Hokkaido Summer Trip 2017 Day 4 (4/6/17)

To do something different from the previous trip, I decided to venture to Biei from Asahikawa. It is too early to go further down to Furano for the flowers as flowers are not blooming yet. Actually it is also too early to see the farm harvesting in Biei, but I read from online reviews that people do tour around the small town on electric bicycles and I decided it is something refreshing for us. Mum cycles very often and I guess she'll like this. I googled online and found this bicycle rental place offering guided tour so I emailed to them and got a confirmation for a half day tour. I chose a earlier tour so that we can still have the afternoon free to go to the zoo if we decided to do the trip today.

Taking the local train (very short carriages) to Biei

As the tour starts at 9.30am and it takes 40min to travel to Biei, I dragged myself up by 8am to prepare for the train ride at 8.46am. There were tourists from PRC and taiwan after we board the train. Mum brought a cup of hot coffee from the hotel and we also dropped by Delifrance to pick up some bread to eat along the way. When I woke up at 4am ahead of my alarm clock earlier, it showed Biei and Asahikawa raining although there was no rain when I looked out of the window, so I brought my down jacket along. After receiving the confirmation email, I did not hear anything from the tour vendor and did not pay anything, so I was crossing my fingers. The cycling tour is also something I had been looking forward to for this trip.

Biei Station

When we reached Biei, it was super cold and drizzling a little. I was really thankful that I had my down jacket with me. It was a small and very quiet town with not that many people on the streets. I followed the instructions on the website and I was glad that I managed to find the shop after crossing the overhead bridge to get across the railway. I could see that it was just a small standalone shop and the owners were waiting for us to turned up. There was row of bicycles outside and no other patrons in sight, so I guess we were the only ones going for the tour this cold windy morning.

Mum and our guide getting our bicycles ready

The vendors and the guide checked with us a few times if we wanted to go ahead with the trip as it was really cold. Mum and I decided to bite the bullet and see how far we could go before we have to cancel our adventure. The kind owners also offered me a pair of gloves, it was another lifesaver and earlier I had even thought that Mum was too kiasu to wear gloves in summer! The guide taught us how we should operate the electric assisted bicycles and I also warmed up a little by cycling around the area. I was wobbling a little at first but slowly got used to things once we started the trip.

The patchwork area of Biei (Ken and Mary trees behind)

Our guide named Tommy spoke good English for a Japanese and we encountered very steep slopes going uphill for quite awhile after we started our journey. I would say that it is really necessary to rent a electric assisted bicycle in this area as our legs were just a little tired from all that cycling up. We came to this area with many people taking photographs at two trees (supposedly to be famous during to an old Japanese advertisement) and the area was also filled with different plants waiting to harvesting, forming a patchwork of different green. It was quite cold and windy but I still marveled at the nice scenery in front of me. We stopped to take some photographs.

The patchwork area

Ken and Mary trees

The next place we stopped was at a french bakery that also hosted a neat restaurant. We requested to go in to buy some bread to try as Mum also needed a toilet break. The warmth of the place was a welcome relief from the cold wind whipping my hair on my face. Perhaps we were really hungry, the two pieces of bread we bought were really good! I read about the restaurant on TripAdvisor and I guess its listed as the top few in Biei.

Really cool french bakery and cafe

The rain came down harder after we left the bakery and Tommy checked with us if we wanted to continue. We still felt comfortable coming equipped with thick jacket and raincoat so we decided to go on. It was about an hour into our guided tour. After that, we cycled around the place and Tommy showed us some other famous 'trees', made famous by advertisements again and there were really people who earnestly took photographs there. I was glad that we did not opt for the taxi tour as the price is also quite steep to do that and it felt silly to stop just to take photographs with these trees. 

