Tuesday, February 14, 2017

68th Sapporo Snow Festival 2017

We just got home after a week long holiday in Hokkaido, Japan. It was a wonderful experience for my wife to see real snow falling from the skies for the first time. She screamed so excitedly like a happy child again. In the past, she had seen plenty of snow in China and even South Korea during our ski trip but the snow didn't fall from the skies then. 


NEW CHITOSE AIRPORT - HOKKAIDO, JAPAN


  
Our overnight flight took over 8 hours from Kuala Lumpur
to Sapporo at Hokkaido, Japan. We had difficulty to sleep well
even with the front row's spacious "hot seats".




 This is the New Chitose Airport which is very huge and
made headlines recently when the China tourists had
a nasty brawl inside with the airport officers over the
unexpected delays due to snow storm.




 They have many interesting facilities inside the airport
such as retail shops, seafood markets, museums,
children's play lands and even a spa with a hot spring
onsen for the public to relax.



 They have ample sitting areas to have coffee or browse
your smartphones with free WIFI which was very powerful.



  
The famous ROYCE chocolate factory in Hokkaido
took up large areas to house their chocolate museum,
cafe and retail shops!

  
There are so many types of chocolates here!




 We saw many cute and lovely cakes, desserts and ice cream
sold in many shops. They are so creative and innovative!



This is one of the many seafood mini markets indifr the airport
that sold all kinds of seafood catch from Hokkaido's famous seas.




 They sold many frozen crabs, fishes, squids and everything
from the ocean..... Yes, inside the airport!



68th. SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL 2017




 We took a train from the airport and arrived at this Sapporo's
JR Station which was full of people and excitement inside.




 It is always packed with locals and the thousands of tourists 
who arrive each day to discover Hokkaido.



  
 My wifey outside the Sapporo's JR Station.
It was -3 degrees C.



  
Yours truly posing outside the Sapporo's JR Station.




The snow festival was held in 3 different park areas in Sapporo
but we only visited the main one at Odori park.
They had many stalls selling barbequed seafood, sake
and souvenirs.
 


There were many snow sculptures on display and we came
here because Sapporo's Snow Festival has always been rated
the BEST. It is different from Ice Carvings.



Yours truly with 2 cute Japanese cartoons.




 They even built Donald Trump.




 Everything was so white and would hurt our eyes!
So we wore shades.



You could guess who is this singer?




 The snow man and I.




We made our way walking through their mile long shopping
area underground and spotted this talking robot who was
so talkative, friendly and welcomed everyone in
any language you wished to speak.


  
We stayed for 2 nights at the popular red lights area in Susukino
district and my wife's eyes went wide seeing the hot
GROs wearing skimpy G-strings ogling at their
customers at the full window views of the drinking clubs!


  
We enjoyed so much eating the Japanese barbeque
food which was delicious and hot to keep warm
together with a bottle of sake wine.



  
We toasted and cheered "Kampai"

Happy Valentine's Day 
to all the readers!


***





49 comments:

  1. What a nice trip! I would love to experience snow like that. The closest I ever got to Japan was a short stopover at Narita :( Hope to be able to go to Japan for a holiday someday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, you make so much money as a boss and need a good break! Pamper and surprise your darling with a holiday to Kyoto!! Guaranteed the best place in Japan for holiday. Go when our legs could still walk with stamina.

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  2. Replies
    1. Memang shiok lah, now poket lubang. Lina has left foot trails all over Japan.

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    2. Never mind the pocket. Later Anay can fill it up again quickly! LOL

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  3. Japan is a nice country to visit and the foods there are very fresh...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I agree. Their environment is so nice and clean.

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  4. I really miss Hokkaido and plan to return back again. Wish someday I could experience the Sapporo Snow Festival but then, I dislike winter. Hahaha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hokkaido is very big and their transportation is not very convenient as those around the Honshu & Kyushu islands. Hey, I love Winter!!!

      Delete
  5. Welcome back TM!

    Did anybody say you look like Japanese before?

    I had experienced snow in Canada before, I was so excited like mountain tortoise.

    Happy Valentine to you and your wifey.

    Same as PH, my closest encounter with Japan is a stopover at Narita Airport on the way to Turkey.

    There I was shocked to see at the Airport they sell R-rated magazines openly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was it on the way to Turkey or Canada, oh it was so long ago that I can't remember clearly LOL

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    2. Yes, sometimes people mistook me for a Japanese. When I was living in the boarding schoolin US, the Koreans & Japanese really thought I was a Japanese.

      How I wish that I could visit Canada and Turkey someday!

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  6. The Donald Trump and PPAP Snow sculptures really got me laughing. Like that oso can :D

    Ooooo.. those GROs reminds me of my trip to Amsterdam with all those girls behind the windows alluring my hubby. That time not yet husband lah, still bf only -.-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was funny that they built those 2 famous faces. They had many more famous faces and landmarks there which took almost 2 months to sculpt with snow.

      I had seen those photos of the red lights in Amsterdam's windows. The ones in Japan was showing you full view of their bar inside with drinkers being entertained by those hot bunnies. What a wild place! Jamal should go and take a look! LOL

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  7. hope you and your wife had a good valentine celebration yesterday. good to hear both of you enjoyed your trip thoroughly. did you make the snowman? oh so the sculptures are made from compacting snow and not ice craving. i did not know that. thanks for highlighting this point.

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    Replies
    1. As we could not celebrate CNY here, I would say we enjoyed the whole festive spirits of Chap Goh Meh and valentine's in Sapporo. Land is so expensive there and I could not simply build my own snow man on someone's property space. There were plenty of snowmen being built by many retail shops to lure tourists to pose & snap photos outside their shops and hopefully take notice of their shops.

