Day 3 – Toyako, Hokkaido

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Woke up to a spectacular view of Hakodate train station.. normally it wouldn’t be such a sight but I think the flatness of the land made it look appealing. And those flowers, those fuchsia pink flowers.

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Before we left the sleepy port town, we stopped by at Goryokaku – a pentagon tower within a pentagon park where an old temple lay surrounded by moats and gardens. We went up to the top level to then be greeted by a gorgeous panoramic view.

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We then hit the road for three hours, bound for Toyako. A small town revolved around a grand sight of a lake. Within this huge lake sat a middle island with mountains framing it all together. It was spectacular. On one side the sun failed to peek through clouds and so we were left with a palette of blues. Once we got around to our hotel rays of sun shone through to reveal the island’s true colour of greens.

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Toyako is well known for relaxing. With hot springs nearby it makes it a popular spot to enjoy onsens (spa). The G8 Summit was here many years ago. We were starving so we stopped by at a small ramen shop where a beautiful lady with leather hands made our delicious ramen. It was so good, the pork in my noodle soup was so tender. She told us that she has been here for 32 years ago and her husband passed away 8 years ago so she has been doing it alone since then. Such a hard working yet gentle natured lady, she also had a voice of an angel.. no joke. We kept provoking conversations just to hear her haha she sounded like a voice actress.

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We then enjoyed a traditional dinner which had an array of little dishes. Yum. I ordered a plum wine to go with my dinner.. and I had no idea it meant a whole bottle rather than a glass… the boys ordered sake and again, didn’t know it meant a whole bottle each so you could say we ended up in a tipsy state. At night there were fireworks on the lake, put on by fast moving speedboats that were sending the wonders all over the place. I was pretty impressed that they did this every night, it must be pretty expensive. I wonder if the hotels share the costs or if it’s the doing of a local council to raise its tourist attraction.

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Traditional Japanese room where we rolled out our futons. I haven’t slept well for days as my mum sleeps and sounds like a piggy…

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My photos kind of got jumbled but oh well. Mum thought my optimal photographing position was hilarious.

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This was breakfast at Hakodate’s Loisir Hotel round 1. It was such a delicious buffet, the best hotel food so far.

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Round 2.

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Mum and I decided to use the photo booth before we headed for the hot springs. The Japanese love big cartoon eyes… I hate that the machine blew my eyes up without knowing. It was only when it was printed that I was met with such disgust haha. I look like a chipmunk hamster thing. Creepy haha.

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In the afternoon I also went for a lonely stroll around the lake.

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Then I heard my name get called out to see my mum waving her arms frantically at me, haha so cute. Not sure if she’s giving me the peace sign or flipping the bird at me.

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Sunsetting

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I also made a new friend on my walk, Nana the Shiba Inu. Such a small little cutie.

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