Monday, August 21, 2006

Day 3: 16.7 (Sun) 北海道大學 revisit + 小樽

As the travel package includes only 2 nights of hotel accommodation (actually I don't really like staying at hotels--it's expensive and boring), I dragged my luggage to a youth hostel the first thing in the morning where I would spend the last night in Sapporo.

Sapporo International Youth Hostel:
http://www.youthhostel.or.jp/kokusai/index.htm

Hakkaido University
I parked my luggage there and started my third day with a revisit to Hokkaido University. I really like that place! It really fits in my schema of a real university--patches after patches of green area, historic yet classy buildings with worn-off exterior, statues standing at different spots silently telling the history of the place, people strolling around enjoying themselves.



Otaku

After the morning walking tour at Hokkaido University, I took the train to Otaku. As I didn't sleep well in the past couple of nights (because of the sandy pillow and the creepy feeling of staying at a novel place), I quickly dozed off once I settled down. In fact I had an energizing nap on the train. When I opened my eyes again, I was just 15 minutes away from my destination.

The first thing that I did was to head to Sushi Masha (壽司政) for lunch.

After that, I nosed around the streets lined with interesting shops.



(Rich yam ice-cream ^^ Lovely!)


(A tree hanging lots of glass pearls)



(A workshop showing passers-by how to make glass)


(Another favourite of mine--Hokkaido melon)

(A music box at the entrance of a shop)


I was a bit disappointed with the Otaru Canal. It's rather short and actually not special.


Last night in Sapporo

On the train back to Sapporo, I met a traveller from Tokyo. The train journey passed quickly with a nice chat.

I seized another chance to experience the last-minute stock clearing sale at the department store. It was rather exciting in fact. The salespersons holding mics and amplifiers started to lower their price 30 minutes before the closing time. The price was further reduced with every minute passing. If you're lucky enough, you could get something very decent at an attractive price.

(That's what I got from the supermarket :))

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Day 2: 15.7 (Sat) 暴走札幌

昨晚睡得不太好。一個人住酒店始終有點害怕 ^_^" 而且酒店的枕頭很「沙」,很不舒服。

今天 dress up 去逛街,很爽啊~~ 日本全國正被一大片雨雲帶籠罩著,所以今天整日都很陰暗。不過,不用被太陽曬天氣又涼浸浸的,很舒服呢 ^^

這張相可是在早上拍的啊!





第一站:電視塔及大通公園

我這個方向白痴雖然成功找到了在地鐵站旁的電視塔(其實一點也不困難,除非你有視障),但要從電視塔走到時計台卻十分困難(雖然這兩個景點很近)。當我拿著地圖迷茫地站在路中心時,有位伯伯走到我的身邊用日文跟我說話。我惟有用我有限的日文對他說:su-mi-ma-sen wa-ta-shi wa ni-hon-go ga ha-na-se-ma-sen(對不起,我不懂說日文)。我指著時計台的位置,示意我想到那裡。他說了一段日文,然後著我跟他走。一路上他不停地跟我說話,可是我只聽得懂一、兩句。以我有限的日文,我只可以表達到「我是從香港來的旅客」及「我是一個人旅行的」這兩句。

他帶我到了時計台後,還告訴我如何到舊市政廳。我連忙用我笨拙的日文向他道謝及鞠躬。

第二站:時計台

第三站:舊市政廳






第四站:白之戀人朱古力廠

好像童話世界的朱古力廠啊~(朱古力餅應該不會是在這裡生產吧...)






看這個木偶劇時遇到一對日本夫婦。他們著我坐在他們身旁的座位,因為看得比較清楚。後來他們知道我是一個人來旅行,替我拍了張全身單人照(我的自拍照只拍到半身呢),還告訴我中午十二時花園的鐘樓會有表演。



這個就是鐘樓的表演了。





昨晚在薄野拉麵橫丁的味之時計台吃拉麵時看到鄰店擠滿食客,所以今天決定到那間麵店吃午餐。這個拉麵不錯啊,但當然是昨晚的比較好吃~



要在這裡特別一提這個在 Lotteria 買的奶昔,因為在這十五天的旅程中,我經常買這個來喝。

第五站:狸小路及地下街

類似心齋橋的商店街,有點悶啊~




第六站:二条市場(沒有拍照啊^_^")

第七站:北海道大學

這裡到處可見綠油油的樹木及大學式的大片草地,配合著帶點歐陸式的建築物,感覺很舒服。相信秋天時會更加美。不過我最愛的始終是中大(中大有山、有水、有花、有草、有小動物、有校巴、有崇志阿叔、有回憶、還有很多很多美好的東西。如果有一片大學式的草地就更好了。那些高層不要再砍樹啊!),哈~



第八站:羊之丘瞭望台

搭錯車當然是我這個方向白痴經常遇到的事。

我在福住巴士站跳上一架本以為駛往瞭望台的巴士,誰知當車駛到總站時才發現不對勁。我嘗試用英文問司機如何到瞭望台,他其實不太明白我在說甚麼,只知道我想到瞭望台但迷路了。他帶我到巴士總站的其中一個站著我等候下一班車,並盡力地向我解釋如何到達目的地。當他駕著巴士離開總站時,還再一次叮囑我些甚麼的(當時我聽不懂呢。後來我才知道他已經通知了其他巴士司機我這個不懂日文的冒失鬼的情況,所以我當上巴士及轉車時,巴士司機都特別照顧我。真的很感激他們呢~)等車時突然想起我忘記付車資,真不好意思啊。

