Breakfast; Mombetsu Prince Hotel
Today, we accidentally sat at the table where a Japanese lady was already sitting o.o. We only realized that when she came back from taking her food. Must always check the table for the breakfast card to know whether someone is in the process or is already done with their meal. The staff also uses this method to determine whether they can clean up the table for the next customers (see example below; dinner).
The breakfast selection for the day is limited. But there are more Chinese food like the fried beehoon and spring roll.
Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum
Our first destination was to the seaside and the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum. We get to experience -20 degrees celsius in the low temperature simulation room. Wrapped in our own winter wear, we went in the room, each holding a wet cloth given by the staff. Not long later, the cloth got frozen in the low temperature! The wax polar bear behind us is so cute.
One of their staff was demonstrating what frozen bubbles look like. The bubbles appear to be like usual at first, but it doesn't burst when it reaches the ground because it got frozen. The texture looks like dried glue on the floor. We also saw the different sea creatures frozen in ice packs. One of them shows the dissected inner anatomy of the fish. The most beautiful ones are the frozen flowers.
It was only about 5 to 10 minutes in that room before I felt too cold to continue inside. So glad to have a hot cup of tea waiting outside after we leave the room :D. We get to see more of the sea angels that we also saw in the chocolate factory. There is also an activity table for people to learn the origami of sea creatures and some puzzle boards.
Okhotsk Seal Conservation Centre
A short drive and we were at the Okhotsk Seal Conservation Centre to see the cute seals! The centre's role is to rescue the seals that are injured in the sea due to various reasons. One of them was hit in one eye by the ice glacier and lost its sight on that eye. Some of them were "injured" internally and suffering from depression 😯. As a result, the rescued seals are all very timid and we had to be very gentle with them.
They understood Japanese instructions so well and knew when exactly they would get to eat their favourite, Hokke fish. The feel of their skin is damp but you can see the tiny strands of hair if you stroke the other way. When we were leaving, they were instructed to say goodbye and one of them was so enthusiastic with the waving of its flippers.
Okhotsk Tower
I was quite excited to go to the Okhotsk Tower because you get to see the wildlife under the sea. The first time that I have heard of an underground observatory. The road to the actual tower is long, so we hopped onto the mini buses that were prepared for us.
We reached the observatory area and went to the underground first. Even their restroom features the sea angels! At the underground observatory, you actually cannot see much in the murky water filled with algae and sea organisms. Some were growing on the glass itself. I did see a large group of shrimp looking organisms moving with the waves of the sea water though.
Other than the outside, it is also an aquarium on the inside, featuring the stonefish, octopus, crabs and etc. The octopus, sleeping curled up in the corner, was hidden so well we took some time to spot it.
Then we went to the top observatory and it was an awesome view there. Not sure what went wrong with me that I took a slanted picture of him. Maybe some sea motion sickness? ;)
Lunch; Seafood Grill
Throughout the whole Hokkaido trip, this was the only restaurant that required us to take off our footwear (but it's not tatami seating). We placed them in a wooden locker and took out the wooden piece to lock it. We were to locate our shoes by the symbol on our wooden piece. It recognizes the "key" by the wood carvings at the back, pretty cool.
The waiter introduced himself to us and started giving an explanation on the food, how we should go about grilling the food and what sauces to eat with. We were here to try the Hokke fish that the seals love! It is very tender and oishii. We were supposed to eat the fish with the marinated radish and soy sauce but I didn't realized the radish is spicy. First experience! The rice was served as onigiri, one with soy sauce and one with salmon bits.
After lunch, the staff provided us with the fabric deodorant spray to get rid of the BBQ smell. Not very effective because we were still smelly lol. But from then on, we were actively using the sprays provided in the hotels. Almost all of the hotels in Japan provide this anti bacterial fabric spray and it was great for our jackets since we have to re-wear them.
We walked around the supermarket beside and bought some Kombu (Kelp, seaweed) as instructed by my bf's mother. Returning to the bus, I was trying to show that my hair is flying everywhere, but the picture does not show it. There is so much static in winter due to the dry air, even taking off our jackets produced the "zz zzz zzz" sound.
Abashiri Prison Museum
Our next place of interest was the Abashiri Prison Museum where we get to see what the prisoners experienced inside. It was originally the prison itself and has now reconstructed to become a museum. At the outdoors, there are small areas built for sleeping for the prisoners who were tasked to provide farming labour. Life-like wax figures of soldiers and prisoners were built inside.
We went to a wooden house where the prisoner cells were and it was chilly since wood does not protect from the cold. There was an acrid smell of "old wood". If I have recalled correctly, wood is the chosen material for the house as it is less susceptible to earthquakes.
Dinner; Shiretoko Grand Hotel Kitakobushi
Shiretoko Grand Hotel Kitakobushi is the best hotel by comparison to the others. The lobby is huge! There is a big lounge area with sofa seats for guest to chill as well. There is even a play area for adults as well as kids, and also party rooms! Too bad we cannot sing in Japanese or even figure out the karaoke machine for that matter. Their welcome drink section was also rather elaborate with a good variety of drink options, inclusive of seaweed soup. My personal favourite that day was the cold milk coffee! We wore our yukata to dinner for the first time, and almost everyone in our tour group did.
