Japan 2012 (Feb)

Yey...Japan again.  Yes, people have said I'm crazy.  4 Japan trips in 14 months. Haha.

This time, my dear hubby wanted to visit Huis Ten Bosch themepark at Kyushu.  Since their "One Piece" exhibits will end in March 2012, so might as well go there in Feb and also to Hokkaido to see snow too.

Here's how far we travelled on this trip.
A: Shin-Chitose Airport, B: Sapporo, C: Otaru, D: Sounkyo onsen, E: Asahikawa, F: Tomamu, G: Lake Toya, H: Hakodate, I: Shin-Osaka station, M: Fukuoka, K: Yufuin, L: Harmonyland, N: Huis Ten Bosch.


Here's our tentative schedule:

8/2: Singapore to Tokyo Narita, Narita to Shin-Chitose Airport. (Part 1)
-stay at Sapporo Chisun Inn Hotel, 8000yen

9/2: Explore Sapporo (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4)
-stay at Sapporo Chisun Inn Hotel, 8000yen

10/2: Explore Otaru (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3)
-stay at Sapporo Chisun Inn Hotel, 8000yen

11/2: Sapporo to Sounkyo Onsen (Part 1 / Part 2)
-stay at Sounkaku Grand Hotel, 18000yen (includes dinner & breakfast)

12/2: Kamikawa (Sounkyo Onsen) to Asahikawa (Part 1 / Part 2)
-stay at Fujita Kanko Washington Hotel Asahikawa 5250yen

13/2: Asahikawa to Tomamu (Part 1 / Part 2)
-stay at Hoshino Resort Tomamu The Tower 18900yen (includes breakfast)

14/2: Tomamu to Lake Toya (Part 1)
-stay at Toya Kanko Hotel 14700yen (includes dinner & breakfast)

15/2: Lake Toya to Hakodate (Part 1 / Part 2)
-stay at Hakodate Smile Hotel 4800yen

16/2: Hopefully we can get Overnight train "Twilight Express" from Toya to Osaka.  (Part 1 / Part 2)
 *If can't get Twilight Express, then will try to take Overnight train "Akebono" from Aomori to Ueno

17/2: Arrive at Osaka from Twilight Express train.  Then from Shin-Osaka to Hakata. (Part 1)
*Or from Ueno to Hakata.
-stay at the b Hakata 6000yen

18/2: Hakata to Yufuin. (Part 1 / Part 2)
-stay at Yufuin Hotel Shuhokan 19000yen 

19/2: Yufuin to Harmonyland, Harmonyland to Hakata. (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4)
-stay at the b Hakata 6000yen

20/2: Hakata to Huis Ten Bosch. (Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6) *One Piece & Miffy
-stay at ANA Hotel JR Huis Ten Bosch 13000yen (includes breakfast)

2/21: Huis Ten Bosch to Fukuoka (Part 1 / Part 2) *One Piece's Thousand Sunny cruise on Part 1
-stay at the b Hakata 6000yen

2/22: Fukuoka Airport to Tokyo Haneda, Haneda to Singapore. (Part 1)


Costs:

We will be getting the 7day JR Pass (28300yen per pax) + 5day Northern Kyushu Pass (9000yen per pax) for this trip.

Our Air Tickets (Japan Airlines) are S$781.53 per pax.  
- 8 Feb: Singapore to Narita, Narita to Shin-Chitose
- 22 Feb: Fukuoka to Haneda, Haneda to Singapore

I booked my hotels from Japanican.com except Yufuin hotel (from agoda.com) and Hakodate hotel (from rakuten travel website).  

- Fujita Kanko Washington (Asahikawa) hotel: http://www.wh-rsv.com/english/asahikawa/index.html

21 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2012 at 11:32 AM

    Hi Sam
    Hope you have a great time in Hokkaido. Infact i look forward to your photos in your blog. I ll be travelling to Hokkaido in April.
    I have a q to ask on the electrical plug. Are they using the same 3 pin plug that we had in S'pore and if not, what type of adaptor do i need to bring? Bringing camera, iphone and ipad for this trip.
    Thanks
    BL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamanthaFebruary 23, 2012 at 8:37 PM

      Thanks. Yes, we did had a great time on this trip. Just returned back to Singapore this morning.

      Regarding the electrical plug, they are not using the 3 pin. They are using the flat parallel 2 pin plug. kinda looks like ||.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 6, 2012 at 11:36 AM

    Hi Sam
    Are you going to post your photos soon?
    BL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamanthaMarch 6, 2012 at 4:15 PM

      Yes I will. But I will need to finish posting my Nov trip's pics first...which I am currently doing.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMarch 7, 2012 at 2:12 PM

    Hi Sam
    Thanks for your reply.
    In your feb 2012 trip, i saw you went to Tomamu.
    Did you join the skiling and what activities did you enjoy?
    Thanks
    BL

    ReplyDelete
  4. SamanthaMarch 7, 2012 at 10:47 PM

    Both of us went Snow mobiling and my hubby went skiing.
    We enjoyed snow mobilling, love the peaceful and lovely scenery around us. Skiing was expensive (esp since we had to rent the gears) so I chose not to do so since I wasn't too keen on that anyway. Hubby enjoyed it tho.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMarch 13, 2012 at 2:35 PM

    Hi Sam
    from your list of hotel, u mentioned that Hakodate hotel was booked from rakuten travel website.
    I have just made a reservation via Rakuten (JP website). After booking, i do rec'd an reservation email from them with a reservation and password. (no payment was required as mentioned in the email, i think so.)
    Is there anything else i need to do or i can treat it as a confirmation of booking and present the printout during the checkin.

