Early morning start, catching 5:58 am train from otaruchikko to Sapporo… Beautiful morning to start the trip

Changing to another train that goes from Sapporo to Shin hakodate to catch the Shinkansen to Tokyo… This link from Sapporo to hakodate lasts for 3.5 hours

And then it’s the Shinkansen from hakodate to Tokyo which is 4 hours long..we tried the famous ekiben of course 😋

Another transfer at the Tokyo station…. We barely made it to our transfer to Kyoto shinkansen with only a minute left 😅…. The weather down south is so much warmer and better that we were able to take a good glimpse of Mount Fuji

More sceneries on the way to Kyoto

We finally arrived at our airbnb in Kyoto at 7 pm… 13 hours of traveling in total… The airb&b place I pick is a traditional Japanese house which I always want to try…

We decided to spend this last full day in Hokkaido by combing the streets of  Otaru again just browsing and eating and wandering aimlessly while the following magical things happened

The famous steam clock of Otaru, unexpectedly starts huffing and puffing in front of us telling the time of 10 am…. There are only a few working steam clocks in the world left

While we were stopping at a local Cafe for tea and cake  a nice Japanese couple proactively starts chatting with us and that just warms our heart… We connect even though we barely speak each other’s language…. the coffee shop also let us have the cups… What a deal!!

Next stop is a gorgeous coffee shop at one of the crystal museum…. It has an incredible speak easy vibe, dark and moody with decors from the yesteryear… We were magically transformed to another reality and the soft ice cream and coffee float were icings on the cake

The next magical thing to do is to try the local red king crab at a very good price

After all these magical moments, the only place that we can think of to end this is Otaru brewery..  We really love it’s vibe and food

The snow just won’t quit…. We find the snow of Otaru very smooth, gentle and lyrical…. Beauty at every corner every where…

P took a local bus and went snowboarding… He said the condition at the slopes was the best he had even seen… No wonder many people we know flock to Hokkaido to ski/snow boarding

I took a day off and just went shopping at the mall next door… Bought some hoodie at a ridiculously low price…. Bought some oden ingredients so that we can have hot soup after ski…. Should have took pictures of the big shrimp I bought at the super market, 8 fresh and tasty ones at only $4

It’s not snowing today, so we decided to pop in Otaru again ( just two train stations from our base Otaruchikko)… Today’s Sunday… So many tourists on the sakaimachidori shopping street, I heard people speaking Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese (mainland and Taiwan both)….. Basically packed train and packed streets… Very festive.   We enjoyed checking out the gift shops and street foods…..and for the 3rd day in a row we had chirashi for lunch…

Still snowing today but we decided to venture out…. So glad we did… We took a train and a bus to get to these two places which are northern coastal cities of Hokkaido…. There’s immense beauty everywhere especially in Shakotan… A quiet seaside town…. We stumble into a little restaurant in this quiet city without a soul on the snowy street and it’s super cozy and traditional…. Each with their own private tatami room and fresh seafood….

There’s not much thing to do in yoichi except to your the Nikka whisky museum with tasting bar….. Warms us up which is much appreciated…

Woke up to a beautiful snow falling scenery…. There’s nothing much we can do except walk a few steps to the mall next door….. Actually with the fresh coat of snow, it’s much easier to walk….we grabbed lunch there… The around us$12 seafood chirashi set lunch and red bean mochi is so good. Also did some shopping…. It’s a big mall with lots of interesting things to see and buy….. Really enjoyed our snowed in day 🤗

Today’s project is to visit Hill of the Buddha…. A uniquely designed temple by Tadao Ando near a cemetery. We were really impressed by the design that blends in beautifully with the serene environment.

Near by there’s also…

Takes about 2 hours from otaruchikko to hill of the Buddha….three types of transportation… Jr train, underground train and then bus….. Quite an effort but it’s so worth it….

We found a lot of Happy hour food at Daimaru food hall at Sapporo JR Station…. Yum 🤗… Heavenly 😇

Sapporo is only 45 mins away from otaruchikko via slow train…we love the sceneries on the way…. We originally thought it might not be a good idea to come to Hokkaido this time of year but we were wrong….. The blanketed snow covered scene is literally icing on the cake

Just want to point out something interesting about Japan’s garbage collection/recycle system…. It’s very complicated and elaborate… See chart below… We really hope that we did not mess this up 😆

Took a 15 min train ride from Otaru Chikko to Otaru

As soon as we exit the station we saw many skiers….. Popular spot for skiing

Small seaside town with lots of characters

Our final destination is Hokkaido Otaru Chikko …. Only 3.5 hours flight from Taoyuan to CTS airport and another one hour train ride to Chikko Otaru…..

The view from above as we were approaching is gorgeous

Of course we checked out the airport’s food first…. Sapporo beers are a must and first time trying ochazuke…. Oishe desu ne 😋…. And P needs to try an ice cream which Hokkaido is famous for

The train ride from CTS to otura Chikko is mesmerizingly beautiful because of the snow…. It blanketed the whole place in a very neat and calm way… The sun is setting on the left while the sea is on the right….

We were so lucky to get to stay at a beautiful apartment with a bay view as well as mountain view… Also with onsen bathroom set up…  Heavenly 🤗