[Hokkaido] Day 5 : Visiting Mt Moiwa, Bought Nintendo Switch at Bic Camera & Dinner at Sapporo Beer Garden

Sapporo city seen from Mt. Moiwa Ropeway

Day 5 in Hokkaido, was the last day of our winter trip in Hokkaido. We didn't go out of town anymore, and decided to explore more in Sapporo city. We started our day by visiting one of the popular attractions in Sapporo beside Shiroi Koibito Park, Mt Moiwa.

Sapporo skyline at night seen from Mt Moiwa. Source : picture at the base of Mt Moiwa

Mt Moiwa is a popular destination that always be visited by tourists in Sapporo. They are known as a place where we can see Sapporo skyline from the top of the mountain. Located not far from the city center of Sapporo, this place has a very easy access by using public transportation. From Susukino Station, you can take Sapporo Tram (¥200) and stop at Ropeway Iriguchi station. There's a shuttle bus at the station which gonna take you to Mt Moiwa Ropeway, every 15 minutes. However, if you don't want to wait and prefer to walk for around 600 metres, it's also a good idea. I also did that because 15 minutes waiting at the snowy weather was too long. Besides, I also wanted to enjoy this snowy scenery by walking.

Winter scenery while walking to Mt Moiwa Ropeway from the station.

To go to the top of the mountain, first we need to take Mt Moiwa Ropeway. This ropeway climbs from the base until three quarters up the mountain, where we could find a transfer station named Moiwa Chufuku. From this station, we need to take another mini cable car, which gonna brought us to the summit. At the summit, there's an observation deck and also restaurant with great views of the city.

Foggy weather while at the ropeway

View from the summit. Left : city | Right : mountains

When we're arriving, and wanted to buy the ticket, we're being told that the weather was foggy at that time. This weather made the view looks not clear up there and they didn't recommend us to going up. However, since it's our last day and we didn't want to missed any chance to going up, we decided to keep buy the ticket and take the ropeway to the summit. The ticket costs ¥1700 (for adults) and ¥850 (for children). This tickets can be used for round trip ride with ropeway and cable car.

Temple at Mt Moiwa

Aurelia with bell at Mt Moiwa

Just like they said, the weather was foggy at that time. But when I arrived at the summit, the sun started to come out and it's not as foggy as before. I could see Sapporo city which covered with snow from the top and it looks amazing. Even though the weather wasn't too foggy, but the weather still really cold and it's very windy. So after took pictures we went back again with the cable car, and bought some souvenirs at Moiwa Chufuku. There are several souvenirs and snacks that you can found at this station, including Hokkaido Yubari Melon Chocolate. Yup, this delicious chocolate was really hard to find in Sapporo. I've been looking for that in every snack shops in Sapporo and Otaru. But I couldn't find it. Luckily I found it at Mt Moiwa. FYI, Hokkaido Yubari Melon Chocolate is a must buy - when in Hokkaido.

Source : http://tastyjapan.blogspot.com/2010/11/hokkaido-yubari-melon-chocolate.html

Finished with our trip to Mt Moiwa, we decided to go to Sapporo station and have a lunch. Actually we've made a reservation for a dinner at Sapporo Beer Garden at 5 PM. But it's too early so we decided to have a quick lunch and shopping at shopping mall around Sapporo station, while waiting for our dinner time. This time we're going to the food court at Sapporo Esta, which located at the basement. Since I didn't want to have a heavy meal, so I just bought takoyaki at Gindaco. You must be familiar with this name, because Gindaco is a popular brand for takoyaki in Japan. Must try when you're in Japan.

Takoyaki topped with egg and cheese by Gindaco

Since it's a lunch time, the food court condition was very crowded. After done with our meals, we went to Bic Camera which also located at Sapporo Esta. Bic Camera is a huge electronic store which can be found in almost every city in Japan. They are very popular because the price is very cheap in here. I came here not without a reason. Well, I came here because I was looking for Nintendo Switch game console, which really hard to find in Japan. I was reading in every articles about "Where to buy Nintendo Switch in Japan?", and all of them said that I couldn't buy it because they sold out... However I still curious about it and decided to try our luck by looking for that at toys area at Bic Camera.

