Today’s the day!!
I’m finally here to share our 2025 Sapporo trip story — featuring the one and only chubby Mom and her amazing family! (Ddu-dduung!! For real??) Even if you're not that excited... please pretend you are... because here it comes — drumroll please!!! 🎬✨ This is a 100% honest, paid-with-my-own-money review — no sponsorships, no ads, just the real deal!!
Oh, and before we dive into the Japan trip review,
if you want to revisit my previous post about the must-have item for traveling in Japan — the coin purse — check out the link below!
<Must-Have Item for Japan Travel: Coin Purse Post>
“A Family Trip to Japan… and the Secret Weapon: A Coin Purse?!” 🗾✨(Necessary item for Japan trip, Recommend it to you
In just two days, Mom, me, and the whole family are heading off on a trip to Japan! (Drumroll, please...!!!) While most people are off to Osaka, our family made a surprising choice—Sapporo! ❄️ Since it’s a full-on family trip with lots of people to
chubby-mom.tistory.com
From June 7 to June 10, 2025, chubby Mom’s family went on a 4-day, 3-night trip to Hokkaido, Japan! 🇯🇵🌸 Japan is a country Ttungie Mom has always loved, and since Hokkaido is known for its cool early summer weather and beautiful, vibrant flowers in full bloom this time of year, it was the perfect destination.
To ensure a comfortable and stress-free trip for both chubby Mom and Dad, the daughter began looking into convenient package tours... ddu-du-du-dung!! 🎺 When it comes to package tours, people seem pretty split — there are tons of great reviews, but also some not-so-great ones. Some complain about pushy shopping stops or being pressured into joining optional tours. So, we knew we had to choose the right tour very carefully.
But since we wanted a relaxing, well-organized trip for the whole family — where we could simply follow the guide and enjoy the set itinerary — we decided to go with a package tour after all!... And the winner was… 🏆 HanaTour’s Sapporo Package Tour, which had lots of positive reviews! 🙌✨
After some thorough research by the daughter, HanaTour stood out as the best among the travel agencies. Their mobile app was also super user-friendly and well-designed, which made the decision even easier.
Out of all the available options, we specifically chose a package that included the key conditions: “No Shopping,” “No Guide/Driver Tips,” and “No Optional Tours.”
If you take a closer look at the two photos above, you’ll see those exact phrases clearly marked with red diagonal lines — a very reassuring detail! What’s more, the HanaTour app allowed for highly customized travel searches. Besides filtering for the “no shopping / no tips / no optional tour” options, we were also able to narrow down the packages by airlines — and of course, Chubby Mom’s family chose only those that used Korean Air or Asiana Airlines. ✈️
What’s funny is… when choosing the tour package, we didn’t realize it at the time, but Chubby Mom’s family accidentally selected a “Star Guide” package. 🌟 Later, we found out that this meant the guide had been officially recognized for excellent service and loved by many travelers — exactly as described in the HanaTour app!
And let us just say... this turned out to be an amazing choice — truly! (Daebak daebak!!) It wasn’t until during the trip — and even more so after it ended — that we realized how much of a difference it made.
The HanaTour app also deserves some serious praise! 👏 It clearly displayed the day-by-day itinerary at a glance, which was incredibly helpful.
As a consumer, it gave me full confidence in what we were signing up for. I could see every detail of the product — well done, HanaTour app!
Since our trip was 4 days and 3 nights, we were able to check out the full itinerary from Day 1 to Day 4 right in the app. It included:
- Flight details (flight times & airlines)
- Meals (what we’d be eating each day)
- Tour schedule (which places we’d be visiting)
- Accommodation info (where we’d stay, hotel details, and available facilities)
Everything was listed in one convenient place, which made planning and following along super easy. Honestly, it was such a user-friendly and well-designed experience. 💯
Since it was our first time going on a package tour, we were a little hesitant at first. 😅 But after reading reviews and seeing HanaTour’s strong reputation — plus all the great options available — we thought, “Let’s just go for it!”
And so... we booked it! Ddu-ddung!! 🎉
The whole process was super easy through the HanaTour app — from booking to payment, everything was smooth and convenient. And what’s even better? If you're not comfortable paying a large amount all at once, the app offers installment payment options too! 🙌
Now here’s a funny moment:
The daughter (yup, that’s me 😅) had naively set a very low spending limit on her credit card... so the payment wouldn’t go through in one transaction. BUT — thanks to the app’s flexible system — I was able to split the payment into two separate transactions, and everything went through just fine. 🙏💳
Seriously… I’m not sure if it’s because the world is just that advanced now, or if it’s just HanaTour being awesome — but either way, it was impressive. Total game-changer! 💥
After booking, we began receiving helpful KakaoTalk messages from the HanaTour staff in charge of our reservation.
And as the departure date got closer, we received a text from our assigned tour guide, too!
The HanaTour app already showed us where to meet at the airport, but the guide kindly followed up with a message explaining the exact meeting point, as well as some important travel tips. 😭 The tone was so warm and caring… and even gave us a friendly phone call in advance! Their voice was so kind and reassuring — it instantly put us at ease. Truly, so sweet!
