Hokkaido Autumn Guide: Hakodate Sightseeing and Superb Seafood at the Morning Market!

This is one post of a multi-part series covering our Two weeks Tokyo & Hokkaido Travel Guide:
    ▫ Singapore Airlines Suites Class from Singapore to Tokyo
    ▫ Three Days in Tokyo: Off the Beaten Path
    ▫ Sapporo, Otaru and Cape Kamui: Scenic Self-Drive Guide
    ▫ Furano, Biei, Sounkyou and Asahikawa: Amazing Autumn Colours
    ▫ Jozankei, Noboribetsu and Hakodate: Unparalleled Beauty
    ▫ Scoot's ScootBiz Class from Tokyo to Singapore

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As a quick recap, we're starting the day with breakfast in Noboribetsu Onsen, before taking the 220-ish km drive to the port city of Hakodate! Annoyingly, much of the road has the same 50km/h speed limit as the rest of the island, so travel time is close to four hours.

Along the way, we take a lunch break at the Akaigawa (赤井川) branch of Hakodate's most famous fast food chain: Lucky Pierrot (ラッキーピエロ)!


While the food's the same across all fifteen or so outlets across town, each outlet has its own unique spin on the decor. For example, there's a Santa Claus-themed outlet and an angel-themed one. They're all a little quirky in that uniquely Japanese way.

We tried the Chinese Chicken and Tonkatsu burgers (with chili cheese fries and oolong tea) and were pretty impressed: For a fast food chain, the burgers were pretty darn delicious.


Our hotel for the night is Hakodate Grand Hotel (formerly known as Chisun Grand). At ¥9,500/night + ¥1,000 for parking it's one of the cheapest hotels we've stayed in throughout this trip, but it's also one of the oldest. We did really feel that the hotel could use a nice refurb. View out the window was very nice, though!



With our bags safely stashed, it's time to hit the pavement and see what the city has to offer!


Our first stop for the afternoon is Fort Goryokaku. Initially built as a pentagon-shaped Western-style military fort, it's since been repurposed as a remarkably attractive botanical garden / park. One of its most imposing landmarks is the 107-m tall Goryokaku Tower. On this trip we decided not to go up the tower (¥840/adult); if you do decide to go up though there are observation decks with rather nice views of the fort/park itself.



Photo courtesy of Travel Hakodate.
We decide to use our time exploring and people-watching in the park. There are hints of autumn colours among the maple trees, but by and large this part of the island is still green. It probably won't be until a week or two later in the month before peak autumn colours hit.




We then head back closer to town; intending to walk and explore the areas between the harbor and Mount Kurodake ropeway (cable car station). Hakodate was apparently one of the first towns/cities to be opened up to gaijins (i.e. foreigners i.e. westerners) after the country's era of isolation; so there's a curious mish-mash of European and Japanese influences everywhere. For example, these red brick warehouses (which have now been converted to flea market-type shopping areas mostly for tourists).


Oh, did we mention we also randomly ran across this 'award-winning' rabbit? His name is Panda (パンダくん).


As the sun nears the horizon we start making our way up the Motomachi area to explore the varying architecture around the many sloped streets: Modern concrete buildings dotted with traditional wooden Japanese homes, European-style churches and an old Japanese temple-like structure.




To our horror, our final destination (Mount Hakodate Ropeway Station) is closed for maintenance!! Since the small, windy road up to Mount Hakodate's viewing platforms is closed to private cars from 5pm to 9 or 10pm (depending on season), our only options are to take a pricey taxi, or join the hundreds of people in the queue for the twice-hourly public buses.


We decide to do neither, and head instead to Hakodate's Morning Market for an early dinner. The market stalls are closed, but one legendary restaurant is open: Uni Murakami.


For a full review of the meal/restaurant do visit our guide to 8 foods you must eat in Hokkaido. In a nutshell, though, one cannot journey to Hakodate without having a bowl of uni (sea urchin) on rice at Uni Murakami. It is simply that good.


