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| Map of Monbetsu |
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| Map of Monbetsu Prince Hotel |
Day 3 - Apple's Travel Itinerary in Hokkaido
Accommodation: Monbetsu Prince Hotel (3 star) - 10 mins walk from Monbetsu bus terminal; 5 mins drive to Monbetsu Oyama Ski Resort, 22mins drive from Okhotsk Sky Tower. Online booking per room (2 single beds) in early Nov is around Rm830 (US$195-value deal) + Y150 city tax per pax per night.
Monbetsu is the 3rd largest city in Hokkaido; a coastal town in the Okhotsk district - these pictures were taken during our early morning stroll from our hotel to the Monbetsu port & waterfront area - light houses, seagulls, fishing boats, waterfront, warehouses, silos, deep blue sea, fresh cool morning air .... what a pleasant sight !
Breakfast : International Buffet
Lunch : Seafood Steamboat & Tempura - nicely presented for you to savor !
Dinner: Deluxe Kaiseki Crab Cuisine - tasty & fresh !
Japanese "Mua Chi" making & demonstration at the hotel lobby after the dinner - DIY
Travel Highlights :
Country side scenery from the hotel to Lake Machu near the Akan National Park - getting colder as we inched towards the mountainous area, there were occasional rain along the way
1) Lake Machu in Akan National Park - beautiful snowy mountain scenery surrounding this super beautiful foggy Lake Machu !
Country side scenery from Lake Machu to Lake Kussharo in the Akan National Park
2) Lake Kussharo (visit is optional subject to time availability) in Akan National Park - beautiful lake side, picturesque, rows of maple trees full of red & yellow & falling leaves ....
3) Ryuosan Volcano Valley in Akan National Park - sulphurous fumes filled the air with a strong pungent smell !
4) Fruit Picking in an orchard in Akan National Park - pears were in season, on farm picking & tasting of pears was most welcome and in addition, each of the visitors was given 2 pieces of juicy pears for takeaway !
Picturesque scenery from the fruit farm to Abashiri - a small town facing the Okhotsk Sea, passing the old Abashiri Prison Museum ..... other main attractions are Okhotsk Ryuhyo Museum, Hokkaido Museum of Northern People, Lake Notora, Lake Tofutsu & the Shibazakura Port (not included in this travel itinerary)
5) Okhotsk Tower - The World 's first underwater drift ice observatory, you can see all kinds of sea creatures in their natural habitat. Come mid-January, tourists like to flock over here to take a ice breaker ship to see drift ice floating in the Okhotsk Sea !
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| Okhotsk Observation Tower - any crocodiles spotted here ? |
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| Okhotsk ! - Very Russian ! |
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| Ice Breaker Ship - taking a rest now but full of action in mid-Jan |
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| The fish head & the crab claw - good for fish head curry cooking ! |
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| My last visit to an aquarium was long long time ago ! |
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| This ocean fish is very ugly looking - I don't like ! |
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| I started counting the number of tentacles for this octopus - is it 8 ? |
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| A giant eel ? I don't think so |
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| rambutan sea creature ? |
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| plenty of this fish in our wet market ? |
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| Is it grouper ? not sure |
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| Zebra fish ? |
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| a male & female fish swimming together ! lovely looking |
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| Flat body fish ? |
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| Hokkaido gold fish ? |
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| Is this fish the same specie with the above ? |
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| I have enough of eating crabs in this Hokkaido trip |
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| I try to avoid looking at this fish |
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| Ikan bilis swimming ? |
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| Ocean fish in natural habitat |
Monbetsu is famous for it's snow crabs. So when you are in Monbetsu, it's all about crabs, clap & crap ! When you see a hotel master chef presenting a seafood basket of crabs, crabs & crabs, you get overjoyed and you clap, clap & clap ! But after eating a heavy meal of crabs downed with a bottle of Japanese Saki or Russian Vodka or French XO brandy, many would start to talk with a load of crap !!! If you are half drunk, make sure you are able to walk straight, otherwise you will end up walking side way like a mud crab and may end up falling into an outdoor Onsen hot spring pool !
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