Parent and child tree from a distance

Tommy also pointed out the vegetables we saw on the field, like lines of potatoes, beet sugar plants, onions and wheat. After a while, we were just cycling up and down around these fields which looked pretty much the same. The feeling were very serene and it really could have been better if it was not raining. As we soon realised that the scenery were getting repetitive, we requested to head back around 11am as it was raining harder and getting quite cold. I'm sure glad that the rain did not pour down heavily like the first day in Sapporo and we were still able to make it that far into the tour. 

The seven stars tree from some distance

When we reached the shop, it was already 11.35am, so we only lost about 20-30min of touring time. We did not mind that as we had already seen enough. Tommy apologised for the rain but I sincerely thanked him for taking us out on a day with such a weather. Temperature for the whole day was around 7-8 degrees but from tomorrow onwards, the sun will be out and temp will rise to more than 20 degrees. So its really our luck when it come to weather. The train was already waiting when we reached the station, we quickly hop on and the journey back to Asahikawa felt so much faster. 

Interesting honest shop when farmers just leave their produce for sale

We decided that we deserve a good treat for our good effort this morning, so its finally Kani Honke time! After a very cold morning, I was craving for something hot and soupy so we ordered a Snow and King Crab sukiyaki and Mum ordered another set meal that comes with many small dishes like crab miso, boiled crab legs, crab porridge etc. The food quality and service was as good as I remembered it and we found it worth every bucks we spent. The plus point about the Asahikawa outlet was that it was not so crowded and there was no queue when we went during the weekend lunch hours.

Food is served! 

We took this pic balancing the phone on a bag lolz

When the server came in with the food, we get her help to take pic

It was only 2pm when we finished the sumptuous meal, but Mum was not keen to tour the zoo, so we decided to head back to our hotel room. I was also happy with this decision as I can get a nap after waking up early this morning. We only went out to the shopping street for a short walk again at 5pm, more shops were still opened unlike the previous day but there was still nothing much to see and buy. We only stopped at a small shop selling local produce to get a green tea ice cream, and then we headed to the supermarket once again to get some food for dinner. I dont really have any special craving by this time and felt a bit sick of the fresh seafood don or sashimi so we did not get any. We tried other food stuff like their preserved vegetables and some salad, food that I had missed eating the past few days.

Visiting this guy and his cat in the rain instead of snow

Sunset view from my hotel room

Before it was 7pm, we were once again back in our hotel room and ready to rest for the night. I sat at the desk to update the blog, went to the onsen (surprisingly only a few people around 9pm) and came back to finish one episode of the Korean drama Goblin (I had been watching it on and off since last year December). I prefer the onsen here as its always less crowded compared to the one at Keihan and there's two onsen areas (indoor and outdoor). Mum was getting ready to sleep when I got back to the room at 9pm but I was wide awake till midnight due to the inactivity and the nap I took earlier.  

Hokkaido Summer Trip 2017 Day 3 (3/6/17)

I rested well and only woke up at 8am this morning. I headed down on the onsen and was pleasantly surprised that there were only a few ladies there. Probably people here all have an early start so it's more crowded going to the onsen too early. Mum slept very well and I only woke her up when it's almost time for us to check out at 1030am. Basically this is a very nua day as we only took the train to Asahikawa and walked around Aeon Mall, we did not even go to a restaurant for our meals.

Our breakfast of cup noodles buffet! 

We packed up really quickly although I felt like we bought a lot of snacks here and there. Mum prepared cup noodles for breakfast and as a noodles fan, I didnt really mind that. The checkout time was 11am and we went down shortly after that. I guess I'll still be back to Hotel Keihan Sapporo if I'm back in this city again.

Tickets for our reserved seats

Train to Asahikawa

I went to the JR information counter at Sapporo station to get all our reserved seats tickets before we leave the city. I really love the feeling of traveling in a reserved seat car and having designated seats. The Hokkaido 7 days Rail Pass is really worth our bucks as reserved seats can be utilised free of charge with the pass (or maybe the price is already included). Probably I had really sufficient sleep the previous night, the 1.5 hour ride felt very long and I couldnt get any shut eye at all, the train also felt shaky. I had taken trains of more than 4 hours so this should be tolerable to me, but it still felt quite long. Finally, we arrived at Asahikawa and it was as cold as I remember the place to be, even during summer.

