28 Sep. 2016 (pm)

After the scrumptious seafood lunch, we moved on to visit Otaru by going back to Sapporo and then Otaru; all by JR trains using the JR pass which is FREE instead of ¥640 each.

Overcast sky on the way to Otaru.

 Arrived at Otaru station in 30 min. and headed out right into the central boulevard (中央道）which led us to the famous Otaru Canal.

On the way back, we stopped a nice shopping street to rest our feet.

This was something that we must stop for - ice-cream!

So we had the super yumilicious Hokkaido soft ice-cream!

Aleo's face of contentment after his 1st ice-cream!





















We found this dis-used railway track which offered the setting for nice photos.

Back in Sapporo, we went for one of the 8 ramen shop at ESTA which was highly recommended. How did we decide which of the 8 stall? By international norm - we went for the one with the longest Q!!!

.Back in Sapporo, the boys again soaked in the hot tub of fruity bath salt to end the night in Sapporo.

The map to get around Otaru.

28 Sep. 2016 - Seafood day!

We took the train from JR Sapporo to Soen station and then strolled to the central outdoor market a short distance away.

Had breakfast of karaage, gyoza and ramen before going to checkout the seafood.

After visiting several stalls, we decided on these:

This king crab of 1.8kg cost us ¥10,000.

The dismembered crab.

A huge butter grilled scallop each @ ¥300 .

Uni kamameshi @¥500.

27 Sep. 2016 (1st night in Sapporo)

Upon arrival at JR Sapporo station at about 8.40pm we walked straight to check into our hotel at Nest Hotel Sapporo Ekimae which was about 8 min. away. After a quick washing up of our faces, we went back to Sapporo station where many eateries remained opened till 10.00pm - choice at Esta, Stellar Place, Paseo, JR Tower...

Well, for our 1st sit down dinner, we had omurice and hotplate kurobuta (pork) - so so satisfying Japanese meal, comfort food for weary bodies!

Back at the hotel, the boys enjoyed soaking in the hot tub with fruit salt provided by the hotel before retiring to bed. At ¥35,600 for 2 rooms and 2 nights, quite a bargain, though the rooms may be small by Singapore standard.

Perhaps the map of Hokkaido and Sapporo will be useful for my friends (you know who you are) to plan the intended places to visit:

 

See all the available routes covered by Japan Railways - quite extensive, only problem is the frequency.

 

The convenient location of Nest Hotel.

Day 1 - 27 Sep.2016

Came out of the arrival gate at 8.45am and let the boys and their mum pick up some refreshment from the kiosk nearby while I went to collect the pocket wifi from the Post Office on level 4 (actually just a small counter). Mentioned to the PO staff that the vendor was "iVideo" and showed them my passport and in a jiffy was given a docket which contained the pocket wifi, the charger, USB cable, the pouch and the return self-addressed envelope.

As the boys checked and set up the wifi, I went to redeem the JR passes from JR East Travel Service Centre at B1 (Immediately after redemption, we can go straight thru' the JR ticket gate to board the Narita Express):

1st leg from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station (Narita Express 10)
a. ETD 9.15am, ETA Tokyo 10.17am
b. ETD 945am, ETA Tokyo 10.44am
*We chose (b) so that we need not rush as each of us pulled along a trolley luggage.

2nd leg from Tokyo Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto (SHH) Station (Shinkansen Hayabusa 19)
ETD Tokyo 12.20pm, ETA SHH 4.34pm [Duration: 4H:14M]

3rd leg from SHH station to Sapporo Station (Hokuto 17)
ETD SHH 4.55pm, ETA Sapporo Station 8.34pm [Duration: 3H:39M]

For the 1st leg, some occurrence caused the train to be held up at Chiba for about 30 min so we ended up with about an hour at Tokyo station before we departed on the 2nd leg. We bought several "eki bento" for our lunch from a huge store there,

We fed on these yumilicious Eki-bento enroute to Hakodate. The prices ranged from ¥800~1200.

Family trip to Japan covering Sapporo in the north and Kyoto in the south

We planned this trip in late September as we expect the weather to be cool but because of severe climatic changes, it was wee bit warmer on average.

Duration:  9 days & 8 nights [26 Sep. to 5 Oct. 2016]

Focus:
a. Food  - King crab & ice-cream in Hokkaido, Kobe beef in Kobe
b. Shopping - Matcha powder from Kyoto, "Easy butter knife" from Kappabashi, shoes for the             boys, special buys from ¥100 shops.
c. See and snap the "Million Dollars night scenes on Mt Hakodate and Mt Rokko

Mode of transport:
a. Singapore Airlines (SQ)
b. JR Shinkansen, subways and local trains

Pre-trip tasks:
1. Air tickets - booked 4 months in advance when 22Go booking on SQ web-site @S$662 for STS (Singapore-Tokyo-Singapore)

2. Accomodation - Checked out Booking.com, Hotel.com,Trivago, Airbnb and JTB web-site
a. 2 nights in Sapporo (Booking.com)
b. 1 night in Hakodate (Booking.com)
c. 1 night in Sannomiya-Kobe (Booking.com)
d. 1 night in Ibaraki-Osaka (Yasuki.jp.org)
e. 3 nights in Roppongi-Tokyo (Airbnb)

3. Travel insurance - purchased online thru' MSIG, often with promotional discounts.

4. JR Pass - May be purchased from JTB, HIS or Changi Recommends and done up to 3 months from the actual date of planned use in Japan when exchange rate is favourable.

