A miserable start to my Hokkaido trip! ๐ฏ๐ต
Well, miserable morning here today, but doesn’t matter cuz I’m getting out here and getting to an equally miserable Hakodate according to the weather. Going to have to pick up an umbrella when I get to Hakadate, I think. So, there’s a break in the rain now. Um, I’m going to try and get to the ferry terminal as soon as I can just to get away from the rain really, just to have shelter. Now all the way up is the shopping um the arcade and that’s all sheltered so don’t have to worry about that. But the problem is when I get to the Elmore train station it’s after that going to the it’s another 20-minute walk from there. So after that it’s um not sheltered I don’t think. So I’ll get there before the rain starts again I hope. No I have plenty of time actually um to make it there but that’s intentional because of the rain. I decided to leave a bit earlier because I knew that in the time that I’m getting to the ferry, the rain will start if I left a bit later. So, um, intentionally went early. So, I’m going to grab coffee now, though. Can always spare a bit of time for that. Is that 7-Eleven? Yes. Okay. Coffee time. The next train to Hiroaki via platform. So, made it to the train station. [Applause] I’ve made it to the train station. Got me coffee. Hasn’t rained yet. Um, anyway, I’ve sheltered all the way here. But the next part is the part I’m more worried about. Well, should look what’s a bit of rain. It’s not going to kill me. There is a secondhand shop on the way. I’m tempted to check it out if I’ve got time just to see if there’s any video games, but there’s no guarantee. I’ll video it if I go there. Well, I made it to the ferry. I just checked out the secondhand shop, but like I expected, they um didn’t have anything. Those second street shops, usually the electronic section, you might find a few DVD players or couple of like kids DVDs. It was worth just checking out in case you get little jackpot when you’re in there. So, I don’t know if that’s my furry or not. It might be. Um but I have me reservation number. So, going to go in to the main area and find out. Well, that was easy. Maybe 1 minute. Just had to write my name on the piece of paper. I already had a reservation number. Um, so in half an hour, I can board it. Um, so yeah, it’s not the big boat that I saw coming in. Smaller one, but it doesn’t make a difference. It’s all the same, isn’t it? Once I can sit down and uh rest. The only thing is if there’s a smaller one, I’m not sure if they’ve got a shop on board. I think they do, but I’m not 100% sure. Might have to get something. There’s a Family Mart here. So, I checked uh the boat on Google. It gives you on their website, it tells you the facilities that it has. Um it has a vending machine for drinks and noodles. So, I have water. It’s a family mirth here. So, I said, you know what? I’ll just go in there and get a bit of filled. So, I got a oniri and some chocolate almonds. I mean, it is a three-hour journey, so might as well just get something to snack on in between sleeping. That’s where I’m going. Those dark clouds. Wind is picking up. Rain has started. To be honest, I’m not sure what me sea legs are like, especially if it’s choppy out there. I think these boats are big enough to kind of minimize the effect of it, aren’t they? Like, these waves are probably nothing for something like this. That’s what I’m hoping. Well, weather forecast was right, so can’t say I didn’t expect it. Here we go. It’s not so bad. Passenger rooms upstairs. Barrierfree seats for old people and wheelchair users. Vending machine. Not bad. Not bad. Comfortable chairs. Chairs are good. Now, on the other side of the stairs, um I took a right, but on the left there’s a tatami room, so people are lying down having a rest. Didn’t film it because they’re lying down, you know. Um but it’s pretty good. So, if you do want to have a nap, you can just pop in, lie down instead of falling asleep in a chair like this. It’s not bad. Pretty good. โฌ11 3 and 1 half hours. If I get hungry again, I’ll just get noodles. It’s raining pretty heavy. Well, what a start to my journey in Hokkaido. Oh my god, the rain, the wind. I had to buy this umbrella. Oh, it’s a nightmare. Good thing this umbrella is strong. They’re anti- wind or whatever. Um Oh, horrible. And the like the sidewalks and stuff like that. It’s just potholes. It’s just puddles everywhere. Oh, that’s terrible. What a start, huh? I’m soaked. I had to get to 7-Eleven from uh from the uh ferry port and just getting there like the like it was only a 5m minute walk. I was absolutely drenched. Well, I’m underneath some kind of an overpass now. Is it bad? If I say that, I’m already fed up. Oh god, I know. No, I’m not. But it’s a very bad start. Very, very bad start, not going to lie. Uh, the only slight positive I can take from it is that the cars are not aggressive driving through puddles. They’re kind of they go very, very slow. So that’s nice of them considering to be honest I can deal with the rain with the umbrella. It’s the wind that comes along. It’s just gusts of it coming from the ocean there. But when it comes along like I have to hold me umbrella with two hands. It’s that bad. You know it’s always nice to have somebody to believe in you, right? But I didn’t really think that I needed Google to tell me that I should walk over there and attempt to swim over here because that’s where it led me. So I had to do a Uturn, walk about 15 minutes and come up here onto an open space. I’m almost at the end of it. [Applause] And you know, if I wanted to get to Hokkaido station, I would have had to first walk to another station that was north of um the ferry port. But like the amount of time it took to get to that one, it was the same as walking to Hokkaido station. And then I’ve got like a 15minute walk from there to the hotel. So man, this wind honestly You know what? I’m almost there now. This lovely red brick building area. It’s like a warehouses. Um, but I’d like to apologize to Hakodate