Hokkaido II Day 1: Chitose Station Hotel

When we're booking our tickets in Jan this year, Singapore Airlines was more expensive than ANA by $200 per ticket on average. Hence, we booked ANA (Krisflyer miles!) at $1267 per adult and $1053 per child aged 2-11 years old (inclusive of free seat selection). These were the most expensive plane tickets we had ever bought so far! 😖 But for Hokkaido's winter season, it was definitely worth it! 🩷🤩😍

We could hardly sleep before our most anticipated trip of the year! Our flight was at dawn so we had to wake up by 3am and arrive at the airport by 4am! 😴💤

No one complained of course! We piled into the Maxi Cab the Hubby had booked for $70 and headed to Changi Airport Terminal 2.

Sanrio-themed Christmas decorations at Changi Airport!

Our airport is really a destination in itself! So pretty!

After checking in and depositing our luggage at ANA, we had breakfast at the 24-hour food court at T2 Transit. We also allowed the kids to play at the playground before we head to the boarding gate.

Cute little playground that the Boy will soon outgrow!

Boarding process was smooth and our flight departed Singapore on time at 6.40am.

Littlest enjoying the kids' entertainment while having her breakfast

Loved the kids meal and wished for the umpteen time that adults were allowed to order it!

My boring non-kids meal in comparison

As usual, I had to entertain the Littlest on this flight as it was daytime. There were few movies that the Littlest liked and before long, she was bored! 😮‍💨 Thank God that the flight was only 6 hours 10 minutes, much shorter than expected! We arrived at Tokyo Narita International Airport (Terminal 1) at 2.15pm (Japan time, Japan is 1 hour ahead of Singapore)!

Welcome to Japan!

We had about 3 hours to transfer to the domestic terminal. Just like what I'd experienced in the USA, we had to clear immigration, collect our luggage and deposit them at the domestic counters before clearing security check again at the domestic terminal. Despite all that, we still had more than 2 hours to kill at the waiting area! 😅

The waiting area in the domestic terminal was really small so the 2 hours felt like a really long time! We bought some food from the cafe for lunch. I wanted to buy more snacks but we were only interested in Tokyo Banana.

Waiting area at the domestic terminal

Takoyaki and ramen for lunch

The kids played at a tiny play area to pass time. We were all relieved when the staff finally started the boarding process for our flight to Sapporo!

We had to take a bus to our plane!

Our plane departed at 5.45pm and the flight was just 1.5 hours. We arrived at New Chitose International Airport, Sapporo at 7.20pm! Yay! 🥳

Welcome to Hokkaido!

We collected our luggage and headed to the New Chitose Airport Station to take the JR Express train to our first accommodation of our trip. We bought one-way tickets to Chitose Station (just 2 stops away) at ¥270 per adult and ¥130 per child (FREE for children below 6).

New Chitose Airport JR Station

I've become very familiar with using these machines (6th visit to Japan you see 🤭) and bought our tickets very easily! 😁 The train was very comfortable!

After alighting at Chitose Station, we walked via the link bridge to Chitose Station Hotel, conveniently located just beside the station.

There were clear signs that guided us from the station to the hotel's lobby

The lobby was very beautifully decorated! There was also complimentary drinks for guests! 😊

Checking in at the front desk of the lobby

Getting our drinks from the drinks dispenser. The hot chocolate was a hit with the kids!

We booked the Family Room at ¥19,890 (S$195) per room per night (FREE for children below 6). The room accommodates 4 adults and includes breakfast (more details in the next post).

The family room was tiny but it managed to pack 2 queen beds and 1 bunk bed!
(The queen beds were ok, but the bunk beds were uncomfortable)

The room had a sofa and desk

Small but well-equipped bathroom with a bathtub!

Toilet and sink area

Adequate toiletries, including a set for kids!

The Hubby and Eldest went to the nearby convenience store to buy our dinner while I washed up the 2 younger kids. Dinner was simple but we enjoyed the ramen and bento sets that they bought! 😁