Day 1 - Apple's Travel Itinerary in Hokkaido
To kick start of our first day visit, let me make a bid to all of our Apple's tour group members a very warm Yokoso (welcome) to Hokkaido ! Do enjoy every moments of your time (besides seeing, shopping, eating & sleeping) while in Hokkaido ! The best of Hokkaido is yet to come but Apple Holiday will take you there from now on ....
To kick start of our first day visit, let me make a bid to all of our Apple's tour group members a very warm Yokoso (welcome) to Hokkaido ! Do enjoy every moments of your time (besides seeing, shopping, eating & sleeping) while in Hokkaido ! The best of Hokkaido is yet to come but Apple Holiday will take you there from now on ....
Accommodation: New Akan Shangrila Hotel (3 1/2 star) - next to Akan Lake, roof top hot spring bath, 200 mins from Akandake Jinja Temple, 10 mins walk to Ainu Traditional Dance Theatre & Ainu Kota Village. Online booking in early Nov is Rm646 (US$152) per room (twin) + Y250 city tax per pax per night inclusive of free breakfast .
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| A magnificent 7 storey hotel |
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| How about a rooftop hot spring bath ? |
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| Located opposite Lake Akan |
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| Big dining room |
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| A 4 star rating for this hotel in Lake Akan ? |
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| Tatami room , tatami mats, & oriental furniture |
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| Japanese style tatami bed |
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| Careful, not to fall flat into the bathtub ! |
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| Hope everybody sleep well tonight ! Keep dreaming about Hokkaido ! |
Breakfast : Air Asia Meal On Board (Chicken Sandwich or Nasi Lemak)
Lunch : Japanese set lunch at a country side local restaurant cum souvenir/gift/food shop - our first Japanese meal in Hokkaido - taste great & a great start !
Dinner : Hotel Buffet - plenty to eat & dine ! Our first Japanese hotel buffet dinner - eating in comfort as though we were all celebrating a birthday treat for someone dear in Hokkaido !
Travel Highlights:
Late Autumn & early winter scenery from airport to Ikeda Wine Castle - beautiful scenery as taken from a moving bus, leaves of maple & ginkgo trees turned red & yellow - nature at her very best ! Due to the climatic change, winter has arrived early in late Oct in the mountainous regions of Hokkaido.
1) Ikeda Wine Castle - our first visit in day one as soon as we landed in Chitose airport, very educational - the vineyard, the wine cellar, wine tasting, wine showroom display etc. After this, our bus had to wind it's way towards the Lake Akan area ....
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| free wine tasting |
2) Ainu Kota (Ainu Cultural Heritage & Handicraft Village) - a small Ainu village in Akankohan, a street dominated by souvenir shops selling Ainu handicrafts. It was getting dark at around 4.30pm when we visited this village, at times windy and bitterly cold ....
3) Lake Akan - a beautiful crater lake overseeing the New Akan Shangri-La hotel, located in eastern Hokkaido along with Daisetsuzan National Park. The Akan National Park is well known for its 3 beautiful lakes ie Lake Akan, Lake Machu & Lake Kussharo - thanks to Apple, we saw them all in this trip !
After an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hokkaido and a long day tour, I had my first natural Onsen bath at the New Akan Shangrila hotel in the evening after a heavy buffet meal. Wow ! After the first endeavor, I got addicted and had two more subsequent Onsen baths at Mombetsu Prince & Sounkyo Taisetsu hotels ! Very refreshing indeed after the hot bath and for first timers, this could be their first "adventure" appearing naked in a public Onsen pool ! A first trial experience for both my wife & sister in law - both too enjoyed very much soaking their bare & tired bodies in the Onsen pool even though it was just for 15-20 mins !
At the Ikeda Wine Castle visit, our group had a free wine tasting and also bought a cone of soft served ice cream with milk or grape flavour (Y300) - yummy & delicious !
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