Day Eight - The Last Day of Our Hokkaido Trip!

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Sadly, we have come to the last day of my Hokkaido trip and while i am reluctant to leave the land of the rising sun, i had to for two reasons; well, i need to work to come and splurge again and secondly, i didn't have any more luggage space. 

Time - 6.00 am and it's already bright with the temperature at a cool 20 degree celcius! Why were we out at such an ungodly hour?! To catch the train at JR station which would depart for New Chitose airport at 6.31 am, sharp. 

Us in the elevator with Alex expressing his sadness; it's rare to find him so in love with a country! The other country that gets his enthusiastic approval would be Taiwan. 

Publicity for some art festival. 

Taking the underground passage to the JR station as the wheels of our luggage were making loads of noise and we thought it would be inconsiderate to disturb other sleeping residents in the vicinity.

More artistic displays; i was more intrigued by the fabrics in the second picture as they would be fantastic materials to make the hundred families blanket (Chinese patchwork)! 

Boarding the train way ahead of time as the walking from UNIZO Inn to Sapporo JR station was only about fifteen minutes. To read more on my rapid train journey to New Chitose airport, click here.

Visiting the toilet; i miss many things in Hokkaido and one of them would be the toilet! Truth be told, i am particular when it comes to the facility that manages our bodily waste and if not for the potential reduction in readership, i would have posted a few articles on disgusting toilets i have been to.

To me, i would be satisfied if i step into a toilet and it had an anti-bacterial toilet seat cleaner, together with an electronic bidet; and it can be found in New Chitose Airport! 

Last minute shopping for Japanese snacks at New Chitose Airport and i am surprised the shops managed to offer so many popular products! And since this is Hokkaido, you can get frozen king crabs and Yubari melons to bring home too! 

Do check out the Smile Road on level 3 which is accessible to the public! As we were too early, both Hello Kitty Happy Flight and Doraemon Sky Park remained closed. Chocolate-lover wannabes would love Royce's Chocolate World for its wide variety of chocolates (some of which can't be found in Singapore) and gain information on the history of chocolate. 

After a terribly disappointing meal at the food court wing of the international terminal, it's time to board the plane; albeit with a heavy heart as i can't believe that the eight days had passed by so quickly! 

Aerobridge bearing the Royce logo; for those who are unaware, the famous Royce chocolates have their beginning right here in Hokkaido! 

Our Thai Airways plane; frankly, i don't think i would have visited Japan if not for the promotion that Thai Airways was running last year that only cost me S$376 from Singapore to Sapporo, with transit in Bangkok.

I had been looking out for another promotion so that i can experience the hospitality of Thai Airways again but sadly, prices found were almost doubled what i paid for! :( 

Nevertheless, i didn't have much to complain about Thai Airways.

Food were generally not bad, stewards / stewardesses were nice and polite, range of movies was pretty good etc. Only one thing; the airline doesn't seem to like the cold very much and in my past few times taking Thai Airways, it has always been rather warm in the cabin. 

Leaving the gate! 

Must be a busy morning for New Chitose Airport as we had two other planes right in front us; waiting in queue to take the runway.

Last look of the airport - some information on New Chitose Airport; it opened in 1991 and was the fifth busiest airport in Japan! Its Sapporo-Tokyo domestic route was ranked the second busiest in the world with 7.8 million passengers 2015. 

Plane took off from the runway at 10.44 am.

I am continuing this post with more pictures as the view high up above the clouds can be so mesmerizing and truthfully, i still have a ton of pictures that would be kept stashed and hidden in my hard disk if i don't share them in my blog. 

Packet of Japanese snacks instead of boring nuts; Singapore Airlines should seriously take a leaf from Thai Airways by serving old, Singapore classics like jewel biscuits or even biscuits from Khong Guan! Or have they? SQ too expensive for me and i took it only when i signed up for package tours to places like China. 

Land below us! 

As we were only about 30 minutes from departure, it's a definite we were still in Japan although i doubt the plan would fly past Mount Fuji. 

I was curious to know where we were and actually spent a bit on time of google map; scrolling through the potential plane route. The above two photographs were taken above Oga; a city with a population of only about 30,000.

Lunch was served! 

Everything was nice except for the main which was some lousily fried rice and soggy prawns that were deep fried. However, the rest was delicious; warm, fragrant bread, sweet pumpkin salad with smoked duck and the cold soba which totally changed my opinion of it! What have i been missing all this while?! 

More photos! Can't pinpoint the actual location although for the last picture, i guess the plane had flown past South China Sea and we would be going into the airspace of another country.

More snacks and it's Taiyaki! Warm and spongy with generous red bean paste filling, i can't imagine that Thai Airways was feeding us so much! 

Such interesting terrain made it easier for me to find out its location and thankfully, it didn't take long to locate it in Vietnam! 

Location - Hue; capital of the Nguyễn Dynasty which ruled Vietnam from 1802 till 1945 and is also one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites! I am interested to visit after knowing of  Nghĩa trang An Bằng on google map; a cemetery with over 700 beautiful tombs! 

Cottony clouds blocking my view. 

Landed at about 5.00 pm Thailand time! Since we would be in transit, i chose the timing back to Singapore to be as late as possible so that we can R & R in Bangkok! No additional itinerary in place but if you are interested in a hotel that's near the airport link station and not that far from the city center, you may read my review on FX Metrolink Makkasan Hotel.

