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Writer's pictureEka Wong

Hokkaido - New Chitose Airport to Furano

Updated: Nov 25, 2022

We've just arrived in New Chitose Airport at 1pm. It was a smooth process from picking up our luggage, heading to the Nissan Rent-a-car counter, and jumping into our small rental car.

First stop: Lunch! Why? Because we're famished from our long journey from Singapore-Tokyo-Hokkaido.

Lunch @ Kinsuian

錦水庵

Tel: 0123-73-7171

11am-4pm. Closed on Tue

Arrived almost 3pm.

We touched down at 1:15pm at New Chitose Airport, quickly got our car from Nissan Rent-a-car, and drove directly here.

I picked this Soba-ya because it was en-route to Furano, and it had an interesting decor.

Inaka Soba

Kinsuian has two types of Soba: Seiro せいろ (the whiter and thinner version) and Inaka 田舎 (the darker and thicker type). I chose to have my eponymous Kinsuian-soba dish 錦水庵そば with the Inaka type soba noodles. A great perk-me up dish, considering that I didn’t eat much on the plane earlier. The interior design is cosy. There were a few couples who were hanging around when we arrived, but by 3:30pm, we were the only patrons left.

Sandandaki Park and the Sandan Fall

三段滝公園, 三段滝

Along our journey towards Furano, we stopped for a brief moment to visit the Sandan Fall 三段滝. which translates to "Three steps of waterfalls”. Apart from the occasional rumble from the passing cars, all you can hear is the water gushing down the steps, and runs off into the river down below. There is a hut with a few benches. If we had planned better, I might have brought some tea and biscuits from the airport, and enjoyed them here while listening to the waterfall rumble. Much like a rock concert, Mother Nature’s style.

Random breath-taking spot

Location: Furano - next to some houses. Google Map link

As we were driving from Sandan Falls towards our hotel, we chanced upon this lovely sunset. A mini detour to a housing estate treated us to an amazing view. I hypothesised that the combination of the dense vapours in the valley and the rays of the sunset painted this lovely landscape. As the weather forecast had predicted a cloudy and possibly showers of rain the next day, we felt that we should enjoy the moment, and deal with whatever blows our way tomorrow.

We've now reached Furano - the town itself.

Stay @ Furano Natulux Hotel

富良野ナチュラクスホテル 北海道富良野市朝日町1-35 Tel: 0167-22-1777 https://www.natulux.com/

Because July is high season and we booked our hotels 4 weeks before our trip, we paid a lot for our room at the Furano Natulux Hotel.

After checking in, we wandered around Furano town for about an hour or so before grabbing dinner.

Dinner @ Kumagera

くまげら

Tel: 0167-39-2345. (Reservation not taken)

11:30am-midnight. Open everyday

Cards accepted.

Kumagera is one of the popular dinner spots in Furano town. Considering how quiet the town is at night, it is not a surprise why so many people flock here to dine after the sun has set. They are known for their Wagyu Roast Beef bowl 和牛ローストビーフ丼 (¥1980). The thin almost-rare slices of Wagyu lends a mildly fatty essence to the bed of steaming hot rice below. Think of a piece of raw Wagyu sushi expanded into the size of a bowl. Interesting. We really enjoyed the Sansoku Nabe さんぞく鍋 (¥1850 for 1 person’s portion, ¥3300 for 2). It is a traditional Miso-based hotpot, filled with chunks of venison, duck, and chicken meat, with a medley of stewed vegetables inside. This is delicious, and filling. Best paired with a bowl of rice. Kumagera also has cheese tofu (this fact is proudly announced at the Furano Cheese Factory). Think of a marriage between Camembert cheese and soft tofu. Somehow, it works!

Off to bed

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