From here on out, it would be a gradual journey back to civilisation as our next day took us first through the city of Asahikawa - famous for its ramen, and then to the beauty of Biei and Furano before the long stretch down to Sapporo. In the interest of time, we decided to skip Asahikawa and head straight for Biei and its infamous trees.
Solitary trees sitting amongst vast fields mark the surroundings of Biei with names such as Tree of Philosophy, Tree of Christmas and the Trees of Mother and Child provided some beautiful views and inspiration, especially as the skies had cleared and the sun was smiling at us among the backdrop of the Hokkaido alps in the distance.
Continuing through the winding roads brought us to rollercoaster road, marking what seemed to be the invisible bridge between Biei and Furano.
But before long, hunger set in and we took a quick stop at a rest station for lunch:
Unfortunately, as we were well into the fall, the massive lavender fields were hard to come by with the exception for a few places including the famous Farm Tomita - which was next on our list of stops and we were able to get a view of the much talked about lavender fields.
Followed by possibly the juiciest and sweetest honeydew melon right outside the farm:
And then lavender flavoured icecream:
Next stop, the Furano grape factory:
Furano cheese, pizza and icecream factories:
Some squid ink camembert cheese
Then we were faced with some rather slow traffic into Sapporo for a good hour or two, taking a good 4 hours to get from Furano to our destination in the heart of Sapporo:
[sapporo]
As we got into Sapporo on the late side, our first stop was to grab some grub and there was no better place with a wider selection than at the JR Sapporo Station. There were no fewer than 5 department stores across 9 floors and at least 100 restaurants covering more or less all cuisines.
After a quick bite of Japanese style pasta, we took a 20 minute drive up the pitch black roads to the top of Sapporo observatory near the Southwest part of Sapporo. At an altitude of 531m, the observation deck was freezing cold by 9pm but commanded superb views across the entire city.
Next morning took us on a stop-and-drive around the main city, stopping at a couple of the main sights:
Odori Park:
The old clock tower building:
The Sapporo TV station tower:
The Sapporo Art Park at Moerenuma Koen:
Designed by famous sculptor Isamu Noguchi, a truly immense place with some inspirational tructures and constructions, including a Louvre-esque Pyramid gallery, Tetra Mound and a number of huge hill structures which from up-close may be insignificant, but provides a whole new perspective when you take a moment and stand back
Soon after walking around the park, we began to get excited about our upcoming dinner plans in Otaru and about an hour later, we started on our hour drive to the sea-side city to the Northwest of Sapporo. Facing Ishikari bay, Otaru is known for its European influenced architecture, canal running through the city and seafood.
The rain picked up again but our high expectations of the city kept the rain from spoiling the day.
Although it was a unique city, Otaru wasn't too uneventful of a place and the main canal running through the city was a tad on the uninspiring side. Perhaps the season was right or the lights were not all on, it just didn't have the 'whoomph' factor that we had hoped for.
HOWEVER, dinner was a different story. Known for its infamous uni and ikura rice bowls along Sushi-dori, a street with restaurants serving nothing but sushi and sashimi, the uni bowl which Leeann had an the uni/ikura combination that Kevin had was simply astonishing to say the least.
The drive back to Sapporo was much less painful as the rain had kept most people away from the roads and it was getting to late night in Sapporo.
The next morning we had a 3pm flight to catch back to Tokyo, which left plenty of time for another uni packed brunch at Sapporo's Nijo Market - a mini-Tsukiji fish market which although seemingly unobtrusive, contained a couple a specialty uni restaurants. Leeann opted for a 'premium' uni set, which included a rare salt-water breed of sea urchin which may leave a lot of stomachs wretching with its slimy an gooey texture and fishy taste - but for us it was pure heaven!
2 nights in Sapporo was actually more than enough time to see most of the major sights and to experience the culture in the capital city. Odori Park was cramped, the city itself was small, sights were not super inspiring and there was little that was little that we could not have found in Tokyo or other cities for that matter.
On the way to the airport, we stopped at the Sapporo Museum of Contemporary Art, hoping to catch a glimpse of the neoteny exhibition there, but was disappointed to find that it was closed at the time.
We headed to Shin-Chitose Airport, our final destination for our Hokkaido-leg, barely making our check-in deadline of one hour, thanks to the complicated road system and the ridiculously located gas station (in the middle of nowhere). Fortunately, as with all domestic flights within Japan, it was a quick 5 minute check-in through to departure gate!
phew!
We arrived back to Haneda Airport in Tokyo shortly after 5pm and headed to our hotel in our usual Shiodome area and by then we had developed another craving for some curry rice at C&C Curry House underneath Yuurakucho station.
Before talking a stroll around the Marunouchi area to check out some of the new shops and restaurants... US$200 honeydew melons, $150 Kyoho Grapes are a relatively common sight in Japan these days, but this time around, we came across something rather interesting:
The $200 mushroom:
Matsutake Mushroom
Lunch the next day brought us to Shabu-zen, a famous Shibuya establishment famous for its special beef tenderloin and Omi beef shabu-shabu. A great lunch deal with some super quality tenderloin at only $10:
Dinner at Gonpachi was a superb experience. Sitting about 15 minutes walk from Roppongi station in the heart of Nishi-Azabu, this famous izakaya has a yelling kitchen staff to match the equally noisy diners. Although almost none of the chefs were Japanese, they created a superb atmosphere which we would go back to time and time again.
Dishes included asari in consomme, mixed tuna tartare wrap, whole large clams grilled in garlic and toro/foie gras skewers.
Make sure you make reservations as this place fills up lightning fast and you aren't going to get a table without booking!
After dinner we met up with some of Michelle's friends nearby and headed out to a quality British style pub someone along Roppongi-dori(??) and they somehow managed to clear a table for the 10 of us on a Friday night - not bad!
The next day marked our penultimate day in Tokyo this time around and we met up with Aki-san for an lunch at [] in Ginza.
Walking past the newly opened H&M in Tokyo:
Post-lunch dessert right next to the Tokyo International Forum about halfway between Marunouchi and Yurakucho station. Buzzing with people on a nice Saturday afternoon, we had a couple of cakes at one of the nearby cafes.
The highlight of our trip brought us to the brand new Cirque du Soleil Tokyo. After having previously watched Quidam (one of the traveling Cirque shows), we were both very excited about. Some people have said to me "Isn't it just a circus?" Well, the acrobatic part is definitely very circus-y, but when you bring in the superb choreography, spectacular lighting and effects as well as phenomenal music, this is way more than 'just a circus'. Tokyo built an all-purpose theatre in Tokyo's Disneyland for the new resident show ZED and we managed to get tickets for the 2nd day of showing well in advance through a super-friendly ZED customer service center.
From the start of the show, Zed did not fail to be equally as impressive as Quidam. Dramatic draping, huge lighting show and a A great experience which got a long standing ovation and it was pretty clear that we weren't the only ones thoroughly enjoyed it.
After dinner, we headed back to our hotel for our last night in Japan.
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