      I had seen the ice carvings exhibition during Seoul's Winter but they had a hard time to prevent the ice from melting, due to daily temperature changes. However, the folks in Sapporo are very smart & so sure that their extreme cold temperature would be stable from December till February to rake in money from tourists. Now I would say that I enjoyed looking at snow sculptures more than ice carvings.

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  8. New Chitose Airport is truly great. Can buy most of all the different snacks from all over Hokkaido there, and at the same price!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love their airport more than our KLIA2 a hundred times. Next time I must book way ahead to sleep at their airport's onsen before the morning flight to enjoy shopping and hot spa. The prices are cheaper because no 8% tax!!! We stayed at a nice hotel at Chitose before flying but that area was dead with 6 foot snow! LOL

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    2. Stay at the airport hotel. You get complimentary passes for the onsen.

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  9. It looks like you and your wifey had a wonderful holiday...and it's great that she got to experience (falling) snow for the first time. I got to experience snow (can't remember but maybe not quite falling...hehe!) when I visited Tokyo many years ago. Some of those snow sculptures are hilarious! :D Ah, I'm sure you indulged in the bountiful Hokkaido seafood...show us more pictures! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we enjoyed ourselves very much, unexpectedly at the places like Otaru and Muroran instead of Sapporo. I will blog about that soon.

      You must be fortunate to see snow in Tokyo as they hardly snow there. Some winters, they had no snow fall at all. Hope you can visit this Sapporo Snow Festival someday.

      We didn't eat seafood there as they costs a bomb esp the huge Snow Crab. My wife is allergic to most seafood with shells except fish, so I might as well skip and save money too.

      Delete
  10. very different atmosphere with all the snow scene..I can feel the cold..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is definitely different when we visit the countries with 4 seasons. I would not spend thousands to go overseas and sweat in their summer heat. I had one very hot experience in Beijing.

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  11. so interesting to read... Now it has become my bucket list! Can still wish both of you Happy Valentine's Day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Hokkaido is an interesting prefecture where the people and environment are slightly different from those in Honshu & Kyushu areas.

      Happy Valentine's Day to you!!

      Delete
  12. Okay that's too cold for me to handle. I miss Hokkaido... especially their ramen!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey a young man like you is afraid of cold???

      I think the best ramen in Japan is from Fukuoka's Hakatta origins while seafood is Hokkaido's best specialities.

      Delete
  13. Really tempting me to go la... I really must prepare myself if I were to visit Sapporo in winter otherwise I might end up like one of the cartoons there! hahahaa...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so funny! You won't become frozen with the warmth from your loving children to shield their mummy.

      Delete
  14. Nice to know you enjoyed Snow Festival and other things in Sapporo. I only saw it on TV news. There’s nothing like first snowfall regardless of our age, so I understand your wife’s excitement.

    Regarding your comment; there’s something wonderful in Nara Park all the year round, but winter is the least colorful season and it seldom snows, so I think spring or autumn would be better to come.

    Yoko

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must visit Nara again someday and choose Autumn if possible to see those colourful trees as shared in yur blog. The last visit I had was just a day trip and I regretted for not staying at least one night after seeing my friend's blog post showing so many temples and beautiful gardens which I was not aware of. I find Nara to be very peaceful, relaxing and ideal for my retirement life! LOL

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  15. The airport seems like a mall! Would love checking the chocolate museum and cute bakery items... the snow sculptures are worth checking. Nice you went in dark shades to be identified among snowy white. Glad you both enjoyed the trip and it’s really interesting to check all these through you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had seen many interesting airports overseas and this one in Chitose is so different but fun & interesting.

      I think I might avoid visiting cold winter countries for a while as it was quite miserable to walk on the icy roads all the time. We had to carry so many bulky jackets in our luggage too. Ha ha!

      Delete
  16. Happy Valentine's Day to both of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day to you and family. Looking forward to your blog updates.

      Delete
  17. Eeee so jealous la!! Always go travel so frequently!! I miss traveling so bad!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was sure a great experience to witness snow ya? I witness snow when I was in Korea, really fun!

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    2. Hey, you made my eyes green when you visited all the beautiful European countries! You went to several places which were new & unknown to me. How lucky!

      When I first saw snow falling during my college days in US, it was very fun. Much later it got me worried instead many times as I could not open my apartment's door many times! The ice formed outside the door plus 5 feet high snow blocking it. That was no fun lah.

      Delete
  18. Hi! It looks very nice for you and your wife. I feel you enjoyed very much in Hokkaido. I hope you will enjoy skiing in Hokkaido,especially at Niseko.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpfk5S0aEaA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we enjoyed ourselves in Hokkaido with unexpected surprises like in Otaru and Muroran. Thank you for sharing the video of skiing at Niseko. I have only skied 3-4 times in my life and hope to ski again before my legs wobble at old age. LOL
      We went to the Mount Tengu ski resort at Otaru and it was too freezing cold that day.

      Delete
  19. Wah, even Hokkaido has red light district? I'm impressed! Hahaha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think there is a red light district in most countries esp around Asia.

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  20. Did you sneak out at night after Letchumi fell asleep to... you know...? :P

    ReplyDelete
  21. The airport is so big with so many shops, I will probably spend a few hours to visit all those interesting shops :P
    Haha, PPAP really hot eh LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This brand new airport has one of the world's most unique concept with big retails for shopping, entertainment and even public onsen spa. The kids enjoy all the play lands.

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  22. Magical place! I wanna go Japan too~ recently a lot of people holidaying in Sapporo!

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  23. I dont know how you can walk 3 kilometers on the roads filled with snow and ice. That must be extremely tough. I can't even imagine it.

    ReplyDelete

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