Winter Holiday in Hokkaido (9) - Tomamu Hoshino Resort 星野リゾート トマム

6th January 2013

The last destination of my trip, the Tomamu Hoshino Resort (星野リゾート トマム). Most of my friends joined this trip for this place. I knew this place from another friend who went to Hokkaido just for this Hoshino Resort, she went to Sapporo on Saturday morning flight, stayed for the night and return to Tokyo on Sunday night.Well, one of the reasons we chose 6th January to go there because that day was Sunday and was the last day of the winter holiday, the price was cheaper! if my memory serves me correctly, the accommodation for the night costs around 14000 yen per person, we stayed in double room. However, I think 14000 yen is not so expensive, considering the sumptuous dinner and breakfast thrown in with the package.

Since no normal train was available, we used express train to go to Tomamu from Obihiro. Tamamu Station is a small unmanned station. So surprise when we got out of the train's car and the Hoshino Resort's staff was waiting there to greet us. Well, I think the only people who will stop at this station are Hoshino Resort's guests, or staffs. It is a very remote place. The resort pick up bus services coinciding with the JR train schedules. The weather was not so good, the cold wind and strong snow fall made me felt chilly the whole time.

Hoshino Resort is a ski resort during winter. There are many things to do other than skiing. I tried the banana boat (on snow though), snow motor, etc. I forgot what is the name of the activities. Two of my friends initially wanted to try fishing (dig a small hole on the layer of ice and fish), however they back off after knowing that before reaching the lake, have to hike for 3 hours. Another reminder though, remember to bring money for those activities, all the snow activities are not free of charge. The person in charge of all the activities would bring us to take photographs with the Tamamu Twin Tower for every snow activities. Haha, the proof we have been there.

snow activity

Winter Holiday in Hokkaido (8) - Obihiro 帯広

4th January 2013

After canceled the hotel in Asahikawa, we checked the hotel in Obihiro, there were still many empty rooms in Obihiro. We found out that Hotel Nikko ホテル・ニッコー still have a lot of empty rooms and the price was not expensive. Hotel Nikko is considered grand in Japanese standard. So, we decided to book the rooms in Hotel Nikko Obihiro. The accommodation settled, next transport. There are two ways to go to Obihiro, by express train and bus. Express train ticket costs 6510 yen, while bus ticket is around 3500 yen. By the time we checked the bus schedule, the next available bus would depart after 1 hour. Luckily, after inquiry, there were still empty seats available. So, we quickly left the hotel and went to the Odori Bus Center 大通バスセンター to board the bus to Obihiro. Plus all of us, the bus was full, so lucky, no one left behind. We reached the bus center just in time, so dangerous, almost miss the bus. We paid for the ticket on the spot.

By the time we reached Obihiro, the day have turned dark. It was very cold in Obihiro. Luckily, the Hotel Nikko is very near to the train station (the bus station is very near to the train station). (>_<!)

We checked into the hotel and I felt that the room was so comfy. Hahaha, although not very big in Malaysian standard, I had, well, for a long time, to save money, stayed in business hotel and dormitory style room while traveling. Seeing that room made me felt better. (Still kind of sad because had to miss the Asahikawa Zoo)

double room in Hotel Nikko Obihiro (they even had USB charger for iPhone)

Supermoon 23rd June 2013

When I send my brother to his friend's house, I noticed the moon is very round and big. Then, I remembered that the newspaper reported that on 22nd and 23rd June, the full moon is the closest and largest full moon of 2013. Luckily the haze condition is not so serious tonight and I could see the moon, it was kind of dreamy (I think it is aided by the haze too!). The only minus point is that the air is reeking of burnt smell from the haze. Ah, I miss the fresh air. I hope that heavy rain will come and wash away all the haze. Praying!

Closest and largest full moon of 2013 (taken using my phone, so blur and small!)

Innovative Way to Paint the Wall with Patterned Paint Roller

Although I don't buy stuff online, I like to visit the online retail shops. I love looking at the photos. I came across this cute thingy at eBay, I have to share it out, really nice, a patterned paint roller. Hahaha, who needs wall paper when this kind of tool is available! However, I will not do this kind of thing because painting is such a chore. I had other concern too though, the painter must have a very steady hand, he or she cannot have a shaky hand, or else the painted wall will become a disaster. For the normal paint roller without pattern, I could paint vertically or horizontally or in any directions that I like and the end result would not be too bad.

