Hokkaido – Gutless Travel

What Traveling Solo Taught Me

To make a long story short, I booked a ticket in early January for a summer trip to Sapporo. I was so excited that within two months I finished planning. Google was my best friend at the time. I searched places to visit and how to get there, where to live, and how much money I’ll need to survive. Two months prior to my trip I had secured an apartment to live in.

BUT as my trip neared, I became terrified.

I had never been to anywhere alone. I had taken flights alone, but have had friends or family meet me in the country so my trip to Sapporo was my first real solo travel. I can’t speak Japanese, did not know anyone there, and have never been there. Let’s just say that I almost convinced myself not to get on that flight.

But I did and it was one of the best decisions thus far.

This photo was taken on my second day. It was so embarrassing setting up a tripod on a park bench.
But I made it through my embarrassment & realized no one was really watching me.

It’s been almost a year after my first solo trip. A month-long solo trip to be exact. I had been wanting to draft this blog since I got back, but felt embarrass to confess. I posted my trip endlessly via instagram throughout the month and shown only the brave (or trying to be brave) side of me.

Let me tell you, I’d do it again in a heart beat and here are three reasons why:

IT’S OKAY TO TAKE A BREAK

I was exhausted this time last year. I was in a toxic relationship and work was stressful. My dreams were not being fulfilled regardless of how hard I’ve worked. I felt hopeless. I felt as if I was sinking and regardless of how hard I tried to pull myself up to stand, I just couldn’t.

Not everyone can get on a flight to simply breathe or to take a break from a stressful life. Even if you can’t travel by plane, I think it’s important for you to take yourself out of the situation. There are other ways like taking a drive to the nearby beach, going on a hike, or just simply getting yourself comfort food. The main point is that you get to be somewhere else, even if it’s just for a short while, to be away from the situation.

I was able to step out of my situation and saw clearly that I was holding on to things that were hurting me and I needed to let go.

If I did not get on that plane, I would not have been able to see this view:

View from the observation deck of the Sapporo TV Tower. Left photo shows Odori Park.

BEING ALONE IN PUBLIC IS OKAY

I have never been alone in public before. Being a girl meant it is scary to go to places alone. A girl should never be alone because there is a higher chance of being raped, kidnapped, or taken advantage of.

When I told people that I was going solo to Japan, they said… “that’s so dangerous, why would you go alone?” They made me doubt myself. I started to think of all the wrong things that could happen. Like I said, I almost convinced myself not to go anymore.

The fear and doubt gradually went away as the trip went on.

I spent many hours just sitting at Odori Park (see photos above) reflecting on life, planning for my goals, and observing those around me. I’d come there to read a book or even write on my journal. Being at a different place gave me the time I needed to breathe and to fully see my realities. It also taught me the most important lesson I’ve learned – it’s okay to be alone (especially in public).

Trust yourself that you know what to do if ever a danger arrives. Also, you are smart enough to know how to avoid dangerous situation.

You are capable of being alone and only you can do the things you want to do. Doesn’t it suck not being able to try that new boba shop because all of your friends are working?

THERE ARE ALWAYS NEW THINGS TO LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF

Here are some of the things I’ve learned about myself:

Ice cream is definitely my comfort food. I knew that I like ice cream, but the trip made me realize that I loooove ice cream. I had a soft-serve almost everyday for an entire month. (Hokkaido has the best dairy products).

Museums are not boring. Museums are a great place to see how things have changed overtime. I was reminded that though things can be rough now, it will get better overtime. Just look at how our phones transformed from flip phone to touch screen. Life might be hard and complicated now, but later much easier to manage because of all the lessons learned and not wanting history to repeat itself.

Time is never wasted. I used to think that if you weren’t doing something productive, it was time wasted. I got lost majority of the time. Despite the map on my phone, I got off at the wrong train station, got in a bus heading to the opposite direction, and walked into a building I have no idea about. But the unplanned paths had led me to amazing places and experiences – a small park with a river running through, a shopping center with the best pancakes, and a small alley with the tastiest ramen. Unexpected things happen and special circumstances occur – there are many things beyond your control and it’s okay.

