Kushiro: 23rd Feb 2015

We woke up early this morning for breakfast and to visit other crane viewing spots, hopefully to catch more crane action! Weather was however not great, as it was raining heavily. Today is basically a Crane day! So pardon for many shots of the cranes from the various locations :)

Morning: Tsurui Ito Tancho Sanctuary

Over here, I find the light is pretty harsh as it is nearing noon time. A good 2 hours spent here. Looking at different angles of the cranes. Trying to find new backdrop to fit the cranes into and form a picture.

Look at the crowd of photographers!

Me and my camera setup!

Our group photo before heading for lunch

I can hear my stomach growling after a whopping 2hours.. and am so glad we were heading for lunch next. Same place just like the previous day, we had lunch at this quaint restaurant. This time, I had some pork chop and it tasted really great!

Afternoon: Tancho Observation Center

Us on the road to the next destination!

We went back to this centre, which we had visited the previous day. To our surprise, today there were many more photographers as compared to yesterday. We had to thickskin a bit to squeeze in and get a good spot for photoshooting. We were glad the weather had brightened up despite still cold.. but sunny day was better than a wet and cold day!

Evening: Tsuruimidai

Before heading back to Dosanko Farm, we visited Tsuruimidai. I liked this place as there were some trees and "pond" to spot the cranes quenching their thirst. Weather was getting really cold and we were anticipating the flight of more cranes as sunset was nearing... however..we were disappointed haha.. the cranes didnt fly the direction we were expecting..instead they headed the opposite direction! That was a pity but still a spectacular sight for people like me who saw all these for the first time :)

Sunset arrived and there wasnt really much to do except to head back to Dosanko Farm for a well-deserved rest after a whole day out in the cold. Too bad Dosanko Farm does not have onsen facility, if not I would have jumped right into it after arriving haha..our dinner menu was different for today, but the standard remained excellent for us. I guessed I would stop eating Jap food in Singapore for the time being after being amazed by the high standards of culinary in Japan itself!

Today came back with better photos than the day before, although there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of composition. I have never had the opportunity to shoot in the wild so intensely for the whole day, whatsmore in the shivering cold! Learnt more about myself, shooting, and to inject some creativity in the shots I'm showing here.. hopefully some of these could catch your eyes ;) More to come the following day as we are setting off to Rausu, a place to catch the early morning boat to see Stellar eagles in action!

Kushiro: 22nd Feb 2015

I had a great breakfast at the buffet breakfast provided by Comfort Hotel Kushiro. The variety was much greater than in Toyoko Inn. As time was early, I took a while to choose the food and had a sumptious breakfast, counting down to the wildlife adventures that is going to unfold.

My Teddy Bear, Ked, was enjoying the view of Kushiro train station from the hotel window.

I brought my luggage down to the lobby and waited for pickup by CS Ling and other photography folks participating in this trip. Luckily, everything went well for them with no flight delays. We happily set off for our first lunch together, somewhere near the Crane Centre.

This was my first time in a photography travel group. So it was a pretty refreshing experience!

The driver, who is also a tour guide who owns the Go-Hokkaido company, Takashi-san is a pretty friendly Japanese man with good driving skills as he maneouvered around the snowy roads. After lunch, we set off for our first stop at the Tancho Observation Center to see the mesmerizing crane dance. There are many other spots to see the Tanchos (Japanese Cranes) and we will be visiting several the following day. To many of us, this is a first-time experience! I was amazed at the crowd of photographers lining along the boundaries, with their super duper large telephoto lenses and tripods. Seemed that everyone was well equipped to capture even the slightest action of the Japanese Red Crown Cranes.

Let the Crane Dance began!

The young, being very active, hopping up and down to show the adult crane.

Feeding Time!

Saying Hello for the first time

Not just cranes, whopper swans were also spotted.

Shortly after setting up my camera and tripod, feeding session came by with a guy throwing food to the cranes. Then, more action unfolded as eagles arrived, targeting to grab hold any fish! I can only say the action is fast and furious. 

Crane calls, Swift action of the eagles, and the changing of territories between the swans and cranes made this first visit a memorable one!

It was my first attempt in shooting wild birds, not including those I saw at Jurong Birdpark. Although most shots were blur, but it was after all a learning experience and hopefully the rest of the trip would be a great one.

After about 2 hours of intense shooting, we made our way to Tsurui Dosanko Farm. I have never heard of this horse farm until I came across this trip. One could imagine the bliss of waking up early in the morning and seeing the ponies right in front of you once you opened your windows! Taking about simple bliss! Most of the folks were tired after a night flight. As for me, I could still withstand a bit so I went ahead to have some first meetup session with the ponies before dinner at 6pm.

