Before checking into our most expensive stay in Hokkaido, we decided to visit a place as planned in our itinerary. We decided to visit the Hell Valley first before we proceed to check in at the hotel in the afternoon. Official check in time is 3pm anyway so we might as well make good use of our time.
We parked our car right outside the entrance to the Hell Valley. There is a paid parking space available for visitors. Hell Valley is well known for its displays of hot steam vents, sulfurous streams and other volcanic activity. It is the source of the natural spring water for the Onsen Hotels in Noboribetsu.
Okay...okay we get the idea...Hell Valley.
Once inside there will be a walking trail to follow....
As we walked deeper inside, we found many geysers of different intensity / activeness spraying out hot steam and water. To me, the smell of ammonia was still bearable and fine with me.
Cross the barrier and it will land you in Hot Soup!
Intense Volcanic Activity In Front...
After about 10-15 minutes walk later, we have a chance to see an active geyser close up. Contrary to what I understand about geysers, the bubbles due to intense heat at boiling temperatures don't gush out all the time. Instead it happens intermittently and at its peak hot water and steam can burst out in great force. Well, something new that I have learned today :). Overall, I feel that this place is quite a good place for a leisurely walk given the comfortable weather in Noboribetsu even it is during summer. We basically only completed the short trail only which took us about 45 mins. The trail is actually a long one and if ventured deeper inside, we would have found a hot spring river and lake as well.
As it was already close to noon, we did not spent too much time at the hell valley. and we decided to head for lunch by noon. Furthermore, wifey and I wanted to allow more time to relax in the luxurious Boro Noguchi Noboribetsu Onsen Hotel.
We headed for lunch at the only seafood restaurant located in the main street of Noboribetsu Onsen Dori which is less than 10mins walk from Hell Valley's car park. We ordered scallop curry rice, clam soup and sea urchin rice bowl. All I can say here is the food is really delicious and fresh!! Honestly I never actually eaten such big clams and scallop before. It was certainly one of the most satisfying lunch ever.
More to come.....
Click on LINKto Day 3 Part 1
Click on LINKto Hokkaido Travel Blog (Overview)
There are a few popular attractions in Hokkaido and one of them is Marine Park Nixe. It is not a very big area and it is possible to cover this place in matter of two to three hours. We decided to go there immediately after breakfast. The park is located not far from our hotel (Daiichi Noboribetsu) or less than 10 minutes drive away.
Ticket price for adults 2,450 yen
Park Map
This park is very popular for two main attractions namely the penguin parade and the sardine whirl pool. You will still find a variety of marine animals there although the park isn't that big of a place.
People waiting eagerly to watch the penguin parade
The penguin parade is held 2 times a day, first in the morning at 11am and the second one at 2.15pm. Do recheck the sign boards at the entrance again in case of any changes.
The cute penguins will march along the designated walkway like superstars with cameras flashing away. If you are fast enough, you may even get close enough for a selfie with them.
The second attraction that I like here is the sardine whirl pool or aquarium. The school of sardines swims round and round the whirlpool which is kind of fascinating to me. Just take a seat in front of the aquarium to chill out and free your mind. If you are feeling mischievous, try to frighten the fishes and see them swim the other way around. There is also daily show here where you will have opportunity to watch the sardines along with light and sound effects.
Have you touched a star fish before? If you haven't, there will be an opportunity to do so at Marine Park Nixe.
Other marine life.....
If you happen to be in Noboribetsu, I would certainly recommend this place as a good side trip which would not take too much time unless of course you are a local tourist and want to watch all shows / performances which would eventually take the entire day. I think there is much more other interesting things to do in Hokkaido. Come here for an opportunity to really get close to the penguins.
To me this is a touristy mid budget hotel to both locals and foreigners although I noticed that the presence of foreign tourist is higher in this resort as compared to others. It is the first onsen (hot spring) Resort in Noboribetsu hence the name Dai-Ichi which means number one in Japanese. Being the first established resort here also means that this is a very old resort which retains the traditional Ryokan design. We paid about 36,288 yen for a night which includes a buffet dinner and traditional Japanese breakfast.