Once I arrived, I saw many games and accessories for Nintendo Switch, but no game console. I tried to ask to the worker there (in English), but he told me it's sold out. I was thinking that maybe he didn't understand English very well, so I asked to other worker in Japanese. I didn't really talk in Japanese (I couldn't speak Japanese :P), but I showed my questions which has been translated to Japanese in Google Translate. After read it, he told me to follow him. He led me to other side of the store which very quite. (FYI, the place where I saw many games and accessories for Nintendo Switch was very very crowded.) After arrived, he showed me their stocks for Nintendo Switch game console. They still had stocks around 50pcs but it's hidden. It's also need to be paid at their private cashier. The price for Nintendo Switch in Japan was ¥30.000, much cheaper than in my country (Indonesia).

Aurelia got her "jackpot"

Nintendo Switch at Bic Camera Sapporo

After done with the payment, we realized that it's almost the time for us to have dinner. From Sapporo Station, we took subway Toho Line to Higashikuyakusho-Mae station (¥200) and continued by walk around 1km to Sapporo Beer Garden. Even though it's not yet 5PM, but the sky was getting dark and it's rainning. Not so sure about it, but I thought the temperature wasn't as cold as it should be which caused a rainfall - not a snowfall. It made us feel colder due to our clothes that getting wet because of the rain.

Arrived at Sapporo Beer Garden, we had no idea where the restaurant's location exactly. Luckily we found a direction to the reception, and we went there to ask them. There are several restaurants at that place, and they serve different menu with different buffet price. We've made reservation at "Trommel Hall" which also serves King Crab on their buffet menu besides their main dishes, Genghis Khan. If you don't know. Genghis Khan is a popular dishes in Sapporo. Besides eat fresh seafood at Nijo Market, Genghis Khan also a mandatory when you're in Sapporo. And the best restaurant for eat this meal is Sapporo Beer Garden.

Inside the Trommel Hall - Sapporo Beer Garden

Basically, Genghis Khan is grilled fresh lamb and mutton meat with a lot of vegetables. However, at Trommel Hall, you also can get other kind of meat such as pork, beef, seafood, including king crab. Not just grilled dishes, you also can order other Japanese food such as ramen, sushi, as much as you want. WOW!! It sounds like a paradise for a foodies like me. For this buffet, it costs ¥6980 for adults, and ¥3490 for children. This price includes all you can drink, where you can drink their famous beer as much as you want. You can get the price information for other restaurant at Sapporo Beer Garden area in here.

Even though our tummy was really full, but we still had room for dessert ^^

If you're a buffet person, you'll know how great it is to make your tummy full with tons of food, and you don't need to pay more. However, if you're not a buffet person and think foods in buffet are not delicious, you need to change your thought about it at Sapporo Beer Garden. Even though they serve buffet menu, but the food was very delicious. The meat was really fresh and there's no smell at all. Besides lamb and mutton, my favorite was the crab. I ate a lot of king crab at that time and I was really satisfied with it. I think it's not a secret that king crab is a very expensive food. Therefore, when I heard that there's all you can eat king crab and it also combined with the famous genghis khan, I didn't want to missed this chance.

She told me it was the best Xmas gift.

My last night in Sapporo was ended perfectly. We could see the skyline of Sapporo when it's covered by snow. We also got Nintendo Switch for Aurelia (which people said that it's really hard to get it in Japan). And we also ate a lot of king crab which is my favorite meal ever. I would said that it was one of the best day in my life. Well, I've done almost everything on my "checklist" in Sapporo, and I was so happy with it. Only 1 thing that I haven't done - eat the famous Ramen Shingen and Ebisoba Ichigen in Sapporo, because they have a long holiday on New Years. So sad, but that made a reason for me to back again to Sapporo.

