d.x.l on the road – Page 3 – Life in USA and France. Now moving to Finland… Japanese site is Japanese diary by husband D

2017年7月19日2017年11月14日

11 days in Hokkaido ~Japanese best nature place

Summer in 2016. We traveled Hokkaido! Hokkaido is one of the best nature places in Japan. It is very famous travel destination not only for foreign visitors, but also for Japanese. I invited my wife X to Japan before our marriage and we traveled Hokkaido during her visit. We used rental car to cover broad area in Hokkaido. We write summary in this post and will make a link from day ~ to the posts for travel details .

day 0 ~HANEDA Airport

I and my parents stayed nearby from HANEDA Airport (HND). I planed to meet X in HND this day. BUT, she could not arrive to HND because of very bad flight delay. Poor X needed to stay in Beijing airport and she could arrive to Shinchitose airport next day midnight.

day 1 ~Yubari and Sapporo

I and my parents took a morning flight to Shinchitose airport which is only an hour away from Sapporo, capital of Hokkaido. Because X were still in Beijing this time, we decided to go ahead to see Yubari. Yubari is economically collapsed city in Hokkaido due to the population decline. They are doing a lot efforts to make the town better again. After eating lunch here, we moved to Sapporo. After checking in to the hotel, we went to Sapporo JR station to eat Sushi. When we are eating, X finally arrived to HND. When I went to pick her up at Shinchitose, it was already around 12 midnight.

Hotel: Toyoko Inn Hokkaido Sapporo-eki Minami-guchi, Sapporo (東横イン)
Lunch: “restaurant oyama”, Yubari（おーやまレストラン）
Dinner: “Hokkaido Shikisaitei”, Sapporo station（北海道四季彩亭）

day 2 ~Sapporo, Biei and Asahikawa

We woke up not that early this morning because of X’s late arrival last night.
We visited Biei at first. Biei is very beautiful rural area in Hokkaido. Biei has a lot of flower gardens and trees, and so on. We visited “zerubu-no-oka” and “shikisai-no-oka”. They are very beautiful hill with bunch of flowers. We also visited “aoi-ike” which is very famous recently because it is used for the wall paper of macintosh computer.
We moved to Asahikawa city after additional a few stops in Biei. We checked in a hotel in Asahikawa and ate “ra-men”, Japanese soup noodle.

Hotel: Toyoko INN Asahikawa, Asahikawa (東横イン)
Breakfast:Toyoko INN has complementary breakfast!
Lunch: “Furokkusuhoru “, Biei Shikisaino-Oka（フロックスホール）
Dinner: “Matsuda”, Asahikawa（まつ田）

day 3 ~Asahiyama Zoo and Lake Saroma

We visited Asahiyama Zoo in this morning. Penguins, polar bears and sea lions are very famous in the zoo. We left the zoo around 3 and arrived to “Saroma-ko”, saroma lake. We checked in Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort. This hotel has very good hot-spa and excellent dinner!

Hotel: Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort, Kitami
Breakfast:Toyoko INN has complementary breakfast!
Lunch: “GARDEN TERRACE LION”, Asahiyama Zoo
Dinner: Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort provides good complementary dinner

day 4 ~Lake Saroma, Lake Kussharo, Lake Mashu, Mount Iou, Taiho Sumo Museum, Kaminoko Pond and Abashiri

The final destination of this day is Abashiri which is very close to Lake Saroma. So we decided to explore south side of this area. Main stops were Lake Kussharo and Lake Mashu, very popular lakes in Hokkaido. We also visited Mt. Iou. Iou is the Japanese word for sulfur. As you can imagine, this mountain is very smelly. We also visited “Kaminoko ike” which is nowadays getting attention in this area. Transparent water and fallen trees in the pond make the view very special.

