Hokkaido - Furano - Farm Tomita

Furano (富良野市) is a city located in Kamikawa, central Hokkaido. It is divided into 3 parts: Kamifurano, Nakafurano and Shimofurano. Each of these 3 areas has its own breathtaking scenery and tons of flower fields and rolling hills that go on forever.

I have decided to divide the pictures of Furano into more than one entry because there are simply too many nice pics! :) This first entry shows Farm Tomita. Farm Tomita is located in Nakafurano and is the most famous flower farm in Hokkaido. The most famous image of the farm is that of the "rainbow field" created by planting rows of different flowers along the gentle rolling hills. This image was once used by Japan Rail in their nation wide calendar.

The famous Rainbow Field

Multi-colours flowers

Bright & cheery sunflowers

Me @ Poppies field

Red poppies

Lavender fields

Flowers in the white strip in the Rainbow Field

Maize in the green strip of the Rainbow Field

Orange poppies (in orange strip)

Flowers in the purple strip in the Rainbow Field

Pink ixora

Close-up of Lavender

Both of us

The yummy Farm Tomita Lavender ice cream

Hokkaido - Biei

Biei (美瑛町) is a town located in Kamikawa District in Hokkaido. It is famous for its views of wide fields and hills and is used as a backdrop for many Japanese commercials and TV programmes.

The clear blue sky - the weather was gorgeous!

Me with Tree of Ken & Mary in the background

The beautiful fields and rolling hills

A lone tree

Tree of Parents & Child

Maize fields

The Tree of Seven Stars

More greenery...

Hokkaido - Norboribetsu Onsen

Noboribetsu is a city located in Iburi and is part of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park. We went to a smaller town called Noboribetsu-Onsen which is a well-known resort in Japan and is the largest "hot spring town" in Hokkaido. Our sole purpose there was to soak in the onsens so we checked ourselves into the most expensive hotel there because it has the largest variety of onsen pools to turn ourselves into prunes! Ha!

We stayed there for only one night but we squeezed in three onsens soaks after we checked in: one before dinner, one after dinner and one before breakfast before checking out.

There were separate onsens for men and women. It is the first time in my life that I saw so many naked women walking around without feeling embarrassed. And there were soooooo many types of onsens to try, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor ones were fantastic, especially in the cold morning air!

Yuen @ hotel entrance

The design/model of the onsens for men & women.

Yuen on streets of Noboribetsu-Onsen

Death Valley - the source the mineral water for the onsens. This Death Valley was just behind the hotel we stayed in. We could smell the sulphur in the air once we stepped out of the hotel.

We had a free bottle of wine @ dinner as part of the deal. It was a buffet dinner and there were a LOT of fresh seafood! Yummy!

Upon leaving, we took the local bus to the JR train station to take us to the next destination. The bus has a very cool system which allows the passenger to know the bus fare easily by referring to the board above.

A train just left when we arrived at the JR station. So we had to wait for the next one. There were toys in the train station which we used to entertain ourselves during the wait :)

Hokkaido - Onuma Koen

Designated as a "quasi national park", Onuma Park (Onuma Koen) is located twenty kilometers north of Hakodate. The park has two lakes: Onuma (large lake) and Konuma (small lake) and their background is formed by the majestic dormant volcano, Mount Komagatake.

We rented bicycles to go around the park and explored the area. Unfortunately, the mist covered most of Mount Komagatake the day we were there. Nevertheless, the nice weather and pleasant riding conditions (virtually no cars) made it a really fun day! :)

In front of Onuma Koen JR station

The Onuma Lake

One of my favourite pictures

Yuen with the mist over the lake

Us on our bikes

Long & winding road

Me taking a breather from riding...

Dessert after lunch: Melon ice cream! Yummy!

Hokkaido - Hakodate

OK - I have decided to arrange the Hokkaido photos by cities/locations rather than by days since we spent several days at some locations. I will have a separate entry just on the food as well :P Yummy!

We covered a total of 7 cities and here is the first one - Hakodate. Hakodate is the largest city in southern Hokkaido. It is one of the first cities in Japan to be opened to trade after the Meiji Restoration Period and as a result, some of its architecture and buildings still retain their Western influence. Hakodate city "mascot" is the Squid and it is famous for its very fresh seafood (it being a port sity) and Shio Ramen.

The pictures really do not do justice to how beautiful Hokkaido is. You gotta go and see them for yourself! Be warned if you have a slow connection - there are a lot of pictures! :)

Nice clean street of Hakodate

Historic red brick warehouses which have been converted to restaurants

Quaint Japanese houses

Hakodate Bay in the day

Hakodate Bay @ night

Japanese laterns

@ Hakodate Famous Morning Market

Fresh squids!

Crabs!

Streets of Hakodate

Yuen with Goryokaku Tower in background

Goryokaku Tower has a glass floor

@ Cape Tachimachi

Cape Tachimachi

Cape Tachimachi