Here's the unfortunate thing. It would appear that as days (while on tour) went by, the number of photos that I took, got lesser and lesser. By the time I hit Day 7, let's just say I had major camera fatigue. Also, Day 7 was the one day in our entire Hokkaido trip where it rained. Gloomy skies and rain, hence the reluctance to also bring the camera out. Although, having said that, we were indoors for most of Day 7. Yup, it was just an excuse.

 

No matter what it was, the lack of photos obviously does not bode well for a blogger. We'll get by for the next couple of posts, but I seriously have got to remember to keep taking photos on the next trip!

 

Day 7's itinerary in reality:

Central Wholesale Market --> Ishiya White Chocolate Factory (白い恋人パーク) --> Asahi Beer Factory ( アサヒビール北海道工場) --> Mitsui Factory Outlet

 

I kind of feel that this next tourist stop on the itinerary won't need much introduction from me. Anyone who had visited Hokkaido (or any part of Japan I think) would have heard/bought or had friends request a box of the famous Shiroi Koibito chocolate cookies. Yup, it's that famous "two thin butter cookies with that layer of chocolate sandwiched in-between". The one that comes in a pale blue metal tin. This famous confectionery is not a particular favourite of mine or my family's, but I know of scores of friends and colleagues who are fans of the chocolate biscuit.

 

In fact, this particular confectionery is so famous, visiting the theme park would seem like a must in most tour group itineraries. Even those on free and easy tours would have made this one of their pit stops. So based on that, what you can expect at the Shiroi Koibito theme park (aka the Ishiya White Chocolate Factory)? Crowds. Crowds and crowds of tourists.

 

Having said that and as someone who absolutely hates crowds, I have to say, it was still pretty enjoyable. But don't say I didn't warn you.

 

 

 

 

 

At the entrance of the theme park, you will be presented with a "passport" as well as a token Shiroi Koibito cookie. I found the passport quite useless actually since everything was in Japanese, but the pictures inside would give you an idea what to expect while in the theme park.

 

 

 

 

Those of you who enjoy workshops would be glad to know that there is a cookie-making workshop at the Ishiya White Chocolate Factory. Ok, it was more like a cookie-decorating workshop. After you don their hygiene gear (you know, plastic aprons, hats, foot-wear and the works), they will shuffle you to the work tables where each individual has a Hokkaido-shaped cookie to decorate. You'll be given a box at the end to store your cookie and it'll even last the flight home! Ours came out of our luggage unscathed. But I suspect that's really because of my superior packing skills.

 

I also think this would be great as one of those parent-child bonding activities to do while on holiday. That is, if you're one for such workshops. While my parents and I participated, to be honest, I just wanted to be out of their hygiene gear asap, and instead tour the grounds and get to the food.

Yup, that's me and my parents. We prefer sights, landscapes and food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in the building, there are a lot of exhibits on various floors, including cake decorations, toys and even kitchen ware. Apparently the Meissen cup and saucer above was one of the most expensive exhibits around. The exhibits were kind of weird though. Apart from the cake decorations that could still fit into the overall theme, I didn't think that I'll find toys and gramophones around in a chocolate factory.

 

 

 

 

 

What did make sense to us, was this display of Japanese efficiency. My parents and I actually stood at the windows watching the industrious workers sort, pack and monitor the production of the famous confectionary. The only reason why I chased us off? Limited time and I wanted to get to the café, theme park grounds and souvenir shop.

 

 

 

 

Now the photo above was me being greedy and only remembering to snap a picture after a mouthful. Okay, it might have been a few mouthfuls. I honestly cannot remember. What I do remember was that the soft serve was awesome. Even in the cold, rainy weather.

 

 

 

 

And since I forgot to grab photos of the café and souvenir shop, let me just grab some pictures off the "passport" and share with you what you should be focusing on.

 

On the bottom right (picture above), you can actually get customised souvenirs. It's basically one of those "take your touristy photo and I'll print it on the container" thing. Of course it'll cost you though. So unless you're looking for a special photo keepsake, you can probably skip this. Especially if you are on a budget.

 

 

 

 

Those of you foodies, please note. The soft serve comes in 3 types, chocolate, white chocolate and a mixed version.

