Hakodate - 1 May 2017 Day 2

G and P from Singapore were guests with us at the Airbnb in Hakodate but we found out that their plans were turned upside down as G forgot to apply his driving licence. He could not rent a car in Hakkoido and had to rely on public transport. 

We offered to fetch them around with us to visit places at Hakodate. Our first stop - Hakodate morning market.

On the way there we saw an elderly man picking up rubbish from the road! Talk about civic consciousness. The Japanese people have such great respect for their property and facilities.

Morning market at Hakodate

Parking was inexpensive and we found a parking near the market. We browsed around the stalls and took photos with the gigantic snow crabs. The meat appear to be in legs.

Spoiled for choice we decided on the food court at the morning market. I was so intrigued by the green tea latte and decided to try it. It turned out to be best I have ever drank. P told us that any drinks or ice-cream made with Hakkoido fresh milk is simply delicious. I had to test it out. It was delicious.

There were also lots of samplings at the market although some of stuff appear to be raw and gooey and definitely not something I will buy to bring home.

G and P were so grateful to us for taking them around that they paid our drinks and also treated us to lunch at Lucky Pierrot, a popular fast food franchise in Japan (at the Red Bricks Warehouse area) - a shopping area at downtown Hakodate.

Goryokaku cherry blossoms park

Next stop we decided to visit the famous Michimoto Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Known for their beauty, it was a photo-stop worth the visit. On top the garden of the Greek Orthodox Church, we could see the amazing view of Hakodate and also the Pacific ocean coastline.

Next the beautiful cherry blossoms park near the Goryokaku Tower was so beautiful that we could only look at them and sigh in wonder. Truly one of God's beautiful creation. The cherry blossoms were delicately beautiful just like our life.

We are as fragile as the cherry blossoms yet we should bloom like them in our time and season. They top almost everything we had ever seen. The cherry blossoms trees grow for only a week in Hakodate and then die off the next week. In Hakodate, they bloom in the first week of May. In different parts of Japan they bloom at different times. This was what I had come to see - the sakuras!

The whole park was a canopy of cherry blossoms trees. They seem to go on forever and ever. There was a also a lovely canal for people to go boating. Photo opportunities posing with the trees were irresistible. The flowers were in full bloom. Many Japanese picnicked under the trees with rented stove and food. 

It was simply beautiful. The park was to be the best cherry blossom park we have ever seen (although I have not seen such a sight until now). We were later to see more cherry blossoms in Sapporo but not on the scale that we saw at Goryakako. We even saw a couple taking their wedding photos at the park. 

Red Brick Warehouse

A told us that the Warehouse was a must see in Hakodate. We decided to make it the next stop. We chose to have lunch at a burger joint called Lucky Pierrot. 

We were later to see many such joints in Hakodate some very near one another. The burger, curry rice and drinks were scrumptious and healthy to eat but portions were really big. Indeed they meant to be shared as the Japanese waitress told us.

The Warehouses consists of small stalls selling traditional Japanese stuff such as as boots, clothes, bags, clothes, scarfs and little knick-knacks.

At one of the stall, we decided to try the rose ice-cream delicately sharped like a rose. Beautiful to look at and even more tasty to eat.

It was here that we parted with G and P as we had to make the long journey to Kutchan, Niseko a popular resort near snow capped mountains.

For dinner, we stopped at Siecomart to buy prepacked food such as ramen, rice, friend chicken to eat at the lodge. 

It was a long journey and we only reached at night. We had to use google map before we found the place in Kutchan. The host was a friendly Australian guy (Rhys) who came to Japan and loved it so much that he stayed on operating the lodge. 

He was very friendly and on his recommendation we made a trip to the local onsen for a hot spring bath. T had to join the men in the men's onsen but he chose to dip indoors.

A and I were the only ladies in the onsen. We felt shy to strip down to nothing so A went to the outdoor onsen and I stayed at the indoor onsen. At the onsen, we also took advantage of the free massage (massage chair) that was simply awesome. All our body aches fell away!

