寻找 Hokkaido Fox - Mar 2013 ~ 大雪山国立公园

The journey up to the mountain was interesting and it required skillful driver - definitely not me. The bus had to drive through snowy roads and snowy weather and it gave me goose pimples when the driver was negotiating sharp turn.  We were looking at the map to determine where to alight as we did not want to be alighting at the wrong stop up in the mountain. We got help from fellow  travellers and bus driver but still didnt see our HI Hostel initially. It was a cool wooden hostel and we were anticipating the indoor and outdoor ONSEN - the feel of powdery snow on us in warm onsen.  We explored and walked up a spiral staircase up the "watch tower" in the hostel and it was a nice "white christmas" view.  We had our drink and short chat here - something like what we had done at 长洲。

It was however a pity that the outdoor onsen was spoilt, a disappointment to us. We then hoped for a sumptuous dinner in "canteen style".  It was the first time that our "food" were actually waiting for us haha. I quite liked the soup and the chicken nuggets.  The tea was hot and nice too and it warmed us. Initially, I was equating this as a form of "in-room dining" but it wasnt so. We didnt go for breakfast package as we had planned to take the ropeway up to the peak in the morning. 

I had wanted to surprise my wife when I was hiding behind the curtain and opening the window to make a snow man. The snow was so fine and powdery that I could only manage the body and not the head after several attempts in the morning. We had snow falling outsides our windows and the feeling of white christmas was there. My wife woke up and suggested to put our drinks in the snow as natural fridge. It was real fun as we didnt stay so close to snow before. Snow was literally besides us. 

大雪山 － 给我们有圣诞的感觉。 一棵棵树被雪白的雪盖着，是真正的圣诞树。

We walked hand in hand to the ropeway station and many people were in fact skiing. It was a steep way down and I dun think I have the skills to ski down. As usual, I shared with my wife on my "skiing experience" telling her how to walk like a crab, how to stop and change direction. However, I lowered my voice as there were many experts around queuing to go into the ropeway. 

I wonder how beautiful it would be with different colours of autumn in the mountain. Not sure why but I felt that white was elegant. It gave me a different feeling - something that I would like to experience and see as in a white christmas winter. Hokkaido was famous for powdery snow and we had indeed experienced it. 

我时不时在看是否有hokkaido fox， 但没有它的足迹，只在宿舍看到它的照片。有趣的是我们哼着叶正文的歌 hokkaido fox, 穿梭在白白的雪路中，偶尔也向对方抛雪球。 Dun use stone covered with snow next time, ok? 

寻找 Hokkaido Fox - Mar 2013 ~ Abashiri

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. 

Roman Holidays Part Cinque

Colosseum - One of the places that I have wanted to go after watching the "Gladiator". I read from books that there are still some gladiators around and we wondered whether those posing pictures are truly gladiators?  

We took a bus from Jewish Ghetto there. Didnt take many photos in the Ghetto - the buildings were brown and grayish and traffic was heavy even though the roads were narrow. Just kinda of sad feeling when we visited the ghetto. 

We used our Roma pass to gain direct entry, again skipping the long q. By now, I was fully pleased with my planning skills - our term used was "excellent organisation skills". Really important to do research or else we would end up queueing and spending less time in the old buildings. The Colosseum was huge. As it was summer, it was extremely hot and we had to hydrate ourselves to avoid any signs of heat exhaustion. Posing pictures was really a challenge due to heat and crowd. 

There was a section of grand stand for the royalties or VVIPs. I would imagine walking down the platform and hearing the roars of crowd. Making reference to the scene of the gladiators, the King would decide the fate of the lost gladiator by using his thumb - up or down. I could not be a good gladiator cos I dun have six packs. But I could imagine the glamour standing in the centre of the colosseum, just like the time when I performed NDP in the old National Stadium. Could feel the public pressure and atmosphere. 

There were no greenery in the Colosseum. You would go round and round and up and up. There was an air con book shop and enuff for us to hide insides.  I rem we went to watch a show showing the couple who went to explore the colosseum at night. Then it rained. It would be scary there as there were no lightning rod. So open area. 

It was very amazing to have right in the roads modern buildings and old buildings. It feels like standing at the crossroads of time zones - past and present. We took some pictures, wary of the people around of us. Right outsides the colosseum was where one of the General marched out to fight a victorious battle. Pebbles, my smartie wife "Advised" that they were meant for horses not soldiers like you and me. Yup, logical. She said so in the pavement outsides avignonsi too. No wonder I felt so uncomfortable walking on the pebbles. Had to eat gelato again to cool down. 