Memahami Perkembangan Anak Sesuai dengan Usianya, Menggunakan Kalkulator AFS

Hi Mommies!!
Kali ini aku mau menulis pengalaman aku mengenai tumbuh kembang Winston. Saat ini Winston sudah berusia 2 tahun 4 bulan. Menurut pengalaman dan sepengetahuan aku, di tahapan usia ini seharusnya anak sudah mulai bisa melakukan beberapa hal, seperti berbicara dengan menggabungkan beberapa kata, makan sendiri, memahami ucapan orang lain, dll. Tapi sampai sekarang, Winston masih belum bisa melakukan hal - hal tersebut. Bukan cuma itu, Winston juga masih belum mau berinteraksi dengan orang lain, selain dengan anggota keluarga inti. Sebenarnya sudah cukup lama aku khawatir mengenai tumbuh kembang Winston. Oleh sebab itu, ketika Winston hampir berusia 2 tahun, aku mulai mengikuti kegiatan (seperti preschool) untuk membantu tumbuh kembang Winston.

Setelah beberapa bulan mengikuti kegiatan tersebut, Winston mulai menunjukkan kemajuan yang cukup pesat. Bener - bener seneng banget liat perkembangannya. Dia sekarang sudah mulai mau berinteraksi dengan teman dan gurunya. Dia juga udah ga nangis lagi saat ditinggal di sekolah. Yang ada malah setiap hari dia ngomong minta ke sekolah. Yup, sekarang Winston uda mulai bisa ngomong. Meskipun masih belum bisa menggabungkan kata dan juga belum terlalu jelas, tapi kata - kata yang diucapkan sudah mulai banyak. Thanks God, good things happened at the first month of 2019. I hope everything will get better this year

Winston's signature pose :P Setiap kali aku suruh dia pose untuk foto, dia sudah bisa memberikan response dan membuat  ekspresi kaya gitu.

Beberapa perkembangan yang dialami Winston membuat aku sangat senang. Tapi sebagai orang tua, tentu saja aku ingin perkembangan yang Winston alami sesuai dengan perkembangan anak seusianya. Beberapa hari yang lalu, aku menemukan website Parenting Club. Jadi Parenting Club adalah website yang dibuat oleh Wyeth. Di dalam website ini terdapat artikel - artikel yang dibagi menjadi 4 kategori : Pra Kehamilan, Kehamilan, Bayi, dan Anak. Artikel - artikel ini berguna banget untuk membantu aku memahami mengenai tumbuh kembang anak sesuai dengan usianya. Selain artikel, di website ini juga terdapat beberapa tools / aplikasi seperti Smart Ovulation Calender, Pregnancy Due Date Calculator, dan juga Smart Consultation sesuai dengan kategorinya. Diantara beberapa tools, ada 1 yang sangat menarik dan menurut aku sangat membantu untuk memahami tumbuh kembang si kecil. Tools tersebut adalah Kalkulator AFS (Akal Fisik Sosial).

Home Page Website Parenting Club

Kalkulator AFS adalah alat hitung digital yang berfungsi untuk mengetahui sejauh mana perkembangan yang anak anda alami sesuai dengan usianya. Selain untuk mengetahui perkembangannya, pada tahapan akhir anda juga akan diberikan rekomendasi stimulasi untuk meningkatkan perkembangan akal, fisik, dan sosial si kecil. Cara menggunakan kalkulator AFS ini sangatlah mudah. Berikut adalah langkah - langkah yang perlu anda lakukan untuk menggunakan kalkulator AFS:
1. Registrasi / login di website Parenting Club.
2. Buka tools Kalkulator Akal Fisik Sosial pada kategori anak.
3. Masukkan data anak anda yang berupa nama, jenis kelamin, dan tanggal lahir.
4. Jawab beberapa pertanyaan yang diajukan mengenai kemampuan yang anak anda miliki saat ini.
5. Setelah selesai, anda akan mendapatkan diagram yang berisi persentase kemampuan anak anda, beserta rekomendasi stimulasi untuk meningkatkan kemampuan anak.

