Hokkaido 2013 13-20 Dec (Day 5)

Our guide and driver came to pick us up about 9am to head towards Otaru. The journey from Rusutsu to Otaru takes approximately 2.5 hours. The journey went through winding roads and was very picturesque. Saw a snow capped mountain that is known endearingly as the Mt Fuji of Hokkaido.

Mt Fuji of Hokkaido

As it was a long journey, we stopped at a convenience store for a toilet break and also for the driver to take a short rest. One thing to note was that although the distance wasn't long, the driver was driving slowly and carefully on the snow/ice covered road. So for safety reasons, the guide requested for a rest break for the driver. 

View from the convenience store

Being typical Singaporeans, we took the opportunity to do some "shopping" in the convenience store. Rested for about 15 minutes and continued on our trip to Otaru.

It was nearly lunch time when we reached Otaru, but we decided to take a quick tour of the beautiful town first. First stop, we visited a confectionery. They had really good biscuits and cakes. Highly recommended for visitors to come for a taste test before buying.

The confectionery

Streets of Otaru

Walking towards the music box factory across the road

Inside the music box factory

After walking round Otaru, we went for a late lunch of seafood. Something that we've been waiting for, especially crabs. We went to a restaurant frequented by the locals facing the sea about 15 minutes away from the town. Below are pictures of all the dishes that we ordered for 4 adults and 2 children.

Crab

Prawns

Sashimi of (clockwise from top left corner) octopus, sweet prawn, unknown fish, salmon, clam and scallop

BBQ fish

BBQ squid

Another BBQ fish

BBQ shellfish

Cuttlefish sashimi

Clean up everything on the table

The seafood restaurant

Lunch was soooo good. So fresh. My favourites were the raw scallops and crab, which were so sweet. After lunch, we continued on our journey to the world famous chocolate biscuit factory of Hokkaido, Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人)

The facade of the factory

Outside the factory

 I felt like a child visiting Willy Wonker's chocolate factory. The grounds were decorated with beautiful lights, sculptures, plants and sculptures and they even had a clock show. 

After some time taking pictures at the grounds, we proceeded into the building for the factory tour.

Ticketing counter for the factory tour

Exhibition rooms

Factory floor producing the famous chocolate biscuits

Factory floor

Cafe/Restaurant with a beautiful view

After finishing the tour, we continued walking around the grounds of the factory and continued taking more pictures. 

The grounds of the factory

By then, the sky was starting to turn dark and we decided to continue on to our hotel, JR Tower Nikko Hotel Sapporo.

Hotel Lobby

The bedroom was a decent size and had a beautiful view of the city. Everything was up to expectation and this hotel had a different feel from the other 2 hotels. While the other 2 had a more homely, family feel, this one has a business feel.

The bedroom

The night view from the bedroom

The hotel is located above the central train station and is super convenient. It has 3 shopping blocks that we were unable to cover fully in the 2 days that we were staying there. 

After checking-in and settling down, the guide brought us through the malls and we settled to have dinner at a sushi conveyor belt restaurant.

After dinner, we walked around the malls for awhile and went back to the room for an early night.

BiosLife Slim

Yesterday, I shared a Facebook post of my friend, Shermaine Tan, on my own Facebook page on the progress of her mum's health progress. Her diabetic condition has improved just like the thousands of people worldwide taking this product. 

Even my family and myself have shown improvements in terms of weight and health after taking this for a year. People ask me, any side effects from taking this? I tell them with a loud and resounding YES, YES, YES !!!

What are the side effects?

1) You look slimmer and better

2) Your diabetic condition will improve

3) Your bad cholesterol will decrease and improve your good cholesterol

4) Your blood pressure will be normalised

5) Lower your triglyceride levels

6) Reduce snacking urges

7) Regulate your blood sugar and insulin levels

With so many "side effects" don't you want to try it for your own sake? It is listed in the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR), somewhat like a doctor's medical "Bible". 

http://www.pdr.net/full-prescribing-information/unicity-balance?druglabelid=584

People take medications for their cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetic conditions knowing full well that there are risks and side effects to their health. But when asked to try BiosLife Slim, considered as food grade and yet able to help improve their health condition WITHOUT side effects, they umm and hmm.

Please see below for a short writeup on the product and take your first step to better health.

Unicity Balance™ 
Unicity Balance™ (also known as Bios Life® Slim or Bios Life® S) is a clinically proven dietary supplement formulated to help your body burn fat and support healthy cholesterol levels. Derived from natural ingredients, the proprietary blend in Bios Life Slim is a safe and simple way to encourage weight loss, increase energy, and better control your blood chemistry. 

Part of a complete approach to health from the inside out, taking Bios Life Slim twice per day helps control the rate your body absorbs the food you eat. Instead of experiencing an energy rush just after eating, the proprietary fiber blend in Bios Life Slim helps spread that energy across several hours - eliminating the need to snack between meals.

