Last Day In Sapporo: Christmas Park and Chocolate Factory, Off to Tokyo! (Things To Do At The New Chitose Airport)
Merry Christmas guys! I still have about travel backlogs from this year, but iniisip ko nalang na at least there are so many stories yet to tell in this blog! Hopefully before the year ends, we are down to zero backlogs so we can start 2019 with new pages!
Anyway, we're down to our last few hours in Sapporo, and honestly the days prior this Cea and I were already running out of ideas. We wanted to do so many things but they wouldn't fit the time frame before our flight back to Tokyo. These other things include a visit to an onsen, a few more day-trips outside Sapporo, Mt. Moiwa, etc. But since we only had 3-4 hours to spare before we check out and ride the airport bus for our flight, we decided to just play it safe and visit one of the places I often see in Sapporo blogs: Shiroi Koibito Park and Ishiya Chocolate Museum.
Since it's a pretty much chill day, Cea and I had our breakfast before heading for the train station. I asked if we can take last few photos around Sapporo's landmark, which are all on the way to the Odori Station anyway.
Nico commented on my IG story that this is where Empoy crossed daw during one crucial scene in Kita Kita movie? So photo op time:
We saw the Sapporo TV Tower all day everyday that we were in Sapporo, but had no photos with it so took advantage of our last day:
And finally, back inside the warm train station to find our way to Shiroi Koibito Park and Ishiya Chocolate Museum. Sapporo's train system is quite easy to figure out. Lesser din ang tao even on rush hours which I like. Cea loved Hokkaido more than our Tokyo trip because it was more nature sight seeing and chill.
Enter commuting pa-art shots:
How to commute to Shiroi Koibito Park and Ishiya Chocolate Museum:
Take Odori Station to Miyanosawa Station (8 stops, 16 minutes)
Walk for 9 minutes
According to the internet, Shiroi Koibito opens at 9am. We arrived a few minutes early, but we were able to enter the park area right away. I think we were the first group to arrive which was awesome coz we were able to take pictures without photo bombers! YAS!
The place is so cuuute filled with snowman, Santa, reindeers, and other Christmas decors!
I think this place also looks good at night with all the lights on!
Later on, they announced something in Japanese which cued in a mini show featuring bakers and animal robots dancing to Christmas melodies:
Yun talaga ang purpose ng park, it's a photo zone for their guests! 😁 Walang entrance fee so yey! People soon arrived and entered the building but Cea and I finished the whole photo sections muna before going in.
We eventually entered the Ishiya Chocolate Museum, still for free, and checked out the different sections.
On the left side they have a cool candy making show:
While on the right side is the chocolate shop where we bought some for home:
What we got:
On the top floor they have a restaurant. We didn't go in na. Usually daw they also have chocolate classes here but walang available when we visited. So we decided to go out again and just eat before heading back to our hotel.
The place looks homey and Christmasy, nakaka good vibes just to be there:
First encounter with Japan's guest information robot:
Outside, I had hot potatoes, forgot what Cea got hehe:
Also tried one of the chocolate bars we bought:
You can also grill mallows and hotdogs here:
Or try ice skating:
Tiny houses near the exit:
We were back in Odori Park in no time. Saw this set up which I think are now the food booths for their winter festival huhu:
The streets were extra fiery that day!
Last picture with another neighbor, Sapporo Clock Tower. Huhuhu.
Checked out of our hotel, and found the airport bus stop just a few blocks away near the Sapporo Grand Hotel. Just make sure to keep eyes open for these signages:
Bye Sapporo! 😭
We still had a few hours to spare in the airport, which was our original plan naman din anyway. We wanted to check out the other must eats / buy while at the Chitose New Airport, as recommended again by the internet.
Since check-in counter was still closed, we were lucky that it's Japan so coin lockers in different sizes were everywhere. Even my giant maleta fits in one of these:
If you don't have coins, they have this machine right next to the lockers.
So here are the stuff we were able to do in Sapporo's airport before our check-in:
1) Try Calbee's freshly fried potatoes at the Calbee Plus store! Imagine their chips, but in hot french fries version, yum yum!
2) Dined in and finally tried LeTao's Double Fromage Cake and Cheese Tart! Every cheese lover should try this.
3) Hangout at the Observation Deck. It was cold so naki usisa lang kami, then went back in right away.
4) Kill Time at the Sky Museum
5) One last bowl of Hokkaido ramen at the Hokkaido Ramen Doyjo (didn't try this na but for future reference)
6) For Sanrio fans: Check out Hello Kitty Happy Flight where they have photo zones, shops, and a cafe.
7) And lastly, for Doraemon fans like me, check out the Doraemon Waku Waku Sky Park!
They have this cute Doraemon wall!
Kids Zone, featuring a play area and workshop:
A library of Doraemon books and comics in different languages!
Since malapit nadin ang check-in time, we had a quick coffee break at the Doraemon Cafe:
They also serve real food here:
Japanese style dining area:
My latte art is so cute!
I don't have nice photos na from plane to our arrival in Narita. We were dead beat tired, and just wanted decent sleep. Thank God in-transit to Tokyo went smoothly, from the plane to the airport bus to our cab ride. It was hard to navigate when you're hungry and sleepy! Hehehe. Although it was really tiring and took up the rest of our day, I was open for another adventure starting with our Tokyo accommodation. As always, Tokyo welcomed me with bright city lights reflecting through our taxi's windows. It was my first time to try Tokyo's 9Hours Capsule Hotel, and bring Cea her first hostel experience!
To be continued...
5 Comments
Waaah!!! I want to explore different places in Japan!!! Thanks for this Ana!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Ms. Ana for these wonderful tour hehe love lots.
ReplyDeleteFacebook Crissel Ann D. Matias
Instagram @itscrissel
ay oo nga Ms Ana mukhang ayan ung spot ni Empoy nung movie �� ang dami at very detailed ng journey plus experience Ms Ana plus awesome ng photos. I feel like nakapag travel too sa dami ng napuntahan while reading. Bet ko sa park, dami instagramable spots �� tapos sa ganda nyan wala pang entrance fee. How i wish ��
ReplyDeleteWow ang ganda po ng mga photos super linaw 😍. Napanood nyo po ba ang kita kita? Ang ganda ng movie po na yun.😊 Waaahhh cheese cake 😍
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas po Ms.Ana.
Wow grabe ang ganda talaga sa Japan! Ang cute nong Doraemon wall thank you Ms. Ana for sharing parang nakapag tour na din ako sa Japan ang ganda ng mga photos mo po :)
ReplyDeleteYour turn! Always excited to read your comments! :)