Pertanyaan - pertanyaan yang diajukan saat menggunakan kalkulator AFS

Hasil perhitungan kalkulator AFS untuk perkembangan Winston

Diagram kemampuan Winston yang dibagi menjadi 3 bagian : Akal, Fisik, Sosial

WOW!! Simple banget kan?? Aku sendiri udah pernah coba memakai kalkulator AFS untuk mengukur kemampuan Winston. Setelah mendapatkan hasilnya, aku juga mengikuti rekomendasi stimulasi yang diberikan kepada Winston, yaitu untuk meningkatkan perkembangannya dalam bidang sosial. Sesuai dengan rekomendasi dari Parenting Club, aku mencoba menjadi lebih "bawel" dan lebih banyak mengajak bermain dibanding sebelumnya. Awalnya sempet agak kesel juga karena Winston tidak suka bermain dengan blocks. Setiap kali aku ajak untuk menyusun block - block tersebut, yang ada malah dilempar - lempar. Padahal blocks itu sangat bermanfaat untuk melatih perkembangan anak. Tapi demi perkembangan anak, aku mencoba untuk lebih sabar. Dan untungnya, hal tersebut benar - benar berfungsi lho. Dari yang sebelumnya Winston lebih suka berlari - lari ataupun melompat, sekarang dia sudah mau duduk diam, dan bermain menyusun blocks. Itu salah satu hal yang bikin aku jadi makin senang, dan semangat untuk mengajari Winston mengenai hal - hal baru yang berguna untuk tumbuh kembangnya.

Rekomendasi stimulasi untuk Winston di bidang sosial

Rekomendasi stimulasi Winston di bidang fisik

Rekomendasi stimulasi Winston di bidang akal

Yuk Moms, cobain deh pake Kalkulator AFS. Jadi kalian bisa tahu mengenai sejauh mana perkembangan anak sesuai dengan tahapan usianya, dan juga bisa menerapkan rekomendasi stimulasi yang diberikan, dalam kehidupan sehari - hari.


#parentingclubid #KalkulatorAFS Review

[Hokkaido] Day 4 : First Time Skiing at Rusutsu

Besides known for its food, Hokkaido also known for their snow activities. In winter, every parts of Hokkaido will covered with very fluffy and powdery snow. This situation makes Hokkaido become the best place for skiing and snowboarding in the world. For this reason, I felt visiting Hokkaido is not complete without trying these sport activities. Despite my inexperienced, I was looking for the best place for skiing in Hokkaido, of course for the beginner. Some answers shown up. Since I only gonna had a daytrip for skiing, I chose the nearest place from Sapporo (where I stayed during this trip) with easy access. It's Rusutsu.

Rusutsu is a city which located just 2 hours away from Sapporo. There are 2 places in Rusutsu which famous for snow activities, Rusutsu Resort Hotel and The Westin Hotel. These hotels have adjacent location, and also connected. However, my destination was Rusutsu Resort Hotel because they have a snow park for children. We were visiting this place by taking a free shuttle from Sapporo (by bus), provided by Rusutsu Resort Hotel. Since they have limited seats and only one time departure, so you must make reservation by online in advance. Especially if you have large numbers of people on your group.

Mountain view while on the way to Rusutsu

Roadside Rest Area Boyo Nakayama

The bus departs from Sapporo at 8AM in the morning. During this 2 hours trip, we saw a very beautiful scenery of winter. In the middle of the trip, the bus made a quick stop at Roadside Rest Area Boyo Nakayama. At this place we could get out from the bus, and took pictures with snowy mountain as the background.

Arrived at Rusutsu Resort Hotel, we bought the lift ticket and also rent ski equipment immediately. Since we only have a limited time, we just bought 4 hours ticket and also rent the ski equipment for 5 hours. You can check the lift ticket price in here and rental price here. If you just want to play around with snow, enjoy the scenery, or just play with your children at Crayon Shinchan Kids Park, you don't need to rent any equipment.

Slide at Crayon Shinchan Kids Park

Beside those activities, you also can find other winter activities such as snow mobile, which available (with reservation) at The Westin Hotel. As I was saying, Rusutsu Resort Hotel and The Westin Hotel are connected. If you just want to looking around (without skiing / snowboarding), you can visit them both in 1 day. However since I was playing ski, I had no enought time to visit The Westin Hotel. Maybe another time I'll stay at one of this resort so I can explore more.