Finally reached! 

But I still liked the place in a way, as we had lots of adventures here previously and the whole JR station is linked to the mall and our hotel, so its quite convenient. I had lots of praises for JR Inn Asahikawa the previous time so without hesitation, this is the first hotel I had in mind when I was booking the trip. We had a bigger room the previous time but this time round is also not too bad, in fact it is slightly bigger than our hotel room in Sapporo and its also the cheapest for the whole trip. I wrote a detailed review the previous time but I still could not resist taking a few more pictures as I really adore this place. We were more than an hour early for the 3pm check in time, so we left our luggages with the front desk and went to explore the area. I showed Mum the lounge with free flow coffee and she loved it so much that she had two cups of coffee immediately. 

Very comfortable rest area

Coffee machine and free flow tea

Not snowy this time but still cold

Large collection of comics for people to read

Mum loved the Aeon supermarket as there's a lot of foodstuff to buy. Once again, we decided to just get stuff we'll love to try for lunch from the supermarket. She was not hungry enough for Kani Honke and it felt too late for us to go and visit the zoo after check in, so we'll just slack in the hotel room for the rest of the day. I saw the whole range of sushi selling for a very cheap price and could not resist getting some of those, its Japan and Hokkaido after all! We also get some sweet snacks and some onigiri from the stalls next to the supermarket. 

It's interesting the fruits were rated according to sweetness here

After we grabbed all the food we wanted, it was past 3pm and we decided to go up to check into the room and enjoy our lunch. I had booked a smoking room as it was the only one available when I visited Agoda, I had requested for a non-smoking room before our trip and earlier at the front desk but they do not have any available. To our relief, the room turned out okay and we were not affected by the smell in the room at all. Just like many Japanese hotels, they have this multi purpose spray in the closet so I just helped myself with it. 

Quite a big study area and side table

We chose more pillows from the pillow library and I loved that

Place for us to leave our bags and the mounted TV saves space

Basic toilet amenities were all there and very clean

Our lunch spread

I took a nap after lunch since we decided not to go to the zoo and I got myself recharged after a few hours. After my nap, we decided to go out and and explore the Heiwa-dori, the shopping street just in front of the Aeon Mall. I'm so glad that I checked the weather before the trip and brought my down jacket as it was really just 7-8 degrees outside and I need to bundle up like it's early spring at Nagoya. It's unbelievable that it is still so cold here in summer. We went into some of the pharmacies and convenience stores to look around and these were really well stocked like all Japanese ones but we did not see anything we liked, so we turned back and headed back to the supermarket to stock up more food for dinner. By this point of time, I had gotten sick of cup noodles, sushi and onigiri, so I looked for instant porridge instead. We also decided to come back tomorrow and get some fresh bread for breakfast instead. Mum liked the peach beer (only 108Y) and thus we bought a few more of the fruit beer.

Cheap fruity beer (prefer the 3% ones)

Jill Stuart stock up

I also found Jill Stuart products in a tax free store here at Aeon Mall, although its not a counter on its own but I found that shampoo and conditioner refill I was looking for. I had waited for more than a month to come to Japan to get this after missing the chance at Nagoya in March. After moving into my new place in March, I was looking for new brands of shampoo and conditioner with refill packs as these are more environmentally friendly. Surprisingly, its hard to find those in the supermarkets whereas in Japan common brands like Pantene and Lux have refill packs. I searched online in Carousell and found Jill Stuart, the bottles with the bling on top look so good in my bathroom so I got them at quite steep price ( 300ml bottles at about $50 each), they smell so good that I decided to get the refill packs during my frequent trips to Japan. The refill packs are only selling at $30 sgd in the tax free store so its quite good deal. I also get the hair mask to try out while I'm here. 