I am obsessed with penguins! The only reason I used to justify my visits to many zoos and aquariums on my trip was “there’s a penguin there.” I even traveled 3-4 hours to go to Noboribetsu Marine Park Nixe to see the Penguin Parade.

Thank you for reading this far. I’m grateful for you and I hope you find yourself traveling solo and learning about yourself as well.

CHECK OUT MY HOKKAIDO BLOGS:

Solo travel to Otaru, Japan

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The Day I Became a Flower in Noboribetsu, Japan

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Day Trip to Asahikawa, Japan

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A city filled with culture, local identity, and picturesque views. Hakodate lies in the southernmost part of Hokkaido. It is Hokkaido’s third largest city and a must to visit. Unlike other places I’ve visited, Hakodate was spontaneous. I booked a hotel, packed my backpack, got in the express train from Sapporo Station, and stayed there…

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Solo travel to Otaru, Japan

A “late” post would be an understatement. It has been six months since my solo travel to Otaru and I have been in denial that I’m back to my reality. I’m half kidding.

The first time I heard of Otaru was in a famous Filipino romantic comedy movie called Kita Kita that came out in 2017. I was mesmerized by not only the plot of the movie, but also the places they explored – Otaru was one of them.

How to get to Otaru:

Regardless of where you begin, I’m sure you are bound to start your journey to Otaru from Sapporo Station. I stayed in an apartment near Asabu station, which is at the end of the Namboku line of the Sapporo Municipal Subway. This means I had a 15-minute subway/train ride to Sapporo Station.

ASABU STATION TO SAPPORO STATION
Length: approx. 15 minutes
Cost: ¥250 ($2-$3)

I purchased my own Sapica card from a ticket machine at the subway station on my first day and have been using this card everywhere. The Sapica card is valid only in Sapporo (subway, bus, and streetcars). My month-long stay in Hokkaido was meant to be spent mainly in Sapporo so I had purchased a Sapica card. If you are exploring places outside of Sapporo often (like to Otaru) I would not recommend getting a Sapica card. The card initially cost ¥2000 (¥500 deposit + ¥1500 initial balance you can use) or $18-$20.

Sapporo Station is enormous – it is not only a train station, but also a place to shop, explore, and dine. It is surrounded by massive shopping centers. You will get lost if you’re new to the area (like I was!), but just follow signs that say “JR Station” as there are multiple ways to get there.

Getting to Otaru from Sapporo Station is easy!

Because you can’t use your Sapica card for the JR line trains, you will need to get to a ticket machine. I purchased a ticket for ¥640 per the price on the board above. Another way is to use the IC cards (rechargeable cards) that are valid for JR lines. I found it easier to just purchase tickets from the machine so I chose not to get any other additional IC card. If you’re not sure, you can press a help button on the machine and someone will come by to help you.

Get on a train to Otaru and enjoy the hour-long view of the city and the ocean.

SAPPORO STATION —-> OTARU STATION
Length: approx. 1 hour and 4 minutes
Cost: ¥640 one way ($5-$7) with no seat reservation

I can’t remember exactly how much the fare was – but I know reserved seats will cost more. I was lucky enough to get seats without any reservation. Get in line at least 10 minutes prior to the departure of a train to increase your chances of having a seat. ** Other blogs will say that the fare is ¥750 ($6-8) & I assume this is with seat reservation.

Where to go and sites to see:

OTARU CANAL

Getting to Otaru Canal from Otaru Station is a 10-minute walk down the main road. Places you’ll see on the way are:

old railroad track (lots of people were taking pictures here)
souvenir shops
food shops/restaurants

Along the canal are warehouses turned into a spacious souvenir shop and somewhat of the high-end restaurants. These restaurants have seats right out by the canal so you can enjoy the view. There is also a boat-ride that goes along the canal while you learn about the history of Otaru (I didn’t do this because the line was always long so plan accordingly). Along the canal are vendors that sell different artworks – I bought a handmade postcard.

TIP! The right side of the canal are filled with people. If you go to the left of the canal, it’s pretty much empty. There are seats along the wall that you can sit and relax after a day of walking so much. OR you can also take photos (like I did)

SAKAIMACHI STREET

Sakaimachi street is a 10-minute walk from Otaru Station or a 15-minute walk from the Canal. The street is filled with shops where you will find souvenir, restaurants, cafes, and museums. Otaru is known for their glass products. You can spend half a day exploring (and eating in) this place.

