Summer at Biei, Furano, and the blue lake

Finally it's July! It's lavender time! ^____^ It's time to prepare a trip to Furano! ^^ I have been planning to write a post about Furano from longggg time ago, but I couldn't find the time to do that because there are so many pictures! OMG! After sorting them, I still have so many pictures in this post. Sorry, I couldn't cut more because they are just too pretty... ^_^

Tomita Farm, Furano

In fact, we are going to Furano tomorrow =P hehe. We have a guest coming from Spain, and we are going to have a 3-day road trip to Furano, Akan area and Shiretoko peninsula area. I have been looking forward to it because although I have been to all those places, I have never seen Shiretoko on summer! Shiretoko national park is a UNESCO world heritage, and a lot of local and foreign tourists visit Shiretoko every year.

I visited a lot of places around Shiretoko area with JTB Hokkaido monitor tour before, but I didn't have time to post everything. Anyway, you may check my experience visiting konbu (kelp) factory in Rausu town, which is a city located at Shiretoko peninsula.

We found this during the drive along the expressway on the way to Furano! ^_^

1st stop: Aoiike (blue pond)

The Blue Pond (青い池, Aoiike) is one of main destinations of Furano and Asahikawa tour packages. This pond is named after its bright blue color that comes from the effect of minerals naturally dissolved in the water. It is not a very big lake, in fact. It takes only around 10 minutes for visitors to walk through the forest and along the pond. The access to this pond is a bit inconvenient, except if you go there by car or tour buses. However, it is not impossible to go there by local bus. You can take buses (only five round trips per day) from Biei Station and stop at Shirogane Aoiike Iriguchi (白金青い池入口) bus stop. The one way trip will take 30 minutes to reach.

There is a river at the end of the pathway from the carpark. which, together with Aoiike, is part of the erosion control system at that area. A lot of people went down to enjoy the beautiful stream, including us for sure. =P It was quite rocky, though. I was pretty impressed to see some people managed go down wearing heels. o.O

Me climbing my way up ^_^ 

2nd stop: North Western hill observatory park

The first time I went to Furano, I passed by Kami Furano where I could see the prettiest hill I have ever seen covered with lavenders, sunflowers, and many others!! I love sunflowers! They are soooo big, bright, and strongly give the summer impression, at least for me! ^^ On the other hand, the view from hill peak overlooking the city with all the lavenders around you was super amazing! That's why we wanted to go there again this time.

However, we went to the wrong direction... o.O We found this park instead. Luckily it had sunflower garden. Not a big one, though. However, if we hadn't found this place, we wouldn't have seen sunflowers during the whole trip because Kami Furano had no sunflower garden last year. =( So, once again, we were quite lucky! ^_^

The bee went inside my skirt! Crazy!!! I don't know how it managed to find its way there!

3rd stop: Panorama road, Biei

We had to choose which road we wanted to take, and I chose one. The smaller and more complicated one, of course, since I love small roads, alleys, etc ^_^ And... who knew that we could be so lucky to find that the road was the panorama road! This road is surrounded by the farms and ideal for exploration by car or bicycle. There was almost no car or bicycle there except ours, so we could stop and take pictures wherever and whenever we wanted. Nice! ^____^

4th stop: Kami Furano

Yeahhh finally we reached Kami Furano! And again, we were so lucky because there was a summer festival held there! There were a stage with perfomance and a lot of stalls selling food or promoting activities there. It was really fun! ^^

There were pretty girls in yukata too! :) I wish I knew there was a festival there! I would have worn my yukata... o.O Yukata is mostly worn during festivals or summer events. It is not common to wear it in daily life, so although I have quite a lot of yukatas (Javier will say "not 'quite'!" =P), I only have few chances to wear it every year.

The dog also enjoyed wearing yukata =P

After drinking some fresh beers and enjoying the festival for a while, we climbed uphill to the lavender park. There were a lot of pretty flowers along the way; so pretty and perfect until they looked so fake!

