This is the story of how the husband and I almost missed our flight to Milan:

Our flight was departing at 1am on a Saturday, and having spent a whole day at work on Friday, I was totally tired out and simply wanted to sleep. After reaching the airport, checking in and having supper, we saw that there were free moving screenings at the theatre in Terminal 3, and while the husband was watching the show, I was happily napping while waiting to board our flight.

I remember that we’re supposed to head to the gate for boarding in advance, and for previous flights I’ve taken, I’ve spent quite some time at the boarding gate waiting to board the plane. But the husband said something about only needing to be there about 15min in advance, and since I was extremely tired that day, I didn’t double check the time and just went to sleep.

As the departure time of our flight neared, we slowly headed towards the boarding gate, and on our way there, we received 2 calls from an unknown number. Now the husband usually doesn’t pick up called from unknown numbers, but somehow he decided to pick up the second call, and it turns out that it was from the airport staff, asking where we were, since everyone else had already boarded the plane. Thankfully we were already close to the boarding gate by then, and we hurried over, cleared the security check and brisk-walked all the way to the plane. I’m never late for things like this, and I reckon we wouldn’t have been that late if (1) I wasn’t so tired and remembered to check when we had to be at the boarding gate, (2) We weren’t in the theatre but rather somewhere else where we could see the screens indicating which gates were ready for boarding. But most thankfully we made the flight, and we didn’t have to wait to clear the security check or to board the plane.

I’ve heard of cases where people have missed (or nearly missed) their flight, and I never thought that something like this would happen to me. We reached the boarding gate very early on our return flight, and never again will I be late to the boarding gate! Nearly missing the flight once is more than enough…

It’s been more than half a week since I returned from Japan. I’m now physically back in Singapore, but I feel as though part of my heart has been left behind in Hokkaido.

The streets of Asahikawa

12 people from 4 different families (including mine) went on the trip this time. Planning had started close to a year ago, and after we had come up with a rough itenary, we mailed it to various travel agencies to see which one could provide such a tour for us, and at a competitive price. Because of that, you can say that we got the best of both worlds – having a guide and bus to bring us around the place like joining a normal tour group, while getting to choose the places you want to visit and having the group full of people you know, like when visiting a country on your own. I’m not sure when’s the next time I’ll get to go on a trip like this, so I treasured the moments I had in Hokkaido.

This trip was mainly a sightseeing one. I had hoped that we would get to do some shopping, but when we were in the bigger cities, our itenary was pretty packed, and the shops were closed by the time we had free time to go shopping (it doesn’t help that the shops there close pretty early as well). And when we had more free time at Hakodate, there weren’t much malls or shops for us to visit. I don’t mind sightseeing though. I enjoyed taking in all the different views, and being around nature, which we honestly don’t get much of in Singapore. It’s refreshing to see farms, mountains, and other greenery as you’re driving along the roads, and not buildings followed by more buildings. I was able to really relax during the trip; something I haven’t really had the chance to do lately.

It was summer when we were there, and so the weather was warm. Certainly not as warm as Singapore though, and the low humidity makes the weather an even more comfortable one. It’s colder once the sun sets though, so a light jacket helps. It’s also noticeable colder in Hakodate than Sapporo and Asahikawa (due to their locations), especially at night, when I felt the cold through my jacket while taking a walk to the convenience store. The sun also rises very early as well; at about 4am. We had to remember to draw the curtains before sleeping, so that we wouldn’t wake up once the sun rises. I much prefer this to winter, when the sun rises late and sets early. More light is always better!

Lots of farms in the countryside.

Having seen a small part of Japan through this trip makes me want to visit even more places in this country. I really appreciate how clean and safe it is there. You can really walk around at ease without having to constantly check if your valuables are still with you. I love how the vending machines are pretty much everywhere – it’s so convenient when you need to get a drink; no worries as to whether you’ll have enough water to get you through the day, since you’ll be sure to find a vending machine somewhere.

Language-wise, it wasn’t much of a problem since our guide could speak Japanese, and I had enough knowledge of the language to understand simple sentences and signs that we saw along the way. At some places, the shop assistants could speak Mandarin as well, so there was no problem communicating with them. And when language fails, sign language has always worked. You don’t have to understand Japanese to be able to get around Japan, but some knowlege of the language always helps, especially if you’re out of the touristy areas, since some of these places might not have signs in English.

Japan… I’d certainly be back again someday. I still have some photos I’d love to show, and some other things I’d love to write about. Perhaps I’ll touch on these things if I have the time. For now, it’s time to get out of holiday mode, since work starts again tomorrow.

Day 6: 14 Jun (Mon)
Hakodate 函館

Hakodate Morning Market / 函館朝市

The morning market is open daily from 5am (6am in winter) everyday, and there are many fresh seafood and other produce on sale. For vacuum-packed food, such as squids and scallops, different stalls may carry different brands, or they might carry the same item but price them differently. Sometimes this difference in pricing is due to a different in weight, so it would be good to take a look around and check the details before committing to a purchase. There are also restaurants and other eateries within the area, making it really convenient to have a meal there after shopping at the market.

There is also a stall which allows you to fish for squid within one of the buildings, and after catching the squid, someone will cut it up into sashimi for you. The ink has been removed from the squids, so they will only squirt water at you when you fish them up. Uncle Wan Huo fished for a squid, and those who ate it said that it was tougher than they had expected, and that it didn’t have much of a taste to it. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it though, since it’s tenticles were still moving despite being cut up.

Anyway, there was a point where a few of us were sitting at this table and those who wanted to eat the squid were enjoying (?) their meal. And then at the fishing area, someone caught a squid, and this one squirted water everywhere! It managed to squirt water really far, and so despite being some distance away from the fishing area, everyone at the table got wet. Thankfully it didn’t have any ink left to squirt, and it wasn’t like we got totally drenched. Interesting experience though.

Access Information:
9-9, Wakamatsu-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido
From JR Hakodate station: 2 mins on foot

Day 5: 13 Jun (Sun)
Hakodate 函館

Hakodate would be the city that we would stay in till the end of our trip, and our visit of the place started on Sunday. Hakodate is the 3rd largest city in Hokkaido (after Sapporo and Asahikawa), but its population is significantly lesser than the first 2 cities. To be honest, I was quite surprised when we first stepped into Hakodate the day before, because it looked quite different from what I had expected, after having visited Sapporo and Asahikawa.

Something interesting about the city: A Merlion Park exists in the city, and true to its name, there are 3 merlions there, with 1 of them being just like the one we have in Marina Bay, sprouting water and all. The park was set up by the late Masaru Yanagisawa, who admired Singapore so much that he brought our icons with him to Japan. He also has a trishaw in the lobby of his hotel, offered Singapore Slings at its bar, and named the souvenir shop Sentosa.

Day 4: 12 Jun (Sat)
Sapporo 札幌 – Otaru 小樽 – Hakodate 函館

Odori Park / 大通公園

We didn’t manage to visit Odori Park before the lights were switched off the night before, so we visited it the next morning instead. Odori park is located in the heart of Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture. Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido, and the fifth-largest city in Japan by population.

Odori Park stretches east to west over 12 blocks, and divides the city into north and south sections. At the eastern end of Odori Park stands the TV Tower. We only visited the first few blocks of the park, at the end where the TV Tower was. There was a dance festival starting soon, and we saw a couple of dance groups practicing. It might be the Yosakoi Soran Festival, which is held in Odori Park every June, but I’m really not sure.

Access Information:
From JR Sapporo Station: 5 to 10 mins by foot