Hotel: Toyoko INN Okhotsk Abashiri station, Abashiri
Breakfast: Lake Saroma Tsuruga Resort provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: “Poppo-tei”, Mashu station (御食事処ぽっぽ亭)
Dinner: “Victoria station Abashiri”, Abashiri (ヴィクトリアステーション網走駅前店)

day 5 ~Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum, Syari and Shiretoko

We visited Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum this morning. Abashiri is famous for Ryu-hyo (floating ices on Okhotsk sea). Unfortunately it was summer, so we decided to visit museum of Ryu-hyo. The museum was actually pretty good. Next, we drove to Shiretoko, the north-east pole of Hokkaido. After check-in to “Shiretoko daiichi hotel”, we saw extremely pretty sunset from “yuhi-dai”, which is one of the eight Shiretoko must-go.

Hotel: Shiretoko daiichi hotel
Breakfast: Toyoko inn’s complementary breakfast
Lunch: “Soba dokoro Ajisai”, Shari (そば処味彩)
Dinner: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet dinner

day 6 ~ Okhotsk Cruise, Shiretoko Goko and Star Gazing

Shiretoko was the main destination in this trip so we stayed in the same hotel two days. We tried the cruise tour in Okhotsk sea in the morning. Then we went to “Shiretoko Goko” in the afternoon. At night we went to see the beautiful stars in Shiretoko. We enjoyed the beautiful nature in Shiretoko using whole day.

Hotel: Shiretoko daiichi hotel
Breakfast: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet breakfast
Lunch: We bought lunch in seven-eleven
Dinner: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet dinner

day 7 ~Shiretoko, Rausu, Notsuke-Hantou and Nemuro

We ate good breakfast in hotel. We drove east coast of the Hokkaido to south. We stopped notsuke peninsula. This peninsula is very weird shape and we could see unique plants and trees. We checked in the hotel in Nemuro. We slept early not to miss the sunrise next day!

Hotel: Nemuro Kaiyo-tei
Breakfast: Shiretoko daiiichi hotel has complementary buffet breakfast
Lunch: “Restaurant Nobana”, Notsuke (レストラン野花)
Dinner: Nemuro Kaiyo-tei provides complementary dinner

day 8 ~Sunrise, Nosappu-Misaki, Nemuro, Kiritappu, Akkeshi, Kushiro

We woke up 1 hour before sunrise and drove to Nosappu-Misaki. Nosappu-Misaki is the most east point except for the small islands. Therefore it gives the earliest sunrise in Japan most days of the year. We could enjoy very impressive sunrise. After eating breakfast in hotel we went to see a few wetlands in this area, Kiritappu and Kushiro. We took a hotel in Kushiro, so we enjoyed beer and famous robata-yaki (kinda seafood BBQ).

Hotel: Toyoko-INN Kushiro Juji-gai
Breakfast: Nemuro Kaiyo-tei provides complementary buffet breakfast
Lunch: “Yachibouzu Cafe”, Hamanaka (やちぼうずカフェ)
Dinner: “Gannpeki Robata”, Kushiro (岸壁炉ばた)

day 9 ~Kushiro, Akanko, Tokachi

This day’s main target was “Marimo”, very rare round green alga. Marimo is living in Akan lake so we could see it during the tour cruise. Next, we moved to Tokachi. Tokachi is famous for plain land and hot spring. Especially Tokachi has so-called moor hot-spring. This hot spring is heated by the conversion energy from ancient plant to brown coal. So it has very blackish color! We picked the hotel which provides this moor hot-spring.

Hotel: Hotel Daiheigen
Breakfast: Toyoko INN provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: seven-eleven
Dinner: Hotel Daiheigen provide complementary buffet dinner

day 10 ~Tokachi, Obihiro, Kouhuku eki, Sapporo

After leaving Tokachi, we went to Obihiro to buy sweet snacks as gifts. “Rokkatei” is very famous sweets shop in Hokkaido and main shop is located in Obihiro. Then we went to “Kohoku station”. In Japanese, it means happy station, so it is very famous for Japanese people, especially for young couples. Finally we came back to Sapporo. We ate “kaiten-sushi” to celebrate safe and sound travel in Hokkaido!

Hotel: Toyoko Inn Hokkaido Sapporo-eki Minami-guchi
Breakfast: Toyoko INN provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: Michinoeki Nakasatsunai
Dinner: “Kaiten-Sushi Toriton”, Sapporo-Hiragishi (回転寿しトリトン平岸店)

day 11 ~ Sapporo, Shinchitose Airport

We walked around Sapporo a little in the morning. Then we drove to Shinchitose airport. We returned the rental car and ate lunch at the food court in Shinchitose airport. We also did a little shoppings in airport since they have good gift shops.

