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.
We reached Otaru and our destination was the canal (we nicknamed it as the big longkang!). On the way to the canal, we passed by a small igloo, so cute! There was a small stool inside the igloo, a bus stop, hahaha! I wondered how the builder built it. However, I felt warmer inside the igloo, wow, snow is a good insulator!
We passed by the signboard for the now defunct Temiya line 旧手宮線. As a tourist, we snapped photos. The digital camera has really revolutionized the way we take photo. My hard disk is full of photos.
Since Otaru is famous for sushi, we planned to eat sushi for brunch, however, the restaurant mentioned in the guide book was closed. So, we had to find for another restaurant. Almost all the restaurant has the same price tag. So, we just chose one and entered. Well, I am not a connoisseur of food, I couldn't taste the differences between the 'sushi' and the 105 yen sushi. To my taste buds, it is raw fish!
After sushi, we walked to the canal and took photos. Hahaha, tourists (we included) queued up there to take the main view of the canal. Frankly, it looks nicer during winter with the whitish snow. My friend went there during summer and the canal just looks like a normal big 'longkang' (drain). Some even asked her why she used a big drain as background for photo.
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.
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around Otaru Station
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igloo
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signboard for the now defunct Temiya line 旧手宮線
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sushi in Otaru (小樽の寿司)
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the restaurant mentioned in guide book (famous for sushi)
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Canal in Otaru
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a bird quietly resting on the wall
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Canal in Otaru
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Then, walked around the canal, there are a lot of western style buildings here in Otaru. After that, time for shopping! There are a lot of souvenir shops that sell music boxes, well, basically, two rows of shops are dedicated to tourism. I was so tempted by the music boxes, I bought five music boxes finally after much thought! The only problem with this was that all the music boxes were so heavy, I had to carry it everywhere, so tired!
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| inside a music box shop, so dreamy! |
Oh, before I forget, one can get a form from the music box shop, if one managed to get all the stamps from seven shops, can get free gift! The love shaped and snow flakes phone accessories were free gift! The free gift is not so expensive, but it will attract people to tour all the seven music box shops. Hahaha!
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| free gift |
Below photos showed the views around the canal. So beautiful with all the winter themed decorations! We spent a whole day here! There is a very special cafe where it uses oil lamp for illumination. I just entered and left after admiring the view, I felt uncomfortable with the smell. However, my friends loved the atmosphere, they even had afternoon tea there.
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| around canal |
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| around the souvenir shops |
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| around the souvenir shops |
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| Otaru canal (night) |
I noticed something interesting too, to prevent skidding, the local government provided crushed scallop shells in the bins scattered along the road. First, I thought that it was a rubbish bin! I thought, "How nice, provide so many rubbish bins along the road!" It is very difficult to find rubbish bin in Japan. Hahaha, I was wrong! It was just a place for people to take the crushed shells and littered on the road to reduce slippery!
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| anti skid material (scallop shell) |
Night time, dinner time. From a blog, we found out that Otaru is famous for a chicken dish too. So, we planned to have that. However, my friend's friend said that he never heard of that, so he asked around, even the souvenir shops salespersons didn't know about this. Anyway, we just followed Google maps and it brought us to a restaurant named Naruto. Well, the restaurant is famous for fried chicken. I think that it is quite crunchy, however, the portion is too big. I almost couldn't finish it. Plus, I think that although it is quite tasty, it is not so special, well, at least in Malaysia, we can get this kind of fried chicken easily.
After dinner, we took the train to go back to Sapporo. Only now that we realized that we forgot to buy the tickets for snow boarding in Niseko the next day. So, directly after reach Sapporo Station, one of my friend went to the counter to buy the day pass for JR (return) + lift + snowboard + snowboard boots. I forgot what is the name for this package, but this is one of the cheapest package around. There are other packages like bus (return) + lift, it is cheaper, but the time to snowboard is shorter.
The end for 2nd January 2013.
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| Naruto's friend chicken in Otaru |
The end for 2nd January 2013.
this is the link for Otaru's attraction.
Day 3: Chocolate Factory of Shiroi Koibito (Sapporo)
Day 4: New Year in Sapporo
Day 5: Otaru One Day Trip
Day 6: Snowboarding in Niseko
Day 7: Half day in Sapporo City
Day 7 & 8: Obihiro
Day 9 & 10: Tomamu Hoshino Resort
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