The 35th Chitose Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival 2013 | 第35回千歳・支笏湖 氷濤まつり

The "Chitose - Lake Shikotsu Hyoto Ice Festival" held at Lake Shikotsu Hot Spring area attracts a lot of people from Japan and abroad every year. About 30 big and small ice statues in this festival are created with water from Lake Shikotsu.The festival is a long-run event from the 25th of Jan. through the 17th of Feb.

You must be impressed with these wonderful "blue" ice statues. Lake Shikotsu is very transparent, pure and cold that can naturally make the ice cube blue, which is dubbed as "Shikotsu Blue".

I'll show you some of my favorite ice statues in this festival this year.
Look at Lake Shikotsu↓ Very beautiful, isn't it?

Go down the slope, and you will arrive at the festival venue.

Voila!
This is the main gate tunnel!

Today's temperature was - 3C. Not bad, isn't it? Hahaha! Anyway, when you come here, please wear a thick coat!

Are you ready? Let's enter it!

Wow! Wow! Wow! How romantic it is! It is like an ice wonderland!

■Blue Tower （ブルータワー）
After passing through the runnel, the huge tower welcomes you! Beautiful, isn't it??? I love this so called "Sikotsu blue"! It is 11m high, two meters higher than the one last year!

■Ice Falls （アイスフォール）
Beside the tower, there is a huge waterfall and

you can see kokanee salmon swimming in the basin. This smaller salmon is the landlocked version of the sockeye salmon and living in the lake. Actually it is very delicious!

■Moss Cave （苔の洞門）
Near the lake, there is a 420-m long moss-covered cave, which was formed through the eruption of Mt. Tarumae ,and is a tourist attraction now.
Every year a green ice cave like that natural cave is created in the festival venue. I really recommend this and you must love it! When you enter it...............

Tada!!!
See??? It looks like a real moss cave!!! Pine leaves are used for the art work.

At the end of the cave, kokanee salmon are decorated like an aquarium↓

■Child Rink
If I were a child, I could skate like them!!!!

■Blue chateau （ブルーシャトー）
Clime the chateau and

please enjoy the whole picture of the festival! Fantastic!!!

■Big Mountain （ビッグマウンテン）
We are so impressed with this mountain every year! Can you imagine local people not professional artists create these ice sculpture???

Amazing!

■Gig Slope
How exciting it is!!! Of course, we enjoyed it!

■Hyoto Shrine （氷濤神社）
The festival site has a shinto shrine, too!!! My guests are so excited!!

If you are tired, please drop by this food court in the venue!

Personally I recommend this food stand outside of the venue.

Look at the grilled chicken! It's HUGE!

How about a giant squid? Hahaha! Hokkaido is famous for its delicious fresh seafood!

There are several restaurants between the venue and the parking lot.

"Tonton" serves such a big tempura bowl! Yummy x 2!!!

When you come this area, please enjoy kokanee dishes like this↓ I recommend kokanee tempura!

"Kotobuki" serves

kokanee tempura soba↓ This salmon is very tasty!!

If you like sweets, I recommend "Mizu no uta"↓

Their cream puff is very appetizing!!!

At night, the statues are illuminated like this! Super beautiful!

It is very cold at night, but it's worth coming here and enjoying these colorful statues!

Every weekend and holidays, we can enjoy fireworks!

Please enjoy this admirable and gorgeous sight.

*Would you like to know the general information about the lake?
If so, please refer to my other post→→click here!

■Where is Lake Chikotsu?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

YS↑O2 （ワイエスオーツー）| Cafe Restaurant | Sapporo

"YS↑O2 （ワイエスオーツー）" is a small cozy restaurant located in Odori, Sapporo.
Actually it is difficult to find homely restaurants serving nutritionally-balanced meals at reasonable prices in the downtown area, where we can relax even without alcohol at night. I really recommend "YS↑O2 （ワイエスオーツー）"↓

The white walls and carefully-chosen ornaments make us feel comfortable. The owner is so friendly that you may feel as if you were at home with your family members.

Beside a menu book, they have a special menu↓

One of them is a "chicken and egg bowl", whose chickens are raised in an open yard, not an indoor farm. They stick to healthy ingredients.

I ordered a "dinner plate" with meat and a lot of vegetables! The main and side dishes are depending on the day.

Voila!
This is a "dinner plate".

The set includes small side dishes such as "namul (seasoned vegetables)" and "herb chicken". We, especially women, want to eat several kinds of small-portion side dishes with a big portion of main, right?

The minestrone has a lot of vegetable. Very nutritious, isn't it?

This rice is "Nanatuboshi （ななつぼし）", brand rice produced in Hokkaido. Their selection of ingredients is wonderful! We can have extra-large helping! Hahaha!

This is the main!

The grilled pork is covered with a lot of melted cheese and tomato olive sauce. Yummy x 2!!!

The plate has fresh green salad and..............

Grilled lotus roots are laid under the meat. Root vegetables can keep our body warm and be a perfect food especially during the winter time!

The sauce and cheese go well with this thick grilled pork!

This plate is only 1,000 yen!

I love this reasonable restaurant serving very healthy meals!

Just for reference, I'll show you one of their lunch sets↓

The set comes with the three kinds of appetizer↓

We can enjoy home-made focaccia as much as possible! Yes! The set comes with all we can eat focaccia!!! Wow! Wow! Wow!

In addition to that, we can order a large-portion pasta without any additional charge!!!! Perfect lunch, isn't it?

P.S.

They use milk directly purchased  from dairy farmers. I recommend their desserts, too.

■Where is "YS↑O2 （ワイエスオーツー）"?

View Larger Map

■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

DOLCE VITA（ドルチェヴィータ）| Confectionery Shop | Sapporo

There are a lot of recommendable confectionery shops in Sapporo and I like to find great ones in each area. How about "DOLCE VITA（ドルチェヴィータ）" near Costco?

Which should I choose??

They serve a lot of kinds of cute and delicious cakes!!

The rolls are also recommendable!

If you make a reservation, they will make original cakes like this↓

I selected chocolate cinnamon (bread) for breakfast,

some chocolate gifts for the Valentin's Day, and

some cakes like this↓ I love their cheese cakes and tiramisu.

The clafouti has a whole apple!!!!

As a Hokkaido ambassador (?!),  I also bought a baumkuchen make 100% of Hokkaido ingredients!

Milk, eggs, and flour produced in Hokkaido are super wonderful, and cakes make of the ingredients are perfectly yummy x 2!!!

■Where is "DOLCE VITA（ドルチェヴィータ）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Cream Douwa （くりーむ童話）| Ice Cram Stand | Akan National Park

When you come to Lake Mashu （摩周湖） and Mt. Iou （硫黄山） area, please visit "Cream Douwa （くりーむ童話）", my favorite ice cream stand↓

■Just for referesnce, if you are interested in this area, please refer to my other posts!
*Lake Mashu→→★★
*Mt. Ito→→☆☆

Even during the winter time, it is packed with a lot of ice cream fans!!!

Voila!
What should I order??? The kinds of gelato are depending on the season, but they usually serve around 15 kinds of gelato and sherbet, made of local fresh milk, fruits, and vegetables. Yes! This area is famous for its delicious milk and vegetables!!

First, please choose the number of scoops; from one to five. What? Five scoops!!!

If you are a beginner of this popular ice cream stand, I recommend akuramochi or cherry bloosom mochi （桜もち） flavor, which won the gold award in the Hokkaido Ice Cream Grand Prix!! Of course I ordered it with tomato sherbet!!! The rich flavor of sakuamochi and refreshing flavor of tomato sherbet are one of the best combinations!!!

How about pumpkin and milk, two of the most popular flavors here?

Hokkaido reminds a lot of people of blue-berried honeysuckle （はすかっぷ）, which is perfectly sour and sweet!!

I really recommend their gelato!

■Where is "Cream Douwa （くりーむ童話）"?

View Larger Map

■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!