It was still raining when we left the hotel this morning. We visited the farmer’s market of Hakodate and the star-shaped fortress Goryōkaku before heading back to the station to take the train back to Sapporo.

The vegetable and fruit section of the farmer’s market.


Hawker promoting crabs to customers.


The food court of the farmer’s market provided the most fresh sea foods.


Most of trams in Hakodate are covered in advertisements.


Wisteria tunnel at Goryōkaku.


The office of Goryōkaku was being rebuilt.


The pentagon-shaped Goryōkaku Tower.


Goryōkaku was built to be a western style fortress.


The model clearly showed the star shape of Goryōkaku.


The diesel train we took for our return journey to Sapporo.


Ekibens (railway lunch boxes) we had on board the train. We did have lunch before boarding the train, and the foods were just for killing time.


The Next Day

It was only partly cloudy when we board the train at Sapporo, but it was raining when we disembarked at Hakodate. We came to Hokodate for its famous night view. Unfortunately the summit of Mount Hakodate was above the clouds the entire day and we were quite disappointed not being able to see the night view.

The diesel express train connecting Sapporo and Hakodate.


Salmon and salmon eggs donburi (rice bowl).


The old red brick Kanemori Warehouse was now a mall at the foothill of Mount Hakodate.


The slope leading to old public hall of Hakodate.


English afternoon tea was served at the old British consulate.


The wooden structure of the old public hall.


The Hakodate harbor under grey sky.


Russians merchants built Orthodox church when they came to Hakodate.


This church at Motomachi celebrated its 150th anniversary along with the Hakodate harbor.


Alas, we decided not to go to the summit of Mount Hakodate after seeing the disappearing cables of the ropeway.


After visited attractions on Mount Hakodate, we returned to the beer hall at the red brick warehouse to complete my mini quest of tasting local brews of all three Hokkaido cities.


The local brew of Hakodate.


A friend strongly recommended the curry at Gotoken when he heard my plan to visit Hakodate.


Reflections of the red brick warehouse on wet surfaces.


The city lighted up and the top of the hill was still above the clouds…


The Next Day

We tool a stroll at the Otori park in the morning then took the train to visit Otaru.

Sapporo TV Tower by day.


Tulips in front of the old Hokkaido government hall.


Somehow this particular view reminded me of Monet’s paintings.


Abandoned railway at Otaru.


Old buildings got new leases of lives as cafés and restaurants.


This was the most famous scene of Otaru.


It’s easy to imagine people strolling through the sidewalk along the canal and looking at the performances of street performers during weekends.


The micro brewery of Otaru Beer.


Otaru Beer brewed beer in German style.


Otaru Romankan was one of the places in Otaru that sold glasses wares.


Historical houses in Otaru.


The third store of Kitaichi Glass in an old warehouse.


The steam clock outside the Otaru Music Box Museum.


Music boxes displayed and sold at Otaru Music Box Museum.


Otaru was famous for its nigiri sushi.


Since we had visited Otaru Beer, we went to the Sapporo Beer Museum after returned to Sapporo.


Kettles of the Sapporo Kaitaku-shi Brewery.


Tasting set of Sapporo Beer.


The Next Day

My EVA Airways mileages were going to be expired so I decided to use them to upgrade to business class for our flights to Sapporo.

The vegetarian foods served at the EVA Airway lounge.


The panda themed package of snacks.


EVA Airways served Dim Tai Feng’s cuisines in their business class.


View of Akita from above 30000 feet.


View of Sapporo station from our hotel room.


The lively Tanukiko-ji shopping street.


Raman restaurants at Raman Alley.


Sapporo TV Tower at dusk.


The Odori Park of Sapporo.


Changing lighting display of the Sapporo TV Tower.


The Sapporo Clock Tower.


The Next Day