Friday, 6 December 2024

Hokkaido II Day 2: Train to Toya Kohantei Hotel

We woke up at 7.30am to clear skies this beautiful morning! 🌅 

Our view from the window in the morning

We had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant at Level 2. It's a must to have the renown Hokkaido milk every single day! 😁

The buffet spread
Mix of Western and Japanese breakfast food
It was nice that they had a good selection for my foodie kids
My breakfast 😋 

After breakfast, we packed up and checked out of Chitose Station Hotel at around 10am.

We intended to rent a car as it was more convenient and we could visit inaccessible places. We made a reservation of a Jeep Commander via MID Rent-a-Car, after shortlisting a few companies. The company also acceded to our special request for pickup at Chitose Station. 

MID Rent-a-Car's booth conveniently located at our hotel's lobby

However, the sign on the table (see picture above) indicated that no one was working at the booth that day. We tried calling the number on the sign but no one picked up. Not knowing what to do, we eventually decided to leave the 2 older kids at the hotel and headed to their main office by taxi (cost us ¥1100). On arrival, a staff informed us that our car was already at Chitose Station! 😒😑 

MID Rent-a-Car's main office

We waited for the staff to return with the car we had reserved and then found out to our horror that our Singaporean license was not valid and that we had to apply for an International Driving Licence! 😱😫😧 The application online would take at least a week to process, which meant that we had to forego car rental and revert to our original plan of taking public transport! 😭😮‍💨😞

Everyone was so disappointed, but life must go on! The car rental staff was super helpful and brought us back to Chitose Station Hotel in their company shuttle bus.

The company's shuttle service

When we had returned to Chitose Station Hotel, we left our luggage at the concierge and walked to AEON next door for shopping (to cheer ourselves up! 😅). We bought a lot of snacks from the supermarket and stuff for the kids, especially winter essentials like gloves, hats and shoes! There was a wide selection of products and very affordable! The Eldest managed to buy her beauty products while the Boy bought his favourite Kirby! 🛍️

The Boy was so happy with the large Kirby selection found nowhere else in the world except in Japan!

After shopping for 2 hours (which wasn't enough! 😅), we had a late lunch at the Food Court.

Super cute donuts!! 🤤
Ramen and a pikachu donut for the kids
We decided to join the long queue at Gindaco to try their taiyaki and takoyaki
Yummy takoyaki!

It was getting late so we had to quickly return to our hotel, collect our luggage and buy train tickets from the Chitose Station ticketing counter.

I was advised by the staff to take the limited express train (Hokuto 18) to Toya Station. It cost us ¥2860 (ticket) + ¥2360 (reserved seating) per adult and ¥1430 (ticket) + ¥1180 (reserved seating) per child. Apparently all seats on the train were reserved (and everyone supposedly had to pay for reserved seats) but the notices on the train seats indicated that it was possible to buy tickets without reserving seats. However, this meant that if you sat on someone else's reserved seat, you had to move when that person arrives. 

As our train would only arrive at 4.10pm, we had to wait for about 45 minutes at the station! On hindsight, we should've bought our tickets before going to AEON so that we could've planned better and spent more time shopping! 😮‍💨 

We headed to the platform and were surprised that the train was late (Japanese trains were rarely late)! We were fretting as we had only 10 minutes at the next station to transfer to the next train! 😟

At the platform waiting to board the train
(Spot our hotel, Chitose Station Hotel, in the background)

Thankfully, the train was only a few minutes late and we managed to catch the Hokuto 18 train at Minami-Chitose Station (albeit with no time to spare!).

Our comfortable seats on the Hokuto 18
Arrival at Toya Station

The journey to Toya Station only took 80 minutes and was super comfortable, hence I felt the expensive tickets were worth it! 😁

We saw 2 taxis waiting outside the station and took them to Toya Kohantei Hotel, our accommodation for the next 3 nights (alternatively, you can also pay for a direct bus service from Sapporo Station).

