Rabu, 19 Februari 2020

Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond



Since I decided to visit Hokkaido on this trip, Furano & Biei has been on the top list of my itinerary. From the first time I looked at the pictures of Farm Tomita and Shikisai No Oka, I was sold. So here goes my day trip to Furano & Biei.

I researched here and there, and I found out that it was quite a hassle to visit most spot on both cities by public transportation, the best option should be taxi or car rental which will cost quite a lot. When I looked up for places to stay around Furano, there wasn't many options either. But since I already made up my mind to visit those places, I tried to look for another option. And this was the best option I could find (you might want to note this): Hokkaido Chuo Sightseeing Bus!

Hokkaido Chuo Bus run by reservation to various famous sightseeing spots. They have various courses which might be different for each season. And the good news was, they had the course which included the spots I've been wanting to visit. You could reserve right through the web from the link above, or you could check another travel web like Klook - where I booked the same course for cheaper price because of the ongoing discount code at that time.


The day trip started from the Sapporo Station Bus Terminal, that's why I mentioned that staying nearby the station was one of the best option. I just have to walk for a few minutes to get here and waiting for the departure time.


It was mentioned that the departure time was 8.40 AM - and the bus really headed off at 8.40! So, don't even think of being late for a minute cause they'll leave you like that. I love Japanese punctuality!

So the bus was like a regular bus, and you gotta sit at the destined number on your ticket. Each seat got a headphone which you could set to the language of your choice (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English). There was a driver and a Japanese speaking - bus assistant, but you can wear the headphone to listen to the audio guidance system which helped me a lot during the trip. It was really nice to look around the scenery while listening to the interesting story about the places, also several other stories about Hokkaido and its specialties.

So the course I chose was the [O] course which was available until October 14th last year. The highlight of the course was Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka and Aoi Ike (Blue Pond). For JPY 7,400 (the price listed on the web), other than the day tour itself, lunch was also provided. Actually this course is best traveled around summer, best time to visit Hokkaido for flowers sightseeing. The turn down of visiting this course on October was the weather. It was rainy and cloudy the whole day.


After two hours and a half, we arrived at the first stop, Campana Rokkatei. Rokkatei is a famous confectionery in Hokkaido with over 70 shops all over the island, and Campana Rokkatei in Furano is one of them. This place is located in the middle of a vineyard, and here you could shop for Rokkatei's best product like Marusei Butter Sand or enjoy some desserts with a view. We were only given 20 minutes at this stop, so I didn't do much here. I didn't shop here also, cause you could also find their products in their shops in Sapporo.


From Campana Rokkatei, we headed to Furano Wine House for lunch, which was already included in the tour package. Though it was cloudy and rainy, we were so thrilled to witness the beautiful rainbow on our way. Way too beautiful.


Both Campana Rokkatei and Furano Wine House locations were kinda in the middle of nowhere. So, I guessed most of the customers for these places were day tour tourist like us.


The restaurant was nice and cozy. When the weather is unfriendly outside, being indoor is the best option.


Since the lunch is included in the package, there was only one option for all the tour participants. We were served a plate of cheese fondue each, and also rice with beef hamburg. You could also choose between coffee or tea for the beverage. Well, Japan is an Asia country anyway, where you eat your steak with rice, haha! No complain about the lunch, It was quite satisfying and fulfilling.



Next stop was Farm Tomita. This flower farm is famous for their lavender flowers, they even got a shop with various lavender products, and snack stalls that also sells lavender taste food, like the lavender ice cream. 


Since October was not a perfect month for flower sightseeing, I already expected that some area would be flowerless. But you could still witness some colorful part of the farm. It was still beautiful!



From Furano, we headed to Biei - the neighbouring city. Our first stop in Biei Was Shikisai No Oka. Here, you could witness a carpeted-like hill garden, and also dozens of sunflowers. Since the sky was cloudy, the sunflowers looked down to the ground. Well, visiting flower farms on Fall is not the best option anyway, but I didn't regret it.