Breakfast: Toyoko INN provides complementary breakfast
Lunch: Food court in Shinchitose airport

D & X

2017年7月15日2017年7月15日

Aloha Hawaii – Pearl Harbor Memorial – Beautiful Plumeria

After we returned from the Big Island to Oahu, we picked up a rental car at the airport, and drove to our hostel. The driving was easy, but finding a free parking spot was not. After all, the hostel was located in the center of downtown. I circled around for quite a while, and finally got an on-street parking.

On the early morning of the next day, we checked out the hostel, and drove to Pearl Harbor. Before the visiter center opens (7 AM), there was already a long line waiting outside. People, including us, were trying to get tickets for the free tours to the USS Arizona Memorial. For us, we had to get morning tickets, because we had a flight to catch. Since one person can get several tickets, I was anxious while waiting. Unfortunately, when it’s our turn, the earliest tickets available were afternoon. We had to give up!

pearl harbor USS Arizona Memorial — USS Arizona Memorial

So, we just walked around the Pearl Harbor Historic Site. To be honest, I found myself more interested in Hawaii Plumeria 🙂

pearl harbor USS Bowfin Submarine — USS Bowfin Submarine

Then, we headed to the airport. I really enjoyed our Hawaii Trip. I actually wish I skipped more sessions in the conference 😉

Hopefully I will visit Hawaii again, and spend more days there.

2017年7月12日2017年7月12日

Aloha Hawaii – Mauna Kea Observatories – Big Island

To me, Mauna Kea Observatories was the main reason to visit the Big Island. Simply because astronomy has been my thing since I was little. Before this trip, I had never been to a real observatory, and suddenly I had the opportunity to visit one of the best ones! So, driving to Mauna Kea Observatories was exciting. On the way, we saw some sheep … wild?

And, there were … volcanoes! A bunch of volcanoes!! Volcano-looking volcanoes – I mean, they are different from what we saw in the Volcanoes National Park. These volcanoes have a bowl-shaped dip at the top.

Mauna Kea Observatories Volcano closeup — Colorful volcanoes have a bowl-shaped dip

After driving for a while, suddenly we were in clouds – and soon above the clouds. We could see more and more volcanoes. It’s a strange feeling – to be close to so many volcanoes. There were also dried lava visible in the far place.

The driving was not difficult, but we liked to drive in the center of the road. It’s a little bit scary when passing cars (only met a few). Finally we arrived at the top. It’s sunny and chilly. And the view was breathtaking!

Mauna Kea Observatories Volcano — Volcanoes

Mauna Kea Observatories Volcano road — Where does this road go to

There are many telescopes. I only knew Keck.

Mauna Kea Observatories Keck — Keck (one of the two)

Mauna Kea Observatories Keck IRTF — Keck and IRTF

Here are some other telescopes I don’t even know their names.

Mauna Kea Observatories — Other telescopes

Mauna Kea Observatories Radio Telescope — Radio Telescopes

To me, this place is heaven.

I regret that we didn’t spend one more day on the Big Island. I really want to go inside of those observatories, and see what I can see. I heard they have very good stargazing programs. In fact, on the way there is a complex for amateur astronomers. People there seemed to be waiting for the night. I wish I could join them!

2017年7月7日

Aloha Hawaii – Volcanoes National Park – Big Island

Volcanoes National Park was our first stop after arriving at the Big Island. Since we had an early flight, we were quite early at the national park (open 24h), weren’t we? Anyhow, there weren’t many people in the park. It’s like a lost world. If we had more time (if I go to the Big Island again in the future), I would love to try wondering on that black land.

Hawaii volcanoes national park lost land — The lost land

Hawaii volcanoes national park dried lava pattern — Dried lava pattern

We drove towards the seaside, hoping to see lava flowing into the ocean. Unfortunately, it was not possible that day.