Toya Kohantei Hotel at night

It was almost 6pm when we finally checked in at the front desk. We were given breakfast and dinner coupons (included in our accommodation package) and informed that we had to collect them every day from the front desk. There were 2 dinner slots (5.30pm and 7pm) but as we had arrived late, we were given the latter. We were asked to take whatever amenities we needed from the shelves next to the front desk as these would not be available in the room.

Small bags, hair tie, yukatas and other things for hotel guests

We headed to our Japanese Room with Mountain View we had booked at ¥44,374 (S$416) per room per night. The room accommodated 3 adults and 2 children (below 12 years old) and included breakfast and dinner! Very value-for-money! 😃

We entered the room using a physical key instead of the usual key card! After using digital locks at home for almost a decade, I'd forgotten what it was like to use a physical key! 😅 The main door opened into a small foyer (where we placed our shoes), with the bathroom on the left and the door to the bedroom on the right. 

The bathroom and a tiny kitchenette just outside the bathroom
Left: Bedroom with tatami mats
Right: Complimentary snacks
TV corner with heater and small safe
Wardrobe corner with another heater
View of the street from our room

My family loves the cold so much that we hardly switched on the heaters, preferring to leave one window ajar to let air in! 🤭

We headed to the hotel's restaurant for dinner at 8pm.

Breakfast and dinner at the restaurant at Level 2
Spacious dining area with windows that faced Lake Toya
Kids utensils provided 😊
Beef steak at the chef's station and wide variety of drinks
DIY chicken with rice hot pot!
Piping hot and delicious! 😋
Food was surprisingly good, especially the beef! 👍🏻
Love the soft serve made with Hokkaido milk, the best milk in the world in my opinion! 😍 I love everything that's made with Hokkaido milk! 😄
(Thank God that I'm not lactose intolerant! 🤭)

After a very full dinner, the Hubby felt that we should take a walk around the neighbourhood, since the night was still young.

Photo booth at the lobby

It was only a 5-minute walk to The Illumination Tunnel, available only during the winter season.

The Illumation Tunnel at Toya
We wanted our own couple photo but the Littlest insisted to join in! 😅

Inside the illuminated dome
View of the dome and tunnel from the top
Only opened during winter

We walked towards Lake Toya and returned to our hotel.

The part of the hotel that faced Lake Toya

When we entered our room, we realised that the staff had already laid out our beds!

Cozy sleeping arrangements for our family, Japanese style!
The Boy still talks about this fondly till date 😊

We changed into our yukata and headed to the onsen. Ever since I overcame the awkwardness of my first onsen experience, I've been a big fan of the onsen! We were all super excited! 😆 

All dressed and ready to go!
Onsen was on the top floor of the hotel
Long corridor to the onsen

The girls were a bit apprehensive as it was the Eldest's first time as a teen and the Littlest's first time ever! 😄 However, they soon got accustomed to the experience and thoroughly enjoyed it!

View of Lake Toya in the day from the indoor onsen
Photo credit: Toya Kohantei Hotel
View of Lake Toya and Mount Yotei in the day from the outdoor onsen
Photo credit: Toya Kohantei Hotel

We all agreed that we love the outdoor onsen more than the indoor one as the feeling of cold air on your face while soaking in the hot tub was amazing! 😍

It was snowing very heavily when we looked out of our window that night! ❄️🌨️
It's the first time our family has ever experienced such a downpour of snow! 😄

The Hubby and I have always wanted to return to Toya since our last touch-and-go experience 12 years ago. We have finally made it happen! I couldn't be happier! 😁

It was midnight by the time we went to bed! Super long but fulfilling day! 🩷💤


Continue to >> Hokkaido II Day 3: Toyako Visitor Centre & Volcano Science Museum
<< Back to Hokkaido II Day 1: Chitose Station Hotel 

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Hokkaido, Japan 
as well as other travel itineraries!


Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!