Rhys place turned out to be a lodge with many foreign guests such as Australians, Americans, a British guy from Manchester who made his own sushi for dinner (ate it with wasabi too) and also Japanese. This was really like a hostel for young people and most of the guests were around A's age range (20s). Some have lodged (Kara) more than 2 weeks. A had a great time chit chatting with them. She was having the time of her life!

The key highlights in Kutchan are the skiing, snowboarding, gondola riding, ropeway or cable cars. Although it was spring, snow was still on the mountain. Yoichi-yama (yama meaning mountain) loomed majestically in the landscape. I heard that the snow was soft like shaved ice making it difficult to walk. The only time I had played with snow was in Switzerland but the snow was very hard and slippery. Here A told me that the snow was very soft and if you do not slide down the snow, you will find it extremely difficult to walk.

I decided to stay in the warmth of the lodge as I felt that I was not properly attired. No boots, gloves, beanies or warm clothes. Spent the whole morning reading the Bible and praying!

They came back in the afternoon and we then checked out of the lodge to our next stop Otaru.

End of day 2.

Hokkaido holiday -30 April to 8 May 2017

30 April 2017
Sunday

We were really looking forward to a wonderful Hokkaido holiday. A came with us as the last trip to Japan ended in disaster. She came down with severe dengue and had to break her trip mid-way to come back to Malaysia to be treated. The Japanese doctor had no idea how to treat dengue! 

On Sunday morning we touched down at Chitose in the morning and took a bus to Poplar to collect our Toyota. The car was spacious and was able to carry our 3 big bags.

Tim spent some time with the Japanese young man  working at Toyota rental asking him to key in all the GPS for our 7 day destinations! I really marvel at the patience of the young man. I think we must have spent over 4 hours at Toyota. As it turned out, we could use our Google map and even Waze to direct us to our scheduled destinations!

Car rental was about RM2k for the 7 day 8 night trip. It was supposed to be a shorter trip but the airline had to change our flight from Saturday to Monday. Needless to say we were to be well compensated for the delay.

After getting all the destinations keyed in we travelled to Lake Toya as the first destination. We had lunch along the way. At the first rest stop, we bought curry rice, sushi and cup noodles to eat. It was extremely cold. I could feel the cold entering my bones. I had to buy socks and gloves for the protection from the cold. Maybe it was about 10 degrees celsius...brr...brr....Another thing about Japanese highway rest stops. Usually there is only one shopping mart and you can find everything there especially pre-packed warm food - yummy!

Lake Toya is a beautiful lake in Hakodate. We stopped at the Hotel at Lake Toya to take some lovely pictures of the lake.

I bought a white scarf for my neck at the shop located in the Hotel for 2k yen but lost it at one of the Airbnb. Until today, the host has not responded to me despite me sending her an email to check on this.

We then followed the GPS to our first lodging for the night at Hakodate. As it was dark and the roads were dimly lighted, it was quite a challenge to find Yuki's place in the middle of nowhere off the wind-swept roads of Hakodate. Hakodate is near the Pacific ocean. Travelling on the road fronting the ocean was an awesome experience. We saw ocean breakers in the form of cement blocks to keep the violent waves out. There did not seem to be anyone about like a ghost town.

Unfortunately we could not find Yuki's place and had to knock on doors. The first person who guided us was drunk (could smell liquor in the mouth). She took us back to the main road and refused to take us to the house as she said there was a police station nearby. The second couple ran a small shop. They did not allow us to use their phone. 

Finally we had to go to the police station and asked the policeman to take us to the house. So our first day we had police escort to Yuki's place!

Finally we found the place! Praise the Lord! The lady running the place had switched off all the lights as she had to go to the airport, that was why we could not locate it in the first place.

We then went out to look for food. We found a nice Japanese eatery down the wind-swept road and had ramen all around. It was cold and the warm soup lighted us up. 

After dinner, we decided to go up to Mount Hakodate to view the night view as it has been listed as one of the things to do in Hakodate. We asked for help and guidance from the restaurant workers and were able to use our google map to Mount Hakodate. That's when we found out that google map and waze can also be used in Japan and was also as good as the car GPS!