A tip: The white chocolate version is actually the same type that goes into the white chocolate cookies. You can go for the mixed if you want to try both. I always preferred the white chocolate in the cookies, I just went for the full white. No regrets.

 

What's less well-known (but I personally find yummier) is their canned chocolate drink. That's the one bottom of the photo above. There is a café at the top floor of the building that serves cakes and this special chocolate drink. If you have the time and opportunity, please do enjoy the chocolate drink. Let me know how the cakes fare though.

 

However, if you're like me, short on time and opportunities, grab a few cans of the chocolate drinks to go. This is seriously one of the best canned chocolate drink I've had. Rich and good. I've also seen it around some of the convenience stores in Hokkaido, but it doesn't always seem readily available. I couldn't get enough of them during my time there.

 

Another tip if you're shopping at the souvenir store. Many people just aim for the standard box of Shiroi Koibito cookies. First, if you have a tour guide, ask if they will be bringing you somewhere else where you might be able to get them cheaper. Some of the shopping streets have such stores and they are oftentimes cheaper. In addition, these stores carry other snacks/souvenirs and some even offer you boxes to pack them all up neatly. Especially if you buy quite a bit. That makes your subsequent luggage-packing a lot easier. If you don't have a tour guide, do a bit of online homework. It's not difficult to locate such stores.

 

However, what you should be purchasing at the souvenir shop at the Ishiya White Chocolate Factory are the non-standard items. That basically refers to anything else that is not the famous white chocolate/chocolate cookies that come in that pale blue tins. The stores that I mentioned in the paragraph above, tend to carry only the more well-known Japanese snacks. Makes sense for them to do so actually.

 

Of course, if you're not certain that you'll being able to hit those stores that I mentioned, then please by all means, make sure you get your share of the Shiroi Koibito cookies. I wouldn't want to be accused of making you lose your precious cargo of famous chocolate cookies.

 

What I am saying though is while at the souvenir shop, do take a look at the other items that are being offered by Ishiya. These are the ones that may not be readily available elsewhere. If you're not certain which ones are good (and honestly, I've forgotten which ones myself), get the assortment pack. I find the assortment pack a pretty good way to try almost everything they have to offer. Plus, they're pretty good to share around with the family and everyone gets to try everything as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, by the time my parents and I finished our soft serves and purchased our Ishiya snacks, we had only a few minutes left to tour the grounds. Sigh. As usual. The lack of time.

 

What I can tell with you based on initial impressions amidst a gloomy, rainy weather, was that the kids would probably enjoy this place. There were train rides, a tree house and what looked like a playground. For the adults, there's a rose garden, which probably means Instagram-worthy pictures are likely aplenty.

 

Unfortunately, those were the only few photos I managed to grab before we were ushered back up on the tour bus.

 

 

 

 

Next stop, the Asahi Beer Factory. There are a few beer factories/distilleries that conduct tours, including Nikka and Suntory. It depends on what's available on the tour package or where and when you're headed if you're going on your own.

 

 

 

 

While at the Asahi Beer Factory, we were told that photos were not allowed in some parts. The tour itself was quite educational and brings you through the process of making those beers. In fact, it was then I learnt that hops was actually quite an important ingredient of the beer-making process! (And just a couple of weeks back, I read somewhere that there was a shortage in the hops harvests this year! Hopefully that doesn't affect the breweries!)

 

At the end of the tour, visitors will be treated to (up to) 3 glasses of Asahi beer. My dad had some and he found it pretty good, especially since he went for the best pour. However, as my mom (who's allergic) and I don't drink beer (I do take alcohol, just not beer), we were treated to their drink products. My mom opted for the apple juice which was quite sweet. For me, it was a no-brainer. I just asked for my all time favourite - a Calpis.

 

 



 

 

 

What fascinated me was that Asahi produces many other products, including one of my all time favourites - the Calpis series of drinks and candies! While I don't drink beer, whenever I am in Japan, I become a Calpis-aholic. Friends who travelled with me to Japan and my parents have since learnt to just buy me the Calpis drinks or the Japanese yogurt/yakult drinks whenever they are at the convenience stores.

