Hotel Kamomekan Hakodate

... positive spin on our detour; he says it will be one more day of Kobe steak. We are using internet cafes, but it is very difficult getting directions to one, because no one speaks English. They do try, however. We are in Otaru and it is raining off and on. We dont have pix yet. We will have to wait til next stop.

Just the deep blue SEA!



This is our fifth day on the high seas, and we are about 1704 nautical miles from Seattle. We should arrive in Hakodate, Japan next Sunday, Oct 4.

So far our Pacific voyage has been interesting. We were all so worried about Cub being well during our journey, but it turns out ...

Our train chugged in to Hakodate around noon. The sky was overcast and the weather was chilly. The only thing on our schedule was a castle where the samurai had their fabled last stand. After we went there and tramped all through the mud trying to find something interesting in the castle, we were stumped. And then it started raining. We retreated to the gift shop where we hid out waiting for the rain to stop before we tried to run to the bus stop. It did not ...

... wanted to see some Cherry Blossoms and landscaped gardens. We decided to navigate the local bus system and go to Goryoukaku (Go-roo-kah-koo) Park. Brad's Japanese is really coming along too. He used it today asking a random local waiting with us if he had the right change for the bus: Brad (points to sign): Goryoukaku? Local man: Hai (yes) Brad (holds out 230 Yen): Good yen for bus? Local Man (checks the yen): Hai. (switches to ...

We've stayed about 1 week on Hokkaido and went to 4 different places. The first one was Toya-Ko, a volcanic area with some smoking mounts. The last eruption happened in 2000 from Mt. Usu, an active stratovolcano. This national parc has splendid sceneries and was very interesting, but we wouldn't really want to leave there knowing that a volcano could wake up anytime ! After that, we headed to Sapporo where we met the rain and even some ...

... prendre les photos. Les Chinois n'ont pas la meme politesse que les Japonais ! Bref, rien de tel pour nous remettre de nos emotions qu'un bon repas dans un Sushiya. Nous avons de nouveau deguste des Sushis delicieux en testant cette fois des nouveautes : oursin, crabe, anguille (cuite), oeufs de saumon, calamar et tantacule de pieuvre. Mais notre sushi prefere restera le maquereau. Le lendemain nous nous sommes rendus a Mastumae ou on comptait voir ...

... spaced evenly away from one another. It's a very Western architecture up North. You get steepled roofs (for snow), vinyl (or faux wood) siding, some yard space, maybe. And it kinda fits into Hakodate's foreign inspired lifestyle. Historically, Hakodate was 1 of 3 ports opened to trading after Perry brokered the treaty in the 1800s. The city has ex-Russian, British and American consulates. Only the British is immediately recognizable (though I suppose the concrete ...

I travelled through the world]s longest under water tunnel to get to Hokkaido. The scenery was awesome on the journey here. I only had one day in Hakodate but it was a pretty good town from what I saw.. There is a lovely waterfront area with a fleet of squid boats lined up. The squid boats have rows ...

... qui avais boucler tout un secteur. J'ai finalement fini par savoir que hakodate a une communaute russe qui date des premiers echange commerciaux a la fin des annees 1800. Donc le ministre des affaires etrangeres de la russie etait sur place. Deux helicoptere, une centaine de policier, un quartier de ferme a toute circulation. jai fini par me trouver un chemin pour me rendre dans le quartier ...

... closet. As with every other concern I had about visiting Japan, we have been pleasantly surprised. Our room is small, but with efficient design it is not crowded for those traveling light. Instead of using an innerspring, the thin, firm but comfortable mattress is on a platform. This provides plenty of space to tuck our bags under the bed. The bathroom is a compact integrated unit that includes a small, but deep, tub with shower that ...