Tuesday, December 18, 2007

18 Dec 07 - Day 2 (Hakodate)

Soon the phone in the room rang and it was the 7am morning call. About 8am, finally we set off to the restaurant for breakfast. Only had less than an hour to eat and we ate in a private room where we had to take off our boots. Ate cooked salmon, cooked eel, mini sausage, potatoes, fried veg sticks, egg roll etc and had a cup of yogurt and like SWT said, it tasted really great.

Set off at 9am to the Hakodate Morning Market where they sell seafood, especially squids. Had squid soft cream and shared with Lyn, the rest of them just had a taste of it. Couldn't find the squid cookies and walked around the market. BIL bought some products and tasted food like BBQ scallops and sea urchins. Then left for a walk around Motomachi at the foot of Mount Hakodate before heading to another hotel for Western course lunch. Ate quickly and went outside to walk around and took pictures. After that, we went to Onuma Park, a marsh swamp. Took some pictures and BIL suggested going for the speedboat. The view from the speedboat was great and after that, we returned to shore and played with snow. Then headed to the kelp factory where I bought some kelp snacks and a bar of kelp chocolate.

Lots of fresh seafood

Lots of crabs

BBQ Scallops

Trees in Motomachi

Walk around Motomachi at the foot of Mount Hakodate

Left for Bay Area and walked around the warehouses there. The place was similar to Fremantle Market with shops in warehouses near the sea. Bought a pinky ring and some candies in a couple of the shops. Then stayed to watch the lighting up of the giant Christmas tree imported from Canada and the fireworks before returning to our hotel for a Japanese course dinner where we had to sit on tatami. The meal was sumptuous and the kids drank a lot of fruit cocktails where they were mildly alcoholic. After eating, returned to the room, I went to try the open-air bath before going for shower. The feeling was indescribable. The first step out to the open-air was cold but after going into the hot bath, it was warm. Though the face was exposed, the heat from the hot bath warmed the face even in open-air. The only thing was that there was a roof and so couldn't feel the snow on my face even in the hot bath, something that SWT had experienced before and told me to try.

Lighting up of the giant Christmas tree imported from Canada

Fireworks at Bay Area

Sumptuous dinner

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