2023 Hokkaido Trip Day 04: Himawari no Sato And Tomamu

We woke up to some hearty breakfast @  *Yoshinori Coffee* (which was just right outside the hotel)

Tip: Normally, cafes will always have some breakfast menu set you can order. 

The breakfast Set (Western) 

We went around the station (after booking our tickets) before the train to Fukagawa comes (You can take the JR Ltd Express train) , got some time to kill and there's a garden outside of the station. 

Lesson of the day: 

To check the timing of the buses before coming to the venue. Even though the festival runs month-long, it doesn't mean that it has hourly timing that departs from Fukagawa Station nor Takigawa Station. It costs 6,400 yen (S$64) to go from Fukagawa Station to Himawari no Sato (17km, 23mins ride). 

Note: Nothing really in Fukagawa Station (and the convenience store is far from the station). 

After the blunder, we managed to reach Himawari no Sato. The flags welcome you to the festival. Just follow the flags to the field. 

Guess, it was worth the fare as you can see the sunflower fields in view, as we were greeted by the most picturesque view of the field (after walking a few more miles, they weren't in view in the beginning) : 

At first, we were disappointed in the beginning thinking that we missed the season (because of the first field maze). 

Tip: To conserve energy (and to catch beautiful sunlighting, do not waste your time in the first unpaid maze, go to the next paid maze, 300 yen) Do not attempt to take pictures from noon onwards (1. you will be against the sun 2. you can't see what you are taking at) 

However, if you would walk a bit further down, there were other sunflower fields in the area (You just need to walk far)

Tip: Free photo spot (after you exit the maze) is to go a bit further north (where the tractors pass by) 

There is also Sekai no Himawari , where they will introduce you to the various sunflowers found all over the world. 

There are various types of Sunflower not just the typical Yellow. (or the stereotypical Yellow)

From hereon , we had to wait for the 2PM bus to arrive. (The last bus is at 4PM). So, we hang around the food stalls  

Tip: You can bring home your own sunflower seeds back home. Seeds are found near the information counter. (Just do donate some money.. ) 

 

Sunflower ice cream (Must try!) (350 yen) 

Gyuudon (600 yen) - they will give you water as well on top of the soup. 

 

Note: Albeit the blunder, it was actually a better decision to take a cab from the station to Himawari no Sato. Then you just need to wait for the feeder bus from the bus stop back to the station. The earliest is at 2PM. You need to cross the street to the other side, the street is 2 way (to go back to the main station). 

Then it was off to Tomamu (after getting our things from asahikawa hotel. Do make it a point to ask for hotels if they can keep your things overnight/for the day after check out & before check in. Our main luggage as of the moment are in the hands of Yamato Transport.. ), we booked new train seats because we missed the first ones.  

 

Before transferring to another line, you have to go out of Sapporo station and walk to other station. It just so happen that the exit we went out to has a Sandria vedding machine. We bought drinks and a few sandwiches for us to eat (for our dinner). 

The sandwiches I've so far had the privilege of trying  (Not in order, but i prefer the first 2 ) 

1. Shrimp cutlet

2. Katsu sandwich

3. Ham katsu sandwich

4. Chicken katsu sandwich

Note:

The vending machine is just right outside the JR shinkansen exit of JR Sapporo station (west exit). Also, according to the grandma that was queuing, all sandwiches are good, but she can only eat their potato sandwich. Around 1600, usually queues are forming as the vending machine are just stocked up with sandwiches.

Then it was off to Tomamu.. The Lilac Express Train did not have placement of luggage so we had to store our luggage in front of our seats. (We reprinted our ticket because we couldn't use the previous ones) 

After a few hours, we reached Tomamu. There is a shuttle bus that waits for hotel guests at Tomamu Station ( I didn't reserve because I did not know what time I will reach) 

Our hotel (which was quite big for a japanese hotel) 

The room for the night (twin sharing) 

The bathroom .. 

The dressing table 

we only had a few minutes to put our bags and go to the area where fireworks are held which actually gave us quite a treat (do look up the hotel's website for upcoming events you may not want to miss out during your stay) 

welcome drinks (sparkling wine, ice coffee) You can actually bring snacks you bought over and eat while you go and lounge around the area. 

a free ice popsicle 

and some free fireworks display (2 mins) , go to as high ground as you can 

with time to spare, it was time to roam around the premises (to get some night view of the hotel premises and souvenir shopping) 

we didn't go to Risonaire (as it might have been off limits to other hotel guests, it is still far from where the towers are and we are tired) 

The hotel lobby and lounge areas ... 

The sesame is tastier than the red bean. 

The milk (one of the freshest but the one at the airport tastes better) 

Some jams from the farm (but I do can't store them in my luggage without taking the risk of having it spoilt)

With that, the day has come to a close (and I need to wake up early! ) and tomorrow is another day.