當我跳上另一架駛進總站的巴士時,巴士司機著我坐在他身旁,還用日文告訴我不用擔心(還有其他的,可是我只懂一丁點呢...)。當車駛到一個不知名的巴士站,司機著我下車及往對面馬路轉車(他還把資料寫在字條上)。正當我想付車資時,他用手蓋著錢箱,示意我不用付車資。

當我踏上第三架巴士時,巴士司機同樣著我坐在他身旁的位置及告訴我在總站下車就可以了。下車時他還細心的告訴我車資呢。

他們這樣熱心的幫忙,實在令我十分感動啊~~~

就這樣,我安全地到達羊之丘瞭望台。: )


這座是羊之丘上的小教堂。



原想在這山丘上等待日落,可是山上實在有點冷,而且離日落還有一段時間,所以最後還是沒等日落就下山去。

第九站:JR Tower

因為遲些會到東京,所以沒想過在札幌逛百貨公司或商場。但傍晚時份沒甚麼有趣的地方可以去,逛百貨公司是最好的活動。

我的晚餐就是在百貨公司的超市部所掃的平貨^^。很久沒有吃這麼多飯了。

這是 JR 站外飲食街的其中一個入口。

經歷了一整天旅行團式的暴走,我已經累得不能再動了。雖然如此,我卻很享受一個人遊走的自由呢。很爽啊~~~~~~~~~^O^

而且今天遇到了很多好人,令我覺得很溫暖。

Friday, August 11, 2006

Day 1: 14.7 (Friday) Hong Kong --> Tokyo --> Sapporo

I didn't sleep until early morning so as to do my last minute luggage packing (I'm the last-minute type of person). It seemed that my luggage was already laden with clothes, toiletries and silly stuff (like a torch which I hadn't even touched it during my trip) before I even set my foot in Japan. Anyway, I had been waiting for this day for a long time and my adrenaline made me a bit tense (or the other way round)--I always thought I had left something important behind. In fact, I had a mixed feeling--a bit worried (coz it's my first time travelling alone and I didn't have a travel plan yet), a bit excited (I was looking forward to some exciting experience) and a bit depressed (I always felt that way... personality problem).

It's very sunny when I woke up which was completely out of my expectation since the weather forecast said it would be an overcast day and heavy rain was coming. So as a sunscreen freak, I felt uncomfortable with just a flimsy coat of sunscreen on my face and my hands and neck vigorously exposed to the intense sunlight.

So far, Hong Kong Internatinal Airport has been my favourite airport, but there is one thing that I don't like--that's the toilet. The airport toilets are all auto-flushed (I couldn't find any manual flush buttons). And the stupid part is, the toilets will not flush itself until you have entirely left the cubicle for 3-4 seconds. So when I walked out from the cubicle after I had used the toilet at the airport, a lady (I guess she was Japanese) wanted to walk in and intended to flush the toilet for me. I stopped her immediately and told her in English: "I think you gotta wait for a while as the toilet will not flush after a few seconds. You know, it's an auto-flushing thing."

She didn't seem to get me and gave me a confused look. And as we were standing near the cubicle, the stupid sensor thought there were still people in there and didn't do the flushing. She then turned to another toilet. Ohno... she must have thought I was an uncivilised HK girl who didn't flush the toilet after use and held others back from using it...

* * * * * * *

The ANA flight was OK. I had reserved the window seat next to the emergancy exit, so I could enjoy a luxurious amount of leg space. I could even stretch my legs ^O^

* * * * * * *

The efficiency of the immigration officers in Japan was really, really low. I had been waiting in the line for almost an hour before I could finally get the immigration stamp on my passport.

After a 5-hour flight to Tokyo, the first thing I did was to buy a bottle of green tea and a novel--I had just found out that I couldn't survive the flight or train trip with just travel books.

My favourite ^^: Green tea--rich flavour














That is a series of Mt. Fuji products at the airport.



















There were not many choices of English novels at the airport book store. They only stock top bestsellers (most of the readable which I had already read).

They would wrap novels like this:
















That is the autobiography of Helen Keller. A very touching book indeed. It gave me a flow of warm feeling during the flight trip and helped me through the waiting hours at the airport.















*******

The domestic flight to Sapporo was delayed for an hour, so by the time I arrived at the hotel, it was 9:30 pm already and I was starving! I took the metro to Susukino (薄野) and looked for something nice to eat.

Susukino was a Mongkok-like district where streets were bazzing with trendy looking, dyed-haired people and lined with restaurants and high buildings. I must have been too tired as a walk at Susukino made me feel sick.

















I headed to the ramen street and got in a small shop. That was the Sapporo-style seafood ramen I ordered. That piece of butter was wonderful!





















I was thrilled after the first spoon of soup--it had a really rich seafood flavour. The scallops were really fresh and the piece of pork was so tender that it melted the instant it rested on my tongue. That was the best ramen I had in my trip! And that's why it cost more than HK$100...

That is the new 24-hour shopping mall in Susukino (actually, only rsetaurants operate 24 hours a day). The Japanese are really obsessed with ferris wheels. There must at least be one in major cities.






















I headed back to the hotel after a short walk in Susukino and planned my trip for the next day.