In the evening, we went to the Mount Hakodate Ropeway for a 3-minute ride to Mount Hakodate. It must have been a long time since I took such rides for I was still momentarily shocked to see how packed each capsule was, until I remembered that it has always been like this. The short ride felt like an eternity because of the crowd and the ensuing stuffiness, not to mention that I was overcome for a while with motion sickness.

However, the fresh air from Mount Hakodate cured all the discomfort. Arriving around 6:30 pm, we managed to take the last spot that offered a prime view of Hakodate city view, which marked the start of a long wait till approximately 8 pm. Throughout the 1.5 hours, we experimented with taking time lapses, marvelled at the colours in the sky and at times bemused by the huge crowd. This would have been a rather uneventful visit if not for a Cantonese-speaking couple.

This couple was quite amazing, having pushed their way through 3 to 4 layers of human crowd, till they were right behind me and my friends. Then they started pressing in from behind, in an attempt to oust us from our position. Through it all, they were speaking loudly in Cantonese making snide remarks about those of us occupying the prime spot, e.g. that we iPhone camera users should make way for professional camera users like themselves. Then I overheard them struggling with the functions of their camera. The ironies of life? :P

Thankfully, they did not quite spoil the visit for me despite behaving quite poorly (in my opinion), as I held on tightly to good manners, reminding myself that I do not need to lose good upbringing to poor manners. Even though I don’t always succeed, this must be my lucky day!

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