Finally... we reached the lavender park. Not the peak yet, though. :) It was such a hottttt and humid day! We were sweating and sweating... so crazy! That explains Javier's pose in the picture below. =P

Climbing and climbing ... Javier said I looked like someone who was looking for signal... o.O Anyway, now you know the secret of our amazing pictures =P The tripod! haha ^_^ It is definitely the third party in our relationship! ^_____^

We reached the top! The scenery was amazing up there. <3

The top of Kami Furano

Javier ringing the bell... waking the whole city up.. o.O

Going down. Isn't the view of the city pretty? ^_^

Last stop: Tomita Farm, Furano

Yuhuuu! what's the purple thing there? ^_____^

Tomita farm

Finally we reached Tomita farm! Based on my experience being asked about Hokkaido touristic spots by people, Tomita farm is the most common image of Furano for most foreigners. Besides the lavenders, the pictures of this wave-like flower garden will appear a lot if you search for Furano in search engines. You may also check the official website of Tomita farm. :) It provides basic informations in English, Chinese, and Korean as well.

Tomita farm viewing deck

There is viewing deck provided for visitors to enjoy the scenery from a higher spot. In addition, there are souvenir shops, melon shop, restaurants, green house, and more. 

We didn't buy the melon this time because I just didn't want to spend around USD 3-4 for one piece of melon!!!!! We tried it the year before, so I guess it was enough to kill our curiosity, haha. =P However, we have to say that the melon was really wonderful! It was sooo sweet, super juicy, just with the right texture, and with the perfect bright orange color! Ah I almost forgot... the smell was amazingly sweet and strong! If I have extra fortune, I would really love to buy it again for sure, haha! This time taking picture with the gigantic melon was enough for me =P.

Tomita Farm melon house

Javier with two Tomita melons =P

Lavender ice cream

Another thing you have to try is the lavender ice cream! It is not the best thing in the world for some people though, hehe. Some friends of mine commented that the ice cream tasted and smelled like soap o.O ... Well, i think it makes sense if the smell is like soap because it is lavender, but the taste is definitely not like soap!!! I have never tasted a soap on purpose, but based on my experience, shampoo, conditioner, face cream, soap, etc are BITTER! Right??? ... Anyway, I think the ice cream tastes good and sweet. :) I hope soap would never taste like this, or else I will start eating my soap while showering! =P ahaha. 

The thing that many visitors tend to miss and you should take note is that this wave-like garden is not the only garden in Tomita farm! Tomita farm is quite big actually. There is another place just beside this wave-like garden which is actually a hill full of lavenders. This area is usually not so crowded, making it perfect to take great pictures. ^____^

Lavender hill at Tomita Farm

Nice rite?!?!?! ^_____^ 

The people working at Tomita farm

Another garden within Tomita farm

This girl was so purple! =P

Furano is a place we always love to go every year. Besides the fact that summer and flowers are very precious in Hokkaido because both don't last long here =P, we never get bored of the scenery. However, please keep in mind that this scenery doesn't last forever! In fact, you have to prepare your holiday time well if you want to see this. 

In general, lavenders usually will be fully bloomed around the mid to end of July in Hokkaido. Nevertheless, it is better to check the flower watching corner and previous records of Tomita farm (not all pictures of previous years are available but it is quite helpful) to decide which day you should be there. They also put the pictures showing progress of the flowers at the present year. In my own opinion, on the dates they stopped putting the picture of the wave-like garden, it means most likely the lavenders were not ready or dying already, or the wave-like garden was not pretty anymore. =P You may use it as a guide while checking the records. :)

In addition, you may check pictures from other people, like mine too for example =P, and use them as a guide. It is because the season may move a bit each year. The pictures in this post were taken on July 22, 2012, and the flowers were PERFECT. However, two years ago (2011) I went on July 23, and the lavender gardens were not so purple anymore because many flowers dropped already.

CONCLUSION. my advice is: 

1. Check previous years' pictures please!

2. I can't say that it is impossible to see pretty lavenders on August or early July, because who knows one day the season moved so much and lavenders will be fully bloom on August, hehe. However, if you come here from far far away and you realllly really want to see this, I suggest you to not take risk and just come around the mid to end of July.

