Japan 2016 Day 14: Refreshing & Flower Viewing at Kutchan, Niseko

Next on the series of 18 Days Graduation Trip to Japan posts - Day 14/18 where we went on a day trip to Niseko region to have a taste of Japan's No. 1 Spring Water as featured on Japan's list of 100 remarkable water & to enjoy a free viewing of Pink Mosses at Kutchan. Read on to find out why you should include Kutchan in your Sapporo's itinerary!

Day 14 - 2 June 2016, Thursday

Overall itinerary of our fourteen day

0715 - 0919 : Best Western Hotel Fino Sapporo, Sapporo >> Otaru (小樽) >> Kutchan (倶知安駅)

1026 - 1054 : Take Donan bus to Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園)'s nearest bus stop

1054 - 1130 : Walk to Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園)

1130 - 1330 : Explore the park & drink from the Home of Famous Mineral Water (名水の郷きょうごく)

1417 - 1445 : Take Donan bus back to Kutchan Station

1445 - 1530 : Tea time at Kutchan: Sweet Shop FUJII

1530 - 1630 : Flower viewing at Mishima Private Garden

1645 - 1848 : Kutchan (倶知安駅) >> Otaru (小樽) >> Sapporo

1848 - 1945 : Sapporo >> Susukino Station >> Dinner at Jingisukan Daruma (ジンギスカンだるま)

1945 - 2100 : Shop at Sapporo Esta

2100 onwards : Travel back to Best Western Hotel Fino Sapporo, Sapporo & rest

On the morning of our fourteen day, we woke up to a cold and rainy Sapporo at 9 degree celsius. As we spent 2 hours on the JR train to Kutchan, we used it as an opportunity to catch some much needed sleep.

To get to Kutchan from Sapporo, you got to make a train transfer at Sapporo. Technically, you have to tap out at Otaru station to purchase a separate train ticket to Kutchan but the train to Kutchan was going to depart when we reached Otaru station, so we just hopped on and paid when we got to Kutchan.

We arrived at Kutchan much earlier than the departure time of the Donan bus which would bring us to Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園). The bus stop is located outside of the station. When you exit the station, turn to your right and you will see a tiny building which is the bus waiting room. If you are unsure or would like to double check which bus to take, you could approach the bus office and get a printed bus timetable from them. They helped us to circle the stop for us to get off at.

At the scheduled time, hop onto the Donan bus heading towards Date Monbetsu (伊達駅前)/ Kimobetsu (喜茂別)/ Misono (御園)/ Yamato (大和) and then alight at Kyogoku Bus Terminal 「京極バスターミナル」stop. For us, we were pretty much lost when we alighted because we have no idea how to walk to Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園) from there and our portable wifi is not receiving much connection either. Seeing a mini supermarket called Food Market nearby, we crossed the road and approached one of the staff there to ask for directions. Of course, as you can imagine, we had to point at the japanese words in our printed itinerary and figuratively asked them "how to go there?" since we do not know Japanese. It worked anyway and the lady was all friendly and smiley.

Once we figured out the the general directions to walk, we started a 20 minutes walk (about 1.4km) to Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園). Basically, we were just told to walk straight lol. Along the way, we spotted road signs pointing to Meisui No Sato Kyogoku (名水の郷きょうごく). We only recognised the 2 words "名水" and figured that must be it. Do take this time to enjoy the greeneries around you while you walk there, it just gives me a sense of peacefulness and calmness. Like when life kind of slows down and you do not have any worries kind of feeling, if you get what I mean.

Upon reaching Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園), we followed more sign boards to the source of Meisui No Sato Kyogoku (名水の郷きょうごく). You might be wondering why did we spend so much time and effort to come to this 'ulu' place to drink water? Although the journey is long, you might want to experience how Japan's No. 1 Spring Water tastes like out of the many water sources available in Japan. If you are not visiting Sapporo and would still like to get a taste of Japan's natural spring water, you can check out this list and visit one which is nearer to you. The Japanese Ministry of Environment shortlisted these 100 remarkable waters based on water quality, preservation of surrounding environment and also the history, uniqueness, and local people's effort to protect the sources.

