2014.08.22 | 北海道夏(4A)

[Volume 9 Issue 8, #1933]

Hokkaidō Trip Summer 2014 - DAY 4A of 8 A Serene Morning in Asahikawa (旭川)

中文讀者請注意: 因為篇幅問題, 這一系列日本遊記只有英語版本, 敬請見諒..

due to the whole-day rain the previous day, we did not manage to do much but stayed indoor most of the time.. so, how about day 4 then?? was it a good day with nice weather?? bet the "quota" of rain was fully utilized and yes, it was a nice sunny day, yeah!! :)

Show me:  Skimpy Bikini: Short Version (because you complained i'm long-winded!!)Bare-all See-through: Full Version (because you like what i write)

#4A-F1 ■ ■ we were put in a hotel downtown just a row of shops away from the Asahikawa Station (旭川駅 Asahikawa Eki) and hence it was just walking distance to the shopping area.. in the photo are shots taken at the Heiwa Dori "Shopping Park" (平和通買物公園 Heiwa-Dori Kaimono-Kōen), built in 1972 and is the first pedestrian-only shopping "park" in Japan.. okay, you wonder why the place looked so empty, or i was so good to avoid the crowd while shooting these photos?? nah, it was too early in the morning at 9:30am and all shops were not yet opened, only the few "stupid" us came!! this way, we could feel the quiet side of this bustling area instead then, hehe!! :p #4A-F2 ■ ■ finally found a shop that was open!! it was actually a mini market, selling all sorts of fresh produce, seafood as well as cooked breakfast.. we just had some leftover of last night's dinner that we tapao back to hotel as breakfast, so we were not too into anything else but the fruits.. look at the variety and the colors, it's summer and definitely we must not miss the summer fruits huh?? what did we buy?? you shall know later as you scroll.. :) #4A-F3 ■ ■ we actually had a morning to spend before our friend drove us to another place (but i'm not telling you yet now, hehe!!) at noon.. so we walked along Heiwa Street (平和通 Heiwa Dori) and towards the end was this place called 7th Street (七条 7-jō) "Green Belt" which is lined with trees both sides.. this is also a street where the authority build different monuments for the "sister cities" of Asahikawa (旭川) from around the world.. okay, it actually looked like just a normal street in Japan, so i did this "signature pose" of mine to spice it up!! hahaha.. not quite "umph" it seemed?? yeah, i knew i need more practice after not doing this for a while :p #4A-F4 ■ ■ after a 5-minute walk, we were at the Tokiwa Park (常磐公園 Tokiwa Kōen) where the 7-jō "Green Belt" ends.. this park, taking up a total area of 16-hectare in the center of Asahikawa (旭川), has been the "oasis" of the city since Meiji 43 (明治四三), that is year 1910.. inside this park are also some cultural institutions such as Hokkaidō Asahikawa Art Museum (北海道立旭川美術館 Hokkaidō-Ritsu Asahikawa Bijutsukan), Asahikawa City Central Library (旭川市中央図書館 Asahikawa-shi Chūō Toshokan) and Asahikawa Youth Science Museum (旭川市青少年科学館 Asahikawa-shi Seishōnen Kagakukan).. [Reference] #4A-F5 ■ ■ ... and of course, there were flowers in the park, beautiful and colorful blooms of many kinds of flowers!! one who love flowers would sit there for the whole day admiring them, i bet.. but don't ask me to name the flowers, because just like fish, all types of flowers are just "flowers" to me, muahaha!! okay, i hope you were not distracted by that photo of my "signature pose", i said i need more practice, didn't i?? hehe~~ :D #4A-F6 ■ ■ trees and flowers are probably what a park must have and expected to have (maybe not for Bolehland's parks, haha!!).. the Tokiwa Park (常磐公園 Tokiwa Kōen) has also got a huge pond with fountain in it, called the "Pond of A Thousand Birds" (千鳥池 Chidori-chi).. for a public park so nicely planned and built and upkept, no wonder it is named as one of the best parks in Japan [Reference].. #4A-F7 ■ ■ with good weather, nice park and beautiful scenery, what's better than to stop and enjoy what we had in front of our eyes?? hence, a "pseudo" picnic we had in the park, savoring fresh fruits we got from the mini market just now - big and juicy Kyoho grapes (巨峰ぶどう Kyohō budō) and Nanyō cherries (南陽桜桃 Nanyō Ōtō) of the Rainier breed, paid ¥864 and ¥324 respectively.. while slurping the juice that spurt out of the fruits, i thought, what a bliss to slow down for a break, and appreciate what we have around us, simple things can be happiness too!! :) #4A-F8 ■ ■ by Tokiwa Park (常磐公園 Tokiwa Kōen) is this Ishikari River (石狩川 Ishikari-gawa), longest in Hokkaidō and third in Japan, that flows through the cities of Asahikawa (旭川) and Sapporo (札幌).. okay, you may not see the river in the photo due to the maintenance work on the embankment, hihi.. on the far end is the Asahi Bridge (旭橋 Asahi-Bashi), one of the 740 bridges across the 130 rivers flowing in Asahikawa (旭川), that has been one of the symbols of the city since its completion in 1932 [Reference].. it is said to behold a beautiful sunset view, but with those construction works, ah, we had to just forget about it :p #4A-F9 ■ ■ we left the park passing by the cultural institutions mentioned above, and shown in this photo above was the Hokkaidō Asahikawa Art Museum (北海道立旭川美術館 Hokkaidō-Ritsu Asahikawa Bijutsukan) and surrounding beautiful sculptures.. my personal favorite would be the one on the bottom right, where you can see a hundred littlehuman sculptures in different lively forms lined up on the huge arc [click here to see a larger photo].. #4A-F10 ■ ■ it was about noon after a leisure stroll along the quiet Heiwa Street (平和通 Heiwa Dori) and a relaxing stay in Tokiwa Park (常磐公園 Tokiwa Kōen).. as we were walking back to the hotel to meet up our friend for the next destination, these were two interesting building i saw.. on the left a cute looking police station and patrol car.. on the right, guess what this yellow building is?? it's a ramen shop!! i told you, ramen shops are everywhere in Asahikawa (旭川).. we thought the yellow building is striking and the name Kirara (黃拉拉), probably translated to Lala Wong (??), is funny.. so off we went in for a ramen lunch.. just average and i did not like the sour face of the lady boss, hence not going to post any photo to share here.. :p

okay, that was the morning of day 4, a rather leisure morning in Asahikawa (旭川).. continuing to another destination in the afternoon, one of the highlights of this trip, friend drove us all the way out of the city for beautiful flowers and lavender farms!! coming up the second post of day 4, stay tuned!! :) travelogue posts in this series: