Japan Hokkaido Day 1

1st day - 11 Jan 2017

Before we begin;

14 days in Japan, 7 nights in Hokkaido and the rest in Tokyo. This is my longest and most expensive trip so far with my boyfriend. It is also the most memorable one because this is my first snow and cold weather experience <3.
 

We booked our trip back in Nov 16 with Chan Brothers travel agency with a free and easy extension in Tokyo. As Hokkaido might be too cold and too difficult to explore ourselves, we thought that following a tour group would be more practical and enjoyable. Comparing various agencies, Chan Brothers provides one of the best itinerary attractions and a night of rest before we proceed with the adventure. 8D7N Hokkaido Ice Wonderland was the tour package we have chosen. We got to know that our extension of flights might be rejected as all tour members were supposed to return on the same date. Hence, we decided to go with the staff's suggestion of purchasing air tickets and land tour at two different cost. The combined total was only about S$150++ more than the original cost, which we both thought was worth paying for, for a confirmed extension of stay. Our tour was a confirmed tour then, and we paid for the deposit and air tickets first. The rest were paid when we went for our briefing nearing the departure date. 

With a confirmed flight back, we booked our hotel stay in Tokyo with Tobu Hotel, Levant Tokyo. Reviews have praised the rooms with a Tokyo Skytree view, and it really is a great view at night. We were more afraid that the other side facing the train railway might be too noisy, as some reviewers have feedback. For Wifi, Changi Recommends was having a promotion of S$5 per day for Japan and that was great news to us.

Air Tickets: S$1080 per pax

Tour: S$2700 per pax

Tobu Hotel: S$1000++ for 6 Nights

Wifi: S$70 for 14 days

This was my first winter trip so I had to spend a lot more on winter clothings! It was fun shopping though. My black downjacket from Winter Wear cost over S$200 but it is so soft and comfortable, and definitely kept me warm in the negative temperature in Hokkaido. My Winter Wear hat, scarf and gloves were also warm enough. I bought another Ultra Light Down Jacket from Uniqlo at S$99 and it was much needed in Tokyo when you don't want to look too bulky. We bought normal heattech inner wear top and bottom at S$10 each during the sale. For Hokkaido, we got the extra warm heattech top and bottom at S$24.90 each. Socks and heat packs were bought on Qoo10. Bringing good heat packs along is very important because your hands will be grateful for the warmth.

One of the most anticipated part of the trip was Disneyland and Disneysea. It is crazily popular and we decided to purchase our tickets beforehand. The two parks have different opening hours every day so do check their website to decide which days to visit. It is best to avoid the weekends. We got the Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea 2 Day Pass via Klook at a discounted rate. These two theme parks require you to have a printed out hardcopy of the tickets so please be prepared. I was glad that Klook got back to us with the E tickets in less than 2 working days, so we were able to print our documents before we leave SG.

Disney 2 Day Pass: S$163 per pax

Let's begin;

Our flight was with All Nippon Airways at 6.30am. I stayed over at my boyfriend's place because we had to wake up at 3am and then drive down to the airport. Thankfully, I managed to catch a wink despite all the excitement. We reached the airport at 4.30am and saw our tour leader, Lye Heng, who has been there since 3am! The check in was smooth and we got both our international and domestic flight boarding pass.
 

We collected the Wifi router nearby at Terminal 2. It comes with a pouch and the charging port. It can connect up to 5 devices and the battery last about 6 hours. During the trip, the device was smart enough to disconnect by itself to save battery when we were inactive for a certain period of time. As we were part of a tour, it was more convenient to get the Wifi in Singapore than to search for them in Japan. The device worked great throughout the trip except when the bus was on the move in Hokkaido.

We had a good Macdonald's breakfast with 1 hour of wait time. On the plane, some of the passengers were already armed with their inner wear, ready for Japan. After the plane departed for awhile, we were all given a bottle of water and wet tissue. Their breakfast menu was either this porridge meal or the pancakes meal. We both chose this option for a lighter and lower calorie meal. I wanted to keep my chocolates as my snacks but my bf finished it up. About 2 hours before we land, we were given the best tuna sandwich ever. The cold and flavourful kind of sandwich, we wished we had another serving. As a token of appreciation for their passengers in choosing ANA, they gave us some candy before we land.

We reached Narita Airport at about 2.30pm and met the tour group at the luggage collection belt. We immediately boarded a bus for a one hour ride transfer to Haneda Airport. While walking to the bus, the cool breeze was welcoming! With my grey sweater on, it was just right.

Baggage check in; 

At Haneda Airport, we checked in the baggage ourselves! Japan technology is awesome. You can choose your language and follow the instructions on screen to key in your flight details. Placing your luggage horizontally against the wall of the machine, the lights will turn green if done correctly and the weight will be captured. Our individual luggage was already about 20kg each before all the shopping. With that, a luggage tag will be printed out and you have to tag that to your luggage. Once all is done, the door will close and your luggage will be brought it. Generally, the weight limit for each baggage for domestic flight is 20kg. However, since our flight was linked to our international flight under the same airline, our limit is 23kg and we could each have 2 checked in baggage. 
 

Lunch & Dinner; Tenpura Monzaemon;

We were told to eat our dinner before we board the domestic flight. We did not even have lunch and I was starving! Tenpura Monzaemon is located on the second level before we checked in. They specialize in Soba dishes. Even their tea is probably made from buckwheat, because it taste like noodles. My bf thought it was barley at first. We ordered a beef cold soba (¥1134), duck warm soba (¥1058) and a half tempura bowl with rice (¥453). I would say, soba is still better when it is cold. The beef soba is also spicy, which is really appetizing. We were supposed to dip the noodles/beef into the raw egg, and then into the sauce before we eat it. The tempura bowl is well worth the money. The fried tempura is crispy and light, and taste like hashbrown! 

Our flight to Chitose Airport was at 7pm and we were inside waiting since 6pm. There was nothing much inside to look around. We reached Chitose 1 and half hour later and the difference in the coldness as I walked out of the plane through the connector is so obvious. The first thing I did after I went out of the airport was to try to "blow smoke" out of my mouth haha. 

Lights out; Emisia Hotel

We reached Emisia Hotel, Sapporo at 10 plus. Alighting the bus with only a long sleeve top and a grey thick sweater, the walk from the bus to the hotel already made me shiver within seconds. Before we head up for the night, we bought winter shoe spikes (¥1058) and face masks (¥150) at the shop downstairs. It isn't literally spikes, but just rubber soles attached to our shoes to prevent us from slipping on ice.

We had light snacks and cup noodles as our supper. Chan Brothers gave us a nice and cool dorayaki each to end the day. Most hotels we stayed in has Wifi within the room. All their toilets have bidget toilet bowl as well,  but it feels itchy when I use it >.<. 

GOODNIGHT!