The day (Thurs) felt like a really long one. Why? Because we still had to go through the whole day like a regular person; when I actually did not feel normal at all! I just wanted to jump through hoops and sing out loud and tell everyone "I am goin on a horrrrrrr-leeeeee-daaaaaeeeee".
Whoopdeedoo!
But adulting, I did and accomplished a full day of work (groans) then finally, finally, finished packing for the kids and me and had dinner. Then we all washed up and got ready to leave. It felt sooo good.
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| Leaving for the airport at 9pm, in the cab. |
We arrived and met our parents, then split up. The dad babysat them at the playground, while the husband, Mother and I headed to the lounge. We had simple food and some beers (more for uh, those not inside. ssshhhh) then all regrouped. Headed for the gates:
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| WHEE! |
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| Group pic before embarking! |
I was pretty tired, actually. I was brain-fried from all the work; and I went for a 13km run in the morning, so by this time (midnight) .... zzzz.... not everyone felt tired though, obviously...
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| Enjoying his supper snack and TV |
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| Twinning (the ill-fitting earphones crack me up) |
I had little interest to watch anything (too fuzzy-brained) and dozed off at some point. Like this little one:
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| Poor girl felt motion sickness, luckily she managed to snooze. |
After 7 hours, we made it to Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan! After disembarking, we headed to wash up after a rough night (red eye flights... argh) and everyone was pretty zombified. But, we had a plan (thanks to the sister's busband!) and stuck to it. We were greeted by our driver who led us to the Haneda Airport.
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| Early morning in Tokyo |
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| In the van |
I crashed on this van ride, totally needed the whole hour's nap. I truly had zero recollection of anything on this van ride... except that my water bottle leaked and I wet my stuff. Thankfully, it was only water.
Upon arrival at Haneda, we were ready to eat and the husband picked a ramen restaurant literally steps away from where we stood. Our first proper meal in Japan - ramen. After filling our tummies, we had time to kill before our flight to Sapporo. We headed to check in our luggage and could move around freely. So, what did we do? EAT!
We zoomed in on the eating hall and sampled everything we could see. HAHA. The kids had soft-serve and I was just happy to snack. The sister decided on something cheesy that she eyed for buying back. After we'd walked around a bit, we found a coffee place to liven up my sleepy soul. Nothing more comforting (and boring) than Starbucks. We sat there until time was up and we then headed through the gates.
At this very early point, the daughter made an observation. "Why do we go into every supermarket?" - looks to my sister. HAHA.
While waiting for the flight, we had some (more) food, snacks and the sister bought beers. Yum.
Upon arrival at Haneda, we were ready to eat and the husband picked a ramen restaurant literally steps away from where we stood. Our first proper meal in Japan - ramen. After filling our tummies, we had time to kill before our flight to Sapporo. We headed to check in our luggage and could move around freely. So, what did we do? EAT!
We zoomed in on the eating hall and sampled everything we could see. HAHA. The kids had soft-serve and I was just happy to snack. The sister decided on something cheesy that she eyed for buying back. After we'd walked around a bit, we found a coffee place to liven up my sleepy soul. Nothing more comforting (and boring) than Starbucks. We sat there until time was up and we then headed through the gates.
At this very early point, the daughter made an observation. "Why do we go into every supermarket?" - looks to my sister. HAHA.
While waiting for the flight, we had some (more) food, snacks and the sister bought beers. Yum.
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| Supermarket sushi that tasted pretty good |
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| Biru! |
It was a short hour+ flight from Haneda to Sapporo and when we all arrived, I'm pretty sure we felt relief. It has been a loooong travel and it felt good to finally touch ground properly again. After collecting our luggage, we walked to the rental zone and got on a shuttle bus that brought us to the car yard.
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| Men doing the manly thing |
We got the vehicle, figured out the GPS (him, not me) and we were on our way to the hotel!
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| We are in Hokkaido! |
The car ride was about an hour, during which the children snoozed. They must be tired as it was already late afternoon by then, and sunset (approx. 6pm). I even got drool on my sleeve, compliments of the boy. We arrived to the hotel by darkfall and decided to head straight out for a meal.
We strolled towards the food street that the B researched and along the way, before we found our destination, we made a pitstop.
We strolled towards the food street that the B researched and along the way, before we found our destination, we made a pitstop.
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| Tako ball from a van |
The husband picked a spot for dinner and we were all happy to sit down to end the day. It felt pretty cold on this first night but we still decided to sit al fresco because sitting inside meant inhaling second-hand smoke.
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| First dinner in Hokkaido |
Dinner was a mix of cooked and raw food, yakitori grill sticks and beer. After dinner, we strolled along the streets and stopped at the kit-kat shop, the giant pharmacy, and the sister introduced me to this evil-in-a-good-way-soft-serve called Cremia.
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| Mmmm. |
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| Cremia girls |
At this point, right after this pic was taken, we discovered that we had lost the husband and her busband. They had snuck off to a bar (just to the right of this pic actually) for a whisky. We saw them and their one drink was really just one drink and we all headed back to the hotel. We talked about going out for another drink and we saw a little shop that had this crazy long Q and thought to have that... but the kids got clingy and we decided to bring them back to the hotel to settle them in first.
Turns out I was pretty drained by this point and after washing them up, I wanted to wash up too. It had been too long since my last shower 24 hours ago; and oh boy was it a good decision to stay in. Of course, I'm sure we missed out some walking around time in the cold, but it truly felt so good to be clean again.
Instead, we had a mini picnic - the first of many (every) night in the sister's room. We played cards, chit-chatted, drank and ate. The mother (not pictured) actually rocked up in the hotel kimono because the sister said so. HAHA - ok, it's mean but it was so cute she took it so seriously. Love!
Turns out I was pretty drained by this point and after washing them up, I wanted to wash up too. It had been too long since my last shower 24 hours ago; and oh boy was it a good decision to stay in. Of course, I'm sure we missed out some walking around time in the cold, but it truly felt so good to be clean again.
Instead, we had a mini picnic - the first of many (every) night in the sister's room. We played cards, chit-chatted, drank and ate. The mother (not pictured) actually rocked up in the hotel kimono because the sister said so. HAHA - ok, it's mean but it was so cute she took it so seriously. Love!
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| This was the only time we had this "damn smooth" beer. It was so good but we never found it again :( |
That ended our travel from Singapore to Tokyo to Sapporo... and a very eventful 24 hours++ for the family.
Our holiday had begun!
Our holiday had begun!
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