Sunday, July 08, 2007

Day 5: 18.7 (Tue) Hinode Park (日之出公園）+ Furano Twinkle Bus

Morning - Hinode Park
It had been raining hard since early morning and thus I was forced to cancel my bike trip in Biei in the morning and resorted to a sight-seeing bus (Twinkle Bus) tour. However, the Biei Twinkle Bus was fully booked that day and thus I decided to go to Hinode Park in the morning.


(The clock tower at Biei JR Station. The weather was not good then.)

It turned out that my luck wasn't so bad after all as the rain had finally taken a break to let the sun shine for a while shortly after I arrived at Kamifurano.


(A lovely house on the way to Hinode Park)

I was drenched in joy (and sweat) when I finally reached Hinode Park. Not that I didn't lose my way but Hinode was actually a more lovely place than Farm Furano. That it's less crammed and commercial made it more comfortable to nose around (ok, that bit of sunshine counted).


(See the lavender in the background? ^^)


(The love bell is the icon of Hinode Park. Some Japanese will hold their weddings here.)


(I really love the leisure environment here.)


(You could view part of the town there.)

Afternoon - Furano Twinkle Bus
Rain started to pour and my mood took a U-turn when I got to Furano. I had a quick lunch before I took the Twinkle Bus to tour around Furano. That was the first time in my life that I wished so badly I could drive.

Stop 1: Deserted House
There were a lot of interesting cottages.






Stop 2: Goro-no-ishi-no-ie



Stop 3: Furano Jam Park












Stop 4: Anpanman Shop



Stop 5: Furano Cheese Factory




(Cheese and lavender ice-cream from the ice-cream factory nearby)

Stop 6: Ninguru Terrace





Last Stop: Furano JR Station



(The train and the captain looked so nostalgic.)



(For my sister. I got these from the Anpanman Shop ^^)

I met a cute French guy on the train and that lightened my mood a bit :)

Evening - Dinner at Youth Hostel
I was so hungry that I had already wolfed down my supper before I remembered to take a photo.

Finally, the rain stopped while I was having the supper and the sky looked really nice.

posted by 燒米餅 @ 8:41 pm 0 comments

Day 4: 17.7 (Mon) 富良野

Sapporo International Youth Hostel is indeed a wonderful place (there are 2 youth hostels in Sapporo. Look for this one as the other one is a bit old). It's conveniently located, well-equipped, cheap, new and clean. What's more important, the bed and pillow were soft and comfortable! I had a sweet sleep that night :)

Furano and Bibaushi
I left in the very morning to catch an early train to Furano. I left my luggage at Liberty Youth Hostel at Bibaushi where I would spend two nights and then took the Lavender Express to Farm Tomita.

Liberty Youth Hostel
http://www.biei.com/liberty/index-folder/liberty01.html


(Situated just next to the train station, it looks like one of the wooden houses in Britain. A lovely place.)

Farm Tomita
I marvelled with others on the train at the breathtaking scene of Farm Tomita afar. Stripes of different flowers sparkled like a rainbow in the sun. However, the weather deteriorated rapidly. By the time I arrived at the farm, the sunlight had already been blocked by a thick blanket of clouds. I could even smell a rainstorm coming.








I had my late lunch at the food stalls there. I loved the freshly baked melon bun so much that I had finished it before I remembered to take a photo of it.

Before I could take enough photos, rain started to pelt down and didn't stop until midnight.

I wanted to visit some parks in Furano but my mood was totally ruined as I was drenched in rain. But it warmed my heart that people were nice to me.
I still remember I was waiting for the train heading back to the hostel alone at a small train stop in the late afternoon. It was raining cats and dogs and I had to hide myself in a shelter. It's really rural and I couldn't spot any human beings in sight. Suddenly, a car stopped near the train stop and a man walked out of the car toward me. I thought he wanted to offer help but I couldn't understand his Japanese. I told him I was fine and was waiting for the train to the hostel. I was not sure if he understood what I said but he said some Japanese then left.
Anyway, I took a warm bath right after I was back at the hostel and had a nice chat with others at night.

posted by 燒米餅 @ 4:22 pm 0 comments