 

There are even seasonal Calpis products that I always look out for whenever I head to Japan. I got the candy packet in the picture above at the Asahi Beer Factory itself. This was the hard candy version and had an additional cherry flavour as the seasonal flavour. While I couldn't find them on this particular Hokkaido trip, I actually prefer the Calpis gummies though. I usually buy the Calpis gummies whenever I hit the Daiso stores in Japan. Other things available at the Asahi Beer Factory include their beer jelly chocolate, beer cakes that come in pretty barrels, etc.

 

Well, if you ever head to Japan and happen to come across Calpis, just try one and let me know if you'll like it!

 

 

 

 

Dynasty Travels: 8D6N Colourful Hokkaido Tour, Day 7 (Part 1)

Today's post is going to be a pretty short one actually. For one, I'm tied up helping my friend prepare props for her upcoming bunny photo shoot. Yup, she has several rabbits and she gets professional studio shots done for them! How amazing is that! But before I digress, another reason is also because I've been busy doing my "homework" for another trip! Hurray (for me)!

So anyway, back to this Hokkaido series, thank goodness I'm finally on Day 7. I really hope (or maybe more like have to) finish this series before the next trip!

By the time we got to Day 7, the official itinerary given by Dynasty Travels is almost moot:

Central Wholesale Market --> Hokkaido Shrine (done on Day 6) + Maruyama Park (park next to Hokkaido Shrine which we completely skipped!) --> Odori Park (done of Day 6 which obviously did not register much on me) --> Asahi Beer Factory --> Tokeidai (that's the clock tower done on Day 6) --> Mitsui Factory Outlet.

See what I meant by moot?

Which means in reality, what we had left by Day 7  to cover:
Central Wholesale Market (札幌場外市場) --> Ishiya White Chocolate Factory --> Asahi Beer Factory --> Mitsui Factory Outlet.

Unfortunately, I think the itinerary is a little mis-leading. Where we actually visited (or where you would visit) was the Curb Market or Crab Market (depending on which website you read) that's next to the Central Wholesale Market. In reality, fresh produce is delivered daily to the Central Wholesale Market but then these are sold via bidding. Products are then made available at the Curb/Crab Market once the bidding ends, and that's what's open to the public. 

The Curb/Crab Market hence is really the 60+ shops that line the 2 sides of the street. What we found in abundance were vegetables (depending on what is in season) and seafood, especially crabs! No brain-er then why Crab market became a moniker.

Given that it's 60+ shops between 2 sides of a street, it's not that huge a place. So if you want to compare prices, it's not difficult to do so. 

However, I have to say this after experiencing Japan on several trips: the Japanese price their products according to quality. So in a way, you get what you pay for. They also take quite a lot of pride in the quality of their produce. Hence, I personally do not bother to do price comparisons and I'll just pay whatever they tell me. In fact, I've also had enough encounters where the stall owners would on their own accord, extend their hospitality in ways such as a drink or a freebie or even a recipe. Admittedly, less so in the more touristy places, but it still happened enough times for me to be mightily impressed.

Another interesting fact I came to learn, the best in Japan is oftentimes also not exported. While in the Curb/Crab market, it's actually a pretty common sight to see locals purchasing produce to be sent to someone else who might even be in another prefecture. However, they stop short of shipping their goods internationally. But that doesn't stop you from carrying them home in your own luggage! Of course, you have to check your own country's restrictions as to what can be brought in! I've seen people throw away food at customs just because they failed to do that. 

Another tip if you intend to bring produce home, put the Curb/Crab Market on the last/second last day of your trip if possible. You'll want to bring back the produce you bought as fresh as possible. Some items may not last the journey home if this was one of your initial stops on your vacation. 

So, on that note, let me just give you some tips as to what are the good stuff you can bring back with you. 

Disclaimer though, I traveled in July, so some produce might be seasonal.

If you like asparagus, you can get them easily at the Curb/Crab Market. I didn't bring them home this trip but the last time I did, they were seriously awesome. 

I didn't get a picture as I was too busy devouring samples, but melons are also great to bring home for the family, especially since Japan doesn't export the quality ones. You can let the stall owner know that you intend to carry them home on the aircraft, and he'll pack it up nicely for you. We brought 2 melons home with us (mostly for the brother who didn't come along this trip), and the melons survived the plane journey unscathed. 

However, please note that the melons can ripen very quickly, which was why I mentioned earlier, that you should time your visit to the market carefully. Let the stall owner know when your flight home is. He/she should then be able to help you pick the melons accordingly. The one where we purchased our melons from refused to sell his melons to some tourists who were flying home only a week later as the melons would have rotted by then. Instead, he cut them slices to eat, free of charge! 