Happy me somewhere in Tomita farm :)

Anywayyy... we are going to Furano again tomorrow! ^___^ For you who are in Hokkaido or Japan, let's enjoy Furano to the fullest this year! ^^ And for you who is not here, I hope you will have the chance to visit this amazing place one day. :)

Expensive groceries in Japan

I was asked to draw something for the magazine of Hokkaido University English Engineering Education Program (e3) 2 weeks ago, and I just managed to finish it this week hehe.The topic is about expensive daily stuffs in Japan, mainly related to food and groceries. The drawing below is what I just submitted to the editor. ^^

5000 yen is about USD 50. For a single rock melon! I have seen rock melon sold for around 8000 yen each as well! Crazy... Peach is also another fruit that is sold for like at least 400 yen per piece. My friend even posted a picture of peach sold for more than 1000 yen per piece... o.O That's why I didn't eat so much fruits here, I guess... ___ ___ !

When I was finishing this drawing, he sent me the draft of the article related to my drawing. I found out that the article coincidentally mentioned about banana being cheap in Japan, and rock melon sold for 10000 yen a couple. In fact I didn't know the content of the article before, but my drawing and the article are somehow related! ^_^

Besides banana, bean sprouts (moyashi in japanese) are also good option if you are looking for cheap vegetables here. In fact, I think it is the cheapest among all! What else are cheap... hm let me see.. tofu is not expensive compared to other stuffs. And then... natto (Japanese fermented beans) ? ^_^ If you can eat it, natto is actually a very cheap and healthy food very rich in protein, and it is said to promote naturally beautiful skin! ^^ I didn't like natto when I tried it for the first time, but after the second and third attempts, I like it so much.

Former Hokkaido Government Office and Odori Park on summer

Akarenga - Former Hokkaido Government Office

Sunday was really a bright sunny day! We planned to go to the beach but then both of us had so many things to do the day before so we couldn't wake up, hehe. It was not so late to go to the beach, in fact, but then Javier proposed to go to the Hokkaido University Botanical Garden and Former Hokkaido Government Office, since he hadn't been there before and those two places are very close to each other. Yuhuu.. Why not? great idea!^^ I have been to the government office before but I didn't go inside. In regards to the Hokudai Botanical Garden, I don't know why I haven't been to this place until today while in fact I can go there for free. OMG. ___ ___ !

So, it was decided! We went to the botanical garden first. We had to cycle around the whole block because Javier decided to turn right at the place we had to turn left... o.O heh. Well, he thought there are more than one entrance, but there is only one. Too bad... 

We reached there, but ... unfortunately I forgot my student card.. =( so I cannot enter for free! I told him it's ok, I will pay, but he decided to just go back another day, because it is not the last time we can visit this place anyway. So, yah.. we didn't visit the botanical garden, haha =P Well, he entered and went out again ___ ___ !

The former Hokkaido Government Office, originally built in 1873, is one of the top tourist destinations in Sapporo city. It was said to be one of the largest buildings in Japan at the time it was built. Visitors can enter the building or enjoy the flower gardens and the ponds in front of the building for free. We will find a conference room, a museum shop, a tourist information office and a number of exhibition rooms and libraries with informations about Hokkaido and related histories.

After that, we moved to Odori Park to have a bit of "snack" under the sun. We went to 7-11 to check on some snacks, and finally we decided to buy... ramen salada =P haha! that's the kind of snack for us! hehe. Well it was a bit too much actually, but dunno why I just wanted to have ramen salada that time. It might be because it was too hot that day (you might notice it from my hair in the picture.. o.O).

Ramen salada is basically a ramen/noodle salad contains noodle, raw vegetables, and sometimes hard boiled egg and/or chicken, served with a dressing. It is served cold, thus very refreshing for summer. We usually buy 2 different kinds of ramen salada because I love the one with eggs, while Javier doesn't like hard-boiled egg (in this case, not so "hard" actually =P).

I love the feeling of sitting on the grass under the sun at Odori Park while watching some youngsters practicing juggling and stuffs, or looking at some people feeding the pigeons flying around the park. :)

The last photo below is not related to Odori Park or Former Hokkaido Government Office, but since it is interesting and gives the feel of summer, I post it here. ^____^ so what is it?

I'm not a plant expert, so I just call these plants "slipper plants" !! ^_^ Javier and I found them outside the building where I had my spanish morning class. The shape really reminds me of slippers... tons of slippers on summer! Don't you think so? :)