Wednesday, 11 December 2024

Hokkaido II Day 7: Dormy Inn Otaru, Sankaku Market & Otaru Canal

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We woke up this morning to trees completely covered in snow due to the blizzard overnight! It was still snowing very heavily when we went for breakfast at AYA Kitchen.

Good morning from Niseko!
My breakfast that morning 😋

We enjoyed our stay at AYA Niseko and were sad to leave!

After checking out of our hotel at 10am, we waited at the lobby near the front entrance for the complimentary shuttle service I had booked via email (at least 5 days in advance) once we knew we couldn't rent a car. There was still time so the kids played in the snow while waiting.

Got a staff to help us to take this lovely family photo;
The Littlest said she was looking at her ice-cream because she was fascinated by the snow landing on it. She still talks about this moment in Niseko to this day! 😅
The Boy was so bored that he helped the staff shovel some of the snow out of the driveway
Finally, our very young Australian driver had arrived to drive us to the station

Our Australian driver shared that he was working part-time in Niseko so that he could enjoy snowboarding on his days-off. There were many people doing exactly the same in Niseko! So fun to be young and carefree! 😆

We arrived at Kutchan Station and waited to board the local train to Otaru. We had already bought our train tickets at Toya Station 2 days before. Our train departed on time at 11.50pm and the journey took about 1 hour.

Departing Kutchan Station
Beautiful scenery along the way! 😍

We arrived at Otaru Station at around 1pm. It was still snowing heavily but thankfully Dormy Inn Premium Otaru was located just opposite the station!

Arrival at Otaru Station
Dormy Inn Premium Otaru Natural Hot Spring Hotel
Don Quijote and supermarket located conveniently opposite Dormy Inn

Ever since our last visit to Otaru in 2012, we've always wanted to return and stay so that we'd have more time to explore the area. I was so happy to be back! 🥰

It was not yet time to check in, hence we left our luggage at the concierge and walked for about 3 minutes to Sankaku Market just down the street for lunch.

Sankaku Market
Many seafood shops!

We walked pass a shop with a big tank of king crabs and the Hubby chose a lucky one for our meal! The roughly 1.6 kg king crab cost ¥28,000 😱, which was way more expensive than the king crab we ate at Noryangjin Fisheries Market in Seoul. After choosing our crab, we were brought to a nearby restaurant to enjoy our meal.

Super huge king crabs!
We chose the seafood from the shop (pictured left) and ate in the restaurant nearby (pictured right)
The staff spoke very little English so they prepared photos for guests to indicate what they wanted
The kids loved the king crab!

Besides the king crab, we also ordered a salmon sashimi don, ikura don and grilled squid. It was a very satisfying meal!

By the time we left the restaurant, we were met with another snow storm! ⛄🌨 

It's snowing again in Otaru!

It was time to head back to the hotel and check out our room. We had booked 2 Double Non-smoking Rooms at ¥31,825 (S$297.50) per room per night (accommodates 2 adults per room).

Tiny room with a double bed
Not much of a view as we chose the cheapest room
Tiny wardrobe and sink area
Simple toiletries (left) and TV console (right)
Toilet with no bathtub
(Not an issue for us since we bathe at the public onsen)
Complimentary kids gift
Complimentary yuzu cake in the room (left);
Water dispenser and vending machine at the lift landing (right)

We headed out to explore Otaru and walked for about 8 minutes to the famous Otaru Canal.

The streets of Otaru were covered with snow!
The Littlest made snow Kuromi every chance she got!
What a beautiful LeTAO outlet!
Finally back at the beautiful Otaru canal! Looked so lovely covered in snow!
Super happy kids!
Family selfie
Temperature was -1.6°C 

We headed in to the famous Sakaimachi Shopping Street, which we had enjoyed tremendously during our last visit in 2012! It was a priority for us to visit again so that we could spend more time shopping here!

Sakaimachi shopping street
We checked out many speciality shops, including Snoopy Village and Miffy
(Fair warning: some products we bought were cheaper in Don Quijote)
Buying melons at a fruit stall

The kids loved the street too! It had something for everyone! 😍

The streets were extremely icy and slippery and we had a hard time walking! After slipping many times and almost falling, we decided we needed a break and stopped at another LeTAO outlet to rest!

LeTAO Pathos
The Earl Grey Milk Tea was magnificent!
We bought two cakes for our breakfast! 😋

We didn't have enough time to visit the Otaru Music Box Museum and the Kitachi Glass shop. We had to return the next day instead (see next post).

The journey back to our hotel was brutal as the strong winds blew snow onto our faces as we walked! We were so relieved when we finally arrived at Don Quijote just opposite of our hotel. 

The ever familiar Donki!

We did quite a bit of shopping before heading back to our hotel. We were super excited to get our cold bodies into the warmth of the onsen! Such a luxury!

Off to the onsen!

All Dormy Inns provide complimentary use of their washing machines so we brought our laundry to wash while we had our baths.

We headed to the restaurant at 9.45pm to have complimentary ramen provided by Dormy Inn. The Boy and Littlest loved the noodles so much that they each ate 2.5 bowls! 😱

Yummy complimentary ramen

We ended our day with cheese cake from LeTAO! Super yummy! 😋

Chocolate Double and Noel Pistachio 

It would be a cold night ahead as we went to bed! ❆

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P.S: Read about our experiences in Dormy Inns all over Japan:

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Continue to >> Hokkaido II Day 8: Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery & Otaru Music Box Museum
<< Back to Hokkaido II Day 6: Hanazono Tube Park & Kobetei Niseko

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Hokkaido, Japan 
as well as other travel itineraries!


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