with a few mosquitoes and the fact that i have to sleep on a rugged mattress.
Lake Toya
The Perfect Nice View of Lake Toya
The tour guide made the whole tour gather for dinner at the hotel's so called ballroom. We all wore this Japanese costume (i forgot the name of the costume). The clothing is thin but it's super big in size. It made me look so skinny as a result, well, i'm not the only one. We then help ourselves to this very Japanese dinner. Sashimi is not my type of food (I know Don will say i'm stupid), so i cooked it by placing it on top of the hot mini wok. Wahaa..But then again, this is the place where i had my first nice bite of Sashimi....so contradicting isn't it...
Me in Japanese Costume
The Very Japanese Dinner
After that, it's onwards to some really awesome sight-seeing. Before this trip, all i see is photos of the beauty of Hokkaido. Never did i expect what i see before me is really the real floral beauty of Hokkaido. This land is really covered with lots of greens and colourful flowers. I can't believe my eyes at times.
On our way to explore the floral beauty, the green pastures pave the path for us..
At Farm Tomita
Some of these sunflowers are even taller than you and me...
This Viewing Bay looks like a Modern Spacecraft..
I have no idea. Ever since i'm in Hokkaido, i have this huge craving for Ramen. I love the ramen over there. Especially this meal, they comes with Gyoza. Simply yummy. I keep telling myself, i must go back to Ajisen when i'm back in Singapore and i must apply their member card!
There's not much night life in Japan. Most of their shops closes latest 9pm. So basically every night once i check into the hotel, i'm stuck to my own room...
Something amazing about the hotels in Japan. They seldom have double beds. Most of the time, they would provide twin beds instead. And also, every TV comes with a digital set top. This set top has a card slot whereby you will have to purchase a card from either the lobby or corridor. What's even amazing is that the content you can get by purchasing this card are those AV Idols (Adult Content). Good publicity for their own local adult movies....
Next up is Sake brewery. This particular brewery has won golds awards for their sake for decades and i learnt from it that it's actually an amazing feat. Sadly again, i don't know how to appreciate sake so this trip is a wasted one for me, however, i did tried one of their sake and it's really a fresh experience for me...perhaps it's a good start for me..
Tools they used to brew the sake..
Later that day, we headed down to 狸小路. It's like the Far East of Singapore, but the only difference is that instead of the mountains and mountains of clothes, they have tons and tons of local tidbits. All so yummy then i helped myself with it until when i ended up at the cashier, the boss has to fill all my buying into a carton box. I just can't wait to open them all up...
狸小路
Look at their vending machine - Spoilt for Choices
Next, i want to mention about this cool aeroplane. This aeroplane is specially pokemon-themed. My favourite cartoon and i can't helped but take a few more photos of this plane. The interior of this plane is so 'pokemon' as well, from its seats to the carpet. It's certainly my best domestic flight ever...
Pokemon Theme Domestic Plane
Reached this temple in Toyko. Nothing much except for the fact that i finally get to eat Macdonald in Japan. Plus the big 波罗包. It look so big and get crispy...just the thought of it now makes me drool....are you??
The temple
波罗包, does it tempt you?
The variety of Tempura being sold along the streets
My Macdonald meal in Toyko
The tour guide treated me to this combi flavoured ice cream - green tea + red bean + barley..wow!
To tell the truth, Chinese food in Japan is rare. However, our tour itinerary includes Chinese meal and it's really nice. I even get to eat my favourite abalone (though it's just a few slices).
Yummy Chinese Dinner...
My last night is spent in Garden Hotel Narita, Toyko and it marks the near end of the almost wonderful trip. The bed at this hotel is also the biggest i've ever slept on in Japan..
This above photo marks the end of my trip. Everyone has been nice throughout the trip, making my tour-leading task a fulfilling and satisfying one. Even the tips given by them feeds my pocket fat...Haa...By the time i arrived at Changi Airport, my back is aching (again, because of the long flight) and with me carrying so much stuff (near 30kg), even the trolley can't fit whatever i have.
I look forward to next trip...when? where?
At last, i bought my very own mooncake yesterday. However, i regretted buying it over at some ordinary bakery because today, my colleague gave me this very superb piece of mooncake from Marriott Hotel - durian flavoured. I could sense the smell of durian even when the mooncake is like 30cm away from me. I didn't eat it, but gave Dearie instead. Everyone and anyone who ate it gave it a thumbs up. Indeed, the price for that kind of quality. Really tempts me to rush down to the hotel to get my favourite flavour of mooncake. Who knows? I might just get it over the weekend. 
