we set alarm for 5am to catch the scenery without the endless tour buses and the irritating crowds, but unfortunately, it was raining when we set out. thank God the rain morphed into a drizzle by the time we reached our first stop, The Hill of Dreams. and we could walk around without the aid of an umbrella. it was chilly and windy but there was no one else so we got to tour the place in peace and even get onto the rover tracks that are usually out of bounds to tourists. except for the grey clouds and the somewhat disappointing sunflowers, it was rather beautiful and romantic and we could even see the mountain ranges in the distant and the patchwork of farmlands near the flower fields.
as i left the tour map in the room, we could only rely on the GPS for recommendations of nearby sight-seeing spots. after looking through the entire list of descriptions, we chose Shinei-no-Oka Observation Park which was abt 6.7km away. once again, the GPS screwed up when we were nearing the destination and we ended up on a muddy, desserted trail that led to nowhere. frustrated, we decided to follow the road signs instead of relying on the GPS and reached our destination soon after. it was atop a hill that overlooked the surrounding farms and mountain ranges and it offered a surprisingly good view which prompted us to snap many pictures. it was really romantic and cosy to huddle together and walk in the chilly drizzle under one umbrella and it brought back memories of our first walk together under one umbrella. we could also see the Bibaushi Elementary School in the distance which is known for its unique design and beautiful clocktower; but as we were rushing for time, we had to leave for our pension house.
we got lost yet again thanks to the GPS which was a trifle out of sync with the vehicle and a little dispute arose but soon dissolved. we got back in time for the breakfast which while not as plentiful as dinner, was nonetheless great in quality and variety.
after breakfast, we set off for Asahikawa to return the car and received great help from the friendly petrol station staff while refilling our vehicle, even though the station was supposed to be self-service. it was a mad rush from Toyota rental branch to Asahikawa station as we were rushing for the 9.01am train, missing which we would have to wait for 2 plus hours. thank God we caught the train in time and it was a long 4 hour train trip to Abashiri during which we tried to nap but ended up with mega headaches at the end of it.
while waiting for the connecting local train, we wanted to get some hot food but due to time constraint, ended up buying cheap bento sets frm the convenience store again.
upon reaching Shiretoko-Shari station we transferred to the local bus which costed a whoopping 2900Y for a single trip to our destination, utoro onsen. and it was on the bus that we had our fateful encounter with three taiwanese ladies. the youngest of them was apparently hyperactive and noisy and made plenty of noises and stupid remarks while on the train from Abashiri. we tried to avoid them but still ended up meeting them (and again the day after). we got off at Komatsu-Taku-Mae where our Iruka hotel was located. it was a yellow beige building by the sea the owner was nice enough to allow us to choose between the western-style and the japanese-style rooms. knowing that we would not get another chance to stay in a proper japanese room, we chose the latter. it was a simple room that looked plain at first sight but it offered a great view of the cliffs and the sea.
after putting our luggage down, we wanted to do some sight-seeing on our own but one of the staff (thereafter mr honest guy) offered to take us by car to Oshin-Kushin Falls, a famous scenic spot about 10 minute's drive away. mr honest guy acted as our chauffeur cum tour guide, struggling with his limited english and plenty of gesturing to introduce the Falls to us. it was really embarrassing for us to see him agnosing over our silly questions such as how long does it take to walk back to the hotel, for which he had to call several people to get an estimate. in order to save him from further troubles, we urged him to get back to the hotel afterwhich, we went to take a look at the hot springs by the sea.
the hot springs were surprisingly good, and was divided into the male section and the female section, separated by a bamboo screen and each offering a fantastic view of the sea. the only disappointing part was that there were plenty of mosquitoes, which were very happy to see us come. thanks to them we didnt stay for long, but the short stay was enough to leave us all relaxed and cosy as we got back to our room.
then it was dinnertime. we were shocked to see the huge spread before us, and yet more dishes came. there was a gigantic crab split between the two of us, each of us had fishes, scallops, sashimi, octopus shabu-shabu, admist a myraid of little dishes. the japanese around us all seemed highly proficient with the scissors but we were helpless until the owner kindly demonstrated to us how to use them. and there was also a gigantic snail which looked rather intimidating and none of us dared to approach it initially, but it turned out to be rather nice, something akin to scallops and abalone except for the gooey part which, accordingly to grace, was the brain. we finished our dinner with much difficulty after 1.5 hours at the dining table, after every one else had left, as the crabs were huge and took us an unbelieveably long time to finish. we were both full and satisfied (a little too much even) when we got back to our room and grace started to worry about getting allergic rashes as she had never had so much crab in one sitting in her entire life.
our room was in a mess but the beds were already made for us. and we were rather embarrassed about it as the owner would have definitely seen the state of messiness in our room. the putons turned out to be surprisingly soft and smooth and comfy, and we drifted off to sleep soon after.
Day 15
breakfast was at 7.30am and it was quite western styled. delicious, of course. yamasan is renowned for its food quality.
we checked out and got on the road back to Saika No Sato (cai3 xiang1 zhi1 li3). considerably less ppl cos we were early so managed to get crowd-free shots. unfortunately i think the previous day's rain managed to affect my ixus so many pics were kinda dreamy blurry.
drove to farm tomita in nakafurano but there were already tons and tons of ppl plus cars there. thank God we got a parking lot with minimal waiting time. there were plenty of flower fields to explore and the whole place was swarmed with tourists. there was Irodori Field with layers of coloured flowers, the Traditional Lavender Garden and the Sakiwai Field. it was really asif the entire world is just flowers and more flowers. pretty and nice-smelling.
tried their rock melon and lavender soft cream cone which was delicious. decided to queue for the rock melon bun too but tt was just ok. im not too found of the rock melon cream filling inside which burnt my lip/tongue cos it was straight out of the oven.
drove on to Flowerland in Kami-Furano where u gotta pay to take this little tram that brings u into the garden. we wanted to save money as usual so we just took photos outside. there was a stretch of long straight slope of road so we took our jump shots there too.
nxt stop was Hinode Park but we got to their camping grounds instead (stupid GPS) and got chased away to the actual visitors parking lots. there were lots of pretty flowers and atop the little hill, there was a white wedding arch with a bell. extremely pretty!
dropped by Farm Fureai where there were yellow flowers (sorry dont know the name) and more lavender. we saw young sunflowers too. bet it'll be beautiful when they all bloom.
went to Popura but they were out to get supplies so we were forced elsewhere until they return at 4pm. relied on GPS to find a place for lunch and ended up at zhe2 ping2. i had their famous ebi tempura don while he had a katsu don set. their ebi tempura rocked i tell u. the prawn was how fleshy and the flour bits are not disgustingly thick like what they serve u in singapore (a whole lot of flour and little prawn). his katsu don didnt taste as nice plus only the ebi tempure don's rice was flavoured. haha~
went back to Popura to check in and found they had a hammock. first time grace sits in a hammock. both of us tried to sit in there but we were scared it'll break so we got out soon. our room had an attached bathroom so we didnt have to use the communal one (thank God!)
dinner was really good cos Popura used their home-grown vegetables to make pumpkin soup and other dishes. feels really healthy though i could have used more meat (as always:) we realised tt we were both sunburnt (again) so it was more calamine lotion before bed.
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