It’s the weekend in Hokkaido, my plan today was to travel inside Sapporo using their subway lines. The weather was still cold, wet and chilly with the winds blowing, the sky was overcast and it did posed some challenges when I was taking photographs in Sapporo. I boarded the morning local train from JR Otaru to Sapporo and began my Day 2 of my Hokkaido photography adventure.

In Sapporo, taking the subway is an excellent form of public transport to explore different parts of Sapporo. There is a one day unlimited rides subway pass known as Donichika ticket (520 yen is the discounted price for Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays) can be purchased from the subway station ticketing machine. I was initially worried that I might faced some challenges buying the Donichika ticket from the ticketing machine, however, it wasn’t too difficult once I found the English language segment on the ticketing machine!

The subway system in Sapporo is not too complicated as compared to Tokyo! It’s very easy to navigate and ride, with only two stations to do your transfer between Subway Tozai Line, Subway Namboku Line and Subway Toho Line at Sapporo and Odori subway stations. I took the Subway Namboku Line and my first stop on my Day 2 adventure is Nakajima Park!

Nakajima Park

Once I came out of the Nakajima Koen Subway Station, the sceneries immediately dawned upon me on why Nakajima Park is a popular tourist destination for visitors and locals in Sapporo. The autumn colours were bright and colourful in the midst of an overcast sky, highlighted by the reflections on the pond. While there were more places to explore at Nakajima Park, I strolled along the Shobu Pond, making a loop to the point where I first started.

I came to view the autumn colours and the bright autumn colours of Nakajima Park blew me away. There were many different colours canopies of different trees around the Shobu Pond. Both the locals and tourists were enjoying themselves, reading books, drawing/painting, strolling, viewing and taking photographs. Nakajima Park is so beautiful in autumn, I would love to view it during spring, summer and winter seasons too if I have the opportunity again!

While the weather was chilly and cold winds blowing, I enjoyed myself thoroughly at Nakajima Park. I made the best out of the overcast weather, spotting and taking photographs of the different types of colourful leaves, tree canopies and fallen leaves on the ground, like a golden field.

Lunch time in Sapporo

I took the subway back to Sapporo for a lunch. Lucky for me, I was able to find a shop inside one of the underground shopping mall nearby JR Sapporo that has an easy to use and order machine with English language to buy my Japanese meal! Upon choosing my meal, payment was made and I was issued a small ticket (just like the train ticket). I entered into the shop, found myself a seat, sat down and a friendly staff soon came over to take my ticket, instructed the kitchen on my food order. They were pretty fast with their cooking and in a few minutes, I had a hot and delicious pork katsudon!

Hokkaido Shrine

With a nice and delicious lunch inside me, it’s time to continue my photography adventure, next destination was Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Shrine. I took the Subway Namboku Line, from Sapporo Subway Station to Odori Subway Station, making a transfer to Subway Tozai Line to Maruyama Koen Station. Looking for the signboard to the correct exit to Maruyama Park, I started walking towards Maruyama Park.

The weather in the early afternoon changed, started raining with chilly winds blowing. My initial plan was to climb Mt Maruyama, visit Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Shrine. Observing the weather and time availability during that afternoon, I made a decision not to climb Mt Maruyama and chose to visit Hokkaido Shrine and Maruyama Park.

Trekking my way into Hokkaido Shrine, it’s like a journey into a mystery forest with an aura of peace and tranquility covered with magical powers. The tall trees that towered into the sky, the lush greenery and colourful autumn canopies.

Soon after, I found myself arriving at the grand Hokkaido Shrine. This was mesmerising, I haven’t visited a shrine/temple in Japan for quite some time (last visit was to Senso-ji Temple and Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo during 2004). Prior to entering the Hokkaido Shrine compound, I went to the Temizuya, cleanse and purify myself before entering.

