It is Day 12 of our trip in Hokkaido. We had traveled a total of 800km over the last 12 days in Hokkaido. The remaining 4 days, we will slow down and spend our time in Sapporo and Otaru.

Upon picking our car from Hertz (which is conveniently located across Ibis Style Sapporo hotel), we drove 40km towards the town of Otaru.

Learning that car parking is expensive in Otaru, I did some research and found a carpark behind the famous Warehouses of Otaru that charges $7 for a full day.

From there, we walked to the Otaru Canal. The walked was slippery with ice forming on the pavement. Jaydon was enjoying sliding himself along the pavement while making our way to the canal.

On reaching the canal, cameras and pictures were necessary, after all this is one of the main attraction of Otaru.

We walked along the canal and came to the intersection where the hustle and bustle began.

There was a clock and a digital thermometer. 1.5 Degree Celsius was a comfortable temperature for us, after playing in the cold at -10 degree Celsius at Tomamu.

Walking across from the canal, we came to the main street of Otaru, making our way towards Sakaimachi Street.

Along the way we stopped at interested shops that sell beautiful ornaments. With the winter backdrop and the Christmas mood, these shops are so appealing to us.

We got so distracted by the shop that we did not notice that it had already pass lunch time.

Passing by Pathos cafe, we decided to head up to have our lunch.

The potion was small the price is expensive. However, we were thankful that along Sakaimachi Street, there were many confectioneries and pastry shops where they offer free samples. Well, I guess the samples save the day!

We came across a shop that sells musical boxes. We decided to DIY a customized musical box for grandmom. Jaydon and mummy started to construct the musical box, while daddy happily took pictures of the both of them from different angles.

After the handicraft, we continue our journey down the street on slippery pavement. More shops entice us with their beautiful setup in the colonial buildings along Otaru.

Before long, given that there is short daylight during winter, the place turned dark at around 4pm. Our legs were also getting tired from all the walking. We decided to head back to the car, not before we have the famous Rainbow ice cream in Venetian Cafe.

The ice cream was definitely too much for us. We were struggling to finish 7 layer ice cream with different favor – grape, strawberry, matche, melon,chocolate, milk and lavander. Jaydon love chocolate and milk. Daddy like the grapes and mummy voted for matche.

After finishing our ice cream, we head back to the Otaru Canal towards the car.

A night view of Otaru Canal.

That night, on reaching our hotel, we decided to buy our dinner from Lawson and have our dinner at the comfort in our hotel room.