Hope you love this video of the penguins, keke. It was produced by Shujun! I am pretty excited cos I manage to post a home-made video on this blog! ahhh..

Hokkaido Day 6

This is the last day we had at Japan. But it was also Jeremy's happiest day (tell you later).

1st stop was Sapporo Beer Musuem

On display is the collection of antique signboards which decorated the streets in the past. However, they were taken down due to the numerous accidents that occurred when strong winds attacked Japan.

Marketing of beer was then replaced with paper posters featuring geishas. At least they are decently dressed.

Fillial piety comes when you offer your dad beer! So I bought 4 cans for my father.

The red-brick building that houses the history of beer making in Japan. Notice the star-icon of Sapporo Beer that is even featured on the building and even the chimney.

Posing a pic in front of the beer barrels.

The phone booth in the form of a beer barrel. Drunk in making calls.

The clock tower at Odori Park. In February, mid-winter, the park which lies in the heart of the city, Sapporo, will be transformed into a place with many ice sculptures and fanciful ice decorations. If not, there was nothing much to see at the park. Mx and I just quickly surveyed the area and chiong to Mister Donut to buy food. haha

This is Hokkaido Jingu, one of Japan's largest shrines steeped in nature and traditions. We were lucky to witness a traditional Japanese wedding. No photos cos photography not allowed.

We realised the nuns here are quite pretty and we actually mistook them for bridemaids haha.

A Japanese shrine usually has a "pi" like (mathematics) gate as entrance.

And mx too...

I must tell you about this sinful building. This is the Isetan there. But it is seperated into many buildings cos there was simply too many brands!! I bought a plain black Burberry's wallet for about S$170, mx got a black Burberry's wallet too. Shujun got a Paul Smith's white wallet and a cardholder while Jeremy got a Paul Smith's wallet for himself and a furry Burberry's wallet for his mummy! Jeremy also came back with 10 Burberry's handkerchieves. Each only costs about $8 (cheap!!) Burberry's over at Japan has the blue label range and the black label range. Blue label is cheaper cos all the students there carry Burberry's due to school regulation! The black label range also features really nice accessories! Oh, Jeremy's face lit up the moment he stepped into the shopping centre. The area here is known as Susukino.

We also shopped at 100-yen shop. We are talking about a 100-yen shop in a 5-storey building.

And our day and tour ended with our wallets emptied!

Going to show you a few miscellaneous pics by Shujun.

The toilet bowl is always warm.

And they wash your backside too but keep the legs closed lest you kena the spray!

Oh, we also realised that if you are afraid of even farting or producing loud sounds in public toilets, they also allow you to press a button to produce the flushing sound to cover the embarrassing farting sound. Cool huh?

The Kit-Kats and pretzels collected by Shujun!

I hope I have nicely summed up the Hokkaido trip. Before I pen off, Merry Christmas and may all your wishes come true.

Hokkaido Day 5

This is our hotel room view. It may not be the best view but I think it still felt good to see white mountains when I woke up. Ohayo!

This is snow mobile! We had a hell of racing with snow mobile. But mx, jeremy and I thought that Phuket's ATV (all terrain vehicle) is better. We prefer riding in the mud than snow! haha, cos our hands were really numb.

As the name suggests, this is Shiraoi Ainu Village, the centre of the thriving Ainu culture. This is Japan's aborigine village.

Eh, this is the massive sculpture of the village chef. Not some god that I thought. Luckily, I brought back a Chinese brochure to find out who he is.

The dried salmons along the bamboos.

Their huts.

The lake found in the village.

I am testing the water which is partially frozen. There is actually a thin layer of ice formed above the water.

Check out the sunset with the thin layer of frozen ice on the lake!

Jeremy playing a fool again. I have already told him that pigs can't fly. Stubborn!

This is hell valley. It's a sulphurous valley with boiling ponds and steams. However, it was impossible to complete the walk as the sky darkened at around 4 p.m.