Hokkaido Summer Trip 2017 Day 2 (2/6/17)

I woke up around 6.30pm when the first stream of sunlight came in through the curtains. I headed down to the onsen for another soak and was surprised that there were other ladies there this early. We washed our clothes in the washing machine the previous night to get rid of the BBQ smell, but had no chance to dry them, so I left them in the dryer before I went to wash and soak.

Breakfast is not included for our stay in this hotel and Mum does not really mind since she likes to snack on titbits more than having proper meal. After her short nap the previous night, we went to a 7-11 to get more snacks and some breakfast stuff. It was still raining then but I was glad that the sun was out shining strong and bright this morning. She made some noodles, even cooked some curry udon while I updated the blog of the previous day's adventure. 

Subway heading to Makomanai Station

Before setting off to Hokkaido, I came across people sharing pictures of tulips blooming at Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park and the pictures look so pretty. This is the Hokkaido I always wanted to visit in summer! We are in luck as the tulips are only blooming for merely 20 days before they wither away. I researched online to find out how we can get there and it seems easy enough. We set off quite early around 8.50am as the local bus ride from subway station makes its trip hourly and the next bus will be at 9.45am. We managed to get to Makomanai Subway station around 9.30am, Mum even went to pick up more snacks since we still have time. After exiting the station, we found bus stop 2 on the left and there were already a long queue waiting in line. I was surprised that the bus came slightly late as bus and trains are known to be punctual in Japan. Most of those taking the bus are actually locals and not tourists going to the park. It actually took us about 30min before the bus finally arrived at the right bus stop (Takino Suzuran Hillside Park East Entrance), the park is so big that the bus actually stopped at a few stops within the park before it came to the bus stop we were supposed to alight. All the remaining people on the bus also alighted there.

A map at the entrance of the park

There were many Japanese elderly going into the park with us and we realised there is a special rate for those above 65. Mum is eligible for this special rate (210Y) and a very friendly staff came to help us purchase the tickets at the machine. He also offered maps in English and Chinese. I paid twice the amount (420Y) but it was still considered cheap.

Tulips in the field

Tulips, tulips and more tulips in different colours

After a short walk from the entrance, we saw a colourful patch of tulips some distance away and I knew this was what we were looking forward to.  There was a friendly Japanese volunteer who wanted to tell us more about the flowers, but unfortunately we did not understand her. To see flowers blooming in this typical Hokkaido fashion is really a spectacular treat and I'm glad we were able to make it. I could see the tulips were starting to wither, so I guess they will not stay this way for too long, probably another week.

Tulips-mania 

This is my favourite pic as there's a mixture of colours

It was a nice feeling to finally view the grandeur of nature in Hokkaido (after all the snow the previous time), everything is pretty much seasonal and I guess tulips are good enough for a treat although I'll never get to see sakura or lavender blooming as long as I'm still in the teaching service. The flowers turned out so nice and pretty as the staff of the garden were giving them a lot of tender loving care. As I toured around, I could see staff busy planting the next plants and flowers that will be in their season to bloom soon. Its hard to believe, but this very same park will turn into snow sledding hills once winter is here, although I could not imagine how it would look like from where I was standing.

Guess how many little waterfalls in this picture

That's my mama

I almost could not catch up with Mum as the tulips were so instagrammable, and she was also busy with her own selfies. Finally we reached this rest area where there were a lot of little waterfalls for people to sit down and admire the scenery. Another thing I loved about the park was the plentiful rest and sitting area and the nice weather we had today. We were blessed with dry weather for the whole day and the outing to the park was also cooling and breezy.

Elderly artists

As elderly could come into the park with a concession pass/price, there were many Japanese elders at the park resting, chatting and catching up with friends. I also came across this group who were leisurely painting in the park. The whole scene looked so completed with them focussed and busy working their paint brushes.

Mini camping ground lookalike 

We took our time resting at the park and it was almost noon when we had enough of the park and decided to make our way back. As our main aim of going all the way there was just to see tulips, 1-2 hour at the park was enough for us. The friendly staff at the entrance had also given me a slip of paper with the bus timetable so we could catch the next bus from the same bus stop around 12.30pm. We had an early day and breakfast so we felt a little hungry by noon, luckily mum had a lot of snacks in her bag so we just feasted on those.

