Friday, January 4, 2013

Sapporo --> Osaka --> Kyoto --> Osaka --> Hiroshima


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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