But we can always show you the steam. That's where they drew the water from to provide us the relaxing Onsen bath in the resort's hot spring.

Shujun trying to get a free facial steam.

of cos, we join her!

Our last group photo.

Another hotel room. Hot spring here is better cos there is an outdoor pool. In fact there are 2 outdoor tubs and an outdoor pool. Nice nice!

Normally I will carry a small bag down with shampoo, conditioner, body foam, toothbrush, facial wash and more haha...so that I would not need to use the small bathroom.

But 1st, Dai Di again...goal was to win Mingxiong cos he only lost 1 time in the 2 hours we played with him on the night before!

Goal was met within half hour!

Day 4 Hokkaido

This was the view that greeted us when I drew the curtains.













And this is just outside the hotel.














Aha, told you these people went to Japan for fashion show. The red coat is from Mango.








The man himself can't resist the beautiful scenery and even took a pic and at the same time absorb the pure energy.


















This is Silver Star Waterfall, Gin Ga No Taki. It was freezing. But check out the Timberland boots worn by Shujun and Jeremy ...











The white strip in the middle is the waterfall which has frozen!















It was so cold that my lao gong had to wear his scarf over his head. Fatimah Ng!







The girls' turn!






Notice that we were wearing gloves. Your hands just harden!
We had to run back to our bus after all the snapping. But the ground was slippery and poor Shujun slipped and landed on her butt! ouch, ouch











Aha, for your viewing pleasure. Another postcard for your collection!






Interestingly, the zoo visit became the highlight of our tour and I am going to show you the work of National Geographic photographer - Teo Meng Siong. There was one instant when lao gong and I had to wait for him to take pics of polar bear and it was freezing in the open. But pics were nicely taken!
Let me present to you Asahikawa Zoo.

The monkeys with red face and red buttocks.









So Narnia, right?














One of the protagonists of the zoo ...

Join me in Polar Express!












Kawaii gals are looking at you. Wake up!



























I wonder if there are any more fishes ...

















Check out the capsule in the background where the visitors can really see them up close and personal.

And now the Polar Express takes us to Happy Feet!







Squad! Kari Kiri Jepat Jalan!










This one is a real show-off, no team spirit!







Another postcard for your pleasure.











The grizzly bear lying near his pool of shit. Mx juz told me he is doing shit work again.






Aslan?




















The couple shot. Check the snow again. 雪花飘
























I better clarify that they are pure colleagues or I will be whacked by the bear!



He thought that he is Prince Charming ...











A close-up for you to laugh at!














I notice that both of us wore the same color. Don't assume things again. We are FRIENDS. Don't be like those aunties on the bus!















Shujun is quite short hor? Such that my lao gong has to bend down haha. But it is a nice walkway in the zoo. You can't help to feel like you are starring in a Korean drama, 冬季恋歌！




Lunch time! We had snow crab, sea urchin, fresh scallops at our own expense. Think we forked out about 5000 yen each!







Check the size of this monster!







Another monster ... salmon.

It was a hearty meal and the crab meat was succulent!











Next up was Otokoyama (男山) Sake Brewery Musuem which has a 330-year old history of brewing some of the best sakes in Japan. You can see the brand on the latterns found on left side of pic. We had free sake tasting. We bought sake too for xmas keke!








Our small hotel room. Forgot to mention that the bathroom in this kind of small hotel room with tatami is so small that we had to bathe in the hot-spring. Imagine sitting on the toilet bowl and your legs had to face sideways or the door can't close!

It's hotspring again but the one over here is not fantastic. It is lok cok and no outdoor pool.

Normally, we would play Dai Di in hotel room till about 11pm before we would go down to bathe as it would not be crowded. One must strip for less people to see loh!

Jeremy would also normally eat a bowl of instant ramen or udon right after dinner. The rest of us would snack on chips or fruit jelly. Oh, he did not stop at instant noodles, he would join in for the potato chips!