2 days more to go and it’s Christmas Day.
This past few days I’ve been listening to Christmas songs and one particular song that caught my attention is Let It Snow by Dean Martin.
You see, I’ve never seen nor experience snow in my whole life. It’s something that I wish to do before I die. Maybe some of you see nothing unusual in falling snow but for me it’s beyond words. The excitement is real, so for those of you that don't understand what is the big deal, here is a little look inside of a person after seeing snow for the first time. 😁
Last February, me and bunch of friends are heading to Hokkaido, Japan for our Winter Festival trip. Yes, after so long, I’d finally going to see what snowing feels like in person. Excited for the trip, me and my friends gathered all information about winter season, what to wear, what to expect and so on from the internet.
To cut a long story short, it all began when we reached Chitose Airport. As the plane about to descend, I take a peek from the window and it hit me. This is real! I'm here to create a memorable experience for my entire life.
From Chitose Airport, we took a train to Otaru. Didn’t do much inside the train since it’s 80 minutes journey and most of us took the opportunity to rest and sleep not knowing what’s ahead of us. Of course, when we reached Otaru and checked into the hotel, the first thing we did is find food!
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Then we headed to Otaru Station and took a bus to Mount Tengu. It's snowing and the first thing I did is to capture it in a video and send to my hubby back home.
But it didn't take long and it'’s getting dark. So, we called it a day at went back to Otaru for an early dinner.
We started our second day visiting some dessert shops (Kikaro Café, Rokkatei, Letao), Kitaichi Glass Museum Jgokan, Music Box Museum and the famous Canal. We tried to covered all places as much as we can since we will be leaving to Sapporo on the same day.
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We finally reached Sapporo at night via train. From the train station we had to walk for another 10 minutes to our guesthouse. Dragging a wheeled luggage in the snow are real pain in the ass. We stopped for a while at a local convenient store and find myself a delicious, hot matcha tea. Once we’ve checked in, we went for a window shopping at Ekimae-Don Underground walkway.
The next day, we packed some light refreshments with us to Takino Suzuran Hill Side Park. Entrance fee is free and we can use most of the equipment for no extra charge (except the ski and snowboarding equipment). Less than an hour by public transport, we headed straight for tube sledding. It was a long queue so we took the time for a wefie. We’ve tried the sliding for a couple of times until we decided to try the snow shoeing. At first, we thought to take a walk on the thick snow thorough the forest but some of my friends are too exhausted so we end up at one area and play with the snow instead.
We spent 1 whole day at the park and we thought maybe it is a good time to do night viewing of snow sculptures at Odori.
On our 4th day, we visited the Tsudome Site for another snow activity. Well, some of my friends shows no interest to participate so they’ve waited inside the building to avoid the cold (yawn, boring). Since this could be the my first and last winter experience, I tried to do as much snow activity as I can. Who cares the temperature is below negative? I came here for the snow, right?
After having so much fun (I did), we end up (advance reservation has made) at Sapporo Beer Garden for the famous eat-all-you-can buffet with crab snow and freshly brewed Sapporo beer! Of course, a beer tour after filling up our stomach at the beer museum is a must!
Sapporo beer is one of the oldest and has been brewed since 1877. The museum itself gives you the history of Japan and the process of beer making. There are paid tours that we can do. The difference with the DIY tour is that at the end of your paid tour, you can go for a beer tasting session.
When we go out from the building, the snows are falling! The ambiance and music coming out from the building (not sure which one) I got to experience fresh falling snow for the first time at about this age. It was magical as they say. I am literally dancing on the snow and couldn’t stop praising how lucky I am, at that moment to witness and feel the white, cold stuff on my head. I am ecstatic.
There is a huge shopping mall nearby. Since it is our last day in Hokkaido, we include a shopping activity in our itinerary. My favorite place? Of course, the supermarket. Bought seasonal and regional flavors of Kit Kat for souvenirs, some groceries (yes, I’ve got this habit where I must buy foods that is not available in Malaysia ie; canned stuff, jam spread, cooking oil, etc. Weird isn’t it). The good things about their supermarket, they give you a box to choose and you can pack your things easily without carrying tons of paper or plastic bags.
We reached at the hotel quite late and there’s a lot of packing to be done. Before we all go back and starts our normal routine, we had a drinking session and talked about our amazing trip there.
It was 10 months ago and I couldn’t stop reminiscing about the amazing trip I had back then.
Is it too much to ask from 'Secret' Santa for a paid free ticket to... I don't know. Back to Japan, Korea or better yet, Europe? Haha 😁😁. So if there is one wish i would like to make this Christmas , is a free holiday for my family to see snow and experience the magical moments i had together.
Dear Santa, please read my post. 😜😜