Hokkaido Day 4: Okurayama Olympic Ski Resort and Otaru

 The first place we visited was the Okurayama Olympic Ski Resort which is renowned for the ski jump used for the Sapporo Winter Olympic Games in 1972.

Here we are on the ski lift. Again, daddy was with Mei-mei in case she needed help to get onto the ski lift.

See them up ahead?

Nothing much to see, at the top of the ski jump. Just able to appreciate how steep the jump is. There was a stall there, and Chek Kong treated you both to ice-cream. Yup, all "three" kids had ice-cream.

We headed to our next location for lunch. We dined upstairs from a large seafood market. 

After lunch, we wandered around to look at the seafood and take pictures:

Then we hopped on the bus and headed to Otaru. The tour guide gave us instructions on where to go and what time to meet up. And away we went. We had nowhere in particular but ended up in the music box museum. We did not have anything in mind to buy but headed in as we had a free gift to claim. 

Clock outside the museum chimes every hour

Mei-mei posing in the museum. Everything caught her fancy.

This was so adorable

In the end, we did end up buying something(s). Daddy spotted a beautiful ferries wheel (like) photo frame which spins and plays music. And both kids each got a music box. 

We were walking outside again and smelled something lovely... wow.. barbecues squid. Yummy....

We stopped by to buy chocolates and then headed to the Venetian Cafeteria while waiting for the time to board the bus. So as we had time to kill, daddy treated us to the famous 7-layerRainbow Soft Serve ice-cream.

Daddy and the ice-cream

Kids digging in

Kids still digging in.. almost done!

A last minute change in plans (to go to Hakodate) brought us to Shiroi Koibito Park. We just wandered around to enjoy the decorations. Mei-mei was sleeping, so Ah Ma offered to stay on the bus to accompany her:

Mei-mei sleeping in the us

Dinner was barbecue. Yummy.. the food was buffet so we picked what we wanted and cooked them.

And of course, there was ice-cream for dessert. We sure had our fill of ice-cream this holiday, even though the weather was freezing cold!

So ends another long day.

Hokkaido Day3: Freezing Day and Snowmobile Ride

Daddy woke up early to have another go at the onsen which he enjoyed to much the day before. While the rest of us enjoyed our sleep in a little longer. 

We packed then headed to the restaurant to enjoy our buffet breakfast. Somehow Mei-mei kept complaining that she felt itchy and when I checked she had bite marks. I think it was the lavender pillow which we slept on. It may have had bugs. Either that or she was allergic to it. Luckily I had a small container of Tiger Balm (thanks to a friend who recommended that I brought it along). It was a life saver and she stopped scratching after I applied it for her.  

It's another snowy day. And we were all drowsy on the way from the hotel to the Hokkaido Shrine. The bus had to stop a distance away and we trekked our way to the shrine. Here are the both of you playing with a large snowball:

And here we are at the shrine:

Then we trekked back to the bus. We got a little lost on the way and finally made it back to where the bus was waiting for us. Another journey in the bus and it was lunchtime. What a feast!

Salmon

Abalone

Snow crab

As usual, Mei-mei got her special meal served in her special bowl:

Such a cute bowl

All smiles!

Goofing around with Chim Poh in the snow

Look at this bicycle stuck in the snow!

We headed to the next stop which was a snowmobile ride. No pictures of us in our cool gear as we left all our stuff on the bus so that they don't get lost while we are riding around. Daddy rode with Mei-mei as I was afraid that with my slow reaction, I may not be able to catch her if anything happens. So Ko-ko was stuck with me and he was grumbling that I was driving it too slow. Too bad he was underaged to be allowed to ride on his own snowmobile. 

Dinner that night was delicious. We had ordered the Wagyu AAA and AA the day before and that was what was served to us. 

And then we were brought to the hotel which we would stay at for a couple of nights. 

And of course as usual, we visited the nearest convenience store for beer, fresh cold Hokkaido milk and of course cup noodles.

We'd visit Ah Kong's room for drinks and chat and to have supper. Can you imagine that the milk would keep cold just by keeping it by the window?

Then it was time to call it a night after a long, long day.

Hokkaido Day2: Evening in Noboribetsu Onsen

Our day ended with a quick stroll at Jogikudani also known as Hell Valley. Then we hopped back on the bus and headed to the onsen hotel which we would be spending the night in.

Before arriving, our tour guide gave us advice on what we can and cannot do in the onsen. 

And this is our room. There is no bed! Ahaha.. just a table and seats (on the floor). 

As we had a little traveler, we were even given kiddy toothbrush set. 

The Shochu and Whisky which daddy had bought at the ski resort:

We had dinner in the hotel. It was buffet and while it was crowded, the selection was amazing. No time for photos *burp*

We headed back to the room and then got ready to go to the onsen:

The boys went to the men's onsen while us ladies (and girl) headed to the ladies onsen. It was hot and mei-mei refused to get into the warmer onsena, even though there was one salted one which was supposed to be good for her eczema.  

Ended the night with drinks and we all went to bed. 

Hokkaido Day2: Lake Toya, Bear Ranch, Mt. Uzuzan

The bus brought us to Lake Toya, a volcanic lake, we all hopped off to have a look at the view and take pictures. It was sooooo cold, we quickly had our pictures taken and hopped back into the bus 

A short ride later, we arrived at the bear ranch. There was a souvenir shop which we walked around for a while, then headed to look at the bears. We bought apples and snacks for them. The bears were really cute, the moment they see you with food, the will stand on the hind legs ans wave at you to throw at them. You both had a wonderful time throwing food at them. Mei-mei was lousier with her aim. Daddy managed to throw right into their mouths several times.

Daddy bought some ice-cream for the both of you (he shared with Mei-mei) while waiting for the rest of the group to finish with their shopping:

And here is Mei-mei chasing daddy everywhere for ice-cream, despite her already trembling from the cold. The people who saw her were laughing at her antics:

We were given lunch before heading up the ropeway. Here is Mei-mei's feast (Wow!!):

We were all given this wonderful spread:

And this was the view of Mt. Usuzan from the ropeway:

It was so cold up there that daddy's camera could not work. It froze. Poor daddy he was so sad that he could not take pictures.

There was a pathway to walk further up the mountain. But it was too cold that daddy had to turn back with Mei-mei while we continued on. Here's a wefie we took:

After that we hopped onto the bus to head to Noboribetsu.