Thursday, 5 December 2024

Hokkaido II Day 1: Chitose Station Hotel

When we're booking our tickets in Jan this year, Singapore Airlines was more expensive than ANA by $200 per ticket on average. Hence, we booked ANA (Krisflyer miles!) at $1267 per adult and $1053 per child aged 2-11 years old (inclusive of free seat selection). These were the most expensive plane tickets we had ever bought so far! 😖 But for Hokkaido's winter season, it was definitely worth it! 🩷🤩😍

We could hardly sleep before our most anticipated trip of the year! Our flight was at dawn so we had to wake up by 3am and arrive at the airport by 4am! 😴💤 

No one complained of course! We piled into the Maxi Cab the Hubby had booked for $70 and headed to Changi Airport Terminal 2.

Sanrio-themed Christmas decorations at Changi Airport!
Our airport is really a destination in itself! So pretty!

After checking in and depositing our luggage at ANA, we had breakfast at the 24-hour food court at T2 Transit. We also allowed the kids to play at the playground before we head to the boarding gate.

Cute little playground that the Boy will soon outgrow!

Boarding process was smooth and our flight departed Singapore on time at 6.40am.

Littlest enjoying the kids' entertainment while having her breakfast
Loved the kids meal and wished for the umpteen time that adults were allowed to order it!
My boring non-kids meal in comparison

As usual, I had to entertain the Littlest on this flight as it was daytime. There were few movies that the Littlest liked and before long, she was bored! 😮‍💨 Thank God that the flight was only 6 hours 10 minutes, much shorter than expected! We arrived at Tokyo Narita International Airport (Terminal 1) at 2.15pm (Japan time, Japan is 1 hour ahead of Singapore)! 

Welcome to Japan!

We had about 3 hours to transfer to the domestic terminal. Just like what I'd experienced in the USA, we had to clear immigration, collect our luggage and deposit them at the domestic counters before clearing security check again at the domestic terminal. Despite all that, we still had more than 2 hours to kill at the waiting area! 😅

The waiting area in the domestic terminal was really small so the 2 hours felt like a really long time! We bought some food from the cafe for lunch. I wanted to buy more snacks but we were only interested in Tokyo Banana.

Waiting area at the domestic terminal
Takoyaki and ramen for lunch

The kids played at a tiny play area to pass time. We were all relieved when the staff finally started the boarding process for our flight to Sapporo! 

We had to take a bus to our plane!

Our plane departed at 5.45pm and the flight was just 1.5 hours. We arrived at New Chitose International Airport, Sapporo at 7.20pm! Yay! 🥳

Welcome to Hokkaido!

We collected our luggage and headed to the New Chitose Airport Station to take the JR Express train to our first accommodation of our trip. We bought one-way tickets to Chitose Station (just 2 stops away) at ¥270 per adult and ¥130 per child (FREE for children below 6).

New Chitose Airport JR Station
I've become very familiar with using these machines (6th visit to Japan you see 🤭) and bought our tickets very easily! 😁 The train was very comfortable!

After alighting at Chitose Station, we walked via the link bridge to Chitose Station Hotel, conveniently located just beside the station.

There were clear signs that guided us from the station to the hotel's lobby

The lobby was very beautifully decorated! There was also complimentary drinks for guests! 😊

Checking in at the front desk of the lobby
Getting our drinks from the drinks dispenser. The hot chocolate was a hit with the kids!

We booked the Family Room at ¥19,890 (S$195) per room per night (FREE for children below 6). The room accommodates 4 adults and includes breakfast (more details in the next post).

The family room was tiny but it managed to pack 2 queen beds and 1 bunk bed!
(The queen beds were ok, but the bunk beds were uncomfortable)
The room had a sofa and desk
Small but well-equipped bathroom with a bathtub!
Toilet and sink area
Adequate toiletries, including a set for kids!

The Hubby and Eldest went to the nearby convenience store to buy our dinner while I washed up the 2 younger kids. Dinner was simple but we enjoyed the ramen and bento sets that they bought! 😁 

View of the surrounding area from our room window

It was midnight by the time we went to bed, super tired but grateful for a comfortable resting place after a long commute!

We'd always wanted to return to Hokkaido since our last visit in 2012. Can't believe it took us 12 years! So happy to be back! 😍🤩


Continue to >> Hokkaido II Day 2: Train to Toya Kohantei Hotel

~~~~~~

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on 
Hokkaido, Japan as well as other travel itineraries!


Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!
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