Synopsis: Skiing in Japan (prompted by the Ikon Pass) has been on my bucket list for a while but the logistics seemed to be too challenging. As it turned out the trip was amazing, even for a 2-days on the ski slope.
The flight from Hong Kong to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido was uneventful. The line at customs was long but manageable . Lots of people seemed to have the digital document ready but I did it the old fashion way with hand-filled form. What occupied my mind at the time was the overnight stay at the airport. My research online said it was doable but I wouldn’t know until I was there.
I was anxious to find out the situation of the Onsen because, on their website, it said that it will be closed for 2 days for the annual maintenance and supposed to reopen this morning.
The corridor that connects the domestic and international terminals has a lot of shops. Royce chocolate has a major presence there.
As if on queue, I came upon this huge section of food court dedicated to Ramen only. Any kind of soup noodles after a long flight is a great treat.
With that many shops to choose from, it’s easy to tell the ones with the lines were the better ones. But I was in no mood of waiting and didn’t know the exact protocol, so I settled with the one that had open seats. As usual, I ordered the first item (upper left) on the menu, and a beer. That was one satisfying lunch!
As it turned out, I happened to be there during the slow hours. The place was jam packed when I returned from Niseko and I could hardly move through the corridor – every single Ramen store had long waiting line.
Once I exited out this corridor of Ramen, it opened up to a huge space that looked more like a mall than an airport, lots of restaurants and shops.
I walked around for a little bit to check out what they got to offer. Everything looked good, typical for Japanese presentation, and I ended up picking up an ice cream pancake. The one thing I like about the Japanese food is that it seldom comes in too large of a portion for me, unlike in U.S.
With my big backpack, I couldn’t really walk for too long. So I started looking for the Onsen on the 4th floor. And here it was, looked exactly like what they have on their website.
The place was so immaculate and tranquil with the Zen-like vibe. I studied ahead so I knew I had to take off my shoes and put them in the bag they provided at the entrance before walking up to the reception desk. Knowing that I was a foreigner and that I was there for the first time, the gentleman at the front desk explained in detail, albeit with broken English, the layout and the rules of the place. Everything was expected except for the storage of my backpack. I chose not to ask because I didn’t want that to be separated from me. And sure enough, as I later found out, I was the only one that was dragging the luggage around. 🙂 And once I was in the complex, I wasn’t allowed to leave until I checked out. That meant no more shopping in the mall. As I was mulling around, a staff told me to pick up the clothing for the Onsen. That required a little help from her.
I proceeded to the Onsen area. With the backpack and a stack of clothing in my hands, I had no clue what I was doing. My standard procedure is to follow someone but there’s no one there. Since I was a bit distracted, I was heading towards the women’s entrance. An older fellow who didn’t speak a word of English gestured me to the one right next to it. Realizing that I was clueless, he walked me all the way to my assigned locker and showed me how to use the wrist strap I received from the reception earlier to open the locker. I am very thankful for what he did. After I put on the Onsen clothes, I still left with a big backpack that wouldn’t fit in the locker. There weren’t many options other than just left it in the corner of the room after taking out the valuables that I couldn’t afford to lose.
Now I was left with one little issue that I needed to deal with. With no footwear, it will be a bit disgusting to use the toilets. And of course, that worry was unfounded. 🙂
I am not a big fan of soaking in a hot tub, but that’s what you do at the Onsen. Turned out it was such a wonderful experience. The set up is nothing that I could have imagined – there were little cubicles for you to shower and shampoo with all the toiletries before and after you entered the pool. I ended up staying in the outdoor pool while it was snowing lightly, first time ever.
After Onsen, I explored around the area a little bit. They provided all kinds of hot drinks for free.
I wanted to scope out the rest area where I would spend the night before grabbing my dinner. There were two areas, one for men and women and the other for women only. It was a huge hall with a lot of chairs resembled the ones in the first class flight. The place was quiet and the lights were dimmed. I picked a spot that was suitable for placing my pack and then headed off to the restaurant in the complex.
The restaurant was nothing fancy. I ordered a salmon rich bowl and a beer. A solo traveler fit right into that environment.
And then it’s time to try out the upscale sleeping accommodation for the airport rat …..
The ‘late stay’ fee included breakfast in the morning, which is nothing other than a variety of pre-packaged buns. No complaints at all. What’s more important to me was the unlimited specialty coffee. I must have at least 3 cups of latte cafe.
And then it’s time to check out. All visitors had to clear the place by 9 am. It will close for an hour for whatever the reason was. The checkout was automated via a kiosk, where I tapped my wrist strap, paid the balance with the credit card, and it spit out a receipt with a QR code on it. I needed that QR code to exit the premise.
The whole experience with the Onsen was a whooping 4600 yen (31 USD) minus the dinner. There was also a $10 tax added to the bill during checkout. I wouldn’t even be able to dream of this arrangement before the trip. Aside from the budget expenditure, I was now all charged up with coffee and breakfast, and the only thing I needed to do was to find the bus stop outside the terminal to take me to Niseko.
I allowed plenty of time to look for the Chuo bus stop so it wasn’t difficult. An attendant was already at the stop way before the bus arrived.
The trip took about 3 hours from the airport to the front of the hotel. The round trip fare was 8500 yen (57 USD).
The bus ride was comfortable. Some distance into the trip, the road became a bit treacherous with a lot of snow. We stopped at a rest stop for bathroom break. The place had a decent size of giftshop and variety of food.
First stop…only one to get off…
