November 20 th 25 th, nts/6days from: $1695 double/triple $1895 single

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1 Sapporo & Otaru KURISUMASU SHOPPING & XMAS Lights Weekend German XMAS Market/White Illumination lights/otaru Snow Story November 20 th 25 th, nts/6days from: $1695 double/triple $1895 single Each month there are fascinating events in Sapporo and November is filled with festivities. Be it the White Illumination that highlights the beauty of winter in Sapporo or the German Christmas Market offering a taste of European flair, it s all here! The Sapporo White Illumination is the oldest illumination event in Japan! When people think of Christmas in Japan, illumination events are some of the biggest seasonal traditions in Japan. With a history of over 30 years this winter illumination is impressive. The month long German Christmas Market, started in 2002 when the city marked the 30 th anniversary of its sister-city ties with Munich, Germany is always a fun filled. Stalls selling Christmas items, hot wine, and German food are set up at Odori Park. There are also outdoor concerts, indoor workshops, and if you re lucky you might receive a gift from Santa Claus! It s only the beginning as we also include a day trip to Otaru, where you can walk along of the rows of antique buildings that will whisk you back in time. Enjoy walking along Sakaimachi Shopping Street where time seems to slow down as you meander through glassmakers, seafood shops, bakeries, sushi restaurants and as the street ends, the Music Box Hall, a must stop. This year to keep the chill out of your body, we have added not one, but two sake brewery visits, Chitosetsuru Sake Museum in Sapporo, and the Tanaka Sake Brewery in Otaru. Both stops offer unique holiday gifts to share with friends and family. Itinerary/Details Day 1 November 20 th, Tuesday Depart from Honolulu Hawaiian Airlines #441 Departs Honolulu 12:25 pm Arrive Chitose 5:00 pm + 1 Please meet your Panda Travel representative the Hawaiian Airlines Terminal, Lobby 3, Makai side for the flight check-in. We are highly recommending 3.5 hours in advance to begin the checking in as TSA is now inspecting all food that goes through the security area. This additional security check will increase the wait time. Day 2 November 21 st, Wednesday Chitose Sapporo After passport control and customs, we will meet our local English speaking guide for the charter bus ride to Sapporo. The drive time is just under one hour. Accommodations for our stay in Sapporo are at the Century Royal Hotel Sapporo, a 4-star hotel in the perfect city center spot, around the corner from the JR Station and an elevator ride down to a huge underground shopping mall. We guarantee you will not need for dining or shopping options. There is a 24-hour convenience store on the ground level; however, with our early evening arrival, there will be a variety of dining and shopping options available.