At the main entrance, I was awed by the Hokkaido Shrine presence and stature. I bowed in respect and took a step inside. This was a big shrine with an open compound, surrounded by tall trees. I walked towards the main hall, offered my prayer in silence with my heart and soul speaking to the deities of Hokkaido Shrine, seeking peace and blessings for the things that happened to me in the earlier part of 2016 and to seek blessings for my future endeavours.

Before departing from Hokkaido Shrine, I went to look for an amulet, a particular amulet – Prosperity in Business. However, I wasn’t fated to find that particular amulet (probably sold out) and I searched for another amulet. There was a unique amulet that caught my eye, without much hesitation, I bought it. That amulet is “Victory” amulet. This is an omen, a blessing from Hokkaido Shrine, Victory in my future endeavours/challenges/obstacles that I will be facing.

Maruyama Park

Upon leaving Hokkaido Shrine, I trekked down and back into Maruyama Park. While the weather conditions were not getting any better and sky turning dark soon, I still managed to discover gorgeous and quiet spots in Maruyama Park, the benches inside the park underneath the canopies of the tall trees.

How I wished the weather that day wasn’t that cold, wet and chilly winds blowing that afternoon, I would love to sit on a bench, view the autumn colours above me and immerse into the colourful autumn season.

The weather wasn’t getting any better and I made my way back to Maruyama Koen Subway Station for my subway train ride back to Sapporo Subway Station, thereafter, getting on the rapid express JR train from Hokkaido back to Otaru.

Arriving back at JR Otaru station, it was raining and the winds were chilly. I decided that I would go back to my hotel and rest for the night, no more night photography exploration for Saturday 22^nd October. I was looking forward to the heartwarming and hot bowl of Yonaki Soba again, the night singing noodles always cheer me up on a chilly autumn night. This was then followed by a visit to the onsen, it’s a must for me, very relaxing and soothing for me after that.

A gloomy Saturday, wet, cold and chilly day overall. Nevertheless, filled with fun, inner fulfilment and enjoyment.

Hokkaido Autumn 2016

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A good night of sleep and rest, I woke up to a cold, wet and overcast Otaru weather. That didn’t deter my plans to explore Sapporo and Otaru today on my Day 1 in Hokkaido. First and foremost, I went down for my morning onsen, refresh myself before heading out for my photography adventure. The weather in Otaru was pretty cold for the autumn season and the winds were a little bit gusty when I stepped out of the hotel as I walked towards the JR Otaru train station.

I had to exchange for my JR Hokkaido pass at JR Sapporo station and I hopped onto the local JR Hokkaido train towards Sapporo. It’s been quite some time back since I last sat on the JR local train and I happened to choose the train that made a stop at every JR station along the route from Otaru to Sapporo (I had forgotten about the semi-rapid JR train service!). The journey was beautiful, part of it was along the coastline.

JR Sapporo station is a pretty huge place, not just the central train station, it’s also a huge hub for the offices and shopping malls, all linked and connected together. My first stop was to visit the JR office and exchanged my JR Hokkaido pass, the procedure wasn’t too difficult. I gave them the exchange voucher, filled in a form, showed my passport and the friendly staff there processed my JR Hokkaido pass on the spot and I am ready to go riding on the trains.

Now to start on my Hokkaido 2016 photography adventure! First stop was Hokkaido University / Gingko Avenue.

Hokkaido University / Gingko Avenue

A short walk away from JR Sapporo station, about 15-20mins walk (slow walk due to ice/snow on the ground). I entered into Hokkaido University campus ground, it’s a nice and quiet campus, they reminded me of my St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland. Once I stepped inside the campus ground, I spotted the colourful autumn colours on the trees with snow on the ground, a gorgeous mix of both autumn and winter together.

The sceneries were really beautiful, even though the sky was overcast and gloomy, I didn’t let the weather affected me in my photography. I slowly walked, taking photos along with both local and international tourists visiting Hokkaido University.

