Visiting the winter Festival in Hokkaido was on my bucket list.  Thanks to Kentaro and Hokkaido-Treasure agency my visit went way beyond my expectation!  He not only arranged a visit to the Sapporo Winter festival but also to Lake Shikotsu Ice festival, Asahikawa Ice festival, Sounkyo Ice festival, Lake Akan Snow festival and Shikaribetsuko-Kohan Ice village.  Each were amazing and different.  Sapporo was huge with sculptures as big as a Castle to small carvings on a wall of snow.  Being from Los Angeles we were able to see the ice sculpture of Shohei Otani and Yamamotosan. The amazing detail on the ice and the color lights at night made spectacular images you really need to see them in person. Lake Shikotsu ice festival was the first one we visited and at first it was not what I was expecting. it looked like tall mounds of bubbly ice.  However, once you were inside that was were the creative design was seen.  We saw trees with little Shimaenaga birds on branches, moss encased in ice so the wall of ice shimmered green, a coffee cafe inside to buy drinks and even a chapel.  The food was out of this world!!!  Mountain Men restaurant set the bar high. The sushi in Otaru to die for!  We had the famous Genghis Khan lamb dish on a lake.  We even had a hot pot cooking class.  Kentaro found small unique restaurants to eat at.  Our Gyu katsu I had never tried.   We went on an Ice Breaking boat and saw endless drift ice.  Our tour included a snow shoe walk, ice fishing and having a drink in an ice cup in an igloo.  We rode on an innertube at one festival and were pulled in a raft behind a snow mobile!  Our final hotel, Seijyakubow, was the ultimate conclusion to our trip.  Service was beyond our expectation, rooms were so amazing and the food outstanding.  Thank you KenTaro for my making bucket list trip to Hokkaido one to always remember!