Day 1 - Feb 4, 2007 Sunday

Arrived in Chitose Airport at around 3:45pm.  Took us more than halfan hour to get out.  We planned to visit the Rera Chitose Outlet Mall (www.outlet-rera.com).  It has got a shuttle running between the airport & the mall.  It was snowing heavily and the temperature dropped (considering we had been indoor all the way fron HK).

We took the 4:45pm one and was in the outlet in 10 minutes.  I have bought a pair of lovely Adidas Titan (JPY3,675) + some Mickey T-shirts.

Took the last shuttle back to the airport and rode the airport JR+subway to town.  Checked in the Okura Hotel at around 8pm.  The room was very nice.  Big bathroom with bathtub. 

We went out for Ramen in 狸小路 that night.

 

Day 2 - Feb 5, 2007 Monday

Breakfast at the hotel.  Have the famous Hokkaido milk + yogurt with fresh aloe vera flesh.. Yummy!  Took the subway to Maruyama Zoo (admission fee for adult is JPY600). http://www.city.sapporo.jp/zoo/

 

The polar bear photo is extracted from the above website.  For more pictures taken by me, visit my album .

 

It's a big zoo.  Got lots of animal:

* In addition to the above mentioned, 4,395 insects ( 6 species ) and 1 amphibian( 1 species ) are displayed in the Zoological Science Museum. Tel : (011) 615-8080

We stayed in the zoo from 11am until almost 3:30pm.  Went all the way back to the city and strolled around.  Ate ramen again in 拉麵共和國 inside the complex above Sapporo Station.

Day 3 - Feb 6, 2007 Tuesday

We set off for hot-spring today.  We chose an outdoor onsen.  It is called Hoheikyo Hot spring 丰平峽溫泉 日語名：豊平峡（ほうへいきょう）温泉.  http://www.hoheikyo.co.jp/index.htm

A very beautiful onsen (泉質碳酸氫鈉泉).  It has a FREE shuttle bus!!!  We took subway and got off in 地鉄南北綫[真駒内駅]. It saved us some JPY2,400!

Fee is JPY1,000 per adult.  The hot springs are just beautiful!  We stayed in the outdoor hotsprings (men and women separately) for almost 1 hour!

The shuttle left at 3pm and thus we had our lunch inside the hotspring. It serves Indian food and the nan bread was very good!  We ate 2 each!

Day 4 - Feb 7, 2007 Wednesday

Today, we decided not to go to Otaru小樽 as we really wanted to spend time for the 58th Snow Festival in Sapporo City.

http://www.snowfes.com/english/index.html

It snowed hard though, it gave a very good touch and feel to the whole snow festival.  Check my album to see the photos we had taken.

17 teams, from various regions of the world, have participated in this year’s contest. The contest site filled with a variety of snow statues has created a remarkable international atmosphere. The participants and the public have enjoyed positive cultural exchanges and have developed new friendships.

 

Here is the result of the championship: The winning team is Hong Kong. 

Winner	Runner-up
Hong Kong Team  Dance of Dragon	Thailand Team 120 Anniversary of Japan-Thailand Diplomatic Relation 2007

Result	Name of Team	Name of Snow Statue
Third Prize	People's Republic of China	連生貴子
Fourth Prize	Canada	Klondike Dancers
Fifth Prize	Malaysia	Visit Malaysia Year 2007

www.kani-honke.co.jp/

We tried the famous Hokkaido crab.  They were excellent!  We ordered 2 lunch sets (available from 11am-5pm).  The whole restaurant has 7 storey and we were led to 6/F to a lovely small Japanese style room.

 

We continue to walk around and eventually spent an hour in a 6-storey high Daiso Shop!

We continue our Snow Fes tour at night by walking over to Susukino site.

 

Day 5 - Feb 8, 2007 Thursday...last day

Last day in Sapporo. After breakfast, we went shopping again.Tokyu Hands 東急ハンズ is located just across the road from the hotel.  We shopped very happily. I roamed the hobby and craft section and Alan stopped in the model section. 

I bought a lot of material, mainly leather, they were cheaper comparing to HK.  Alan bought a few solar cell models.

Our flight left at around 4:20pm.  We decided to do some last minute shopping AGAIN in Chitose Outlet.  We got off 1 station before the airport and walk across to the outlet.  Alan finally bought a pair of Adidas too for only JPY2,625 and I bought a fleece pullover which is an adidas by Stella McCartney (JPY2,940).

We took the 2:30pm shuttle to the airport and checked in.  Didn't have time for the airport shops!

 

Our Sapporo snow trip officially ended!