    Btw, those skiing gear that your hubby rented, how much was it and did he hired a trainer/guide?
    just to do some budgeting.
    Thanks
    BL

    ReplyDelete
  6. SamanthaMarch 13, 2012 at 2:51 PM

    Are you talking about Smile hotel? Is there reservation number, name of hotel, date of stay...etc on the reservation email? If so, then you print it out and bring it to the hotel on the day of stay and you will have to pay upon check-in.

    As for the ski rentals at Tomamu, here's the list:
    http://www.snowtomamu.jp/winter/en/ski/rental/

    ReplyDelete
  7. SamanthaMarch 13, 2012 at 2:52 PM

    Anyway, I've started to post some of my Feb 2012 trip's pics on this forum:
    http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/japan-271/%5Bfrs%5D-samanthas-4-japan-trips-3535173-39.html#post64782694

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMarch 13, 2012 at 3:54 PM

    i saw it....its awesome

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 1:59 AM

    Hi,

    I'm in the midst of planning my Dec trip. Wondering if 3 nights is too much for Hakodate?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamanthaNovember 25, 2012 at 9:39 AM

      Yeah, kinda.
      The main places at Hakodate are Goryokaku Tower and Fort, Mt Hakodate, and Red Bricks Warehouse. 2 nights are probably more than enough to cover these places at a leisurely pace.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousNovember 26, 2012 at 10:49 AM

      I will be departing from Hakodate airport. Wondering if I am able to get local products in Hakodate? Or I should do my shopping in Sapporo?

      Thanks!

      Delete
    3. SamanthaNovember 26, 2012 at 11:59 AM

      Hmm, not too sure about Hakodate airport, but I usually buy my souvenirs like Shiroi Koibito biscuits and Potato Farm Fries from the Shin-Chitose Airport before departure.

      I saw a few shops at Red Bricks Warehouse selling souvenirs (like Shiroi Koibito biscuits).

      Delete
  10. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2013 at 3:51 PM

    Hihi.. Hows Kyushu? I plan to travel to Kyushu this yr.. Almost similar to u, I been flying to Jap at least once a yr.. totally love the place...

    ReplyDelete
  11. SamanthaJanuary 9, 2013 at 5:02 PM

    Kyushu is more laidback. Railpass is also cheaper, as well as food and accommodations in general.

    I love Huis Ten Bosch themepark because of One Piece and Miffy, and plus it's a nice place for photography.

    Yufuin is a nice quaint area but accommodations in Yufuin are extremely pricey.

    I'd want to spend more time in Kyushu, however for my Feb 2012's trip I didn't had enough time. It would be good if I could visit Kagoshima and Nagasaki, but I didn't want an overly rushed schedule so I gave up those 2 places.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousApril 19, 2013 at 11:02 PM

    Hi

    May I know how do you commute within Hokkaido in winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamanthaApril 20, 2013 at 5:48 PM

      By train. Get the JR Hokkaido Rail Pass if you are travelling quite long distance within Hokkaido.

      Also, Hokkaido's train frequency is very infrequent (usually 1 train every hourly or a few hours) so I would strongly recommend you to plan your train journeys using hyperdia.com so that you don't waste time waiting a few hours for next train.

      The train line between Shin Chitose Airport to Sapporo (and Otaru) has the shortest train frequency (that I know of) in Hokkaido, which is about 1 train every 15mins or so.

      Delete
  13. AliciaJanuary 13, 2016 at 6:54 PM

    Hi Sam,

    Have been using ur blog as guide for my japan trip. Thanks! I would like to check for harmonyland, do they have place to deposit luggage as i will be travelling from yufuin to harmonyland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamanthaJanuary 15, 2016 at 2:15 PM

      I believe they do have coin lockers at Harmonyland (as shown here: http://www.harmonyland.jp/english/harmony/hl_guide/info.html) but I am not sure if they have big sized lockers if you are using big luggage bags.

      I do recall for my own trip, we left our big luggage bags at our hotel in Fukuoka, while we brought a smaller bag for our 1 night stay at Yufuin.

      Then the following day after Yufuin, we took train to Kitsuki station and left our bag at the train station's locker (as seen in my photo here: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H7FQoaSYbOY/T3CZXVhyF_I/AAAAAAAAPjQ/diiizsYauV8/s1600/DSC_3802_5.jpg) before taking the bus to Harmonyland.

      Bear in mind that the bus's schedule is VERY infrequent, and that the last bus back to train station was pretty early during our trip (around 4pm during our winter trip).

      My advice to u, is to just bring a smaller bag for your visit to Yufuin and Harmonyland.

      Delete
    2. SamanthaJanuary 15, 2016 at 2:37 PM

      Although bus timings between Kitsuki station to Harmonyland changes (usually seasonal), the current bus timings are here:
      Kitsuki station to Harmonyland: http://www.oitakotsu.co.jp/bus/rosen/pdf/3282.pdf?v=0115153548

      Harmonyland to Kitsuki station:
      http://www.oitakotsu.co.jp/bus/rosen/pdf/19371.pdf?v=0115152920

      Delete

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)