Hokkaido

I marked another big destination off my places to visit in Japan. Hokkaido! For those who don’t know, Hokkaido is the northern most island of Japan. It is famous for its dairy, nature, fresh seafood, and snow. Everyone asked me if I was a skier or snowboarder when they heard I was going to Hokkaido in the winter. Osakan thinking is that anyone who goes to Hokkaido in the winter for any other reason besides to snowboard, ski, or see the snow festival in February is crazy because it’s “sooooooo colddddd.” Haha! I had to constantly explain that NO, I don’t ski or snowboard and that I simply enjoy cold weather and snow. Also, I went to Hokkaido not only to see what it was like but to visit my friend as well.

I went to Hokkaido literally the weekend after I returned from my winter vacation in America. I took Friday off and flew up there. The following Monday was a holiday, so I flew back then. I think I was well prepared for the cold of Hokkaido since I had just been back in Chicago for two weeks. One thing I was not prepared for was the amount of snow! I have NEVER seen so much snow in my life! Maybe the big blizzard a few years ago in Minnesota when I was a student living in Minneapolis was somewhat comparable, but that was kind of a rare occurrence whereas it’s like this every year in Hokkaido. It literally snowed every day I was there.

SO MUCH SNOWWW!!!

I met my friend at Sapporo Station. Sapporo is the biggest/main city in Hokkaido. We caught up over some coffee and then checked into our hotel. It was really hard to walk in general because the sidewalks and streets were caked with ice. I was surprised by how quickly people drove on the ice. We went to dinner at this cute like American themed restaurant. I got soup curry which is a specialty of Hokkaido apparently. I got a vegetable shrimp one. Everyone talks about how delicious Hokkaido seafood is, so I made sure to get the one with shrimp in it. It also came with a side of rice that you could add cheese on top of. It was good! The only thing that I still need to overcome is seeing faces on my seafood. I don’t eat beef, pork, etc., but I do eat seafood for the most part. Japan likes to leave the head on things which freaks me out. When I pulled the skewers with the shrimp on them out of the soup, I found the shrimp staring back at me. I asked Anna (my friend) how to eat it, and she took one of the skewers from me and showed me how to pull its head and legs off. It wasn’t that bad when she did it, but when it came time for me to pull the heads off the other two, I felt like some sort a evil torturer… even though they were already dead. I’ll admit they did taste good though. Thank you little guys for providing me with sustenance.

Downtown Sapporo - Susukino District

Purikura always.

Soup curry.

After dinner, we went to this little hole in the wall wine bar. I liked it there! It had a sort of charm. After that, we went to a bar that Anna and her friends often go to called “Rad Brothers.” It started off really fun until these two Canadian guys showed up. They (well one in particular) were out of their minds drunk. For whatever reason, they chose to come over to our table and start talking with us. I won’t get into all of the crude things they did and said, but I can assure you that some of it was illegal…yikes!

Charming little wine bar.

Unfortunately, they followed us to the first club we planned to go to called “Booty.” Lol. There weren’t that many people in there because it was still kind of early. Looking back on it now, Anna did something kind of funny to me even if at the time I was like wtf?! The second we walked in, she grabbed the first Japanese guy she saw (who happened to be a salary man and looked like he was possibly going on 40), and told him that I like Japanese guys and that I could speak Japanese really well…bfffttt. Gee, thanks Anna! He was following me around like a lost puppy dog after that.

This was the last we saw of those crazy guys....

We were there for like a half hour before Anna said she wanted to head back to the hotel. At first I was like “What?! It’s still early,” but then I could tell that she wasn’t feeling well, so we took a taxi back to our hotel. I felt totally fine until my head hit the pillow. I’ll spare you the details by just saying that it was a rough night and trip to back to Anna’s home the next day. I have a tendency to party a little too hard when I travel to new places. I think it’s because I get really excited that I’m living my dreams by traveling to new places that I just get caught up in the moment. I will be going to Hong Kong and Macau in a couple months, and I am going to vow to myself that I will not get too crazy when I go!