Cute little onigiri with the park logo and mascot

There were a few eateries around the place and I thought they were closed as I did not see anyone entering the place. But I was wrong, there were just too few tourists around the place but these places were already opened and selling some foodstuff. We skipped the elaborated western food cafe and went to the simpler cafe next door selling typical Japanese snacks. I had not had any onigiri this time round so we decided that we could get this to fill our stomachs while waiting for the bus. To my surprise, the onigiri was quite big and they made it on the spot so the rice was still warm. It was quite yummy. However, we were also surprised that the fillings were quite pathetic (mine only had one sour plum) so we were practically just enjoying the rice.

My favourite Kinotoya cheese tart

We had an early start so both of us fell asleep on the comfortable bus on the way back. We decided that we would go back to our hotel room to charge our phones and get ourselves recharged before heading out to Otaru. On the way back, we picked up more food stuff as we were not going to have a proper lunch, we'll just eat these snacks in the hotel room instead.

Home sweet home

I was looking forward to get a good nap of just about an hour and we'll head out again at 3pm+ but I ended up sleeping for two hours instead and we only got out at 4pm+. It was a good rest for me but we went into a situation almost similar to my first trip to Otaru, the shops would be closed by the time we get there. The only thing was the sun setting later in summer so there was still daylight when we got there. 

Reserved seats for us

The feeling was certainly different without all the snow around, but the weather for the night at Otaru was also quite cold at 14-15 degrees and I felt like I could use my down jacket there. There were still some tourists around when we reached and I found the way to Sakaimachi street withtout crossing to the canal side this time round. 

This railway is no longer in use in Otaru

Took a picture in daylight this time round

I did not noticed that Otaru specialised in kelp (a kind of seaweed health food) but mum was interested in those and she bought a few packets at very reasonable price. We also wanted to try their soft serve specialty in matcha favour but most of the shops had closed at 5pm+. The streets were once again quite deserted but I saw many sushi shops and seafood store selling uni don and I remembered I did not have the chance to try it the previous time as P does not like raw Japanese stuff.

Interesting sign outside the kelp shop

One of the shops selling seafood in Sakaimachi

We spotted one seafood shops still in operation across the street where Mum bought her kelp, the smell of BBQ meat and seafood was really good and it was also crowded with patrons. We went further down the street and saw that the other shops had closed so we decided to go back to this shop for our seafood fix. 

Quality of food quite disappointing

The price of the salmon roe don and uni don was cheaper than other shops, just 1000Y to 1500Y while the prices we saw at other stalls were twice of that. I had tasted good salmon roe don at izakaya previously so I was confident that this will be really fresh since seafood is a specialty in Hokkaido. Mum had wanted to try the BBQ squid as she saw the staff BBQ-ing one at the entrance but we ordered the wrong dish and we got the squid sashimi instead. When the food was served, I was surprised as the salmon roe and uni did not look fresh at all. Instead of bright colours like they were supposed to be, it looked dull and unappetising. I had not eaten uni before so I still found it quite delicious, but the salmon roe was too salty and the texture was not as good as the one I've tasted in hokkaido previously. Seeing so many tourists around me, I realised that this is a tourist trap in a way, selling food at a cheaper price compromises the quality of food. When I was walking out, we saw them selling uni in small packets and these were priced according to freshness. The cheapest and most unfresh ones looked like the ones we had ate. The unfresh seafood literally left a bad taste in my mouth and I felt a little sick on our way back to Sapporo, there were only local train options after 7pm so it also took us longer to travel back. 