A private moment

Some commotion happening!

Saying Konnichiwa for the first time!

An Emo Pony -_-

The ponies were very friendly to me, who is a novice in handling animals. They walked towards me a couple of times, somehow lining up to say Hello to me in fact... but I was a little frantic when they started walking towards me. I have the fear that they would jump over the fence and carry me up hehe..sorry..im thinking too much! The cold was sweeping in as it was nearing sunset at just 430pm.

So I went back and await for the delicious dinner prepared by the host! And we were not disappointed of course! Look at the feast!

Time for an Early Rest!

Sapporo/Kushiro: 21st Feb 2015

Upon checking out of Toyoko Inn, I deposited my luggage at the concierge and took the subway to reach Tanuki Koji shopping street. As it was still early, I wandered around. Shops along this street mostly open at 10am. 

Still very empty and shops were closed at the time I reached.

Spotted the Sapporo TV tower round the corner.

Shops were still closed! I visited this pet shop later in the day.

But I was glad to encounter Don Quijote.This is an amazing place. It is open 24hours and consist of several floors, which sells a genre of items, ranging from toys to winter clothes to food and cosmetics. I was really excited to come across this shop as I read about it in other magazines..and so I started exploring the highest floor to the 1st floor. 

Cosplay anyone?

winter clothes on sale!

Boy, all different designs of winter clothes started appearing in front of my eyes at real cheap prices! Moral of the story: Coming from Singapore where winter is a never-to-occur phenomenon, winter apparel are definitely sold more expensive than in Japan. You could just wear a basic jacket to Sapporo. Hop to the subway station and make your way to Tanukikoji. Get your winter clothes right here in the heart of Sapporo shopping! I bet places like Aurora Town, Pole Town also have loads of winter clothes on sales and these shops are usually tax-free if you spend above a certain amount. So there I was, awed by the choices and the prices. I basically could get everything there without lugging the load from Singapore.

Saw a few Ted merchandise and also the usual jigsaw puzzles which I hearted! Never understood why they were sold at exorbitant prices in Singapore until I bought my first jigsaw puzzle in Japan 2 years back. If I could, I would have purchased the jigsaw puzzle frame as well! But, I didnt haha..

After spending some time exploring this complex, I went out to visit other shops. There are a couple of pharmacies where you can get beauty products, interesting medical aids at real cheap prices. That also includes souvenirs, famed food products like Shiroi koibito cookies, Pocky in melon flavors.

And then, I chanced upon this following pet shop. The puppies and kittens were all so cute! I do notice most people in Sapporo have dogs, but I do not see pet owners with cats..

This was at the front window display!

Just woke up!

Kittens here were so adorable!

I have a train to catch at 220pm. So time is tight. After getting my "loot" from Tanukikoji and grabbing a quick lunch, I made my way to Muji at JR Sapporo station. There is yet another unknown reason why products are sold more expensive in Muji @ Singapore as compared to Japan. In Japan, Muji products have more varieties. So I was happily shopping around before the time was up to get ready for the 4 hour train ride to Kushiro!

So there I was.. dragging..really dragging my big fat luggage to the station from Toyoko Inn. Every effort to move my stuff really took so much energy out from me. In fact, I was perspiring in the cold winter. And I was so relieved it was a reserved seat as I did not have to face the same predicament I did on my first day with my fat luggage!

Train ride from Sapporo to Kushiro...you can see how the landscape changes outside the train window.. There aren't many buildings located at eastern Hokkaido, it is mainly occupied by huge vasts of land, which was then occupied with heavy snow when I was there. So I zzzed on and off until I reached the terminal station Kushiro! It was already pitch dark at 7pm. And it was so much colder than in Sapporo...

Once again, I dragged my luggage out of the station and I'm happy to see Comfort Hotel Kushiro signboard at a short distance away, kinda about 5min walk away. Saw some interesting sights along the way outside the station.

Looks very magical. I am not sure what this is for though? Maybe a mini celebration for snow festival in Kushiro.

 Checkin was smooth and the room was very clean. I was so happy to reach safely as I was initially afraid the train may be cancelled due to heavy snow. After placing my luggage, I went out to search for dinner but could not find any shops open :( So I settled upon some food purchased from 7-11. The only shop I saw still open at 7pm... 

Saw these marimos at Kushiro train station. These are famous at Lake Akan. Unfortunately, there was no time in this trip to visit the Lake Akan area. Should do it in next visit!

A satisfied stomach with some cold beer to send myself to sleep... Awaiting for the exciting wildlife adventure ahead beginning from tomorrow!