Unfortunately we were not allowed to go up by the policemen guarding the entrance to the mountain.

We then went back to the house and met up with some guests staying the night:

1. David, an Indonesian studying at Osaka Uni
2. Pearlyn & Gavin, Singaporeans who forgot to apply their international driving licence and had to find their way to the house by private car/taxi!

The house was nice and warm but with so many rooms, one toilet to wash and shower was really insufficient. We had a good sleep though.

End of day one.

Selong Belanak, Kuta beach and Tanjung Aan

It was the last day of our wonderful holiday at Lombok.

I had banana pancake for breakfast but could not finish it. By far not the best breakfast as the pancake was tasteless although the bananas were good.

Pak E took us luggage and all to Selong Belanak where the girls wanted to go for surfing lessons. All in it would cost us 500k per taxi for 4 people including a whole day charter to the airport.

Took us about 1 hour plus to reach this beautiful beach enclave. Today we saw a group of buffalos being herded across the beach - truly picture worthy. The same kind of relaxing and peaceful feeling washed over me while at this beach.

The girls negotiated 300k for an hour of surfing lessons. I had a lovely roast jagung on the beach.

Meantime T managed to talk Pak E into driving him to Kuta beach and Tanjung Aan. After an hour of talking and talking, Pak E agreed. I also went along.

Easily the most beautiful beach in the world. This waters on this beach is a  brilliant azure blue. It was so electrifying that I had to kept a distance to admire its beauty. However when I look at some pictures of the place I realized that most of them did not look as blue as I saw the waters that day.

Perhaps the day I was there it was so unusually blue, it was surreal. So few people were swimming. There were at least 3 ladies trying to sell me some materials. So hard trying to keep ignoring them.

I was glad there were no vendors at Selong Belanak. Apparently no vendors are allowed as Selong Belanak is a place to thoroughly relaxed. More like a ruling imposed to keep the Westerners coming.

Next we went to Kuta beach, not as beautiful as Tanjung Aan but still sandy and white beach were so soft to walk on.

Finally Pak E took us back to Selong Belanak. The girls asked to go to Ashtari for lunch (we were not too happy to eat with the flies swarming on our food).

Ashtari is a high-class restaurant built by a French owner. Yoga classes are held at the basement facing the ocean and mountains. Ashtari beautiful balconies gave us a wonderful view of the mountains and the sea.

The girls ordered chips and focaccia sandwich. T and I had soto ayam. Good food and good scenery.

 We ended the holidays so satisfied and happy.

Lombok is definitely a gem of an island but I am not sure that I will return again....

Thanks A for blessing mum and dad with the wonderful hotel stay. God bless you!

The plane ride back home was uneventful as the weather was superbly clear!

Monday at Lombok

I opted for a tour of the pottery and weaving factories in Lombok. Turned out to be too commercialized. We spent about half an hour at the pottery factory but did not see much of pottery making save for many finished products put out to sale.

We then made our way to the weaving factory. Elderly ladies sit for 8 hours a day earning 15k rupiah to weave beautiful materials using colorful threads. I really could not buy anything as I did not know what to with the materials. Gave the young man about 10 k rupiah for showing us around.

Still with time to spare we visited the Selong Belanak beach. This beautiful beach does not have seem to have an outstanding entrance but once we entered the enclave we saw a stunning bay with emerald green waters and gentle waves. In a half moon circular shape, cabanas were placed all over the beach. Many foreigners wait for the waves to surf. Out in the sea, we saw mountains jutting out. It was really one of the loveliest beaches I have ever been to. We had our lunch there although there were lots of flies sharing our lunch. I had roast chicken with maggi noodles while T had noodles and eggs. It rained and we stayed there for a while.  I had to pay 5k to use the toilet but I guess if I was signed up to surf, the usage would be free.

After the rain we left for the Sasak village in Lombok. The nicest places was the visit to the Sasak village. This is just not a display but an actual village of 800 of the Sasak people, a Lombok orang asal tribe. The guide could speak good English showed us around the houses. Closed together with narrow paths between them, we were able to immerse ourselves in the Sasak culture.

