Hokkaido Trip Day 5: From Asahikawa to Niseko Kutchan（俱知安）

The next few days were pretty exciting to us as we were leaving Asahikawa and heading to Niseko for our skiing experience! I woke up early to visit the onsen as we had missed it the previous night. Although photography is not allowed in onsen, it is empty and I was dying to show off how beautiful this place is, so I quickly snapped a few pictures.

Row of washing area where we can sit and dry our hair

Locker  area where we keep our clothes while bathing

Slipper rack to place our slippers once in the onsen

The main onsen area

The journey was rather long, so we had to make sure that we wake up early enough to catch the train at 8.55am and not miss the train. We managed to grab breakfast (just getting the croissant and not the drinks) before running up the platform to catch the first train heading back to Sapporo. This is the first day we're activating the 7days Hokkaido Rail Pass and I was really glad that all the reserved seats were booked. The Limited Express Super Kamui had very comfortable seats and initially we were sitting apart with the aisle between us. The nice lady next to P saw this and she offered to change her seat with me, so sweet of her! I really love the Japanese who are so considerate in everything they do! The weather was so much warmer when we reached Sapporo, we did not feel that cold after getting there from the freezing Asahikawa. We arrived with 20min buffer time for the next train heading to Otaru so we waited for sometime on the platform. I saw some vending machines on the platform but they were all selling cold drinks and not hot drinks for this cold weather. Some people mentioned buying train bento sets (ekiben) but I didnt really see them at Hokkaido JR stations, I'm really glad that we managed to grab something to eat earlier as we're going to totally miss breakfast and will only reach Kutchan at 1pm+.

Selfie for the day

The snowy landscape that I'll always miss in Hokkaido

Waiting for train at Sapporo Station

Somehow it always confusing where to stand and queue up for the different trains

The next rapid train to Otaru is our ride

After another 30min ride to Otaru, we got a bit tired after transferring and waiting for train two times, so when the next local train heading to our destination came, we were really resting and dozing off, luckily there were plenty of seats after a few stops as we could not get reserved seats for local train rides. As the train sped along the countryside, we saw that there were more snow coverage on each side of the tracks, and even the elderly sitting opposite us were quite excited and kept peering out of the windows. The local train had quite a number of tourists with big luggages so I assume they are all heading to Niseko for skiing. The local train stopped at Kutchan, Hirafu and Niseko stations but Kutchan is nearest to Hirafu area where we'll be staying so we alighted there. It looked quite covered with snow and we took sometime taking photographs around the place. There were only stairs leading to the exit of the station so P had to struggle with my 20kg+ luggage carrying them up and down the stairs (opps!)

Finally at Kutchan

When we left the train station, we saw a Donan bus leaving from the bus stop outside. I forgot that Donan bus timing is usually synchronised with the train timing so taking our own sweet time earlier caused us to miss the bus. There was a taxi waiting room opposite the bus stop, so we crossed the street and try to get a taxi to bring us to Hirafu instead. From what I had researched online, it will cost about 26000Y, which is quite reasonable since we do not need to walk to the hotel with our luggages in the cold. We waited inside for quite sometime before we realised that we need to get the help of the staff there to get a cab to come. There was a guy there helping mandarin speaking tourists so I asked him to book a cab for us, he told us it will take 20min, which is a long wait on top of the all the time we had wasted earlier. I tried to look for the the bus schedule online, and it seemed to indicate that the next bus will arrive at 2pm, sooner than the 20min wait required. We thanked him for his help but decided to go back to the bus stop to catch the next bus. However, 2pm came and a Donan bus appeared without stopping at the bus stop. It’s quite confusing how we could catch the bus, either that or we missed out something somewhere. At the moment, with some luck, we spotted a taxi waiting outside the train station and P went ahead to check if he would bring us to our hotel. He said yes! Yeah~ so off we went to the hotel. (Lesson learnt: leave the station immediately if you intend to catch the Donan bus, and prepared to wait about 20min if you get the guys at the taxi waiting area to book, apparently there aren’t many taxis around the area so they don’t queue outside the station like other places.)

Bus stop right outside the station, but we did not get a ride there

I was certainly glad we took a taxi that brought us right to the hotel, even though the hotel is said to be just a few minutes walk from the Welcome Centre, it did not feel that near when we were there. In fact, I think it should be a 10min walk instead of 3min as what was said in the reviews (maybe it seemed further during the winter). Even thought it was only 2+ and the check in time was 3pm, we were glad the hotel staff allowed us to check in after the long journey. This is the first Japanese style room we’re staying in, and its quite awesome. The best of all, we have a private outdoor onsen area overlooking the ski slope.

Our outdoor onsen in room overlooking ski slope

We were really excited with the prospect of soaking in the hot bath while watching people ski, the hotel is in a quite strategic location as its a ski in ski out hotel. However, ironically, we were not skiing at the Ace Family Lift as it was already December when I got an advice from TripAdvisor to book our ski lessons ASAP. Obviously, it was already kind of late as I sent email to the two schools operating at Ace Family Lift but NISS replied much later after GoSnow and there was no reply from NBS at all. (Lesson learnt: Book ski lessons once hotel dates are confirmed as the area is really crowded during this season.)

Although we only ate one piece of chocolate croissant earlier that day and we were quite famished, P couldn’t resist taking some shots at the ski slopes while the skiers and snowboarders were wheezing around. As it was already 4pm and almost the end of day skiing, some of them were keeping their skis at the ski lockers at the side of the hotel nearer to the slope. I was quite impressed to see quite a number of Japanese old folks handling their skis at the area, my guess is they probably stay area the area and picked up skiing at a younger age, so this is like a seasonal sports for them. 

