Last time, we left off with me stating that even after the utter failure of my first attempt at getting to Hokkaido, I was determined not to take the loss without another fight. A week or so later, I was rebooked, but this time, to Sapporo’s main airport, New Chitose. Further away than Okadama? Yes. But at least this time I knew I would arrive in Sapporo.

I would like to say that I had gotten out all of the bumps from the last trip, but that would be incorrect.

The first hitch came when we had already boarded the plane and were waiting to taxi. An announcement came on, but I figured it was just your standard “welcome aboard” speech, so I ignored it and instead listened to my music. A while had passed (I don’t remember exactly how long), and we still hadn’t moved. I just chalked it up to other planes leaving late. At the one-hour mark, another announcement came on. When it finished, I noticed that people began getting up and taking their bags. I didn’t need a translation to tell me that we weren’t flying out. I later found out that it was for some maintenance issue.

The second hitch came while waiting for the new flight. I received a message that was sent from the tour company I was using (GetYourGuide) about the first day trip that was scheduled for the next day. The massage said that the trip would need to be rescheduled or canceled because the transportation vehicle was in a collision! This was now two strikes against me. I hadn’t even left the airport yet! Apparently, Hokkaido knew I was coming and decided that it wasn’t finished messing with me. I didn’t have time to reschedule this day trip since the rest of my trip was already scheduled. I quickly searched for another day trip. I finally found one that listed Showa Shinzan, Lake Toya, and Noboribetsu. “Good enough for me,” I thought, so I booked it. An hour later, when it was time to board the new flight, passengers were handed an envelope with a 1,000 Yen bill inside as compensation. At the time of writing this, that amounted to roughly $6.40.

After I arrived and took the airport train into Sapporo, I looked on Google Maps and realized that my hotel wasn’t as close to the subway station as I thought. I still had to take the subway one stop, then walk through an underground shopping area and find the correct exit. Then, continue walking through the streets. Even before I found the hotel, I knew this could be a problem when it came time to arrive at the meeting points for the day trips.

The place I stayed at is called The Lamp Light Books Hotel. The hotel had a bookstore/library theme in the lobby, as well as a counter to order drinks and cafe items. I read online that you must order something to be able to sit there.

When I finally arrived at the hotel, I noticed that all around were food places that looked like they only operated in Japanese. Normally, this isn’t as big a surprise in Japan, but I did find it intimidating since this was supposedly one of the more touristy cities in Japan (but still not to the degree that Tokyo or Osaka are). I know that by now I shouldn’t feel so intimidated, but if you’ve been in Japan for a while then you can feel the difference in English availability here compared to other big, international cities. This intimidation led me to my first order from Uber Eats. Yes, this happened. Many times, in fact. However, I will say that at least I ordered one of the local dishes that Sapporo is known for, which is their curry soup. It’s rather simple-looking but delicious. I would go on to order this at least two more times during this trip.

Day Trip 1

The day started off rather rough with breakfast. This hotel only offers four variations of the same meal for breakfast. It’s a thick slice of milk bread topped with different items. During check-in, the one that I chose for each day was the same one: bread topped with marinara sauce, soft-boiled eggs, sausage, and some cheese. I knew it was the hotel’s “specialty” item. I didn’t know that it was their only breakfast item. My mistake. I only ate a few bites before the overly sweet pasta sauce turned me off completely. They also serve regular cafe-type food, but I wasn’t sure if that was even available that early, nor did I have much time to find out. I made a note to use Uber for breakfast for the rest of the week.

I made sure to arrive a bit early to the meeting point by taking an Uber (I wasn’t about to risk missing the tour bus because of a long, early morning walk). Instead of the guide being where the company said to meet, she was further away toward the street. She had some papers in her hand and had people coming up to her to confirm if they were supposed to be on that bus. After a few minutes of seeing this, I finally wandered over to see if that’s what I should do. I spotted my name on her sheet, so she told me to get on the smaller bus. Once everyone was on board, she introduced herself and briefly went over the itinerary. She was Chinese, and after listening to her speak for a bit, I could tell she was from Mainland China. Her descriptions, the way she spoke, and the way she avoided answering one of the guest’s questions about the seating capacity instantly reminded me of my years there. If I’m being honest, it wasn’t a pleasant reminder.

The first stop was to a place called The Hill of the Buddha at Makomanai Takino Cemetery. The weather was cloudy with some light drizzle. Part of what interested me in this place (since my original day trip was cancelled) was the part about being able to see the Buddha statue’s head peering up from the enclosure within the hill. After arriving, I saw that there was no way to actually get close to the statue from outside of it. You can only see it from the entrance before the hill.

The statue itself was interesting, as there are meditation instruments surrounding it if you want a more atmospheric feel.