The orang Sasak do not have engagements but they kidnap their wives. To be engaged is an affront to their elders. If they want to marry a girl they kidnap her. Girls as young as 15 are kidnapped by their cousins and married off. Bride price is about 200k. Outsiders have to give 2 buffalos for the bride price.

Once married, they stay in a small house for their honeymoon period. Later they will build a Sasak traditional house with more space for their bride. All the internal structure of the Sasak house look the same. However there appears to be a space for women to give birth (not hospitals). The local midwife attend to the birthing.

What a quaint culture but really fascinating. We bought a bag, a t-shirt and a piece of beautifully woven Sasak cloth. The quality of it is unmistakable.

Pak E took us to Orchid near our Resort and we had another good massage. We had dinner at Happy Cafe.

The girls went their separate way the whole day hiking and also went up to the mountains for a good view of Lombok at night at a hillside cafe.

A great day but sadly my Samsung S7 still refused to charge.....praying...praying....

Gili islands

2nd day at Lombok and its a Sunday.

Almost felt like just going to church and Mataram Mall (biggest mall in Mataram, capital of Lombok) but decided to hang out and chill with family to the Gili islands. Although predominantly Muslim, Pak E told us that there are churches and temples and all religions can be worshipped freely on the island.

Coming back to the boat trip, it was priced at 850k rupiah (about RM65) for 4 on a private boat thus it is a steal and a bargain. 

Breakfast was lovely poached eggs and bread at Mama Bella and orange juice before the outing. There were also omelette, fried eggs, fruits and pancakes...

As for the boat trip, we certainly we did not expect a big boat or ferry but I was a bit disappointed as there were no drinking water or towels on board or even sea-sick pills. Now I know why it is so cheap. A boat ride in Phuket would have cost RM200 per person but with a lot more frills thrown in. And the boat to Phuket felt safer....although T assured me that the 2 sides of the boats with huge 'legs' kept the speedboat stable.

It was a private boat but I must admit that I got a bit scared. Firstly - I thought of pirates roaming the seas and coming to kidnap us - I prayed really hard against that.

Secondly - it rained heavily on the way to Gili and we were soaking wet. The waves were rough and tumble and I had on my life jacket. Although the family assured me that the boat would not overturn....I decided that it was better be safe than sorry as I could not swim.

One hour plus and the boatman's 10 minutes became like 30 minutes (I realized that this is how the locals estimate time as most do not wear a watch). The sea-sickness, tossing and turning made me sick. However lying down on the side of the open air boat helped relieved me of being sea-sick!

Finally Gili...but what I feared came to pass. I could not possibly jump from the boat to the beach as I had on my braces due to my knee pain. I spied a wooden ladder in the boat and asked the boatman to latch it to the side of the boat. Really wondered why he did not offer it to me in the first place? That was how I got off and on the boat with a wooden ladder but I could not avoid getting the feet wet. Thankfully the braces were intact.

Gili Trawangan is the biggest of the Gili islands. It has a main street with horse carts fetching tourists (so many white tourists that for a moment I thought I was in Australia or somewhere in Europe) and many shops selling tourist stuff. According to a young man manning a 1 million rupiah a night private villa, the local folks stay interland and there are more houses, schools and roads but all make use of motorbikes or horse carts to move around.

I bought a sunglass and an XL swimsuit from Billabong (the big size swimsuit is certainly not available in the shops I have been to in Malaysia or could it be that I do not have the time to shop back home). We opted to have lunch at Gili Meno (which I called Gili 2). Gili Trawangan is the biggest followed by Gili Meno and Gili Air.

The children saw a big turtle swimming underwater. He just could not be bothered with them.

Only mode of transport on Gili islands

Main street - many places party till dawn

According to the boatman, there are parties every night on Gili 1 (Gili Trawangan). Yes, I could smell the smell of cigarettes and wines and see the open bars with huge screens. Truly a party place for partying till dawn.

At Gili 2, we had a good lunch of bbq fish and curry creamy tofu and tempe. Sadly the bbq fish came raw inside but the nice waiters brought us a replacement dish. A had a lovely noodle soup for lunch and the other daughter had burgers and chips. No flies swarm the place.