On the chair lift to going up

Breathtaking view from the top of mountain

The weather in Rusutsu was around -10 degrees celcius. But when I was there, it was a sunny day. This perfect weather made us didn't feel cold, at all. We really enjoyed our day trip to Rusutsu. Not just because of their outdoor activities, but also their indoor facilities. To be honest, this is 1 of many reasons why I chose Rusutsu instead Niseko (which is most popular for skiing). Beside the location which is close with Sapporo, a snow park for kids, they also have a shopping mall with some shops, restaurant, and indoor entertainment. So when the kids got bored and need a warmer place, we could take them to the shopping mall and play there.

The shuttle bus for going back to Sapporo only has 1 departure time, at 5PM. While waiting for the bus, we had a very late lunch at the restaurant inside the shopping mall. There are many restaurants inside, with different type of food. We chose a Japanese restaurant which serves Curry Rice with Tonkatsu at the Ground Floor (I forgot the name). Unlike other attraction places which usually serve a bad quality food with high price, the food was taste so good and also came with reasonably price. Perfect meal to ended our day in Rusutsu.

Overall, I just want to said that I didn't have any regret to chose Rusutsu as my first place for skiing. I could get anything I want in this place. Not just for me, but also for my children. They were so happy to play at the snow park where they could slide for unlimited time. The only regret was we only had a day trip, which gave us a limited time to explore this place. Well, if you ask me whether 1 day is enough to explore Rusutsu, I would say, "NO!". You need to stay at least 2 - 3 nights. Unless if you just want to strolling around without play any snow activities.

First Impression Review of Duplair Ceramide Lotion

Hi beauties.. 

Kali ini aku mau menulis tentang first impression review skincare dari sebuah brand yang baru aja soft launching di Indonesia, “Duplair”. Duplair merupakan salah satu luxury brand untuk perawatan kulit dari Jepang. Dengan menggunakan bahan alami yang berkualitas tinggi, produk – produk buatan Duplair sangat bermanfaat untuk membuat kulit menjadi sehat dan juga terlihat cantik. Salah satu produk Duplair sendiri telah memenangkan cosme beauty awardsdi Jepang selama 2 tahun berturut-turut. Produk yang tidak lain adalah Duplair Cleansing Gel ini mendapatkan award karena telah terbukti menjadi produk favorite para wanita untuk membersihkan wajah dari penggunaan make up. Hanya dengan sekali usap, Duplair Cleansing Gel dapat membersihkan langsung segala macam make up termasuk yang waterproofdengan lembut. WOW!! Mendengar rating yang dimiliki oleh produk Duplair, bikin saya makin penasaran untuk cobain produk mereka. 

Kulit kering, selalu menjadi masalah utama pada kulit saya, selama bertahun - tahun. Bukan hanya pada wajah, tapi juga di seluruh bagian tubuh. Kebetulan banget, aku mendapat kiriman produk yang juga bestsellerdari Duplair, yang dirancang untuk mengatasi kulit kering. Duplair Ceramide Lotion, dilihat dari namanya saja kita sudah tahu bahwa produk ini mengandung Ceramide, yang sangat berfungsi untuk menjaga kesehatan kulit. Sebelum aku membahas tentang produk ini, let me tell you more about Ceramide.

Pada dasarnya, Ceramide adalah lipid (biasa kita sebut lemak) yang terdapat pada lapisan paling atas kulit. 50% kandungan pada kulit kita terdiri dari Ceramide. Jadi ga usah diragukan lagi, Ceramide memegang peranan penting untuk menjaga kesehatan kulit kita. Bersama dengan kolestrol dan asam lemak jenuh, Ceramide mengikat sel – sel pada kulit dan membuat lapisan untuk menjaga kelembaban kulit dengan cara mencegah keluarnya air dari dalam kulit serta mencegah masuknya polusi dan hal buruk lainnya ke dalam kulit. Dengan adanya Ceramide, kulit kita akan tetap terjaga kelembabannya dan juga membuat kulit menjadi tetap kenyal.