When I was finished, I wandered past the parking lot to see if there was anything else worth seeing. All I saw were numerous mock famous landmarks, such as Stonehenge, and the Moai statues from Easter Island. This all felt a bit cheap, and I was already wondering if I should have chosen a different day trip. The trip description listed this site as “rolling hills of lavender. ” I can assure you that these hills were not rolling with much of anything (certainly not lavender). The light drizzle also didn’t help the situation.

The second stop ended up being more disappointing than the first, which was the Jozankei Onsen. The guide walked us over to a bridge and said that we could take photos. I didn’t see anything that felt photo-worthy, so I just looked around and then followed her back toward the entrance area. I sat around waiting for others to finish their stroll around the riverbed. Some people opted to walk up to go where you can dip your feet into the hot spring water. I genuinely felt like this site could have been skipped altogether.

The next spot was the “Sapphire Beauty of Lake Toya.” While I wouldn’t use the word “sapphire” per se, it was a pleasant shade of blue.

What wasn’t pleasant were all of the other tourists there. While it wasn’t too chaotic, I wasn’t thrilled with seeing a group of Korean women filming themselves doing a hokey dance in front of the lake that was surely going to be posted on social media.

While inside, I did come across a rather peculiar product.

While on our lunch break, I walked around and came across an odd-looking 7/11. I wasn’t sure what it was until I looked back at the sign itself. I then noticed that the colors associated with 7/11 were missing. Instead, it was just black and white! It looked so bizarre. Almost unsettling.

The next location was Showa Shinzan, Japan’s youngest active volcano. This place was a bit more satisfying, especially since this was the one place where the sky cleared up, at least for a bit.

The last stop of the day was to Noboribetsu, a “post-eruption volcanic terrain.” I had wanted to visit here for some time. However, after another hour-plus ride there and more rain, I was once again disappointed at what was actually there.

The photos I have seen of it made it seem like there was more to this place. It was not that long of a walk from the parking lot to here, but that’s the only positive thing I can say. Maybe if I hadn’t already seen this same kind of site (an even bigger one) in Hakone, then I might have considered it to be more interesting. This was not how I wanted to end this very long day.

By the time we finally got back, it was already past 7:00pm. Feeling tired and not at all in the mood to try to trek back to my hotel, I ordered an Uber, as well as ordered in more soup.

Day Trip 2

This morning, I was up early enough to see what kinds of breakfast options I might be able to get. I settled on ordering from a Taiwanese place that offered “dan bing,” which is a simple crepe-like dough with eggs and a few other options wrapped together. I ordered two, one with bacon and another that had a hash brown inside. It was much better than the stuff served at the hotel. I also ordered milk tea and coffee for the next several days since the room had a small refridgerator.

The itinerary for the day had more famous sites which the surrounding area is known for. These included Biei Blue Pond, Furano, and Shirahige Falls. The day started off with much nicer weather (at least, while in Sapporo) as well as the meeting point being at Odori Station instead of at Sapporo Station. I took a chance and walked there. Luckily, I got there in plenty of time. The tour guide was a local man with long hair in dread locks. He spoke English well, and during the tour he told us that he had gone to art school somewhere in the northwestern area of the US (maybe it was Oregon?). The way he presented himself then made total sense.

The drive was long, but it already felt different than the day before. At the first rest stop, I was the first to head out to wait, and we chatted for a bit. He talked about one of the later stops at a dairy farm where they serve raw milk products, and I looked forward to it.

The first stop was called “Mild Seven Tree.” It was just some hills with a few groups of trees bunched together. When we first pulled up, I wasn’t sure what I thought of it, but eventually I decided to take some photos. I wasn’t thrilled with there being more clouds, but at least that day they added some texture and mood to the sky.

After this was our lunch stop. We were told of a few different restaurants to try, but as I walked along to check them out, I saw that they were either already full or that they were closed. Luckily, I had decided to bring along a dan bing and a snack from the 7/11 where I bought my fruit. I then went into a nearby 7/11 (or maybe it was Family Mart) to get a chocolate drink to wash it all down.

After lunch it was time to head to the Biei Pasture Farm. We walked up a small hill for a chance to take some photos.

However, the timing wasn’t enough for me to take photos and wait in line to get a dairy product. This really irritated me, and it was the first moment of this day where I felt that way. I was really looking forward to trying some raw milk products. Oh well. Then, it was back on the bus to the next location.

The next place was one of the more famous areas called Shikisai no Oka. This is where they have rolling hills sprawling with patches of different colored flowers. While I liked taking photos here, I once again felt rushed. So, I got what I could.