A diet is something you do to your body; Bios Life Slim is something you do with your body. It doesn't just assist with weight loss; it helps reduce your appetite and decrease leptin resistance, in addition to helping you maintain healthy triglyceride and cholesterol levels.

Many people start seeing results within six weeks, and some start experiencing benefits even sooner. So take Bios Life Slim today and be on your way to improved health.

Unicity Balance™ is a fiber-based, vitamin-rich nutritional supplement. Unicity Balance™ contains a blend of soluble and insoluble fibers, Unicity® 7× technology, phytosterols, policosanol, an extract of Chrysanthemum morifolium, vitamins, and minerals that when combined with a healthy diet and exercise may lower total serum cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease, and help achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.

CNY musing

The festivities for CNY has come and gone. Back to work. But the happenings of pre- and post- CNY got me thinking a few things.

1) Was cleaning the washing machine during spring cleaning and accidentally dislodged the extension hose that was connected to the outlet hose. Of course water with some scum flowed out and wet the floor. I took a look into the hoses and saw that there were black scum stuck on the inner walls. That got me thinking. The washing machine and extension hose was bought just about a year back and its already dirty inside. Water has been running through the hose all these while, yet the scum was able to accumulate. What more our insides, our colon, our digestive system? Why is it so difficult to believe that there would be muck and gunk accumulated on the inside walls of our colon and digestive system after 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, etc years of our lives?

2) We feast during the festive period. We do NOT hesitate to stuff ourselves with food that have been proven scientifically to be detrimental to our health, well being and body and WITHOUT questioning the possible future side effects. Yet, when people ask me what I do, I tell them that I'm involved in the Happy Life Project, helping people to get their wealth, time and health back through Unicity's patented and scientifically proven products, they ask me what are the side effects of the products. Hmm... funny isn't it? People do not question how their bodies will react when they eat bak kua, pineapple tarts, char kway teow, laksa but they will be so quick to question the effects of Unicity's products, which have gone through years of clinical studies and proven to be effective in improving their health.

Human behaviour is very interesting. I'm not saying that people's thinking is wrong, and I'm right. It's just that we human beings can be irrational and illogical at times and its an uphill task to win people. That's what makes this world colourful, exciting and varied.

So to you my friends reading my blog, I am truly concerned about everyone of you. As written before, my personal mission is to help everyone get better health, wealth and regain lost time and through my latest knowledge, I will help you to the best of my ability.

Hokkaido 2013 13-20 Dec (Day 4)

Good morning Hokkaido. It's a beautiful morning and it has stopped snowing.

View from my room

Nice blanket of soft fluffy snow out on the slopes after a night of snowing

Today is free and easy day at Rusutsu ski resort. One of the activities of the day would be riding on a snowmobile. The snowmobile was located over at Rusutsu Tower wing. After breakfast, we headed to take the monorail over to Tower wing. 

Monorail

It was on the short ride over to Tower wing that I realised how big the whole resort is. And the view was beautiful.

Tower wing was smaller than North and South wing, and not as crowded. It had a different feel to it. More business-like atmosphere as compared to the family atmosphere over at N&S wing.

Good thing we made bookings for the snowmobiles on the day of arrival as advised by our tour agency, as some people were turned away because of the high demand. 

Riding the snowmobile was really fun. We got to drive our own and followed the instructor in front of us. He took us to wide open plains with trees lining the boundaries. Felt so sinful creating wrinkles of tracks on the soft virgin snow. After about 10 minutes of riding the guide brought us to a stop in the middle of nowhere to soak in the picturesque view that was straight out of a fairytale.

One of my favourite photo

The tracks we created on the virgin snow

On the snowmobile

Which fairytale am I in?

It was just us out in quiet expanse of snow. It was so silent, so surreal and so so so peaceful that I thought I could just sit out there forever. The feeling was indescribable. I thought if we could just stop ooh-ing and ah-ing in wonderment of this natural beauty we would be able to see the 7 dwarfs traipsing through the woods or see some leprechauns gathering pine cones in the distance. 

After about 10 minutes of soaking in the sights, we carried on our ride through the soft snow for another 10 minutes to reach the ending/starting point. This must surely be one of the highlights of my life. While the others went for more rides, I walked around wonderland soaking in more sights. Below are some of my favourite pictures.

After lunch, the children decided to return to the ski slopes to make snowmen. I took the opportunity to practise skiing. Instead of taking the ski lift all the way up, I decided to just stick to the practise area. I'm not young anymore, any fall would cause my brittle bones to splinter haha. As most people were still having lunch, the slopes were pretty quiet and I quickly took the opportunity to snap some beautiful pictures of the ski slope.