After 9pm the road up to Mount Hakodate re-opens to public car traffic, so we hop into our Toyota and up the hill we go! We're a tad bit disappointed that we couldn't get to see the city before sunset, but the night view's pretty damn nice as well.



Bring a jacket; it's windy and gets pretty cold up there.

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One last day, one last destination. Turns out we woke up too early (the trams hadn't begun running), so we decided to just walk to the Hakodate Morning Market.


Most people would say this is the best morning market in all of Hokkaido; We tend to agree. There are more stalls selling more stuff - there's the standard barrage of crab, scallop, salmon eggs and other seafood, but also other groceries, fruits, and even some souvenirs on display.



If you're in a decent-sized group (or have huge appetites), many of the shops have basic cooking facilities and will grill (or boil) a king crab for you. Or if you're more adventurous, do try one of Hakodate's specialities: The Dancing Squid. We decided to 'play it safe' and settled for a bowl of Bukkake Seafood Rice Bowl at Kikuyo Shokudo Honten.


Sadly, all good things must come to an end; the Morning Market marking the end of our vacation. The rest of the day's spent travelling: After returning our rental car (quick, uneventful, efficient), we take a 'Hokuto' JR Limited Express train to the New Chitose Airport. If you're also planning to take the train do take note that it's not very frequent (1-1½ hours per train), and the reserved seats can and do run out, so consider buying your ticket a day or two earlier.


After an evening JetStar flight to Narita Airport, we spend the night at what must be the smallest hotel room we've ever seen: APA Hotel Keisei Narita Ekimae. You don't get much real estate for just under ¥7,000, I guess.



Dinner was a simple affair at a random izakaya: Food was decent for a 'serve everything' kind of joint.

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With our bellies filled, we retire back to the hotel for a depressing night's sleep as it's the end of our holiday. It's not the end of this series, though. In the coming days we'll have a final post about our 'Business Class' flight from Tokyo back to Singapore on Scoot Airlines!

In the meantime, and if you haven't read it already, do visit our previous post in this series for amazing autumn colours at Hoheikyo Dam, Jozankei Onsen and Noboribetsu.

Fruit Tarts Recipe (includes different varieties of mix and match flavors)

This recipe yields 2 Large 8" Tarts. 350g per tart mold.
This recipe yields 28 Medium 2.5" Tarts. 25g per tart mold.


Sweet Tart Crust Recipe
140g Butter
0.25 teaspoon Salt
75g Icing Sugar
50g Finely Ground Almond Powder
0.25 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 Egg
250g All Purpose Flour

1. Beat the Butter and Salt with a mixer on low speed until creamy and pale.
2. Add the Icing Sugar, Finely Ground Almond Powder, Vanilla Essense and Egg and continue beating on low speed to blend the ingredients, scraping down the paddle and the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the All Purpose Flour in three additions and each time mix until well combine.
4. The Sweet Tart Dough would comes together to form a soft, moist dough.
5. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or for up to 2 days, before rolling and baking. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to a month.)
6. Measure the dough and press them into each tart mould using your thumb & pie tool. After completing the molding of the dough into your tart moulds, place them back into the fridge for another 15 minutes before baking.
7. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 180°C. Poke some holes using a fork.
8. Bake the Sweet Tart Crust for about 20 minutes, or until they turn golden. Transfer the crust to a rack to cool.


Fruit Tart Filling Choices
Choice 1: Caramel Sauce, Click for Recipe
Choice 2: Lemon Curd, Click for Recipe

Prepare your selection of Fruits. Varieties of Mixed and Match suggestions below of this recipe blogspot.

Optional Glaze
2 tablespoons of Jam diluted with 3 tablespoon of hot water.

Assembling the Fruit Tarts
1. Take out the Sweet Tart Crust from the fridge.
2. Glaze the inside of the tartlets with some Jam Glaze to slow down the softening of the Sweet Tart Crust when it sits in room temperature environment.
3. Fill up the tarts with your choice of Fruit Tart Filling.
4. Top with any fruits of your preference. (Our creations are below)
5. It's optional to glaze the fruits to give it a shinny look.