And then — the big day arrived!!!
DAY 1!!
Chubby Mom’s family hopped on an airport limousine bus (sho sho shok~) and arrived at Incheon Airport! 🚌✈️
Thanks to the prior instructions, we had already:
✅ Issued our mobile boarding passes
✅ Selected our seats in advance
✅ Completed mobile check-in
So at the airport, all we had to do was a quick self bag-drop, and then we headed off to meet our lovely guide!
Oh, and since this was a group package tour, seat assignments couldn’t be done online through the website or app — only by phone. So, we called the Asiana Airlines desk, who kindly guided us through the process, and successfully reserved our seats before the trip! 🎉✈️
Our guide was really friendly and left a great impression. She carefully explained everything we needed to know, step by step, and even handed us a document pack with all the tour information. (Super trustworthy and reassuring!) A little while later, we boarded the plane... and off we went to Hokkaido!!!
Once onboard Asiana Airlines, everyone switched their phones to airplane mode and connected to the Asiana Airlines Wi-Fi. Then, through the in-flight airshow system, we could check our current location on a map in real-time.
What a wonderful world we live in… so convenient and fascinating!!! ✈️📱✨
After arriving in Japan and completing the airport immigration process, we stepped outside and immediately spotted the HanaTour guide’s red flag waving, just like in the photo above. We waited there for the rest of our package tour group to gather, and once everyone arrived, we boarded our private bus for the trip!
This was super convenient and comfortable. The same bus driver stayed with us throughout the entire tour, driving safely and smoothly. According to our guide, the bus company is the largest sightseeing bus operator in Japan, which made us feel even more reassured — absolutely the best!
The bus was very comfortable, and riding the same one day after day made us feel familiar and attached to it... a strange kind of comfort and peace. (Such nostalgic feelings…)
We arrived in Japan at 3 PM on the first day, and since our hotel was a bit far from the airport, we spent about 2 hours traveling by bus. The rest of the day was a simple schedule of enjoying dinner and relaxing in the hot springs. During the bus ride, our guide didn’t stop talking — sharing stories about the history, origins, some basic Japanese phrases, an overview of the next day’s plans, and insights into Japanese culture. Her voice was so pleasant and soothing, almost like a professional narrator… Listening to her made the whole ride so enjoyable and meaningful.
Our first accommodation was Shounko Choyotei, a beautiful hot spring hotel nestled deep in the mountains. The atmosphere was so cozy and charming… the wooden floors added such a lovely touch, and in one corner of the room, there was even a setup for brewing green tea — perfect for relaxing moments. 🍵
Outside the window, though partly covered by clouds, we could see the snow-capped Daisetsuzan mountains. The snow hadn’t melted yet, still blanketing the peaks beautifully — absolutely breathtaking! (If you look to the left of the emoji in the photo, you can see the snowy mountains!) The air was incredibly fresh, and the weather perfectly cool… it was truly touching and wonderful.
Here’s a fun little snapshot of our exact location at the time — I checked it on Google Maps out of curiosity! So fascinating!!! First things first, we unpacked our bags and then hurried downstairs for dinner — a hotel buffet. (Dodododo!!!)
I should’ve taken a picture before eating… but nope, I was a silly goose and took it after we finished everything. 🙈
The hotel dinner was a buffet, offering a wide variety of dishes all at once.
Honestly, the sashimi and sushi served at Japanese hotels are just unbelievably delicious… we ate our fill without holding back! 🍣😋 That said, some of the dishes were a bit salty at times. But saltiness is really a matter of personal taste, right? We tried to go for the lighter, less salty options as much as possible!
After devouring an enormous dinner, the daughter completely crashed… 😴 On the TV, there were Japanese shows playing that I couldn’t understand, but somehow they were really entertaining. There was news, a show similar to “Animal Farm,” cooking competitions — so many programs just like back home in Korea!
And here’s the bottled water that the hotel provided in the room as a basic amenity. It was the first time I’d seen this brand, but it tasted amazing — no weird smell, no fishy taste or anything like that, just super clean and refreshing, almost like Korea’s famous Samdasoo water. 💧😭
I liked it so much I had to take a picture… (I guess I’m the type to get emotional over the little things!)
Afterwards, Chubby Mom’s family slipped into yukatas and enjoyed a relaxing soak in the hot springs before happily falling asleep. The onsen itself was absolutely wonderful. As our guide said, the alkaline water made our skin feel so soft and smooth — it was truly amazing! Such a fascinating experience…
All in all, it was a very satisfying first day.
Even though we were a bit nervous about our very first package tour, we ended up feeling completely happy and reassured. Whenever something came up, our guide was right there by our side, checking and taking care of everything immediately. It was so comforting and made us feel safe — truly a great decision!
Stay tuned for Day 2’s review…
Look forward to it (please do!!! sniff sniff)
bye~~~ bye~~!!!