day 7: celebrity tour guide

Before we enter the Departure Hall, the entire group took turns to each take a photo with our guide, Michelle. Short of getting her autograph, the people around probably thought she was some celebrity.

It is not surprising that we loved her. She is an amazing tour guide, the best I've ever met I believe.

Michelle never stops talking. And that is meant as a huge compliment. She has so much knowledge and stories to share - about the local culture, history, things to do and buy, newest trends and products, and personal funny experiences. A tour guide is one of the key factors for choosing to go with Chan Brothers rather than exploring Hokkaido on my own. And Michelle really made it very worthwhile.

Michelle is extremely thoughtful and experienced. Her wealth of experience meant that even before I pose a question, she would already say some people have asked her this and that, and she would answer the question. She is extremely detailed when she explains the itinerary, the next activity, about the hotel etc, so we are always mentally prepared on what to expect. That is very reassuring and made sure we did not have to deal with surprises. She not only remembers everyone's name, but what we like and want to buy. She will make the extra effort to look out for something that we want.

I am most impressed by the amount of effort she puts into her 'props', maps, and daily hotel information slips. As she explains the next attraction, she has A3 print outs of the name of the attraction (so we know the spelling, or if we did not catch her pronunciation), and sometimes include photos and images to make it interesting. She also printed simplified maps, and a list of great ramen stalls for us. Daily, before we check into the hotel, she would write clearly on a slip the time and location for dinner and breakfast, whether there is wifi, her room number if we need to look for her, etc. 

In every way, she exceeds my expectation of a tour guide and she will be the reason why I will go back to Chan Brothers in future because I know they select their guides very carefully.

• Activities: Shopping at Chitose Airport, flight from Chitose to Haneda, Shopping at Lalaport Toyosu Tokyo, Shopping at Haneda International Airport.
• Cost: 367¥ crab and cheese fish cake, 105¥ vacuum plastic bag, 160¥ cream puff, 180¥ salmon onigiri, 150¥ green tea, and frankly too much more that I don't want to put it down.