Wrapping Up Sapporo

We're just back from an early, early morning outing in Kyoto - it's hot and crowded here, so we decided to try to beat both the heat and the masses of people by getting up with the sun. Now Fiona and Jason are having a quick rest before we head out for more exploring. I decided it was the perfect time to finish one last post about Sapporo so I can finally move on to documenting our travels on the mainland.

We spent most of our last week in Sapporo packing up our apartment and trying to squeeze in as many last minute items from our bucket list as possible. In the end, we didn't do too badly:

The items we didn't hit included Hokkaido University Botanical Garden (just couldn't get Fiona interested in that one for some reason), Curb Market (Sapporo's second, larger, fish market - we took a miss here because it turns out they mostly sell seafood to take home and prepare and we weren't really equipped for major cooking at our apartment), and tea with a view (we swapped this and instead did lunch with a view at Sky J restaurant). The four items crossed out in blue we also didn't do because we learned after making the list that they were just too far away from Sapporo to make them feasible. All in all, we were happy with all the places we did check off - not to mention the many that we visited that weren't even on our original list.

One of the foods I really wanted to eat before leaving was proper yakitori (skewered and grilled meat). We had tried it a few times from vendors at festivals, but I wanted to try the real deal in a reputable restaurant. The week before we left we ended up getting to do this as part of a farewell with the group that hosted Jason at Hokkaido University. And we did it in style too because as it turned out, the restaurant we went to offered tabehoudai- and nomihoudai-style dining. The word 'tabehoudai' is made up of the verb 'taberu' (meaning 'to eat') and 'houdai' (meaning 'as much as one likes). Similarly, nomihoudai originates from the verb 'nomu,' meaning 'to drink.' So basically this was an all you can eat and all you can drink yakitori restaurant, but the thing about tabehoudai that's so much better than your typical all-you-can eat buffet is that it's a traditional restaurant with a menu that you can order from for a set amount of time (usually 90 minutes). So you're continuously getting freshly prepared deliciousness. It was amazing - I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in chicken wings that night!

By the way, can you tell from the pictures that it's still legal to smoke indoors in Japan? I'd nearly forgotten what it was like, and Fiona?...mind blown!

After dinner, our group headed over to the enormous ferries wheel that sits atop a building in Sapporo's Susukino neighborhood. We could see this from our apartment window, and Fiona would ask daily when we were going to get to ride it. We cut it a little close, but we got it done!

Before boarding, there was a stand selling drinks to enjoy during the ride. Ever since tasting a tiny drop of a Coke several months ago, Fiona has been OBSESSED with the drink. We rarely drink soda in our house, so it was her experience with it - she was instantly mesmerized: "Mommy! It's spicy when it hits my tongue, but once it goes down my throat, it's sweet!" She immediately wanted more, but I told her it's not very good for us, so we don't drink it very often. Less then thrilled with my response she looked at me and said, "When I'm 17 I'm going to come back here and look for that stuff!" (Somewhere along the line, she's come to the conclusion that 17 is a magical age; she's also informed me that when she's 17 she'll be old enough to have her own cell phone. She actually made me promise I'd get her one when she turns 17!...something tells me she'll one day be cursing her 6-year-old self for the selection of this age as cell-phone-ready!) All this to say, that when I bought this small bottle of Coke for her and I to share on the ferries wheel, she was OVER THE MOON. Hence the huge grin on her face in this picture. She can hardly wait to get her hands on that bottle of sweet/spicy goodness!

  

This is when I told her I was going to have one last drink and the rest would be her's: 

And this is when the sugar and caffeine hit the system:

Coke aside, the views from the top of the ride were impressive!

Before learning Sapporo, we also wanted to take a trip up to Otaru, a nearby seaside town famous for glass work and, interestingly enough, intricate music boxes. On the train ride up, Fiona finished her book and found herself with nothing to entertain herself with. The picture below illustrates perfectly one of the many things I love so much about this kid. While she didn't have anything to read, I was engrossed in my book and wasn't really paying too much attention to what she was doing. A good 15 minutes passed before she said, "Look Mommy!" and I turned to find myself face to face with this:

With nothing but a coffee carrying tray, a few pieces of origami she dug out of my purse, and some stickers a conducter had given her, she got busy fashioning a mask!