The water source of Meisui No Sato Kyogoku (名水の郷きょうごく) is actually Mt. Yotei (羊蹄山), also known as "Ezo-Fuji" or Mt. Fuji of Hokkaido. Melt snow and fallen rain around Mt. Yotei are filtered are filtered through underground layers for nearly 70 years before flowing to the foot of the mountain. You can then collect a bottle of the cold spring water (apparently, the water is naturally kept at 10 degree celsius all year round) at Niseko-Kyogoku Fukidashi Park (ふきだし公園).

At my first mouthful of Yotei Mountain's spout water, I have to say the water is really smooth and it flows down my throat really well. It is difficult to put it into words, how do you describe the soft and smooth feeling of drinking water? As we were taking photos of ourselves collecting and drinking the water (like advertisement? hire us please if you want to advertise water), we noticed several Japanese collecting big bottles of the water. I am not sure if they were going to drink them all themselves or bringing them to sell. Either way, I was thinking of bringing back a bottle of this water back to Singapore but it was not very practical to check in water in my luggage.

If you have some extra time to spare, you could spend some time walking around the park to the Kyogoku Onsen (京極温泉), Three-you-park Park Golf Course (スリー・ユー・パークパークゴルフ場) or Meisui Plaza where you could purchase bottles of the spring water and souvenirs too.

To catch our Donan bus to return back to Kutchan Station in time, we left quickly after that and I bought a fried mini prawns cake to eat while waiting for the bus. If you could, do stay awake on the bus ride and have a look out of the bus windows at Mt. Yotei (羊蹄山), an inactive volcano I believe since its last eruption was about 6,000 years ago. It does look similar to Mt. Fuji, that is why it is called the Mt. Fuji of Hokkaido. We sat on the left side of the bus and managed to catch several glimpses of it!

We then had a short tea break at Kutchan: Sweet Shop FUJII. It is a desserts shop that is located close to Kutchan station, about a minute walk away. We bought a cream puff at 180yen to share and I also got myself 2 chocolate biscuits to munch on when we returned to Sapporo later.

Another snack which I recommend you to try would be their Chestnut & Red Bean Dorayaki (I ate this on Day 15). Take a look here at what else they have other than cream puffs!

Next stop, onwards to Mishima Private Garden! We passed by functioning train tracks as we walked there and saw barriers coming down to prevent people from walking onto the tracks when trains were approaching, super cool stuff!

At Mishima Private Garden, you will see huge patches of white and pink mosses planted by the retiree, Mishima San for FREE! Yes, you saw that right! Instead of paying 600yen and squeezing with the crowd to take photos at the Fuji Shibazakura Festival (富士芝桜まつり, Fuji Shibazakura Matsuri), you can visit Mishima Private Garden and take all the photographs you want minus the crowd! For more information on access to the garden, you can visit the site here.

The pink mosses were really beautiful and I love the different shades of pink. What's more, you can see Mt. Yotei from here as well. It would be nice to spend the whole afternoon here just lazing around and admiring these tiny mosses.

Before nightfall comes, we left the picturesque garden and returned to Sapporo on the 2 hours train ride. Here are the chocolate biscuits I got from Kutchan: Sweet Shop FUJII. Tasty!

From Sapporo station, we walked from the JR station to the subway station and took the Sapporo City Subway to Susukino Station. Take a short walk, and you would arrive at Jingisukan Daruma (ジンギスカンだるま) famous for their Genghis Khan - non-marinated slices of mutton, charcoal-grilled on a specially ordered split pan skillet!

We ordered a set of the 1,080yen meat and watched them grill the mutton slices on the skillet. You know how mutton meat usually has that mutton taste which is not really pleasant? Somehow, these slices did not taste like mutton because I always associate mutton with that unpleasant taste. It is like good tasting meat which I do not mind putting more slices of them into my mouth except that it is still expensive for that few slices of meat. It is worth it though!

If you are worried that your clothes might stink after eating here, you could place your bags and outer coats in the closets they provide at the back of the restaurant.

Finally, we finished Day 14 with a visit to Sapporo Esta to look for the Anello bags which are so popular back then. I ended up buying the navy blue one, nice colour right? :)

We spotted a cheese tart shop with quite a queue so we decided to try the cheese tart from Kinotoya Bake. Verdict: It tasted good, the consistency of the cheese in the tart is similar to BAKE at Ion Orchard. What makes Kinotoya Bake better is... their cheese soft serve <insert emoji with heart eyes here!!)!