Japan 2016 Day 11: Spectacular Hakodate

Adding the Hokkaido travel posts to my 18 Days Graduation Trip to Japan category - Day 11/18!

Day 11 - 30 May 2016, Monday

Overall itinerary of our eleventh day

0600 - 0612 : APA Hotel Higashi-Nihonbashi-Ekimae, Tokyo >> Bakurocho Station >> Tokyo Station

0632 - 1125 : Tokyo Station (Shinkansen Hayabusa 1) >> Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (新函館北斗着) (Hakodate Liner for Hakodate) >> Hakodate Station

1130 - 1230 : Leave luggages at Hotel Kikuya, Hakodate

1230 - 1300 : Hakodate-eki-mae tram stop (函館駅前) >> Goryokaku-koen-mae tram stop (五稜郭公園前)

1300 - 1430 : Fort Goryokaku (五稜郭, Goryōkaku)

1430 - 1530 : Lunch at Lucky Pierrot (ラッキーピエロ)

1530 - 1730 : Goryokaku-koen-mae tram stop (五稜郭公園前) >> Jujigae Tram Stop (十字街) >> Red Brick Warehouses (金森赤レンガ倉庫)

1730 - 1800 : Red Brick Warehouses (金森赤レンガ倉庫) (walk past Motomachi & Jujigae) >> Mount Hakodate Ropeway Station

1800 - 1930 : Jujigae Tram Stop (十字街) >> Hakodate-eki-mae tram stop (函館駅前) >> Dinner at Daimon Yokocho Hakodate Hikari no Yatai

1930 onwards : Walk back to Hotel Kikuya, Hakodate & rest

Day 11 was one of our longest & earliest days. Waking up at around 4 plus, 5am to catch the 4.5hours Shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Hakodate, we were full with excitement at the thought of exploring the Hokkaido region.

Also, I felt it was going to be a special Shinkansen ride since the relatively new Shinkansen ride only came into service on 6 March 2016. The new connection between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto stations made travelling so much easier and you can travel on this Shinkansen with the 7 Days JR Pass as well, isn't that super worth it (without JR pass, the single trip itself costs 22,690yen which is roughly S$283)? For more information on how much you can actually save with the 7 Days JR Pass, you can read up here on one of my earlier posts on it!

We reached Tokyo Station pretty early and had some time before the ride arrived at the platform. While hanging out around the platform, we saw a shop selling bento and that was how I spotted this cute Shinkansen bento box which is a replica of the Shinkansen which we were going to take. Later on in Hakodate, we found many stores selling souvenirs with this Shinkansen design - probably to celebrate this new line.

Hey, look - aren't they alike? I kept the box after that. ;)

Upon boarding the Shinkansen, I had my first meal (yea, something like pre-breakfast appetiser. When you are overseas on holidays, calories don't count, okay.) - 1 Dorayaki which I bought the previous day from Daimaru and my favourite soy drink, ice-cream flavoured. The Dorayaki was amazing. To be honest, anything with red bean in Japan is amazing. It is just so real and they do not 'discount' the amount of red bean in your pastry and give you some artificial flavouring. As for the drink, I think I still prefer the Strawberry flavoured one.

I spent part of the 4.5hours ride looking out the window and just seeing endless plots of green, farming lands, river, lakes and blue skies. It was good time spent doing nothing and just enjoying the sceneries which you do not see much in Singapore.

Midway through the ride, I had my (main) breakfast, aka my Shinkansen bento. I was not sure what was exactly in it but it looked like there was a variety of items in it and it was not bad. My friend had a bento with tomato rice and fried chicken.

At Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (新函館北斗着), we had to take the Hakodate Liner for Hakodate to get to Hakodate Station. Everyone on board had some form of luggage with them, locals with the smaller ones and some with suitcases. At Hakodate Station, we bought the 1-Day tram pass for 600yen each at the Tourist Information Center. To use it, simply scratch the date and you can refer to the back for the route.

We then headed to check in at Hotel Kikuya, Hakodate where we stayed for 1 night before going to Sapporo. The amenities in the hotel were a little old and out of the way. Google Maps saved us from getting lost. On the other hand, the owner was friendly and he let us checked in earlier (yay!).

Our first stop in Hakodate was Fort Goryokaku (五稜郭, Goryōkaku). We boarded the tram at Hakodate-eki-mae tram stop (函館駅前) and alighted at Goryokaku-koen-mae tram stop (五稜郭公園前) before taking a 10-15 minutes walk to our destination. The tram line reminded me of the city tram in Melbourne just that it was slightly shorter, I think.

