Century Royal Hotel, Sapporo, Japan

The one great thing about this hotel is its location. It is super convenient, directly connected to Sapporo JR station.  It is an old hotel, opened in 1973, and last renovated in 2013. 

We stayed in a family room where they converted the living room to fit two extra single beds. I chose to sleep on the sofa bed as it was closest to the window.  The bed was so bad, you could feel the spring below the bed. Unfortunately, the main bedroom lacks a window, which was disappointing, but it does have an extra sink that I found useless. 

The view of snow falling in Sapporo city from the large window of our high-floor room is stunning; we didn't need a TV with this kind of view. As I told my children, we have an HD live view right here. I often stayed up at night just to watch the snow falling. It's so beautiful.

The room was clean, as is typical of any Japanese hotel we've stayed in.

Breakfast was good, but breakfast at Nest Hotel was even better.

The lobby area is spacious, and you can go down to the lobby to get your new amenities there.

The location:

Shanghai + Sapporo | Itinerary & Budget

Our actual itinerary, trips to Shanghai, China and Sapporo, Japan in March 2024.

Shanghai

Day 1- 1st March - Friday

KIA - KLIA - Pudong

Checkin Pudong hotel

Day 2 - Saturday 

7am - Purchase luggage access at Spring Airlines counter, Pudong

9am - Took the Maglev to Shanghai city

Took a taxi to Atour Hotel, The Bund

Lunch at Nanjing Road

Took the train to Yu Yuyuan

Back to the hotel by Didi

Shopping at Nanjing Road

Dinner

9pm - The Bund

Day 3 - Sunday

Breakfast at hotel

Shopping at West Nanjing Road

11:30 Took Uber to St. Ignatius Cathedral

12noon English Mass at St. Ignatius Cathedral

2pm - lunch at Xujiahui Mall

3pm - Took the train from Xujiahui Station Park to Lujiazui station, TV Pearl Oriental.

5pm - Took Didi back to hotel

6pm - Shopping at West Nanjing Road

9pm - dinner at Grandma Restaurant

10pm - The Bund

Day 4 - Monday

7am - The Bund

8am - Breakfast at a Michelin guide restaurant near our hotel

9am - Took Didi to Qibao Water village, RMB55.44

2pm - Took Didi back to the hotel, RMB62.19

4pm - Took Uber to shop at Qipu Lu

Day 5 - Tuesday 

5am - Requested hotel staff to arrange for a taxi to Pudong airport

Sapporo

Day 1 - 5 March

Lunch - Omurice, Japanese Egg Rice

4pm - shopping at Tokyu Hands

Dinner - Ippudo Ramen

Day 2 - 6 March

Breakfast at hotel

Train to Otaru

Taxi from Otaru JR station to the canal

Kaisendon for lunch at Sansaku Fish Market

1pm - took the train back to Sapporo

4pm - took Uber to Mt Moiwa ski resort

6:45 - took the bus to Susukino train station, followed by train back to Sapporo station

Dinner - Butadon

Day 3 - 7 March

Shopping at Susukino and Second Street

Day 4 - 8 March

6am - JR train to New Chitose Airport

10pm - flight back to Kuching

Our planned itinerary, which we had to make some changes due to time and weather constraints.

Day 1 - 1st March - Friday

Klia

Checkin Pudong hotel

Day 2 - Saturday 

To Nanjing road

Shopping

Yu Yuyuan

Day 3 - Sunday 

12noon St. Ignatius Cathedral, Xujiahui Station Park

TV Pearl Oriental, Pudong 400y includes buffet/ boat. Lujiazui station

Day 4 - Monday

AM - Qibao Water village

By Metro - Take Metro Line 9 and get off at Qibao Station. Leave from Exit 2 and walk south for about ten minutes to the old town

PM - shopping Qipu Lu

Day 5 - Tuesday 

4am - Pudong airport

Sapporo

Day 1 - 5 March

Lunch - beef rice

PM - Otaru 

JR train - 750y per way/person  RM24

Sankaku

Naruto

Uber-Otaru Canal

Dinner pork rice

Day 2 - 6 March

Breakfast at hotel

Kokaisou ski resort, gate 17 bus 1.5 hours

Mt Moiwa ski resort, Uber

Lunch at Moiwa

Dinner Susukino

Sapporo tram

Day 3 - 7 March

Shopping - Tokyu Hands

Sapporo tram

Day 4 - 8 March

Airport

Our Budget for flights and hotels:

