I spent Christmas with Santa: SIN-NGO-CTS-ITM/KIX-SIN

[9V-SIA]

Day 2: Hotel By Day

I see your stalker again

This is my favourite picture of the whole trip!

TG & SQ should just combine flight ops. Wherever he goes, me too!

The next morning..

We were greeted by this scene as we took a dip in our private onsen before breakfast.

It had snowed overnight!!

It really was quite magical sitting there with the snow falling around you..



Outside in the hotel car park... zero snow when we checked in



The wind blew the snow everywhere.. Which also meant I couldn't go outside to take pics to protect my new LX5

The owl at the entrance.. contrast with picture in post #28 the night before



The covered walkway linking the rooms to the dining room.. taken from restaurant end



It was freezing as we walked to breakfast.

This heater along the covered walkway worked in vain to warm the passageway



It is powered by what looks like Kellogg's All Bran..



But this signs explains..



View from the restaurant.. our private onsen is to the right of the Christmas trees, behind the wooden fence



After breakfast, we took 2 hours to drive to Otaru along minor roads. The highway was closed because of the snow.

Authorities found that more accidents occurred along highways in these conditions because people drove too fast for the conditions..

The only time we saw Lake Shikotsu!



The fact that the snow sticks to the tree means that it's *wet snow* (= not that cold )

[9V-SIA]

Day 2: Otaru

Things to do in Otaru:

1. Take the mandatory picture by the Otaru Canal. Note stone warehouses on right, and canal walk on left lit by gaslamps at night



2. Lunch at Masa Sushi ( included in the price of our guided tour )







Wife ate here in Summer and learnt that there are 2 types of uni: red & white. Red uni is better & more expensive. More flavourful

3. Squid ink ice cream after lunch if you are brave enough





So you are right jjpb3, ice cream is four-seasons treat

4. Make your own music box.



Because we were busy making music boxes, we did not get to see the glass blowing



Some of the warehouses by the canal are original. Some are newly built made to look old.

We found these foods in one of them..

King Crabs galore...



.. and other delicacies





Running parallel to the canal, one block inland, is Otaru's CBD.

That new condo at the end of the road was built despite objections by locals.

The scale does ruin the picture..



At the other end of the street, catering to tourists, shops & restaurants



In the late 19th Century, it was called "Wall Street of the north"

Otaru's wealth in the past came from:

• It's Port. Ships used to unload goods onto barges to be stored in the stone warehouses
  
• Herring Fishing.

It's decline came when ships were able to unload alongside modern docks & the disappearance of the herring from overfishing

Our guide T. was born & still lives here.

It was with some sadness that she told us her city's population is declining as the young move out.

There used to be 3 department stores here. Now there are none..

[9V-SIA]

Ishiya Chocolate Factory

It was dark by the time we stopped here on our way to dinner in Sapporo

The garden was all lit up







This is the highlight of my trip. How they assemble a biscuit sandwich..

3 pieces...



.. stacked...



..and wrapped



The Process of Stacking

• Biscuit moves on a conveyor belt from right to left
• White chocolate moves on separate belt across this belt and is dropped onto bottom biscuit
  ( can you see that man putting the white chocolate on the belt? )
• That metallic line parallel to the white chocolate flips the top biscuit onto the white chocolate/bottom biscuit

The workers have to wear face masks to prevent them eating the chocolates



The Process of Wrapping

S shaped conveyor belt starts where the worker is reading the manga comic book while watching TV...

.. to the wrapping machine next to the brick wall




Crab Dinner

Day 2 ends with crabs for dinner.

I think this is Main Street, Sapporo where we were dropped off for dinner



Dinner was waiting for us when we arrived ( also included in our tour )



This hairy crab was not easy to eat..



..but this was.. crab shabu shabu



And so endeth our second day in Japan.

It had been a long day, starting at 9am and checking into the hotel at 930pm.

I won't be doing a *guided tour type* holiday again anytime soon!

Thankfully it was *free and easy* the rest of our trip

[jhm]

The famous shiroi koibito (white lover) chocolate biscuits from Sapporo which you can find all over Japan!

[StarG]

Top notch TR as usual, 9V-SIA.
Thanks for sharing.

[9V-SIA]

Sapporo

Top notch TR as usual, 9V-SIA
Thanks for sharing.

