The day started with a hearty and healthy breakfast prepared by Ron chan. "Itadakimasu!" I uttered and I had no problem finishing the delicious meal. Today we're going to Shiroi Koibito Park and Factory. And along the way, I slowly learnt that its actually a famous white chocolate biscuit exclusively to Hokkaido. This got me pretty excited as I pretty much love chocolates.

We met up with June, Linghan, Wai Kit, Junlong and Samuel who was a little late but nonetheless made it in time. We cam-w****d around a bit at the reception area where there was quite a bit of interesting decorations and statues around for us to fool around with. After fooling around with the statues of Beethoven and Pinocchio amongst others, we made our way outside and towards the factory entrance,

The host mamas then left us to go in on our own. We hurriedly bought our tickets and went inside to embark on our journey through the museum cum factory. The interior was pretty well decorated and the ambience was just about right for such a place. And so we took a walk through time to see how the Shiroi Koibito evolved since its founding till the present day. Of course we had a lot of fun discussing about the place and lotsa photos! This is the day "cam-w**** cum thieve" Wai Kit is born. Words alone cannot describe his fascination with taking photos with himself in it. But yea, it was a great source of amusement for all of us. Its a good things though as he livens up the trip and he is probably the one who documented his trip with photos the best. LOL.

Towards the end of the trip, we finally saw the production line churning out the biscuits by the thousands through glass viewing panels. There was a pretty guide around to answer our queries as well. After we bade farewell to the tour, we went back to where we started where the biscuits are sold. We each bought our share of the chocolates and reunited with our host mamas. I secretly bought a pack of the chocolate biscuits for my Host mama as well.

Lunch was at a Ramen shop nearby and it had a homely feeling to it. We ordered Miso Soba which was highly recommended and it certainly did not disappoint. Everyone was throwing praises for the miso soba. We didn't spend too much time in the restaurant as everyone had to prepare for the Hippo party coming up at night. We made our way to a supermarket to get the necessary ingredients for the food that we were going to prepare.

Linghan and June joined me at my place while Junlong and Wai Kit went back to theirs. Once back at our home, the girls and I started working on the chicken rice that they already had in mind. With the rice they brought from Singapore and the Chicken thighs they bought from the supermarket earlier, we wondered how this combination will turn out. And while we were busy with our chicken rice, Ron chan was preparing Cola Shoyuu chicken drumlets.

While waiting for the food to be cooked, we entertained ourselves by interacting with Kaito, Koharu and Mebae who were also around. Time passed quickly and soon the food were done and packed. While waiting for time to leave for the party, we took Ruki, my house pet dog, out for a walk and also for the dog to his business if you get what I mean. It was getting cold as the sky darkens.

It was time to leave for the party and we carefully loaded our food up the car and set off to Sapporo central for the party. Mebae, Koharu and Kaito were having a wild time at the back of the car and I was inevitably dragged into their fun. Its was enjoyable interacting with the kids though. They're always so full of energy and every active.

Finally, we arrived at the party venue. Almost everyone was present already and we quickly set up our food, writing labels and finding space to lay out our cuisine. We then wasted no time and joined in the Hippo activities. A round of introduction by everyone ensued. After a couple of SADA (sing along dance along). We proceeded to have dinner which is, you should have guessed by now, a spread of various cuisines prepared by everyone. Familiar sights of pandan cakes and roti prata made me feel at home. Most of the food were pretty delicious I must say. And I was introduced to Furu Furu by the kids. Its a jelly drink that you must shake hard prior to opening it to make it flow. Its by Fanta and it is nice!

While we were eating, a group of Japanese Hippo members performed a dance. The group included Ron chan, Kira chan, Peko chan, Mebae, Koharu and Momoko. It was an interesting performance. Soon it was our turn to perform our Singaporean item. Having not much time to prepare ourselves prior to this trip, we requested for some time to rehearse. We went outside the communal hall and spent 10 over minutes to get ourselves braced for the performance.

Out we came and we sang Singapore Town aloud while displaying printed photos of Singapore landmarks. Then we followed it with the song "New Friend Found". We demostrated the actions for the song and then invited our Japanese friends to join us. It was a little messy but I'm sure everyone had fun! And of course I cannot miss out mentioning the part where Samuel became Santa and dished out little gifts to the kids. He was an instant hit with the kids that night!

Soon it was time to bid farewell to everyone and go home. We collected back our crockeries and set home. On our way back, Peko chan and Kira chan stopped their cars by the roadside to give us sometime to admire the Sapporo Whitle Illumination at Odori park. We quickly walked over to the light displays and snapped whatever we could see as we did not want those in the car to wait too long.

It was a great day! Had fun at Shiroi Koibito Park and I got to meet my fellow homestayers and also new Japanese friends at the party.