Flight tickets (AirAsia): Kuching - KL - Kuching RM3k+

Flight tickets (AirAsia): KL - Pudong, Shanghai RM5k+ 

Flight tickets (Spring Air, China) : Pudong, China - Chitose, Sapporo, Japan RM3k+

Flight tickets Chitose - KL (AirAsia) RM5k+

Pudong Hotel, Shanghai RM500

Atour Hotel, The Bund, Shanghai RM3400

Century Royal Hotel, Sapporo RM2700

Japan vs Korea

 *This is solely on my own personal experience.

We have been to Japan 3x and Seoul x1, maybe if I have been to Korea 3x, my opinion would change.

1. The Bakery. The bakery in Japan smells heavenly.  You can smell the fresh pastries from miles away, ok I was exaggerating. But seriously, I spent so much in Japan's bakeries because of their smell and tasted so goood.  I didn’t even stop by any bakery in Korea cause I didn’t smell anything. Japan 1 - Korea 0

2. City Train. Seoul’s train is better.  Lots of entrances, and easy connections. Clear signage and announcements. Japan 1 - Korea 1

3. Food.  Generally, I prefer Japanese food. Korean food is more like an overpriced home-cooked meal. Japan 2 - Korea 1

4. Surprise elements.  Japan offers more surprises for me.  I really felt like an alien/culture shock when I first arrived in Japan.  Which is a great experience for a tourist. So many wow elements.  Japan 3 - Korea 1

5. English speaking. Generally most younger Korean can speak English, and some older ones can speak Mandarin.  So not much language barrier for me. Japan 3 - Korea 2

6. Shopping.  When I travel, I prefer to buy local, especially locally-made leather goods. It was so difficult to find in Korea, and not easy to search online.  In Japan, they highlight more of their locally made product, in Korea, they highlight more LV, Channel, Prade, etc. Japan 4 - Korea 2

7. Pricing.  In short, I trust Japanese prices more.  I feel like somehow I got scammed in Korea, my bargaining skill is not good. Everything is just fixed price in Japan, easy. Japan 5 - Korea 2

8. Street food. This one Seoul wins big time. Myeongdong on a good day feels like a food festival street.  We can hardly find street food in Sapporo.  Japan 5 - Korea 3  (I totally forgot about Dotonbori, Osaka, when I wrote this. Gomenasai)

Seoul, Korea - May 2023

Sapporo, Japan - May 2019

Hokkaido 2019 | Otaru

Otaru town is famous for its abundance of fresh seafood.  The 1st thing we did when we reach the town was to look for a seafood place or to be exact, a sashimi place, or even better, a fish market that served fish seafood.  Luckily we found this Sankaku-fish-market.  Because it was already quite late in the afternoon, most of the stalls were already closed for the day.  Thank goodness there are some that were still open, saving the day for us.

We quickly grab our seats and placed our orders.  This is where I develop my love for Kaisendon.

The Kaisendon portion was huge and the seafood and the freshness was beyond compare, ohh soo good.

Snow crab kaisendon

Mixed salmon, salmon roe and sweet shrimps.

If I ever come back, I will have Salmon roe, snow crab, and uni, hopefully soon.

After the satisfying meals, we went around the town for more photos opt.  We visited the must-see Otaru Canal and captured as many photos as we can there before we rush back to Sapporo town.

We left Otaru town slightly before 7pm, I can still clearly remember the beautiful sunset while driving along the highway by the seaside.

Hokkaido 2019 | Jozankei Dam and Asari Dam

From Jozankei we continue our drive toward Otaru town.  We took the scenic countryside road that passes through tunnels and 2 hydro dams.

1st one is the Jozankei Dam. Completed in 1989 and there also a museum that is free for entry.

And the 2nd is the Asari Dam in Otaru area.  Completed in 1993, and the man-made lake which resulted from the construction of the dam is called Otarunai Lake.

Hokkaido 2019 | Jozankei

Jozankei is an onsen town about 1 hour drive from Sapporo city.Jozankei Onsen (定山渓温泉, Jōzankei Onsen) is located inside Shikotsu-Toya National Park.  There are many footbaths station can be found around the town, and of coz there is plenty of onsen ryokan there too.