>>> Summarized Itinerary

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Detailed Postings for the Day

1. Taking the Rapid Train from Sapporo to New Chitose Airport
2. New Chitose Airport - Last Minute Shopping
3. Smile Road - Royce's Chocolate World, Hello Kitty & Doraemon
4. Miso Ramen at New Chitose Airport Food Court Wing
5. FX Metrolink Makkasan Hotel

Last Minute Shopping in New Chitose Airport @ Hokkaido [Japan]

After the fuss free rapid train ride from Sapporo, we finally arrived at New Chitose airport with mixed feelings; on one hand, i am devastated to leave as i enjoyed myself tremendously for this first visit to the land of the rising sun and on the other hand, i needed to go back to work to earn my upkeep for my next trip!

Took a trolley for our luggage!

Every airport should provide a luggage scale for their customers to use for free! This would give us a better idea on the weight for each piece of luggage before we check in and this would help free up unnecessary time spent when passengers were not keen to top up the excess weight.

Checking in - the wood-based sculpture draws reference from popular souvenirs sold in Sapporo's Maruyama Zoo. The left one is an outcast by the way; looks more like the 'the scream by Expressionist artist Edvard Munch.

Time to explore the shops; some of which had already opened for business before 7.30 am! The shopping really continued and unlike airports like Singapore's Changi Airport, the things sold were generally priced the same as those you found in the city! 

And if you forget to buy the iconic Japanese / Hokkaido snacks for your family and friends; fret not as there were plenty in New Chitose Airport! Should you realize your luggage had yet to reach its max, maybe it's time to buy more too! 

Notable brands like LeTAO (for their double fromage cheesecake that came with ice pack), Tokyo Bananas, Ishiya (for Shiroi Koibito cookies), potato farm can be found. Only issue is that the expiry dates for many Japanese snacks are not long. 

For us, we almost bought the Hokkaido melon! It's not the highly acclaimed Yubari melon but i was as impressed with the Furano melon we had when we visited Tomita Farm. 

Can't get enough of the king crab? Grab a few legs and had them for dinner when you reached home! To drive up sales, the operators had even kindly put up signs in Chinese and English that indicated no issue to bring the crabs back to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. 

With plenty of time to spare (another two and half hours before boarding), we decided to check out the rest of the publicly accessible area of the airport.

Like the Smile Road which would be a happy place for both adults and children. Pity we were too early as both Happy Kitty Happy Flight & Doraemon Sky Park were still closed. However, we did manage to check out Royce's Chocolate World with its plentiful of chocolate offerings and exhibition on chocolates! Click here to find out more. 

Almost life-sized stuffed animals! 

There were just about two hours to go before boarding and we thought it's about time for us to clear the customs as i have had experiences of immigration taking more than an hour and i heard there are more things to shop within the international departure terminal! 

Remember to show your receipts for your tax-free purchases. 

Entering the departure hall in less than ten minutes; with just seven gates; i was wondering if i should have just stepped in later as there might not be much shopping outlets for me in here. Memory of Bandung came into picture at that moment.

That fear was unfounded as there were quite a few commercial entities where we can spend our last yen on and as expected, they were all duty free; i.e. devoid of the 8% consumption tax.

I got some toys for the kids! 

Those who couldn't decide if they should buy anymore snacks would have the last call here! The good thing about shopping in the duty free arena is that you don't have to meet the minimum spent of 5,000 yen.

Thinking that Casio watches might be cheaper in Hokkaido, i am shocked to find them about equivalent in pricing and i bet i can find the same thing that's priced cheaper at Bras Basah complex! 

Food kiosk! Speaking of which; i had yet to have breakfast even though i can usually survive with just a cup of coffee and i believe Thai Airways would provide me with some food.

Don't you just love the markings on the floor that would show us the direction of the gates?! Not that it really matters much given that there were only seven gates for the international terminal.

Oh, a second floor! Let's check it out! 

A food court with a mini kid playground! Despite what i mentioned a few paragraphs above, i couldn't resist the temptation to have my last ramen before i departed from Hokkaido. Turned out it was a disappointing meal and you may read more here. 

Menu as appended above for your reference if hunger strikes and you have no choice but to dine at the food court wing. Hopefully the chef had changed then; if not, please don't order the miso ramen.

More shops and different from the one below. Over at this particular shop, you can find Japanese porcelain, green tea, traditional Japanese souvenirs etc.

You can even find abalone and they don't come cheap despite an eye-dropping discount of 40%; from 120,000 yen to 72,000 (about S$900)! 

All things mint; from bath salt to cookies, sweets, cream! 

Beautiful glass dolls (68,000 yen) for the doll / girl's festival held on 03 March every year and an entire set consists of seven tiers! According to wikipedia, the dolls used for hinamatsuri (as it's called in Japan) nowadays are for display only and maybe be heirlooms passed down from generation to generation.

Anello; the favourite bag for mothers and those who love bags with big capacity! Prices were cheaper and i almost got for my niece and nephew. Thank god the designs for the kids' range were not great.

I absolutely love the sofa chairs! 

View of the floor below us; think there would either be more commercial entities for visitors shop at in the future or the hoarded up space would eventually open up to more gates.

Time for us to get ready! 

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For my 8 days, 7 nights Hokkaido itinerary in summer, click here.