Hokkaido Summer Trip 2017 Day 1 (1/6/17)

This is my 7th trip to Japan (this place is like my second home?!), 2nd trip to Hokkaido, and our very 1st mother-daughter trip. It's June hols and I have been planning this for a long time to get myself motivated through the term. P only have a few days of annual leave left after we booked our Dec honeymoon trip to US, so we are only going to make a short trip to Bkk this June. I was doing some research online to book a runcation or another solo trip on top of the bkk trip, and had shortlisted NZ (the Christchurch marathon is first weekend of June). Then my mum suddenly mentioned that I've been going to places on my own, and I had not offered to bring her on my solo trips etc. I felt rather guilty as the idea of bringing them overseas had honestly not cross my mind after our trip to Hong Kong in 2015. I know my parents are really aging faster than I wanted them to and sooner or later, they will get too old and tired to go on trips with us. Mum was deliberating on the idea of going NZ after she knew that I was actually going for a race, she was not that keen and instead mentioned that she really wanted to go Japan as she's not been there before. I also got lazy about running after my Nagoya marathon this year, so I decided to drop the idea of runcation altogether and decided to bring her to the land I really love. Having said that, I still pondered really hard if I should proceed with this trip as P and I are quite financially tied after settling into our new home and with the wedding coming up in less than 2 months. But its also meaningful to make the trip at this point of time as I'll be marrying soon and no longer mama's girl as much as the past 36 years, thus I decided that I do not want to postpone the trip to another June or December break. 

My mama

Waited a little for the gate to open

It's the first time I'm taking JAL to Japan, although P and I should have taken JAL when we first came to Hokkaido in December 2015. Like what I wrote in my long blog post then, we had a whole series of adventures then and ended up taking United Airlines instead. The trip to Hokkaido is just two days after I'm back from my school trip to Taipei, and I'm practically just taking out my clothes for a wash before putting them back to the same luggage. We went to the airport quite early as the time of our red eye flight is 1.50am on a weekday night. My first impression of JAL was not too bad, the seats are comfortable with enough legroom, the IFE is a bit lacking but it did not affect me much as I knocked out for most of the journey. We had to transit at Tokyo and it was much better than my previous trip on United Airlines (taking Jetstar to Sapporo) as JAL has their own shuttle bus bringing passengers to the domestic terminal and we could check in our luggages before boarding the shuttle bus. 

Maroon Red is the theme for JAL

Waiting for the JAL shuttle to domestic terminal

This time round, I ordered the Hokkaido Rail Pass from Changi Recommend, it cost the same as the one we bought in 2015 and I intend to utilise the 7 days pass for the whole duration of my trip. We collected the printout vouchers at Changi airport together with the wifi router. Once we reached Hokkaido New Chitose Airport, I headed to the JR information counter for serving tourists at the airport. I got my Hokkaido Rail Pass there and immediately reserved my seat on the train heading to Sapporo.

My must-have in Hokkaido, although it look slightly different from the one I had in 2015

The journey on the train and our journey to the hotel is quite smooth, as I've decided to book the same hotel that P and I stayed in 2015 (Hotel Keihan Sapporo). The weather is really pleasant this time and we did not have to drag our luggage in the snow or icy ground though I do miss the cold weather a little. The weather was warmer than what we expected as the forecast shown really low temperature so I even brought a down jacket with me. We reached the hotel before 3pm and decided to head out to explore a little before dinner.

Lots of my favourite 御飯團 here

Saw some interesting designs for phone covers

Unfortunately, it started raining when we headed out, but it was not too cold. We walked around Daiso and bought some foodstuff like instant miso soup (tried it and it was really good) etc. I gave mum two choices for dinner, either Kani-Honke or the Sapporo famous Genghis Khan BBQ lamb. She chose Genghis Khan which I did not mind as I did not have the chance to try it when P and I were here, and I also remember there's another outlet of Kani-Honke at Asahikawa Aeon Mall, so we'll still have other chances to try that. It was still early and initially we wanted to take a bus to Sapporo Beer Garden, but the rain made it difficult for us to navigate our way to the bus stop. Reading somewhere that it'll cost only 700+Y to get there from Sapporo Station, we decided to hop on a cab. It cost more than 1000Y eventually but I guess the convenience was still worth it, walking around in the rain was really a hassle. There were a few dining halls for us to choose from, and we decided to just go with Trommel Hall. We stepped into the first building we saw where there was a reception area for making reservations for dining and touring. The person noted our choice on a piece of paper and we headed out to the next building where we were ushered to the second floor.

