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Morning activity entailed a walk along the Akan Lake, which sounds nice and relaxing but little did I realise that the day’s temperature was -2 degrees!

My warmest winter down jacket wasn’t enough, so the hotel was kind enough to lend me some of theirs.

Once all rugged up the crisp air was quite refreshing, your body feels so pure with all that oxygen going into your lungs.

I’m sure the walk is lovely when it’s a little warmer. I would love to come back around August to do some longer trekking.

Water around this part of the lake was warm. Apparently, it’s the hot spring coming through from underground. 

Here’s the view of our hotel from distance. A real prime location as you can see.

We were treated to a room with a view, a panorama of Akan Lake.

We were given 10 minutes to check in and get changed into more respectable attire for a business dinner.  

And, here is the banquet, yes this was for one person and yes that is only the entrée. I couldn’t keep up with the food that came in so this is the only pic sorry!

My favourite dish of the night was the stewed flounder, so tender you can eat everything, and of course, individually steamed rice is my weakness too.

We stayed in New Akan Hotel Shangri-la.

No, it is no way related to the internationally famous hotel chain.

A keen observer in our group pointed out that the hotel must have been around longer, for it to be still operating under this name.

It was a really nice accommodation though, rooms traditionally Japanese style and spacious.

The thing that I was most looking forward to was the hot spring bath located on the rooftop, heaven. (photo courtesy of New Akan Shangri-la Hotel)

More exciting part of the day was approaching, cruise on Akan Lake.

The only thing was that it was so cold for May! Luckily, seats on the boat were heated so we were able to enjoy the cruise comfortably.

During the cruise, we made a short stop at an island in the middle of the Akan Lake to see some Marimo Exhibits.

Before coming to this part of Hokkaido, all I knew about Marimos were that they were just large moss balls that fascinated many Japanese people and are made into lots of merchandise for some unknown reason.  

Apparently, there is more to it than that but I won’t bore you with the details. You’ll just have to go there to learn for yourself!

Or go to the good old trusted Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo

After lunch and 5 min free time (you will need to make time for any airports in Hokkaido, great place for shopping!!!), we were off to do some sightseeing.

We went in the midst of the swine flu scare but we were not scared as you can see: No buildings, no people, no civilisation.

We briefly stopped at Tokachi Wine factory.

I knew Hokkaido was famous for wine but I’m not much of a winery person, so I am not sure this is recommendable place to visit. I do remember seeing lots and lots of wine as you can see.

Hi there, Ume again with another gastronomic trip.

This time, I went to the Eastern part of Hokkaido, famous for ice breaking cruise at Abashiri and Lake Akan National Park.

This part of Hokkaido is for nature lovers but no skiing on this trip.

If you do NOT like civilization this part of Japan is for you!

In the morning, we flew to Obihiro Airport (am not sure why, I can only assume that flights to Kushiro was full).

By the time we arrived, it was already time for lunch!

Lunch was Tokachi Wagyu beef sirloin steak set (phew! That was a mouthful).

I wasn’t aware that Tokachi Wagyu was famous but it must be as Tokachi area is so famous for dairy products!

Steak was done all medium rare, tender and moist.

There were a couple of pieces that stayed in my mouth for longer than I would have liked but I’m not complaining!

FUNNY TALES….. 

Beef upon beef….

Took a great trip down to Beppu, famous onsen city located on the East coast of Kyushu, to experience a mud onsen! Arrived late in the afternoon and after checking into our hotel we headed out for dinner. We came across a small yakiniku restaurant which had a table so in we went. It was a challenge to order as the menu was in kanji and none of us could speak Japanese. Through the dictionary and pointing at the table’s food next to us we finally ordered and looked forward to some beef! As the plates of beef came out the hunger grew and looked amazing. Plate after plate came out and we all started to panic. We had enough beef on the table to feed 10 people and there were only 4 of us!! As we couldn’t send it back and explain the situation we called our friends to come and help us eat it. I did not want to see the bill…..

Finally we did our best and requested the bill. Total 28,000 yen, about $400.00!!

Note to all travelers: Learning the basics of Japanese language is essential when going to a rural area