Gingko Avenue is a very well known road inside Hokkaido University, very popular with both local and international tourists. Once I reached there, I was able to fully understand why they loved it so much. Two rows of trees, lining up Gingko Avenue, in the midst of the vehicles, cyclists and people along Gingko Avenue, this road gave a sense of aura of nature, peace and tranquility. I really had a good time along Gingko Avenue, taking photographs from different perspectives and angles.

Former Hokkaido Government Office

The city area of Sapporo is pretty well planned out, it’s not too difficult to walk around. I walked back to JR Sapporo station before walking down towards Odori Park, making a stop at the former Hokkaido Government Office first.

This is a historical building of importance and significance to Hokkaido. You can’t miss it, it’s a distinct red brick colour building and are you able to spot the red star? Due to time constraint, I didn’t visit the interior and exhibits inside the former Hokkaido Government Office.

I strolled around the compound, enjoying the peace and tranquility at the pond with beautiful trees. This place would look great during the spring and summer season with the flowers and greenery.

Before reaching Odori Park, I stopped by a convenience store at a junction facing a segment of Odori Park. Visiting a convenience store in Japan is always very interesting for me, there are so many different types of food, drinks, tidbits, magazines, daily neccessities that you can find inside a Japanese convenience store! Lunch was a simple sushi set with a bottle of green tea, at the corner of the convenience store where they have bar stools and bar table.

Odori Park

Odori Park is a pretty long stretch of green open space lined up with trees in the middle of tall concrete buildings in Sapporo. This beautiful green space gives people living/working there a nice area to take walks, relax, have their lunch etc. It’s a great place to visit major events held in Sapporo every season e.g. Sapporo Snow Festival.

I walked from one end of Odori Park to the other end where the iconic Sapporo TV tower stood. There wasn’t too many people at Odori Park during my time there, I saw some young children playing with snow and trying to build a snowman! I hope that maybe in the future, I can return to Sapporo again during a time whereby a major event/festival is held there and I am able to enjoy Odori Park.

The bright, colourful and beautiful autumn colours lined up the sides of Odori Park. I felt the aura of the autumn colours even though it was a bit cold with the winds blowing. It was a quiet and tranquil time for me when I was walking down Odori Park, I can’t explain how soothing it was for me, for my mind.

Sapporo Clock Tower

I began to head back up to JR Sapporo station, planning to take the JR train back to Otaru and explore the area in the night. While walking back, I stopped at the Sapporo Clock Tower, another iconic and cultural landmark of Hokkaido, it was built in 1878. The bell rings every hour to announce the time to the city of Hokkaido.

I would love to visit and know more about Sapporo Clock Tower history and culture inside the building. However, I had a number of places that I wanted to cover, therefore I didn’t manage to go in and visit.

Walking back to JR Sapporo station, I checked the timetable and caught the rapid express train to Otaru for a evening/night walk. The weather was overcast and there wasn’t much of a sunset scene as I reached the port area of Otaru. I felt the cold wind blowing coupled with the cold autumn season. I decided to head back to my hotel and rest for a few hours before coming out later in the night for night walkabout of Otaru.

Otaru former Temiya railway line / The Bank of Japan Otaru Museum (Ministry of Finance)

I like to explore railway lines especially those that were no longer in operation and remained behind as tourist/historical landmarks/monuments. I saw photos of the former Temiya railway line and wanted to check them out. Using the Otaru city tourist map, I found my way to a junction along Nichigindori Street. The former Temiya railway tracks and landmarks are still around, the platform and train waiting area.

I would love to return back to Otaru again and explore the former Temiya railway line again, in the daytime instead of going there in the night. There are still a number of places in Otaru that I wanted to go but wasn’t able to complete it due to time constraints and trying to cover as many locations as possible.

Not too far away from the former Temiya railway line junction, I saw The Bank of Japan Otaru Museum building. It looked pretty grand at night with the lights shining on the building façade.