We saw many tourists chilling out on cabanas. Hawkers were everywhere but you cannot blame us for not helping the industry as A bought a beautiful scarf from one of them. Remember to bargain though....

At Gili 2, the children and T went snorkelling. I tested my Samsung S7 and put it underwater using the selfie stick. Took some beautiful pictures of corals but my phone was wet. Would it be able to function after I have taken the pictures? Sadly it could not charge using the USB port when I got back to the resort. I borrowed a hair-dryer to dry, it still did not work. My staff asked me to let it rest a day or two so I switched it off as I was losing battery power.....I must complain to Samsung on this.

I just stayed on board and admired the corals. Waters were so clear and I could see right through it but quaintly no fishes....
We also went to Gili 3 and snorkel some more. Me....I stayed on board the safety of the boat and admired the pristine waters and the lovely corals. 

Got back to Lombok about 5 in the evening and went to Hallo massage. For 75k we had a one hour full body massage. The knee pain left me right after that. Hallelujah.

We took a horse cart back to Mama Bella and had take-out again from the same cafe. I just wondered whether they have other kind of noodles than maggi noodles....really miss Malaysian food...even the satay sauce here tastes different having being made with peanut butter! Really miss my teh tarik and assam laksa.

Lombok - October 22 - 25 - Saturday @ Mama Bella

Praise God for our eldest daughter. She offered to pay for our lodging in Lombok for our annual family holidays so we took up the offer!
 As a family we would normally plan a family holiday together to chill and hang out together.

We took off in the morning to a bumpy ride in the air (bad weather). T & I was praying all the way. Our experience of air turbulence whilst flying from Bario will forever be etched in our memory. It was so bad that people were screaming and we were shouting JESUS all the way - that flight would be difficult to forget.

We landed safely and met a really nice taxi driver at the airport named Pak Eman who told us about ayam taliwang (kampung chicken), beef and delicious beef soup. We agreed and made our first stop at the shop recommended by Pak E. A lovely lunch which cost us about 35k rupiah for the four of us! We also bought a packet of beef skin crackers and some fish crackers. Delicious.

We also made appointment with Pak E to fetch us around Lombok on Monday morning as he was really friendly and helpful.

Another 30 minutes and we were at Mama Bella, our lodging at Lombok for the next 4 days. It was a lovely place with about 8 chalets built in a squarish L-shape with a lovely swimming pool (the color of blue in the middle). Hammocks, cushion seats, cabanas, a small dining open air place blended into the picture. 

We felt at home immediately. 

Mama Bella is owned by an Italian lady who named it after her mother. She came to Lombok, loved it, bought the land and developed the place as an iconic boutique residence.

My only grouse is that it was rather deep inside and the stoney patch leading to the residence did not help my arthritis knees.

My daughter told us that Mama Bella has received rave reviews. That's why she chose it. 

So many guests and the place was full.

Well for RM800 for a 4 day 3 night stay for 4 people, I certainly agree! Breakfast thrown in to boot makes the deal absolutely worth it!

The rest of the evening was spent at a nearby beach about 10 minutes away. T bought a fridge magnet from one of the vendors hawking their wares on their hands - shawls, scarfs, bangles, magnets. Amazing what kind of things they can carry with them on two hands when hawking.

We ended our first night with a take-out dinner from one of the nearby cafe from which we would continue ordering food for the next night too!

Looking forward to a great holiday in Lombok! Thanks to my lovely daughters for making this holiday possible for us. We love you!

Mr Brown Avenue, Taitung, Taiwan

Rolling green fields without a pole, picture this....

This place seems to go on forever. Some people cycle on the tar roads, some people walk on it but due to my knee pain, I took shelter under a huge tree with some of my tour mates....I wonder what is so fascinating about this place....hmm...

Maybe it was this picture frame that slanted toward the sky. You could stand behind it and pose in so many different ways....it was a like a huge picture frame transpose against a blue sky...

Other that I did not find anything special about this place. Many we did not walk far enough to the cafe to drink the Mr Brown coffee that made this place got its name......