Day 07 (27th Dec, Fri)
Rusutsu - Sapporo
(B/L/D)
Hotel: Keio Plaza Sapporo or similar
After days spent outdoors in Hokkaido’s winter cold, perhaps one of the best ways to chase the chill away is to visit the
Nikka Whiskey Distillery
in Yoichi. Out of the numerous companies producing whiskey in Japan,
Suntory and Nikka are probably the two most well-known, and in Hokkaido,
whiskey is synonymous with Nikka’s Taketsuru Pure Malt – the winner of
numerous World Whiskies Awards and International Spirit Competitions.
Come here to learn about traditional methods of whiskey production and
the history behind Nikka Whiskey, and definitely a taste of this liquid
gold.
Other places: Otaru
It was finally time to leave the slopes and highlight of the trip to heave to Otaru and finally Sappporo for one last night in Japan. The agenda in the morning was to visit Nikka Whiskey distillery. Not as famous as Yamazaki nor Hibiki etc, Nikka does hold it's place especially in history for being the first in Japan. The founder went to Scotland to 偷师， married a Scottish chick, and went back to Japan and there you have the beginnings of Japanese Whiskey. Having great water source, and similar latitude as Scotland, Japanese Whiskey had the right Terrior to begin with. BUT, alas, Nikka was CLOSED and we were teased on having 25 year old single cask whiskey and imagine how close the tour guide got to be accidentally tripped under a bus when the news broke? In it's place, some 2nd grade Sake distillery right in Otaru. Bah!!!
Lunch! Turned out to be Sakae Sushi which we've been in 2009 and I've completely and utterly forgotten about it. The first dish was a bloody huge bowl of Chanwanmushi with the tiniest spoon you can fathom. Deliberate Irony?
s
One of the lessons drilled in my head was to eat 'blind' (that is without knowing where the source/chef/ingredient nor know the price), but sometimes it can be BAH! and hence, Quality-price-ratio (QPR) comes into play. Knowing the lunch set cost around SGD$50, one can't expect top grade auction fish and sommelier rice on the table. Overall the Sushi was prepared a little too early and was drying out but a decent platter which I wolfed down promptly.
Knowing there'll be eats at Otaru, we didnt' order much extras, and with a fellow traveller Jimmy the foodie (who ordered extras almost at every meal stop), we had Otoro Sashimi! (@ a 'reasonably priced' SGD$12.50!). A little too fat and chewy, I'll be looking forward to more Chu-toros, Shimofuri and especially high grades Akami from now on!
O-ta-ru.... and complimentary shot at
the canal photographed to the death.
Having been here in 2009, it's pretty deja vu remembering a few buildings from the archives of memory. The 'musical' shop is fascinating with it's pretty boxes and nice tunes but it is this building which got wifey all oohing and aahing.
Wifey all ready to get into
the house....to meet my neighbor...
TOTORO! An oversized chinchilla which doesn't speak, supposedly only appears in front of good children, inspired legions of fans, soft toys for a one hit wonder movie by Joe Hisaishi. I like the music much more than the quirky, dark (I'd say some not suitable for children) movies. Wifey however, adorse all things Hisaishi, and of course, Totoro!
Wifey with the family of Totoros!
Chibi waves
hi, with a little green leaf. Or, is he (or she, or it?) trying to shield from the elements/rain with a tiny piece of magic?
The clock tower in front of the musical box shop. The video here captures the final seconds when the clock hits 1.45pm and I caught only the final bits of DO-FA-TI-DO, using steam/pipes!
And it was off the streets looking at souvenir shops selling glassware (yawn), and lotsa food. Here an amazing cream puff, and plenty of other stores selling cheesecakes, 7-coloured tiered Ice-cream (gimmick!), and Caramel stuff. None of the cheese cakes (especially the big conglomerate Le Tao!!), can compare with the ethereal, fluffy, lighter than air, SNAFFLES! Another word on Le Tao: They had like 4-5 stores along the tiny stretch of Otaru 'main street', and had enthusiastic sales representatives giving out free samples of their cheesecakes and chocolates and hence in virtually every corner, you bump into a Le Tao!
