Hokkaido

Welcome to Part 2 of our October 2025 trip! I hope you enjoy the rest of our journey.

The set-up was super cute at the gas station – you would put in your cash, and it would spit out a ticket with how much change it owes you based on how much gas you used. Then, you feed the ticket into another machine on the side, and it spits out your change.

We took a ferry from Oma to Hakodate!

While hubby bought the tickets, I enjoyed this life-size replica of a tuna! Yellowfin?

It was a comfortable ride. Weather was rainy and water was a little choppy, but it wasn’t bad. For someone who experiences mild car sickness from time to time, it didn’t affect me. I could feel the rolling waves slightly in that I had to watch my balance sometimes but it didn’t take too much effort. The ferry had some snack vending machines (cup noodles with hot water to brew it right away, and drink/ice cream machines). There were tables to sit and look out the window as well as premium-ticket chairs that looked like train seats.

Before leaving, I had bought a waffle to-go, which turned out to be a pretty good travel snack (there were pieces of crystalized sugar or honey inside, yum!). The Lawson t-shirt I couldn’t leave without – that morning before leaving for the ferry, I discovered that the Lawson offers souvenirs. Besides shirts, they also had other branded items like a night-table light that matched the sign on their building.

Our hotel in Hakodate was called “Smile Hotel”, and the lobby also offered basic amenities like Q-tips, slippers, hair combs and toothbrushes. The lobby was spacious and modern, and had a wonderful chalkboard with pictures, flyers and instructions detailing nearby sights to see and local onsen (which is hubby’s favorite). Restaurant and cafe recommendations were written on there as well, with directions on how to get there. What a cute lobby!! The room was spacious and comfortable, with a large bed and windows. The mattress was a bit firm, which matches all the other beds we came across in Northern Japan so far.

Colin took me to a spot along the coast in Hakodate. The city has a team system that was really convenient for us to use.

It was so beautiful. We could see the northern point of Honshu (Oma) across the ocean from here.

Looking in the direction we came from, there was a nice view of the city as well.

There was plenty of parking space and a small shelter that helped if it was too sunny or rainy. We sat down to have some refreshments that we brought with us, but the building picture here also had a shop that sold ice cream.

There were several paths (paved) that you could take around the area, and it seemed that any and all angles were photo-worthy. We also found a dirt trail that led down the cliff to the rocks on the water, pictured here on the left.

Hakodate had some manhole covers with themes as well!

Along the way back, we stopped at a chocolaterie that caught my eye. They had some Halloween-themed desserts that I snagged, along with a gift for a coworker:

The next morning, I found that the local cafes in Hakodate don’t open until 10am. I was sooooo sad, and I refused to buy Starbucks when I flew all the way here. So, I ended up shopping around at Muji until the cafes opened. There was also a Mister Donut, and I noticed that now they sell their own ramen, too!

Next up was our trip to Sapporo! The train ride offered beautiful countryside and ocean views. There was even a stretch along the ocean that reminded us of Spirited Away.

Once we arrived to Sapporo, our main mission was to check in and find something to eat.

For dinner, we found an Indian food spot. One of our favorite things to eat in Japan is actually Indian food. Where we currently live, there aren’t that many options for Indian food, so we enjoy it while we can in Japan.

We noticed that certain parts of Japan had certain kinds of Indian food (from different parts of India). I wonder if it means that certain areas of Japan had people who emigrated from different parts of Japan, bringing different dishes with them. Hmm.

After dinner (the restaurant was in a mall/shopping building), we explored the shopping district that we ended up in. Multiple buildings were connected by sky bridges, so we were able to stay warm even though it was really cold outside. We came across a beer brewery museum, from Sapporo’s famous brewery.

On the way out of the mall (where the restaurant was located), we passed a building with some beautiful Fall colors.

I decided to end the evening cozy at the apartment with an onsen salt bath. We bought some of these onsen salt packets at a local pharmacy/cosmetic store. In fact, we bought several boxes to bring back, because we enjoyed them so much last time we found them on another trip!

The next day, we decided to explore Sapporo by using the subway system. We discovered a whole labyrinth of paths, shops and restaurants underneath the ground along with the subway!! We decided to stop and have lunch at a soba restaurant in one of the underground halls:

I had “Taiwan-style” soba, it had a little kick to it and was absolutely delicious!!

The fact that there was a whole underground world AND all the sky bridges connecting buildings above-ground really made me fall in love with Sapporo, despite the fact that it had a really bustling, big-city feel that I don’t usually love. What a feat of engineering to protect everyone from the elements in such a thoughtful way!