Our last stop that day was Shirogane Blue Pond (Aoi Ike). Blue Pond is just one of a number of ponds that were artificially born as a by-product of said construction of a dam constructed on Biei River which was intended to prevent the destructive effect of volcanic mudflow when Mount Tokachi erupted in 1988. The pond displays various hues of blue depending on the season and the weather, and it was a bit greyish and greenish the day I came, maybe because of the gloomy weather.



So, was the day tour worth it? Yes it was! As I said before, most of the locations were not easily accessed by public transportation, and they were in the middle of nowhere. So I think day tour is the best option to visit these places! Second, well yes, these places are best visited on summer. I might want to visit again if one day I visited Hokkaido on a summer day.

A highlight video:
PS: Yeah I know, I need to invest on a stabilizer.


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JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Otaru: The Serene and Charming City of Hokkaido
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go


JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015
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Selasa, 04 Februari 2020

Sapporo: The Food Journal


Let me share my Sapporo food diary with you all. Actually, I'm not really ambitious with food when I'm on a trip. I do look for references but I don't always stick to them. Care to follow my Sapporo food journey? Let's!

The top three food you must try in Sapporo are: Sapporo style miso ramen, soup curry, and jingisukan (grilled mutton). Initially I wanna try all of them, but I gotta miss Jingisukan on this trip. Restaurants those are selling these dishes could be easily found all around the city, especially around Susukino area.

There's quite a list for the best miso ramen in Sapporo, and it's impossible to try all of them. So the first one on my Sapporo food diary will be this place.

1. Ramen Shingen (らーめん信玄)

Located within walking distance from Susukino Station, Ramen Shingen is one of the most mentioned ramen place when you search on 'ramen + sapporo'. Just follow your Google Maps direction and you will easilly spot this place.


It was odd hour when I came to this place so there was no queue at the time. I think most queue happens at popular Japanese because there are only a few seats available at the place. Ramen Shingen catered only 8-10 people at a time, so it won't be strange to have queue at this place around lunch/dinner time.


I think this place is popular both with locals and tourists. At the time, I spotted more locals slurping into their bowl of ramen. I ordered their Shinshu (tasty miso) Ramen for JPY 800. The portion was adequate. 


I'm not really familiar with this Sapporo style ramen, the broth got a strong miso hint and was not as thick and savory as my favorite tonkotsu broth, but it was still enjoyable. For the noodle, they used the curly and springy noodle. To my surprise, the egg was fully boiled, for I thought half boiled egg is a must for ramen, but I was wrong. Well anyway, this bowl would be nicer if they use half boiled egg.


2. Kinotoya Bake (ポールタウン店)
Location: Sapporo Station


Hokkaido baked cheese tart is quite common since there are a few brands those sell this yummy tart in Jakarta, so I need to try this cheese tart from its origin place. From what I found, Kinotoya is one of the most famous brand for this cheese tart, and since I stayed nearby Sapporo Station, I just had to walk for a short distance to get my cheese tarts.


We bought half dozen of these tarts for JPY 1,080. These tarts are best enjoyed when they are still warm. The tart itself was sweet and crispy, the cheese cream was gooey, creamy, and cheestastic!

3.  Tokachi-butadon Ippin (十勝豚丼いっぴん)
Location: Sapporo Stellar Place - Sapporo Station


Since we did some day trips from Sapporo, we usually went back to Sapporo around the afternoon and since we were tired, we just looked from some dining option around the Station. Thank God the malls around the stations are filled with great and interesting restaurants. This time we visited Tokachi-butadon Ippin at Stellar Place. We need to wait for a while to get seated since the place was quite packed.


How they grilled the pork was an interesting sight. They use hairdryer instead of a fan. You could order your Butadon with lotsa options: small portion of rice, normal portion of rice with extra meat, small portion of rice with half meat and so on. I ordered Butadon Special (more meat) for JPY 1,210.


I thought the meat would be the fatty one, but it wasn't. The meat was thick and almost fat free - well I like the fatty one better - very well grilled with strong smoky aroma. And why do Japanese rice taste that good!