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Below is my creations: All here to share! Will update more soon. Below are the experimented best suggested amount of ingredients required.

1. Strawberries Lemon Curd Fruit Tarts
For 28 Medium 2.5" Tarts requires:
- 28 Strawberries

2. Green and Red Grapes Lemon Curd Fruit Tarts
For 28 Medium 2.5" Tarts requires:
- 56 Green Seedless Grapes
- 56 Red Seedless Grapes

Lemon Curd Recipe

Lovely lovely Lemon Curd. It's not sweet. It's just a slightly sour which is just right. Received tons of praise on it when we used it as one the ingredients of our bakes.

Give this a try along with some of our suggested creations of ours!


Ingredients
5 Eggs
115g Sugar
150ml Lemon Juice
0.25 teaspoon of Salt
150ml Whipping Cream (35% Fat) or 100g Full Cream Milk + 30g Melted Butter

1. Put Eggs, Sugar, Salt, and Lemon Juice in a stainless steel bowl. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
2. Pour in the Whipping Cream and mix well to combine.
3. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Continuously stir with a whisk for about 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and thick.
4. When the mixture is cooked, remove from the heat, stir for about 1 minute longer to cool a little.
5. Place the Lemon Curd in a air-tight container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight before use.

Some Extra Tips Below:
- This can be store up to 1 week.
- The curd should transform as it cooks, starting off as a very thin cream with froth on top that will then become thick with bubbles, when the bubbles disappear altogether about 5 minutes before cooking is complete.
- Ensure continuous stirring at all times to avoid ending up with a grainy texture in the finished curd.

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Below is my creations using this Lemon Curd as an ingredient. All here to share!

1. Strawberries Lemon Curd Fruit Tarts, Click for Recipe

2. Green and Red Grapes Lemon Curd Fruit Tarts, Click for Recipe

3. Lemon Curd Coconut Cake (Coming Soon...)


Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Tiramisu Recipe (includes different varieties of mix and match flavors)

Been bragging about my famous Tiramisu I bake long long way back. It's been on deary request list for a long long time! This year, I've baked one Tiramisu for him!

This recipe yields Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers for 3.5" x 7" round Tiramisu.


Let's start with the must have...
20pcs Store bought Sponge Fingers
Or bake some....
Homebaked Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers recipe here.

Crust Base Recipe
100g Digestive Biscuits
1 tablespoon Honey / Golden Syrup
30g softened Butter

1. Crush Digestive Biscuits until fine.
2. Add in butter and honey, mix until well incorporated.
3. Press it evenly on to the removable bottom baking pan.
4. Put it in the fridge while you make the rest of the Tiramisu.

Tiramisu Ingredients
2 Egg Yolks
80g Sugar
250g Mascarpone Cheese
125g Cream Cheese
20ml Liquid (use similar one to Sponge Finger Syrup)
200g Whipping cream
Cocoa Powder or Bitter Chocolate Shaving (for dressing the Tiramisu)

Optional Galatine Mix
1.5 tablespoons Gelatine Powder
3 tablespoons of Hot Water
Mix till dissolved. Using double boil method.

1. Cream Egg Yolks and Sugar together at slow for 1-2 sec and increase to med then to max speed. Continue to whisk until pale yellow.
2. Add in Mascarpone Cheese, Cream Cheese, Alcohol and Optional Galantine Mix at slow speed for 1-2sec and increase to med speed until creamy, thick and stiff.
3. In a separate clean mixer bowl, add the whipping cream and whisk to stiff.
4. Fold the Whipping Cream into the Cheese Mixture.
6. Chill the whole mixing bowl to the fridge for 15 mins.

Prepare your selection of Sponge Finger Syrup. Varieties of Mixed and Match below of this recipe blogspot.