Domo arigato StarG-san


If you've been into a JR Station in any Japanese city, you'll know what to expect:

• anchor department store ( in this case, Daimairu )
• a lot of eating places
• many retail outlets
• maybe a hotel ( Nikko in this case, where my wife stayed in July when she came to see the lavender fields )

Hokkaido is about the size of Ireland.

It has a population of 5.6 million.

You could fit the population of Hokkaido into Singapore.

Sapporo, the capital, has less than 2 million people.

I would come to Hokkaido to enjoy winter sports or countryside.

For that Japanese city holiday, many can be reached non stop from SIN instead of one stop.

We stayed midway between JR Station Sapporo ( left margin ) & Odori Park ( right )

You can just about make out the hotel ( orange square / white bed symbol below Subway Namboko Line )



Sapporo Grand Hotel

Our room was large but the window could have been bigger



The window looks out towards Odori Park.

Road below links JR Station Sapporo to Odori Park & beyond to Sapporo's main street



Quite a few Singaporeans staying here. The breakfast buffet was excellent.

JR Station Sapporo



All covered & interconnected so you don't suffer if the weather is bad.

Hotel Nikko is the tall building. My wife stayed here in June. Small rooms but hugely convenient for shopping & eating.

We spent the day here shopping.

Looking down "main street" from JR station. Our hotel was down this road.



Our lunch was at Gyu Kaku, a Japanese restaurant chain I first tried in NYC!!



I love beef tongue..



Fruits for dessert..







Tanuki-Koji Shopping Arcade

Most shops were closing when we walked here for dinner on our last night here.

Dotomburi, Osaka is still the best!



Odori Park

The most recognizable landmark of Sapporo. It is where Sapporo Snow Festival is held in February

In December, they have this Sapporo White Illumination..



.. and German Christmas Market



Anyone for sausages and mulled wine?

[9V-SIA]

CTS-ITX in NH 767-300

CTS airport is worth spending time at before your flight.

There are many shops, selling Hokkaido produce, as well as restaurants.

Being my fourth visit here, I didn't take many pictures.

The only new things that I could think of was...

CTS is very well connected.. Fly to Kushiro if you want to see the famous "dancing cranes" of Hokkaido



.. and the yummy bento boxes in the departure hall ( though the restaurants at CTS better )



Oh! NH still buying 767s! ( because of delays in 787 programme )



My favourite 2-3-2 layout in Y. Is this refurbished interior or new plane?

Seats look new but overhead compartments look old



No PTV for domestic version of 763. Screens were showing outside camera views the whole flight



Again we were relegated to the back of the plane. And again it was empty



Ascent from CTS..



.. over the ski resorts of Nagano, I suspect.



.. descent into ITM



The one time I landed in ITM was in 1970. That trip was noteworthy in that we flew in CX Convair 880s!

I was visiting the World Expo 1970 in Osaka

Nice to re acquaint myself with the airport, though I don't remember any of it



Outside the terminal, we waited for our bus. ITM is north of Osaka whereas KIX is south



Across from the bus stop was a monorail station



Bus took over an hour to cross Osaka in rush hour traffic to drop us at Namba

[9V-SIA]

Swissotel Nankai Osaka



We stayed in Club rooms located between the 32nd & 34th floors.

Gives the kids access to the DVD Library in the lounge. Also breakfast & Happy Hour eats.

The higher you go in this hotel, the more you have to pay.

Because we extended our stay at the last minute, we had to change rooms once

Our non smoking room...





It's bigger than our smoking room.

It had separate wash basin...



.. and bath / wc. The smoking room didn't. Rain shower is new feature in renovated rooms



Overlooks Namba Park



Our smoking room..



It's the smaller room but feels bigger. I suspect is because of orientation of the bed



Overlooks Takashimaya / Midosuji / Dotomburi. Uemeda in the distance bathed in sunlight

• To right of OIOI is passageway to Dotomburi., a 5-10 min walk to Glico man sign
  
• To the left of OIOI is Midosuji. Keep going up this road and you'll end up in Uemeda

Another reason why we like this facing is that we can check outside temperature on this thermometer
before deciding on what to wear!



I like this detail in the rooms. A place to hang your overcoat & put your shoes by the door..



Next, why I like staying here...

[jhm]

Looking forward to Osaka and (I assume) more food pictures!

[Dent@SUB]

Ahhh..... Swissotel Nankai....Where I stayed last Christmas (until Christmas to be exactly..)...

My rooms also facing the Namba Park and the "thermometer"....

Love the location....

Great TR, Sir!!

