Hokkaido 北海道

Hokkaido in summer is really full of flowers, and I'm not even talking about Furano and Farm Tomita. Even while we travelled up the mountains, you could see big patches of daisies in bloom. If you pass by any houses, chances are the garden is full of different coloured flowers. Summer up in the Hokkaido mountains is perfect; lush green trees, beautiful flowers in bloom all over the place (even at the road sides), and good weather hovering between 20-25 degree celsius during the day.

I must admit that I do not miss Singapore while I was there. Hokkaido is blessed with good weather in summer and a lack of human population. Almost half of its population is located in Sapporo (札幌) leaving other parts of Hokkaido pretty much unpopulated. If you have a chance to visit Hokkaido you'll understand what I mean. Basically, other than Sapporo and Chitose (千歳), you will not find amenities such as shopping malls, train stations etc. If you stay at onsen (温泉) resorts, you'll most prob be sleeping on the floor... erm I mean on tatami. :D While travelling you see nothing but mountains and mountains full of trees, else it'll be patches and patches of corn, wheat, potato, onion plantations and a few houses that you can count with both hands.

This is basically Hokkaido in a tiny nutshell during summertime. Was already planning to go another time during spring so I get to see both 梅 and 桜 in bloom. Apparently you can only see these 2 flowers in bloom at the same time in Hokkaido. In other parts of Japan you'll see 梅 followed by 桜. So gotta start saving up again. :D