The room is fairly spacious with pretty simple design. It is separated into two sections. Upon entering the room, we found ourselves at the dining area which is covered by tatami mats. The second section is the resting area equipped with a sofa set for 4 persons. Complimentary Japanese traditional jelly is placed on the dining table in place of welcome fruit basket usually provided by Western hotels. You can usually buy those jelly at supermarkets and are usually quite pricey. Yup of course it is delicious. So delicious that I ate it almost immediately and I forgot to take picture of it :).
Our room at Dai-Ichi Takimotokan
At the sofa area, we found two equipment for neck and shoulder massage respectively which reminded us that we are in Japan, a country famous for quirky inventions.
By now you should have noticed that there is no bed in the room. That is because housekeeping will only bring out our futon bed after we left the room for the buffet dinner.
The futon bed is just as comfortable as the normal conventional bed. I slept soundly throughout the night,
Dining Experience
Buffet dinner was at one of the resort's restaurant which looked somewhat like a canteen (understand that it had been renovated recently). Frankly, I went there with quite a low expectation and I even left my camera in the room as I figured out that probably there wouldn't be much things of interest. And....I was proven wrong. The food was actually quite delicious but the thing that is worthy to note here is the all you can eat crab legs (Red King Crab). It is super fresh, sweet and would have cost us a bomb if we had this in Malaysia. Anyway, I doubt that we can get crabs in Malaysia that is as fresh as what we had.
Source: Tripadvisor
Source: Tripadvisor
Breakfast was at another restaurant where we are required to first make a reservation for a time slot. We were given option of either Japanese or Western breakfast and of course we chose the former to enhance our experience in Japan. The dining area are set up in cubicles for additional privacy.
Rice served with grilled salmon, japanese omelette, condiments comprising of various types of pickles and a bowl of soup made from soybean.
The bowl of soup tasted like soybean milk except that there is no preservatives and sugar added.
Onsen (Hot Spring) Experience
After spending much time reading about the dos and don’ts when going to a Japanese onsen, Wifey and I finally were going to our first onsen experience at Dai-ichi Takimotokan. The first thing one need to know and overcome before heading to the onsen is that the only thing you are allowed to wear is your “birthday suit”. As a first timer, we decided to go later at night around 11pm so that there will be lesser a crowd and therefore allowing us a slow start to blend in lol.. This particular one that we went opens 24 hours so there was no rush. Sorry no pictures since no camera is allowed inside the onsen.
Picture from resort's website.
There are also procedures to follow (click on link for recommended site for a quick reference) if you do not want embarrass yourself in front of the locals. Fortunately most onsens adopt similar procedures so once you get a hang of it, you can go for a Onsen escapade in Hokkaido without any further issues. One thing to note is that sometimes the resorts in Hokkaido alternate / swap the onsen between male and female to allow both genders to enjoy the different scenic views in the resort. So make sure you check the signage at the entrance carefully before entering. Imagine, if you are a man and you just walked into a changing room full of naked ladies...oh my....total disaster.
Anyway, Dai-Ichi Takimotokan's onsen offers 7 types of different pools which consist of different properties and minerals which carry different health benefits from healing your skin to improving
your blood circulation and blood pressure. One of the pool is located outdoor. For a "gaijin" (meaning foreigner in Japanese) like myself who probably won't be able to do this over a long term to extract that kind of benefits, I just tried out the pools randomly and relax. After soaking myself in the pools, I especially like the refreshing feeling of taking a cold shower at the area just nearby the pool. The complimentary premium shampoo and shower gel with fantastic aroma enhance that experience as well.
Shower area looking something like this. You are supposed to take your shower seated at the stool provided. For a little privacy... try to find hidden corners :)
To sum it up... Good and comfortable resort with fantastic location just nearby hell valley and near shopping street. Good value for money.
Food is fantastic. Triple stars for the buffet crab.
Finally... our first meal in Hokkaido. After driving for about an hour we reached our very first destination in Hokkaido to have our lunch. It was already about 2pm and my tummy was growling for some authentic Hokkaido cuisine :). We had our lunch at a restaurant called Kani Goten which literary means Crab Palace in English located along the Muroran Highway. I chose this place for lunch since its location is pretty strategic as it is located en route to my hotel in Hokkaido. We will be staying at Dai-ichi Takimotokan Hotel for the night which is just 20 minutes away. It is not easy to miss this place as there is a big crab sign board right outside the restaurant and a giant bear statue on the roof of the restaurant. To be exact, this place is not only a restaurant but also a small seafood market where a variety of seafood produce are sold.
