It’s just under eight hours away from KL. While it is not a hop, skip and jump away Sapporo is the place to visit if you, like me, like snow and the cold.

Being a typical Malaysian, I get googly-eyed about all things snow. When home is an average sweltering 30C all-year-round, I can’t be blamed for wanting cooler weather and where possible and available, snow. I guess movies of people huddling around a fireplace toasting marshmallows and chestnuts seem cosy and inviting. Ed Sheeren’s ‘Perfect’ music video comes to mind. Nice, wish I was there. Hmm…

I did my research. Google assured me it was going to be cold and snowy. And, the information was correct. But never did I imagine it would be so snowy, and so brrr… cold.

It was -10C when my husband and I flew into Shin or New Chitose airport in Hokkaido. We planned to spend our week’s holiday skiing in Niseko for 2-3 days, doing touristy stuff for another 2-3 days in Sapporo and stay the last night in a log cabin in Tomakomai, a resort located near the airport, to catch our early AirAsia flight home.

Niseko Ski Resort lived up to its reputation as Japan’s number one and/or most popular ski resort. There was no mistaking that we had landed at a ski resort when we arrived at Niseko Central (our accommodation provider) in Hirafu Village. We wowed and oohed at being able to see the Grand Hirafu slopes from our studio unit while marvelling at some six inches of snow that was already sitting on our balcony. It didn’t look like it was going to melt anytime soon. That meant no outside time on the balcony without getting our feet wet and cold.

The skiing was great except that I hadn’t factored in how my fingers would suffer from the bitter cold and wind. Having always had poor peripheral circulation, my fingers turned blue and red and lost all sensation. I have skied in Hanuba Ski Resort several times before and this never happened. Cold, I was, but not to the extent of not being able to feel my fingers and ski poles. Despite added reinforcements like gloves, mittens and hand warmers, I could only manage three runs before I lost all feeling. That put paid to my skiing in Niseko, but I was happy I gave it a go.

Equally cold and snowy was Sapporo. This is the city for us Malaysians to visit for all things snow. During our three days there, we saw heaps and heaps of snow by the roadsides, snow laden rooftops, pointy icicles, sludge and ice, snow fall and blizzardy snow. With temperatures hovering below -5 to -7, there was just so much snow everywhere. Despite feeling cold, it was beautiful to see snow-capped mountains, snow enveloped trees and snow-covered grounds – just like Christmas cards.

We had to be careful walking on so much snow and ice. We saw enough locals slipping and falling all over the place. Ironically, we also saw perfectly balanced young ladies in stiletto heels. We didn’t chance it and got ourselves spikes that looked like hiking crampons to fix to the bottom of our trainers. It worked for us and although we still slipped and tottered, we managed to stay on our feet.

Despite the freezing temperature, we visited a few touristy sites such as Mt Moiwa, Kaitaku no Mura (the Historic Village of Hokkaido),  Shiroi Koibito Park  and Susukino.

Mt Moiwa:

My favourite was Mt Moiwa. We were there between dusk and nightfall, and it was then that the different parts of Sapporo came alight and transformed the city into a canvas of twinkling starry lights.  A beautiful experience, and a wonderful visual memory.

We took the Mount Moiwa Ropeway, and a mini cable car to the peak where cafes, restaurants and an observation deck are located.  Once there, it was  a treat to warm up with hot cups of tea and chocolate croissants.

Kaitaku no Mura

The sprawling Historic Village of Hokkaido boasted some 60 exhibits of buildings brought from all over Hokkaido, representing the Meiji and Taisho periods. Similar in concept to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, Melbourne, a re-creation of Australia’s great 1850’s gold rush, this open air museum was a walk-about and walk-through homes and buildings found in towns and fishing, farm and mountain villages in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was very quiet when we visited. The cold wasn’t very inviting but there was a brave couple who did their wedding photo shoot with the ancient buildings as the back-drop.

Shiroi Koibito Park

This was fun in a cutesy sort of way. It comprised an outdoor amusement park, which was reminiscent of  Disneyland, and a rich and opulently decorated building that housed a chocolate biscuit factory (which was to me the main attraction), souvenir shop and cafés/restaurants. The ‘Shiroi Koibito’ or “white lover” cookie is produced in the indoor factory, which can be observed through glass panels.  We were given samples to taste and they were really delicious.  We didn’t know at the time but found out soon enough that The ‘Shiroi Koibito’ is one very famous cookie that both locals and tourists bought and exported in box loads.

Susikino

We also visited Susukino where there were curious goings-on, bright lights and steady people traffic nightly. It was the coming together of the red-light cum entertainment district and ramen restaurants. People watching was quite fun but communication was difficult as we didn’t speak any Japanese and the locals didn’t speak much English. It was also a hard slog ordering food as menus were mainly in Japanese. Pointing got us some way.

Verdict on Sapporo

The cold was inhibiting at times. But, to me it was a small price to pay for snow. What helped and will help are the following:

• Thermal long or short sleeves t-shirts and long johns, cardigans and winter jackets.
• Accessories like beanies, hats/caps, scarves and gloves for added comfort and warmth.
• Thick socks and trainers/walking shoes with traction are a must-have.
• Uniqlo is a great place for affordable winter wear.
• Shoe spikes/crampons are sold at Lawsons (similar to 7-11) at Chintose airport.