27 December 2016 (Tuesday)
The Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium (大倉山ジャンプ競技場 Ōkurayama Janpu Kyōgijō) is the home of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. The moment we stepped out of the bus, wowwwww everywhere is covered with thick snow.
We took the ski lift up the Mount Okura Obeservation Platform, which costs ¥500 for a round-trip.
The view up there is simply, breathtaking.
melon flavoured soft serve
We were extremely lucky because there were people practicing ski jumping on that day!!! Our tour guide told us that she only witnessed it twice despite visiting that place for so many years. They took a really long time to set up (put on their gears, warm up etc) and we decided to leave the observatory and watch from below. They started ski jumping when we were on our way down so we actually managed to view it sideways too.
^ the ski jumping guy that just landed
Next, we proceeded to the Hokkaido Shrine (北海道神宮 Hokkaidō Jingū), which is adjacent to the Maruyama Park at Sapporo.
The Torii gate entrance! emoji irl hahah
Ok so before entering the shrine, there are some steps to clean your hands and all. I forgot what I did so I got the steps below from this website. THE WATER WAS FREEZING COLD BTW NO JOKE
How to purify, called ‘Temizu’ (手水)
1. Take a ladle with right hand.
2. Ladle water and wet your left hand. Don’t do this above the water-vessel.
3. Ladle water with left hand and wet your right.
4. Ladle water with right hand again and catch a dip with left hand.
5. Take a dip in your mouth. No need to swallow it, just spit it out gently. Don’t touch ladle with your mouth.
6. Ladle water again with right hand and wet your left hand again.
The counter where you can purchase lucky charms/ write your wishes/ pick a fortune, keep it or tie it up if you don't like it.
The place where you can throw a coin and make a wish-
It's already this pretty in the winter!! IMAGINE THIS IN THE SPRING WITH ALL THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS BLOOMING
4 comments
Hi, may I know in which month you visited Hokkaido?
ReplyDeleteHi! Sorry for the late reply. I visited Hokkaido in December :)
DeleteHi may i know how you get from Mt. Okura to Hokkaido shrine? Is it by bus or taxi? or part of the tour? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Michiru, I joined a tour during my trip to Hokkaido so I traveled around by the tour bus :)
Delete