Love that hospitality. Absolutely love it!

Another must-buy in my opinion: corn. My luggage was getting too heavy so we only bought a few ears but another family in my tour group bought an entire carton of them. Yup, you heard (read) me right. A carton of corn ears.

Get your hands on the albino ones (that's what I called those white ones). If you don't believe me, just get one first, eat them raw on the spot. Yes, you can and in fact should eat them raw. In my mother's and my opinions, they are absolutely wasted if cooked. The local tour guide Ms Reikko backed us up on that claim too. These albino corns are to-date, the sweetest corn I have ever tasted. It was so good that when we returned to Singapore, my mother just lamented about the lack of luggage weight. 

Don't just take my words for it, go try it yourself.

Like I said, crabs are plentiful here. Plus, they're huge-assed. Seriously plus-sized. Some were even bigger than both my hands put together. They'll probably taste super yummy (since I didn't have any, I can't say for sure), but I sure as hell wouldn't want to meet these monsters on the beach or in the sea ever. I'll just see them on the dinner table and that'll be great,

There are also restaurants in the market. So you can actually purchase your seafood and have them prepared by these restaurants. Some of these stalls were even slicing them crab legs up as sashimi. Yup, you can't get them any fresher than that!

Heh. And this picture is just so I can prove that there were other seafood available and not just crabs.

Jade versus Opus in an East versus West

By doing an East versus West cuisine comparison, it would seem like I am taking apples to compare them against oranges, or even bananas. However, read on, and you'll understand why I'm using the comparison as the theme of this post.

My food-loving friends and I have a regular (almost) weekly meet-up over good food. Indeed, our love for food is probably one of our strongest friendship glue. In fact, we had recently joked that our list of places to visit was just growing too long. Just a couple of weeks back, we managed to knock 2 off that list. We visited 2 hotel-restaurant establishments. First the Opus Bar and Grill at Hilton Hotel (yup, the one which had the foyer ceiling collapse) and a week later, Jade at Fullerton Hotel.

By the end of the meal at Jade, we all unanimously agreed that Opus was no longer on our foodie list, while Jade had been promoted to the "Let's come back again" list.

Let's start with Opus Bar and Grill, henceforth just simply typed as Opus. Yeah, much easier to type and reference. Anyway, we were there on a Thursday, and I thought we might be fortunate to avoid the crowds on a mid-week evening. Wishful thinking. While we were one of the earlier groups, as the evening/night wore on, the crowds got a hell lot nosier (no doubt helped along with alcohol).

Ordinarily, I wouldn't have minded the crowds that much if not for the poor service. Yeah. Surprising right. From a well-established hotel and restaurant, poor service?

As I mentioned earlier, we were one of the earliest groups who were seated. As some of us were shopping earlier, we were also laden with a lot of shopping bags. Well, lets just say the floor around us was littered with our shopping bags. My friend hence asked if there was a basket or an extra chair where we could place all our shopping bags. 5 minutes (ok, this is an estimate since we were all busy discussing menu options) passed, and no one got back to us. My friend hence asked a second waitress the same question, and added on that she did not get a reply from the first waitress. This time round, we finished ordering, were offered complimentary bread and all, and still no one got back to us. We tried a third waitress and only got a reply on the fourth attempt. Yup. You read that right. Fourth attempt. And you know what they said? The reply was that if we were to add an extra chair, it would take up space.

I guess what they were trying to say was that we might feel uncomfortable or cramped if an extra chair was to be added. I could be mean and add that yes, we were aware that a chair took up space. I didn't think their chairs came from Hogwarts and had magical properties that made them float or take up no space. But honestly, the poor reply was not what irked us. It was that we had to ask FOUR times just for someone to reply us. I don't think I'm unreasonable when I think that it wasn't acceptable.

That left a pretty bad taste, and we just didn't feel comfortable with the service. It was difficult to get their attention even though a couple would keep walking around. Their only saving grace was the sweet girl working alone at the deli when we went to grab some cakes. She was attentive, gave very helpful advice, and even asked us to return to our seats in the restaurant while she packed up our orders and delivered it to us in the restaurant. All alone and serving 4 customers (ok, granted there were 2 of us, but the other 2 were strangers!) equally and with a smile!