Sapporo’s tower at night was not tall enough to be a beacon when you get lost, unless you were already nearby.

Hubby and I parted ways while I went on a shopping mission!

North or South, you’re going to find “PARCO” stores all over Japan and you can count on them having the coolest things. From trendy clothes to kawaii items, this was one of my favorite places to shop.

They had a gigantic Totoro at the Ghibli store here.

This was my main reason for coming to PARCO, of course. They had a section dedicated to Rilakkuma/San-X items. I spent a couple hours here browsing and making some tough decisions!!

Hubby and I found another soba restaurant and I picked the soba soup with egg and shrimp.

After dinner, I took stock of my treasure hunt that I completed that day and we tucked into bed. It was cold and approaching Winter temperatures, so it was chilly even in the small apartment that we rented (kind of like an AirBnB but it was through Booking.com). They only had a space heater and we really felt the cold.

The next day, we wanted to just explore more of Sapporo.

Cloudy, chilly weather but beautiful Fall colors accompanied us. There were constant reminders that it was close to Halloween, even the ATM machines had a Halloween theme!!

Lunchtime had us wandering around the tunnels, but it was hard to figure out where to go, and we kept thinking about that lovely soba restaurant we had before.

We ended up going back to that same one, because it had been SO good! It was such a peaceful place that clearly was not intended for tourists. We were surrounded by locals coming to have lunch on their work break, younger high school or college age girls coming in to eat with their friends, and older men in suits (salary men?) smoking a couple tables down.

They had a TV on the wall showing the local news and there were quite a few bear attack or bear sightings stories.

After dinner, hubby wanted to take the subway to an onsen but I was feeling a bit tired for a big adventure. So, we parted ways and I decided to do a solo trip to the Sapporo tower downtown.

The Fall colors with the street lights glowing through was pretty.

The plaza in front of the Sapporo tower was not too crowded, but I wasn’t the only one going. There were tourists coming in and out at a regular pace, and they had souvenir stands and vending machines in front of the doors. It was a fun experience – you could choose to take the elevator up, or climb up the stairs. Every floor you passed on the stairs had signs with information and characters cheering you on. At the top, a skeleton greeted us for Halloween.

The view from the tower was nice, and I took some time to appreciate it. The street lights had a warm yellow glow.

The top of the tower was also prime souvenir/gift shopping! I found LOTS of t-shirts, snacks and trickets for loved ones.

The next day, we decided to do a day trip to Otaru. On the way to the train station, we passed by a container that caught my eye:

It looks like in Sapporo, every few blocks they have a container that has little bags of salt. You can grab them for free and use them on the ground for the snow and ice. Wow!!

Along the way on the train, the sun started peeking out. When the doors opened, I couldn’t help sneaking a picture quick:

When we arrived in Otaru, I bought some snacks at the station and we started hiking up the steep roads to get a better view of the city.

We came across a Buddhist temple and decided to take a look. The staff were really kind and welcoming, and it was a peaceful moment.

On the way back down, we passed an older brick building that looked haikyo.

By the ocean, we explored the city’s fish market. Apparently Otaru’s fish market is well-known.

I came across an Anpanman that seemed like he had been watching over the fish market for a long time.

There was a lot of scallops for sale as well, and giant crabs. I think in Northern Japan, scallops are a popular item in restaurants. We noticed that many locales offered dried scallops.

Exploring some more of the city, we came across a murder of crows who became fast friends after I shared some of my cheese bread with them, and they followed us for a bit.

We found an old, historical railroad that other tourists were encountering as well. Then, we headed down the main street.

The downtown, main drag offered a mix of tourist shops and older buildings as well as restaurants.

There were definitely tourist trap vibes along the main street. I was tricked into exploring the Hello Kitty cafe, but was disappointed to find that there was no “cafe”, only shopping.

We found a cute stand that sold potato mochi, and they tasted great! Very “QQ” as we would say in Taiwan – that chewy, mochi-like texture, but with potato flavor. Savory!

For dinner, we ended up at a curry restaurant chain that was absolutely delicious. It had better katsu and curry than other places I had tried in the past. Yum!

We rounded out the night with some shopping at Muji, and visited a local sento in Otaru before heading back to Sapporo. Back at the Sapporo station, I grabbed my favorite kind of bubble tea (taro milk).

What an incredible trip! We had to finish it off with some more delicious food at the airport in Sapporo. The udon shop actually blew our socks off, it was some of the most delicious udon we have had in a long time.

It had an iron bell that customers were supposed to ring on their way out if they enjoyed their food. I rang it kind of loud on my way out, because it was so good!!!

We are very much looking forward to the next trip!!!