Of Music Boxes & Tinkling Glasses

Day 4 of our vacation ~ We headed down to Otaru in the late afternoon, a city renowned for its exquisite musical boxes and fine glassware.  It was indeed a sight to behold and I just wished I had all the money in the world to buy the cuddly teddy bears, fanciful glass figurines and enchanting musical boxes that came in all shapes and sizes.

Our eyes definitely did not tire from admiring all the art masterpieces but our legs were tired from all that walking.  Hence, we took a break at the "Cake Coffee" cafe which sells aromatic coffee in the limited edition Hello Kitty cup.  The unique selling point of the cafe was that after enjoying the hot drink, we could wash the cups and bring them home as a souvenir!  So now I have a kawaii Hello Kitty cup on my office desk!

After we have rested, we spent some time up in the highest clock tower which oversees the entire Otaru Town.  As it was drizzling slightly that day, the atmosphere in the town felt a little sleepy, idyllic and romantic.  You may also notice from the photos that the city's architecture is very much like that of any Italian town.  Our tour guide explained that as such, there is relatively fewer Westerners visiting Otaru, as they would prefer to travel to Kyushu to visit Japan's historical monuments and experience the Japanese's traditional way of living .  

Before leaving, we had an opportunity to watch the glass-maker working at the forge.  Shops along the streets of Otaru were also brainwashing visitors to buy a glassware as the perfect Father's Day gift!  Haha, of course we weren't so easily fooled.

It was quite unfortunate that most of the shops in Otaru Town closed by 6pm.  As such, we didn't have enough time to try desserts from the famous LeTao bakery.  The cold weather also meant that we had to forgo the widely-acclaimed 6-flavours ice-cream.  Nevertheless, we did manage to get some photos before leaving

If I go back to Hokkaido again, I will definitely spend more time to enjoy a leisurely relaxed stroll (and try the 6-flavours ice-cream) in this idyllic place of my dreams!

Rooming in Japan

Special edition of rooms in Japan ~ The hotels we stayed in during our trip ranked extremely well in cleanliness.  But unexpectedly, the rooms were all rather small and old when compared to the rooms that we stayed in previously in other countries.  Nevertheless, cleanliness is definitely my top concern and it was undoubtedly a cozy and comfy experience!

- Hotel Hakodate Royal -

Some hotels, such as Hotel Hakodate Royal, had affiliations to the Singapore embassy, hence they serve mostly Singaporean tourists and also provide marketing campaigns for Singapore in their lobbies.

There are two different types of hotels. the Western-style hotels vs. the Japanese-style hotels.  In Western-style hotels, we slept on the usual beds, whereas in Japanese-style hotels we slept on tatami floor beds.  The Japanese-style hotels also had onsens (i.e. hot springs) for us to enjoy a spa after a long day of travelling and many visitors could also be seen walking around in the yukatas provided by the hotels.

- Western-style hotel :: ANA Hotel -

- Japanese-style hotel :: Asahigawa Crescent Hotel -

It's truly the small things that count!  The decor may be simple yet the room still has a elegant and homely feeling.  Check out the small paper cranes in the bathroom!

Not forgetting the gorgeous views from our hotel rooms!

- Otaru Grand Park -

On the last night, we had a mini feast in a tiny ballroom in the hotel!  It was super delicious!  Oishi!!

- Noboribetsu Yumoto Onsen -

When it was time for us to leave, the hotel managers and bellboys stood outside the hotel to wave goodbye.  As our tour bus left, we saw them wave to us continuously until the hotel was out of sight.  Although we were sad to go, their remarkable service left us all with a warm and happy feeling!

Fort Goryokaku

Day 1 of our vacation ~ It wasn't our intention to travel to Hokkaido to see Sakuras.  The Sakuras were expected to bloom in early May.  However, by a stroke of luck, the Sakura season was delayed.  As a result, the Sakuras were in full bloom during late-May when we were in Hokkaido.  Sakura flowers could be found blooming from trees along the streets, in backyards and in the midst of forests on top of the hills.

In the Edo period, Sakura trees are often grown near Forts in Japan.  The rationale behind this is that when the Sakura flowers bloom, they are viewed as a symbolism of regeneration and ephemerality of life.  Hence, they become a huge morale booster which brings encouragement and motivation to the soldiers living in the Forts during wartimes.

Noticed that Hakodate's Fort Goryokaku is shaped like a 5-sided star pentagon?  The clever design of the Fort gave soldiers situated at any one of the five pentacles a better view of enemies approaching from its neighbouring pentacles.  This is unlike the usual 4-sided square Forts whereby soldiers standing guard on one-side of the Fort is unable to see and defend against enemies coming from the other three sides of the Fort.

Lastly, did you know, the Sakura is NOT Japan's national flower!  They blossom once a year for only 5-6 days and hence their short life span and quick death makes them unsuitable as a national flower.  The national flower of Japan is the Chrysanthemum which is the emblem found on every Japanese's passport and even in temples, such as the Hokkaido Shrine which we visited on the 4th day of our vacation.

Tomita Farm

Day 3 of our vacation ~ We visited Tomita's Farm.  Its a lavender farm, but you won't get to see much of the purple flowers in my photos because it isn't the lavender season now.  The lavender season is in July, so be sure to make a trip down to Furano, Hokkaido if you love these purple little flowers.

As it is only May, the lavender plants we saw were merely green stumps which were not very interesting.  In order to avoid any disappointment, we were brought to the greenhouse where lavender flowers bloom all year round and are pollinated by fat round bumblebees!  Try spotting them in the picture below!

The story behind the farm began with a guy called Tomita-San who chanced upon a lavender field in Furano, and fell in love with it.  As such, he settled down to begin his own lavender field and married a lady who similarly loved lavenders.

In the early years, lavender flowers were much sought after for their essence to create perfumes and could fetch high prices. Unfortunately, the invention of artificial essence in the 1970s rendered the lavender flowers useless as artificial essence were much cheaper than their original counterparts.  Hence, prices of the lavender flowers plummeted drastically.  Many farmers gave up on growing lavenders and started growing other subsistence plants such as potato and wheat.

Nevertheless, Tomita's love for lavenders meant that he did not give up so easily.  Times were hard and he had to even borrow money from his neighbours in order to keep his farm.  Tomita nearly gave up on his lavender farm but when he was attempting to cut off his lavender bushes, he noticed his wife standing at the doorway looking on sadly...  It was then that the couple realised that they can't live without their lavender flowers and will fight to keep them alive or otherwise perish together with their lavenders.

Shortly after, tourists started visiting his farm one day.  Apparently, his purple lavender plantation which stood out among the sea of green / brown potato and wheat plantations caught the eyes of a photographer who submitted a photo of Tomita's lavender farm to the Japan Railway (a.k.a. "JR") Company.  The photo was made into a poster by JR and was featured in all their trains, thus unwittingly becoming an advertisement for Tomita's farm.

Tomita and his wife's perseverance paid off.  Today, floods of tourists visit his farm every year to admire the lavender fields.  Tomita even won an award in recognition of his dedication to the research / study of lavender flowers.

Apart from the lavender fields, there were also other attractions such as the dried flowers exhibition.  Visitors who stepped into the exhibition room started "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" and whipped out their cameras to take photos, such as the one below.

At the end of the day, you will see people leaving the farm with a cup of extremely delicious lavender ice cream.  There maybe dozens of different ice cream flavours in Hokkaido (e.g. yuki melon flavour, konbu flavour, asparagus flavour or pumpkin flavour), but this lavender ice cream is my favourite and definitely a MUST try!