January 4, 2013
SAPPORO IS FREEZING. Ok, now that that’s out of the way…
Before bed last night, I invited everyone in our room,
including two “new” guys – Andy (British) and Bill (American) – to go to the
Nijo fish market at 7:30am. To my surprise, despite a night of drinking,
everyone was up by 7:10, and we were out the door thirty minutes later. I
hadn’t expected anyone to join me! Shaweet!
Nijo is supposed to be open from 7am to 12pm, but seemed to
just be opening when we arrived by 8am. Our first stop was a tiny sushi place
in an alley that consisted of a kitchen the size of my closet at home, a small
case of fish, a bar with three seats, and another bar for three standing
persons. This literal mom and pop sushi-ya was exactly what I was looking for!
I had scallop, salmon, and tuna with a much welcomed cup of hot green tea. Did
I mention how damn cold Sapporo is?
Along the walk
Makin' some sushi
Scallop sushi
Tuna sushi
Salmon sushi
Three pieces of sushi added up to ¥600, or about $8, and
were worth every cent. We thanked the kind old couple, walked a little more,
and went to a crab place – Sapporo is known not only for its namesake beer, but
also for crab. The woman let us hold one of the massive buggers – which go for
~$150 a pop. We all ordered crap soup, which was a bargain at ¥300. The broth
was a buttery miso soup with three varieties of crab – one of them being hairy
crab. Sucker kept sticking me. The soup and crab were simply mouth watering.
I think there's some hair in my soup. BUDDUM CHING.
By the time we finished, I was ~30 minutes behind schedule,
and Jimmy called us to check and make sure I knew the time. Awesome guy!
Jimmy
I ran back, and surprisingly didn’t slip on some ice and
break my tuchas. Luckily I packed my bags the night before, so I grabbed them,
checked out, and said my goodbyes to the super awesome crew. It just began to
snow on my way to the subway, and I was happy to hit a red light at a corner
with a small river lined with snowcapped trees. きれい！
(Beautiful!)
The subway took me to Sapporo station, through which I ran
to the airport train with my two bags. Exhausted and feeling sick from running
on a belly full of fish, I sat down and took some deep breaths.
In the airport, I stopped at an ‘omiyage’ shop (a store that
sells gifts to bring people back, usually boxes of cookies or something).
Hokkaido is famous for Shiroi-Koibito, or ‘White Lovers,’ a white chocolate
wafer only sold in Japan’s northern most major island. The Japanese love the whole
“only sold in xxx” concept, and everyone was loading up. I bought the smallest
box and got in the massive line for check in. It moved quickly, and I was at
the ticket counter in no time.
I asked the ANA (All Nippon Airways) check-in lady if she
spoke English, and her affirmative answer was quite the lie. She looked
concerned over something, called her manager, and ran my bag back through
security. I asked her in English if there was a problem, and she looked at me
in confusion and gave me the “I don’t know what you just said so I’m just gonna
smile and nod” nod. I asked in Japanese and she shook her head. “Daijoubu
desu.” (“It’s alright.”)
My exhausted self sunk into seat 14G with 15 minutes to
spare, but that’s how domestic flights work here.
During take off and landing, footage was projected from a
camera in the front of and under the craft. I’ve been on tons of flights, but
I’ve never seen anything like that before. It was really neat. Four for you ANA
– you go ANA! Seeing the footage from Sapporo (stunning snow laden landscapes
and countless trees) and then Osaka (bustling cityscape with countless
buildings) was an incredible juxtaposition.
A little over halfway through the flight, the flight
attendant came over to me and told me that it was possible to see Mt. Fuji from
the other side of the plane. She escorted me to a window that framed a
breathtaking mountainous aerial view with Fuji in the background. Thank you,
wonderful flight attendant!
From the Osaka-Itami airport, I took a bus to Shin-Osaka
station, where I took a shinkansen to Kyoto. The trip was so fast that I hardly
had time to scarf down my late bento lunch.
I may or may not have treated myself to a delicious strawberry creme puff pastry thing... I'd never do this in the States, but Japanese desserts are SO GOOD
Once in Kyoto, I put some stuff in a coin locker (these
things are a lifesaver), and then hopped on a bus to Kiyomizu Temple. I
realized that I had missed this incredible sight the last time I was in Kyoto,
and was determined to see it. This turned out to be a wonderful decision.
I arrived at Kiyomizu bus stop just before sundown, and ran
up the hillside stretch of kitschy shops in order to arrive at the temple just
in time to capture it with the perfect lighting. Success!
The temple was packed with people, including several young
Japanese folks in traditional clothing. The girls in kimonos were really
excited to be asked to have their photo taken.
There are more, and these need to be edited
There were lots of little quirky things to do at the temple,
but the lines were long and the sun was setting quickly. Photos needed to be
taken.
Several hundred photos later, and I took a bus back to Kyoto
Station, where I forget the location of my coin locker, and ran around the
station like a headless chicken, or the Pope at a gay pride parade (although I
suspect that would actually be somewhat enjoyable for him). I finally figured
out where it was, sighed with relief, saddled up, and took the shinkansen back
to Shin-Osaka Station. As I was getting off, the most adorable obaasan
(grandmother) in all of Japan laughed about how much stuff I was carrying on my
back. I chatted with her and her husband in Japanese – they asked me where I
was going, I told them I had come from Sapporo and was going to Hiroshima, they
looked impressed, I asked them the same question, they said they were from
Osaka, I told them I loved Osaka, they asked where I was from, I told them I
was from America and asked if they had ever been, they laughed and said they
were far too old to go. I showed them my fugu keychain from Osaka and they
laughed, commenting in broken English that it was “very Osaka.” They wished me
a good journey, and I thanked them, said goodbye, and then ran to another track
for my shinkansen to Hiroshima. Those adorable old folks kinda made my day. I
wish I had gotten their photo, but we were exiting a train and I had eight
minutes to get to my next one.
The shinkansen to Hiroshima had the nicest interior of any
train I’ve ever seen. Large plush seats with two on each side of the aisle,
outlets, nice faux wood tables and arm rests, a cool pop up drink holder,
comfortable soft lighting. I dug it. (Wow the past tense of that phrase sounds
awkward.)
J-Hoppers Hiroshima Trad Guesthouse was easy enough to find,
and the guy at the front was suuuuper nice and helpful. He suggested a good
okonomiyaki place for dinner, so I dropped my stuff down and went out.
Hiroshima is known for its use of noodles and excess cabbage in okonomiyaki.
Indeed, it was my favorite thus far, so I hereby label Hiroshima the king (or
queen, I’m not sure what it identifies as) of okonomiyaki. My meal was so big
and so filling that I simply could not finish, which is pretty bad here, I
believe. I tried and I tried, but I just could not. Coming from me, you know
that’s saying something! As I was leaving, I told the checkout lady, 「食べ過ぎました」 (I ate too much), thanked her, and
left.
Such a long and eventful day! My body is aching from all the
running around, so time for bed.
Here is a cat. Good night!
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