Day 3 Noboribetsu to Sapporo

So this day was fun cause we got to eat an nice big breakfast which consisted of fish, beans, rice, soup and after we did some small hikes in the surrounding hot springs area. I did some walking through the hot springs, took some awesome pics and got to soak my feet in a natural hot springs river. 

fancy breaky ;) Not gonna lie, kinda strange eating fish for breakfast..

After that we caught our next train departing at 12:35 for Sapporo. Arrived in Sapporo around 3 ish, dropped our bags off at the air b&b and headed out to Otaru. Only had about an hr in Otaru to explore before shops closed (around 6pm...make sure you go during the day for Otaru). 

We checked out this music box museum which wasnt really a museum, but rather a store filled with music boxes. The entire store was singing..I think I went a bit bonkers in there. I got overwhelmed because there were literally thousands of music boxes everywhere!!!!!! Ranging in price from like $14-?$1000?? I don't even know!

Sapporo train station

After that we headed to some romantic canal river thing, let the married couple do a "romantic walk" along the river and myself and Stephen walked behind like weirdos. It was a funny scene actually, shortly after we left with Otaru with hungry bellies, very much looking forward to ramen!! 

So this is the "romantic canal" where Stephen and I walked awkwardly behind the married couple...

Went to Ramen street, or how the Japanese call it LA-men and picked a really good place to eat some Lamen. The shop was tiny as hell, but all of them were like that. You basically have a slim table in the shape of an L that surrounds the chef who cooks it in front of you. You sit individually in your stool ...there are no tables , everyone sits side by side looking straight at the chef. Pictures below for the food ;)

Ramen Alley 

Here it is!!!YUMM

Me standing outside Ramen alley with a belly full of ramen in the rain

Sun moon lake biking tour

Ｓo here Ｉ’ｍ gonna talk about my biking experience around Ｓun Ｍoon lake in Ｔaiwan.

Arriving into Ｓun Ｍoon from Ｔaichung was like a 2 hr bus ride （190NTD one way）．　
Got dropped off at the visitor center and made our way to our hostel called Ｌove Ｈome Ｐier Pavillon or something like that. Cost is about 680 NTD per night or roughly $28CAD.
The place is super close to the visitor center and was one of the cheapest options available. If you stay on the otheｒ side of the lake then ｙou need to either tａke a taxi which will cost. 500NTD (crazy Ｉ know but its like the only forms of transport after 5pm when the local city buses stop running）. So if you can， stay close to the visitor center called Shueishe.

From there Ｉ found the giant store which is located under the visitor center and is opened　till 7pm weekdays. Went there and talked to them about how to do the tour arouｎd the lake (i.e. Time, safety, ease of navigation) 

Ｉt was raining when we arrived，and the following day was also supposed to rain so Ｉ decided to hold off until tmr morning. They open bright and early at 6am so Ｉ got there the next day　at that time. It was light out so no need to worry about that. Mind you this is Sept 30. Not sure if this is their winter or not.

Their staｎdard hire bikes are these hybrid looking bikes. Flat handle bar with three gears in the front and not surｅ in the back but she said there are a total of 27 gears. That bike costs 200NTD the first hr and costs 200 subsequently after that　（ｐｅｒ　ｈｒ）.

I tｈink their most expensive bike was 1000 for the first hr and 200 after that. They charge by the hr so even if you come back 30 mins after the hr, they will charge ｙou the full hr. The lady was kind enough to give e 10% off cause it wasn’ｔ explained to me in the beginning. So Ｉ got a road bike by LIV and it was aluminum. It was 200 for the first hr. They get you to tｅst ride it around and they will adjust your　seat height and distance to stem. I didn't bring my clipped in shoes so i used regular pedals but if you have kleets they can give you the pedals for that. They also gave me one free water and a poncho in case it rained.

So the trip itself for me was jｕst oveｒ 30km and I did it in 2.5 hrs with all the stops to sight see and take pics. I think it normally takes 3-4 hｒs but i didn't go inside the temples or anything.

It did not rain on me even though it was forecasted to do so at 8am. I had totally blue clear skies the whole way.

The ride itself wasn't too challenging. Make surｅ you eat breakfast and pack some snacks. I packed two water bottles but only ended up using one. 　

Click this link to see my Youtube video I made and some pics of the ride. Enjoy my friends :)

Day 2: Tokyo to Noboribetsu

Day 2 Tokyo to Noboriｂetsu (hot springs)

So we had to wake super early to catch our train that left at 630am and expected to arrive in Noboribetsu for 2ish. I think it was here that I purchased my first convenience store food from something similar to 7/11 and I got a sandwich that had egg salad and sausage in it. I also purchased a bun which I had hoped had some Red bean paste inside but was slightly disappointed when instead it was filled with fried chicken and mayo lol.