Hawaii volcanoes national park dried lava — “River” of dried lava

However, we could see the the path of the flowing lava. Imagine that the black dried lava was boiling red and marching towards the ocean some days in the past…

Hawaii volcanoes national park dried lava river — Lava flowing into the ocean

Then we went to the Jagger museum to see Halema ‘uma’u Crater, one of the most active volcanoes on earth. It was easy to spot from far place, with high and big “smoke” (gas eruption).

Hawaii volcanoes national park — Halema ‘uma’u Crater from far place

The overlook in Jagger museum offers a closer view (still one mile away). I heard that the view would be much more spectacular in the evening. But we had to go to see the Mauna Kea observatories, where we could see a lot of volcanoes (although not nearly as active).

2017年6月29日2017年6月29日

Aloha Hawaii – Flying to my dream land – Big Island

I had one free day after the conference. The problem was there were too many attractions in Hawaii! Where should I go? The Big Island! Simply because the Keck Telescopes are there!

The round trip (HNL – ITO) airline ticket was ~$200 each. Hawaiian Airlines. We had an early flight, at 5:32 AM. It’s a short flight – 49 min. The returning flight was 8:59 – 9:48 PM. From our hostel to the airport, we arranged a shuttle, which came to pick us up. At Hilo Airport on the Big Island, we had a rental car. Originally I booked an economy car from Advantage, for $37. However, at the counter, the Advantage lady highly recommended us to get a SUV (after hearing us going to the Observatories). I forgot how much I paid to upgrade the economy car to SUV. I guess it’s a right decision.

It was an enjoyable early morning flight. We saw beautiful sunrise:

Hawaii big island sunrise

Hawaii big island sunrise 2

After the sun was up, we were descending.

Hawaii big island sunrise 3

Hawaii big island sunrise 4

After picking up the car, we headed towards Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Then we went to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. The garden is close to the ocean.

The garden is not very big. We followed the trail, and saw a lot of strange plants.

2017年6月15日

Aloha Hawaii – A different world – Waikiki and more

Several posts will be devoted to my Hawaii trip. Here are some general information.

Time: July 2013

– I was attending a conference in Sheraton on Waikiki beach. Why not have some fun? I took my mom to Hawaii as well.

Flight: From Las Vegas to Honolulu (on Oahu island), 6 hours, time difference is 3 hours, ~$ 220 per person one-way.

– Before going to Hawaii, we stayed in Las Vegas for two nights. Our flight to Honolulu was delayed. At first, the plane was called back from the take-off lane to add more fuel (wasn’t it weird?). Then, we had to wait for the storm to pass by. The airline blamed weather for the delay, and only gave us drinks. We were supposed to get to Honolulu by 9PM, but we ended up arriving after 1AM. Not a good start!

Accommodation: Hostel International (HI) Honolulu Waikiki, $25 per person per night.

– I booked two beds in a six-bed female room. Surprisingly, the staff there gave us an individual room! The room has a bunk bed and a restroom. The location of the hostel is super – just two blocks from the BEST part of Waikiki Beach. They also have various beach stuffs – we always borrow a bodyboard.

– I hope one day we can take Fu to Waikiki. Beach is surely the heaven for kids!

Places visited: Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor, the Island of Hawaii (Big Island)

– I am so glad that we went to the Big Island. That’s the best part of this trip 🙂

Restaurant: Marukame Udon (丸亀製麺)

– We went there three times. Every time there was a long line. Luckily the line moves fast, as the service there is fast. Basically you pick the type of soup (pre-made) for the udon noodle. They have tasty tempura too!

2017年6月8日

Feel Finland – The first week in Espoo

So it’s already a week. Although we are still getting used to the life here in Espoo, I think we always learn the most in the first week.

Espoo, with no more than 300,000 population, is the second largest city in Finland. It is only 10 km away from Helsinki, the capital and the largest city. Our apartment is in west Espoo. It is furnished, which helps a lot in terms of settling down. We are also glad that the markets are just 5 min walk. Two markets: Alepa and K market. They are not that big, a little smaller than Carrefour City and Simply in Grenoble, France. However, we can get pretty much everything we expect: food and home essentials. To get asian food and more home supplies, we will have to go to asian markets and large supermarkets. There are two supermarkets in the shopping mall that is 1 km away. Yes there are shopping malls here in Finland, similar to US. The two supermarkets are K supermarket and Lidl. Lidl is cheaper, same as in France. We have not yet tried it – we will. The living cost in Finland seems high. The rent is high; food is expensive.