My MUST GO TO are:

Music Box Museum (I bought an angel music box)
Japanese Maccha Sweets – literally everything they sell is matcha green tea.
Seafood restaurants – I can’t remember which restaurant I went in, but I had ordered sushi and an eel bowl.

TOMIOKA CATHOLIC CHURCH

This church did not have any English mass while I was there. I had come to pray inside. It’s a small church, but beautiful nevertheless. It was a 20-minute walk from Otaru Station and also away from Sakaimachi Street. I caught a glimpse of the residential homes there and many had flower gardens so the walk was worth it.

THERE’S MORE!

There are so many more sites to see, but because I only had a day and half in Otaru coming from Sapporo, I decided to take my time and explore Sakaimachi street and around Otaru Canal. I also had some time to write in my journal and absorb the experience around me.

Other places you can explore are Otaru Aquarium and the Tenguyama Ropeway. They are another bus ride away.

SURPRISE TWIST…

On a day I did not know where to go, I decided to go back to Otaru. So in total, I spent an entire day + half a day. I woke up after 10 AM and spent the rest of the morning doing my laundry and tidying up the apartment I was staying in. I ate lunch at Sapporo station before embarking on my hour-long train ride for Otaru.

When I arrived at Otaru, it was much more crowded than the first time I visited. As I got closer to the canal I realized that they were having a festival!

OTARU TIDE FESTIVAL

The tide festival is held at the end of July 2019. It was very festive… (pun intended). The streets were filled with food stands, there were group dance performances, and taiko-drums performance all throughout the day. I did not stay until the evening because the commute back to my apartment would take a little under 2-hours and I did not want to be in the sea of people heading back to Sapporo when the night was over.

Otaru is a great day trip from Sapporo. It is filled with beauty, culture, history, and definitely lots of food.

Thank you for reading about my adventure! 🙂

Day Trip to Asahikawa, Japan

Many people automatically think about Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka when it comes to Japan, but Japan has so much more to offer! Hokkaido is one. I am also one of those people. In fact, I spent two weeks in those areas last year.

It is definitely worth the trip up if you’re able to head to Hokkaido.

HOW TO GET TO ASAHIKAWA

I took the Super Kamui Express train from Sapporo Station to Asahikawa Station. It costs around ¥2300 (est. $23) one-way (if I recall correctly). The JR Pass and the Hokkaido Rail Pass cover this trip so if you have that, you are good to go. For my trip, I did not have any of those passes so I just purchased the ticket at the ticket office and asked for roundtrip, so I paid roughly around ¥4600 (est. $46).

Tip: I was taught to just use ¥100 = $1 so I just move the decimal point twice to the left to convert yen to dollars… it could actually be less than that. The exchange for money while I was there was a little over ¥100 per $1.

The express train was a direct roughly 2-hour train ride. If you get to the waiting area at least 10-15 minutes of departure time, the unreserved seats would suffice… otherwise, reserving a seat would be feasible. There are trains to Asahikawa every 30 minutes, so if you miss your ride… just wait for another 30 minutes.

Asahikawa is also one of those stations you stop by to switch trains to head to Biei and/or Furano, but that’s for another blog.

There are also other options such as the bus (this would take longer) and to drive a car. I would actually recommend driving to and around Asahikawa instead as you would be able to visit and see more. You’ll know why… just keep reading.

WHERE DID I GO FOR THE DAY?

ASAHIYAMA ZOO

As stated above, I used public transportation. Unfortunately, Google Maps or Maps will tell you to WALK to Asahiyama Zoo… Don’t follow that! Well that was the case when I searched for it at the time – so if they’ve updated the information by the time you’ve read this, great!

Anyway, here’s how I got there. I arrived at Asahikawa Station and as soon as I got off the platform, I saw signs that literally lead me where to go for the zoo. There is a bus waiting area right outside the entrance/exit of the station. The bus will stop at the zoo. I know I should probably tell you which bus number or bus stop number it is, but it’s been a month since I’ve visited… just know that you should be paying attention to the signs and it will lead you where to go. It took about forty minutes by bus and I walked some from the bus stop to the ticket entrance.

