Day 02: Journey to Hakodate (Jul 2018)

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Monday, 9th July 2018

After breakfast at my favourite Dotour this morning, we left Tokyo to embark on our 857km rail journey to Hakodate, the gateway city in southern Hokkaido. The Hayabusa Shinkansen train did the trick in slightly over 4 hours. By 2.37pm, we had arrived at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station where we continued our 19-minute journey to the city centre via the convenient Hakodate Liner local train.

From the main Hakodate Train station, our hotel at Goryokaku district was an easy tram ride away. This was my second stay at the Dormy Inn chain which was popular for its in-house hot springs facilities and complimentary ramen noodles served in the evenings.

It was rather chilly by the time we arrived in Hokkaido this afternoon with overcast skies and light rains as we ventured out from the train station. We opted for an early tonkatsu dinner while making our way to the Goryokaku Fort. The restaurant that we patronised appeared to be a very popular venue among the local people which was a little surprising given its secluded location between the hospital and the park. It turned out to be one of the most memorial meals that I had during this vacation. We were certainly glad to chance upon this hidden gem early into our trip.

After our meals, we stopped by at the base of Goryokaku Tower for some shopping before heading to Muji where we boarded a tram to the train station. The skies had started turning dark as we arrived at the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse District. It was surprising that the whole area was so peaceful in the evening. We stopped by at the beautiful Starbucks Cafe overlooking the harbour before washing down with a warm cuppa of Green Tea Latte.

Back at Dormy Inn that evening, we had the delicious ramen noodles to thank for before retiring to our room for the night.

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