Roman Holidays Part Quattro

Water - Especially in Summer Rome, water is crucial for us walking under the hot sun. There was no need to buy mineral water in Rome as there were "rome water" at strategic locations. Like what I mentioned previously, I was a bit careful in trying out the water. Not sure if there were any impurities or bacteria.  However, it was really hot that I dun care about it anymore - started to look for water fountain to tap on the richness of water.

It was amazing to taste the Roma water which I called it. Cold and "crystal clear". When the water drained down the throat, cooling feeling.  Water cooler had a different meaning as compared to Rome fountain. My wife was afraid that I might kenna heat stroke. So, she would always use the filled bottle to rest against my neck. Kinda sweet and loving though it usually wetted my neck and my collar. 

I was constantly amazed by the abundance of water. I realised or more correctly learnt from my wife that there were bottled water - water from the tap that sold more x or not economical since we could just tap it anyway. I was browsing the web and chanced upon the Roman way of drinking the fountain water. There was usually a hole about the running tap and the web revealed the correct "roman way" of drinking. So, I decided to act smart when I saw similar fountain next time. 

We chanced upon one when we were on the way to the Jewish ghetto and market in Rome. As I spotted the hole, I told my wife to watch how I drink and wonder if she would be amazed. Well, not so. Before I could demo, she told me she knew and she had observed how the Romans did it. Well, a bit of an anti-climax. Nonetheless, she still allowed me to show her and I could not rem if she had acted amazed or not. 

Of cos, we took one of our fav photos tog drinking the water. It was one of the memorable things that we did - drinking the roman water. Back home when we chanced by a fountain, I still kept joking with my wife if we could drink straight from the fountain.

Roman Holidays Part Tre

Vatican City! Frankly speaking, I didnt even realise it was in Italy until I started my research. Saw my wife's friend's photos about the queue and I knew we were not going to q. Vatican city remains a very sacred and distant place to me as I have not even thought of going there. This Summer, we did it. 

We made full use of our Roman pass to travel to Vatican and I explained to my wife that we needed not to queue not becos of the Roma Pass but my "excellent org skills". I was a bit worried when I saw the long q and there was no "bypass lane". Nonetheless, we walked pass the long queue and BINGO - we bypassed straight to the entrance. I could not imagine how to stand under the hot summer heats. Very excited to enter the Vatican museum but this time we were more experienced in viewing the paintings. Something I learnt this trip was about "fresh coat paintings" - frescos if I understood from my wife correctly. There were many great artworks and even sculptures - though I could not remember most of them except the ceiling painting - "The Last Judgement" at Sistine Chapel. We were also lucky to be able to take a sit and admire the arts in the Chapel. Even someone not artistic like me also marveled at the works. "WOW". One amusing thing that I recently copycat was to say "Silence, Please" as the guards in the Chapel were reminding the crowd.

The spiral staircase was another interesting area for photo taking. This time, I too lazy to bring my wide angle. So, managed to get some good angles only, not perfect wide angle shot.  Initially I wanted to ask my wife to proceed down to the ground floor and for me to take a pic. However, I was afraid that she might not like the "art" since she would be too tiny to be seen in the photo. She used to say that the artistic wedding photos were those that the couple could not even recog that they were in the photos after donkey years. Hee, better dun take. 

We got ourselves in a bit of a mini mess at the Museum canteen.  The drink got stuck in the vending machine and we were pissed off. My dear checked with the staff and they asked us to check with the canteen vendor.  Usually the smartie, my wife asked me to take a photo to claim. A very unique collection of my Rome collection and my wife specifically asked me not to delete this photo.

Could not rem the taste of the drink as we were in piss off mode. At this moment, we also needed to hunt for a red background statue and this got us in tiring aimless hunt. I told myself I should have listened to my wife carefully and stop at that "statue" even though it might not be there. After the "macho man in red background" hunting, my wife was convinced and I also learnt to take care in listening to her and dun dismiss immediately. Learning. Hee.

Of Cos, we must have a vatican postcard! Actually, I could sense that my wife thought it was no big deal sending a postcard at Vatican city - when her friend told her it was "Vatican City" post card. I guess she wasnt aware that it was a small country and the history behind at that time. Hee. 

Post cards posting seems to be part of my travel itinerary and I would look out for post office in map. Just that at times when we could not find a post box, I always feel insecure to ask the receptionist to post for us. Dunno why. 

Roman holidays Part Due

I seldom blog about guesthouse. Daphne Trevi was the B&B that we stayed in Rome. It was on a road called Avignon* which was a place that we liked alot in France. It was on a cobblestone path - JJ said it was of history. I recalled some of these stoney paths in Colosseum were difficult to walk and JJ, the smartie as usual, shared that they were used by horses and chariots - well, make sense!

