Now's the time once for me to reduce the number of photos taken for Hokkaido and populate them into nugget-sized postings in this blog so that they don't go to waste!
To be honest, i wasn't expecting much when the plane made its descent as there was a bloody thick layer of cloud with a possibly high chance of rain; which would have derailed any effort on my side to take photos of the land up in the air.
Thankfully, there wasn't a single drop of rain and lo and behold; right beneath me would be the land of the rising land and the fulfillment of a childhood dream to visit Japan.
Unlike typical Southeast Asian landscape, it was a scene of tidiness with ample space and plenty of greenery. This differs from what i read in the history textbooks; i thought Japan would be super crowded.
More photos; not many tall buildings (and rightfully so since they are near the airport) and it was pretty boring after a while as nothing much quite stands out to wow me from my airplane seat.
Maybe this did make me turn my head a bit although it was just many lines of solar panels; eco-friendly no doubt yet again, unsurprising with a conventional layout.
Taking off from the opposite runway at New Chitose Airport 8 days later was an entirely different view; much more greenery that made me wondered then if i was at a nature reserve!
An oddity in the midst of the greenery - a pretty full carpark and it's one of quite a number surrounding New Chitose Airport. My assumption is that parking there would be much cheaper compared to the airport.
Golf courses! Guess a few things never change when it comes to airports all over the world; the potential noise pollution from the jets would drastically reduce the land value and a country club for the rich would make total economic sense.
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Interested to check out my summarized 8 days, 7 nights itinerary to Hokkaido in summer (including a few days of self-drive)? Click here.