BE CHARMED BY HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

I made a trip to Hokkaido from 3 - 9 Sep. After arrival at the New Chitose Airport, we headed for Shikotsu-ko ( a volcanic lake) and had lunch along the way. It was made up of steamed rice, sashimi prawns (ebi) and clams, crab soup and meat. Like me, I hope that you will be charmed by the beauty of Hokkaido. You can catch me in "Hokkaido Beckons" in the Nov 07 edition of Food & Travel - Kitchen Culture published by Key Editions Pte Ltd.

While we were having our lunch, these restaurant workers were having theirs too.

Bonsai, one of the Japanese icons.

Japan is a vending machine nation. This row attests to that.

The Shikotsu-ko is the deepest natural volcano lake in Japan. One can take a cruise in a glass-bottom boat to view the different varieties of marine life there.

A station of the Sapporo Underground.

Sapporo Tower at 6.37 p m.

The first dinner I had at the Ramen Republic found in the Japan Railways (JR) Tower in Sapporo was shio ramen (above). It is less salty than the miso soup type, and costs around 450 yen. In the republic, there are only eight stalls, reputedly the best in Sapporo. Customers give feedback after they have eaten and such is evaluated every 6 months. The better ones get to keep selling while the three lowest-ranked are thrown out, to be replaced by other sellers who are queuing to come in. Talk about being on your toes all the time!

A bright lantern outside one of the ramen stalls.

This is one of the eight stalls in the Ramen Republic.

A kimono on display. Kimonos are not to be mixed up with the yukata, which is more casual and an attire you wear when going for baths, for dinner and also to bed. One can imagine that a kimono is used for very important occasions and can cost a bomb to acquire.

The first night in Hokkaido was spent at the ANA Hotel in Sapporo. As elsewhere in Hokkaido, the toilets here are small hence, the Japanese prefer to have their baths, wherever possible, at the onsen (hot-spring baths).

A beautiful bus tour-guide. Like her, bus drivers (to be addressed as bus captains) are nicely attired with a cap, tie and jacket. Even car park attendants are properly attired - an indication of pride attached to their work, perhaps.

Beautiful flowers next to a toilet stop on our way to Furano.

The sign depicting one of the cheese-making workshops in Furano. Ice cream and pizza are also available on location.

Cheese-making implements used in the past.

Pizza being made with a kiln at the cheese workshop, the correct way to do so.

Enjoying ice-cream alfresco at the cheese-making workshop. Eating ice cream there is an adventure. They dispense one with 5 flavours and would you believe that one type is made with squid ink? Just remember that your teeth will appear black after you are done.

Although lavender farming was started by his grandfather, Farm Tomita was established only in 1958, the year Tomita-san married his wife. In the 80's, when the weather was bad and competition crept in from artificial lavender flavouring, Tomota-san wanted to kill the plants and grow other crops like potatoes, which neighbouring farms did. As he was about to do so, the wheels of a tractor he drove seemed stuck as though the plants were clinging to them and telling him not kill them. He saw his wife crying and felt that his action would be akin to killing his own daughters. Tomita-san stuck on, explored alternatives of marketing his products and was also given a boost when a professional photographer took pix of his farm and had them posted on Japan Railway coaches. These drew many local as well as foreign visitors to the farm. His is a success story of someone not giving up in the face of adversity. He was given a special recognition by a province in France for his work and also graced with a visit by the current Japanese Emperor.

These are lavender plants. Catch them before end of Jul when they are harvested and the view would be totally different. Beautiful purple instead of green.