Kani Goten Family Restaurant
Bear Statue on the roof of the restaurant
To get here, exit Hokkaido Expressway at Exit 8 (Shiraoi) and head towards Noboribetsu. After a short 15-20 minutes drive, you should find the restaurant on your left. Despite the restaurant known for crabs, we did not order any as I felt that I would have much of it over the next few days. With the intention of going simple and nice, we ordered a Donburi (a bowl of rice with mixed seafood ie tuna, shrimp, salmon roe and sea urchin) and Stuffed Squid with Black Ink Sauce.
Donburi
As a person who don't prefer to eat raw seafood, I still find the Donburi to be really delicious. Funny... The rice was sweet and had a nice flavour to it. If I am not wrong, vinegar is added when the rice is cooked. The seafood was fresh and there was no fishy or foul smell at all. Really nice.
Stuffed Squid With Black Ink
Source: kanigoten.co.jp
Can't say the same for the squid stuffed with rice though. It tasted too bland for my liking. After lunch, Wifey and I walked around the area selling seafood located next to the restaurant. You can find all sorts of seafood here including different types of crabs, scallop, sea urchin, oyster and etc kept mostly alive in aquariums. I guess it caters more to local Japanese tourist who can make purchase here and get the seafood delivered to their homes anywhere in Japan.
After lunch we continued our journey to Noboribetsu. If you are driving to Noboribetsu from Chitose, I would suggest you take this route ie via Muroran Highway instead of all the way using the Hokkaido expressway. Firstly, there are a few seafood restaurants along the way that you can try and secondly you get to catch the view of Hokkaido Coastline. Not that it is really a magnificent sight but I guess it is more interesting especially if you are a foreign tourist.
First Japanese Car Parking Experience
After about 20 minutes driving, we finally reached our hotel for the night, Daiichi Takimotokan Hotel. We were directed by a hotel staff to go to the basement level for parking. As soon as we there, another based at the parking directed me to park a an empty lot right in front of the entrance. I thought to myself how lucky can I be right? Wrong!!!
As I was preparing to alight from the car, it started to turn 90 degrees to the left and soon I found myself facing this.
Yikes... I was totally not prepared for this. The staff manning the parking asked me to retract my rear mirrors and I didn't really know which button to press since I just got the car. So I decided to go trial and error and luckily I managed to find the right button. Once the car was parked inside the space provided, Wifey and I quickly grabbed all our belongings and ensure nothing is left behind. Once outside the car, I tried to lock my car with the remote but somehow the car lock did not work. ??? After several tries, I decided to give up and just leave the car as it is since it was going to be in a cage anyway and.. of course we were in Japan, one of the countries in the world with low crime rate :). The morale of the story is to get to know your rented car well enough including some of the controls or otherwise you may end up like me. I later found out that the reason why I wasn't able to lock my car with the remote was because my car engine was not switched off. Luckily, the car system knows how to auto shut down after the car was left idle for a while.
Daiichi Takimotokan Hotel, Noboribetsu A great hotel although I find it to be a bit touristy. Will write more on a separate page. :)
A walk in the evening After checking into the hotel, we decided to take a short walk outside the hotel before our much anticipated buffet dinner. The good thing about Daiichi hotel is that it is nearby to the main tourist attraction area like Hell Valley, Sengen Geyser and the main shopping street.
Main shopping street (a bit quiet since it is late evening already)
Some of the statues you find along the road...
The smog in front is actually hot steam from Sengen Geyser
Sengen Geyser (Note that it sprouts every 3 hours only)
Getting to Haneda Airport Woke up early on that morning to ensure we don't miss the morning flight to Hokkaido and of course, I was also looking forward to the buffet breakfast at Sunroute Hotel. We are suppose to catch a flight from Haneda Airport (Tokyo) to Chitose Airport in Hokkaido at 11am. Taking into consideration that we should arrive at the airport circa 2 hours earlier means we should already be there by 9am.
After the wholesome breakfast, we make our way to the bus stop located at the west exit of Shinjuku Station which is just 10 minutes walk away from our hotel. We already bought the bus tickets a day before which cost us 1,230yen/person. For further info on airport bus please click here.
