We left Singapore late Saturday via Singapore Airlines and landed at Haneda International Airport on Sunday morning. We then transferred to the domestic terminal for a short flight on ANA to Chitose airport. We then boarded a JTB-contracted bus which looked like a 30-seater, while there were only 9 of us including our guide. It would be exclusively for our use for the next four days.

From the airport, the coach took us to Otaru where we would spend the next 24 hours. We alighted at the Otaru Canal, famous for its postcard scenery year-round.

Otaru was warmer than we expected and the ladies commented that they would have brought shorts if they had known earlier about the warm weather.

Our hotel was called Authent Hotel, only 10 minutes away from the Canal. We had our lunch, dinner and breakfast at the same hotel. Although the room, as expected, was small, it had all the traveller amenities. All our meals were delicious and the seafoods tasted fresh.

During our stay in Otaru we visited a sake brewery, a music box museum (actually a shop) and Miyakodori (their main shopping street). As expected, there were lots of small eateries, especially ice cream and pastries. We also witnessed a group of drummers promoting, we guessed, a shop.

We were up quite early on Monday morning so we decided to walk to the Canal before breakfast. Surprisingly, there were very few people at that time, so I was able to take a few shots of my model without any distraction.

After breakfast, we left north-east for Furano, visited a cheese factory in the morning, and had grilled pork and beef lunch at Yamadori Gyukaku, a small family-managed restaurant. Surprisingly they were playing Western jazz music. Again, the food was excellent. We have to commend JTB for their excellent choice of hotels and restaurants.