The bus is costly as well – 2.9 euro for a single trip! Luckily one can purchase a long term pass, i.e. ~55 euro for 30 days. D just went to make a such bus card yesterday, and was told to wait for a week to receive the card. I have not yet tried the public transportation here. But I heard that the buses are quite on time, and can get you almost everywhere you want. One of the bus stops that are close to our apartment has several bus lines. In addition, with a baby in a pram, one can travel in public transportation for free! We really need to get a pram then!

Espoo bus — The close-by bus stop has several lines

It is early morning now! 4 AM to be accurate. The sky is pink ~ almost sunrise time. Since we are getting closer to summer solstice, the day is longer and longer. It will be like 19 hours the longest. Have you ever seen a 11 PM sunset? People here seem to enjoy the long daylight very much. After all, it’s much better than the long darkness, isn’t it? 🙂 Although the sun is up for long time, it’s definitely not hot here. In fact, it’s still cool – even a bit cold. Let’s see how hot it can be in July and August.

As you know, Finland (and other Nordic countries) is known for design. Design is truly everywhere in life. Even the apartment buildings are like art. I always like Chicago for the architectures, so I was immediately attracted by Finland. Once I get a pram, I want to take our baby to get around the town. The sky is so blue here; the air is fresh; plus we are so close to the ocean! We should enjoy the daylight before it’s gone.

Espoo ocean — Ocean is less than 10 min walk from our apartment

2017年6月4日2017年6月4日

CitizenM Hotel @ Paris CDG – I am a citizen now

When we traveled from France to Finland, we stayed at the CitizenM hotel at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The review of this hotel is exceptionally good, so I was a bit curious. Now I am convinced that this hotel totally deserves the high rating.

First of all, as a four-star hotel at the airport, its price is very modest. When I booked through Hotel.com about two months in advance, it was only a little more than US $100 (with a 12% off coupon though). Paying just 20~30 dollars more to stay right at the airport – why not? The hotel is located next to Hilton, close to Terminal 3. RER station is close-by. An airport train, TGVVAL, links all the three terminals.

Secondly, the hotel is very modern and high-Tech. I found the painting on the outside wall very attractive. The inside decoration is also stylish – every touch is full of design. The words on the walls are interesting. I believe that every single piece of decoration is picked/collected carefully. People, including me, cannot help taking photos. The checkin and checkout are done at a round table with computers. Not sure about the checkin, but the checkout is self-service. You just put the card key on a reader, and then check out on the computer. It takes a few seconds. Every room is equipped with an iPad mini, which can be used to control almost everything in the room: light, shades, TV, etc.

Thirdly, the staffs are nice. Since we traveled with a baby, the staff assigned us an accessible (larger) room, and offered a baby cradle. At the bar & restaurant, the bartender gave us a free beer 🙂 BTW, the food is good, and the price is ok – €24. Breakfast is about €18, with good selections of high quality.

Lastly, the room is extremely clean and quiet. The king bed and pillows are very comfortable. Wifi is stable and fast. Additional freebies include two bottles of water and MOVIES! Old movies and relatively new movies. I watched Passengers.

If I will stay at CDG again, I think I will go for CitizenM again. I heard it’s a chain hotel as well, so I will also look for it whenever I need a hotel.

2017年6月3日2017年6月4日

Zion National Park – Hiking Hiking Hiking

Thanks to our failure in the lottery for the Wave, we had plenty of time in Zion National Park. Being different from other national parks in our Grand Circle trip, Zion has more plants, and seems more family friendly. Zion is only 40 minutes away from Kanab. Private cars are asked to park in the big parking lot close to the visitor center. Shutter buses are running every 10-20 minutes, depending on the season and time.

There are numerous hiking trails in Zion. The two most famous and difficult ones are called The Narrows and Angel’s Landing. We did both!