4.  Sapporo Ramen Kyowakoku (札幌らーめん共和国)
Location: Esta - Sapporo Station

This one was a random pick after another day trip. We headed to the 10th floor of Esta and found this ramen theme park. We really didn't know which ramen place to pick and we just picked the one with the longest queue.


Can somebody translate the name of this place?



I tried their Miso Ramen with Flavoured Egg (JPY 960). It was a hearty bowl of ramen, and the broh was a bit gingery.


5. Gyoza Ohsho (餃子の王将)
Location: Susukino

We had dinner quite late that day, it was Saturday Night, and Susukino was filled with people. We entered this restaurant after looking at their food models on the display.


This place is called Gyoza Ohsho and it turned to be a famous Chinese food chains in Japan. No wonder we were tempted by the food models, for Chinese food is hard to resist.


Some of the menu came in package, so when we ordered the Fried Rice, it came with Gyoza and Egg Soup as a set. We also ordered a small portion of stir fried Vegetables and Sweet and Sour Pork as extras. What's good about this place is that, they do serve in small portion. So it won't matter if you come alone and crave for a few dishes, since usually Chinese dish comes in a huge portion.


The food here was also affordable, we did not spend more than JPY 1,000 (or maybe just a bit more) for the food above.

6. Soup Curry King (セントラル)
Location: Nearby Susukino


I did not expect much from Soup Curry though it is a must-try food in Sapporo, people said. It was my last night in Sapporo and finally I gave this dish a try. There are many Soup Curry restaurants in town, but I picked Soup Curry King for it was one of the closest one from where I spent my afternoon that day.


I ordered Beef Vegetable one (JPY 1,450). It came with a plate of yellowish rice which was fragrant and a bit savory and a bowl of colorful vegetables and meat in yellow curry soup. How good this dish would be? I thought...


It was so good! The meat was tender, the veggies were well cooked, and the curry was amazing! I never tried this kind of taste before. It wasn't like the ordinary curry, it was rich, savory, a bit spicy and addictive. It was around 5°C outside the building and this bowl of Soup Curry warmed me from the inside out. My favorite dish in Sapporo so far!

7. Ebiten Bunten (蛯天分店)

Around 10 minutes from the heart of Susukino and you'll find this place. The place was a bit hidden that we were confused at first, we have arrived according to the map but we found no restaurant around.  After a while we managed to find this tempura place.

Just across this place is Baristart, a popular coffee shop in Sapporo.


If you see this orange cloth sign across Baristart, then you're at the right place.


The restaurant itself was humble and homey yet convincing.


Got myself a set of Tempura Rice Bowl (JPY 800) that came with a bowl of miso soup and yellow radish pickle. What confused us was, our meal came quite a while after we order, and came alongside with other tables order (they came much later after we arrived).


The tempura batter was awesome, it was not that thick and that oily, and the crunchiness was just right. The rice was also so good and the seasoning was just right, sweet, but not too much. The prawn was plump and chewy, overall this dish was just right.


8. Seicomart
Location: All over Hokkaido

I've been to 7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, Daily Yamazaki plenty of time,but Seicomart was new to me. It turned out that Seicomart was a Hokkaido-born convenience store, no wonder I came across this konbini for the first time here.

What's so special about Seicomart is, you could find fresh and unique Hokkaido specialties here. Cheese, salmon jerky, Hokkaido cheese/melon ice cream are a few items you could find here.


Got myself these Snow Brand cheese products - the string cheese was addictive.


And where else could I get this Hokkaido Cheese Ice Cream. It was cold in Hokkaido but it won't stop me from having this cheese ice cream.


Their ready to go food selections were also great. I tried a few and I gotta approve them. They were comparable to restaurant dishes.

So when in Hokkaido, you gotta stop at Secoma!

Bonus: Ishiya Hokkaido Chocolate Drink

You won't find this drink at konbini, but you could find this drink at some souvenir shops.
Verdict: it is for those, who love their chocolate drink super creamy and sweet.



Next on the blog: Furano-Biei, Otaru, and Hakodate.

-------
JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Otaru: The Serene and Charming City of Hokkaido
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go


JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015
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