Assembling the Tiramisu Cake
1. Take the chilled Crust Base & Tiramisu Mix out of the fridge.
2. Drop a 1/4 of the Tiramisu Mix directly on the Crust Base and evenly spread it.
3. Drench the Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers generously with the Sponge Finger Syrup and arrange them in the middle.
4. Repeat assembling step 2 & step 4 ending with spreading the Tiramisu Mix evenly.
5. Place the Cocoa Powder in a fine strainer, and generously sift the Cocoa Powder over the tops of Tiramisu cake.
6. Place the Tiramisu cake in the freezer for 1 hour then surround the cake with Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers.
7. Place the cake back in the fridge and let it chill for 8 hours before decorating.

Some Extra Tips Below:
- If Optional Galatine Mix is not used, ensure the cake is chilled longer.
- If you're baking your own Homebaked Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers like us. Pipe the length of the sides and divide the rest of the batter into three 6" round parchment paper / baking pan that is lined with baking sheet at the bottom.
- Our tip for easy Assembling and removal. We used an adjustable round ring and line the sides with plastic.


Happy 2015 Birthday, Hubby!
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Below is my creations: All here to share! Will update more soon and hopefully add on the step by step guide photos. Below are the experimented best weight of paste & other required ingredients.

Tiramisu Espresso Kahlua
200ml Strong Espresso Coffee (2 tablespoons of Nescafe Gold + 200ml of Hot Water)
60ml Kahlua

Tiramisu Espresso, Baileys, and Amaretto Wine
200ml Strong Espresso Coffee (2 tablespoons of Nescafe Gold + 200ml of Hot Water)
30ml Amaretto Wine
30ml Baileys

Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers Recipe (For Tiramisu & ...)

Have been baking my own Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers. Somehow it's taste way nicer the the store bought ones. Try this recipe and tell us what you think by commenting below.

This recipe yields Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers for 3.5" x 7" round Tiramisu.


use a pencil and ruler to draw a line with the height of inch (7.5 cm) rows, spacing each rows with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the parchment paper / baking sheet.

Mixture A Ingredients:
4 Egg Yolks
55g Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
0.25 teaspoon Salt
120g Cake Flour

1.Beat the Egg Yolks, Salt and Sugar on high speed until the mixture becomes thick and pale yellow. The batter should fall back into the bowl in a slow ribbon. This will take between 5-10 minutes.
2. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3. Sift the Cake Flour over the batter but do not fold in.


Mixture B Ingredients:
4 Egg White
55g Sugar

1. In a clean bowl, whisk Egg Whites on medium speed until soft peaks form.
2. Gradually add Sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form and the whites are glossy.

Mixture A+B Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Fold the Mixture B into the Mixture A in three additions, mixing only until incorporated.
3. Transfer the batter to a piping bag.
4. Hold the bag at about a 45 degree angle to the prepared parchment paper / baking sheet, pipe the batter long ladyfingers, using the lines drawn on the parchment paper / baking sheet as your guide.
5. When piped all the cookies, place the Icing Sugar in a fine strainer, and lightly sift the Icing Sugar over the tops of the cookies.
6. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the ladyfingers are firm but barely brown and are still soft and spongy when lightly pressed.
7. Let the ladyfingers cool for a minute and then remove the ladyfingers from the parchment paper, using a flat spatula or knife, and let cool completely on a wire rack.


Some Extra Tips Below:
- If you're making individual Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers space the ladyfingers about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. If you're making the similar type in our picture, pipe the batter long ladyfingers close to each another.
- The ladyfingers are best the day they are made. So if not serving that day, it is best to freeze them. To freeze, place in a plastic bag between layers of wax or parchment paper and freeze up to one month.

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Below is my creations using this Ladyfingers a.k.a. Sponge Fingers: All here to share!

Tiramisu Espresso Alcohol Recipe here

Click here for our blog page Baking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Hokkaido Autumn Guide: Koyo-chasing (fall foliage) in Jozankei, Hoheikyo Dam, Porotokotan and Noboribetsu!

