Goodbye Hokkaido

I had about 3 hours in the morning before I had to catch the train to New Chitose Airport so I decided to go back to the tourist district to buy some small glassware gifts. After that I decided to have another taste of Northern Haskop.

Otaru has a couple of unusual covered outdoor malls.

I think this huge pot and kettle are to attract attention; I don't think giants come shopping here.

And then it was time to go. I ate my bento lunch in the train. 72 minutes later, I was at the airport. I decided to use up the coins buying something from the last-minute shops. I picked a box of 18 chocolate nut praline bars to see what the fuss about these upmarket manufacturers is about. They were good, but probably they rely on their reputation amongst gift-givers. Sorry, I'm not bringing any back; I'll be eating them at the rate of 3 or 4 a day before returning; I don't want to have to declare to AQIS that I have food.

Also I bought what looked like rice crackers. There were rice crackers in the bag, but the feature was tiny candied crabs sprinkled throught. Delicious if a bit unusual. Reminded me of the Monty Python Crunchy Frog skit.

The domestic terminal was a flurry of activity, probably people headed home for the mid-autumn festival, but the international terminal was relatively quiet, only HK holiday-makers returning, or Hokkaido tourists setting out.

About 4-½ hours later, I was in Hong Kong for the next chapter of my trip.