Anna’s town is a small little village called Uryu with a population of about 2,000. It’s actually very similar to my home town in America which also has a population of around 2,000. I don’t often get to experience places like that in Japan, though. It was a nice change of pace since Japan is for the most part so urban and crowded. The main big town near hers is called Takikawa. I got all excited because there was this konbini called Seicomart in Hokkaido (well at least I’ve never seen it anywhere before). Konbini (convenience stores) are a big thing in Japan, and I swear that if you stay here long enough, you get excited about them too. It’s hard to explain, but you can do so much at a konbini like print things, pay bills, buy concert tickets, get yummy treats, take out money, and more. People tend to become partial to one (for me, 7-11) or like certain things about each one (mmm…Lawson’s karaage-kun). So when I saw a new konbini I had never heard of, I was all about checking it out to see what was up. Haha!

Checkin' out the Seicomart.

When we got to her house in the afternoon on Saturday, we took it easy and had girl time. I loved just hanging out with my friend in her cozy little house. We watched movies and shows, talked, lounged around in our pajamas, and cooked dinner together. I was so jealous of Anna’s place. Like I said, it’s actually a house and not an apartment. It was pretty big, and her rent is super ridiculously cheap. She had it decorated so neatly too. However, I don’t regret my living arrangements at all. Sure, I wish I had a nice, big, cheap house, but if it means that I can’t live near the city, then I would choose my little, expensive apartment any day! I am still convinced that I got the best placement of all time.

Anna's house. Holy snow pile!

On Sunday we planned to get some good food and go to an onsen. First, we had to take her car to get fixed though because the windshield wipers broke. I do not envy having to own a car in Japan. It seems like such a pain, especially in Hokkaido weather! Anna has had to get her car fixed so many times, it’s crazy! Plus, it’s her second car since she moved here which was at the same time as me. Her rent may be cheap, but having to deal with a car makes up for part of it as far as I’m concerned. Not to mention that in addition to gas, water, and electric, people in Hokkaido also have to pay a kerosene bill which is pretty pricey. Apparently using kerosene is how people keep their home warm in Hokkaido…ughhhh when is Japan gona get central heating?!?

Anyway, Anna invited two of her friends to come along with us to the onsen and dinner. We went to a ramen place for lunch before getting her wipers fixed. I got miso ramen. That’s another staple of Hokkaido. I enjoyed it. Then, we picked up her friends. They were super nice and interesting! I’m glad I got to meet them. After that, we went to an onsen in a town called Bibai. The onsen was called Yurinkan. One of the highlights of my trip was sitting in the outdoor onsen with beautiful snowy scenery around me while snow gently fell on to my hot skin. It was so nice!

Miso ramen.

Yurinkan.

The four of us went to this nice kaitenzushi place for dinner. I was excited to try sushi in Hokkaido since Hokkaido has a reputation for fresh seafood. The sushi ended up being really good! One thing I wanted to eat in Hokkaido, but we didn’t really have the time (and possibly money?) was crab. If I ever go back, I want to have like a whole crab meal! I did, however, get to eat some crab sushi. I decided that that would have to be good enough for me.

Fresh sushi. :)

Crabs for sale at the airport...next time my friends.

We returned back to Anna’s place after dinner and had more girl time lol! It was our last night together. We ate cookie dough, did mud masks, and watched more movies. It was a nice way to end the trip. My goals for going to Hokkaido were to party in Sapporo, spend time with my friend, see snow, eat delicious food, and overall just relax in the countryside. I got to do all of those things!

On Monday, I traveled back to Osaka. Anna drove me to Takikawa station. From there I took a train to the airport and flew back to Osaka. There was one moment of significance for me on this day (besides eating the most delicious naan I’ve ever eaten at the airport (it was filled with cheeeeeese…omg)). That moment was when I was waiting for the train at Takikawa station.  There were like three other people besides me waiting on the platform. The air was so cold and crisp, but to me, it felt so good and refreshing. Snow was gently falling, and there was this little four note melancholy tune playing on the platform. It was so incredibly peaceful and surreal feeling. I felt like I was inside of a videogame or something. Maybe it seems weird, but for some reason, that moment reminded me of my childhood when everything was simple and peaceful. I know this is a strange way to end my post, but that is all I have to say. Thanks for reading.

Hokkaido. A winter wonderland.