5. Pocket Wifi or SIM Card for internet access in Japan - Chose the pocket wifi by iVideo at less than US$2.00 per day.

27 Sep. 2016 (Day1)
Upon arrival at Narita Airport, we proceeded to exchange the order for our JR Passes after clearing the customs and immigration checks. Details for this 1st day onwards would be updated shortly.

Actual trip along Hokuriku Route & beyond

Armed with our exchange voucher for JR Passes bought from JTB Takashimaya @S$374.00, we flew to Tokyo Haneda Airport on 22 Apr. 2016.

1st Day - 23 Apr. 2016 (¥12,210)
1. Arrived at about 9.50am
2. Cleared immigration and redeemed for JR Passes at JR Reservation office & reserve seats for Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kurobe (Toyama)
3. Using the JR Pass for the 1st time, we took Tokyo monorail from Haneda to Hamamatsucho Station.
4. Then switch to Yamanote Line to Tokyo Station.

5. At Tokyo Station, we headed to a huge bento shop with wide selection of "Ekiben" and chose our bentos with Japanese tea before heading to the platform for the ride at 12.24pm.

6. The train arrived about 10 mins. ahead of our departure time and with clockwork precision, a team of cleaners went thru' cleaning all the cabins before turning the seats to face the our direction of travel.

7. After we have settled down in our reserved seats, it was time for our lunch.

                       

8. At about 3.20pm, we arrived Kurobe Unazuki Onsen Station and took a local train to Uozu Station which was next to APA Uozu Hotel. [Only setback was the absence of elevator or escalator to get down to the underpass that leads to the hotel]

2nd Day - 24 Apr. 2016

It was the Sabbath, the Lord's day so spend much time in church.

3rd Day - 25 Apr. 2016

Within Uozu, we move about on foot, covering move than 20,000 steps to survey the built-up areas as pray the blessings of God over the people in a 1.0km radius.

Took local trains[Not covered by JR Pass :)]  to Toyama City to reserve Shinkansen sets for our departures to various locations, Morioka, Tokyo and Osaka. Also got Narita Express tickets for those returning to Singapore on 28 & 29 Apr. 2016.

4th Day - 26 Apr. 2016

In order to cover more areas with time constraints, we rented bicycles from the Uozu Tourist Information Centre. It was simple, just let them photocopy an IC and pay ¥300/3 hr/bike. In Toyama City,there are 3 locations with free rental of the bicycles:
Service:9am-6pm of March 1 - Nov. 30., rental bike service at 3 stations in the center of Toyama city. 
Fee: Free of charge (return within the day)
Register at either of 3 stations with your ID.
< 3 stations>
 1. Information at JR Toyama Station  TEL:076-432-9751 　
 2. Toyama shimin Plaza   TEL: 076-493-1313
 3. Ikeda Yasubei Shoten 　　TEL:076-425-1871

5th Day - 27 Apr. 2016

1. Took local trains[Not covered by JR Pass :)]  to Kurobe Unazuki Onsen Station.
2. For me, I boarded Shinkansen Tsurugi to Kanazawa Station & then transferred to Limited Express Thunderbird for Shin-Osaka. The whole trip took 3 hours. [¥8,650]

Met up with ママ and spent about 3 hours over okonomiyaki lunch at Shin-Osaka station. The pork & tomato okonomiyaki was super yumilicious!

3. Took Shinkansen Hikari for Tokyo Station in 3 hours. [¥13,620]

6th & 7th Day - 28~29 Apr. 2016

Travelling around Tokyo using JR lines like Yamanote, JR Utsunomiya, etc. It was F.O.C. However, must be prepared to walk about 400~700m to reach the JR stations. Each trip costs between ¥200~400. Therefore, for a total 10 trips, can save average of about ¥3,000.

*Alternative to having to walk quite a bit to reach a JR station: (Reference: Tokyo Metro)

Tokyo Metro 24-hour Ticket

Price	Adult: 600 yen, Child: 300 yen

Tokyo Metro lines	Chiyoda  Fukutoshin  Ginza  Hibiya  Marunouchi  Namboku

                                                         Tōzai

 Yūrakuchō

 Hanzōmon

Tokyo Combination Ticket

Price	Adult: 1,590 yen, Child: 800 yen

A ticket allowing unlimited rides on Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Toei Streetcar (Toden), Toei Bus (except for buses with fixed seats, etc.), all sections of Nippori-Toneri Liner as well as all JR lines within the Tokyo metropolitan area for one day as stated on the ticket.

Toei subway lines	Asakusa  Ōedo  Mita  Shinjuku

Rail Pass for 2 or 3 days are also available.

8th Day - 30 Apr. 2016

For the trip from Tokyo Station to Narita Airport, I chose the route:
1. JR Yamanote from Tokyo to Nippori Station in 12 min [¥160]
2. Keisei Skyliner from Nippori to Narita Airport in 42 min. [¥1,240]

At Narita Airport - Look out for photo-booth giving free photo with sumurai or shogen gears.