and to Hokkaido. I was just frustrated that it was raining. And the footpaths are not that bad. They were just not great at the fairy park. I guess that’s from all the trucks coming in. But apart from that, it actually is quite lovely. That’s lovely except for the weather. But look, I’m here now. You know that the worst part is over. I hope. So, almost at the hotel. Going to check in now and get a few things sorted. So, I’ll be I’ll be back. Don’t worry. Look at this place though. Burgers. Hamburger. Lucky Pierro. Guess this is a popular place. So, all checked in. I’m in there. Um, terrace and kitchen upstairs. Shower down there. Rest and relaxing area up here, too. It’s pretty good, actually. It’s not bad. Um, might take a little trip down to the convenience store because there’s one called Seiko Mart that’s only in Hokkaido, no other part of Japan. I just walked up to the kitchen. It has like a terrace area, but pretty good view, isn’t it? That’s where I came from. This way, the red bricks. It’s pretty nice. I’d say in summertime. Unfortunately, I’m not here in bloody summertime, so I have to make the most of it. So, they’ve turned the warehouses into like a little shopping arcade. Pastries and stuff. You got all creps shop ice cream. Back out into the rain. It’s not raining at the moment. It’s got a nice little atmosphere here. Do you know what it feels like? It feels like a Christmas market. Do you know that? It’s It’s weird. And it’s obviously it’s not Christmasy, but it just has that kind of a feeling to it. All the little shops and stuff. So, since I’ve already criticized Hokkaido and then apologized for criticizing it, let’s talk a little bit about Hokkaido. So, the island of Hokkaido up until 1869, apart from the southern tip where I am was inhabited just by the Anu people. And it wasn’t until 1869 when the Maji restoration was happening in Japan that the Japanese came to Hokkaido and they annexed and colonized the island and they forced the AU people to spread out onto Honchu, the main island of Japan and forced them to integrate into Japanese culture. Apparently, a lot of people that have I knew heritage don’t actually know an awful lot about their heritage, which I find a little bit sad. Um, but that was Japan back then. Now, Hokkaido itself is very popular in Japan for its dairy products. So, it’s milk, it’s cheese, it’s cream. And one of the things that I want to get while I’m here, I’m not sure if they sell it in Seikko Mark, the local uh the Hokkaido um convenience store, but they have a cheese flavored ice cream. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking cheese flavored? But from what I’ve read online, apparently it just kind of it’s very mild. It’s kind of like a cheesecake flavor. So, if I can find it, I’m definitely going to get some even though it’s bloody cold today. I think at the moment they said it feels like 2ยฐ. So, it is pretty chilly. It’s probably too cold for ice cream, but if I come across it, I’ll pick it up. I have found Seiko Mart. Let’s have a little look inside. I’m just instantly greeted with cakes and things filled with Hocado Cream. This looks nice. Although it’s cheese bread, but still it looks very nice. Bread is my sweet cheese. Chocolate cake cross on with a cream. Found it. I’m going to get it. I will get it. But I’m going to have a little look around still. So in Japan, although a lot of the sandwiches that you see have no crust, they use them and they turn them into sweets. You got sugar crust, caramel, apple, maple. Well, apple in the back. Maple here. Is this cheese or is it just butter? I don’t actually know. It looks nice though. Okay, then let’s try the cheese ice cream. Doesn’t smell like cheese. Oh, it actually just tastes like cheesecake. Oh my god, that is good. Oh, it’s so creamy. It’s like if you have cheesecake without the the base. My god, the packaging now. Looked like a block of cheese, not going to lie. But this is good. I also got a bag of um crust bread crust. Impressed. You don’t knock it till you try the crust from the bread. I got the maple one. It’s so tasty. It’s like eating biscuits, but maple flavored small, very crunchy biscuits. Oh, might be my favorite convenience store now. You can only get them. That’s their brand. It’s Seart’s brand. Oh, so tasty. I’m going to be full after that, though. That’s a lot of bread. I just came across this church. Well, I don’t mean I just came across it. I had ramen. Um, just normal ramen. Nothing I mean it was very tasty, but I mean it was nothing special for the region. Tomorrow I’ll have the sweet corn ramen. But just came up here and there was three churches when I turned the corner. So I said, you know, I’ll just take a little walk up the hill. Well, it’s not it’s 5 minute walk from my hotel. So, it’s not as if it’s out the way really. I just want to come up and have a look at it. It looks big like it’s a big building, but it’s it’s small inside, you know? It’s just the the look of it. It looks like it’s towering over everything from above or well from below, but it looks like it’s towering from above. So, I have a plan for tomorrow. you know, I go check out a park that’s near the main train station. A lot of it still depends on the weather though, you know, cuz you don’t want to be walking around the park if it’s belt and rain. Um, but that is kind of my plan for tomorrow. I think um the day after is supposed to be a bit better the weather, so I might do a little hike if that’s the case on Tuesday. Not 100% sure though. It’s still the same thing. It just depends all on the weather. It’s just been a bad start in Hokkaido. Been quite unlucky, but that’s what happens when you come north. The colder weather hasn’t fully gone yet. Um, so I’m just back at the hotel now. Going to head in, have a shower, and relax. So, I’ll catch you tomorrow. Wasn’t the most eventful day, but it was a day.
What better way to be greeted to Hokkaido than by pouring rain, gusts of wind and wet shoes ๐
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