I ate the most for dinner buffet at this hotel (2 hours of eating!). It provided such a wide variety I had to try a little of everything. The ebiko cream spaghetti and banana bacon pizza were the best two. Never knew that the banana bacon combo could be so addictive. What we will always remember the hotel buffet by is definitely the variety of ice cream, probably 10 flavours altogether for us to devour into. The more unique ones include sesame, pumpkin and soda pop flavour, which sizzles in your mouth alike the carbonated drink. The dessert is so good, I had to stop myself before I got too full!
After our filling dinner, we walked around taking pictures. It was snowing, so I decided to walk out and play!
Back to the room, I realized that the hotel didn't provide me with a small towel. We each had a basket bag to put our belongings and towels to bring to the onsen. We requested for the towel at the concierge and the staff was extremely apologetic and got me one immediately. It was just a very small mistake but he kept saying sorry sincerely.
Footspa;
Before we head to the onsen, we went to experience the footspa in the cold outdoors. A rack of thick towel capes was left beside the entrance so we wrapped one around ourselves. We left our basket and slippers indoor and stepped outside to find the ground so freezing cold! Of course it would be. I don't think I prepared myself for that.
There were seat cushions and towels placed under a sheltered area. I didn't realized that so I was already by the footspa, seeing a pile of snow on the seats and thinking how was I to sit on it. My bf took the towel and cushion for me. It was also difficult to sit on the cushion because it was slipping off due to the snow beneath. I cannot remember what the towel was for, whether it was for our head to shield from the falling snow or for us to sit on the cushion with.
By this time, we were shivering a little in the frosty air. I placed my feet into the hot footspa water and felt a surge of warmth travel up my legs. However, the body remained cold in the chilly weather. We sat there for a couple of minutes before I walked quickly back into the warm comfortable room. It was such a fun experience as a couple really. One of the most memorable ones in this trip.
Onsen;
I thought that such an atas hotel might provide lockers in our onsen so I brought my phone along, and hence, took some pictures inside. This is possibly the only hotel which provided us with two room keys, so we can each have one. At the entrance, there were clips for our slippers and it comes into cute pictures rather than numbers.
I was really thankful that it was snowing that day because it was the only time we had a true outdoor onsen. Generally, other hotels' outdoor onsens are open but sheltered. You get to feel the cold breeze but nothing falls on you. This one is totally in the open and snow was falling on us while we were soaking in the hot onsen! This is the real experience of half the body feeling the cool air while half the body submerging in warmth. I was with 3 other groups of women in my tour group and we were having so much fun building snow man and putting on snow mask. At the last part, one of them threw a pile of snow up the air above me. The feeling when the snow falls onto the bare skin makes me feel so contented and so blessed!
Dinner; Shiretoko Grand Hotel Kitakobushi
Shiretoko Grand Hotel Kitakobushi is the best hotel by comparison to the others. The lobby is huge! There is a big lounge area with sofa seats for guest to chill as well. There is even a play area for adults as well as kids, and also party rooms! Too bad we cannot sing in Japanese or even figure out the karaoke machine for that matter. Their welcome drink section was also rather elaborate with a good variety of drink options, inclusive of seaweed soup. My personal favourite that day was the cold milk coffee! We wore our yukata to dinner for the first time, and almost everyone in our tour group did.
I ate the most for dinner buffet at this hotel (2 hours of eating!). It provided such a wide variety I had to try a little of everything. The ebiko cream spaghetti and banana bacon pizza were the best two. Never knew that the banana bacon combo could be so addictive. What we will always remember the hotel buffet by is definitely the variety of ice cream, probably 10 flavours altogether for us to devour into. The more unique ones include sesame, pumpkin and soda pop flavour, which sizzles in your mouth alike the carbonated drink. The dessert is so good, I had to stop myself before I got too full!
After our filling dinner, we walked around taking pictures. It was snowing, so I decided to walk out and play!
Back to the room, I realized that the hotel didn't provide me with a small towel. We each had a basket bag to put our belongings and towels to bring to the onsen. We requested for the towel at the concierge and the staff was extremely apologetic and got me one immediately. It was just a very small mistake but he kept saying sorry sincerely.
Footspa;
Before we head to the onsen, we went to experience the footspa in the cold outdoors. A rack of thick towel capes was left beside the entrance so we wrapped one around ourselves. We left our basket and slippers indoor and stepped outside to find the ground so freezing cold! Of course it would be. I don't think I prepared myself for that.
There were seat cushions and towels placed under a sheltered area. I didn't realized that so I was already by the footspa, seeing a pile of snow on the seats and thinking how was I to sit on it. My bf took the towel and cushion for me. It was also difficult to sit on the cushion because it was slipping off due to the snow beneath. I cannot remember what the towel was for, whether it was for our head to shield from the falling snow or for us to sit on the cushion with.
By this time, we were shivering a little in the frosty air. I placed my feet into the hot footspa water and felt a surge of warmth travel up my legs. However, the body remained cold in the chilly weather. We sat there for a couple of minutes before I walked quickly back into the warm comfortable room. It was such a fun experience as a couple really. One of the most memorable ones in this trip.
Onsen;
I thought that such an atas hotel might provide lockers in our onsen so I brought my phone along, and hence, took some pictures inside. This is possibly the only hotel which provided us with two room keys, so we can each have one. At the entrance, there were clips for our slippers and it comes into cute pictures rather than numbers.
ONSEN UNDER THE FALLING SNOW <3
This is the best hotel experience in Hokkaido!
No comments:
Post a Comment