Hokkaido: No One Knows I Went Here. Not Even Me.

Introduction: October is a Freaking Mess

Following last week's blog post. This week has been such a crazy week. These all happened to me (including, but not limited to):

• Had beef with a friend of mine because of a stupid joke (Wallahi, we're finished — why am I so bad at vibe-checking?)
  • I should get my brain checked, bruh — I knew the said person was a no-no, but still.
• I bricked my left earbuds (the update failed).
• Another pair were gone in Australia.
• I bricked a HK$8,000.00 camera; they're gonna charge me $200.00 for it. After discussing for a whole month.
• My left earlobe is bruising because I keep sleeping on my left side.
• Broke my Anki record because I was too tired, and now I'm too lazy to continue it.
• Addicted to vibecoding using Claude, Codex, and OpenCode.
• I gained 4 kgs after these two consecutive trips.
• I'll travel to India on the 16th of October 2025 (today is the 12th, FML).
• Anthropic account got banned.
• Hotel? Trivago.

Knowing that the world will end sooner because of AI — hardware and robots will be the fucking endgame — I will probably get fat, lazy, and unable to do anything anymore. And with less than (optimistically) 60 autumns left to spend, with only about less than 10 of them in my prime, I might as well spend 2 days of my life going to Hokkaido to enjoy the foliage.

At this point I'll just ignore all the fatigue, economy risk, and health, and just let me enjoy my time in Japan. — Hocky, 2026

9th October 2026: The Night Before The Flight

A weekend trip is the easiest trip of them all — you simply can't forget anything. I didn't pack much. I slipped in 2 shirts, 3 underwear, a pair of shorts, and a pair of pants. I got my sling bag and took the minibus to Sha Tin, then headed directly to the airport. It's gonna be a 4-hour + 90-minute flight, transferring via Haneda. Not buying an economy flight this time, so they'll definitely disturb my sleep by giving me good food. Btw, the gate is 67. sixxxx seeeveeeen.

I got myself a good aisle seat; I picked the seat a long way before the flight. Thanks, past me. Japan Airlines is so goated — they gave a pillow and blanket. The food was flaked salmon and rice, a really good late-night dinner. Sleeping was... horrible. But at least the seat was very comfortable, so I didn't get back pain. Landing and immigration in Haneda were so easy — as always, pogged Japan. Transferring with a shuttle bus from the international terminal to the domestic terminal was also so fast and convenient. I almost got myself a cup of Baskin-Robbins from the vending machine... God. — Losing weight is a miracle at this point...

Landed at New Chitose Airport at around 8:10 AM and connected directly with the train to Susukino. I prebooked a bus ticket to Jozankei, a small onsen town with really pretty foliage. The bus was scheduled for around 10:30 AM, so I went to a seafood market nearby to get myself some breakfast.

My first food in Hokkaido was this lovely bowl of uni, crab, and salmon roe, together with a fish head soup and a Yubari melon soft serve. After breakfast, I walked around the market and a shopping street to the pickup station. Unironically, on the bus, me amimir. I was a bit exhausted back then, but waking up was so fresh!

I arrived at this place called Hoheikyou Onsen. I picked this stop because it was the closest to the dam. But it was blazing hot, so I ended up ordering an Uber to go to the Hoheikyou Dam bus parking place — which was a 2.5 km incline walk away. There, you can ride an EV bus to go to the dam, going through two tunnels, about 2 km.

Prettiest view in Japan yet! Top 2 prettiest view after Almaty's Snow Mountain — you can read my previous Kazakhstan blog about this!

They also have a waterfall nearby. Unsurprisingly, I spent a little over one hour there; going back to the town was already 15:00. I walked a good amount exploring the town, got myself a Shine Muscat Crepe! Walking around while thinking about life, I went to the bridge, the waterfall, and hiked a bit. Bought a cute kappa plush. The time was 16.20-ish and I visited an onsen nearby. Spent about one hour there.

The onsen was really good, they have outdoor view. Going back was really tiring; I took a local bus at around 17.30, heading back to Susukino! Checked in the hotel at around 19.30, I was starving and ready for dinner! Initially, I wanted to try their classic lamb bbq, the thing that people call Jingisukan (Genghis Khan — apparently). But I ended up at a very delicious-looking local Miso Ramen shop!

Dinner took me about 30 minutes. Walked around the area and planned to go to a cabaret show bar. But the 21.00 show was full, so they told me to come back at 23.00. At this point a normal human being will just call it a day and go to sleep, right? Not me.

I walked to Odori Park, was walking around looking for this local fried karaage called Zangi. Ended up eating it at about 21.30. Finished eating after an hour, I was doomscrolling while so freaking exhausted.

Guess what, the cabaret show was really amazing. Haha. Showered and slept at around 2 AM. What a crazy day. I am also curious how I can be so energetic while not sleeping for 48 hours.

Nuts.

10th October 2026: Can I... Do Laundry Today?

The bar last night was crazy. I smelled like smoke. Today's plan is Otaru. I checked out from the hotel and checked Google for the fastest way to go there. Took a bus there. Got extra sleep again (sleepyhead). I woke up at around 9 AM; AI recommended me to go to Sankaku Market — surprise, it was packed with tourists looking for lunch. So I ended up just walking to the canal.

Initially I was planning to do laundry while walking around there.

I found a Panjyu store; I got the soft serve with 2 small cakes and red bean paste, also various panjyu cakes. They kinda taste like thick waffle. Lol. Nothing special. I should've filled my stomach with sushi/sashimi and skipped the ice cream. There, I booked a cruise at 14:00, so until then, I'll just walk around the seaside.

There was a Sunday bazaar-ish where the kids dance there. I got myself a Yubari Melon nearby — it was okay, tastes just like ... melon. Also got myself a squid shumai. Also, tastes just like .... shumai. The canal is very beautiful... Walked around there and ate some Kaiju Lemon croquette! It's really good! Also got some fried sweet potato mochi cake. There, I tried the Jingisukan barbeque finally! It was just okay lol. The meat was really-really tender though. But it still smells like lamb. Surprisingly, I didn't smell like BBQ after eating! Pogged!

Time was about 16:30, the JR train there actually passed the seaside, so the sunset view was really good there!

One thing that I didn't know: New Chitose Airport was soooo amazing. It has so many museums, Miku exhibition, so many good shops, foods, lounges, cinema, ONSEN with an outdoor airplane view, WET MARKET?!?! I tried the canelle, milk matcha, some free food tastes.

Before flying back, I actually tried the onsen! It was really refreshing. The flight was so annoying though. I picked the window seat just to get... a NON WINDOW SEAT.

Well, at least the cow cookie I got from the airport was great. Well, at least the late dinner from Haneda to Hong Kong is a really great braised pork with cheese tho! And the ice cream too! A very unique taste, even the label of the Haagen-Dasz has the JAL sign. Amazing.

Closing

Nothing much. This trip is too 67, but somehow not as tired as travelling from/to Indonesia! Somehow, I got an idea to use AI to modify myself though. It can access an online store and find me good things.