Another concern is what if I become tired with the pattern and want to change it. How to remove the paint? Or can I just repaint the wall with another colour? Will the wall surface become uneven? Wah, so complicated! My wall will be in green colour for as long as I can stand to it.

Ahhhhh, still it is very beautiful!! For those who loves DIY, this is a very good tool to own.

Patterned Paint Roller (photo from ebay)

Winter Holiday in Hokkaido (7) - Half Day in Sapporo City

4th January 2013

Woke up early to take train to Asahikawa 旭川. I have always wanted to see the penguin parade in Asahikawa Zoo. However, my dream was dashed due to the snow storm, all the trains and buses bound for Asahikawa were stopped due to the bad weather. Initially, the notice in the train station stated that by 12 pm, the train may resume running. So, we had to think of a way to pass the time. Some decided to go shopping (there are many shopping places around the Sapporo Station). Some decided to just go back to the hotel and rest in the lobby area.

Me and two other friends decided to go to Sapporo TV Tower, well, the underground shopping arcade is quite useful. Since we had no interest to walk outside the main road with slippery surface, occasional snowing and strong wind, we decided to use the underground shopping arcade to go to TV Tower. The underground shopping arcade is very extensive and long. If one wants to save 200 yen, one can walk from the subway station in Sapporo Station to the nearest station to Susukino (a place where one can find restaurants, karaoke and red light establishments). My friend told me that she went to a 'information centre' in Susukino to ask directions to a restaurant, then only she knew that the 'information centre' is the 'information centre' for the ''red light establishments''. So, friends, please don't simply go to a 'information centre' to ask for directions, it might be not what you think it is. Hahaha.

Traffic Light with Timer

One of the aspects that I don't like about the traffic light is I never know when it will turn red. Sometimes, from afar, I saw that it have been green for a while, so I slowed down, however, by the time I reached the traffic light, it was still green, that's still ok. The worst part was I accelerated and by the time I reached the traffic light, it turned red and I had to brake hard and face the danger of being hit from behind from another speeding car. I hate this!

traffic light with timer (located in an intersection in Banting)

So I like the traffic light with timer, at least I know when to decelerate and accelerate. The people who came out with this idea is very brilliant!

Winter Holiday in Hokkaido (6) - Snowboarding in Niseko ニセコ

3rd January of 2013

Snow board day!

I am very bad in snowboarding. However, that was my last winter holiday in Japan, so I went to Niseko to play snowboard! Niseko is one of the famous snowboarding place in Japan, even a Malaysian company, YTL Coroperation owned a resort  called Niseko Village in Niseko. Me and my friends chose not to stay in Niseko because all the accommodations there are very expensive! The Japanese word for Niseko is ニセコ, in Katagana form, weird, so I google search the origin of the name, oh, it came from the Ainu language, an indigenous language from Hokkaido.

Kutchan Station (倶知安 くっちゃん - cute name)

Say 'No' to Tobacco

31st May 2013 is World No Tobacco Day by WHO (World Health Organization). I really don't like smokers and I hate the second hand smoke. So, every time the prime minister announces the budget statement, I welcomed the increase of tax on cigarettes. However, many continue to smoke, don't understand at all!

In Japan, one of the things I don't like when having party with colleagues was that many of them smoke, so the whole room would reek of smokes. So difficult to breath. There is a campaign where 22nd for every months are "No Tobacco Day". 22nd is chosen because "22" looks like two swans, and swan sounds like  'suwan / スワン / 吸わん', which means smoking. The company that I worked for also tried to make the work place more inconvenient to smoke, previously, a designated smoking room was available inside the office building, however, now people have to go out of the building to smoke and the frequency also reduced. 

non smoking day (禁煙の日) - taken from http://blog.canpan.info/nobeokahc/archive/200 

Winter Holiday in Hokkaido (5) - Otaru One Day Trip

2nd January 2013

Otaru one day trip! Otaru 小樽 is famous for sushi and music box.

We took the normal train from Sapporo to Otaru. Since my visa was not the travel visa, I couldn't get the various discounts aimed for tourists. For every tickets, I had to pay full amount. The most expensive expense in this trip was the transport! Transport expenses alone cost more than half of my budget for this trip.

The train ride from Sapporo and Otaru was kinda enjoyable. Not many people were taking the train that day and we got seats. On the way to Otaru, the train passed by seasides and I could see people surfing. Oh my god! I felt cold for them. However, my friend told me that the surfers were wearing special suits that can retain heat inside their body.

around Otaru Station