My Trip to Japan: Sapporo # 3

Actual date Oct 24th

Hey Everyone!

I've been busy. I keep on getting in during the evening and either chatting with people, or figuring out what I'm doing tomorrow, and all of a sudden its already after midnight before I'm even getting ready for bed. No wonder I can't seem to get out before 10.

So, the last I told you guys was that I went to an onsen. The day after that I went to the ocean town of Otaru. Theres a very picturesque and historic canal that's illuminated by gas streetlamp at night. Theres also several preserved historic districts from over the last 50 or 100 years. I got there in the early afternoon and didn't get back till around 9. I wandered around and got a little lost a couple times, but it was actually really nice, since I didn't have a schedule and could walk and see the town. I ended up having some squid ink icecream (actually pretty good; mild, sweet, and creamy tasting, so I still don't know what squid ink tastes like), some very good (I think) sushi (hokkaido is famous for seafood, among other things, and otaru is famous in Hokkaido for sushi), and some okonomiyaki (that you cook yourself, not like in Kyoto when they brought the precooked cake to the table) that was recommended by a guy staying here that is from otaru.
The day after that I went to the Sapporo Beer-En (En is Japanese for Garden) and Museum. I actually went slowly though the free museum, and the other buildings are essentially restaurants. I ended up buying a black T-shirt with one of the original Sapporo beer labels on the back and having a couple samples of the very good beer. After that I was hungry so I wandered through the food court/ supermarket of a shopping mall that was next door. I ended up getting some food, and wandering around the japanese supermarket and some of the various stores in the mall for a couple of hours. In one big very full variety store they were playing a dvd of an actually quite funny and clever cartoon, with no talking, just sound effects, featuring two cartoon rabbits that I've seen here and there all over Japan, but I've never known what they were from. I still don't know their histories or anything, but now I know what what they are and where they're from, so thats cool.

So yesterday, I went to the Sapporo Art Park, and the Sculpture Garden to be specific. The art park itself is pretty cool, with building work-areas where artists and people can go to work on and learn about glass work, ceramics, wood working, and clothwork, including weaving and dying, I believe. Theres also an amphitheater and the sculpture garden. The sculpture garden itself was actually pretty huge with 74 pieces spread throughout the forest and garden areas that took me a couple of hours to get though. After that I was planning on going to the Hokkaido Shine and doing a 1.5 km (plus getting there) hike up a small mountain practically in town, but by the time I got there it was dark. I'll attach the photo of me at the shrine/trailhead. Also, the shrine was closed up like the huge Kannon statue in Sendai. Ha, I tried to see if I could use my cellphone and camera as flashlights cus I still wanted to try the hike. It actually was also full moon too, but after going maybe a quarter of the way I finally accepted the fact that it was just waaaay too dark and I could barely make out where was stepping, not to mention any creatures that might be lurking, or even just wandering, through the mountain woods of Hokkaido. So I turned around and came back.

And actually, again the manager Fuji's idea, that night we had a "Takoyaki Paatei", or Octopus-ball party! It was fun, though I think I burned my tongue thoroughly at least a couple times. Ha, and oh yeah, Fuji is such a sweet guy, the other morning there was complementary banana jam to go with the complimentary toast (on amazing, thick, Japanese bread), that he MADE! I guess he also makes apple jam and other more normal jams, but he makes JAM, Banana Jam. But right, Takoyaki was fun. Also, I guess Fuji had been a part of takoyaki "parties" before, but last night was the first time he hosted, so like, our first batch was pretty ugly. By the end though we were getting the hang of it. Definitely not like the vendors in the street shops though.

To make them, first theres the actually very soupy batter with diced cabbage mixed in, and you ladle that into the grill with the spherical depressions in a grid shape (also with single vertical and horizontal lines across the grid between depressions so you can scrape along there to separate each piece from the other pieces), but you fill each one overflowing. Then a single chunk of octopus or CHEESE, which was awesome, (later on we had a bunch of octopus and cheese but little batter, so the last batch had 2 tako and 1 cheese in each) goes in along with some fried tempura batter bits, and picked diced ginger and then it cooks for a minute. After that, you get your trusty one or two trusty metal takoyaki pics (yup, like little metal ice pics with wooden handles) and spin-flip the takoyakis upside down so they make little spheres. after they're done cooking, you take a couple, then drizzle them with takoyaki sauce (like a sweet shoyu sauce, or maybe okonomiyaki sauce if you know what that is) some Kewpie mayonnaise, dried seaweed flakes, and dried bonito flakes, (I can't remember the names of the seaweed and bonito flakes) and then if youre me, proceed to burn your tongue on them. But it was fun! And I think it was very tasty and a cultural thing to do too.

So today I went to the Hokkaido University Botanic Garden and actually climbed Mount Maruyama. Also actually went to the Hokkaido Shrine. The garden was nice. There was also a greenhouse. But oh man, I went there first, and last night I forgot to charge my camera, so it at the green house it actually died. I was able to take a couple more pictures throughout the day, but only a couple. At the garden, a lot of the plants were pretty shrivelled and brown, but there were actually roses blooming in the rose garden, and there was a huge variety of trees and plants, some of which were still changing colors or just getting started. There was a garden of airid rock plants, and ethnobotanical garden of the Ainu people, a Canadian garden in partnership with a big university in canada (I can't remember which), marsh plants, an herb garden, a bunch of conifers, and a lilac path, and the 6 area greenhouse.

The shrine was good and shrine-ey. I guess it wasn't too exceptional. Though, there were a whole bunch of reeeaally dressed up little girls and some boys and families around. I asked and I guess people were celebrating Shichi-go-san. The holiday when parents dress up their 7-5- or -3 year old and take them to the shrine. The kids were very cute. The climb up mount maruyama was good too. The entrance I wanted to use was hard to find, so I ended up walking maybe an extra mile or something, and I originally was hoping to take some nice pictures, but my camera died, but it was a nice hike through the forest. At the top theres a little rock outcropping with a great clear view of the city.

Tonight, I tried to figure out what I'm gonna do next. I want to end up in Hakodate, then take the train across the nearby straight back to the rest of Japan, but I don't know if I want to do anything else here in Hokkaido before I do. I could spend a couple more nights in one or two relatively nearby towns, go to a famous and/or mountain onsen or two, (possibly even a cheese factory!) and hike in the national parks, but by the time I get out of Hokkaido it'll already be into November, and I still have a TON of places I want to go. I feel like I've slowed down and enjoyed myself here in Sapporo, but there is a TON of Hokkaido I haven't even gotten near to too. So I was thinking that I maybe would move on early tomorrow morning and see more of Hokkaido, but I haven't come to any conclusions and I think I'll just move on tomorrow afternoon. To where I'll decide tomorrow.

So, It's getting late at night again. Love you family! Hope everyones still good! I'll try to do more frequent smaller updates. Love, Tanner

The canal in Otaru, Hokkaido

Really good sushi! The chef was actually featured in newspapers in both Singapore, I think, and Australia. He showed me. Also, at this sushi place, I ended up telling a group of 3 older Japanese tourist ladies about how I was traveling for 12 weeks, 9 by myself, the places I've been and am going to, and how I knew what Japanese language I did.

Having some tasty beer at the Sapporo Beer Museum

If you can't tell, the smoke stack says Sapporo Beer and has the iconic red star, which was actually the emblem of the Kaitakushi, or frontier, agency that actually set up the brewery