The ski slope right next to our hotel 

As Hirafutei did not have a proper listing on Agoda (no reviews), i thought that it’s a small hotel but there were actually quite a number of rooms and its a prominent hotel in the area (most people know where it is) and I would say most if not all are there for skiing (convenience of ski in ski out). More reviews of the hotel in the next post!

Japanese restaurant where skiers came to have dinner, but it was just lunch for us

After taking some pictures, the lights on the ski slopes were already on as it was getting dark. Niseko is one of the few places with night skiing till 9pm, and Ace Family Lift area is one of the few areas with that, with the ski lift operating till night. We then went to the main Hirafu village at the intersection to look for food. When we reached Kutchan, we noticed that the ground was wet and there was a slight drizzle that evening while we looked for food. The rain was getting heavier, but we could not decide what to have. Fortunately, P agreed to have Japanese food so we can get out of the rain, so we popped into the prominent Fujizushi right at the junction. It was actually 5pm and dinner time for the skiers, more people came into the restaurant after we did, but it was just our first meal for the day. P had tempura with rice (quite rare of him to have Jap food for a change) and I tried this donburi with assorted sashimi and salmon roe. The salmon roe was not as fresh as the one I had my first night at Sapporo but the meal was still quite satisfying after the long train rides we had. 

The rain was getting heavier after our meal and we had to make a trip to the Gondola area to pick up our rental equipment for ski lesson the next day. It would be much easier to do it that evening than to wake up super early on the day of lesson itself. We were trying to figure out how to take the shuttle bus as there was supposed to be a shuttle bus going there from the bus stop outside our hotel, but we waited for quite sometime in the rain and we decided we could actually walk there as it did not look that far on the map. It was tough walking up from the intersection to our hotel as it was a steep slope, and we had to continue the climb further up till another junction before heading right. Anyway, we managed to find the place after a 10-15min walk, so it was considered good enough. I was sure glad I brought along an umbrella with me so we were not drenched at all.

GoSnow office was still opened at 6pm and they printed the vouchers for us to get our equipment next door. We only met a few Singapore families around Hokkaido the previous few days, but there were really lots of them at Niseko and I could hear English with Singapore accent everywhere, from the hotel to the ski school. Niseko is also the rare place in Hokkaido where we hear more English than Japanese, many of the westerners (or australians) were working at the ski schools as instructors, coaching the Asian kids and adults. 

The rental equipment area was kind of messy as there was a big group of family with adults and kids (Singaporeans?) trying out their stuff when we were there. There were 3 staff fitting people with ski boots, ski goggles, gloves, ski pants, jackets and stuff. I would say the experience at Lake Tahoe years ago was much better and there was more efficiency, plus the equipment looked newer. Nevertheless,  I was still glad we made it and our rental was settled that evening, since it was getting dark and many of the shops in the area was already closing or closed. 

It was pouring and dark outside and we decided we will take the shuttle bus since most of them pass the Gondola and we did not want to get ourselves or our shoes wet. There were actually benches for us to sit and wait in the lobby area so we did not have to wait out there in the rain, we realised this after we missed one shuttle bus but the next one came eventually and we were really glad it made a loop to the Welcome Centre, then stopped outside our hotel. I must say even after reading up all the stuff online, the shuttle bus service at Niseko is still quite confusing for me. 

Futons all laid out and looked very inviting

When we were back in the hotel, we were delighted to find that the futons had been laid out for us when we were out earlier (they usually do it during dinner hours). It was nice staying in a Japanese room as there was a separate area for us to put our jackets and stuff (with cupboards, sofa and tables) and the toilet/bathroom etc were all separated. The futons looked so inviting after a tiring day on train/ in the rain that I dozed off for a short while. We picked up some titbits from the small shop downstairs as the thought of soaking in the private onsen while munching on snacks and watching video on the laptop was so appealing. I simply loved Japanese onsen as the tub is always ready for us, unlike in Taiwan where we had to fill up own tubs or bath area with the spring water or hot water. 

We enjoyed soaking in the onsen and watching several people do their night ski, there were much fewer people at night (usually beginners) as its pretty tiring to ski the whole the day plus it was raining then. Finally, it was 10+ and we decided to go out for dinner. We did not realise that Hirafu is basically like a dead town by that time and we could not find a single eatery that was still opened after walking around for an hour, not even a izakaya. As there were many westerners in town, some pubs or eateries were still opened for drinks but dinner hours was long over after 9pm/10pm. We turned back to get some stuff from Seicomart so that we could eat something in the room, but even that was already when we finally decided to go there. I would say that after this night at Hokkaido, we finally adjusted our dinner timing to fit the Japanese winter lifestyle. (Lesson learnt: Do not get dinner too late at Niseko, it is very much like a dead town after 10pm.)

We were not super hungry after the meal at 5pm+ and some snacking in onsen earlier but it did feel quite sad if we sleep with a empty stomach that night. I took out the two packets of Hokkaido instant ramen I bought at Asahikawa as the last alternatives, and i was really glad that I have those with me on this trip. Mum prepared a mini electric cooker for me to bring along for this trip and I set it up for noodles cooking in the room. However, the electric current in Japan seems to be too low to get it to work properly (either that, or the electric cooker was faulty), so i eventually used the electric jug provided in the room to do my noodles cooking (something i learnt from my mum during the Hong Kong trip earlier). I guess I really brought too many unnecessary items with me for this trip, but its still nice to be prepared on a night like this.