Namun, seiring bertambahnya usia dan berbagai macam faktor, kandungan Ceramide pada kulit akan mulai berkurang. Oleh sebab itu, kita perlu menggunakan skincare dengan kandungan Ceramide, untuk mempertahankan kelembaban pada kulit. Duplair Ceramide Lotion, dengan kandungan utama Ceramide, bekerja dengan cara mengisi Ceramide pada lapisan korneum. Dengan begitu kulit akan tetap terjaga kelembabannya dan terhindar dari dehidrasi.

Pertama kali aku lihat Duplair Ceramide Lotion, aku langsung jatuh cinta sama kemasannya :P It comes with pink color – which is my favorite. Tapi yang bikin aku makin suka sama produk ini adalah teksturnya. Duplair Ceramide Lotion memiliki tekstur cair yang sangat ringan, sehingga mudah diserap oleh kulit dan tidak terasa lengket. Awalnya aku agak kaget karena setelah dipakai, aku ga merasa lembab banget seperti penggunaan lotion pada umumnya. Ternyata diusapkan pada kulit, Duplair Ceramide Lotion akan langsung diserap oleh kulit.  Bahkan saking ringannya, aku merasa seperti tidak menggunakan lotion. Bener – bener enak banget deh pakenya dan cocok digunakan setiap hari (pagi dan malam) karena meskipun melembabkan, lotion ini tidak membuat kulit menjadi berminyak. 

Teksturnya benar - benar ringan dan cair banget

Selain untuk wajah, Duplair Ceramide Lotion juga dapat digunakan untuk melembabkan bagian tubuh lainnya yang juga membutuhkan perawatan seperti rambut, kulit kepala, tangan, dll. Sama seperti pada wajah, penggunaan lotion ini pada bagian tubuh lainnya juga ga bikin jadi berminyak. Jadi jangan takut rambut jadi lepek ya setelah menggunakan lotion ini :) 

The last thing yang bikin aku makin suka sama produk ini adalah dia tidak menggunakan aroma apapun. Ini salah satu point yang penting banget buat aku. Jujur aja, aku ini orangnya agak sensitif terhadap wangi – wangian. Sering banget aku stop pemakaian skincare yang memiliki aroma tidak enak ataupun terlalu tajam, meskipun produk itu terbukti memberikan efek bagus terhadap kulit aku. Pemakaian skincare dengan aroma yang tidak enak membuat aku menjadi pusing bahkan mual. Makanya aku seneng banget pas cobain Duplair Ceramide Lotion, karena dia tidak memiliki wangi sama sekali. Jadi produk ini juga cocok banget bagi kalian yang tidak suka ataupun alergi dengan wangi – wangian.

So, that’s my very first impression mengenai Duplair Ceramide Lotion. I LOVE this product very much. Saking sukanya aku bisa pake lotion ini berkali – kali, terutama disaat aku merasa kulit aku mulai dehidrasi (karena aku selalu berada di ruangan berAC). Seperti biasa, aku akan update lagi untuk efek lebih lanjut setelah selesai menggunakan 1 botol ini. Bagi kalian yang mau cobain produk – produk Duplair, kalian bisa membeli produk ini secara online di website resmi Duplair ataupun di beberapa offline stores seperti Tokyo Belle, Ciel Sowal Salon (Radio Dalam), Lond Tokyo, dan Century. Oh ya, harga produk ini juga cukup terjangkau lho, dan menurut aku worth it banget. Hanya dengan Rp 300.000,- , kalian bisa mendapatkan 1 botol Duplair Ceramide Lotion dengan isi 500ml. Tunggu apalagi?? Yuk cobain Duplair Ceramide Lotion, dan dapat kulit lembab, kenyal, dan juga sehat. 

Note : Bagi kalian yang ingin mendapatkan info lebih lanjut untuk produk – produk lainnya dari Duplair, serta tips – tips untuk merawat kulit, kalian bisa follow akun resmi instagram Duplair Indonesia di @duplair.id.

See you at another post beauties….