Trommel Hall was in this building

The Sapporo Beer Garden area had iconic buildings and it looked interesting from the outside, but we did not have the chance to take that many pictures or explore much in the rain. The dining hall was not that crowded as it was barely 6pm when we sat down, we chose All-You-Can-Eat option for two people, and it cost 2900Y per pax. The other option included beer and the price was also quite reasonable at 3900Y, as one can eat and drink as much as he/she wants, but we did not choose that since Mum does not drink.

The table with grill in the centre and paper apron for us

When we were sitting down, the server thoughtfully brought plastic bags for our jackets and bags. I was not surprised as I read from somewhere of their good service and that the strong smell of the BBQ mutton will stay on the clothes after our meals. Very promptly, they served us our very first set of fresh lamb meat, frozen lamb meat and vegetables (mainly cabbage and bean sprouts). There was also a set of instructions of how we can grill those meat.

My happy mama

I think I'm not really a big eater so it's always quite 'lugi' for me to go to buffets. We only managed to order one more portion of fresh lamb and vegetables before I felt too full to continue. It was really oily and some oil splatter onto my phone after awhile, the apron was useful as at least the oil did not get onto our clothes that much. I would still say its worth a try as the fresh lamb were cut really thin, and it tasted really tender and good. The lamb meat Genghis Khan is afterall a specialty of Hokkaido as I bet it'll be really shiok to taste it during cold winter, together with a dip in onsen. When we walked out, the bus just left and Mum thought that we should get a cab to send us back to the hotel instead of waiting another 20min. The trip back cost less than 1000Y, it was still early but Mum wanted to rest for the night since we did not have a proper sleep the previous night.

As my hair smell of BBQ mutton, I went down to onsen while she took a nap. My very first hotel onsen experience was at this very same place, and I got so addicted to onsen after that, every hotel with a onsen is a big plus for me. As it was still early, I had the changing, bathing and soaking area to myself for quite sometime before it got too crowded. I had blogged a lot of details about Hotel Keihan Sapporo during our previous trip so I shall skip those for now. 

First Post in 2017 showing off my back-to-school nails!

Nice nail art! (credits to Eileen for the picture)

After moving away from Sembawang, I've finally done with my old nail packages that lasted many many years (maybe past 10 years or so) at the same salon at Sun Plaza. To be honest at one point they were hard selling their packages so I got quite frustrated but I could never finish using up all my manicure, pedicure or facial packages all these years.

I decided to look for a nearby home based manicurist as it will be cheaper plus no hard selling, so pretty fuss free. A search on Carousell got me to Eileen, her pricing is quite reasonable as Classic Gel Manicure was only $30 (way cheaper than my previous salon!), I topped up for the soak off at $10 and then did my nail art @ $25. I regretted a little not going to her in December to do my pre-wedding shoot nails, I only did a very simple french manicure as my manicurist was not really good or creative with nail art.

I went to Eileen's home near Seng Kang Mrt one day before school reopen and did my nails. To my surprise, she's much younger than what I've imagined her to be (although I've no idea what age I've imagined her to be) and the way she did the nailart was something new to me. To me honest, I did not know how the tweet pattern was created till she shown me. While waiting for her to finish, she played  a Korean variety show on a laptop in the room so I kept myself entertained. It ended in 1.5hours as I did not do a pedicure.

I guess I would go back to her again, unless I'm able to find another home based manicurist nearer to Bishan after moving into my new place the next few months.

P/S: I'm actually looking forward for my gelish to wear off so that I can choose the next set of nailart for February. However, there's a surcharge for CNY nails so I hope I can avoid the period.