30 December 2017, Saturday.
Just before Sun rose above the horizon….
This is the mountain that appeared momentarily. We did not catch a similar view thereafter !
Sunlight lit up the place. Lake Toya was tinted with shades of orange brown. Nice view.
We headed for our traditional Japanese breakfast…
Good varieties and tasty.
Returned back to our hotel room after breakfast… Glimpse of Lake Toya from our window. We saw tourist buses flooding the area.
We decided to explore Lake Toya coastal front. …. On the way we were greeted by fat and cute snow man.
and a nice snow cave…But too small for us !!!
Oh Yes….. National Park Lake Toya.
Looking out at Lake Toya…peaceful quiet water and no ice floating on the lake even though temperature was below freezing….
Occasional birds soaring high…
The coastal walk was completely covered by snow.
Our pictures along the coastal walk
Looking up…. we were blessed by beautiful sunny day. I love sunny snow.
We spotted a little foot onsen. The water was warm…. we gave it a miss.
We were at Lake Toya Sculpture Park.
Art pieces consist of human and animal sculptures
some modern arts…
another art piece ?
Not sure if this is Hundred Anniversary Stamp or Hundred Yen Stamp
Happy pictures before exit sculpture park…
Exit the sculpture park, towards the main street.
Yes, it was at Lake Toya main street that we found the best bargain duty free shop here. We had two bags of purchases ….
1030 hrs : We boarded Donan Bus for JR Station.
1045 hrs : Arrive at Lake Toya JR station. We had an hour before for our scheduled train ride.
Crossed the road to the little eatery (50 Suzuki) for lunch.
Outside 50 Suzuki…It looked like vast emptiness at the end of the road….
Had a little exploration…. this is Uchiura Bay.
Closed in on the bay…I love this kind of sea view with glittering light reflection.
Look ashore…. only one unit was build to have spectacular sea view.
Back to train station….
Train arrival @ 11:50 hrs
Reaching Sapporo….
After checked into hotel and washed up, it was evening time. We decided to explore Former Hokkaido Government Offices.
From far, it look like gorgeous. Orange lighting on pine trees partially coated with snow.
and its 150th anniversary (2017) !
futuristic lighting design!
Notice gigantic snow piles besides the building… I started to recognize a problem with winter snow. First, it continue to pile up after each snow fall. Secondly, there is no way to dispose these stuff except to wait for spring.
Exit from the front gate, we were at Akarenga Terrace…It seems the pathway is converging to infinity.
The light up…when viewing in direction away from Former Government House.
In the direction of Former Government House.
Here is a little video clip on lighting display hanging over the rows of Ginko trees…
We had a long long walk (rather we lost our way !!!) As time ticked away…. we decided to have dinner…. This was an accidental pick
And this is best Japanese curry I had ever tasted !
End of Day 10 : We had some wonderful time at Lake Toya coastal walk and sculpture park. Bay Uchiura was a surprise and wonderful sighting for me. After visiting Former Hokkaido Government house and Akarenga Terrace… we had a long walk in the city followed by a very delicious Japanese Curry Rice Dinner.
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