Following our guide's recommendation (I trust her taste more and more, and wifey's comment that an auntie guide is a good guide as they usually know where to sess out good food), we also went to this Caramel shop. Not a fan of caramel (usually too sweet, no acids, balance), I went ahead and sampled them anyway. It's Y-U-M and Hokkaido's blessing with good water (hence good dairy), and now great sugar and hence Caramel is pretty awe-inspiring for me. Still not a sweet tooth person nor snack loving, I only bought a few packages back.
Finally, it was to our final hotel of the trip and the best was saved for last! We stayed at the JR Tower Nikkor hotel, very much 5 stars in every way!
Just look at the bath room! An ONSEN in a bathroom!
We were off to the streets pretty quickly as Wifey wanted to visit this Cat Cafe around '15 blocks' away'.
Most cats were aloof and were either sleeping or were grouchy and not friendly!
One of my favourite, big eyed and dark striped!
Wifey disturbing sleeping felines. It's been reported that this cafe's cats weren't the most friendly around Japan but it's wifey's first visit (I've been to one in Tokyo and it was a great experience), and perhaps one should visit during the day or during feeding when they're more active?
It was a dash to have a 'must-have' in Sapporo, RAMEN, an hour before DINNER! :P
A Crab-only dinner, eat until you drop, challenge itself. Despite downing the Ramen just an hour earlier, I was pretty confident to tackle this meal.
Crab appetiser, crab chawanmushi, crab cakes, crab hot pot, deep-fried crab, crab sashimi, crab crab.
Oh, did I mention Crab Sashimi? It's a first for me, it's pretty mushy and unlike any other fish sashimi. Add a little wasabi and I like it!
A break from the Crab marathon, a nice bottle of Sake!
It was more crab and crab sashimi and crab and finally ended with rice cooked in the crab broth + eggs into a gooey mess of a porridge, really yummy though super full then already!
A blizzard was expected the next morning with lowest temperature at -9 degrees C. The Sun rose at 7.05am and peeked through the dense clouds and showered Sapporo with a few moments of a calm wintry morning bathed in Sunlight, before the mother of all blizzards came in and whitened the area and we couldn't see passed the 5th building from our hotel!
The storm quieten a little but my tummy started growling and it was time for a 5* breakfast and I wasn't disappointed.
Even after so many days of fresh breads, milk, this cheese with Hascup flavour simply blew all butters and cheeses and spreads out of the sea of Japan! First instinct was: Do they sell this? Unfortunately, they don't!
Wifey enjoying the sweet potatoes, yam, and other usually forbidden carbs!
The very last stop was the Sapporo wet market. Extremely touristy, shoppers were encouraged to buy FRESH seafood and were given free styrofoam boxes to pack onto the bus and directly onto the plane back to Singapore!
Look at the TOROs! Priced at easily 40% off Singapore's price, I wasn't very tempted to buy any fresh ones back for the 8 hour flight + another 12 hours sitting in the fridge before sunday's dinner. Of which I was a little overdosed with Japanese food already (Yes, it can happen!)
We had more fun shopping at vegetables and other groceries stores, scoring good cheeses, persimmons, oranges and seaweed!
I eat a carefully measured breakfast which left my taste buds sufficiently sharp for a final dash of Japanese goodness, and here wifey looks on.
All I need is a RICE for any meal - So I said, to myself. And I WAS RIGHT! Just add the best Uni, Salmon Roe, and Akami!
Another checklist was to have Abalone Sashimi, and my, it was twanky/weird. Most of the other seafood sashimi were great though!
And it was off to Chitose and they have the BEST shopping thus far, with Doraemon, Royce, Steif type of theme shops outside the check-in area, and super huge isetan food areas for any last minute shopping of all your favourite Royce, Shiroi Kobito, Snaffles, Le Tao, Tokyo Banana (wait..it's HOkkaido but you can get the Banana if you like too), and dozens of other fresh seafood, cheese cakes, chocolates....
really liked this 'evel' Doraemon!
Pink Doraemon enjoying a Honey Melon!
My last shot of the trip, of the hunt for the 'milk in the glass bottle' again, but this was not to be...till the next trip, I'll discover more of me, myself and I!
Ending notes:
points: Self-discovery, of my likes and dislikes
Highlights: Crab sashimi, live squid fishing, fresh powder, good light (crawford inn), ice cream a lake fram hill, sulphur onsen at Maharoba, Uni at Hakodate, Snaffles at Hakodate City. Yes, it's more food than sights!
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