No one is willing to give up their Twilight Express ticket yet, so the plan continues unchanged.

I’m a little upset the way yesterday turned out. I think I salvaged it given the weather best I can, but given the primary reason I backtracked south to Sendai in so I can spend the whole day in Matsushima it was still a great disappointment. I could have stayed in Aomori where accommodation is cheaper, or even headed up to Hokkaido earlier.

I have breakfast at McDonalds and head north to Hakodate.

 

 

 

 

The train entered the Seikan tunnel uneventfully, other than a short message across the indicator board saying the train has entered the tunnel. The train spends about 25 minutes crossing the tunnel. Nothing but the rumbling of wheels and the lights on the tunnel walls flashing past. There’s supposedly 2 underground service stations in the tunnel but I missed them in the dark.

 

My hotel in Hakodate is literally just across the road from the station and I quickly drop off my luggage.

Hakodate is one of the very cities which Japan opened up to western trade, as a result it has a substantial amount of western style buildings. Its bay area is also a very popular spot amongst tourists. The city tries to advertise itself as a romantic city with its history and wide promenades.

It’s a funny hourglass shaped city, curved bays on both sides and a foothill rising over the city in the south end. The shape and the conveniently placed hill makes Hakodate one of the most photogenic city for night shots from above.

While Sendai still feels the heat of late autumn, Hakodate is fully in winter with strong chilly winds.

 

The rows of waterfront red bricked factory and warehouses have been converted into a tourist shopping town with various shops and restaurants.

 

 

 

As the first town opened to westerners, Hakodate have many “firsts” for Japan, such as the first stove, first concrete electricity post…etc, technologies imported from the west.

 

For lunch I once again turn to tabelog, the Japanese equivalent of urbanspoon and looked for something near me. It is pure coincidence that I runs across the Lucky Pierrot, it won’t be later until I find out it’s considered one of the must eats in Hakodate.

The Lucky Pierrot is a burger chain in Hakodate. They have tables but you won’t get a seat, just do takeaways. There’s a huge line of tourists ahead of me, some Taiwanese, some Americans and some I’m not sure of.

I got their No.1 menu, chinese chicken burger. Again I don’t know why it’s considered chinese, but since their owner is a chinese I’m inclined to believe its root is proper.

It’s really cold and windy so I looked for a sheltered place to eat my burger. Luckily there’s a rest area just next to the Lucky Pierrot.

The burger is pretty good, not must-try-food good but decent enough that it does its fame justice. It’s a really fatty deep fried chicken, very distantly reminiscent of sweet soy deep fried meats but only if I have to link it to a chinese dish I know.

 

I plan a curved path that goes along the foothills toward Hakodate park which I’ve seen a really good autumn leave spot from photos.

The park is not easy to find, tucked away on the eastern side of the foothill the slope of the approach make it easily missed.

 

I wonder if the early autumn this year caused the inconsistent coloring for the trees, with some already losing leaves while others remained yellow or even green.

 

By the time I return to the bay area I’m near frozen from the chill. Even with the jacket which I wore to Shirakawa the strong wind is stinging to the face and ear.

The nearby Starbucks provide a nice reprieve.

 

 

 

By 4pm I finally surrender to the cold. It is getting colder and colder and though I’d love to see Hakodate at night it’ll bring me to the edge of exhaustion.

I thus retire back to the hotel.

 

 

At the supermarket I buy a bottle of I LOHAS. A kind of eh… flavored water, I guess? It’s like of like polcari sweat or powerade but much much lighter. They even have different flavors for different regions, this Honeysuckle flavored one is limited to Hokkaido only.

The flavor is very light, light enough for your mind to convince you it’s healthy water you’re drinking but has just enough taste to not be boring. A very clever psychological mix that I love.

If anything, it’s better than coffee or milk tea drinks.