Christmas eve finally came. The day did not start particularly smoothly. The story goes like this, After dinner yesterday at my place, Junlong, Wai Kit and me realised that there wasn't much planned for today and so we decided to go out ourselves. Then I had to check with June and Linghan if they wanted to join us. But as they weren't able to give me confirmed answers last night, I did not inform Ron chan of what's going on. And so after breakfast, Ron chan got a call from Kira checking about this as the guys also informed her only this morning. I felt pretty bad for not keeping Ron chan in the loop. Anyway, the outcome was that the 3 of us will go out on our own since the girls seems to have other plans in mind.

So Ron chan drove me to Teine Station. While in the car, Ron chan told me that last night, Chihiro was all dressed up last night as she attended a wedding party and when she came back home, everyone wanted to take photos and wanted me to join in too but they didn't want to wake me up. I was so disappointed, I was like the only night I turned in early, this happened. I didn't really get to see Chihiro much during my stay as most of the time its either I was out or she was out.

We arrived at the station at 10.30am sharp but had to wait for for Kira to drive the guys here. They didn't take long and we left shortly after they arrived. So, the plan was to make a trip to the Sapporo Beer Museum first and go on from there. It was a little complicated to try to train to the Musuem, so took the challenge of "topographing" our way there with a city map from Sapporo station itself. We fared pretty well on our first attempt topographing to somewhere we're not familiar with.

Once at the musuem, we went in after grabbing some shots of the building from the ouside as well as the adequately decorated surroundings. It wasn't a big place actually with the 1st level being the reception and the 3rd level being the start of the musuem's displays. The displays were pretty well laid out although there wasn't a whole lot of them on display to be truthful. Earlier versions of the cans and bottles as well as a trip down memory lane were the more interesting items. There was a section meant for visitors to take a photo with to show that they've been there too.

After we were done with the 3rd level, we went down to the 2nd level where there was a mini beer tasting bar. We each ordered a different kind of local beer to try. I collected all 5 different designs of its coasters for keepsake. We met a Singaporean family while we were there and had a small chat to pass time. Then its back down to the first level where the gift shops and some snack counters are located. We got ourselves a double scoop ice cream cone each. We had it gobbled down pretty quickly and made our way to Sapporo Factory on foot once again.

Sapporo Factory was just like other malls I guess. It was quite spacious with warm Christmas decorations though. We settled our lunch at the basement in a Okonomiyaki restaurant. It was Teppanyaki-like style except that the chef cooks at your table. Every table has the hot-plate installed. It wasn't a messy affair though. We got to put our own sauce and cut our own food to the sizes we want. The Okonomiyaki was very filling. Hungry no more, we continued to check the place out but decided to leave soon as there wasn't anything particularly attractive to us. We did buy some candies meant to be given to our host's kids though.

We went back to Sapporo Station since there was much more stuffs to see and buy around the area. It was dark already when we reached and the temperature dropped as soon as the sun sets. We continued to the malls and places where we didn't go the previous time we were here. MUJI, The Loft and Kinokuniya were some of the places we patronized. I bought some simple Xmas acessories in the form of Reindeer horns and Santa hats, looking to liven up the mood back at home during Christmas. I bought a Christmas cake as well inside a confectionery ship in Sapporo Station.

THe station was crowded, so were the trains. Wai Kit, Junlong and me split up to get on to the train. Junlong and me made it but I saw Wai Kit left standing at the platform. We were pretty sure he will make it back safely himself though. LOL. Not wanting Ron chan to wait for me, I only called her after I've arrived at Teine Station. In fact I wanted to attempt to walk back. But I decided against it after giving it some thought. Ron chan informed me to meet us at the pick up point in 15 mins time. So Junlong and me spent our time looking around the convenience store in the station. Coincidentally we met Suzuki san (Koharu and Kaito's dad) in there.

I went down after 15mins and Junlong stayed on to wait for Wai Kit. Kira and Ron chan came approximately the same time to pick us up. Back home, Ron chan was preparing a feast for dinner! It was exactly what I was wishing for, Hotpot! Its more or less similar to our steamboat with a delicious soup base and a whole lot of food to cook! There was beef, Udon, mushrooms, vegetables and fried chicken (not meant to be put into the hotpot of course).

We had a great time cooking and eating. Something interesting interrupted our dinner earlier though. Ruki sneaked up on us and stole a piece of chicken and ran all the way to the other end of the living room while Ron chan chased him. It was pretty amusing and this marks the first sucessful attempt by Ruki for the duration of the trip I was there. Well done Ruki, although you'll probably get quite a bit of stick for this. LOL.

I passed the pack of candies I bought earlier at Sapporo Factory to Mebae. Then I had a chat with Ron chan and showed her photos I took during the day. She requested me to copy all my photos to her home laptop. But I realised it was in serious condition after I used it. There like almost no space left at all in the harddisk. I tried my best to help her clear up the mess but there wasn't much I can do unless they tell me what they didn't want anymore in the computer. I tried to troubleshoot their faulty USB camera too. I decided that the lens was damaged since everything else seems to be in order.

It was getting late and I was watching TV when suddenly Mebae came down from her room, in the middle of her sleep around 1.30am, crying and looking for her mum. I was pretty shocked and realised only later from Ron chan that its because she awoke to find no chritsmas present and it means Santa did not come and didn't like her. I was so amused! LOL. I had no idea someone would actually be so affected by a simple Santa white lie. Maybe I'm really old already. Can't really put myself in the shoes of young kids already. But come top think of it, there was a time when I though Santa was real too. But I never got any presents from Santa. LOL.

That was what welcomed me into Christmas. Yes, it was already the 25th Dec. SO I guess I better go to bed so I'll be ready for whatever they planned for us when morning comes.