2 Day 3 November 22 nd, Thursday Sapporo (B) After breakfast, please meet your guide by 9:00am as we are off on a fun fill day of touring, eating and shopping! The morning begins with a short drive to the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market where every morning, the freshest produce and fish arrive. While this inner market where the fish auction takes place is not open to the public, you can enjoy the Curb Market. Open from 6am, it is comprised of approximately 60 stores selling a variety of items ranging from fruits to fresh and dried fish. Sushi and other reasonably priced dishes made with fresh seasonal ingredients are available. As soon as the bidding ends in the inner market, the products are made available at the Curb Market. Our early arrival will guarantee that you will have the opportunity to experience a meal of fresh local seafood, whether it be a domburi bowl or crab and salmon sushi Choose from the many restaurants along the edge of the market, a front-row view of your chef preparing freshly-cut stock. Enjoy free time here to shop and snack the time away. Now we are off to the Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium. Constructed in 1931, the stadium was featured in the 1972 Winter Olympics, when it was home to the 90m ski jump competition. It is still used for ski jump competitions throughout the year. A five-minute ride on the ski lift brings you to the top of the mountain, during which time you can catch a glimpse of what it's like to be a ski jumper. The viewing lounge at the far top of the mountain comes steadily closer, and the steeply sloping approach stretches out along one side. Seeing the takeoff point at such a close distance will surely give you a taste of what it's like to ski jump, as well as what it feels like to be an athlete. Looking back once you have reached the top of the lift, you can enjoy panoramic views of the city of Sapporo. This refreshing experience will probably make you wish that the climb would last forever! As we make our way back to Sapporo center, a stop for lunch at Sapporo Ramen Yokocho, the famed ramen alley. With roots dating back to 1951, this spot now has17 ramen restaurants, most only accommodating 6-8 person at a time. Walk along its narrow corridor, the birthplace of miso ramen, find a seat and enjoy a satisfying meal. To warm us up a bit, a stop at the nearby Chitosetsuru Sake Museum, the only local only local sake brewery in Sapporo and the first to in production dating back to Hokkaido has a cool climate with little humidity, so fermentation is restrained, and it is easy to produce sake with a refreshing, dry flavor. Chitosetsuru is made from water created by the vast natural world of Hokkaido, which lends the finished product a uniquely deep flavor. The adjoining Chitosetsuru Sake Museum offers sake sampling, mainly ginjo, junmai, and honjozo varieties. They also carry sake that is only available at the brewery and seasonal products, making it the perfect place to pick up a one of a kind gift. Our last stop on tour today, the Sapporo TV Tower, built in 1957 on the grounds of Odori Park. Let s climb up as the sun sets and enjoy the night views of Sapporo from the observatory, 90 meters up. It has been selected as one of the New Three Major Night Views in Japan. From here, back to our hotel, arrival by 4:30pm and the remainder of the evening is free. The location of our hotel is simply second to none. Daimaru and Stellar Place both next door, with its never-ending floors of shops and eateries are simply mind boggling and will have you shopping and eating to your heart's content. For the techies, Esta next to Stellar Place is a delight with its nine floors of high tech gadgets and other electronics If you are interested in visiting Tanukikoji Shopping Street, our guide will take you there underground so that you stay warm. Built in 1873, this covered shopping arcade is the oldest shopping district in Hokkaido. Extending eight blocks from east to west with

3 approximately 200 shops selling a wide variety of merchandise. It is a mixture of shops with a long history among others catering to a younger generation. Among the shops, you will recognize here are Don Quijote and Daiso, the 108-yen store. For the return, you are on your own, but it s easy enough to walk back or take a short taxi ride. Day 4 November 23 rd, Friday Sapporo-Otaru-Sapporo (B) We have a full day of touring ahead. After breakfast, please meet your guide by 9:00am as we make our way to Otaru, one of Hokkaido s most popular tourist destinations for Japanese visitors. From old days, when they sailed trading boats from Honshu-mainland to Hokkaido, Otaru played an important role as the center of trade or commerce, not to mention fishery in Hokkaido. Walking along its main streets, you will find a charming and nostalgic city filled with historic architecture. As this city was thriving from fishery for centuries, the most famous landmark here is Otaru Canal where they carried fish from the ocean to land by tugboats. It is after all heralded as home of some of the freshest and tastiest seafood in all of Japan. Our first stop along the way is at Shiroi Koibito Park, a theme park by Ishiya, a local chocolate company. The company's flagship product is the Shiroi Koibito cookie, which consists of two thin butter cookies and a layer of white chocolate in between. These cookies are the best souvenirs from Sapporo! The park consists of a free area with a shop, cafe, and restaurant and most interestingly, large windows so that you can observe the candy production process. The first glimpse of the building doesn t compare to the wonderland inside while outside it is complete with all sorts of winter decorations and illuminations. Now, on to Otaru, just about 15 minutes away. Once there enjoy a hands-on music box making experience. It makes for a great souvenir or even a gift giving idea. Afterwards, a walking tour and free time to shop and enjoy lunch on your own. On our walking tour our guide will show you some of the point of interest here. One such is the Music Box Museum, a museum, shop, and workshop consisting of five different buildings all located within a 2-minute walk of each other. The main building displays hundreds of different kinds of music boxes, both large and small. The second museum is full of antique music boxes from the 19th century onwards. The final three stores contain a different variety of goods and crafts. One building is dedicated to animal toys, another to glassware and the final one to music boxes made in the shape of modern characters such as Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty. From here we will be visiting the Kitaichi Glass Shop, Sa Shi Su Se So and a Kitakaro confectionary shop. Now some free time to walk and explore Sakaimachi Street. It is like opening a giant music box. Though the city is famous for its canal area, the whole street is a showcase of two Otaru s distinct characteristics- old architecture and one of a kind craftsmanship. With mouthwatering freshly-cooked seafood checked off the list, your next stop should be one of the dozens of glassware shops that line the street. As the herring industry declined in the late 1950s, the makers of glass fishing buoys were forced to start producing refined glassware instead. Nowadays, Otaru is famous for its quality glass works coming in all shapes and sizes. If you are in search of a unique gift item, Otaru is known for their dripless shoyu bottles, available in a variety of sizes and designs. In addition, take some time to have a bite to eat in one of Sakaimachi s delicious sweet shops, the most famous being LeTAO. Enjoy sampling a few of their 50 varieties of cakes and sweets. If you would prefer to sit down and relax, the 2nd floor hosts a cafe. There is also a free observatory on the 3rd floor with views of the Sakaimachi landscape. As you near the end of Sakaimachi Street, look and listen when you come to the vintage steam clock at the front of the Music Box Museum. The nostalgic atmosphere inside the main building of the museum takes you back in time. The museum houses almost

