Friday, March 29, 2013

hakodate-osaka

Our last day in Hakodate started off with the monkeys at the Tropical Garden (which was next door to our hotel) screaming from their hot springs.

It had also snowed overnight so everything else was blanketed in white.

Breakfast was buffet-style and there was quite an assortment of things. I had some rice porridge, salad and other items.

Luckily, Satoshi didn't go overboard with rice this time...

From our hotel, it was a 10 minute bus ride to the airport.

Since we had some time before our flight, we decided to have soft serve (our first on this trip) at Misuzu. To take-out their cones it would cost 300 yen but to eat-in it would cost 500 yen!

The waitress claimed that the take-out version had a lesser portion. She also said that even if we didn't want the jam on it, it would still cost 500 yen, so we went with blueberry and strawberry jam...

So we made it back, Osaka's cherry blossoms had started to bloom while we were gone, the weather was 10 degrees higher too. (actually when this post uploads we'd have hit another cold snap)

Some things we bought...Misuzu coffee caramels.

Misuzu instant coffee. Apparently, they were the first to bring coffee to Hokkaido in the 1930s.

Arare with Ohotsk sea salt and Hidaka Konbu Shoyu.

Flavored arare by Gotoken, a local western-style restaurant. Flavors include beef stew, corn potage & curry.

I hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did.

I also gotta say "thank you" to the staff at the tourist information counter inside the JR Hakodate Station, they were always pleasant, patient and had loads of information.

It's Friday here, I hope you have a great weekend!

6 comments:

K said...

What a wake up call, haha! Looks like you got lots of fun treats!

K and S said...

lol K :)

Take care.
Kat

Rowena said...

Fab trip Kat. We are WAITING for this sad weather to go away (nuff snow!) and want some sun and warmth. Two weeks stuck in the house....going crazy here!

K and S said...

gads, Rowena, I dunno what I would do if I were housebound for two weeks!

Hope the weather warms up for you soon, take care!
Kat

Unknown said...

I have a question...do people go into the same onsen after the monkeys?

K and S said...

no no Vicki, only the monkeys use this particular onsen. I think if the hot springs were in the open, like near a mountain or river, both people and monkeys would use it.

Take care.
Kat