Kappa legend is the mascot of the town.  You will find many Kappa statues around the town.  And the souvenir shops also selling items like keychains out of Kappa image. Cute but mystical.

Kappa

My cute Kappa keychain

1st thing we do when we reach there was to look for a lunch place.  We found this small home base cafe not far from a foot bath station.  We ordered the common menu like ramen, fried rice, and pork skewers.  There’s one thing special that we ate there is the chicken skin dumplings.  It was so yummy, juicy pork meat wrap in crispy chicken skin, such a sinful dish, one plate was not enough we had to re-order. Haha.

Ramen

Skewers

The yummylicious chicken skin dumpling

After our meal, we walked over to the footbath for our 1st onsen experience.  It was nice to soak our feet in the hot water on the cold windy day.

Beautiful scenery at the corner of the town.

After the footbath,  we went looking for the red Futami suspension bridge.  We took the longer route, did a bit of trekking before reaching the bridge.  It is a beautiful place, but I am sure it is more beautiful during Autumn and Winter.

Me and my cameraman.

Hokkaido 2019 | Moai Statue and Pink Moss

From Takino Park, we continue our drive to Jozankei onsen town.

But we make a few pit stops along the way.  1st stop was at Makomanai Takino Cementery.  There are this row of huge Moai replica near the entrance. The area was still under construction when we were there.  Apparently there are many other famous replicas in there, we just drive slowly 1 round in the area.  You can read more about the place here: https://hokkaidoguide.com/makomanai-takino-cemetery/

Cold wind blowing on a sunny day.

2nd stop is the Pink Moss garden.  We saw this area with lots of Pink Moss, Shibazakura flower, just by the road side.  Apa lagi, wajib la singgah sekejap tangkap gambar kan. The perks of self-driving.

Hokkaido 2019 | Takino Suzuran Hillside Park

On Day 2 of our trip in Hokkaido, we rent a car to go outside of the city.  Our 1st destination for the day is Takino Suzuran Hillside Park. 

Takino Suzuran Hillside National Government Park is the only national government park in Hokkaido. Within the 400-hectare grounds, there’s a colorful flower garden, large playground equipment, three waterfalls, and a forest that’s perfect for a stroll. 

We only visited the flower garden.

Opening hour: 

April 20 - May 31, September 1 - November 10: 9:00 - 17:00
June 1 - August 31: 9:00 - 18:00
December 23 - March 31: 9:00 - 16:00 

Fee:
Adults (15 years old and over) ¥410, Under 15 years old are free, Senior (65 and over) ¥210 

Nothing much to say, we just enjoy the view and the fresh air there, very relaxing and refreshing.

The entrance and ticketing booth, buy your tickets from the 4 machines on the right side.

Hokkaido 2019 | Susukino

 After resting in the room for a few hours, we went out for dinner and sightseeing.

Our destination is to Susukino area.  Susukino is a red-light district in Sapporo.  There were so many restaurants around the area and many people too.  Not sure what and where to eat, we just walked around. Then suddenly we saw this one familiar restaurant, Gyoza No Osho.  We used to dine at their branches in Kyoto and Osaka.  So we went inside, there was a short queue, we waited for a while for our table.

Sadly we could not find our favourite mushroom and pork dish on the menu.  Maybe the mushroom dish only available during Autumn.  Nonetheless, we had a good meal of ramen, egg rice, fried chicken and gyoza.

After dinner, we continued browsing around the area before we call it a day.

The Sapporo Streetcar (札幌市電, Sapporo shiden) 

Sapporo city tram, mesti mok tangkap gambar ni.

That’s how we spent our Day 1 in Sapporo. Sweet memories indeed.

Hokkaido 2019 | Odori Park

Odori Park, Sapporo’s central park. 

From The Former Hokkaido Government Office, we continued our walk to Odori Park. The weather was so good, at 15 degrees, cool breeze blowing to your face. We just seat there for about an hour enjoying the views and fantastic weather. ohh I really miss those moments. 

There are many benches provided around the park. I imagine sitting there with a book in my hand, and maybe a cup of good hot white coffee, I am sure I can stay there for hours. For now, let just paint that image in my head.

Japanese school uniform

Flowers every way.

After Odori Park, we walked to the Clock Tower, took some photos, and went back to the hotel for checkin.