Otaru Canal

The Otaru Canal is an iconic and cultural area of Otaru. A beautiful area in the night to walk along the canal, enjoying the night lights of the nearby buildings and former warehouses along Otaru Canal. Walking down from Nichigindori Street, I reached Asakusa Bridge of Otaru Canal, a good spot for taking photos of Otaru Canal.

A quiet stroll along the canal, towards Chuo Bridge, another good spot for taking photos of Otaru Canal and surroundings. This is really nice for a romantic couple walk along the Otaru Canal in the night where it is quiet, peaceful and tranquil. It’s always great to view history being preserved, the warehouses along Otaru Canal played a central role as part of the city’s busy port in the early 20^th century.

I would love to explore Otaru Canal again if possible during different seasons such as winter and summer.

Night Singing Noodles of Dormy Inn Premium Otaru

The Dormy Inn Premium Otaru was highly recommended by my friend/Hokkaido Photo Guide Kato san. Not only was the location awesome, they have onsen, room rates are reasonable for a comfortable hotel room. There was also something special, they provided delicious, hot and heart warming singing noodles to the guests of the hotel during the chilly season.

The night singing noodles is known as Yonaki Soba, it might look like a small simple bowl of soba noodles. However, it was cooked with so much passion and care for their hotel guests to keep warm with a hot bowl of Yonaki Soba in the night from 2130 hrs to 2300 hrs.

After a heart warming, delicious and hot bowl of Yonaki Soba, I went for my daily onsen, to relax my aching muscles from a whole day of walking around Sapporo and Otaru. While it was a cold and overcast Day 1 in Sapporo and Otaru, I am very happy to be out there exploring, enjoying myself away from Singapore and taking photographs.

Hokkaido Autumn 2016 Day 1

Hokkaido Autumn 2016

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I made a promise that I wanted to return and visit Hokkaido again, I fulfilled my own promise when I visited Hokkaido from 20^th to 27^th October 2016 on my own personal photography trip. A personal photography trip that rejuvenated me from the difficult period in 2016. My airfares were booked in April for October, flying Scoot airlines, on their new 787 Dreamliner to New Chitose via Taipei.

For the first 3 days of my photography adventure, I was on my own, based in Otaru and traveling out using the JR Hokkaido train service. From the 4^th to the 7^th day, my Hokkaido Photo Guide, Tsuyoshi Kato, a friend that I got to know during our November 2014 trip to Hokkaido when he was our photo guide.

I engaged the professional services of my Hokkaido Photo Guide Kato-san. He planned my photography adventures exploring different parts of Hokkaido, not only is he very experienced, he’s also very knowledgable, also a fellow photographer that understands what photographers want and where to take photographs. Kato-san is highly recommended if you are thinking of a photography theme trip to Hokkaido.

This Hokkaido trip was very special, I was very lucky to enjoy both autumn and winter seasons together in Hokkaido during the period that I am there. Such is the beauty and charm of Hokkaido, simply amazing! Not just did I enjoyed two seasons in one week, there were a few simply mind blowing memories that I managed to capture down not just with my camera, also with my eyes, heart and soul.

What was my schedule like? Here’s a quick introduction

Day 0/20^th October – Singapore -> Taipei -> Hokkaido (New Chitose) -> Otaru

Day 1 /21^st October – Otaru and Sapporo

Day 2 /22^nd October – Otaru and Sapporo

Day 3/23^rd October – Otaru, Yoichi and Sapporo

Day 4/24^th October – Otaru -> Mikasa -> Ashibetsu -> Furano -> Biei

Day 5/25^th October – Furano –> Biei -> Lake Toya

Day 6/26^th October – Lake Toya -> Sobetsu -> Date -> Muroran -> Lake Toya

Day 7/27^th October – Lake Toya -> Date -> Noboribetsu -> Shiraoi -> New Chitose Airport

I am currently preparing my photographs and stories for each day from Day 1 to Day 7. Do stay tuned for my travel photography stories coming soon!

The post Hokkaido 2016 photography adventure introduction and overview appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.