Hokkaido: Lavender Farm & SNOW MOBILE!!!

A never-ending stream of pictures and snow. Was at Isetan Scotts on Sunday and found out there's a Hokkaido Fair going on in the basement supermarket. How coincidental~

Everything at the Hokkaido Fair was crazy expensive though, am glad I ate my fill in Japan. ;)

~ 好冷~雪已经积得那么深。Are you my snowman, 我最爱的人？~

Hokkaido is renowned for Lavender, to the extent that even the Hello Kitty in Hokkaido wears purple. 

Flowers are, needless to say, not in bloom, given the harsh extreme cold temperature. We couldn't even stand 20 minutes in the cold, not to mention such a delicate thing as a flower...

 This is the flower/lavender field. No way of knowing what field it is exactly, all white and covered in snow...

This is what you will see if you visit when the flowers are in bloom:

 I'm sure working in these fields will make one sleepy...

 It all looks pretty and nice, but the cold was stinging right into our bones. Be VERY well-equipped if you wish to challenge snowing countries. Make sure your face, head, ears, hands, feet, everywhere, are well-insulated.

Or else...

 Really unbearable.. See the ice cream my mum was holding? The walk from the Tomita Cafe to the Greenhouse took 15 minutes (plus all that phototaking), and the ice cream remained SOLID throughout~

 See! No melt at all! Ice cream in cold weather~ YUM!

And if you're wondering why it's purple, it's LAVENDER ice cream! Got lavender fragrance!!!

 Got Korean feel? ^.^

 This is supposed to be the walkway linking each distillery, but they were so flooded with snow we could no longer tell that it is a walkway.

We didn't manage to visit any distillery as they were closed. But on some months you can catch them doing the lavender essence extraction!

 Me and Mummy! （Note the still-intact ice cream.)

 It's a huge farm and if you come at the right season, it's a myriad burst of colours!

 BYE FARM TOMITA & MR SNOWMAN!!!

 Spotted an igloo on our way off!

That's Huixian trying to crawl in.

 I went in too, and it was so much warmer inside than outside! So being in an igloo in such harsh weather can really keep the eskimos (and boliao ppl like us) warm!

NEXT! Whoa this is exciting. We went to try the SNOW MOBILES!!!!!

It's like a motorcycle, or a go-kart, except that you ride it in the snow (try motorbiking in snow and you will die a horrible death, or just keep falling flat in the snow), and there are no tracks!

 Important item: Snow boots. Much like PCK fishmonger/construction worker boots, except they're made of thicker material to protect your feet against the snow and the cold from the blowing winds when the snowmobile is in motion.

A helmet is required, so is a face cover.

 No, that WASN'T me with a total lack of fashion sense. Lol~

 The vehicles!

 That's Mum with her scarf, shades, wool hat, helmet, gloves, winter jacket, and a whole load of other stuff, on her own snow mobile.

 And Sis!

 Eh hem~

The amazing snowy landscape. Lol~ 

 Hi-jacked the instructor's snow mobile for a sut-kee picture~

#actonly

 Credits to Huixian for playing along with the role-play and making me look so cool.

 好美啊~~~

 Mum pretending to fall into the snow. 演技十足。

So I copied...

 Sis: Champion.

 Wonder how it would be like to sleep on a soft fluffy bed of snow...

To be honest, if you ever get the opportunity to try riding on a snow mobile, grab it. Especially in Hokkaido. Because whilst other places require you to go through a proper course, and some places not even allowing you to ride a snowmobile on your own (only allow as pillions), this one in Hokkaido lets you try to ride your own after just a 5-10 minute short briefing! The scenery and the experience was breathtaking, and of course, exhilaratingly cold. We even saw some bulls/cows/snow oxen while we were riding! From afar, of course.

I'm itching for it again...

(My lovely red R15, I still love you wholeheartedly. The snow mobile was just a fling. You understand, right?)