It was quite a romantic path and finding it was not difficult as I have penned down the way on a mini notebook. The impression of Daphne Trevi was good. JJ liked the place as it was part of a real Italian apartment. Our backyard view was shared with other locals. A very interesting feel and we started to feel and taste living the Roman way. As I was not very good in understanding instructions, I asked my wife to listen 100% to the instructions on how to enter/exit Daphne Trevi.  

The toilet was clean and filled with a lot of toilet rolls. Something caught our attention was the additional "toilet bowl" besides the usual bowl. We've been to France, Germany and London but this was the first time we saw this. We were trying to figure out how it was used for. My wife said it was for me (well, I dun think so though). But we too lazy to ask or surf the net. This was called bidet after we surfed the net back in Milano. It was for both males and females. Indeed, we found the "toilet" facilities very interesting in Rome. We overheard from some travellers that they had difficulties finding the flush - yup, some were designed to be on top, at the edge and they were quite unconventional. There was once when I didnt notice the flush would be activated only when we stepped on the device at the bottom. 

One reason why I chose Daphne Trevi was it was near Trevi Fountain - a place that I wanted to go for a long time. I saw the "replicate" before in Korea and really wanted to see the real one. Was also thinking that we could walk there on foot anytime if we wanted. We could even throw the first coin on the day.

The breakfast spread was good. We were always the first ones to eat and the breakfast corner was just outsides our room - very convenient. We liked the muesli, the ham and fruits. On one day, we nearly finished the ham and we noticed that they cut the ham into smaller portion instead of leaving it in circles. JJ said this served as rations for all the guests. JJ liked to eat flakes and muesli in yogurt while I liked them in milk.  Though when I tried them in yogurt, they did taste nice but I refused to "succumb" to this new way of eating. Frankly, it was quite nice especially when you ate with strawberry yogurt and muesli - yummy.  Must confess. 

Roman Holidays Part Uno

第一次去意大利，感觉已经很兴奋。八月的意大利，应该会热吧。就是这样，我们还是去。JJ was down with flu on flight to Italy Milano, so I have to stay awake and take good care of her. It was the first time that we slept on arrival at our guesthouse in Rome - in fact we have been zzing from plane to train and to guesthouse. Ignoring the pre-plan itinerary, I decided to let my wife have a good rest. It was more important to let her recover and then we could roam more subsequently.

Day 1 in Rome really started on Day 2. We did our map reading and then started our journey to Spanish Steps (where the shopping centre was near). Purposely planned this way so that we would not be "baked" so early under the hot summer sun. The Spanish Steps were nice, and the fountain caught my attention. Was a bit worried even to try to taste the water so initially we agreed to "wet" our lips - I thot that would at least provide some safety precaution in case. I got a sensitive tummy after a mini food poisoning incident in HK.  It was very hot and we took cover in the buildings' shadow. JJ told me the origin of the name "Spanish Steps" and though I didnt read properly, I still acted that I also knew - just that my wife could decipher when I "acted smart".  We did some windows shopping in the "Orchard Road" of Rome - boutiques and branded goods. Frankly, I seldom touchbased with branded goods, not even in Paris. This time I was thinking that Italy was a fashion city and really have to immerse in "designer clothes" mood. In this way, my wife said I really visited or demanded to visit most of the branded shops in Rome. 

We also wanted to do the "Roman" way - having espresso in cafe. We saw this elegant cafe known as Caffe Greco so we went in to take some cakes and kopi O.  It was then that we realised that the food was not cheap. There were also paintings and the waiters were very well-dressed in tuxedo.  Even the toilets were nice and the "toilet auntie" well-dressed. A surf on the internet revealed that this cafe was Rome's poshest kopi bar since 1760! The speciality was paradisi made with lemon and orange - Not sure if our orange cake was the one or not. But it was still a very RomanTIC experience.  A place for us to rest our tired feet and cool down.

Something that we learnt while roaming was that Pinocchio was in fact ITALIAN! yup, this really surprised us. We saw so many pinos until we convinced ourselves that he had italian citizenship. Well, one consequence from this discovery was I had to pose in a Pino shot.  Guess this served as a sweet Pino memory in our Rome adventure. Along our way, I started to recall the story and my wife did "challenge" me if I could rem the story. Frankly, the most vivid part was the nose and somehow he got swallowed by a whale.  And finally he became a real boy. I would remind my wife next time to highlight to our kids that Pino was Italian during the story-telling. Hee.