This is one post of a multi-part series covering our Two weeks Tokyo & Hokkaido Travel Guide:
    ▫ Singapore Airlines Suites Class from Singapore to Tokyo
    ▫ Three Days in Tokyo: Off the Beaten Path
    ▫ Sapporo, Otaru and Cape Kamui: Scenic Self-Drive Guide
    ▫ Furano, Biei, Sounkyou and Asahikawa: Amazing Autumn Colours
    ▫ Jozankei, Noboribetsu and Hakodate: Unparalleled Beauty
    ▫ Scoot's ScootBiz Class from Tokyo to Singapore

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Initially, we hadn't planned on staying the night in Sapporo; we wanted, instead, to pamper ourselves at a nice ryokan in the hot spring town of Jozankei Onsen. The spirit is willing but the bank account is weak, though, so we checked ourselves into Route-Inn Sapporo Chuo and used Sapporo as a day-trip base camp.


The plan is to day-trip to the nearby Hoheikyo Dam, one of Hokkaido's most stunning autumn leaf viewing spots, followed by a couple of hours of day-use hot spring at Jozankei Onsen, before heading back to Sapporo for the night. We'd then head south, stopping at Shiraoi and Noboribetsu Onsen on our way to our final city/destination this trip: the port town of Hakodate.


We've got a plan; and the plan looks good, so let's go ahead and execute!

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It's pretty amusing how people react to the word 'free.' We initially wanted to head to either the Curb or Nijo markets for yet more 海鮮丼 (KaisenDon) for breakfast, but that plan went out the window the moment we found out the hotel provided free breakfast.

OK, it's true that the breakfast isn't really free, it's factored into the room rate, but you get the point.

Anyway, for a business hotel with a room rate barely above ¥10,000, the breakfast was surprisingly substantial, with the usual mix of Western-Japanese items.


Suitably fuel'ed up for the day ahead, we start up the car and head over to the Jozankei Onsen area, slightly over an hour's drive away. Jozankei Onsen and the surrounding sights are close enough to Sapporo that apparently many residents consider it part of the Sapporo area. Sort of a 'greater Sapporo' designation, and not a separate city/location in itself.

Anyways, our first destination isn't the onsen town, but rather Hoheikyo Dam. Annoyingly, the public car park is about a full kilometre away. ¥620 buys you a return journey on one of the many electric buses travelling to the dam, but we decide to be cheapskates and walk through the tunnels instead!


Whether you decide to walk or take the bus, you'll eventually end up at the dam itself, which is indescribably gorgeous at this time of year. We'll let the photos do the talking:





Aside from the breathtaking views, there's a visitor's center where you can read up in more detail of the dam's specifications and which has an extensive collection of preserved butterflies, beetles and other insects found around the area; and a cafe on the hill where you can sip a beer and eat genghis khan while overlooking the dam.

Hokkaido's Autumn weather can be quite finicky: It can be clear blue skies one minute, and cloudy the next. Just as we're winding up our visit the winds pick up and it starts to rain, so we double tail it back through the tunnels to our parked car, ending up partially soaked. Being cold and wet isn't fun at all, so we make the decision to visit a hot spring at one of the resorts at neighbouring Jozankei Onsen.


We semi-randomly settled on Shogetsu Grand Hotel, which charges slightly under ¥2,000 for day-entry plus towel rental to its hot spring. It's a lovely place: There are both indoor and outdoor pools, and a unique hinoki (Japanese Cypress) wood pool which imparts aromas of the forest to the hot water.

Oh and if you're wondering, a room for two inclusive of breakfast and dinner goes for about ¥31,000.


Photo courtesy of Shogetsu Grand Hotel
With the wind and rain chill out of our bones we head out to explore the town! It's a pretty charming place (if a little small), and rather uniquely has a number of public foot baths where you can soak your feet in hot spring water. Not entirely sure how you'd dry off before putting your socks and shoes back on, though.



Once we're done exploring we head back to Sapporo, to catch an early dinner at Daruma Honten! This joint serves up one of the best Genghis Khan (charcoal-grilled lamb on a cast-iron dome) in town. It's a small restaurant, thought, and is so popular that there are easily queues of a few dozen people during peak dining hours.

