We’ve left the beautiful Niseko countryside for a weekend in Sapporo, the largest city in HokkaidÅ and the 5th biggest in all of Japan. We are grateful for the gracious hospitality and the much needed introduction to how things work in Japan. I am a little off my travel game here….is it the language, formal customs, jet lag? I can’t quite put my finger on it but after 10 days I barely feel like I know what’s going on around me, as if I’m in the cantina scene in Star Wars all the time. This place has me in circles and it’s likely I’m unintentionally causing a scene on the regular with my total confusion.
This is the view of the active volcano, Mt Yotei, from Vicki and Nora’s house.
Food has been stellar in Japan! I have eaten a few things I didn’t care for so far like cow tongue, fried dough balls of octopus and cheese, uncomfortably chewey abalone, and a gelatinous noodle broth soup…all of which were ordered without full understanding of what I was asking for. Other than these few blunders we’ve slurped incredible bowls of spicy ramen, inhaled onigiris, and delighted in tempura. In the Niseko area Vicki took us to all her local favorite places to eat which were the cutest mom and pop shops.
We made our last day in Niseko with a climb up Mt. Annapurna followed by my first onsen experience. Vicki gave me a good tutorial on all the onsen rules which, even though they were familiar from the research I had done before we got to Japan, I was glad to have her as a guide so I didn’t screw things up. Public baths not only soothing physically but they are good for practicing body positivity. We had a lovely soak with a mountain view, no photos of course. Friday evening was followed by a meticulously prepared dinner by a chef who cooks for just a few patrons each night in the dining space of his home. It was exquisite.
The journey to Sapporo is about 3 hours on 2 trains, and feels a million miles away from the Niseko mountains and farms. We spent Saturday and Sunday indulging in the charms of this city, loving the vibrant streets and happy people.
All of the buildings have multiple small bars and restaurants on each floor, each seating just a few people. Vicki loves jazz and found us the cutest 20 seat bar called Cats and Dogs. What’s not to love about that? The trio was a pianist, bass, and singer..later joined by a very eclectic drummer. The cover charge of about $20 includes the music and little snacks. They came out with a little glass full of tiny wrapped sausages, candies, and nuts to start us off. During the first set the owner, possibly not expecting such a large crowd…we were 3 of the 4 people there….came back with a bag of groceries and started cooking and arranging a snack plate for each of us with meats, cheeses, vegetables, and tuna croquettes. Video courtesy of Maya’s Instagram.
Such an unforgettable evening! The band and owners indulged us with a group selfie. Next stop is Round One, 7 floors of absolute gaming chaos. Claw machines, every type of arcade game on the planet, darts, bowling, dancing, all with their noises and bright lights at full volume. Like Las Vegas, there’s no windows and it’s really hard to find the exit, it we had to check it out.
After saying goodbye to Vicki, Maya and I had a full day in the city to see the sites, visit the flower petal mural, and shop around. We figured out the trolley car system which was super fun, and went to the Sapporo Fushimi Imari Shrine where there were 27 Tori gates to walk through up to the temple. We walked around the cutest neighborhood and ate another bowl of spicy ramen. Our accommodation was at the Helio Hostel, a typical dorm style place, mid priced. It was super quiet and clean, but the bunk beds in the cubby holes are a little hard to manage climbing in and out of. They had good lounge areas though, so we were pretty happy. We are off to Yamagata in the morning.
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