Category: Tabemono Vacation Itinerary July 2016 – Hokkaido/Tohoku/Tokyo

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Days 3-4 – Asahidake, Yumoto Yukomansou Ryokan

More selfie antics instigated by my older son. Keeps them busy during long drives.

After wrapping up Asahikawa Ramen Village, it was time to head to our first of many ryokan.  We booked Yumoto Yuomansou with the intent to do a little hiking and sight-seeing around Daisetsuzan National Park.   As we drove from Ramen Village to Asahi-dake Mountain, the drive took about an hour as it is located in the neighboring town of Higashigawa.  The kids continued their selfie antics here and there, while we drove through a very scenic road.

Mt. Asahi-dake is Hokkaido’s highest peak. Along the way, the landscape consisted of remote rice farms, trees, and lakes that were all green around us as it was the beginning of the summer months.  These farms which are called satoyama, appear as though they work with nature as opposed to totally changing the land to farmland. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Days 3-4 – Asahidake, Yumoto Yukomansou Ryokan”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation – Day 3 – Asahikawa, Aoba Ramen at Ramen Village and Japan Driving

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Bye-Bye Tokyo Disney!! My youngest loved everything about it and as a parent I appreciated how every part of the park was meticulously clean and how the employees was courteous to the guests.

Checking out of the MiraCosta and leaving Tokyo DisneySea on the limousine bus (charter bus) to Haneda Airport felt like the real journey was about to begin.  We were finally on our way to Hokkaido! When the bus dropped us off at Haneda airport it was still early so we had breakfast at the airport since our flight was scheduled for a couple of hours later for departure.

Breakfast in general is not a popular meal in Japan, so options were pretty limited on what stores were open in the morning.  We decided to stay in the outer area before we check in as there are more food offerings.  We ended up finding Monzaemon Soba Restaurant on the third floor of the Haneda airport. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation – Day 3 – Asahikawa, Aoba Ramen at Ramen Village and Japan Driving”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Days 1-3, Tabemono in DisneySea and Taka Bar in Hiroo

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The volcano from the Journey Through the Center of the Earth is prominent when you enter the park from our entrance through the MiraCosta.

I originally intended to write-up all Days 1-3 in one post, but found I had a lot more content from our trip than I originally thought, so this gave me an opportunity to focus on the various restaurants and eats we had at Tokyo DisneySea.   Food at amusements tend to take a second seat to the rides and other attractions, but  DisneySea offers a wide range of food from stall foods to fine dining, all with surprising excellent execution and service. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Days 1-3, Tabemono in DisneySea and Taka Bar in Hiroo”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation – Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Days 1-3, DisneySea MiraCosta Hotel and Unagi Miyagawa

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View of DisneySea outside our room in the MiraCosta. The hotel is right in DisneySea’s Mediterranean Harbor port.

Having researched and formulated the itinerary mentioned in the previous post we need to make sure all the other preparations were in order.  This included:

  • obtain an international drivers permit (which was relatively easy at local AAA office)
  • book our airline tickets with our reward points
  • rent a car
  • purchase the 7 day JR pass
  • book foreigners air tickets from Haneda to Asahikawa on ANA
  • rent a mi-fi
  • plot out the best driving routes on google maps
  • book accommodations

Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation – Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Days 1-3, DisneySea MiraCosta Hotel and Unagi Miyagawa”

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Tabemono Vacation – June/July 2016 Trip to Japan, Hokkaido and Tohoku Itinerary

 

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Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan. We flew from Haneda airport near Tokyo to Asahikawa using the ANA foreigner air tickets which is available only if you purchase before arriving to Japan.

Traveling abroad with a family with four young children is not easy, but Japan is one of the safest countries with a wide variety of attractions and  great food.  This combination makes it a popular destination in my household.  The only challenge is that a family of six is hard to accommodate by Japanese standards.  We need to plan out accommodations and what to do and where to eat carefully as Japan tends to be cater to small groups. In fact most hotels accommodate groups up to 3-4 people unless you know what to look for and book as early as possible to secure the few rooms that can accommodate a large family.

In our previous trips we travelled through the Kanto to Kansai regions of Japan, so this time we really wanted to experience other parts of this beautiful country.  Our selection narrowed down to whether we wanted to spend time in Hokkaido or Kyushu and the choice was further easier to make given that we will be taking the kids during their summer break, which meant hot and humid weather in the Honshu and Kyushu islands.  Thus, the vacation was focused on Hokkaido to avoid the muggy, hot heat the rest of Japan faces during the late June and early July months.  In fact, during our stay, the weather for the most part was great in  Hokkaido, outside of rain for a day or two during the first two days.  We even needed jackets  a couple of times in the mountain areas,  but otherwise experienced very enjoyable weather. Continue reading “Tabemono Vacation – June/July 2016 Trip to Japan, Hokkaido and Tohoku Itinerary”

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