Japan Day 8: Sapporo

It was the second last day for us to be in Hokkaido. Unfortunately for my brother and my sister in law, it was the last day for them. Since it was an unfortunate turn of event, we had to push one of the activities forward so we could enjoy it together – kimono rental experience. We did not send in our request on this earlier so, we were trying our luck by heading straight to the shop. However, we were fortunate that the shop owner allowed this last minute request after considering our situation.

We had fun picking our kimonos and accessories to go with our kimono. I was a bit embarrassed to dress in kimono especially in this cold weather. However, since it was an activity that we are doing together, it was fun in another way. We tried our best to make ourselves warm ie. standing at a vent that let out warm air as well as stayed in a convenient store for a bit before we continued our sightseeing. We aimed to go to the clock tower but we gave up halfway because we were freezing. What’s best about this was, they gave me a surprise birthday celebration. It was a lovely thought from them. We headed back after we finished the cake. My brother and sister in law left for the airport after. Found out later on that they were doing a last minute shopping at the airport.

As for us? We went to Ippudo for lunch. It was the husband’s idea since he really loves ramen. The husband went back to hotel to rest whereas my mother and I went for shopping before we went back to hotel to rest. That night was a big night for us.

90 minutes of all-you-can-eat-and-drink at Sapporo Beer Garten! We spent a lot on this meal though. We even joked that we should not have any meal throughout the day for this when we were planning this trip. I whacked the crab most of the time while the husband whacked Gengkhis Khan lamb and beers. I did not think the amount we ate equals to the amount we paid but, we did our best. Actually, we planned to have this meal on our first night in Sapporo. It was fully booked and only 10th Nov was available for us. Unfortunately we were not able to get the refund for my brother and my sister in law. I was upset but I believe they were more frustrated than me.

Now that this trip had come to an end, it will not be the last family trip. It was not the perfect trip but I was really proud that it went well. We spent a lot of quality time together and know each other better. I learned something about our marriage during this trip. No worries, it was definitely for the better. We had our next family trip in mind that includes my older brother (+2) but due to Covid-19, we had to postpone this trip.

Will definitely post here when it happened!

Japan Day 7: Sapporo

The first destination we went in the morning was to explore Hokkaido University – Sapporo Campus. The campus is opened to public but there are some rules and regulations that we need to follow. I did not know about this until I came across a pamphlet in a convenience store inside the campus. The campus is huge and beautiful! I guess the students will need to have a bike to go around the campus.

We spent about an hour there before we left for lunch at Ganso Ramen Yokocho. The Sapporo’s Ramen Yokocho is a famous alley not just for its concentration delicious ramen but also for being the originator of the miso ramen! There are 17 ramen stalls. You could basically come here for every meal every single day. The stall we went to was Teshikaga which is extremely popular no only to the tourists but to the locals as well. You can have both types – miso and seafood ramen here for about ¥800. The husband bought one box of their instant ramen. He regretted not buying more so, if you are here for their ramen, do buy more boxes of their instant ramen!

For the next stop, we went to Kaitaku-no Mura, the Historical Village of Hokkaido. To get there, we took a bus as taking a cab will be costly. The entrance fee is ¥800 per person and this is where the history comes to life as it is an outdoor museum of relocated and restored buildings that represent life of Hokkaido from 1868 to the 1920s. This outdoor museum is huge and to cover it more quickly, hop on a horse with a cart ride. We went on foot though and since we were there late, we did not have ample time to visit all the buildings.

Once we were back in Sapporo JR Station, we went to Sapporo JR Tower Observatory T38. We got a good deal from Klook. We bought 2 tickets that came with afternoon tea. It was also when my brother received a bad news from FlyScoot. Their flight had been rescheduled to a later date and only bound to land Singapore +1 day. As they could not afford to not go back to work, the only choice they had is to change their rescheduled flight to an earlier flight which is the next day! All of us were of course upset about it.

We went to Chao Chao Gyoza for dinner before we went back to our hotel. The place was packed with diners. We thought of waiting outside the restaurant until there were seats for us. My brother went to the extent to stand at the door, pressuring either the restaurant staff or the diners. Fortunately it worked! We managed to get seats but had to be separated.  However, we met some nice diners there whereby they made a move to offer us their seats. The restaurant offers various types of gyoza flavours. They even serve chicken wings stuffed with gyoza fillings which we ordered as well. Apart from ChaoChao’s signature gyoza, we ordered curry and pork gyoza. My favourite was chicken wing gyoza. The dinner cost us ¥3,630 which is quite cheap.

Since it was the final night for my brother and sister in law, they went for a shopping spree at Tanukikoji Shopping Street whereas I went to the hotel’s hot bath with my mom so we could have a nice sleep that night.