Unless, like us, you show up close to their 5:00pm opening time :)


For a full review of the restaurant head on over to our guide to eight foods you must eat in Hokkaido.

The agenda for the rest of the night: Window shopping at Pole Town, Tanukikoji and Mitsukoshi's depachika, and a soak in the hotel's hot tub while waiting for our laundry to dry.

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After a restful sleep full of dreams of charcoal-grilled lamb fat, we wake up, have breakfast, and set out on the drive to Noboribetsu, with a pit stop at Shiraoi. We're here to check out Porotokotan, an Ainu museum.

Ainu? Well, the Ainu were the indigenous people of Hokkaido before, you know, the Japanese integrated them into the Japanese language, culture, and way of life. The Ainu culture is pretty much gone from any of the major cities, surviving only in museums like this one.

Having said that ... we found porotokotan to be somewhat underwhelming. There's a museum building, a few cages for dogs and bears, 5 or so traditional Ainu huts, and a 20-30 minute Ainu-way-of-life performance that's explained exclusively in Japanese. ¥800 entry fee for adults.



Journeying on, then, the town of Noboribetsu Onsen, where we first head to the Noboribetsu Bear Park! Entry (including parking and a cable car ride up the hill) comes up to almost ¥5,000 per person, so it's not the cheapest attraction around.

What's waiting for you on the top is a small, and honestly rather pathetic mini-Ainu museum on one side of the park. The other side's much more interesting, though! There's a small enclosure with a few cute baby Hokkaido Brown Bears ...


There's a mini race track for ducks ...


And a periodic mini dog show that isn't half bad.


The main attraction, though, are the two pits for the adult bears (separated by males and females). The park sells bags of carrots, salmon and biscuits which you can use to feed the bears!

Years of daily feedings by visitors mean that pretty much every single bear has its' own 'trick' to try and get your attention: Some beg, some stand, some wave and beckon, trying to get your attention (and the piece of salmon in your hand). It's a very impressive, if perhaps not exactly PETA-approved, spectacle.



Highly recommended if you have properly-aged kids. Or even if you don't.


We had lunch at the cafe at the Bear Park, which was a huge mistake - it's absolutely horrible. Ahem. Anyways, once we're done feeding the bears we head back down the mountain to explore the sights, sounds, and natural bubbling hot springs around Noboribetsu Onsen Town ...



... and finally head to one of the most striking locations in Hokkaido: Jigokudani! This literally means 'hell valley,' and is so named because all the natural hot springs bubbling to the surface fill the area with spouts of steam and stench of sulfur.

There are also a number of trails suitable for beginners and the unfit, and are a great way to explore the surrounding area's beauty.





After two or three hours of casual hiking and enjoying the fresh air, we check in to the best ryokan in the area: Dai-Ichi Takimotokan. It costs a relatively pricey ¥31,400 per night inclusive of buffet breakfast and in-room kaiseki dinner, but we think it's really worth the money.


Why we say it's the best ryokan - it's got what is arguably the best indoor onsen in the whole of Japan. Both the men's and women's baths have pools with an unparalleled seven different types of water (well, water with different chemical compositions), and have a majestic view of the Hell Valley. Simply amazing.


The in-room kaiseki dinner is served at a time of your choosing. It's quite therapeutic, after a long hot soak in the hot springs, to rest and relax in the comfort of your room with a multi-course Japanese dinner. Food isn't all that great though, to be honest. Perhaps the logistics of cooking for a few hundred people at a time doesn't quite lend itself to really fine-dining quality.



Do check out our guide to eight foods you must eat in Hokkaido for more photos of the dinner.

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With that, we conclude this part of our guide! Tomorrow, we head further down south to the port town of Hakodate, renowned the world over for freshness and quality of its seafood. Click here for the write-up!

And if you haven't read it already, do visit our previous post in this series for some amazing autumn colours in Sounkyo Onsen and Mount Kurodake.