We took Ana to Narita and transit to Sapporo. This was the first time that we used a Japanese airline - overall feel was clean and order. It would be better if they had provided toothbrushes ;P. Hokkaido has been one of my dream places to tour. It gives me the impression of harsh cold and snow. Mysterious and rural. Not so when we stepped onto the ground of Sapporo. Before checking in Route Inn, we played a while with the snow. Snow = Rain? haha. Our first focus point of the Hokkaido trip was to see the drift ice in Abashiri. This meant that we needed to take train all the way to the east of Hokkaido, about 5-6 hrs of journey. Abashiri was a small town - small literally and relative to Sapporo city. Our Route Inn was opposite to the train station and it has a very nice view of the canal leading to the harbor. The harbour or port was the destination we needed to go to board the ship to see the "drift ice". We understood from the info centre that the drift ice had drifted away. In my thoughts, I still hoped for miracles or at least a piece of drift ice. So, I already made up my mind to go for it and hoping to see it.
We met a taiwanese girl who also wanted to chase after the drift ice. Dear said stubborn people. We boarded the boat with "resistance" indirectly from wife haha. We saw many sea gulls and they were really big. The ticket staff gave us discount on the tickets as they said NO DRIFT ICE, OK? And I "OK". At this stage, I thought we could see some sea creatures at least. Well, we ended up seeing many sea gulls. The upper deck was cold and the feeling was good though. This was the first time we cruised with snow-covered islands around us.
Then, we decided to go for Abashiri Prison, a very well-known and feared one due to the harsh winter. It could drop to minus 30 degrees for the compound. I also read about having the prisoners' meals at the canteen and suggested to have lunch there. The Prison compound was interesting and big. One amazing structure design was the guard post which was designed and modeled after the belgium prison. The 5 corridors to the cells were diverging from the guard post as the focal point. This allowed the guard to see if there were any escape attempts easily. We tried the prisoners' food which was more suitable for my dear. The fish was full of bones which I was lazy to eat and feast on it. Basically I thought the food was better than I thought. Mum used to say "黑豆饭" but the meals here were definitely not. Maybe needed to suit tourists' needs as well? We took a bus down to Abashiri Lake where there might be "Smelt Fishing". This was something that was unique and I wanted it to be another focus of our Abashiri trip. Too bad we were one day late. It was risky to walk on the frozen lakes but this did not stop us from walking there. We stopped at the signpost "Abashiri Lake" and convinced ourselves no fishing for us. Talking about stubbornness? We hitched a ride back to JR Station cos there were NO BUS. It was quite funny as we were the only two persons walking along the Lake and road. Of cos, it was an enjoyable walk seeing the ducks swimming in the canal next to the Lake.
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