Of all the zoos I visited in Hokkaido, Asahiyama Zoo is a must! The highlight (and what the zoo is known for) are the many way you can observe the animals. You can see the animals at different angles. Imagine a “normal” zoo… you enter, you look at the animal or animals, and that’s it… all you do is look. At Asahiyama Zoo, you enter and there are various vantage points where you can view the animal or it will allow you to loop around the exhibit to observe the animal at different angles.

PENGUINS

MY personal favorite: the penguin exhibit. (Penguins are my spirit animal by the way).

I have never ever seen penguins swim… in any zoo. Why? Because literally all they do is stand around right? Well, not at Asahiyama Zoo. You will walk through an underwater glass tunnel that lets you observe the penguins swim through the water! Seriously, I have never ever seen anything like it before. There is also an area where they are behind the glass standing around and/or walk around, AND they can get as close to you as possible.

WOLVES

There are two ways to view the wolves: 1) hare view or 2) the normal view. The hare view will have you walk through a short tunnel (watch out for your head – I literally hit mine) and you will look out of a glass dome that puts you at an eye level with the wolves. Unfortunately, there was a line for this one so it was just a quick look and I didn’t see the wolves (they blended in with their home) until I got out of it and went through the normal view.

RED PANDAS

The red pandas were enclosed in a cage… but what’s unique about this is the suspension bridge. The red pandas hang around it. Well, when I was there one was taking a nap at the suspension bridge. Proof:

LEOPARDS

This was a huge cage. You’d first walk up a “hill” and see them at a high point, and at the end, you may get to see these big cats up close and personal… seriously… There was a leopard sleeping on a part of the cage where you can get underneath it. I’d prefer not to as it may all of a sudden decide to take the number 2.

There are so much more that I can’t remember so make sure you visit.

UENO FARM

When I said I recommend going to and around Asahiyama by car, I meant it. Because I only had a day there, I was only able to visit two places due to the long commute between places. I had to choose two spots that I REALLY wanted to go to. Asahiyama Zoo was one (for the penguins) and Ueno Farm (for the garden, of course).

Getting to Ueno Farm was VERY sweaty. No clouds shielded the sun. I was using the zoo map as my umbrella! It was at the end of July and I walked for at least 30 minutes from Asahiyama Zoo to the “train station.” Literally, this “station” was in the middle of the farm lands so it looking nothing like an actual station. I can’t exactly tell you which station it was because I literally just followed Maps/Google Maps, which brought me in the middle of nowhere. I waited at the platform and was very confused as to how it worked. I didn’t even know how and where to enter the train. A local eventually helped me. Apparently, it was like taking the bus – you pull a ticket, then look at the monitor to see how much you have to pay based on the number on your ticket.

When I got out of the train (again in the middle of nowhere), I walked another 15 minutes to the Farm. This walk was a bit refreshing being surrounded by the farm land (which reminded me so much of the provinces in the Philippines) and green. That side of Asahikawa was a bit windy so the heat didn’t bother me as much.

Ueno Farm was beautiful! Please don’t mistake it for Ueno Park (in Tokyo) as I have originally. It also isn’t like any flower farms you see in Biei or Furano. It’s a garden where you see various areas of different types of flowers. They also have a cafe with AC to rest. I went on a weekday so it was not crowded… I remember only seeing a few people.

My favorite part of Ueno Farm are these colored chairs where you can sit and watch over this amazing and relaxing view.

You kind of have to sit because you’ll need to hike up a hill to get there. I spent about two hours at the farm exploring the different areas and taking photos of the flowers.

P.S. I traveled majority of Hokkaido during my month-long stay ALONE, but in this specific day, I had an amazing companion who was so patient with me as we walked through the heat and took photos of me.

As a final note, Asahikawa has more to offer! I honestly did not look much into Asahikawa because I only wanted to visit the zoo and Ueno Farm. Again, I’d prefer to drive around Asahikawa as point A to point B are much farther from each other than they seem. Prior to Asahikawa, I spent so much time in the city and busy streets that I needed to get away from it.

Thanks for reading my journey and I hope you find your way to Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan.