It was officially our first day of adventure in Japan and we couldn't be more excited for it after a long flight and also losing our way while trying to find our airbnb apartment the previous day. We will be spending nine days in Hokkaido before flying back to Tokyo to spend the remaining 4 days of our trip. Sapporo was our first stop and we didn't plan to spend too much time here so we only had a day here before we're off to other parts of Hokkaido. 

Read on to see what we did in a day in Sapporo:  

1. Visit to the Curb Market  

Of course, seafood will definitely come to your mind when you're planning a trip to Hokkaido (salivating thinking about the deliciously sweet crab we had in Hokkaido...). Hokkaido is known for it's fresh seafood so we couldn't miss out having it as one of our meal there. In Tokyo, there's the famous Tsukiji Market and in Hokkaido, they do have their own famous morning market as well. There's two morning market in Sapporo, the curb market and the Nijo market. 

Because we only had a day here, we had to be up early so we could start our adventure even earlier and it also means fresher seafood breakfast. We took the train to Soen Station and then a few minutes walk to the curb market. 

It was my first trip to Japan and everything was so fascinating to me! Just by walking on the street, I could see snow capped mountains, tulips by the side of the road (which we will never see it by the side of Singapore's road...), even the road seems quieter as compared to Singapore. It was such an exciting walk from the train station to the curb market. 

I am so glad to have a walking GPS with me and after about half an hour of travel by train and a little walking, we're finally here at the curb market. Seeing the rows of shops just makes me even more excited than I was already. From crabs to sushi to melons, you can find probably everything and anything you want here! There's even a shop solely selling local food products. 

While walking and deciding which shop to enter, we got to try many samples and gosh, Japanese are really generous! We ended up randomly choosing a shop to have our breakfast. It was a tough choice. 

2. A walk through the park to the Hokkaido Shrine

Since we're already in Hokkaido, why not give Hokkaido Shrine a visit? Besides, it's only a few train stops away from the curb market. It's a Saturday when we went so I expected lots of people but no, you can probably see Japanese families having picnic at the park but it's not that many people actually, especially not that many tourist and I'm so glad for this. 

The weather there helped a lot because we did a lot of walking that day and would have died if we did the same in Singapore even in just T-shirts

Walking through the park took about 10 minutes before we reached the entrance of the Hokkaido Shrine 

You can also have some desserts here at Rokkatei. The perfect weather to have some even if it's under the sun. It's just right beside, about 5 minutes walk from/to the shrine. The only thing to note is the amount of crows in Japan. We actually got chased by crows when we were having a crepe at the park. The crows are much bigger than the ones in Singapore, I'm serious about this. 

3. Tanukikoji 

4. Chitosetsuru Sake Museum

It was a 20 minutes disappointing walk here from Tanukikoji to find out that there's nothing much to do except to look at the sakes that they have in store. But if you're into that, then this place is for you.

5. Mount Moiwa

The only thing that I always look forward to is seeing mountains in Japan. The feeling of finally seeing one after having lived in a city for so long. The last on our list to do in Sapporo was to visit one of the famous sightseeing spot in Sapporo, Mount Moiwa. It is really famous and plus, it's a weekend we're going on so be prepared for the overflowing tourist and locals at the same time. 

To get to the top of Mount Moiwa that is 531m above sea levels, a ropeway followed by a cable car is needed to bring you up there. It is also possible to trek up Mount Moiwa which we did saw some locals doing it. 

On this side, you can see the city of Sapporo. 

And on the other side, you see the endless of mountains. While waiting for the sky to darken, we had to catch several breaks in between going in and out of the viewing deck to escape the cold wind. Although the mountain wasn't that high, but it can get very cold when the wind gets strong.

A little while later, you get to see the entire city light up

It was a really exciting and tiring day for us because we actually walked the streets for 12 hours. It's definitely not enough to cover the entire Sapporo in a day but we managed to cover everything we wanted to see and that's about it. 

Visiting the Unkai Terrace was top on our list to do when we took a trip to Hokkaido. The Unkai, or also known as the "sea of clouds" doesn't happen all the time and only if it's your lucky day, you might not be able to see them. This year, the unkai terrace is opened from 14 May till 17 October 2016. I was so happy to hear that because the dates weren't confirmed until a week or two before our trip so it was kind of a gamble to add this into our itinerary. 

The terrace is actally located within the Tomamu resorts. We were a little lost when we drove there but if you're driving there, park your car at the first carpark you see at the resorts. It is very easy to spot because there'll be a lot other cars there as well. Parking is absolutely free! To reach the terrace, a shuttle bus will take you from the resorts entrance to the next place where a 13 minute gondola ride is needed to bring you up to 1,088 meters above sea levels where the terrace will be located at the end of the ride. If still unsure, just ask any of the staffs there! 

Because we weren't staying within Tomamu, we had to be up really early on this day plus another hour drive to reach here. But this is one thing I'll never regret having to do because the view was so worth my sleep although we missed the sunrise. You might probably have to be up at 3am to catch the sunrise, yes it is that early. You can also choose to stay at the resorts located in Tomamu depending on your budget. 

This place actually turns into a ski resorts during the winter period

A little walk further down leads you to this view right here. How stunning is this? I wish I had this view in Singapore every single day.  

It was probably about 4-6 degrees that morning and so cold that we decided to warm ourselves with some soup and cocoa from the cafe at the terrace plus, have an early breakfast before heading back to our apartment and start hitting the road again. Since this place is a popular sightseeing spot, I was preparing myself and expecting many people but there was none. Maybe just a few but not too many to be able to enjoy the amazing view while having our mini breakfast. We are very lucky. 

We spent about 45 minutes to an hour here before we left.