Japan Travel Log: 7 – 14 December 2006
Prologue
I am but an amateur photographer. I am also learning and experimenting. Thus some of the pictures did not turn out as well as I would have liked. For example, I realised I have particularly shaky hands. Coupled with excessive use of the “Night” mode on the camera, this resulted in several blurred shots, most noticeable on the hotel room shots. If you have any tips, critique or comments, feel free to drop me an e-mail.
The photos on this travel log are only a small subset of the complete album, which you can find here. There are over 200 photos in there, so consider yourself warned. Alternatively, you can check out this album, which consists of selected photos. Most photos have gone through a bit of editing, usually adjustment of levels and/or curves, as well as cropping. Photoshop’s Auto Levels and Auto Color were helpful. Sometimes (Unfortunately, the presence of snow or incandescent light throw them off).
Day 1: 7 December
Singapore – Tokyo
The “day” is a 11:35pm flight to Narita International Airport on All Nippon Airways (ANA). It was a Boeing 767-300, with individual screens and entertainment system. The last time I flew, on Singapore Airlines, the movies and music were like watching the TV or listening to the radio. You could change the channel, but the movies and music just kept playing. On this ANA plane, the movies and music could be controlled. Changing a channel meant starting from the beginning. But you could pause, fast forward or rewind the movie or music track.
What was particularly interesting (at least to me) was the Sky Camera. Normally, the taking off and landing are boring (unless you are at the window seat), since the entertainment system and screens are turned off. On the ANA flight, however, the screens show a Sky Camera. There are actually two cameras – one facing forward, like a pilot’s view, and another facing downward to the ground. The forward facing camera is turned on during taxiing and take off. Shortly after take off, the view is switched to the ground facing camera.
Unfortunately, the six and half hour flight was terrible. I’m not considered very tall, 1.78m. But for the first time I felt so cramped in. My knees were pressing against the seat in front of me, and for once, I actually had to use the leg rest. Still, that only slightly alleviated the pain on my knees. Then there was the backache that made me toss and turn. Yes, tossing and turning in an economy class seat. That was how desperate I was in trying to make myself feel more comfortable. The hours dragged on but I finally made it to Narita International Airport.
Day 2: 8 December
Chitose/Tokachigawa Hot Spring Resort
Our destination was Hokkaido, which meant we needed to head to Haneda Airport (also known as Tokyo International Airport), about an hour’s drive away. We got on the bus at 7:30am. This being my first moments in Japan, I was excited during the bus journey despite the lack of sleep. I managed to snap a shot of this interesting looking building.
Soon, Haneda Airport was in sight.
I was surprised to see the excessive use of plasma screens in a domestic airport, but back in Singapore, I found that Haneda Airport 1. used to handle International traffic, and 2. is one of the busiest airports in the world.
In the airport were several stores selling the Tokyo Banana. This is the typical way that foodstuff are sold in Japan. There will be one (or more) display sets showing you the product being sold, and the actual products are packaged nicely. This can lead to some confusion when you return and are faced with boxes and boxes of nicely wrapped boxes and no idea what are inside them.
Since the Tokyo Banana seemed nothing more like cake with banana filling, I gave that a pass.
Soon, it was time to take an ANA domestic flight to New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. The plane was a Boeing 777-300, bigger than the one we flew to Narita, albeit an older model. This plane also had the Sky Camera, which makes me guess that it is probably a standard feature on ANA planes. Since it was a domestic flight, they only served drinks. Lunch would have to wait. I had the milk tea, which was pretty nice, although a little too sweet.
The flight was uneventful, and landing very smooth. Soon, we were on the bus heading for lunch. The first sights from the bus was snow. Well, it wasn’t snowing (yet), so it was just snow on the ground. Here’s a shot with the Chitose Airport Control Tower (I think).
Lunch was seafood hot pot (nabe). This would be the first of many nabe meals.
After lunch, it was shopping at a store below the restaurant. I went around the area to take some photos, then it was back to the bus for the three to four-hour bus ride to the resort.
We stopped at some place mid-way. It was dark by then – it gets dark by around 4+pm in winter. It was very cold. The tap water was not heated. And the hand dryer was not working. So I had no choice but to head out and face the cold with damp hands. Which is a very terrible feeling, really. It’s like sticking your in a block of ice.
Outside, it was snowing. Well, technically. If you look closely at the photo, you might spot some white specks. So, like I said, it was snowing, technically speaking.
And did I say how cold it was?
We reached Sahoro Resort at 7+pm, where a buffet dinner awaited us. Highlights were the Hokkaido King Crabs and Hairy Crabs, fried scallops that were huge (seemed like a waste…), chawanmushi and Hokkaido milk. The chawanmushi tasted different from what I have eaten in Singapore. And the milk was very refreshing.
After dinner, I headed for the hot spring bath, (onsen). It was okay. I found it a little hard to breathe due to the humidity. The open-air bath felt a little weird because while my body was hot, my head was cold, although I could reduce the cold easily by putting the (hand) towel over my head.
The hotel room was huge, well, at least, larger than what I had expected after having been told how hotel rooms in Japan were miniscule. And check out the washlet.
Yes, it washes your butt after you do your business. For females, it washes the… front. You can set the pressure, and on some, the temperature of the water. This hotel used Shiseido body soap, shampoo and hand soap. In case you didn’t know, Shiseido is well-known for its cosmetics and skincare products.