In comparison, we had pretty decent service while at Jade in Fullerton Hotel. Nothing spectacular to shout about. It was the usual "polite, prompt and I'll keep refilling your teacups whenever it's half empty but otherwise, I'll leave you pretty much alone" kind of service standard. However, when put into context (and in comparison), I'll think that it could be considered pretty good. While we were there, Jade happened to be hosting several tables of delegates and a private room of (whom I assumed, since there was a camera dude) were VIP guests. 

Plus, when I asked a question to clarify on my pre-ordered Peking duck, while the waitress was not able to provide a confirmation, she immediately went to get her manager (who was in that private room) to answer us. At least we weren't made to feel like shabby customers.

Food wise, it was also a disappointment for me and my friends at Opus. 

We first started with their complimentary onion and cheese bread with butter at the side. Now, despite the earlier statement, I'll have to say that this was one of the best cheese and onion bread I've had. Fragrant and soft, plus the butter went very well with the bread. 

I had also ordered the foie gras for appetizer. This was the only other dish that I enjoyed really. Well-cooked and tasty. The passion fruit and foie gras also went very well with the side toast.

With these first 2 dishes, I guess I was being set up for a huge subsequent disappointment.

Some of my friends and I added the seafood bisque to our set dinner. One of my friend enjoyed the raw seafood taste to the broth. However, the texture of the seafood foam and that raw taste was too much for me. I guess this was one of those dishes where you'd either love or hate it, no in-between.

My main disappointment though came from the meat I ordered. In fact, we all ordered. Honestly, that was the main highlight for me, and hence the biggest disappointment. I'm not even going to bother describing which cut of meat I ordered, not when half of my table had our meat over-cooked. Which was honestly surprising for me.

We had also ordered some side sides, including aparagus, mac and cheese plus some fries. Tired and flat - descriptors that keep popping up in my mind when I think back to them. Honestly, it was as if they had a harder day at work than I did. 

By the time it came to desserts, I just couldn't bother anymore. While I refrained though, my friends were glad to report that it was at least the saving grace to the lackluster meal. Hilton is rather famed for their cheesecakes afterall. By the time I dug into them (I bought some home) the next morning, I was regretting not ending the dinner with them and not getting more.

Still, got to watch the waist a little.

On the other hand, Jade impressed with their consistency in the yum factor. Since it was an ala-carte buffet (plus we really ordered a lot), I'm just going to highlight some of our favourites and put up some pictures. 

I have no idea what happened to the pictures in my phone, so these were all off my friend instead.

Fried tofu with salt and pepper. This was a huge hit with us. We ordered 2 bowls and were fighting for the last piece.

Salted egg yolk prawns. Nowadays, everything seems to have a salted egg yolk version. This was decent.

Siew bak aka roasted/cripsy pork belly. Another hit.

Peking Duck. The main reason why we headed to Jade. We wouldn't mind a return trip either.

I wasn't too impressed with their soups, but considering that this was buffet style, ok lah. 

Other stuff that landed on our table: Sweet and sour pork with a strawberry twist,

Beef done 2 styles; in black pepper plus the ginger and spring onion pairing.

Siew mai (pork dumplings) which was pretty normal. The har gao (prawn crystal dumplings) was sold out, so now I really want them.

And the host of desserts that we ordered. 

Finally, my last comparison and the one that really sealed the nail shut on Opus' coffin - price.

Now, (and not to sound like I'm bragging because that's really not the intent) my friends and I don't mind paying for food, especially when it's good food. Well, of course we do have our limits on budget, but in general we don't mind forking out a bit of good money for a good meal.

However, when we compared Opus and Jade, we could not help but feel like Jade was the better deal, and not because it was a buffet. Instead, it was because we felt that Opus wasn't worth the money we paid.

At Opus, each of us shelled out almost a hundred each.

Jade - the Peking duck was at a promo price of $48 (which was divided by the 6 of us) and price per pax for the buffet was $58 +++

In the end, we agreed that we would rather fork out the sum for steak at Lawry's or even Morton's. At least, we would not be disappointed by the steaks.

And at least, we now know that Jade's pretty decent for a Chinese ala carte buffet.