The next place was Shirogane Blue Pond. This is also known as Biei Blue Pond, the other most iconic site outside of Sapporo. Our guide told us to follow him to an area that most tourists don’t go to, but as we got there, I could see that there were some tourists who indeed bothered to find it.

The final stop was Shirahige Falls. We didn’t spend much time here, but by that point in the day I was perfectly fine with it being quick. It had started to rain a bit more, and we had to walk along a winding path to the bridge to see the falls. I thought the falls might be bigger. I also thought we would be closer to them. But the rain was coming down, so I didn’t have time to mull it over.

It was another long ride back to Sapporo, but at least this time I felt that today was much better than the previous day. When I arrived at the hotel, I decided to try a different dinner item from Uber Eats. It was a noodle soup dish. It was OK, but I much preferred the curry soup.

Day Trip 3

Originally, I was scheduled to do a half-day hike and finish with a dip in a hot spring. However, I anticipated that I might be too tired for hiking, so I cancelled the morning before. Instead, I just used it as a rest day. I don’t regret doing this at all. That evening, I was back to ordering more curry soup.

I did manage to venture out a bit and walk through the connecting covered plaza walkways which eventually led to mine. Each one had different celebratory decorations throughout them.

This was the only “entertainment” that I was up for that evening. That, and making another trip to the 7/11 for more fruit.

Day Trip 4

The final day trip started similarly to the second day, with the weather being sunny and windy but still warm. The meeting place was also the same as before, but I decided to get an Uber anyway since the start time was earlier.

The itinerary included the Shakotan Coast on a glass boat tour, lunch, the Shimamui Coast, Cape Kamui, and Otaru Canal.

I thought the glass boat tour would be interesting, but it ended up being a very short trip along the coast and back. Most of the coastal scenery was just OK.

The glass bottom portion of the tour was also short and quite boring. The glass allows you to see many gray rocks and maybe some urchin-like critters attached to them. I was quite annoyed until we were taken back up to the deck. I then heard and saw seagulls flocking around the area. One of the guests decided to try to feed them. This immediately sent the whole group of gulls into a tizzy, and they began flying next to the boat to get some snacks.

Next was lunch at a sushi restaurant. We were told that we might need to sit with other guests if the place was busy, but when we arrived, they were just opening up for business.

Since I have lived in Japan for four years (at the time of writing this), I wasn’t very excited to eat sushi, so I opted for another dish. I think it was a fried pork chop served over rice with eggs and sweet onions on top.

After lunch, we headed to Shimamui Coast. I did take a few photos, but this site wasn’t so impressive.

The next stop, however, was the main attraction. Another iconic site in Sapporo is Cape Kamui jutting into the ocean. The guide told us that it might take 20-30 minutes to reach the tip, but I and some others from the tour made it there in less time (becoming quite sweaty along the way).

The final stop of the day was to a town called Otaru. One of the main attractions there is the canal. A coworker told me that when she visited here in wintertime, it looked “dreamy.” However, when I saw it, “dreamy” was not the adjective that came to mind. Instead, it was more like, “Really?” It wasn’t terrible looking; it just wasn’t anything that I would drive a long way to see. The guide asked if anyone wanted to see some of the other sites, including an abandoned railroad track that shut down in the 1980s. I decided to follow him and see it, but once again, it was nothing more than a regular train track that looks just like every other train track. He even joked and asked, “So, was it everything you hoped for?” At least he understood.

When I arrived back at the hotel, I decided to once again have soup curry as my last dinner there.

After dinner, I thought I heard loud noises outside. I couldn’t tell what they were, so I went outside to see. I soon realized that they were fireworks, but I couldn’t see them. I looked up online to see if there was some kind of event going on, and sure enough, they did mention a fireworks show that evening. I started walking and decided that maybe I should get an Uber there, but as I thought about it more, I decided not to since the show was already half over. By the time I would have arrived, most of the show would be over anyway. Oh well.

Overall, if someone were to ask me if going to Hokkaido (my trip, specifically) was worth it, I guess I would have to say, “Yes, but it was quite mixed.” In the previous post I thought that Hokkaido had fought against me and had clearly won. This time, I would say it was a draw, but not by much. I did manage to get some nice photos, which is always a goal of mine. At least now I can say that I finally made it to Hokkaido and don’t have to think about it again. While there might be a few sites worth seeing, I very much doubt that I will go out of my way to return there.

What about you? Does Hokkaido seem like a place you would like to visit?

Oh, and for the record, Hokkaido decided to give me one final “poke.” One day, after work, I was playing Wordle on my laptop. I noticed one of the words in the grid looked familiar. I had to do a second take because I couldn’t believe that Wordle had used it. It couldn’t have been random or a coincidence. How else do you explain this? I took a photo of it as proof.