We got up fairly early that morning, slipped into our yukatas and headed down for breakfast. Another feast for both the eyes and the stomachs had been laid out for us to enjoy. There was also plenty of coffee to help with that early morning feeling. Believe it or not we'd actually made good time and were packed and ready to leave ahead of schedule.
We settled up the odds and ends at the front desk and wheeled our stuff across the street. Our bus arrived exactly on time and we twisted and turned in comfort and control with our luggage spilling out into the aisles just the once. Not braving the bus all the way to Odawara we got off to Hakone Yumoto, stopped for some coke to settle our stomachs and took our sweet time.
We arrived super early for our shinkansen at Odawara and were fortunate enough to get all our seat reservations sorted for the rest of the trip, result! We waited for a while before boarding our bullet train to Tokyo.
Train: Kodoma 640 Odawara to Shinagawa
Depart: Odawara Station 11:42
Arrive: Shinagawa Station 12:09
Seats: Coach 12 (Seats Unknown)
Locomotive: Shinkansen N700 Top Speed 177mph (285 km/h)
And
Train: Keikyu Main/Airport Line Rapid Ltd. Exp Shinagawa to Haneda
Depart: 12:22 Shinagawa
Arrive: 12:38 HANEDA AIRPORT DOMESTIC TERMINAL
Seats: Unreserved
Locomotive: Keikyu N1000 series Tope Speed 75mph (120 km/h)
Our transfer at Shinagawa was not a success. The station is large and busy and we were searching for the Keikyu line. With a tight connection and not a sign in sight panic started to set it. On closer inspection it turned out this train company was not affiliated to the one we had got off of and therefore signage was minimal at best. In addition the transfer points were a long way from each other. We eventually found the Keikyu line, got on the wrong train, got off before it left and squeezed into the right train headed to Haneda with seconds to spare.
This train truly went at some speed for a commuter train and about 15 mins later we were at the airport. We got off, recharged our Pasmos for Sapporo and attempted to work out the JAL domestic check in process and location of the desks. HND seemed like a pretty nice airport and before long we found the desks and had someone check us in. If you are on regular JL stock you could easily print your own bag tag and self check in. We loved the attention to detail the staff had when taking care of baggage. Security was easy and it turns out liquids are fine but they need to be placed in a special scanner for checking. Thankfully Ms. Spymon's water bottle passed with flying colours.
We walked towards the gates and had a browse for food along the way. Immediately I spotted some chocolate covered potato crisps but this lunch option was instantly vetoed (confession I did buy some at HND for the trip home). I took a few snaps, noticed the very late looking boarding time and went to find lunch. I dug out a bento, a drink and some fancy wafer biscuits totalling up less than £10.
I enjoyed my lunch and before long it was time to board, though later than planned as the flight was behind schedule. Our waiting time did allow me to reflect on our short time in Japan so far. There is a lot of technology in place but also a lot of manual jobs we just don't do back in Europe anymore. At boarding there was a man whose job it was just to hold a sign telling people if it was their turn to board despite electronic signs and announcements. When boarding commenced the gates were automatic. However, they are also fully staffed making sure you put your boarding pass on the reader correctly and so someone can thank you for flying JAL. I just can't see it at home where the whole point of machines is to get rid of people rather than help people to do a better job!
Flight: JL519 Tokyo to Sapporo
Depart HND: 14:30
Arrive CTS: 16:00
Seats: 23D & 23E
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 (Reg Unknown)
Service was friendly throughout on this flight and consisted of a couple of drinks runs. We chose the JAL Sky Time which was refreshing. Entertainment wise headphones were provided, there was also on board Wi-Fi which via the JAL app you can use to watch films and TV shows.
This was a three class aircraft, we were in Y Class (Economy), J Class is Y service with a large leather recliner seat, First which we didn’t see has a further upgraded seat, meal and lounge access. It is possible to upgrade for cash at the airport for a fairly low fee subject to availability. Unfortunately there was no availability on either of our flights. Other than being around 20 mins late the flight was uneventful.
On arrival at Sapporo baggage was on the belts in no time at all so we headed straight for the train to the city centre. All was going to plan till I got a feeling of deja vu and worked out we were on the wrong train yet again… Once more we made the last second dash to the one on the adjacent track. We arrived on time at Sapporo station and changed on to metro. After some minor concerns we'd come out the wrong exit we turned around 180 degrees and saw our hotel standing tall up ahead.
Hotel: Ibis Styles Sapporo
Room: 804 Superior Double, Non Smoking
Check in was warm and efficient and included a welcome drink (not in the bar but simply just handed over at the check in desk) I chose a beer, Ms. Spymon an orange juice. We headed up to our room to quickly unpack. The view was pretty decent including the Ferris wheel overlooking the city. There was plenty of space for all our luggage and to move around the room freely. Clearly it is possible to get a large room in Japan without a large price tag to go with it.
We took the metro in the direction of the Sapporo Beer Museum and enjoyed a leisurely walk through residential Sapporo till we arrived at the beer museum. Whilst we were too late for tastings and a tour we loved how beautiful the old brewery looked lit up at night. Around the brewery there were many Ghengis Khan places filled up to the brim with suited (and often intoxicated) men in their uniform of white shirts enjoying a beer or five to wash down copious servings of grilled lamb.
We walked back to the station and over to the bustling nightlife area for dinner. Between the bar touts, neon, love hotels and restaurants it was quite an experience. We eventually found Daruma which was recommended by our guidebook as being a great place to try Genghis Khan, which in short is cook your own lamb on a special grill along with onions, garlic, dipping sauces, kimchi and plenty of beer.
The food tasted really good and was rather cheap so we went for seconds. We strolled back to our room via a whole bunch of seedy looking love hotels, smelling like a BBQ pit. Quite the experience.
Absolutely shattered we decided to call it a night, or so we thought. We spotted a cute little cake shop that was still open and felt obliged to indulge. At the time of eating these cakes seemed like a great idea.