Airport Bus @ West Exit Shinjuku Station
Source: Google Maps
There are basically two common ways to commute to Haneda Airport ie by monorail or by airport bus. I find the latter the more convenient way to travel since the bus stop is nearby my hotel and I am not required to switch train along the way. If I take the monorail, I will need to take the subway from Shinjuku Station and transit somewhere to get to the monorail, which may be quite troublesome. Travelling time by bus will just take about an hour.
Haneda Airport Haneda airport used to be the main international airport of Tokyo before it was moved to Narita. Nevertheless, Haneda was subsequently refurbished to accommodate the increasing passenger traffic in Tokyo. We took All Nippon Airways (ANA) to Hokkaido which would depart from Haneda's Domestic Terminal.
Though not as big as compared to the airport's international terminal, the place is still pretty cozy and not overly packed with people. The lay out is well planned with a small shopping area at one end of the terminal. At the upper floor, you will find some cafes and restaurants. Since we were not hungry after the heavy breakfast, we loitered around the shopping area before heading to the security check point leading to the departure hall. Security check was a breeze likely due to the fact that this is a domestic terminal and hence security check may be less intense.
Haneda Airport
ANA Flight
Our flight NH061 to Hokkaido cost us 10,000yen or RM326/pax which comes with free 20kg luggage allowance. In order to keep our cost down, we did not pay for seat selection and consequently wifey and I had to seat separately. This was fine since the flight took only 90 minutes. Just enough time for me to enjoy a cup of coffee while my wifey doze off as usual.
ANA NH061 To Chitose
Chitose Airport We touched down at Chitose Airport on time at around 12.35pm. Sorry for the lack of pictures as I recall at that time my mind was overly focused on how to collect my rented car. Immediately after arrival, we head directly towards the Toyota Rent A Car counter to wait for our transport to a satellite building nearby the airport to collect our car.
Toyota Rent A Car Satellite Building
Toyota Rent A Car Sapporo (Click here to official website)
We rented a 1,500cc Toyota Prius C (Hybrid) model for 3 full days for 38,232 yen or RM1,179 which works out to about RM393/night. We will be using this car to travel to Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Otaru and Sapporo. Since this is a hybrid car, no refueling was required until we finally reached Sapporo where we are required to return the car with a full tank. The car is equipped with a GPS with Japanese interface although the verbal directions can be in English. Searching out locations are pretty easy by using the telephone number of the place you are heading. Just make sure you get it right or you will end up in somewhere really wrong. As the interface is in Japanese, it may be helpful if you can read basic Japanese / Chinese. As a form of assurance, I always double check where I am heading using google maps on my mobile to ensure I am going to the right direction. Yeah, google maps works here too. To sum it up, use local gps for navigation or directions and use google maps for bearing.
The car was pleasant to drive though I took some time to get familiar with it due to the fact that it is a hybrid car and the handling is really different from the old car I drive back home. Firstly, there is very minimal vibration and sound hence it is confusing to me to even know whether the engine is switched on or not. Secondly, I also have to get familiar with the new technology ie keyless entry, automatic wiper and headlamps which you normally don't find in old cars. Luckily for me, I had earlier downloaded a copy of the car instruction manual and had briefly read through it before the trip. This was also my first time driving outside of my country.
GPS With Japanese Interface Included
Driving in Hokkaido
Our Driving Route In Hokkaido covering about 270km (Chitose, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Otaru and Sapporo)
Driving in Hokkaido is actually quite fun with its scenic views and is not that hard to drive at all due to the relatively low traffic and straight road. The only thing is to familiarize with is the local traffic rules which may turn out to be quite confusing. To me, the first one to be aware of are the traffic lights. Even if it is green, look out for oncoming vehicles in front (as well as people crossing the road). For reasons I don't understand yet and luckily I am back safe and sound, you may not necessary have the right of way even if it is green on your side. I almost learned this the hard way. Do take note on this. Second is the speed limit. It is quite common that speed limit on trunk road is around 40-60km/hour only. Initially, I tried to comply with it but soon I realised that everybody actually drives 10-20km/hour faster. This is weird especially in Japan where the society is known to comply with rules and regulations strictly.
