Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone from Sapporo. 2012 has been a major change for the family with the relocation, but the main thing is that we are together.

Let's hope 2013 will be a great year with many positives and wish everyone all the best wishes for the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas to everyone from Sapporo, Hokkaido. Hope santa is nice to everyone and enjoy the festivities. It's nice and piles of snow outside, definately a white christmas over here...

Land Of The Rising Sun

Good morning world. A beautiful sunrise today and plenty of snow in our street...

Hakodate - Goryokaku

We also went to the first western fort built in Japan (Goryokaku). Pretty nice but it was getting cold. For some reason it did not lit up so we didnt have nice views from the tower. Maybe we should submit these photos of Chisa to Jetstar, he he...

The trip was only a short 2 night trip but very enjoyable, would recommend to anyone planning to travel to Hokkaido in future..

Hakodate - City Hall

We visited the city hall which also provided dress up back to the old colonial days. Chisa would not let up an opportunity to dress up like Cinderella, or was it Belle, Ariel, not sure she like all of the Disney princesses..

Hakodate - Xmas Feel

As we're in December the city is also lit up at night to add to the Christmas feel. Streets and trees are nicely decorated in the touristy areas which adds to the atmosphere around the restaurants. Nice and cold too...



 

 

Hakodate Views

So here is why everyone travels to Hakodate, the money shot. People from all over the world travel to Hakodate to see the offically rated "Michellin" view. We waited for about 2 hrs whilst enjoying cake and coffee, below are shots in sequence to give you all a contrast on the view as the night falls. Pretty spectacular!

Hakodate - Sightseeing Ropeway

We headed up to the ropeway the first day to check out the views of the city where Hakodate is famous for. The town itself is like a sleepy seaside town with the nice bay at the foot at the mountains, nice tram and colonial buildings influenced by the west as it was one of the first ports open to foreign trading in the feudal days. A few shots from the ropeway and top...

Hakodate - Arrival

After 3 hrs on the train we arrived at Hakodate train station. Surprisingly there was hardly any snow and a litle warmer than Sapporo.

Their famous fish market was just next door and our hotel was only a couple of hundred metres, nice and convenient. Time to check-in and have lunch at their famous fish market, their speciality is catching the squid live and serving it while its alive (I didnt order as I thought it was quite barbaric eating a squid trying to run away from your bowl of rice - I mean literally running away). Instead I had my favourite uni & scollaps, we ordered squid but they served it nicely on a plate for us, a couple of nice shots of below...

Train Ride to Hakodate, Hokkaido

An early start, left home at 6 am to catch the 7am super express train to Hakodate which took about 3hrs south. The train was smooth, had breakfast and took a few nice shots. The train hugged the shoreline so we had nice view of the sea on one side and nice mountains on the other side...

Vegetable sushi

 

Went to dinner in Sapporo, these great veges sushi were great alternative for Chisa my girl, who is yet to take raw food. They look and tasted beautiful. There were eggplant, shitake & enoki mushrooms, potato, broccoli & tomato. All made to look like raw fish....

Earth Moving Experience!

7.3 earthquake off the east coast of  Japan @ 5:18 pm, pretty scary! Whole building was shaking and tsunami warning up east coast...