4 15,000 music boxes, ranging from matchbox sized souvenirs to precisely tuned masterpieces. The Music Box Museum has something for everybody, from The Beatles to the latest J-pop hits. Before leaving Otaru, our second sake brewery visit, the Tanaka Sake Brewery, the most famous local sake brewery here. Besides the tour and tasting there is also a souvenir shop where you can purchase special sake only offered at this brewery. Takaragawa is the famous original sake, Takara means treasure and Gawa=Kawa means river. Tanaka s Sake is made with 100% Hokkaido rice and grand water under the factory. We now make our way back to Sapporo, arrival at our hotel by 5:00pm and the remainder of the evening is free. Day 5 Nov. 24 th, Saturday Sapporo (B) After breakfast, please meet your guide by 10:00am as we venture out to enjoy the German Christmas Market along Odori Park as well as the White Illumination later in the afternoon. In all of Japan, Sapporo is the best place to experience true Christmas. With snow falling as early as mid-november, your dreams of a white Christmas come true, and many areas of the city are lit up with fairy lights and decorations, setting the festive mood. Welcome to the German Christmas Market, a month-long display of German-Style Christmas lights. Enjoy free time here to explore, shop for unique and one of a kind gift items, and taste some of the treats of the season. We will meet up later in the afternoon to visit the 38 th Sapporo White Illumination. It began in 1981 when 1,000 light bulbs were used to illuminate Odori Park and since then, the scale and contents have increased year by year, making this sight into a nationally acclaimed event. We will return to our hotel by 6:00pm and the remainder of the evening is free. Day 6 Nov. 25 th, Sunday Sapporo-Chitose (B) After breakfast, please meet your guide by 10:00am as we slowly make our way back to Chitose for our flight home later this evening. While it may be our last day, we will do our best to enjoy every minute. The morning begins with a visit to the Asahi Beer Factory for a tour of the facilities and sampling at the end! From here we make our way towards Chitose with a stop at the AEON Mall Chitose for some last minute shopping lunch on your own. Our last stop before the airport is at the Chitose Salmon Aquarium, located on the Chitose River. Inside you can find massive tanks housing salmon and a variety of northern fish. One of the country's largest freshwater tanks can be found here. There is an education room featuring large screened monitors at explain the wondrous ecology of salmon. At the Water Observatory, you can watch the underwater of the Chitose River directly, and observe the creatures in the Chitose River during the four seasons. Among them, you can see the salmon swimming downstream in spring, the Japanese dace laying eggs in summer, the salmon returning in autumn and laying eggs in winter there s a new show every season!

5 Another attraction worth mentioning is the "Indian Water Wheel". Installed for the months of August to December (Japan's fall) when the salmon are returning to spawn, the Indian Water Wheel is used to collect salmon. Later, the salmon are artificially spawned, and the fry reared at a hatchery. They are then released back into the wild the following year where they head out to sea. We should be at the prime for best viewing of the water wheel in operation when the salmon are returning. From here, we are off to the Chitose Airport to begin the check-in for our flight home. Hawaiian Airlines #442 Departs Chitose 7:45 pm Arrive Honolulu 8:05 am (same day)