[Pinkfloyd]

Love how it says "heck will close soon"...

Great pics by the way...

[9V-SIA]

Reasons To Stay In Swissotel Nankai

Looking forward to Osaka and (I assume) more food pictures!

I'll try and oblige but I'm running out of time. I leave for NRT on Sunday

Ahhh..... Swissotel Nankai....Where I've stayed last Christmas (until Christmas to be exactly.....

My rooms also facing the Namba Park and the "thermometer"....

Love the location....

Great TR, Sir!!

Thanks. I think we were staying there same time! I checked out 25 Dec!

We could have had a SQTalk Duo

Love how it says "heck will close soon"...

Great pics by the way...

Thanks


Reason #1: Airport Express

The Airport Express runs every 30 minutes and drops us at the doorstep of the hotel. Literally.

Here is the train arriving at the station as seen from my room..



Note Namba Park to the right of the track. City Walk, a mall, in between them

Airport Express Platform Exit ( pink gates )

The Swissotel entrance next to it... where the 5 vertical white lines rest on the fluorescent sign indicating Swissotel Nankai

At check out, the concierge brings your bags right up to the carriage through a special access door




I love this train designed to look like an airplane. Note the round windows..



.. and overhead compartments ( in practice, PAXs use the luggage racks at either end of the cabin )



With those levers under the seat, the seats are rotated at either end of the line so you never have to face backwards.


Reason #2: Takashimaya

This overhead bridge connects Swissotel to Takashimaya.

Escalators lead to 2 levels of train platforms. Swissotel ( station entrance ) is at top of longer escalator

You can see the Swissotel rooms through the sky light



The sign at the entrance of Taka clearly states no pictures allowed

so I can only tell you that there are restaurants on the top 3 floors

and food court / supermarket are in the basement!

Reason #3: Kuromon Market

Described as Osaka's Tsukiji, wife and I enjoyed a lovely morning here.

Only 5 minutes walk away also to the right of OIOI







Fugu



Fugu Shirako



Not only fish are sold. Note the red carrots!



Oden

[jhm]

Just to mention also that the Nankai Railways rap:t (pronounced rapid) train (i.e. the Airport Express) has Y (the 2-2 configuration in the picture above) and J (superseats - 2-1 configuration) for an extra JPY 500 each way. There are so called rap:t "alpha" and rap:t "beta" services (the number of stops varies) depending on the time of day.

[9V-SIA]

Just to mention also that the Nankai Railways rap:t (pronounced rapid) train (i.e. the Airport Express) has Y (the 2-2 configuration in the picture above) and J (superseats - 2-1 configuration) for an extra JPY 500 each way. There are so called rap:t "alpha" and rap:t "beta" services (the number of stops varies) depending on the time of day.

Thanks jhm

Reason #4: Dotomburi

Famous Glico Man sign.. less than 10 minutes from hotel



I'm here because of what is on the other side of the bridge.. Kani Doraku, the crab restaurant

Standards have slipped compared to two years ago. But the menu is cheaper too. Cheaper ingredients?



Kani Doraku by day..



Reason #5:Midosuji

We didn't shop along the Orchard Road of Osaka so no pics. But lots of designer stores here

Reason #6:Namba Parks

Jon Jerde ( architect of Fukuoka Canal City ) designed this place and it's sexy

Two curvy buildings joined together by bridges



A mall without cool restaurants & shops doesn't cut it.

Namba Parks have them. We ate at a few places here.

We booked Kura, a Bar-B-Q place from SIN.

And the kids bought a lot of clothes here too.



What the picture doesn't show you is how windy it gets in the "canyon" of the building.

A wind tunnel effect. Very cold!



Seating provided for tired shoppers along sky bridges



Swissotel as seen from Namba Parks



Enough reasons? I haven't finished exploring this area yet despite many visits!

[jhm]

I'm here because of what is on the other side of the bridge.. Kani Dora Ku, the crab restaurant

[...]

That's the infamous "pick up" bridge where (in theory at least) you go to find girls!

http://osakainsider.wordpress.com/20...hikkake-bashi/

today, it is often called “nampa-bashi” (“nampa” means to pick up/hit on girls, and sometimes vice versa), but its most common nickname–more commonly known than the bridge’s actual name, in fact–is “hikkake-bashi” (literally “ensnare/trap,” but in reality it has a similar connotation to “nampa”), in reference to the decked-out “hosts” who attempt to woo girls for business purposes or to hire them for temporary jobs.