The Narrows
The trail is actually a section of the Virgin river running in the canyon. It is thus very important to check the weather and the flood potential. There are special preparations needed to be done as well. Keep in mind that the water may be cold! Even in early September when the sun is out and people are wearing shorts, the water is cold. This is because the river runs in the narrow canyon, and does not get much sunshine. Also, prepare “special” shoes because they will get wet for sure. The other thing may be useful is a stick, as walking in the river is difficult – you cannot see how deep the water is or what you are going to step on. We didn’t have sticks, so we were quite slow.

Two ways to hike The Narrows. One can either hike top-down or bottom-up. Top-down is an overnight hike, and requires permits. Bottom-up is easier, and requires no permits. Therefore most people, including us, choose the bottom-up hike. We took the shutter to Temple of Sinawava. After hiking the 1 mile riverside trail, we reached the starting point of The Narrows. I could see that people were excited to hike this special and unique trail! The first step into the water was really cold. After a while, I kinda got used to it. Walking in the river was more difficult than I thought, but it’s a lot of fun! My mom and I sometimes had to hold hand to stabilize each other. We reached the starting point of Wall Street, and then decided to return. In total, we hiked about 5 hours.

Angel’s landing
This is also a unique trail. The first half of the trail is paved road. However, the rest is rocks. There is a thick chain along the trail, so I don’t find it very dangerous. In fact, I liked it a lot! :). It reminded me the Yellow Mountain in China! The trail to one of the highest peaks, Tiandu Peak, is a bit similar. But it’s a lot more steeper on Tiandu Peak! (I recently revisited Yellow Mountain, and I will write about it. D had already finished his blog about Yellow Mountain.) The end of Angel’s landing is the top of the mountain. Many people were sitting there and enjoying the view. We didn’t stay long, because we had to drive to Bryce Canyon National Park.

I am sure everybody can find some trails that they enjoy in Zion. I just feel lucky that we could do the two most unique ones!

One more thing about Zion. There are a lot of restaurant in Springdale. We tried one Thai restaurant (Thai Sapa), and the food we had there were surprisingly good!

2017年5月21日2017年5月21日

how to cook Japanese rice with a cooking pot

If you cook Japanese rice (or any rice), you can use a rice cooker. Of course, there are many good rice cookers available anywhere nowadays. But you may not have a rice cooker when you want to eat steamed rice suddenly!
Don’t worry, you can use a normal cooking pot to cook tasty steamed rice. I want to introduce the way to cook Japanese rice with a cooking pot in this post. The method may be okay for other types of rices but I cannot guarantee the taste 😉

Wash Japanese rice
If your Japanese rice is not written as no-wash-rice (無洗米), you need to wash rices. You can take about 500 ml of rices for 4 people, then put them into a bowl. You can add a lot of tap water into the bowl and wash the rices by pushing with a hand. You can do it strong as row rice is very hard. After pushing several times, you can exchange the water a few times to remove the white clouds in the water.
Water Absorption
Now you can transfer your rice into a cooking pot (Or, actually you can do 1st step in a cooking pot). Cooking pot can be anything if it has flat bottom and a good lid. The cooking pot is slightly better if it is teflon coated, but not necessary. I am using below metal pot recently. You can soak the rice about 1 hour in same amount of water as rice (~500 ml in this case) to absorb the water. You may want to use filtered water if you are living in a big city. Water absorption step is very important when you cook the rice with a pot. Otherwise, you will get undercooked rice!! A cooking pot for steamed rice
Cook
After waiting 1 hour, it’s time to start heating the cooking pot with a lid closed. Middle to high heat is good at first depends on a cooking top you have. Once you start to see the bubble from the water you can change the heat to low. Then, keep cooking 10 minutes. After 10 minutes you can turn off the heat. But don’t open the lid yet. Wait 10 minutes to steam the rice by remaining heat. After 10 minutes, open the lid and mix the rice. Now the rice is ready to eat 🙂

The rice may be a little hard or soft for the first time depends on your cooking top and/or cooking pot and/or kinds of rice. You can play with your heating way to get the best rice from your cooking pot 😉

BTW, it’s easy to get good Japanese rice in US or in Europe. US has good rices from california while Europe has good ones from Spain. Imported rices from Japan is, of course, very good but they are very expensive.