It has been about a year since my last post about a trip. I would love to be able to say that I had a great trip to post about, but unfortunately, that is not the case today.
Ever since I arrived in Japan, I have been told Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost (and only) circuit, is a place I need to visit at some point, especially during the summer when Tokyo becomes a nightmarish inferno. I had originally made plans to go there several times, but each time I looked at the forecast, it would always say there was a high chance of rain. So, I cancelled my plans in favor of going somewhere else. I even made plans for an October trip to hopefully see foliage, but once again, the foliage forecast for that year said that it wouldn’t occur until later in the season. So, I cancelled that trip, too. Finally, I decided that this summer I would actually make it there. At least, that was the idea. I had booked the hotel and airfare. I chose to fly instead of spending four and a half hours on the Shinkansen only to still have another three-and-a-quarter-hour train ride.
The flight itself was only briefly delayed. Other than that, there were no major hiccups. After being seated on the plane, I looked at a screen above one of the seats further ahead of me. It showed the map of Japan with a dashed line going somewhere west that I didn’t recognize. I figured since the flight hadn’t taken off yet that it was from the previous flight and that it hadn't been updated to the current flight.
After we were in the air, I kept looking back at it and wondered why it now showed the plane getting closer to this westward location instead of toward Sapporo, the main city in Hokkaido. It said Okayama, which I thought was the smaller airport that I was headed to in Sapporo. I then started to have this feeling that something was wrong. It took me a moment to process, but I began to realize that I had booked my flight to the wrong city! Not only was it to the wrong airport, it was to the wrong city in the wrong part of Japan! I couldn’t believe that I had made such an error, especially after all these years of living abroad and traveling around Asia. I couldn’t check my phone to see what the correct name of the airport in Sapporo is since I didn’t have Wi-Fi service on the plane (at least not that I knew of).
It wasn’t until we had landed and had cell phone service again that I could check the map. Sure enough, this was indeed the wrong city. I obviously knew it was the wrong city before we landed. What I didn’t know was just how close this city was to the name of the airport in Sapporo. The correct airport that I was supposed to go to is called Okadama Airport. That’s right, only one letter off, just enough for me to not notice while booking it.
As soon as we deplaned and headed to the baggage claim, I started looking for flights back to Tokyo. I suppose I could have tried to see if there were flights going to Hokkaido, but at that point I was so frazzled that I felt that I just needed to return to Tokyo first to clear my head. I did find a flight back to Tokyo the next day, which meant that I would have to stay the night there in Okayama. I tried to cancel the return part of my flight for a refund, but a refund wasn't permitted. I also cancelled the day trips I had booked. I was able to get a refund for three of the four, but since the first trip was scheduled for the next day, it was too late to cancel for free. The biggest expense was the hotel. I had passed the official free cancellation period, but I messaged them begging them to let me cancel without a fee. I would have to wait to see what they said.
That meant that I still had to figure out where to stay for the night. I managed to find a cheap place that looked to be just within Okayama’s limits without being too far from the airport. In the description, the only part that was in English said “Adults Only.” I thought, “Great, no kids. Sign me up!” So, I booked it. After I headed out of the small airport, I went over to the taxi stand and got a ride with an old driver who didn’t seem to know how to get to my hotel. At one point he called someone (I don’t know who, maybe his boss?) to verify where it is. Finally, there was confirmation of some sort.
On the way over, I was reading some reviews of the hotel. One of them caught my eye as it mentioned that this place was “not appropriate,” something about it being a “love hotel.” “Oh, no!” I thought. “I’m about to stay the night at a hotel where couples go to have sex when they don’t feel comfortable doing it at home.” Now I understood what “Adults Only” really meant. Yes, love hotels are definitely a thing in Asia. I also noticed that in the hotel description, it mentioned that due to the nature of this place, the room doors lock automatically. If you want to leave your room, then you must inform the front desk. Yikes!
The city itself seemed small and quiet, and yet the hotel itself looked big and stood out from the rest of its surroundings. When I arrived, I couldn’t figure out how to get inside. The ground floor area was half outside with a big drive-through area. I finally found one of the elevators and went to the second floor. I found the reception area, which was empty and quiet. There was no one at the front desk. Instead, there was a sign (in Japanese only, of course) with a picture of a phone. I assumed it meant that I would need to use it to reach someone, but I used my translation app on my phone anyway to confirm it. I was correct. I picked up the phone feeling almost certain that whoever answered would not speak English. Unfortunately, I was again correct. I nervously tried to ask if they spoke English, but I only got a reply in Japanese. They quickly muttered something, then hung up. I felt totally unsure of what to do next. I then started to wonder if I should just look for some other place to stay, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything available nearby.
About a minute or so later, I heard someone approaching from a back room. It was an older man who seemed nice. I tried to use my translation app to let me know that I had booked a room, but he had an iPad with him that already showed it. Phew! He then finished getting me registered, also letting me know that they deliver breakfast to the room for guests staying overnight. This all helped me to calm down a bit. He also informed me that since check-in was only from 9:00pm until midnight, I would be charged an early check-in fee. I wasn’t thrilled, but at this point I wasn’t about to argue, so I agreed to it. He then showed me to my room. He didn’t give me any key or card. Instead, he entered a number code on the door’s keypad to let me know. He also didn’t give me the passcode to my room. Now I understood what the description meant about needing to notify the front desk if you wanted to leave your room. I found it quite strange and inconvenient, but I also had no plans of leaving my room for any reason.
Once we were inside, I asked about the Wi-Fi, and he picked up the TV remote and turned on the TV. He pointed to the top left of the screen, which showed it. Once I settled in, I started to take in my surroundings. For a place like this, the room seemed rather decent and spacious. I would later decide to take a bath since the bathroom had a decent-sized tub, which turned out to be a hot tub that is meant for two people. It even had a “bubbles” feature.
While bathing I noticed that it also had an LED light toward the bottom of the tub. I had nothing better to do, so I turned it on. It changed colors about every 20-30 seconds. Some of the colors made sense (like red and blue), but other colors really made me question why they would even be used (such as green and especially yellow!).
I decided that I still needed a short shower to properly bath, including washing my face. While washing, I noticed that the soap felt rather thick and didn’t produce any suds. I found it odd but finished washing anyway. It wasn’t until I finished washing off and putting the bottle back that I realized that I had just washed my face with conditioner, not soap. Well, that explained it. I had now completed my trifecta of tragedy (although thankfully, this last one was quite mild).
After getting ready for bed, I felt the urge to voice message several of my friends about what had happened that day. One responded by saying that he would have panicked in that situation, while the other said she was only one minute into my voice message and was already panicking for me. I had finally received a message from the hotel in Sapporo. They agreed to let me cancel my stay for free, even though the free cancellation period had already passed. Finally, there was some good news.
The next morning, I got my mediocre breakfast delivered and ate it happily before calling for an Uber to take me back to the airport. Once at the airport, things were fine. I made it back to Tokyo in one piece (albeit with less money in my account now), where I unpacked my suitcase and my nerves.
Feeling utterly avenged and defeated by Hokkaido, I thought this whole situation was a clear sign that this trip just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe it was “rejection karma” that I had built up from all the previous planning and cancelling, and Hokkaido was fed up with my commitment issues.
However, the next day I began feeling indignant about the whole thing. I decided that I wasn’t going to give up and let Hokkaido defeat me. I did some more research and re-booked my trip for a week later (this time with a cheaper hotel).
Would Hokkaido continue to keep me down? Stay tuned to find out.
Source: Hokkaido: 1, Me: 0