So at our first transfer I remember being like holly crap it's freezing up here compared to Tokyo and that's when I had to pull out my wooly hat. Upon arriving at our fancy hotel, we were greeted ever so kindly by the staff who went over the rules in the hotel. 

We again had to do the slipper thing and we were given a set of robes which were so crisp and had all the air sucked out of them, it was such a cool feeling putting them on for the first time. It was like you had to peel apart the fabric. The room was so cool too, it was one living space and in the middle had this super low table that could be accessible if you sat on the floor. 

For the hot springs, you had to first go to the shower area and scrub your self down. Aka wash your body with soap, shampoo your hair and they even had this collagen peel that would apparently take off your dead skin. Once we finished that, we went outside into the natural hot spring. It was hot but it was really nice. I dunno but I feel like I have sort of gotten used the whole being naked thing and bathing with other females. It's kind of a liberating feeling to not be self conscious and try to hide your body because everyone is exposed and everyone has flaws in their bodies. Anyway getting off topic here, we soaked in the tub for maybe 20-30 mins before I couldn't take anymore heat and had to leave. I used this neat face product called hydrouric (sp?) acid or something that was special to Hokkaido and it's meant to like be really nourishing for the skin. After that, We headed down for dinner and　OMG was that ever an incredible experience. So you are given so many little plates that have such varying foods on it. I had two tiny pieces of shrimp in one dish, an inch of octopus in another, and some other things I forget now. But it was loaded with seafood and we got to cook a lot of it ourselves. Of course there was rice and omg I am in love with Japanese we rice !! It's so sticky and just pure deliciousness!!! The meal was absolutely incredible and an experience I will never forget.

                              Arriving in Hokkaido and looking for some warm clothes!! BURRR

                                                    The hallway of our room

                                                  Mini Mochi for baby to hammer

 Here is a picture of the surrounding area. I think its a mountain and it is releasing sulfur gases and has small ponds of sulfur water. 

                           This is me soaking my feet in a natural onsen near the ho

                                                      Sulfur pond/lake

                       Bus full of oh so cute children!! Just look at their blue caps!!!

I will post a link here with a short clip on my YouTube channel. 

So at this point I'm like okay two days in a row I've eaten rice and seafood, barely any fruit or veg at all :(

Day 1 Tokyo capsule hotel

Arriving in japan/capsule hotel.

So we arrived in japan in the afternoon and took the train from Narita into the city and it cost about 1100yen. I think we used the Narita express? But don't quote me on that. We also activated our JR pass from the airport and it's pretty neat it looks like a little pamphlet and keep it with you at all times because if you loose it or it gets stolen then you're shit outa luck my friend.

It also states that you need your passport with you when you're using the pass however I have never had to show it. Once we got to our capsule hotel I realized just how small everything is in Japan. Like I came out of the train station and was looking around and I felt like I was in a doll house world. I don't even know how to describe it except that everything is just super tiny. And the people aren't like super short or anything so I found it fascinating. We got to our hotel and immediately we had to remove our shoes and put on their slippers...we took out our slippers from a locker and put our shoes in the locker and gave the key to the reception. Then we headed upstairs where we found our capsule and inside were a pair of basic unisex pyjamas. There was a communal shower and boy was that ever interesting. So inside the shower room you have like these little plastic stools and you basically sit on these stools and bathe yourself. Also you are sitting next to someone on either side. There are giant bottles of shampoo and body wash provided for you and a shower head is in front of you. I just kept thinking to myself uhhhh is this stool clerean?! Haha

After we went to the closest restaurant that appeared affordable and half decent and walked inside. There we had to order from a machine where we selected our food option, the rice bowl size and paid. The machine prints your ticket and you give it to the server. Then you sit and wait. For about $10CAD I got a small whole mackerel fish with a large bowl of rice, miso soup, some tiny side dish of cabbage and I think that was about it. It felt like it was a fast food joint however the food tasted incredible and nothing like fast food. 

We then went to check out a local temple which was closed but it was nice just to scroll through it, I paid 100 yen to take a fortune card out of a set of wooden drawers and I luckily got a good fortune. I will post s picture of the fortune down below. 

If you receive a bad fortune you are meant to tie it to the place you got it from and set it free from you so that it doesn't come true.