Our first stop in Otaru was for ice cream. Unfortunately, it's the only picture I have from our time there because, lets be honest, a 6-year-old plus intricate music boxes plus shelves and shelves of glass is just a terrifying sight to look away from even long enough to snap a quick picture. It was a fun afternoon though and I learned something new about Fiona - the kid can shop! I was more than done with the shopping after half a dozen shops or so, but she was just getting started!

 Our summer living in a big city taught us something else about this girl - she may have been raised in the 'burbs, but she can hang with the best of them when it comes to navigating the public transportation system. One night a couple of weeks ago, the three of us got on the subway to head home and Jason and I immediately zoned out for the ride back. We'd made it one or two stops when Fiona suddenly shouted at us from across the train, "Mommy! Daddy! We're going the wrong way!" Oops! Hate to break it to you Fiona, but we're only going to get older and harder to care for from here on out; I hope you're up for the challenge!

On our last full day in Sapporo, Fiona really wanted to go to the zoo to see her favorite animal - the Hokkaido brown bear. We made plans to meet our friends Rie and Kotaro there, but when we arrived it was closed. She was bummed, but luckily Rie had a back up plan - a local aquarium and science museum. Disappointment was quickly replaced with excitement as we made our way there.

The highlight of the science museum (for Fiona) was this activity in which each visitor becomes a kind of food and passes through the human digestive tract. Here so goes, ready to be chewed up:

One display talked about digestive polyps and how they can be removed laparoscopically. There was then this cool interactive setup where kids could try their hand at being a surgeon. Let me tell you, the kid has skills!

Eventually we passed through the stomach and intestines being digested further and further until, inevitably, we were pooped out:

This section of the installation included corresponding bodily noises and lots of flushing sounds. The kids thought it was HILARIOUS. Inappropriate noises aside, it was actually a really well done demo of how digestion happens.

Next we moved on to the aquarium which was also well done. This was Fiona's favorite display - a tank you could put your hands in and have them instantly swarmed by nibbling fish. It was creepy, but I did it too.

For our last dinner in Sapporo, we still had one more local favorite that I had yet to try - soup curry. It's a curry flavored soup broth that comes with your choice of meat (usually chicken) and veggies in it. It is served with a side of rice. The proper way to eat it is to get a small amount of rice in your spoon, then dip it into the broth so that you eat spoonfuls of rice and broth together.

While we waited for our food to come, Fiona entertained the crying baby at the table next to us with her most recently acquired fan (fans are handed out regularly buy businesses here as a form of advertisement). As I'm sure you guessed, this fan is from the equivalent to UPS here in Japan...

When dinner arrived I was SO glad I hadn't missed out on trying this one. It was delicious! Definitely one of the top three things I've eaten so far. I can't wait to try to make it at home.

Finally, for our last bit of Hokkaido dining, we stopped in the basement of Daimaru (in Japan, the bottom floor of all department stores is where you'll find the sweets) and picked out a variety of Hokkaido cakes, cookies, and candies to sample. We all pretty much agreed that the long skinny bars out performed the round cakes. 

Unfortuantley, this was the very last one we tired: 

We picked it from among a bunch of other cake and cookie packets and from the packaging expected some sort of spiced cookie. Boy were we in for a rude awakening! It was basically dehydrated seafood of some sort formed into a cracker. Not necessarily bad if you like seafood, but certainly not what your palette is expecting while sampling a selection of sweets!

And on that very seafood-y note (which is actually pretty appropriate for Hokkaido), Sapporo is a wrap! What an amazing summer home. There were lots of highs and a few lows, but overall we all agree that we'd do it again in a heartbeat! Next up, adventures from Kyoto!