The fee for entering Goryokaku Tower is 840yen. There were not many people when we visited, probably because it was a weekday. Funny thing was, the staff there kept looking at my legs because I was the only person not wearing long pants or leggings and it was a pretty cold day (I did put some legging on after leaving Fort Goryokaku since it was getting colder and the wind was strong).

Up at the tower, you get to enjoy the full view of Fort Goryokaku, a star shaped park with cherry blossom trees. If you have time, you should pay a visit to Fort Goryokaku on the ground level to take some photos with the cherry blossom trees too.

On the other side of the tower, you can see the more urbanised side of Hakodate with all the buildings.

We had some desserts while enjoying the view. Guess what? We got to try Sakura ice-cream too. Hmm, it tasted sweet and there was just a (really, really) slight hint of flowery taste in it. It is a pretty dessert anyway.

1 ice-cream is never enough when you are in Japan, so we went ahead and had another cup of ice-cream at Milkissimo. I can't remember what flavour we had... but it was nice having something cold when it is cold, make sense?

Next stop, it was time for lunch. I realized, I totally sound like a glutton for having so many meals a day. However, Lucky Pierrot (ラッキーピエロ) is known for their Chinese Chicken Hamburger （チャイニーズチキンバーガー) which I would not give it a miss. I ordered a cup of cheese fries (!) to go along with it as well. Let's just say if you ever travel to Hakodate, it is a must visit! The burger was quite big and the chunky piece of chicken was well marinated. Every bite was juicy, you won't regret ordering this.

One thing that you might be interested in knowing about Lucky Pierrot is that each of their brand are uniquely designed according to a theme. The one which we visited seems like it is angels-themed with images of angels everywhere. If we had spent more days here, I would have visit the other branches as well and try out the other items on their menus.

Following lunch, we took the tram to Red Brick Warehouses (金森赤レンガ倉庫) which is located near the Hakodate Port. These brick warehouses used to be buildings people used to trading in the past and now, they have been transformed into places for shopping and dining. The brick warehouses are also great spots to take insta-worthy photos!

Entering one of the brick warehouses, we were offered samples of cheesecake at Petite Merveille (プティ・メルヴィーユ). Gee, cheesecakes are one of the best inventions in the world. Petite Merveille boasts unique flavours of cheesecakes such as the pumpkin flavoured one. We ended up getting this Pumpkin dessert with vanilla seeds in it for 500yen and 2 cheesecakes at 160yen each.

We could not read Japanese, but this pumpkin dessert is really smooth and creamy, and the pumpkin flavour is there. It was just the right amount of sweetness as well, so if you do not have a sweet tooth, this is still perfect for you.

As for the cheesecakes, I love them. Probably more than the other pumpkin dessert we had. Once again, they do not taste like they are loaded with sugar which is usually the case with cheesecakes. If you only had space for 1 dessert, go for the pumpkin cheesecake!

We spent a bit of time at the warehouses and only left as we had to make our way to Mount Hakodate. Outside the warehouses, you could see Hakodate Port filled with boats. It makes a beautiful scenery and it would have been nice to sit there if the temperature was higher.

Instead of taking the tram, we decided to walk to Mount Hakodate which would bring us pass Motomachi & Jujigae. The area is known for Hakodate Public Hall, Old British Consulate, Russian Orthodox Church amongst other attractions. You would have to pay a small fee to enter each building. We gave them a miss, seeing that most of them were already closing and we were short on time. The streets more than made up for it, with all the pretty flowers lining up every single street.

Going to Mount Hakodate was a failed mission though. Honestly, the weather was not the best on that day. It was foggy, so much so that the staff placed this sign at the ropeway station: The view is invisible now. Going up there would be a waste of money. We shall see if I ever get to visit this place again and hopefully, the view would be visible then.

Mood ruined by the failed trip, my travel buddy literally dragged me to dinner at Daimon Yokocho Hakodate Hikari no Yatai. This place has a handful of restaurants and we picked one without crowds. What we really wanted to try with this black squid ink gyoza (430yen). They looked interesting and they tasted like... gyoza? Like I thought they would taste weird but they don't. Basically, each gyoza is made of squid and cabbage, with skin kneaded with squid ink. It was a nice surprise and Japanese gyoza are always nice so in short, I enjoyed them. We also ordered Yakisoba at 630yen, we found it too oily though.