[Hokkaido] Day 01: Exploring Sapporo

March 25, 2020

I'm back from my 10D9N vacation to Hokkaido Prefecture! I can't want to share on my travel experiences with you guys!

This birthday/anniversary/Valentine’s day trip was planned by my lovely Baby Hubby in December 2019, and most of the stuff was already pre-paid. With the rise of the present virus situation, we considered cancelling our trip but decided to proceed with a strong determination to safe guard ourselves. Everywhere we went, we ensure putting on a mask at all times, and we washed our hands regularly. Baby actually used the free alcohol disinfectants whenever he saw them at hotel/shopping centre lobbies, until his skin was so wrinkled and dry! The situation in Japan was somewhat controlled, as most pharmacies and 100 yen shops only allowed customers to purchase one pack of masks for each customer. Alcohol disinfectants for hand cleaning was made available at every entrance of department stores, eatery places, and even at the train stations.

I took a red-eye flight with Japan Airlines on a Friday to Sapporo, which had a stopover at Tokyo. The flying time to Tokyo was approximately 7 hours and thereafter the wait in the airport for our domestic flight was about 2hours+.

We picked up some pre-flight snacks at Haneda Airport before our flight to Sapporo. By the time I reached Sapporo, it was already past lunch time, and it was so cold in Sapporo as the temperature was -11'C. I changed into proper winter gear before leaving the airport.

While in the airport, I walked past Lawson Mart, and I grabbed a sweet bun for myself. OMG! It was Cinnamoroll, and I initially didn't have the heart to bite into it!

It was a breeze to travel from the airport to the city, as the subway station is located conveniently near Sapporo airport. Using our 'Suica' cards, we took the local train to Sapporo Station, and it took us about 20-30 minutes!

Upon reaching Sapporo Station, We needed to walk about 8-10 mins to our hotel, The 'Mitsui Garden Hotel, Sapporo'. The room was smaller as compared to the chain in Fukuoka, but it was clean and well equipped on the usual travel amenities.

We explored the town of Sapporo, and we visited the Former Hokkaido Government Office Building (Red Brick Office) and we took many random photos. The whole of Sapporo was covered with white snow, and it looked like an authentic Christmas town!

We walked past the Snow Museum as well as the Ice Lounge. The temperature was so low that mugs made out of ice were used to serve drinks! Even the tables were made of ice, which was pretty interesting!

As Baby had researched, Japanese Soup Curry was a specialty in Hokkaido. It is an iconic soul food of Hokkaido! We visited Soup Curry Shaba Kura (スープカレーしゃば蔵) which was located at Odori Park for our late lunch.