The ski slope

That's me trying to perfect my braking going down the slope

The children climbing up a pile of snow formed from excavation

View of the resort from the slope

After a fun day in the snow, I decided to visit the onsen at Tower wing, where they have an outdoor onsen. It was much better than the other one I went last night. This one had a nice round circular pool with pinkish water, I think it was red wine or something. After getting accustomed to the heat, I decided to venture out to the outdoor pool. The outdoor pool had an awesome view. It faced the ski slopes. It was just a lap pool with the wall facing the slopes raised up to chest level, so that when you stand up, your modesty is still protected from the skiers' view. Nevertheless, the view was breathtaking, and it was such an unforgettable experience to be soaking in the warm water out in the cold. How I wish I had the camera with me to capture the scene.

After soaking for about 30 minutes, went back to the room for a rest before dinner. We then went to return our skiing gear before heading for dinner. For tonight, we decided to try the French restaurant. The restaurant had a beautiful view of the slopes.

Beautiful night view of the slopes from the French restaurant

We of course took the set since we had the food vouchers. It was more French-Jap fusion food.

Appetizer-raw scallops

Appetizer-salad

Soup of the day

Mains-Fish

Mains-Steak

Dessert

As usual, dinner was not bad and we were stuffed, because we also had to finish the children's leftovers. Had a short walk around the resort to aid digestion. As I saw some shops outside the main entrance during the morning monorail ride, I decided to take a walk to enjoy the cold night air on our last night at the resort.

Although it was quiet out in the streets, there was a Japanese 24-hour convenience store and I decided to check it out. Their convenience store is similar to our 7-11 stores in Singapore, but they really had more interesting stuff. Their range of products and foodstuff is definitely much more. If I wasn't stuffed by the dinner, I would have bought some beautiful looking Japanese bento to try.

The quiet road outside the resort

All quiet and dark outside the resort

Returned to the room to pack as we're heading to Sapporo the next morning. While packing, I was having mixed feelings; feeling sad to be leaving this beautiful place where there were many firsts for me, yet excited to be going to another beautiful place in Hokkaido.

Good night and sayonara Rusutsu, I shall be back.

Hokkaido 2013 13-20 Dec (Day 3)

Woke up early in anticipation of my first time skiing. Looked out of the window and whoa, it was snowing quite heavily. Such a pretty sight, my first heavy snowfall experience.

As it was my first time skiing I was unsure of what to wear underneath the ski jacket and pants. Good thing I had friends who were experienced and I messaged them. So, I had to wear normal wear underneath. For those of you without a clue like me, for the top I wore a short sleeve thermal and a long sleeve t-shirt under the ski jacket, and for below I wore a long john and jeans under the ski pants.

Pic is a little blur as my hands and pocket were wet and the cam was in my pocket

After a sumptuous buffet breakfast, we went to collect our ski equipment from the lockers and put it on. It was difficult walking with the ski boots. I felt like a storm-trooper from a Star Wars movie.

It was snowing heavily. The snow on the slopes were soft and fluffy. We met our skiing instructor outside. Nice kid, only about 24 years old, from Australia, came to Rusutsu to work as a ski instructor just so he could see Hokkaido. We had a ball of a time learning how to ski. Skiing sure looks easy, but when you try to do it, that's another story.

Learnt the basics, how to click our boots onto the skis, how to climb up the slope with skis on, how to get back up if we fell, how to brake coming downhill, how to change directions, etc. Lessons continued after lunch and it was more of practising what we had learnt. So tired after everything. After removing and storing the gear back into the lockers, went back out to the snow to play with the kids, make snow angels and take more pictures.

Having a snow fight

Winter wonderland out on the slopes

Snow covered tree

Winter wonderland

As darkness came early in winter, we went back to our rooms for a short rest before heading out for dinner. Tonight, we'll be trying Italian.

Kids meal of spaghetti, steak, scallop, prawn and pizza

Appetizer of octopus and parma ham

Soup of the day

Appetizer-spaghetti

Mains-fish

Mains-steak

Dessert

After dinner, went to take a walk around the resort to walk off the heavy meal. Legs felt real heavy from the skiing. Onsen would be good but need to digest the food first. Later in the night, I went by myself to the onsen to soak in the hot water to find relief for my aching muscles.

Went to the onsen at the next tower. It was of course not as big as the one at Noboribetsu. They just had about 3 pools that's all. It was so difficult to shower. Muscles were aching. Thank goodness for that the Japanese sit on stools to shower. Slowly took my time to shower to enjoy the bath culture. After the shower, went to soak in one of the pools about 38 degrees Celsius for about half an hour. It was so good. So relaxing. Could feel the muscles relax. Aahh... Didn't want to get up haha. Slept really soundly that night. More happening tomorrow.

PS: forgive me for the blur photos out on the ski slope as my hands were wet from the snow and my pocket was a little wet too. The lens on my HTC had water vapour.


(Note: all photos taken by HTC One X. Tried to use a camera but the effects weren't as nice as my mobile phone)